Crafty Corner: Swanky Hankie

Last month when I was visiting my pal M in lovely Idaho, she showed me the cutest little scarf/handkerchief she found for her 1 year old son. I think she said she bought it at a craft fair or boutique (or maybe on etsy online)...I just can't remember. Either way, it was great for catching baby teething slobber, wiping a little face, whatever. And it made him look so cool:

Am I right? I traced a rough outline of it's shape and took it back with me to lovely Minnesota to try my best at my own interpretation. It seemed to be made of a soft knit fabric so I stopped at the craft store to find a few cute options. Pretty slim pickings at the time but I settled on one solid and one pattern.

I got the sewing machine all set up and made my first attempt. I knew there was a trick to sewing with knits....I just didn't know what that trick was. (Note to self...take a basic apparel sewing class in the near future). I learned that without this trick, knits tend to bunch and look wavy when finished - which they did a little. (Fast forward a few weeks after the first attempt was complete- I asked an amazing sewing friend about what i needed to do next time to be more successful and she said to use a zig zag stitch, decrease the tension on my machine and place a paper towel under the fabric to add some stability. I fully intend to do this when I make the next one).

Ok, to start I cut out 2 pieces of fabric from the rough template I created in Idaho:

I then placed them one on top of the other with the pattern side in and pinned them together:

I sewed all the way around leaving a little space at the end open so I could invert the fabric:

Once I had it flipped right side out, I hand stitched the hole. From there, I used a bright green thread to do a zig zag stitch all the way around the outside...mostly for looks, not because I had any idea that the zig zag stitch was the money stitch I should have been using in the first place. I hadn't learned that little tidbit yet.

Next step, the snaps. Joann has a nifty little kit for attaching snaps. It's so easy...I know that because it says it right on the package. And it was. It comes with a little tool, instructions and 4 snaps. A little tap of the hammer and it finished off the project swimmingly. I added 2 snaps on one side to allow for a few sizing options and one reverse snap on the other end:

It turned out pretty good for my first try...I gave it to my cousin's baby for her first birthday that week and she looked so cute in it...I'm hoping it caught lots of drool and other baby messes as well as fashionably accessorized all of her outfits:)

I don't have a pic of said cousin-baby modeling her hankie, so I took the liberty of modeled it for you:

My plan is to take my new found 'knit sewing' knowledge back to the drawing table and perfect my first attempt...get all the wrinkles out if you will. If it goes well, everyone I know with a drooly baby may be the recipient of this lovely, fancy accessory. Stay tuned.

Toddler Talk: What to wear?

Winter is coming? Shhhhhh. I know, stop saying those words. With cold weather comes a whole ton of extra time preparing 14 toddlers with the proper gear to tromp in snow covered terrain.

If you have never experienced such things, it's a site to see. A majority of the little friends are experiencing their first winter as a walker/mover and have never worn boots. They do not like boots. And don't even get me started on the whole mitten issue. I have never said the phrase "Keep your mittens on. It's cold outside!" more in my life. Often, I get one kid dressed and start to help another only to find kid 1 has managed to remove all items except 1 boot. Baaaaahhh. I laugh....or else I will cry.

With the challenges of newbie toddler winter time prep, we must have a game plan. It does tend to get better with practice and by the end of the season, a large chunk of Tods are quite self sufficient. Until then we use a few tools:

I think I have talked about this chart before but it's worth mentioning again. Toddlers are visual learners and it helps to have something to refer to as we get dressed. We have also added a little 'what to wear' grouptime that we will refer to throughout the weeks (during times when we are not actually getting ready but can just talk about the process):

I found a picture of a former toddler (his mom is on our teaching staff, so she said we could use him as our getting dressed model) and printed out/laminated all the items he would need to be safe outside in the winter snow. We take the toddlers thru the process by dressing him up on a felt board and asking which item might go next. They love it...and hopefully are gaining some insight into the order of dressing:)

All ready for some winter fun!

How I Met My....Mosby.

Disclaimer: I promise to try hard not to become the 'crazy cat lady' with an over abundance of photos of my kitty doing mundane kitty things, dressing him up for special events and the like...but I did just get him a little over a week ago, so must take a moment to document our story....ya know, so I can embarrass him on his wedding day with the details of his arrival to my home and all the naughty things he got in trouble for...Just kidding.

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted a little grey kitty. Growing up, my mama was allergic so we didn't have any pets to speak of (unless you count the goldfish I won at the school carnival playing that ping pong ball toss into a fishbowl game...he died days later).

At some point, one of us kids (can't remember who) innocently asked, 'Mom, when you die can we get a cat?'
She kindly said,'Sure kids, you can get a cat then.' Happy to report that she is alive and well....and consequently, we never got that cat.

