Pine Cone Bird Feeder Craft

Do you remember making bird feeders with pine cone and peanut butter when you were a child? I remember making them in kindergarten. I thought of this as an easy craft when we were desperate for something to do one afternoon while Pumpkin napped. The girls were wild and I had to get them out of the house so they wouldn't wake up their brother. It soon became one of the best afternoons we've spent together in a while. Being outdoors and exploring has a way of doing that to you: taking ordinary moments and making them extraordinary. The bird feeders were a big hit with Darling and Doodlebug, and ended up being free for us to make because I already had all the items on hand. Pine trees are so prolific here that they might as well be our state weed. Seriously, they are everywhere.

We started by exploring the vacant lot next door for pine cones. This ended up being 45 minutes of running, jumping, and general merry making. It was wonderful!

 

 

 

They gathered up tons of pine cones, and we made kind of a counting game out of it. See? You can squeeze some school in just about anywhere. We made quite a pile:

Then we had to separate the worthy pine cones from the unworthy:

Now for the messy part: the peanut butter! I found an unopened jar of Jiff peanut butter in the pantry that my mom bought an untold number of months (or possibly, years) ago. It has never been opened because I am a peanut butter snob and am particularly picky about peanut butters (and I'm comfortable okay with that label), so what better way to use it up than for crafting? I opened the jar, gave each girl a spoon, and let them go to town. It was a job which they took very seriously:

Next, we rolled the coated cones in bird seed.

It was pretty messy, but that's part of the fun!

Did I mention that it was messy?

And last of all, I used some crafting twine and my trusty hot glue gun to make hangers and, voila!

We hung them in a tree for the birds:

Happy Thursday!

Old Fashioned Bean Bag

I don't know why, but I love to browse through fabric. If I find a pretty fabric on sale, I always buy a yard or two, even though I never sew since I had kids. Consequently, I have lots of pretty fabrics on hand. Sometimes I just pull it out and look at it, and it makes me smile. I love that it's still completely untapped potential. I can make it into whatever I want it to be. And I think, "Someday, I will start sewing again.
Well, that day has not come, but I did whip this adorable bean bag for my girls to play catch with.

pretty calico print

soft chenille

 My girls LOVE beanbags. Actually, they absolutely love to throw whatever is in their hands, and I prefer that they throw beanbags. Bean bags are perfect for small children, because they are easier to catch and throw than a ball. The fact that there is no bounce or roll means they don't have to go running after it, and more time is spent throwing rather than chasing.

This bean bag is about 6 inches square finished, and I used two squares of polyester batting to make it sturdier. It is filled with actual dried beans (because that's all I had on hand), so it is not washable, but if you filled it with poly pellets it would be. This is going to be a stocking stuffer for my kids. If you have ever sewn before, you probably already have everything you need to complete this project for free, as I did. It took me about half and hour to make it start to finish, and I'm just a novice seamstress.

I realize that this is a super simple achievement, but it is my super simple achievement, and so I'm excited about it just the same!

Free Kid's Music

Have to share another link: Free Kids Music has high quality children's music to download for free for your personal use. The artists have released these songs as a promotion, hoping you'll go back and purchase the rest of their albums. However, all the songs shared are free and yours to keep-- and no subscription required. There are a lot of contemporary artists, but check out the "Traditional" section. There are a lot of songs you remember from your childhood, and they are very well done!

Lovely Links

I've been scouring the four corners of the internet recently, looking for educational/craft ideas. I have found that for my family, the best defense against toddler meltdowns is a well-stocked craft cabinet and a little imagination. This has led me to find some really fantastic blogs/sites that I just have to share.

First, The Rhythm of the Home. One of my friends from NorCal posted a link on her blog to this excellent online magazine. What wonderful ideas! It is specifically for families with young children, and from the articles I have read, has an unplugged childhood vibe, which is exactly what I strive to give my own children. Check out the blueberry pie recipe!

Next, Jump Into A Book. This blog has me completely inspired! It is exactly the kind of thing that I want to do for my kids to encourage a love of reading. I think it really makes everything come alive. Although my kids might be a big too young now, I'll be saving these activities and ideas for a few years down the road when we are ready for them, or maybe I can modify them to be more age appropriate.

Next, NotebookingPages.com. I read about the idea of notebooking a few years ago, and filed it away in my memory for later. Tons of freebies, but also lovely notebook sets that you can purchase to download and print. Lots of information on notebooking, too.

Along the same vein, DonnaYoung.org. FREE printable organizers, calendars, weekly curriculum planners, shopping lists, menu planners, the list goes on and on....If you are a mom, you may want to bookmark this one.

And store it all in a Mom Agenda folio. These organizers, planners, and calendars (with separate schedules for mom and up to four kids in one weekly planner!) are pricey, but are gorgeous, well thought-out, and just plain nice. I think they make a great gift for any mom who has suffered through losing all her contacts and calendars in a computer crash or phone upgrade, and wants to keep a paper back-up. Plus, free printable pages, and the planners and folios can be personalized.


For free children's books online, check out The Baldwin Project and The Rosetta Project.

For free classical music downloads, check out Classical.com. Get a new, free,  editor's pick album every week, plus unlimited online listening. You have register, but it is free (although there is a paid subscription option) and the albums are yours to keep forever.

And to expose your toddler to great music and audio books, check out the SweetPea3 MP3 player. I'm in love. It is childproofed (unlike that $400 iPod), and can be dropped and chewed on. It also has a speaker, so does not need headphones (which are very bad for your ears) but can be used with headphones when your children are older. These suckers also come pre-loaded with songs and audio books (20 in all, which is at least $20 of free stuff) and they only cost $60, but with a new Audible.com account, you can get them for $40 a piece. Just check out www.audible.com/sweetpea. Although I went ahead and bought one for each of my girls, I'm putting them away until Christmas. However, it's all I can do to not break it out of the box. They are just so darn cute!

Free Coloring Pages

Mommies of young children (or "kid-at-heart" adults), check out Coloring-Book.info for free pages to print and color. It has pictures from tons of animated kid movies and tv shows, including more obscure shows. All the classic Disney and Pixar films are represented, plus Curious George, Peter Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh and tons of shows I didn't even recognize (I don't let my kids watch live TV-- just pre-approved DVDs because I hate commercials marketed to kids).  It's well worth checking out!

And for the preschooler who needs a challenge, check out Color Me Masterpiece. Print out coloring sheets of famous masterpieces for you child to color, and teach them about art at the same time!

"And in Circle Time today, kids, we're going to learn about Raphael's Madonna and Child."