Feathering Our Nests

After learning about nests, the kids were assigned to build one themselves. I was hoping someone would attempt a woven nest, but the results were a little more predictable than that.

Anthony's nest was built from mud, straw, and (as real birds would do) spit. In his manly, future-engineer way, he made a decoy-nest on top (to fool predators and cuckoos), with the real nest hidden underneath. Of course, mud nests have to be located on the picnic table. Thanks, Odie.


Sofia's nest: carefully shaped mud and straw, dried and lined with moss (which grows in abundance in our back yard). Even an "egg". (That stone's a pretty good look-alike, don't you think?)


Annika's was a "scrape nest". Minimal effort. Find an indentation, throw in a few blades of grass, and you're done. She said, "What? Killdeer do it!" I couldn't argue with that.



We also made a trip to the Theler Wetlands - this time armed with a stroller - where we saw nesting and pairing birds a-plenty. Sooo many red-winged blackbirds in the marsh grass. Canada geese, mallards, swallows, and (the holy grail of animal-watching) A RIVER OTTER! We were so excited!

To go with our "nesting" theme, we also found an old, woven oriole nest...but alas, I don't know how to get pictures from camera to computer...so just close your eyes and imagine a hanging nest, slightly mossy...very cute.

i have to say....

...says she's having a big 20% off sale on all of her fabric! She'll also be giving away a $50 gift certificate to someone who spreads the word - thus this EMERGENCY post.

The very nicest thing about her fabrics (aside from them all being gorgeous and high-quality) is that some of them are already assembled into lovely, coordinating groups...in case you're feeling design impaired...or just need a little inspiration. Check it out. :)

Vegemighty Good!

My friend Kyrsten just went to Australia to visit her in-laws. She brought us back some souvenirs.


The kids weren't crazy about them.



Weird, because they're usually so open-minded about food. :)

We had to wash it down with a 99-cent soda. {We love you, McDonalds!}

Fabric Stamping Tutorial

My sister and I started stamping on fabric when we decided to make these fabric cash-budget envelopes.


Stamping could also be a handy skill if you want to horrify your children by stamping their names on the band on their undies (Does that still happen in real life?) or if, like me, you enjoy tattooing their nicknames on the gifts you make them.

Yes, I know it's pretty straight forward. No, I don't think you're dumb...and if you think it's that simple, why are you even reading this tutorial? ...but I digress...

Materials:


Fabric paint. I found mine at Michael's. Notice the words "dimensional" or "puffy" are nowhere to be found. Steer clear of that craziness.


An old tray or plate of some kind. Something you don't mind ruining. I have a big stack of these yellow trays from Goodwill. They come in all kinds of handy. A paintbrush - you can steal one from your kid's watercolor set.


Of course, a set of alphabet stamps. I got mine at Walmart for so cheap that I wish I bought 2...I haven't seen them there since.


...and an acrylic block to put them on. I got the least expensive one (once again, at "the mart") for $2.

Now for the actual stamping:


Spell out your words on the acrylic block, backwards (or mirror image).

And it never hurts to keep a dictionary nearby. When my husband saw this project, he accused me of misspelling posy and rosy! I panicked, but was vindicated in the end.

Next, squirt a bit of paint on your pallet...


...and use a paintbrush to spread it into a smooth, thin layer of paint.


When you begin stamping from your paint, it may go on a bit heavy. I like to blot it on a piece of paper before stamping on my fabric. This step isn't necessary after a couple of stamps, unless you refresh your paint supply.


Then, stamp it on your fabric.


Just smooth out your paint again, change your stamp, and you're ready for the next word.


When you're finished stamping and are satisfied that your words have dried properly, you can iron your fabric to "fix" the words, making them water-fast.

Iron the wrong side...


...then flip it over and iron the right side.


Ta-daa!


The flip-side.


I put the zipper on the bottom this time.


Don't you {love} how my project magically finished itself?


The lame thing about only having one alphabet set? Some stupid words have 2 of the same letter! The nerve! This is where that clear acrylic block earns its keep. You can see just where you're inserting that missing letter.

And since you were awesome and sat through that entire tutorial, leave a comment. One lucky reader will be chosen at random (totally random, since I really want to give it to all of you!) to get some fabric-stamping supplies of their very own!


