Our Intro to Montessori and DIY Place Setting Mat

 

I’ve often beat myself up about not having a super specific focus for this here blog, but here’s the thing:

I don’t have just one specific focus in life.

And since this is really about things that we do and mostly things I make in my life, there is bound to be a huge variety of topics. Not just that, but as our family life evolves, so too will my posts and the projects I share within them.

Which brings me to Ben’s preschooling.

He is two and half. We’re not quite ready for “real” preschool (he nor I), but anyone who has had a two year old knows that this time can’t be taken for granted. He’s a sponge, I tell you. He is learning to explore and do things by himself, and without trying to sound too much like the overly-mushy mom, it’s really fun to witness.

While I’ve adopted more of a Montessori method for awhile now in how his learning toys and play space have been organized as well as how we treat our belongings and our approach to toys and learning in general,

with the start of this “school year”, we are taking on a more specific Montessori approach.

If you want more information about the Montessori method, there are plenty of great resources and explanations out there. I’m not going to tackle that here. At least not yet. What I will say is that Ben and I are learning as we go. We’re taking on new “works” as they seem to fit with our life (right now, he is obsessed with dry pouring, and we’ve just introduced transferring with tongs which he seems to really enjoy as well). I am amazed every time I introduce a new work to him. He often needs no explanation which is part of the beauty of Montessori. Every work has a built in control, so learning comes very naturally.

 

And now for the DIY bit…

 

Montessori works can be really expensive (and sometimes confusing)… for me anyway, and I really don’t think I’m the only one. Luckily I’ve been able to find many ways to put materials together from things I have around the house, purchases from the dollar store, or simply by making them myself. So I’ll be sharing them with you all as we go in the hopes that you can benefit from our successes and failures.

The first thing I wanted to share is

Ben’s Place Setting Mat

 

 

 

 

I’m starting simple and with materials many of you no doubt have around your house

Construction paper, glue, a pen, and laminate material or clear contact paper (optional but suggested)

 

 

 

 

There is no need for step by step directions here. I used Ben’s plate, cup, and flatware as a template,

cut them out of colored paper

labeled them

and glued them on in their appropriate places.

 

 

 

I have a laminating machine which I LOVE but this was too big to fit through, so I just used clear contact paper so it will wipe clean. Then I put all of the materials in a separate bin and put the mat and bin on his shelves. No lie, when he found them in the morning, he didn’t even wait for an explanation. He just saw something new and dove right in, immediately putting everything in its place and then told me, “I did it! Bweak-fas?”

 

 

 

 

 

You can buy these pretty cheap from the store, or really beautiful cloth ones on Etsy, but all in all this cost me under a dollar, and I didn’t have to leave me house. Craft hoarding for the win!

 

 

So that’s all for now. Keep checking back in for more DIY Montessori ideas!

My Old Crib to Ben's New Toy Chest

 

 

 

 

 

I meant to write a post oh... a year ago about this transformation,

and you know... I didn't.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This turned out to be a good thing because Ben ended up breaking the thing anyway... more on that in a bit maybe.

 

 

I've written many a time about how awesomely creative my family is,

and here is yet another example.

My uncle, after hearing that I was expecting (the first time), offered to give back to me the crib that my brother and I slept in when we were babies.

And while I was tempted, it was only for sentimental reasons

as the thing is... well... old (we won't say how old).

It's been through at least 3 babies as a crib and had definitely seen better days.

Not to mention my uncle lives in GA. I live in PA. Shipping the thing to me didn't seem worth it.

 

So I moved on, my mom bought Ben his nursery furniture. Done and done.

Broken but not for long!

 

 

 

 

 

Then I get this toy chest in the mail.

My uncle turned (half of) my old crib into a toy chest.

He did the hard work,

and I put it together when it arrived at our house.

 

 

 

 

 

Clearly I didn't do a good job, because once Ben was climbing all over everything, it broke.

In a number of ways.

So while I've been getting prepped for baby number two,

I decided this thing must come back to life.



After first coat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wood glue,

some reinforcing screws,

some paint,

and we were back in business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't usually paint wooden things, and in some cases am adamently against it.

However, this had so many scratches and teeth marks, it really had to be done.

 

 

Apple/ Fire Engine Red. Always a winner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the most part, you can see how it went from crib to toy chest above there.

I'm thinking that you could hypothetically squeeze two chests from one crib.

 

The bottom and the top are pieces of plywood.

 

The top, I upholstered with some 1 inch foam, batting, and coordinating fabric.

And added a handle with cotton strapping material.

 

 

Cute, yes?

And always nice to hide the ugly and obnoxious toys away.

We love it.

:)

Semi-Homemade Birthday Doll Set

Unsolicited frugal tip of the week:

Do your gift shopping after Christmas.

For obvious reasons, yes? EVERYTHING is on clearance.

I have a huge tupperware bin in my studio that is devoted solely to unassigned gifts,

things that I know I can gift eventually for birthdays, showers, and such.

Pretty much everything inside is something that I've purchased on way way way mark down.

And pretty much everything inside is something that I've purchased at post holiday clearance sales.

Being that there are so many children in my life,

and I seem to spend almost 3/4 of my time at baby or bridal showers,

here is what I always have in my magical gift bin,

and therefore what I'm always on the lookout for when searching the clearance aisle:

1) Bridal shower gifts.

Think kitchen utensils, tea towels, pyrex, wine glasses, cookbooks, etc.

Even if I buy something off the registry, I always jazz it up with utensils and some towels.

Way bigger bang for your buck.

2) Baby items.

Unisex newborn clothes for showers, swaddling blankets, little infant toys, etc.

See above about jazzing up a registry gift.

3) What I call "universal" toys.

These are toys like dolls, trucks, blocks, and the like.

Things that pretty much every kid plays with.

Not specific (Sorry kids, you will almost never get that crazy specific action figure on your Christmas list, but it doesn't mean Aunt Meg loves you any less).

Not to mention, have you seen the girls' toy aisle lately??? ick.

I mean really.... gross.

I've never seen so many overly curvaceous, bug-eyed, mid drift-showing dolls things in my life,

and frankly, I'm horrified.

So anyways...

I snagged this normalish baby doll after Christmas last year at Target for $2. Yes. Two.

She wasn't bug-eyed.

She wasn't wearing make up.

I know what you're thinking, newborns don't wear make up.

Ah yes, I'm a grown woman and at this point I rarely wear it myself,

but for some God-forsaken reason, there are (many!) baby dolls that are wearing eyeshadow?

Okay I'm done. Maybe.

Anyway, she came with a pacifier and a bottle and outfit and whatnot,

but I always like to add to a handmade touch to every gift,

so I made her some new clothes,

some dollie diapers with velcro,

and some itty bitty bibs.

The pattern for the dress can be found here.

I used velcro for all of the fastenings, so it would be easy for a 2 year old to change her.

For the diapers and bibs, I just drew a template first on paper and tweaked it to fit her.

As for fabrics, I used some that I had on hand,

cotton for the dresses and cozy flannel for the diapers and bibs.

Ben was psyched to give this gift to his friend, Lucy, for her birthday.

And he had a crazy good time, as always, at her house for the party.

For other ideas on how to "dress up" a doll gift, head over to my Pinterest board

"Education and Just for Fun Toys".

There are pins for baby doll carriers, bassinets, and all kinds of fun stuff.

Till next time!

Ben's Valentine's Gift

In the interest of "being real"

I must disclose that I'm not much of a Valentine's person.

Maybe it's all the pink (ick)

or the feeling of forced lovey-doveyness

or the fact that it falls in my least fave time of year...

probably "D", all of the above.

So really it's a minor miracle that this happened at all.

In my 1.5 year(s) of blogging, I don't have the best track record when it comes to V-day crafting

(see above statements).

Last year, I did complete my LOVE mini-quilt/banner,

but by the time I posted it, it was approximately 9 pm on the 14th.

you're welcome blogosphere.

No matter!

I did put together two of these quasi-valentine's gifts for Ben and his lady-friend, Lucy.

I originally intended them to be Christmas gifts,

and guess what?

Didn't order the books on time.

Shocking, I know.

All is well, t hough, because V day is about love

and there are few things that I love more than books.

and felt.

and kraft paper with twine.

The book is one of my favorites from childhood,

that I've been wanted to purchase for Ben since I got pregnant.

It's The Jolly Postman by Janet and Allen Ahlberg.

The gist: a postman delivers mail to different fairytale characters

The best part: yes, there's actual mail that you can open and read.

Take a look! It's in a book! Reading Rainbow!!!

To go with the books,

I got these cute little mailboxes from the dollar bins at Target.

Then made felt envelopes to put inside (tutorial below).

and some heart, of course.

Felt Mail Tutorial

Step One:

Cut felt as pictured here.

Easy enough, yes?

Step Two:

Sew on a rectangular "stamp" in contrasting color.

I zigzag stitched around to keep it in place.

On some of them, I also sewed a zigzag for the "writing".

Step Three:

Fold the envelope so the sides match up and sew along each side (as pictured)

I did some with a straight stitch and some with a zigzag stitch.

Step Four:

I sewed a crease into the top of some of the envelopes so the flap would stay down, and the others I just tucked the flap in.

And done!

So cute.

Wrap it up

and gift away!

Happy V Day, all!

Ben's Play Kitchen {The Roundup}

I'm about as excited as Jesse Spano on study pills right now.

Over the weekend I was able to hit up some of my fave places

and gather supplies for Ben's play kitchen,

a project that I've been wanting to tackle since... I don't even know... the age of 5?

First Stop:

Construction Junction.

I've mentioned it before, so I won't go on and on,

but basically it's a super fantastic architectural salvage warehouse

that specializes in recycling all the unwanteds from old Pittsburgh houses and then offering them to the public on the cheap.

They have everything from doors to church pews to toilets to paint to tile to columns to mantles

and I could just go on...

but I won't. They have cabinets and that's where I found these gems.

My saint of a husband even came with me and stood there gratiously as I checked out every.single.cabinet in the place to be sure I was getting the best ones.

What a dear.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
(the matching ones on the far left and far right)

After a long while, I could tell that he, not having the same vision as me, was about to lose his marbles.

So I settled on these.

and picked up a small older faucet to boot for the play sink.

Second Stop:

IKEA

This I did solo, and that was most definitely the right decision as I was there for approximately 8 million hours.

I got my "knobs" for the play stovetop,

some cutting boards for the "butcher block" countertop,

a stainless steel bowl for the play sink,

and of course a lot of other doo dads.

So much fun.

I'm not letting myself really get to work on this sucker until I catch up on some orders,

but my goal is to have it completed by Ben's birthday in February.

It is a birthday gift, after all.

The only task we've tackled is removing the crazy weird and old jar opener that was screwed into the upper cabinet.
Fun.

So wish me luck!

and keep checking back in for my progress. 



Wanna see some progress pics in somewhat real time?
You can play along on Instagram (@handmadebymegk)

Crocheted Mickey Mouse [Pattern Review]

So I promised some of you that I would have this up yesterday, but then I fell down some stairs (I wish I was kidding), slightly injured my tailbone,

and the thought of sitting at my desk literally made me throw up in my mouth.

I know. You don't care, so here's the actual post:

I got a request for a crocheted Mickey Mouse a week or so ago,

and thought it would be fun, so what the hey.

Only problem was, I've been waaaaay too busy with saint dolls to sit down and work out the pattern myself.

Luckily for me, I found this gem.

I mean, come on... the tail!

This Etsy shop has a TON of crochet patterns for all of your favorite characters

(I'm basically coveting this Paddington Bear),

and if they're half as nice as this one for Mickey,

I would highly recommend them.

This guy turned out great, thanks to some really clear instructions and simple crochet stitches.

While it's perhaps not for the crochet beginner,

it's not as difficult as it looks,

and if you can follow a simple pattern,

know your single, double, half double, and single decreases,

you are good. to. go.

The pattern maker hails from Hong Kong, but the directions were in perfect English

and although I wasn't able to use the exact yarn and hook size she uses,

it still came out great.

This was due largely to the fact that she uses measurements by stitch count and not just centimeters.

Therefore, I'm fairly certain that you can adjust this pattern to any size by changing the weight of the yarn and using the appropriately sized hook.

Body Parts. Creepy.

Anywho, here are some pics of how it all came together.

Facial Parts. Also kind of creepy.

Now he's coming together.

Almost finished.

*I was in no way compensated for this review. I paid for it fair and square, so you can be sure of my unbiased opinion, and it is just that... an opinion. I simply found this pattern, tried it, liked it, and and now recommending it. :)

See ya next time, folks!