Little Elephants: Kids Crafts and Fun Activities

Goodbye, 2007

You've been a busy, busy year for us. Full of highs & lows and everything in between. Mostly, I think, I'll remember you as the Year of Activity. Even though I started this blog before you showed up, you are the first year I've ever had that was documented so well. I am so grateful for that.

Today, we'll be celebrating you the same way we have each and every day of your existence. With crafts, and cooking, silly stories, board games, books, and good company. This strikes me as a fitting farewell.

Goodbye, 2007, we'll remember you fondly!

Handmade for the holidays

As Tomas has already pointed out on his blog, my pledge to buy only handmade for the holidays was a bit of a flop. The good news though is that our daughter, Maggie had the brilliant idea to have us all make a gift for one other person in the family. Maggie drew my name from a hat and made me this sweet candle holder and incredibly awesome frame.

My gift to Maggie was this journal:

You can check out what Tomas and Bjørn made each other over here.

A bit of kitchen independence

Maggie has discovered the simple joy of being able to prepare her own snacks lately, and will happily make enough for her brothers and anyone else who happens to be around, too. Her favorite concoction to make is Fruit Smoothies. She'll toss whatever fruit we have on hand (fresh or frozen) into the blender, add a bit of ice and either fruit juice or a dollop of yogurt and hit the "blend" button. Dee-lish!

Makes this Momma so proud to see her take charge of the kitchen. It really does.

Knitting spool maniac(s)

A couple years ago I bought both kids knitting spools because I thought they were cute and I had happy memories of the monotonous craft. I hauled them out last week when the kids were feeling better and Tomas was definitely not feeling better. This silly craft provided many minutes of quiet time for this Momma to tend to the mundane tasks of dishes, laundry, and vacuuming that were in dire need of doing once I was better. The only part I haven't quite figured out is a clean cast off, but no one's complained this far.

Now I'll need to do a bit of thinking to figure out what to do with these long tubes of yarn! Hats? Coasters? Trivets?

Happy Holidays!

Between the plague that struck us and all the mad preparations for Christmas, I haven't gotten around to posting in over ten days! Now that things are a bit more settled, I'm hoping to get back into a blogging groove once again. In the mean-time I'm wishing you all happy holidays!

A bit of still and quiet

Not that the title represents anything that happens around my house with any frequency these days, but the thought of it relaxes me like you wouldn't believe.

We're finally at the end of the stomach plague around here ... Tomas is still a-bed with it, but he's on the recovery side of it. It's been a week of non-stop laundry, bland meals for those who could stand to eat, and juggling non-sick-kids' schedules, work schedules, and random holiday tasks that never got done.

I have hopeful visions of us out again as a family tomorrow to pick up our Christmas tree. I could sure use a bit of holiday spirit just about now!

Apologies for the quiet (riot)

Ugh. I need to apologize for the extended silence on my part. It all started with an eagerly-awaited weekend visit from my sister who I hadn't seen in forever. What we thought was a simple case of imported food poisoning on her part turned into a tag-you're-it, round-robin, imported-from-Indonesia-so-really-icky stomach virus that's hit everyone in our little clan except for Tomas. We all know he's next, but I'll be kind and not say it out loud.

In my next life I'm wishing for a super-high-capacity washing machine. 'Nuff said.

& Pia, if you're reading this, please don't feel guilty. We're all fine now, and missing you already!

Airplanes and double-decker busses

Maggie made these at the Peninsula School's holiday fair last weekend. They had piles of wood bits, buckets of random bolts and washers, and of course there were several pots of glue. It was up to the kids to make whatever they felt like. I love it when the kids are given the elements to create and are left to do their own thing -- you often end up with the best results. I know these two little guys will be around and on display for a long time :-)

Paper plate banjo

This one was from the Peninsula School's Holiday Craft Fair.

You have to hold the banjo pretty close up to hear it well, but the sound is amazing -- reminds me of a Didgeridoo -- way cool!

To make your own:

• Wrap three strong rubber-bands around a thick paper plate
• Staple that plate onto another one so you can't displace the rubber-bands
• Hot-glue on a paint stirring stick for the arm
• Decorate
• Strum!

I can't emphasize enough how much I like easy projects :-)

Sweet pom-pom bird and nest

Oh, we had a lovely weekend of crafting outside the house! We went to three of my favorite local holiday events in the area and racked up some great new projects to do again (and again) at home. I'll be posting about the projects individually all this week.

This first one was made at the Palo Alto Art Center where they held their annual Holiday open house for kids. The picture is of a bird made by one of Maggie's friends (the shots I got of M's bird all came out horribly).

To make the bird:

• Glue two pom-poms together, one big and one small (body/head)
• Glue paper beak, and two googly eyes to the small pom-pom
• Glue feathers to either side of the larger pom-pom for the wings

To make the nest:

• Wrap one pipe-cleaner into a loose spiral
• Thread bits of ivy (or leaves, extra pine branches, or whatever greenery you have lying about) in and out of it to make a nice bed

Voila! Just lay your little bird in the nest & you're done. Very satisfying :-)

I'm thinking Maggie's little bird will make a nice addition to our Christmas Tree.