Annie Selke's Pine Cone Hill — by Guest Mom Allysha

Want to be a kid in a candy store for awhile today? Go on over to Pine Cone Hill, a company by Annie Selke, and spend some time looking around. Guaranteed, you will fall in love with something.

Available here. At trade shows here. You can learn more about Annie and her other companies here.

Sticky Wrapping Paper

I was just introduced to this new adhesive wrapping paper that Hallmark came out with. And I'm loving it. It's basically one big roll of sticky note — the entire backside surface is covered with a re-stickable coating. Brilliant. And available in some cute designs as well.

I wrapped up a package to see how the paper worked, and I definitely had to experiment with new wrapping techniques, although it was lovely not to have any tape on the package.

But my biggest instinct upon trying it out, was that wrapping presents is just one tiny application for this product. How would you use a giant roll of not-too-sticky, re-positionable paper?

I heart public radio — by Guest Mom Allysha

I am in love with public radio, it's true. I like to know what's going on. I like to hear thoughtful commentary and analysis. I'm not quite a political junkie, but I have my days. I have been known to argue with the radio on certain topics. (Who are you talking to, Mom? What is "ridiculous"?) And because it's good to know a few things about a few things I am going to share with you some of my favorite public radio shows.

Lest you think it's all serious on the public radio circuit, I will direct you first to WNYC's Soundcheck. The host, John Schaefer, who knows all things music (really, he covers every kind of music out there), did a show on those secret song-loves you may have, that are actually kind of embarrassing. John's embarrassing song? Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice. Now admit it — you groove a little bit if ever you hear that music play, don't you? You can listen to the show here.

And now, without further ado, I present to you the following:

Morning Edition & All Things Considered — If you're at all familiar with NPR, you know at least one of these shows, they bookend the day with basic and informative news coverage and good stories.

The Diane Rehm Show — While she covers all kinds of topics during the week, on Friday Diane gathers two panels of news experts for each hour of her show, one covering national news, and the other covering international news. Really fascinating.

Market Place — Accessible business news. Believe me, I know. I majored in English.

The Writer's Almanac — Garrison Keillor, of the wonderful radio voice, gives some historical background on the day's date, and then reads a poem. Good stuff.

On the Media — A program that a news junkie would love. News and criticism about the media and how it reports the news.

This American Life — What has become the quintessential radio documentary series. More often than not, it will keep you in your car long after you've pulled into the driveway.

Radio Lab — They only do something like 5 programs a year, but they are really cool and available for pod cast. Seriously. Definitely worth a listen.

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me! — Once you've informed yourself, then yes, this is the NPR news quiz. I'm not joking. It's really funny. And I have been known to clean my bathroom while shouting out the answers to the "listener limerick challenge" and the like. I know. Go and say it. I am kind of a nerd. But an informed kind of nerd.

Of course, this is not even a smidgen of what is offered by public radio. There is a veritable feast of information available to you on your radio or through the web. If you haven't already, you should really check it out.

fab image via fader

Sk*rt's Getting a New Name!!

Have you heard the rumor about sk*rt getting a new name? Well the rumor is true. And there's a fantastic contest going on where everybody gets to help choose the new name. And the prizes are big. A fancy new cord-free/hands-free phone. A Magic Bullet blender/food processor. And a free BlogHer Registration. That's over $700 worth of goodies.

Entering the contest, as usual, is as easy as pie. Just leave a comment here or here letting us know what your favorite choice is from the list of new names — or you can even suggest your own.

Enter as often as you'd like. But you've got to do it fast. Because the contest ends this Friday. As in day after tomorrow.

Readable Children's Books — by Guest Mom Allysha

“Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.”

So go the famous opening lines of “Winnie-The-Pooh” by A. A. Milne. I love the crew of the 100 acre wood, with an especial fondness for, I must confess, Eeyore, who is indeed woefully funny.

In college I took a class about writing children's books. It wasn't until I had children of my own, however, that I learned The Truth: many children's books are Quite Boring and Really Awful to read aloud. If you are a mother or father you know this. You know that the best kind of book is one the equally appeals to both parent and child. Which is why I like the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. My children like them. I like them. I have been known to keep the whole stack by my bed and chuckle to myself as I read through the lot. The two volumes of poetry, Now We Are Six and When We Were Very Young, if you aren't familiar with them, are as equally charming as the story books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner.

Some other books I enjoy reading to my children are:

Frog and Toad...(fill in the rest of the title here, because any Frog and Toad story will do). I like Arnold Lobels' amphibians for the same reason I like Winnie the Pooh. The stories are funny and accessible to everyone involved. In fact I think these are better stories for the younger set, and yet are equally suited to keep adults completely entertained.



The Rainbow Book of Nursery Rhymes by Sam Childs. I think this book is officially out of print, but you can still find it online. It's really beautiful. And utterly readable, as nursery rhymes are.



Drummer Hoff by Ed and Barbara Emberly. With gorgeous color woodblock print illustrations, this is a fun read. It can get kind of tongue-twistery, so don't hurry through too fast!

Ballerina! by Peter Sis. Simple illustrations. Simple story. But if you have little aspiring dancers at your house, they will really love this book. I always replace the little girl's name with the name of one of my daughters, and that is always a big hit.

Anyone up for some armchair traveling? — Guest Mom Allysha

I LOVE this photo blog, Portes et Fenetres (which is French for Doors and Windows). I stumbled across it while looking for pictures of France, where I lived for a year and a half. It is dedicated to photographs of interesting and lovely (you guessed it) doors and windows. The photographers, simply known as Guy fils, Julien, et Guy père (who, I'm guessing, are a father and his sons) capture some beautiful sites in France and abroad. I visit several times a week. It's an inexpensive way to travel.

Winner — Put Some Spring in Your Step! Giveaway

Thank you for getting your names in for the big Spring Giveaway. What cheerful comments you made — all 847 of you! So great. And do you know what else is so great? Getting to randomly pick the winner:

Leslie who said, "you have the best giveaways in town, hands down! thanks for the chance!"

What a lucky lady, Leslie! Congratulations. Please email me from the link on my blog and let me know you've seen this announcement — and then I'll put you in touch with the vendors so you can place your orders.

Thank you to the generous sponsors, My Sunset Road and Toby & Rei!

lotta jansdotter — by Guest Mom Allysha

I love notebooks.

I love notebooks, journals, and anything resembling such. My love of writing combined with my love of pretty paper products means that if I didn't have a decent degree of self-control, my house would be over-run with notebooks of all kinds.

Currently I have 6 (yes, six) different notebooks in regular use, with a few others on the side, including a sketchbook, planner, a notebook for blog ideas, and two all around catch-alls for thoughts, notes, lists, and then there is my actual journal...you get the idea.



A few years ago I came upon this flower journal. It's lovely, isn't it? It's designed by Lotta Jansdotter and I bought it right away. Lotta has some really great stuff; not just notebooks, and such. (And, actually, Gabby posted about tablecloth by Lotta here.)

If I were going for a contemplative day at the park I would bring the following:



This grass journal, to write in. The prika pencil case to keep my writing utensils organized. The sticky notes, because sticky notes are fun, and these are adorable. These cards to sent a sweet note to someone. And this tote, to carry it all in.

Simple Songs Designs

I was just introduced to Simple Song Design's etsy shop — full of fantastic stationery and office supplies. And now I count my self as a devoted fan (those to-do push pins won my heart!). I have to say I'm kind of embarrassed that her work is new-to-me, because she's totally a sk*rt editor.

Hable Construction Sample Sale

One of the many good things about living in New York: Sample Sales. The next one on my calendar is for one of my favorite homegoods and textiles lines, Hable Construction. Check out the dates, details and directions here. And I'll completely understand if you're tempted to plan your next trip around it.

Goodbye and Hello!

It was so delightful having Marie here last week. I love her simple and practical ideas for crafting with children. And I love knowing her is ideas have been tried and tested. Thanks for the great posts Marie. We'll miss and are excited to keep up with you at Make & Takes.

[ Moment of Silence. ]

And now that I've composed myself after that tear-filled goodbye, let me say Hello to this week's Guest Mom, Allysha. Hello Allysha!! Welcome. We can't wait to hear what you have to say.

I happen to have the honor of knowing Allysha personally — which is something that can only be said for a handful of my Guest Moms and Dads. And while I considered Allysha a friend long before we started blogging, I've gotten to know her so much better after reading her clever posts, that I feel closer to her now, then when she was my neighbor. So it's especially fun to introduce her to you. (Actually, she's a much better writer than I am, so I'll let her introduce herself.)



So, about me: I have a wonderful, brilliant husband named Ben, and four sweet kids (ages 6, 4, 2, and almost 1!) whose names remain anonymous on the web. (I am working on pseudonyms, but that's hard because I really like their given names. I'm half-way there though, just 2 more kids to name. Again. And I've only been blogging for just about two years now!)

It's been almost three years since Ben and I sold our plaid couches (everyone should own a plaid couch once in their life, and then promptly sell it when they get a chance) and moved out to New York. That's where I had the lovely fortune to meet Gabby. And it's been almost a year since we moved back from New York, so that Ben could teach documentary film at a university here in Utah.

Suffice it to say that our life is busy, busy, with work, a house full of little kids, and of course, blogging. I love to read and write. I like a clean house, but have learned when to let that slide. I blog at Bells On Their Toes about life, and at Just an Orange about other things. And I'm very excited to share some things here as Guest Mom this week. Thanks, Gabby!

Random Giveaway — Put Some Spring in Your Step

Aren't you itching for a Giveaway? I totally am. Spring Fever or something. So let's do it. How about a set of three pretties for Mom and a set of three pretties for baby? A little something to put some spring in your step. Because in my neck of the woods, the blossoms are on the trees and it's time to celebrate the fact that Spring has Sprung. Take a look at what one lucky winner will receive:



The Fleur Collection from My Sunset Road. retail value: $175.00
Earrings. Necklace. Ring. Gorgeous. What's the saying — April showers bring May flowers? Well it looks like the flowers arrived a bit early this year in the form of these gorgeous pieces. Don't they feel just perfect for Spring? My Sunset Road, and Courtney, the artist behind the jewelry, has such a fantastic aesthetic. The line is modern. But it feels totally handcrafted and organic. I love checking the site from time to time just to see what's new — so inspiring!



A new baby gift set from Toby & Rei. retail value: $90.00
This luscious eco-minded gift set includes a baby blanket, a onesie and a matching hat. For the blankets (made from a super-soft bamboo knit), choose from five gorgeous colors — natural, celery, pebble gray, chocolate and modern orange. For the onesie and hat, choose from four different cute graphics — robot, elephant, modern flowers and shark . I'm such a fan of Toby and Rei. Their knits blankets are the thickest and coziest I've seen. I sent my sister Jordan some of their lovely goods when Mr. Moses was born.

Now isn't this Giveaway just the perfect way to end the work week? A treat for you and a treat for baby. No baby? Then a treat for you and treat for your dear expectant friend's baby. Have fun commenting. And if you've got weather that's as good as the weather here in New York, I hope you get the chance to get out this weekend and enjoy it!

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Random Giveaway Guidelines:
-You have until midnight PST on Monday, April 28th to enter this giveaway.
-Just make a comment ON THIS POST to enter — any comment.
-Anonymous comments will be ignored/removed.
-One entry per person, please.
-The winner will be randomly picked and announced Tuesday morning.
-What are Random Giveaways? Read about them here.

More Swimsuits

Still swimsuit hunting. I've been all about the tankinis for the last few summers, but I'm feeling the one piece this year. I am in love with this ruffle-y one by Juicy Couture. It's pricey and would be a complete splurge for me, but isn't it gorgeous? I prefer it in blue, but am including the pink shot so you can see what the back looks like. This is the best modern take on a retro swimsuit I've seen. And all that ruching has to be so slimming.



I've tried on this custom one from Lands' End and it is beautiful. Very well-made (and good detailing) with fantastic fabric that keeps my tummy in check. And I love the greek-maze-like pattern — less boring than basic black, but doesn't draw too much attention. Possibly more low-cut than I want, but I'm so flat chested it hardly matters — there's nothing to see.

I'll let you know what else I find.

Great Kid Crafty Sites — by Guest Mom Marie

Thanks to Design Mom and all you fabulous readers for a wonderful week. I have enjoyed sharing some fun kid crafty ideas and tips. As I leave you, here are a few of my favorite Kid Craft resources that keep the creativity flowing. Check out these great websites and blogs, and you'll be filled with plenty of ideas to spark the kiddies imagination.

Kaboose
The Crafty Crow
Kids Craft Weekly
Family Fun
Scrumdilly-do
Creative Kids Crafts
The Artful Parent
Amazing Moms
My Kids Art
Soule Mama

And of course there's Make and Takes :) Enjoy!

Posh Peacock

The pretty tags, magnets and stationery at Posh Peacock have caught my eye. Designed by self taught, Boston-based artist named Christine. Yummy color.

Flip Video Camera

Have you seen these Flip Video cameras? I saw one on the Florida trip and I am coveting. Flip is a super straightforward video camera with no extra buttons or options to adjust, so you don't have to think too hard (that's my kind of technology). No video tapes or cords either. The cameras are small and sturdy.

Ben Blair grew up making super-cool movies with his friends whenever they had spare time and I'm thinking a camera like this would be a perfect way to introduce kids to moviemaking. Best part is the price: less than $120.

Want more info? There's an excellent review in the NY Times that I saw on sk*rt. Also. They are adorable. In black, white, pink and orange.

Excellent Templates

Oooohhh. Look what I found on sk*rt this morning. FREE templates for darling tags and labels. I realize that not everyone is a graphic designer, and coming up with the perfect little design details can be a challenge. Use templates like these to save the day. Just right for gifts or when you're throwing a little party.

Tips for Crafting with Kids — by Guest Mom Marie

At times it may seem overwhelming to craft with your kids. You may worry about glue dripping, scissors cutting things they shouldn't, or not having some of the basic craft essentials. Here are a few tips that can help you have fun crafting without the worry.

Basic Crafting Supply List — a few items to always keep on hand. Keep them in a clear plastic tub and label the front with what is inside. All the items should be available at your local craft store: glue sticks, white craft glue, child size scissors, pipe cleaners, crayons, buttons, art paper, tape, clothes pins, popsicle sticks, crafty eyes, felt, hot glue gun (for adult use only).

Glue Tips:
• I prefer to use glue sticks whenever I can. They are easy for the kids to use. Just make sure they put the cap back on tight or it will dry out.
• For white craft glue, pour some out onto a milk jug lid or yogurt lid. Give each child their own Q-tip to dip and paint the glue where needed. I like to let kids do things on their own, they need to learn sometime. Just be prepared with wet wipes or a rag for clean up.
• I will often use tape when glue is asked for, if I can. My kids are younger and much better at placing tape than using glue.




Cutting Tips:
• Start early practicing with scissors. Don't be afraid to let them try it. My 2 year old is obsessed with them, so I have to keep them up high for safety. Because she is excited and ready to use them, we practice.
• We use child size scissors. They usually go on sale during back to school sales.
• We practice on paper that is going to be recycled anyway. Sometimes I just let them cut away, and sometimes I draw lines for them to try to follow.
• For holding the scissors correctly, tell the kids to always give a "thumbs up".
• It may take a child until they are 6-7 years old to handle scissors. I highly suggest doing lots of practice at home, so they can be successful at school.




Taping Tips:
I just wrote a Taping Tips post that can help you when you want to display your child's work and you only have tape to use. It's an easy solution to the "tape tearing paper" dilemma.

I know there are many more Crafting Tips out there. Please share what you do to make things fun for crafting and easier on the clean up.

Who I met at Disney

So I know I told you that I was at a Disney retreat last weekend, but I wanted to recap what I did and who I met. The group of lovely ladies really was lovely. I hadn't met a single one before I went — hadn't really even gotten to know their blogs or websites. And this was true for all of us. So it was kind of a gamble on what the group dynamic would be like. Happily the dynamic was fantastic. It was a super-positive group that basically put out one billion kilowatts of happy vibes wherever we went.

Meet the Disney Bunch:
Amy of The Lady Bug And Her Blogging Mama & Mums The Wurd!
Amy of LIParentSource.com
Christine of Boston Mamas
Cooper of The Motherhood & Been There
Darcie of The Walt Disney World Moms Panel & Such The Spot
Elizabeth of Table For Five
Erin of Manic Mommies
Jennifer of Snapshot & 5 Minutes For Mom
Jennifer of The Mom Salon
Jo-Lynne of Musings Of A Housewife
Kim of The Walt Disney World Moms Panel & Stop A Moment
Kris of Clever Parents
Lori Seaborg of Just Pure Lovely
Mary Beth of Cheaper By The Half Dozen
Mia Cronan of Main Street Mom
Stephanie of Adventures in Babywearing
Tracey of Suburban Diva

Who had the foresight to put these fantastic group together? The brilliant Maria Bailey of BSM Media.


With Stephanie at the opening reception.

What did we do? Well basically, we experienced the DisneyWorld parks. But as VIPs. And with a camera man in tow. And someone else picking up the tab. Which was delightful.

There were no lectures or classes, but wherever we went we had access to different Disney experts, so we could ask them every possible Disney question under the sun. One day it was the staff member that covers food allergies and special needs diets. Another time it was the contact for budget trips at Disney. Another time it was a horticulture expert that told us about the grounds. And there were others. I loved having in-the-know staff members at my disposal, and it made for great conversations over dinner or dessert. (I should mention here there was a lot of food. A lot.)

Darcie, Me, Goofy, Jo-Lynne and Amy at Breakfast.

My personal highlights (besides meeting the wonderful women): riding Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Carribbean and that perfect retro specimen It's a Small World.


Also, they took us to Cirque du Soleil, La Nouba, on Saturday night. I knew I would like it, but I couldn't believe how much I liked it! During the show Maria and I were making guesses as to what it meant or what the story line was, and at some point we gave up and just tried to take in how fantastic and gorgeous the whole thing was. I love that there are minds out there that can conceive of such a show.

Last highlight — I love how women dress up for other women. Everyone was so glamorous!

In the limo with Maria and Elizabeth on the way to Cirque.

Most useful thing I learned: when planning a trip to DisneyWorld take advantage of the Disney Moms Panel. It's a totally free service staffed by Volunteer Mom Experts that have been to the parks one gagillion times. Two of them joined us on our retreat and their knowledge of DisneyWorld was encyclopedic. Anyone can go to the Disney Moms Panel site and submit a question and they'll get a real answer from a real person right away. Brilliant.

Rick Rolled

I don't think I've laughed this hard in awhile. Have any of you been Rick Rolled? I swear I'm the last to know about this but it just happened to me yesterday. When you least expect it, you might click on a video link about an interesting story and the link will instead take you to this classic Rick Astley video.

In fact, apparently on April 1st, Digg directed all of their featured videos, no matter what the title or description, to the video. You can read the Rick Rolled story here. Best prank ever.

And in case you weren't convinced of the mighty power of social media, check this out: because of all the Rick Rolling, Never Gonna Give You Up has been voted the official song that will be sung during the 7th inning stretch at all Mets Games. We are so going to a Mets game just to experience the awesomeness.

Shaving Cream Creations — by Guest Mom Marie

Kids love to get messy and Mom's like to keep things clean. Playing with shaving cream is the best of both worlds, getting messy and smelling clean.



For Shaving Cream Creations, we used our handmade placemats that we made for playing with play dough. Placemats work great at keeping the table free from mess and are laminated for easy clean up. By using some type of placemat, you will save your table from any damage and the clean up is a simple wipe up. If you don't have placemats, a piece of tinfoil, plastic wrap, or a vinyl table cloth would work great.



Any kind of shaving cream will do, even pink flowery cream from the shower. Then squirt a little pile for each child and let them dive in. Once the kids have had their fun making swirls and hand prints, we work on their writing and drawing skills. This activity is great for practicing letters and shapes, or writing their name.



We even added a little food coloring and talked about mixing colors. Use a spoon to stir the food coloring into each shaving cream pile, then the color won't get all over their hands. We mixed colors to make green, purple, orange, then mixed it all up into a big brown blob.



This is an easy craft to do with your kids. It explores their 5 senses in a fun and messy way. (Just be careful they DON'T use their taste sense on this one!)

Book of the Week — The Lorax

Book of the Week is usually on Thursdays. But this week's selection is oh-so-Earth-Day-appropriate that I'm bending all my hard and fast rules. (Oh the chaos!)

Adriana let me know last week about the new edition of The Lorax by Dr. Suess, that just recently came out. Random House published the new edition on recycled paper and there's even a website full of related activities. All in celebration of Earth Day.



If you're unfamiliar with The Lorax here's the short version: The Lorax is the person who speaks for the Trees. And when a new resident moves to town and greedily chops down all vegetation in site, the Lorax warns about what happens when you mess with Mother Nature. And clearly the story has some legs — it was written ages before our current Eco-Chic culture was born.

Happy Earth Day

Craving green today? Me too. To help you get in the Earth Day mindset, check out the fabulous sk*rt Young At Heart Contest. You can win a $400 Fuji Crosstown bike!! Because the only greener transportation than biking is walking. How to enter? It's easy: just leave a comment over on the sk*rt link or the sk*rt blog.

The Purpose of Play — by Guest Mom Marie

Most kids don't realize they're "learning" as they play. Most adults don't realize that kids are "learning" as they play. Playing for children is natural, helps them learn about the world, and supports their development.



Play comes in all shapes and sizes. Whether it is with cars, blocks, dolls, or dress-ups, your child is learning. Most of the time, they are learning to be adults. We drive cars, we build buildings, we have babies, and we dress-up as we go to a job. Children are simply mimicking what goes on in grownup life.



Through the website Bella Dia, I recently found Sir Ken Robinson's speech at a TED conference 2 years ago. Sir Robinson is a child advocate for creativity in the classroom and tries to help us understand the importance of keeping it alive. The video is 20 minutes long, but very entertaining and educational. He talks about the roll of the education system with creativity, but I think anyone can learn from this and encourage more creative in the home.

During one of my Elementary Education courses in college I learned this Ancient Chinese Proverb that really hits home: "Tell Me, I forget. Show Me, I remember. Involve Me, I understand." I have tried to live by this as it rings true for many things in life. I try to think about the "process" my child is involved with, not necessarily the final "product".

The new book, The Creative Family — How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections, has just come out by author Amanda Blake Soule. She's a great example of how to involve your child. She tries to involve her children in all areas of creativity, helping them learn and play at the same time.

Another great resource for Nurturing Creativity is Ginger Carlson's book, Child of Wonder — Nurturing Creativity and Naturally Curious Children. Visit The Artful Parent to find out more about Ginger in an in depth interview and a chance to win a free book.

Sometimes it can be overwhelming to find something creative to do with your children. Whether you're Mom, Dad, Grandparents, or friend, you can help encourage a child's learning through their play. Ask lots of inquiring questions. Talk about colors, counting, sorting, letters, rhyming. Find those learning moments with a child that will encourage their creativity even more. They are learning as they play.

DisneyWorld

I grew up as a diehard Disneyland fan. This sometimes surprises me because in my mind, the family I grew up in tended to steer slightly adrift of anything mainstream. But in reality, if we felt the mainstream event was well-done or culturally important we totally embraced it (think: the Olympics, Hands Across America, College Football Bowl Games, etc.). So we ended up at Disneyland a lot. A lot. And I only have happy memories associated with that place.

We had some definite traditions surrounding the park. We only stayed one day and we arrived before it opened. Mom took the toddlers or preschoolers on Casey Jr., which opened before the main park. And the older kids stood at the front of the line to race down Main Street — headed for Space Mountain — as soon as the park opened. Although you weren't allowed to run till you reached the end of Main Street, so when I say "race", I should really say "awkwardly race-walk".

The big kids met up with Mom and Dad at the castle at 12:00 for lunch and then again at the end of the day. The rest of the time we just explored the park. When we were hot or tired we picked rides like the People Mover, that had a short line, so we could relax and cool off. We loved Disneyland. We never got sick of it.

Disneyland was also part of my design education. I remember being 7 or 8 years old and standing with my mom at Disneyland, stowing our bags in a locker at the beginning of the day. She pointed out the detail in the displays — authentic vintage suitcases and travel accessories — even in a room as functional and non-event as the locker rental room. We discussed the term "mickey mouse", as in "the house I rent is mickey mouse, it's all held together with duct tape", and wondered where that term came from considering the absolute attention to detail that is so signature to Disney Parks. I remember studying everything. From the very low-tech effects in It's a Small World where glitter is the order of the day, to the up-to-date robotic distractions prepared for riders waiting in line for Star Tours.

Disneyland was, and still is in my opinion, a perfect fit for a big family looking to entertain kids of various ages. There's something for everyone. And they make it so easy.

A few years ago, when we took our then 3 children to DisneyWorld (my first East Coast Disney Park experience), we spent our 2 days at the Magic Kingdom (one of 4 parks that make up DisneyWorld), knowing it was sort of a Disneyland twin, and the experience was every bit a lovely as I'd remembered it growing up. Although the experience has changed since I was a kid — with child approved innovations like character breakfasts and mid-day parades. My little three loved it. So did Ben and I. And for the past 6 months we have been figuring out when we should take our now family of 7 back to Florida.

So you can imagine how delighted I was to receive an invitation to Disney's first ever Mom Blogger Mixer, held this last weekend. I met all sorts of lovely people and did all sorts of lovely things and found out all sorts of details to help plan our trip. I'll report on all those things tomorrow, because this post is already getting way too long. But I have to say how grateful I felt to be included. If you're curious for more info, you can read what one of my fellow attendees, the very clever Suburban Diva, has written up about our first day.

Live Butterfly Gardens — by Guest Mom Marie

When I was teaching Kindergarten a few years back, we did a Spring unit on butterflies. We read stories about them, made butterfly crafts, and even had a real live Butterfly Garden. I purchased a butterfly kit from the company Insect Lore. They sell and ship out live caterpillars with food and instructions for care. The kit comes complete with an enclosed habitat and live caterpillars. The caterpillars turn into Painted Lady Butterflies. After about 3 weeks, the butterflies emerge and spread their wings. We watched them flutter around for a few days after they hatched out of their crysalliss', then we watched them fly away.

Now that I have kids of my own, old enough to enjoy this amazing butterfly transformation, I am putting in my order this week for a complete Butterfly Garden. I can't wait to get our tiny caterpillars and watch as real butterflies emerge. It is quite a sight to see.

I have also found these Butterfly Gardens available at Target and Amazon. You will need to look to see if the "live caterpillars" are included or if you need to purchase them separately. Some kits come with coupons for the caterpillars to redeem later. Enjoy!

Haulina Pumps

Am I allowed to fall in love with shoes from the Jessica Simpson line? Because the Haulina Pump is fully tempting me. I love that the polka-dots are cut out — it makes them feel so summery. Nice work Ms. Simpson. (Note: they're on sale so size options are dwindling.)

Book Mooch

This weekend I was chatting with some friends about books. And how they can take over my house. I love books. Who doesn't? But sometimes the amount of books in my house can get out of hand and I have to box up a few dozen and drop them by the Salvation Army.

I just saw Book Mooch this morning on sk*rt. It's an online book swap service. And I'm thinking this would be a nice way to make sure that when I'm clearing out books, the especially good ones are going to homes where they'll be appreciated.

Tissue Paper Butterflies — by Guest Mom Marie

Now that Spring is in season, butterflies are out in full fluttery fashion. To celebrate their beauty, we're making some fun tissue paper butterflies.

Supplies for Butterflies: tissue paper, pipe cleaner, and scissors. That's it for this easy craft.



Collect any tissue paper you have in your house. Mine is all bundled up in my gift wrap area. I let the kids pick 2 colors of tissue paper to make each butterfly. Depending on the size of butterfly you want to make, you can cut your tissue paper in half or in fourths.



Next, pinch your tissue paper together in the middle. Using your pipe cleaner, start in the center and wrap it around the tissue paper once or twice where you pinched. You should have 2 sticking out ends of pipe cleaner. You can keep them straight or curl them with your finger for it's antenna.



Your done! Now you can attach some string to the center of the butterfly and hang them from your ceiling or on the wall. Ours are going in the playroom for display so we can watch the butterfly's fly up high.



Here are a few more Crafty sites that are fluttering with Butterflies crafts:
Sea Shell Butterflies
Drink Like a Butterfly
Clever Caterpillars
Butterfly Mobile
Butterfly Punch Collage

Say Hello to Marie!

It's Monday morning. Maybe the best Monday morning ever. Because I'm all re-energized after my solo weekend. Plus. It's Spring Break here — my kids have all this week off of school and the weather is fine. I'm envisioning lots of bike riding this week and maybe some good field trips.

Best of all, talented and creative Marie from Make & Takes is here — and she'll be with us all week. Which is going to be fabulous, because I'll be needing wonderful craft/project ideas to keep my kids engaged and happy while they're out of school. Marie is especially good at coming up with simple projects that even small kids can really make and participate in.

Here's a quick introduction from Marie so you can get to know a bit of what she's all about:

"I'm a 30 year old stay at home mom, who loves to "make and take". I have one great and handsome hubby, and two beautiful kids. You'll see my kids in the projects I feature a lot, as they are my guinea pigs and who I am creative for. Before life as a mother, I graduated with a teaching degree in Early Childhood & Elementary Education, after which I taught four years of Kindergarten. After my first child, I decided to read books and sing silly songs at home. I miss the classroom, but I now get to bring the fun and learning into my home.

I'm excited to be a guest mom this week. I hope to inspire you with some fun and easy crafts for the kids, as well as lots of reasons to be more creative in your home. Thanks for letting me come and play."

Welcome Marie! We're delighted to have you.

Heading South

I'm heading to Florida this morning for the weekend. Just me. No kids. Not even Ben Blair. I'll be back Sunday night and check in again on Monday with all the deets.

It's supposed to be in the 80's while I'm there and it has been delightful to pull out my summery clothes from off-season storage. Nice to see some cute things I'd forgotten about — this is always a happy thing about the change of seasons. Fun to put together outfits and pack up.

Have a great weekend!

photo via Martha

Book of the Week — In A Blue Room

This is a new book at our house. In a Blue Room by Jim Averbeck with illustrations by Tricia Tusa. And it's already showing a bit of wear and tear from all the loving and handling and reading.

A story about bedtime that's a perfect bedtime story. Very calming and engaging. And not-too-long (which is crucial at the end of the day when I. Am. Worn. Out.)

