Reston Mom

cute Thanksgiving ideas

I love these cute and easy ideas for a kids table at Thanksgiving:

Paper bag popcorn turkey over at One Charming Party

Apple cider apple cups over at Gimme Some Oven

easiest DIY play stove EVER!

I needed a storage option for some toys that are out in the girls' playhouse in the backyard - including some plastic food and dishes.  They like to play house/store out there and so after I bought this cheap 3-drawer plastic storage container, I decided to use a sharpie to turn the top of it into a stove so that they could play cook outside.  Voila!  And there is convenient storage for all the little foods and dishes underneath.  

This would be great inside too for toddlers while mom is working in the kitchen and could easily be pushed into a pantry or wherever when wanted out of sight.  

 

simple blanket-stitched valentines

I've been in a crafty mood lately, but with little time.  So, I've resorted to quick and simple. Stitching has such a relaxing effect on me that I've picked up needles again - knitting needles, sewing needles - anything to draw a thread hypnotically.  

In trying to pull together a few decorations for the girls, I cut some felt hearts, doubled them, and quickly blanket-stitched them with some yarn. This simple stitch is one of the very first ones I'll teach to the girls - it is really not complicated and they can make a ton of really cute things from basic felt and yarn.  Maybe by Christmas next year, Hope will be well on her way to making some lovely homemade ornaments.

  

more headbands

I found these great little black, black and white striped, and black with white polka dots headbands in the dollar section at Target!  The girls had been asking me to make some headbands for them, so I quickly whipped up something from what felt scraps I had.  They have been enjoying them and have amusingly also been including their baby sister. 

gettin' crafty with a bedazzler

We had to miss the fairy tea-party birthday celebration of my best friend's 3 year old daughter - but made up for it when they came into our town and hung out at our house.  We threw our own little tea party and I decided to get a little crafty and make some fun headbands for the girls to wear with some brightly colored bands from goody, felt, and my bedazzler.  Yup - I own a bedazzler! You remember those from the infomercials, right? I had one handed down to me and they actually are quite fun for some things (like adding rhinestones to the center of flowers for little girl headbands, not like adding large rhinestone patterns to the back and front of a denim jacket.)  Anyway, I thought they turned out pretty cute for a quick little craft - and the girls really like them! We sent them all home with Megan, but my girls are asking me to make some more, so I might have to pull out the bedazzler again soon!

Easter craft

I decided to do a craft with the girls to make something decorative for our table for Easter.  So, I looked through the materials we had and came up with a project to make paper mache eggs.  We just used balloons, white glue, and water to make the egg shape.  Then we cut strips of colorful tissue paper and after the eggs were dry we used brushes to "paint" the tissue onto the eggs using the same glue/water mix. When they dried again, I popped and pulled out the balloons, punched a hole in the bottom and pulled some ribbon through knotting it underneath.  We chose a branch from our yard and filled a vase with paper grass to create our centerpiece.  The eggs aren't perfectly egg shaped, but the color is great and it was a lot of fun to make.  

the nursery

Our nursery is nearly finally pulled back together and I love it.  It a tiny, peaceful room with great sunlight - but most of all, I feel like it expresses something unique about us.  Think more Anthropologie than Pottery Barn, more eclectic than catalog.  Our personal touches make it feel more like the home we've made together and less like the "home" we've brought home from the store. I can't wait to bring Ami home and share it with her.

I have this little thing for birdies...so there is a small theme here.  The room is so tiny that it is impossible to get an angle for the camera which captures everything together.  And these pictures don't quite capture the brightness of all the colors and mix of patterns.

I saw this pattern at Spool and decided to revamp it a bit - I couldn't pass up a chance to incorporate those cute little birdies somehow.

I had an idea for a night-light and put my husband's creativity to work to make this bird-house-on-a-post with a rustic feel.  It gives off the perfect amount of light for a middle of the night feeding and I love the unique design he came up with.  The base is a wonderful slice of tree-stump and the pole is composed of many individual sections of natural wood as well - I love all the textures!

We've used this rocker for all of our kids - it was a hand-me-down with bad cushions, but I love that it is fat and wide, perfect for getting really comfortable.  We covered the cushions and I decided to make a few little felt and crochet pillows for interest.

Also, we're using an antique desk as a changing center.  I love this piece of furniture - it was Matt's Nanny's, then his father's, then used by him, and now we enjoy it.  I did have Matt anchor it to the wall and there is some special anchorage happening with the pad too for baby's protection.  

best homemade playdough

This is my favorite recipe for homemade playdough.  The dough is so soft and smooth and put in an airtight container will last a long time.  Even I like to play with it, especially the kneading it while it is still warm feels so good on my hands!

I've made lots of kinds of playdough, from salt doughs to edible doughs for my girls to play with.  But I just really like the texture of this one.  The woman who passed this recipe on to me makes it with spices so that the dough smells like gingerbread or cinnamon...my girls like food coloring and glitter in theirs! 

1 C flour

1/2 C salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 C water

1 tsp. vegetable oil

food coloring (optional)

• mix the dry ingredients together
• mix the oil, water, and food coloring first, then add to dry ingredients
• cook the mixture in a pot on low/medium stirring constantly (3 - 5 minutes maybe?)
• the dough will thicken, pull away from the side of the pot, and stick together in a large ball in the middle, take it out (recommended to take it out when you see a VERY faint skin on the dough, but you'll recognize the texture of a soft playdough)
• take it out of the pan and let it cool enough to handle 
• knead the dough until smooth 
• allow the dough to cool completely before storing in an airtight container 

  

I can't help but think that this would be a fun gift for kids to make and give to their friends or as party favors.   I usually double the recipe and split it between my two girls - which makes quite a bit! but does take a few minutes longer to cook. It does make your hands feel a little bit salty after playing with it, but cleans up easily.

Leftover plastic Easter eggs, part 2

With a touch of creativity, plastic Easter eggs can become great inspiration and starter material for fun crafts with your kids.  Here are just a few ideas:

• make little Easter egg people or animals using markers, construction paper, glitter, ribbon, stickers and other glue-ons
• make nesting dolls with different size eggs - your children will have fun making their own characters and you can discuss concepts of size
• grow a garden of daffodils using some wire and felt (some eggs come with tiny holes in the bottoms, those are good for this craft) - you can fill the cups with little messages or candies and give them away to a friend
• the eggs with the little holes are great for stringing together as well for garlands and necklaces.  One egg can instantly be transformed into a locket to carry a favorite little treasure.
• nail halves of the eggs (cup upward) to a flat piece of wood.  Fill the cups with favorite bird treats and place on a window ledge or in a garden as is or drill two holes at either end and suspend with rope like a swing.
• create a fun wreath for next year

wreath pictured comes from thriftyfun.com_