Black apple doll - Princess Wanda

I've finally made enough of these Black Apple Dolls that I feel like I can whip one out pretty fast, especially with my little helpers stuffing the limbs! I use the pattern, but lately, I always use fleece instead of felt. The felt ones I made for my girls looked ratty and pilled pretty fast. The fleece is also very soft and machine washable. WINNER!

This is my favorite black apple doll yet, and if I can manage to get it done, I will be making one exactly like this for this sweet little baby that could come any day now.  We made this little doll for a friend's birthday. It was a princess party, so we thought it was only fitting that she should have a nice crown and skirt.

The crown was pretty easy and is stretchy and removable. If you are dying to make one, too, post a comment  or send me an e-mail about it and I'll try to put up a pattern. (Wouldn't it be cute to make one matching for your big girl, too?)

Here she is without her accessories. Still lovely and demure!

kids cookie tip: placemats

We were making cookies with 3 little girls. Here was my solution that worked nicely: I got out 3 plastic placemats and rolled out dough onto each of them so that each of the girls had their own piece of dough to work with. No one had to argue over where to put the cookie cutters and it was a lot easier to clean up. Happy Valentines treat making!

Alex the Altiod tin magnetic paper doll

Here is the Altoids tin doll that I promised! I used to sell this on Etsy for $2, but I decided that free is much better. So, here's what you do. Print off this image so that it fills a whole sheet of paper. Then follow the instructions that are already on my other site, Recycled Toys. Enjoy!

PS- I'm also working on a less choke-able, less lose-able girl doll.Coming soon!
PPS- this image is for personal use only, please!

hand painted kids ceramics

You may think that I don't exist anymore, but I do. And, whether by my choice or forced by my 4 year old, we are still doing plenty of hobbies. But, I'm 8 months pregnant and am still behind on Christmas even though it is mid-January. Here is one of the Christmas crafts that we did in December that would be good any time of year!

I

Buy some white ceramic mugs from the dollar tree. Buy or borrow some tubes of enamel. They're sold next to the acrylic paint in the craft store. We bought a couple of tubes only to come home and see that we had several colors already in our stash- I just didn't realize there was a difference between acrylic and enamel.

The tricky part is that you're not supposed to serve food off of the enamel, so only paint the outside. If I did it again, I think I'd also tape off a rim where your lips go. Turn the teacups or mugs upside down and let the kids have a hay day painting. Then, follow the directions on the paint container to set the paint. I think it was to let it dry for 24 hours, then you bake it in a 350 oven for 30 minutes, making sure to put the cups in before you preheat and leave them in while the oven is cooling. After it is set, I'm pretty sure it is supposed to be dishwasher safe and everything!

I think this project isn't just cool for kids, but could be really fun for adults, too. Like, you could make your sweety a personalized, hand painted mug for Valentine's day. We used ours as gifts to grandparents and all of Elisabeth's preschool teachers. They loved them!

Guest Post on 320 Sycamore and Painted Glass stone magnets

I did my first guest post today at 320 Sycamore- it's a great blog, mostly about home decorating projects. My post is What I love about Iowa. It was so nice of Melissa to let me post for her! I'm especially loving the comments people leave for her about how they love Iowa and the midwest, too! Hope you enjoy it!

The Nana Visit:
So, my wonderful, amazing mother came into town and watched the kids for a couple of days while my husband and I had a little getaway in St. Louis. It was wonderful. The kids had a blast, too. My mom is an artist and a writer and a just-about-everything-elser (except a mathematician) and she kept them so busy! The did art projects and went to the store and painted pottery and made homemade erasers and got completely spoiled. Here is one of the projects that she did with them which I love. They started with the glass rocks that you can get from the Dollar Tree. She bought a little set of enamel paints. The kids painted a layer on the back of each stone and let it dry. Then they painted another layer and let that dry. Then, she painted a final solid coat on top of that. At this point I can't remember if she painted it with some sort of topcoat or not (sorry). Then, she super-glued some magnets onto the back.
We have some big magnet boards for the kids to hang their artwork on when we finally end up moving and redecorating their room. I think these will be so perfect there!

 Also, my Dear Mother stayed on for a couple days to help me tackle a couple of bigger projects. And, she picked us some beautiful wildflowers. Thanks, Mom.

Book Recommendation- Fanny by Holly Hobbie

Fanny by Holly Hobbie

Okay, if you have storybook aged kids, love to sew, or are just a little old fashioned, you will love this book! It's about a girl and her homemade doll. Fanny goes through some self-discovery while she learns to enjoy the work of her own hands. I like how she figures out that what everyone else wants doesn't necessarily need to be what she wants. It's exciting to imagine a 9 year old girl discovering this when most 30 year old girls are still struggling with it.

Then, if you like it, you'll probably also love the sequel, Fanny and Annabelle. This is more of an adventure in art and honesty, but it has that same genuine, old-fashioned girl vibe.