Alice, who only likes blue things, is trying to fall asleep, but is having a hard time of it. Her mother brings her lovely things that engage all 5 senses, but alas, those things are not blue — until the Moon works it's magic.

The illustrations are charming and graceful with lots of little details. I especially love the image of Alice taking a deep breath of the gorgeous flower arrangement. My kids love this book.

Matilda Jane Clothing

I think the Matilda Jane clothing line is adorable. And I like the story behind the clothing even more. A mom, who was not a trained fashion designer, just decided to go for it. Experimented. And made it happen. Now she's built this amazing and expanding company.

I love that she says, "I wish I could say I started because I could not find any cute clothes for my kids, but surely that is not a problem. The world is filled with talented designers." That attitude is the way to go — no excuses, and no reason to feel competitive with someone else's success. Just get out there and join in.

Cheap + Easy Wall Art

Very cool! Jennifer Judd-McGee, an artist in Portland, took one of her commissioned works, pictured above, and made it into a giant wall cling for her daughter's room. (Apparently, her daughter had become attached to this particular work of art and was a bit sad to see it go to a client.)

The oversize vinyl cling looks terrific:



It has me thinking up other applications for this smart technique. You can find out just how she made the vinyl cling at Jennifer's blog. And don't you think her daughter's bedroom is adorable?! I'm thinking I should inquire and see if she'd be willing to do a house tour.

Thanks to Linda from Maine for sending the link!

Joel Dewberry Fabrics

Oh look! I've just found my new favorite textile designer. His name is Joel Dewberry. And his designs are gorgeous. Like really gorgeous. Like I need to order a swatch book gorgeous. You can find his fabrics at these shops.

I know I've mentioned it at least 10 times, but I'll say it again: I adore pretty fabric. Textiles are probably my very favorite graphic design application. When asked what I want to be when I grow up, I still answer "a textile designer".

Okay. I'd better sign off for the day. I need to go have a daydream about designing a line of home products for Target using J. Dewberry fabrics.

Paper Valise Provisions

Beautiful Annie sent me the link to Paper Valise Provisions. And it is a treasure trove! Little bits of paper and metal and whatnot to compliment or authenticate your next project.

Mostly, just a fun site to explore. French day-of-the-week labels. Library due date cards. Vintage tickets and price tags. Crystal headed pins. Lockets. Sequins. All sorts of ephemera. I'm completely fascinated with the site. And want to marry it.

I think I could take almost any item they carry and build a whole party or event around it. I better warm up my glue gun and sharpen my scissors. . .

Little Baby Company

I discovered another great online baby boutique. It's called Little Baby Company and I think that whoever put the collection together has great taste and style. They stock lots of long-time favorites and a several items that were new to me. Like this Birds of a Feather mobile. And this gorgeous splurge of a ride-on Saab Roadster.

Tina Fey

Did you see Tina Fey on the cover of Entertainment Weekly? What a babe! I have such a girl crush on her. I think she's brilliant and I can only cheer her on in her success. You can read the article here.

I felt tears of joy well up in my eyes last Thursday when I realized the dvr had recorded a new episode of 30 Rock.

Ask Design Mom: Bike Ideas for a 9-Year-Old

Ask Design Mom Question:
Dear Design Mom, I have a daughter turning 8 on Friday! She has outgrown her 16" wheel bike, and is ready for an upgrade. We took her to the local bike shop on Saturday, and they recommended either the 20" or 24" wheeled models. The brands were Specialized and Gary Fischer. We don't know much about bikes, but the 24" one looked massive. I'd love some input from you and your experienced readers on what size, model, brand we should buy for her. She has a younger brother and a boy-ish outlook, so nothing princess-y or pink. We were looking up kids' beach cruisers online, and we love the looks of them but wonder if she needs something with gears. Help! Thanks, Sara

Design Mom Answer:
Oh my. The image of an eight-year-old girl heading down the road on a summer day — riding a beach cruiser — is pretty fantastic. But I don't know a thing about gears and bike sizes. Brilliant readers, what advice do you have for Sara?

Also, I know she's not too girly, but one of these bike baskets by Design House Stockholm would make a great accessory. The color choices (black, green and white) and plastic-ness offset the femininity of the lacy.

Kideko Bedding

Have you seen the cute bedding at Kideko? Well-designed, with simple graphics, that would be easy to work with when you're putting a room together. These seem like they would have special appeal for older kids transitioning from a young child's room to a big kid's room.

Winner — Girlicious Loot Giveaway

Three cheers for Girly, frilly stuff. And three cheers for the winner:

Abbie who said, "Perfect for my little girl. But I might just keep the bag for myself."

Oh my goodness, Abbie! You will have so much fun receiving all these great prizes. Please email me from the link on my blog and let me know you've seen this announcement — and then I'll put you in touch with the vendors so you can place your orders. Thank you so much to everyone for participating — and having such nice things to say about the generous sponsors.

A big thanks to Shy Girl Designs, Sweet Funky Vintage and Robin's Egg Pink!

Block Prints

My sister-in-law has gone into artsy-craftsy-super-mode since baby Hank was born. Awesome! After making a beautiful quilt and an adorable series of socks-turned-stuffed-animals, she moved onto block prints — and listed them in her etsy shop. My favorite is the Olive Tree.

What? You love it too? Well you're in luck. You can win one this week over on Liz's blog.

Color at Pottery Barn

There is more color in the recent Pottery Barn catalog than I think I've ever seen from them. First the Jell-O. Now this. I can't get enough color right now.

Allen Ave. Diaper Bags

I like the look of these don't-look-like-diaper-bags diaper bags by Allen Ave. Very glossy. They seem like a good fit for a metrosexual sort of Dad.

Air & Space

Our weekend in D.C. was terrific. I love that town! Something I hadn't seen before: a new branch of the Air & Space Museum located outside the city in Herndon. The facility was massive and gorgeous and chock full of shiny aerospace specimens — including a Space Shuttle, a Concord and the Enola Gay. It was a perfect field trip for school age kids. In fact, the entire city is a perfect field trip for school age kids.

I'll try to report more later. In the meantime, check out these darling posters designed by Robin Rosenthal (a former Martha Art Director). Love the alphadots. Love the chicadees. A great addition for a pre-schooler's bedroom.

Random Giveaway — Girlicious Loot

Since the last Giveaway was for a baby boy's bedding set, I figured today would be a good day for a girly giveaway. Not that you have to be a girl to enter. Or to be the mother of a girl. Basically if you know any females, you're good to go — enter away and be confident that when you win, you'll find the right home for these lovely goodies. Take a look:



Two Afternoon Tea Jackets. One for Mom. One for daughter. From Robin's Egg Pink. retail value: $93.00
How adorable are these? And how great that they're handmade and sold in an Etsy shop — it's always charming to shop close to the source of the creation. I love these Afternoon Tea Jackets. I think the name is lovely. I think the fabrics are lovely. Which reminds me: the winner's jackets will be in the gorgeous Amy Butler fabric, Fleur de Cerise, pictured. And they're available in 2T, 3T or 4T for the child's jacket and a small or medium for the women's size. Perfect for Spring. Too cute!


$100 Certificate to Sweet Funky Vintage.
Haven't heard about Sweet Funky Vintage? Well here's the scoop. Customers can mix and match their styles and fabrics to create something of their own design. That's right. You get to design a child's outfit — how Tim Gunn of you! You'll have $100 to work with. And since their prices are quite reasonable, you'll be able to design 2 to 3 pieces. Extra Bonus: Sweet Funky Vintage has offered 15% off to Design Mom Readers for their first order. The coupon code is designmom15. Plus, if you sign up for their mailing list, you'll get an additional coupon for a 10% discount to be used on a future purchase. Nice.


