30 August 2011

books - ye olden tymes

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over the weekend thehobbit & i went through his books. the much needed culling was brought about by a certain toddler, who had taken to pulling the homeschooling books off one shelf in the big room, & tossing them. fun if you are the toddler, not so fun if you are the rest of us. in the going through, we found long-forgotten treasures. i thought i'd share a few.

* the forgotten crafts (pictured above) is a how-to for building things they way they did long ago, sans electricity. need a new rake? well this book will show you how to make one! honestly, i don't think this book was meant for kids, but thehobbit has always liked it. & no, he has yet to build me a rake. wretched boy.

* the american boys' handy book was definitely written with kids in mind. actually, only with boys  in mind - the book was originally published in 1882. many activities to fill their days with adventures great & small. 

* the american girls' handy book - you guessed it, for girls only. whilst the boy version is all out-of-doors adventure, the girl version focuses on activities to be done at home. i recommend letting your kids poke through the boy & girl versions. there's fun to be had in both.

* the dangerous book for boys is similar to the handy book. lots of activities that could bring about harm adventures. thehobbit says it's not as old tymey as the other. most likely because it was not written over 100 years ago, so was meant for kids of this age. still, great old tyme fun.

* the daring book for girls is one we do not yet have. i thought i should mention its existence, however. i can't have you thinking there wasn't a female equivalent. sad, all this time later, & still  we are separating boy fun, from girl fun. sigh.

there are more books i want to share, but that shall have to wait for another day. a certain wee elfling wants some snuggles :)

~peace.






27 August 2011

messing around

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please let me know if things look wonky to you. i began messing with my blog's template, whilst having a bit of a drink. :)

have a lovely one, do!
~peace.

26 August 2011

a chalkboard station for your toddler

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elfling  has been sick all week, forcing me to come up with alternatives to his beloved not quite a water park. like every other toddler on the planet, he loves coloring with chalk, so i set up an out-of-doors chalk station! it was easy to do.
1) move the chalkboard easel to the lawn.
b) stick a little table beneath it.
also) add the mug of chalk & an eraser.

brilliant of me, no? look at him up there, chalking away. for. all. of. three. minutes. he then took his mug of chalk on an adventure.

here we have chalk on a chair:


wait! is this the chalkboard?


nope. that was the shed.


& this would be the back of a bench.


let's make sure the steps are good & chalky.


we don't want the worm bin to feel left out, so let's make its table pretty.


ah, look. instead of encouraging the wee artist to use the chalkboard station, daddy-o & big brother drew on the patio.


it's a happy bench!


yes. he was going for the camera with that piece of chalk.

sigh.

i still think it is a fabulous idea. just not for my toddler. good luck with yours!

~peace.

24 August 2011

boot gnomies

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isn't this boot gnomie adorable? i used to make these for craft shows, but as i hadn't done a show in over a year, i had forgotten all about the wee fellas. this guy was found a few days back, buried in a jumble of felt scraps. he never did get completed - he still needs the space between his legs widened. let us pretend that didn't sound wrong, shall we? anyway, if you look at the photos below you'll see why.


he isn't meant to teeter so high above the boot. oh. i forgot to say what a boot gnomie is for. when you line up the family's (or class', etc) rain boots, you keep them in order by clipping each pair together with a boot gnomie. this not only keeps pairs together, but, in the case of large families or classrooms, each person can quickly spot his/her boots by the gnomie.

so you see, he should be lower down on the boot. also, he should not be on a boot, he should slip over one side of each. i have yet to find a clothespin that is wide enough, so have had to widen them myself.


don't worry. i make sure to stop short of their private bits ;)

~peace.
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