Little Elephants: Kids Crafts and Fun Activities

Happy Easter!

National Elephant Day in Thailand

My friend Jeff alerted me to the fact that tomorrow is National Elephant Day in Thailand. To celebrate, the Asia Society in New York has posted an awesome photo gallery. Note that some of the pictures are quite heartbreaking, so please preview the slideshow before sharing with children.

Valentine's craft

We're living under a pile of boxes this week, and I'm not quite convinced we'll ever see the end of 'em. While I madly assemble boxes, and sort through the mountains of crap still left in my home, I hope you'll pop over to my other blog on Scholastic for a simple Valentine's craft: paper heart garlands.

I could really use a break doing something as mindless and sweet as that just about now :-)

... Speaking of distractions! the folks from Disney hosted a party for local blogging mommas yesterday afternoon! I'm kinda wishing I wasn't so fried by the time I got there, else I'm sure I'd have gotten in a bit more socializing. The boys had a blast even though Tor had no idea who any of the characters were -- Maggie opted to go to a meditation-yoga-kids-crafts affair with her friend instead. Here's a cheery picture of me with the SVMom Bloggers.

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!

Happy belated!

With all the goodness of these past few days, I completely fell off the blog-wagon! It's been a cozy time of mass food consumption, bread baking (and eating), games of Set, and lovely naps.

Here's wishing you all a Happy (if belated) Thanksgiving!

Our Diwali evening

As promised, here's a photo from the other night. We celebrated Diwali with our dear friends Rishi and Meredith, and it was truly magical. A perfect evening filled with tradition, good company, spicy food, and delicious wine.

I asked Rishi for a brief description of the celebration to share with you:

Diwali is the festival of lights... from Hindu mythology it is the night that Lord Ram returned home from a 14 year exile during which he defeated the demon king Ravana. Hindu festivals follow the lunar calendar - Diwali is always on a moon-less night - hence the lights to show the way home.

The puja (prayer) in the picture is to Lakshmi (goddess of wealth) and Ganesh (god of auspicious beginings).

I feel so lucky to have been able to share in this wonderful evening with our friends. Thanks again, R&M!!

Happy Diwali!

Today is Diwali, otherwise known as the Festival of Light. It is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains worldwide. Tonight we will be celebrating with some dear friends and I am very much looking forward to it -- you know I'll be taking pictures of the spices and candles!

Very simply, Diwali is a celebration of the power of light over dark (good/evil). You'll find more info on wikipedia, and if you'd like to lose yourself in a gorgeous series of random photos, then head over to Flickr to see all the shots tagged Diwali.

I'm only a bit bummed that I'll be rushing the kids over so we won't have time to get them decked out in their Indian gear (pictured above).

If you'd like to decorate a votive candle to celebrate with us, you'll want to try this simple project.

Sew, Mama, sew!

Oh, my. If you thought I was giddy over the Handmade Pledge yesterday, you have no idea how I reacted when I followed Ashley's prompt to check out the Handmade Holidays over at Sew, Mama, Sew!

They are sharing tips and tutorials for gifts you can make for the holidays every day in November. [did you hear that thunk? 'twas me hitting the floor in a faint]

Six days in and already I've got me a to-do list. First up will be this sweet lunch-bag by Dorie of Tumbling Blocks.

Now, if only my apartment weren't such a disaster and I actually had a few square feet of space to set up the sewing machine... add to that the fact that I'm a novice seamstress... the very least I can do is try. Right?

Halloween 2007

Halloween costumes were a last minute round-up in Casa Christensen this year.  Tor's was easy -- a Bam-Bam costume I'd made for Bjørn a few years back. Maggie's Hermione Granger, the result of a mad dash to Target for school-girl clothes, and a cape and authentic Hermione wand generously donated by good friends. Bjørn's Wizard is a black shirt and black jeans under a cape and Wizard's hat loaned by a colleague I'd not met before my panicked email to BabyCenter staff.

While I wish I'd been better about managing my time and planning Halloween this year, the kids had a great time and all three were excited and proud of their costumes. Not too bad in the end :-)

Halloween round-up

A quick round-up for folks who might still be needing a bit of Halloween inspiration!

Pumpkin carving party: Nine girls, and nine pumpkins. A perfect combination.

Paper bag pumpkin: Simple paper craft for little ones.

Halloween cupcakes: Where Vero proves that it really doesn't matter if you have no design skilz at all.

Halloween jewels: A happy craft.

Bam-Bam costume: An easy costume to whip up for your tough guy.

Flower costume: Vero & Tomas' first costume collaboration.