A Playground Purse and Coordinating Clippie from Shy Girl Designs. (retail value $20.00+)
Could this purse be any sweeter? And it's available in several fabrics — winner's choice. Let your daughter/niece/neighbor pick the fabric and it will absolutely make her day. Then surprise her with the bonus and adorable clippie. Yay! And don't miss their other purse choices. They offer six in all. I love this little company and their darling website.

Aaawww. These prizes are so girly and cute. I can barely handle it.

We're off with the kiddies to D.C. for the weekend. We promise to wave to the Lincoln Memorial especially for you. Have a great weekend! Happy commenting! Happy Spring!

-------------

Random Giveaway Guidelines:
-You have until midnight PST on Monday, March 14th to enter this giveaway. OOPS! I mean April 14th.
-Just make a comment ON THIS POST to enter — any comment.
-Anonymous comments will be ignored/removed.
-One entry per person, please.
-The winner will be randomly picked and announced Tuesday morning.
-What are Random Giveaways? Read about them here.

Rainbow Jello

Is it the warmer weather? Because I'm totally craving Jell-O. Look at this pretty rainbow stuff. Only three flavors, but the color wheel does it's thing and makes the whole spectrum. Mmmm. I bet my kids would love to make this.

College memory: the Design Department held a big party for National Jell-O Day. Everyone wore nametags that said Hell-O. Oh-so-edgy for my very conservative university.

found on sk*rt

Plus-Size Maternity Wear: What's Out There? — by Guest Mom Lindsey Rose Johnson

(image via Flickr)

As a plus-size pregnant mom, I've had my share of troubles finding flattering, cute maternity clothes. Do they exist? Well, yes and no. I don't think clothing manufacturers are all the way there yet. I can't even count the hours I've spent looking. You've got everything from stores like Gap and Old Navy to independent companies selling tent dresses. I want to see other major clothing manufacturers make cute, stylish clothes for us bigger gals.

What's true is that every woman whether Size 0 or Size 24, wants to look and feel beautiful, especially during those long 9 months of pregnancy.

For me, I've found that I like simple, classic pieces that I can use casually or when I need to dress up. I have especially loved buying skirts with a drawstring waist. I have two linen skirts I have worn through all my pregnancies that are comfortable and allow for growth. (And bonus — they've lasted through many washes.)

I really like this maternity shirt from Old Navy, available up to XXL. Clean lines, but room for a belly. And not too low-cut, a problem I see all the time in plus-size maternity wear.

I've been able to get away with not buying tent dresses by buying a size or two larger than my pre-pregnancy size. I find I can usually wear those clothes for nine months and a little while afterwards. Some plus-sized clothing manufacturers make their pants with elastic waist bands — that comes in handy.



This shirt from Liz Claiborne, though not maternity, would work for awhile to give an expanding tummy extra room, while still being stylish. And I think it's darling. (It also comes in dark gray.)

Another option is the BellaBand, which I'm sure every pregnant woman knows about. I'm getting ready to order a few for myself now that I'm starting to enter the bigger belly stage. BellaBands range in size from 0 to 24+.

Other sources for plus-size pregnant moms:
-Gap and Old Navy (also check out the plus-size section) offer maternity clothes up to size 20.
-Ann Taylor Loft Maternity just added more sizes and has darling clothes up to size 18/XXL. -Plusmommaternity.com: Plus size maternity tops. Sizes XL - 6X.
-How to find plus-size maternity wear — BabyCenter
-JCPenney Plus-Size Maternity Department
-Motherhood Maternity Clothes, Maternity Clothing and Maternity Accessories On-Line
-H&M

If you live outside of the U.S., H&M offers a great plus-size line of clothing called BIB. Most U.S. stores carry the H&M Maternity line. Do a search by country. I bought several of my favorite maternity items from the H&M BIB line when I was traveling in Norway. Some countries also have an online store.

-KarensMaternity.com — Clothing Coupons & Shopping
-Plus-size-pregnancy.org — Maternity Resources FAQ Index
-Pregnancy Weight Gain: What's Healthy?

Book of the Week: 365 Penguins

I heart this oversize picture book. 365 Penguins by by Jean-Luc Fromental, illustrated by Joëlle Jolivet. Everyday for a year a new penguin arrives at one family's home, beginning on January 1st.

Why are they coming? Who is sending them? We find out on New Year's Eve when Uncle Victor, the ecologist, arrives. And while we await the answer, there's lots of math and sorting and organizing happening — and plenty of space on each oversize page to showcase the penguin havoc as the popular increases.

The flat illustrations in black, white, orange and blue are beautiful and fit the story perfectly. A great addition to your child's library!

Burp Armor

Designed by a Dad — and with name as manly as Burb Armor, it's no surprise. Made of organic cotton and hemp. Good-looking. Triple-thick. I haven't tried them, but they look extremely stay-put functional. You can imagine their genesis: tired mom, wearing spit-up covered t-shirt, holding baby. Dad enters room and thinks: must find problem to solve. Spots spit-up covered shirt and gets to work making sketches for a burb cloth that's strong enough for a man, but made for a baby. Love it!

If you happen to have a spitter (and you'll know if you have one), good burb cloths really do become essential. These look as if they're industrial strength.

Washing Dishes With Style — by Guest Mom Lindsey Rose Johnson

Okay. Seriously — how cool is this automatic soap pump?



When my hands are covered in chicken guts, I don't want to be touching anything until my paws are nice and clean. I love, love, love this Simplehuman Sensor Soap Pump (available from Crate and Barrel or these retailers).

Moving along to sponges. . .

I love my regular old Scotch Brite sponges, but these Scrubby Sponges from The Container Store are positively fetching.



Tired of your boring dish drainer? I know I am.

Check this out--



I don't even know what to say. It's so cool and hip. This is the Dish Doctor Dish Drainer I found over at my new favorite kitchen-related blog, Apartment Therapy NY (a.k.a. The Kitchn).



Yesterday as I donned my yellow latex gloves, I imagined that I was really pulling on a pair of these lovely Couture Dish Gloves from Glovables. I first saw a similar pair at my husband's cousin's home last November. Find other colors and styles here.

Looking for something similar? Check out these Ruffled Dishwashing Gloves from Elizabeth's Embellishments.

The sponge gloves (pictured below) were featured in Real Simple last year. I kind of like them. What do you think? I mean, if Real Simple likes them, then I'm pretty sure I do, too.



When I posted about my favorite dishwashing accessories over on Cafe Johnsonia, several of my readers left comments suggesting I try this lavender dishwashing liquid from Seventh Generation.



After all, isn't "going green" the most stylish thing going right now?

WSJ

There's a little newspaper that's printed around here. (You may have heard of it. It's called the Wall Street Freaking Journal.) Anyway. It just wrote up an article on Dooce. And. The article listed 10 Top Motherhood Blogs — including mine! My day has officially been made.

Shout out to Ben S, who reads the WSJ every morning, and sent me an email about the article. Also, thank you to the Bloggess for sending me the online link.

I'm now going to turn on this and dance around my house.

Perfect Playhouse Contest

There's a terrific contest going on at Coochicoos that I totally want to get my kids involved in. And you should totally get your kids participating as well. A perfect kid contest. A perfect rainy day project. Here are the deets:

"Coochicoos is having a Perfect Playhouse Design Competition to find out how children would design their perfect playhouse. Ask your child "what's your perfect playhouse" and let them present their designs in any way or in any medium they want. We have two age categories — six and under and ages 7-12. Deadline for submittals is April 25, 2008. Winners and notable entries will be published on Coochicoos with prizes to the top three entries in each category."

And the prizes are pretty rockin. Ralph will be all over this contest. So will Olive. Maude won't care so much and will concentrate on perfecting her back-walkover.

Patterned Swim Wear

So many pretty patterns and colors in the swimwear at Athleta. And everything cut kind of sporty and athletic — lots of T-backs and bottoms with decent coverage. In another life, I plan to be someone who enjoys sports.