Out of college, apartment dwelling did not make it easy to fulfill this dream. Roommates, lots of added fees and small spaces. The dream had to wait.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. I decided to rescue a kitten from the Humane Society and began my search. The website is quite helpful and kept up to date by the minute. I kept watch for any and all grey baby kitties that were posted. Kittens get adopted very quickly so timing was key...to be there at just the right moment before someone else snatched one up.

I first spotted this cute little guy:

Awwww...so cute. I was kind of busy that day, so kept watch online until I was free to go check him out. As long as his picture was up, he was still available for adoption. Pulled up to the facility...yep, still there. Got inside, searched around. Saw him being escorted out of his cage by his new forever family. Boo. Wipe the tears away and move on.

The following weekend, I found him:

Awwww....so cute. I called right away when they opened to see if he was available. Again, I had a busy morning and arrived about 45 minutes after they opened. Pulled up to the facility, checked the website...still there. Got inside only to see kitty #2 literally being whisked away into the arms of HIS new forever family. Really? Ok. It's fine. Let's see if there are any others that may fit the bill...to my surprise, I found 2 more little grey furballs in another cage. I said hi and thought maybe I had a winner...as my excitement grew, an employee opened the cage and took them both out right before my hopeful little eyes and handed them to a happy young couple. What? At this point i am starting to feel a bit sad/frustrated/offended and head home once again...catless.

That evening, I took one last look at the website before heading to bed. Out of the blue, this little buddy had appeared:

Gandolf the Grey...very strong and regal name. Could I get him? Well, the facility was closed for the night...so unless there was a late night break in or building fire or some other unforeseen natural disaster between that moment and the next morning, I maybe had a shot.

I skipped church the next morning (I knew that Jesus would understand. He wanted me to have my kitty...I am sure of it) and headed over to the facility bright and early before they opened. I parked in the first spot next to the door and waited. I may have gotten out and stood at the door a few minutes before they unlocked the doors, just to be sure that Gandolf the Grey wasn't stolen from my arms like the others the week before (the anticipation is mounting- can you feel the excitement?)

A nice employee opened the door and I told her who I was here for. She took me right to him and that was that. I was the winner! I was the forever family that was taking him home. We had a chance to play in a little room for a bit just to make sure we were a good fit, I filled out all the paperwork and bought him a few little toys and we were off!

They told me to keep him confined to a smaller space at first to help him adjust to his new (much larger than a little cage) space. So I set up shop in the bathroom and waited for him to feel comfortable to explore. It didn't take long:

Is he winking at me? I think so...he was settling in to his new home and getting to know his new mama (oops, did I say that out loud?) And it's been great:

So cute! Right? Our first week together has been magical...aside from him coming down with a nasty baby kitty cold (probably exposure from the other shelter cats) which made me feel so sad/worried. A visit to the vet, some meds and extra snuggles and he is on the mend.

Some things I have learned so far about my dear kitty Mosby:

He likes to lay upside down so I will scratch his tummy.

He loves to jump in the bathtub and attack the shower curtain...but gets stuck and needs help to get out.

He is awesome at using his litter box (too much information? Too bad, I'm a crazy cat lady...). On a related note, I am seriously considering toilet training him at some point in the near future. If I can train a 1 year old toddler, I can train a cat. Right? Challenge accepted.

He likes sunbeams, scratching posts, sitting on the porch, snuggling at my neck in attempt to grab my hair, chasing things, and sleeping close to me at night. He is delightful.

Toddler Talk: Color Tubes

I scored some awesome and super sturdy paper towel tubes from my custodian at church a little while ago. The kind that a toddler can't crush or destroy in 2 seconds flat (which they somehow manage to figure out how to do with most things eventually....bless those curious little minds and hands!)

Anyway, I have like 35 if them so I used a few to make 'Color Tubes':

Pretty simple little project. I printed out different photos of things in each color and glue sticked them to the tube. Then (as mentioned before how toddlers like to wreck stuff) I wrapped around the tubes with packing tape to protect the pictures. Because, although looking at cool pictures and talking about what color they are is fun and exciting, I have a feeling that peeling them all off would be way more enjoyable (for them, not me).

I put them in the classroom without telling the kids they were there and waited for the discovery. Right away, they were a big hit....everyone wanted a turn to check them out! Some used them as a telescope, some as a trumpet and some even discovered that they fit nicely on their arms and they could pretend to be a goofy robot!

If you don't have access to your own church custodian with cool indestructible tubes, you could stop at a local package shipping store and purchase a few shipping tubes...cut them to size and create away! It could also be a fun project to work on together...cut out pictures from magazines and make different themed tubes (animals, counting, nature, etc), work together to glue stick them on (then protect with packing tape) and Presto....fun learning toy!

Update (Oct. 9): I finished a few more color tubes today...needed to round out the color palate:

Busy week...cute kids: