We’re no strangers to edible nests over here in our nest. A big favorite of ours is an edible nest we had at Wren’s first birthday party, which is also an Easter tradition in Chris’ family. So we had fun exploring some new-to-us edible nests this week thanks to some new ideas from The Artful Parent’s spring e-book. Why hello there again, sugar! Oof.
I also created a board over on my Pinterest page with more edible nests. Enjoy!
Have you been enjoying any special spring treats these days?
After three weeks of being under-the-weather and a long, flopsy-sick weekend, I really believe Wren is officially on the mend. She’s back to her charming self, exclaiming this morning in reference to her chapped lips, “it’s pothole season on my lips!” A little while later she blew her nose really hard and some blood came out on the tissue. “Mama, this is SO cool! I got to see blood come out of my body!” Yup, she’s ba-ack!
If you haven’t seen it yet, Wren and her Easter crafting were featured over on one of my favorite sites for art/craft inspiration: The Artful Parent! Click on over to see it. Hippity hoppity, Easter’s on its way!
Don’t mind the dirty windows… yes, that’s the sun shining through. Finally! We’ve started our Valentine’s Day crafting. I think it’s one of my favorite kinds of preschool crafting. Hearts don’t get old, do they? Pink! Glitter! Hearts! Yes, Wren is loving it.
I’m pretty sure I’m still finding glitter from our last Valentine’s Day crafting sessions… why not make more messes? The cleaning lady’s coming soon, right?! ha ha ha ha ha ha. Boo hiss.
The elves are busy elving away, one knit, one purl at.a.time. Slow going this elving is. But every time I open my e-mail and get a message that urges me to buy, buy, buy and owe, owe, owe, I pick up the needles for a loop. Or two. How is your elving going?
Lovelies, do you remember when I posted last February about trying knitting again? Well it didn’t go anywhere from there. Spring came and went, summer quickly came and went and here we are, fall. I have wanted to know how to knit so I would have a creative hobby I could take anywhere or have a hobby that was a good stress-reliever. Maybe one that would keep me out of the cookie jar so I could achieve my health goals. Ahem.
Well. Somehow it finally clicked for me. Another Mom offered to help a group of us learn to knit and it’s working! We’re working some “thick and quick” yarn on some circular needles. These two things are great for learning because I can see what I’m doing and it doesn’t feel like I have two left hands, neither of which work very well. I’ve almost knit enough for a scarf even though my goal was a cowl. I just keep going! I think I’m hooked, no pun intended.
I love learning new things and I love that the birdies are watching me learn something new. And there hasn’t even been much swearing this time around!
p.s. health update: I’ve lost about fifteen pounds. Yes, it’s been over six months since I started. Slow and somewhat steady…
This is a super simple Easter craft idea, but perfect for toddlers. Simply paint on their hand and two of their fingers and stamp their hand on the paper. Let bunny dry and attach some googly eyes. Just another reason to break out the googly eyes I say. Right?! We had a lot of fun with this one. Great for a last minute Easter card or decoration. The brown one below Wren said today was our esteemed Country Bunny. She painted my hand and stamped it on the paper. I have to admit, usually hand-print based “art” is just too cheesy for me, so either I’ve become extra cheesy or these are just really cute. Or I’m just way too sleep-deprived. Probably all of the above…
Happy March, lovelies. The strangest winter in northern Michigan continues its stretch of dreary, Slurpee-like conditions. Boo! But I have been determined to make an ice garland for our porch since last winter when I saw Two Chicks and a Hen’s ice garland and wanted to do something similar. I finally seized the day earlier this week when it was warm enough to be outside for a while with my two little birdies and make it AND cold enough overnight for the pieces to freeze. Yessss! But. Quickly the needle rose from 22 to 40 and the ice began to melt again before we could hang it up. Enter my parental improv skills! Because really, without improvisation, my parenting would be pretty lacking. It mostly consists of sugar bribes, empty threats, lots of creative messes and snuggles. With some Montessori-based living skills thrown in. Side note: my kid can cut with scissors and sharpen her own pencils, but I’m still negotiating getting those %$%^@!# poopy diapers off with a bucket of Halloween (!) candy. Sigh.
Oh yeah, the ice garland.
So we filled a bunch of muffin tins with water and practiced color mixing with drops of food coloring, took a bunch of fishing line and some (lead-free) weights to keep the line in the muffin holes and left them to freeze.
But when I lifted the lines to hang up, the ice chunks slid down, and they came crashing off. Wren looked at me and my inner voice said “shit!” but my outer voice said, “Let’s put the colored ice in jars and see how beautiful the colors are that you made!” Score.
And she sprinkled them with glitter too because, well, she’s REALLY into glitter right now. But there was quite a bit of colored liquid left in the tins… so we painted the snow!
And then Wren wanted to make a cho-cho train with the pieces… you go, girl!
And in the end, we had a few still stuck on a string we could hang up “for the cardinals” who like to find shelter in this bush.
In the end there was no real blog-worthy ice garland, but there were lessons learned in the power of attitude, enjoying the moment and the importance of improvisation. And beauty in the unknown, as you pour out the hopeful remains. It’s all gone today, washed away with more schlippity schlop out there, but we got to talk again about melting and freezing and there were lots of whys and wheres and whats and sparkles in her eyes with a new understanding of permanence as she tried to reassure me, “well, they’ll probably be back tomorrow, Mama. It’s OK!”
Wren is tickled that I’m trying to learn something new. Knitting! This photo is deceiving because I really only completed a few rows myself and my patient sister-in-law completed the rest for me, but it’s the most knitting I’ve ever done. I’ve attempted knitting at least three times over the last ten years and threw in the (wool) towel when things got too messed up and I didn’t know how to fix it or even cast on to start over. This time I’m going to complete this scarf, even if it will be too warm to wear it when I’m done…
Isn’t this “glazed carrot” yarn beautiful? It’s from Wool & Honey and it makes me smile. And feel cozy.
Learning anything new this year?
Last weekend I celebrated my 35th (!) birthday. One of my favorite surprises came in the form of a birthday letter written on three postcards that were transformed into a puzzle. Such a thoughtful gift with a fun activity for Wren and me. Bonus: the pieces were hidden in all the pockets of a funky orange bag, yesssssss. Why didn’t I think of this clever idea!? Because that’s what clever friends (thanks, Beth) are for, lovelies. Yes, indeed I will be stealing this idea and passing it on to other friends. You?