Is it time to think swimwear already? I'm on the hunt. I'll share my best finds as I find them. . .

Dorling Kindersley Touch & Feel Picture Cards — by Guest Mom Lindsey Rose Johnson

I wish I could take credit for finding our four packs of DK Touch & Feel Picture Cards. They came from Grandma and Grandpa and are quite possibly my favorite gift they've sent. I know you're going to want some of your own because my friends ask me all the time about them. Let's take a sneak peek inside the boxes:

One of my favorites is Numbers and Counting. (Especially the four butterflies card.)



The pictures on the cards are beautiful and each one has a touch and feel area.



There are cards that kids can compare.



On the back of each card are questions for the parent/care giver to use to help the child think about and learn from. I really love that each card has a "Can you say (blank) in these languages?" section.



The shapes are fun because easily recognized objects are used. When we use these flash card, I have my daughter look around the room to find other objects that are the same shape.



Another favorite is the Animals pack. There are four categories — Farm (green border), Zoo (orange), Pets (yellow), and Sea (blue).




Included in each pack is a note to parents and caregivers. I've appreciated reading this card and thinking of new ways to use the flash cards — matching, putting into categories, etc.




Available card packs:
First Words (My kids love this one so much — they are so chewed up I didn't even bother taking any pictures of them.)
Colors and Shapes
Numbers and Counting
Animals
Things That Go (we need this one)
Bible
Farm

Turtle Papers

Oooooh. Pretty stationery from Turtle Papers. Based in Seattle and created by a husband and wife team.


Cara Mia = My Darling

Coral Camellia

I think the colors and patterns of the Coral Camellia line are just lovely. Lots of texture and detail. Some of the fabrics are so sophisticated, but the pieces themselves seem child-like. The little coats and jackets are especially charming. The aesthetic definitely seems not-east-coast (refreshing!) to me and I wasn't surprised to hear the designer is based in Colorado. Beautiful work.

I think my kids would love wearing something from this line — that they would recognize the clothing was unusual and extra-special. Let us hope that the line grows to include sizes above 5T — so many of the pieces would appeal to older children.

Painted Wooden Dolls — by Guest Mom Lindsey Rose Johnson

Every once in a great while I start to get the itch to unearth my crafty side. While this may surprise a few of my friends, I actually do craft sometimes. (I even own a glue gun — and a lot of felt.)

A few summers ago, while browsing the craft booths at an all-day festival called Swiss Days in Midway, Utah, I came across the most delightful, darling wooden dolls and blocks. They were painted in lovely bright colors with stripes and polka dots.



They were the kinds of toys I dreamed of buying for my sweet daughter. Yet, I only bought four little painted people--two of which have become residents of the black hole underneath the fridge. The last two (pictured above) now only have each other for companionship.

Any day now I'm going to get around to painting my own. Any day now. . .

I did get as far as looking online to see if I could find that awesome company--surely operated by some equally awesome moms. No luck.

However, I did come across some pretty great substitutes/examples of what I'd like to make over at everyone's favorite place (other than Design Mom), Etsy. Yay for Etsy!

These darling ladies from Relentlesstoil's Etsy Shop are my absolute favorites. How cute are they? I want one of each.



1. Blue with white flowers, 2. Orange with white flowers
3. Pink with purple flowers, 4. Dark pink with yellow flowers

I also found this darling Fairy Angel Doll from LoveBoxes.



And some painted wood families from Gemmilou's Etsy Shop.



1. Custom Order 2. Mama and Children-7,
3. Mama and Children-6, 4. The Wood Family-12

And painted people of all shapes and sizes from Love Monkey's shop.



But, I still really want to try my hand at painting my own. I don't know how they'll turn out, but I'll love them just the same.

You can buy your own unpainted dolls from Gemmilou's shop.



1. Four Little Boys, 2. Little Girlfriends, 3. The Wood Family, 4. Best Friends

Now I just need to buy some paint. . .

Creative Charlie

Every once in awhile I get an email from a mom that swears she isn't creative. That she doesn't have a creative bone in her body. Of course I don't believe it. Everyone is creative. But if you need a little art-supply-jumpstart you may want to check out these project kits by Creative Charlie. Boxes full of all the supplies you need to make hats, jewelry, t-shirts — even a box for rainy day projects. Brilliant.

Oh! Idea: someone like this week's Guest Mom, Lindsey, should market kits like this with cooking supplies for kids.

The Felt Food Craze — by Guest Mom Lindsey Rose Johnson

Have you joined the felt food craze?

A few weeks ago while I was reading one of my favorite craft blogs, Make and Takes, I was drawn to these adorable felt sugar cookies.



I went right out the next day and bought as much felt as I could so I could make my very own. Unfortunately, all of that felt is still sitting in my craft box. (I'll get to that eventually, too.)
Marie, the talented and crafty mom behind Make and Takes, did us all a favor — she also posted a splendid tutorial complete with pictures so we can make our very own!

One of Marie's readers was inspired by the same post and posted a picture of her own felt gingerbread cookies. They are just as darling.

As I was at Michaels buying felt, my daughter helped me compile a list of other felt food we could make. Then I headed on over to Etsy once again to see what other inspiration I could find.

I was stunned by the infinite pictures of felt food I found. And every time I go back, there are even more examples and more things to buy.

Here's a few of my favorites:


Pepperoni Pizza from Vivikas


Poptarts from Sweet Confections


Stone Soup Veggies from ForEvelyn


Complete Breakfast from PinaKoala


Cafe Deli Sandwich and Chips from DoodleBugFinery


Fruit Slices from Umecrafts (instructions and patterns available, too!)


Pasta with Shrimp from GoBuggy

Feel inspired yet? I surely do. But if you need more inspiration here are some links worth checking out:

Ask Design Mom: Felt Crafts answered by Cindy from Skip To My Lou
Lilly Bean Market
The Handmade Felt Food Pool on Flikr
Retroragswi's Felt Food
Play Food from Mahar Drygoods
Have You Felt Food? from The Land of Nod

And, this book will be available in June 2008:


My Favorite Felt Sweets by Joie Staff

Cozy Little Owls

In case you've been needing a cozy little owl in houndstooth or plaid, b. delicious has you covered. Just right for a bookshelf — what a wise old owl sitting next to those books!

Kids in the Kitchen — by Guest Mom Lindsey Rose Johnson

Because I am a mom who loves to cook, it is important to me that I teach my children how to cook.

For me, it has been a little hard to relinquish my kitchen to my three-year-old who more often than not flips flour all over the floor...

Yet, as I've started to do this with my little girl, I'm realizing just how much kids can benefit from being taught how to cook and spending time in the kitchen with mom and dad.


Sous Chef Baking Set from Sur la Table

Depending on the age and maturity of the child, they can learn myriad things from cooking:

1. Math skills — fractions, time, measuring, counting
2. Seeing a process from inception to finished product — planning and getting ready to the execution of a recipe, followed by cleaning up
3. Reading, following directions
4. Food and general safety — being careful to stay away from fire and hot pans, cutting with knives (older kids) or staying away from them (younger), proper hand washing techniques, what to do in case of a fire
5. How to use their senses — especially taste, smell, touch
6. Working together and helping
7. Pride in their own work
8. Simple biology and food science — how things grow, chemical reactions (vinegar and baking soda, for example), where milk and other foods come from (sugar, flour, fruits and veggies)
9. Eating healthy and taking care of their bodies
10. Making decisions (i.e. what to do next, what to have for dinner, etc.)
11. Motor skills — especially fine motor
12. Good recycling habits for food containers (check your local recycling rules)

Baking is a wonderful way to introduce your child to the kitchen. There are quite a few simple things kids can help with. As they become older or more advanced, the things they can do will change.