Winner to be announced on April 1st - so you have something other than pranks to look forward to. :)

The Tiny Garden

We (meaning me) are making a tiny garden in the back yard.


It's plants are still quite small and maybe too subtle...moss from a shady flower bed, "chicks" from the front yard, and bugle weed (since I have it in abundance - It's a ground cover, not a pest.)...but they'll grow and bloom.


Cozy likes to play hide the tiny bench. We're diligent seekers, since we'd rather not mow over it.


I'll have to bring out her little people. They might like to sit on the bench. Then they could hide in the grass too.

Planning for Beautious Fun

Oh, I'm making all sorts of fun plans for someone's 1st birthday, and even Wal-Mart is cooperating with me, making all sorts of fun woodland things for Easter (which is conveniently scheduled right before said birthday).



It's like they read my mind.

And check out my gorgeous dollar store flowers!


I love having total creative control. If only my other daughters would surrender it, they could have the cutest parties ever too. But, no.

Other things I've been working on...

...using up my last couple of tiny pillow-forms. Looks like it's time to stuff a dozen more.


I've also finished cutting out a gorgeous wedding present. Yes, I know it looks like a big pile of scraps, but it's going to look like the nicest quilt ever. I tried to make it not too girly...in deference to the groom.


Will post progress shortly.

Troublemaker

Lance (known for dissecting electronics) came to visit with Grandma, and I think he's had a very bad influence on Cozette.



Just kidding....this happened before he even came over. It's the touble-maker gene...and Cozy has it in spades.

Slightly Modified

I adore clearance. Since long-sleeved season is (thankfully) over, this $1.50 shirt (already in Sof's favorite color) only needed slight modification.


I chopped off the long sleeves, leaving some ties and making a "keyhole".


I think they look pretty cute. No sewing required.


Sofia would only let me cut off the sleeves if I promised to let her have the remnants for stuffie clothing.

I did...because she's a pretty brilliant seamstress for a 10-year-old...and very creative for an any-age-year-old.



Don't ya think?

My Saturn Day

Wasn't yesterday lovely? It was just relaxing and beautiful. Tony was lucky. He had checked off my honey-do list on Friday. Plum tree planted. Yard edged (way better than I do it, but with less clean-up at the end. Maybe he's counting on rain?)

So we went to foodie Saturday at Cosmos, where I got some {rice} gelato. Yummier than rice pudding.


I bought some glass dessert plates for all of the pies I've been making.


This was the pear and dried fruit pie. I think I could have done without the dried fruit, but liked the ginger-pear. What is a good, non-alcoholic substitute for rum? ...in pie. I made the pumpkin pies for the kids. ...and that was the end of the shortening.



While restocking our shortening at Costco, I bought some frivolous sedums...and followed some signs to a garage sale (that's how nice it was outside!) where I found something I had been looking for...


...a kitschy deer! Yes, I know. That's a weird thing to have on your shopping list, but I was honestly considering buying one on ebay.


I promptly painted it pink. The details will be added later.

Our Loving Homes

We are NOT good about having family home evening...mainly because it makes us want to harm the children. I don't know why, but the very term "family night" seems to trigger rowdiness - extreme rowdiness. Maybe it's in anticipation of the o-so-fun game (normally "sardines") at the end? Whatever the reason, the result is chaos.

Lately I've been trying to spread out fhe assignments to various children, in hopes that they'll be preoccuppied with their responsibilities...too preoccupied to jump from the chair to the ottoman and from the ottoman to the couch. I gave Sofia the lesson (How to build a loving home), Annika the music, and I assigned Anthony to sit on Jonathan and James (so that they could stay in one place for 10-15 minutes). It went pretty well and freed up my time, so that I could throw stuff together for an activity/treat at the end.

We made...and ate our own loving homes. They were cup-cakey good, if I do say so myself!


Sofia's house.


My house. I thought the roof in particular was adorlicious.


Annika's house. Such modern lines! I had pictured her as more of a cottagey type.


Anthony's. My favorite.


Jonathan's house was voted "most likely to impail the foot of a careless giant."

James went straight to eating cupcakes, candy, and cookies. He thought the "loving home" construction was a big waste of time. How efficient of him, nicht?

Multipurpose

They're nothing if not innovative.