Some things kids can do:

1. Measuring and placing liquid or dry ingredients into the bowl



2. Whisking or stirring ingredients



3. Washing dishes afterwards



4. Getting ingredients and tools out of the cupboard, pantry, fridge, or drawers.
5. Rolling out dough



6. Making balls of dough — bread, cookies, etc.
7. Taste testing — Does it need more salt? Is it too spicy?
8. Using cookie cutters



9. Placing cookies or biscuits on the pan



9. Greasing pans with brushes (we call it "painting the pans")



10. Setting the timer
11. Peeling vegetables (older kids)
12. Tearing lettuce for salads
13. Washing fruits and vegetables
14. Decorating cookies or cakes
15. Wiping off the counters and table
16. Throwing things in the garbage
17. Planting a garden and helping to take care of it afterwards — watering plants, weeding, etc.



18. Picking fruits, vegetables, and herbs (check PickYourOwn.org for local farms that allow patrons to pick their own produce)
19. Help with grocery shopping — let them choose some healthy things that they like
20. Meal planning

Good things to make with kids:
1. Pizza — kids can place all the toppings on the pizza
2. Bread, rolls, and biscuits — let them help knead and roll dough into balls
3. Cookies and cupcakes (not so healthy, but very fun)
4. Salads (grown ups do the cutting/slicing, kids do the tossing)
5. Popcorn
6. Lemonade — my daughter loves to squeeze the lemons
7. Sandwiches — let them use a butter knife to spread peanut butter on the bread, or let them layer deli meat and cheese

Other fun things to do in the kitchen:
Jell-o Cell Model
Homemade play dough (Design Mom posted about it here.)
Make Your Own Volcanoes
Make Your Own Butter (heavy cream in a baby food jar and shake)
Inedible Art Supplies
Kitchen Magnets

Other Links:
Age Appropriate Kitchen Tasks from RealSimple.com
Williams-Sonoma Kids
Kids in the Kitchen from ChefTools.com
Ideas for Vegetarian and Vegan Kids from In a Vegetarian Kitchen
16 Kitchen Safety Tips for Children from JustMommies.com
"Why Teach Kids Cooking Activities?"from Kids Cooking Activities (great links on the sidebar)

What's your favorite thing to do in the kitchen with your kids?

Welcome Back Lindsey!

Good Morning Friends! I'm back at my desk after the lovely sk*rt week. There were meetings and parties and lots of good conversation and I loved every bit of it. This week looks to be equally satisfying. Mostly because we have an amazing Guest Mom with us. Her name is Lindsey and she's smart and talented and a dear friend. Lindsey has been here before — in fact, she's back again by popular demand — we can't seem to get enough of her. Here's her greeting in her own words:



Hello, Design Mom Readers! I'm so happy to be coming back as a Guest Mom this week. Just to let you know some things about me — I am a/an:

Wife to a Librarian/Part-time College Professor
Stay-at-home mom to two (soon-to-be three!) little munchkins (ages 3.5, 21 months, and 23 weeks)
Avid baker/cook
Amateur photographer
Masterpiece Theater fan
Reader of good books
Lover of knowledge and learning
Blog reader and author of Cafe Johnsonia

I hope you'll come back and visit all week and see what I have in store for you. . .

XOXO
Lindsey

Winner — Serena & Lily Crib Set

What a fun Giveaway — hooray for crib sets named Ben! And hooray for the winner:

Carrie who said, "This is the one for me. I'm in the midst of trying to plan my nursery for baby #1."

Lucky you, Carrie! Please email me from the link on my blog with your shipping address and I'll send it on to the sponsor right away. Thank you so much to everyone for participating — your comments are always the happiest part of my blogging day. And thank you to Serena & Lily!

clothpony

So I've clearly become kind of obsessed with children's clothing lines by independent designers. And for good reason. Check out these inspiring pieces by clothpony. Stockard Pant. Dolly Underskirt. Gillian Tunic.

Random Giveaway — Serena & Lily Ben Crib Set

I think I've mentioned that I'm loving this week. I mean how could I not? It's April Fools Day, a new month, new ads in The Marketplace, all sorts of great stuff. The only thing is, I'm not going to be very blog-available for the next few days. I'll be here in New York, but I've got meetings and get togethers and other happy distractions — enough stuff that I may as well be out of town. So I won't have any posts on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday this week. But to make up for it, I have a couple of fantastic surprises today. The first one is this very generous Giveaway from Serena & Lily!!



If you've been stopping in at Design Mom from time to time, you already know I'm a big — no huge — fan of Serena & Lily. I really love their concept of children's rooms. Nothing too cutesy-cheesy. No commercial characters. Somehow sophisticated and child-friendly at the same time. Plus super high quality.

From time to time they add new collections to their line-up, and recently they added the Ben (pictured above) and the Francis, (pictured below). Gorgeous right? I'm thinking they're my new Serena & Lily favorites. Very up-to-date. Great colors. Simple designs.



And guess what? Everyone who comments on this post is entered to win the full 3-piece Ben Crib Bedding Set — that's $539 worth of turquoise and coral animal-y loveliness! How delightful. (Plus it's call Ben, so I'm especially fond of it. All of my favorite things are called Ben.)



Questions:
1) Don't need a crib set? I'm willing to bet you know someone who does — and won't you be their favorite person ever when you gift them something so glorious?!

2) Have you fallen for the Serena and Lily as much I have? Then you'll be happy to find out that all Design Mom Readers can get 15% off the entire website with code designmom15 — all the way through April 30th!

3) Not too familiar with Serena & Lily? Well prepare yourself for a treat. It's way beyond bedding for cribs. Find inspiring rooms for girls and boys of all ages. You can ask for their free catalog here.

Because I'll be gone for a few days, I'm extending the entry deadline through Sunday night. Happy commenting! I'll miss checking in this week, but I'll be back Monday — with an excellent Guest Mom too.

Thanks, Serena and Lily!

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Random Giveaway Guidelines:
- Extra-long entry time: You have until midnight PST on Sunday, April 6th to enter this giveaway.
-Just make a comment ON THIS POST to enter — any comment.
-Anonymous comments will be ignored/removed.
-One entry per person, please.
-The winner will be randomly picked and announced Monday morning.
-What are Random Giveaways? Read about them here.

A Couple of Fun Things

A couple of fun things. The kindly Patricia of pve design just posted an interview with little ol' me — complete with darling sketch of my kids hanging out in my office. The office is fantastically accurate — if much cleaner than the real one. You can check out the interview here.



Also, John Segal, one of my favorite children's book illustrators will be the Children's Museum of Manhattan this Sunday. He'll be reading and signing copies of The Lonely Moose. Rumor has it that he may be doing a watercolor demonstration as well — sweet!! Sunday, April 6th, 1:30 pm, Children's Museum of Manhattan. If you're in New York, you won't want to miss it.

This is me Journal

I try to be aware of my middle child, Olive — they say middle children tend to get less attention. Yesterday she was having a bad day, so I pulled out a new journal I have been meaning to give her. She loved it. Could barely put it down. Wanted to work on it the rest of day and would have slept with it if the thought had crossed her mind.

It's called the This Is Me Journal and it was developed by a mom and intended to make a record of one year of your child's life. It combines drawing, writing and simple scrapbooking. Designed for 3-8 year olds — Olive is 6 and could work on it completely self-directed.

My favorite page is the hair page (the one Olive is working on in the photo above). It has space for your child to draw 4 different hairdos: when I wake up, after it gets brushed, when it's fancy and in my dreams. Perfect!

Motivational Posters

I just discovered these "alternative" motivational posters designed by Frederic Terral and available from Right Brain Terrain. And I find them absolutely motivating. So pretty. Lots more to choose from here. Very reasonable prices.