Peek of the Week - April 20, 2012

Take a Peek!

What's Peek of the Week you ask? It's our semi-regular Friday feature where we hear all about what cool things you other crafty families and blogging types have been up to. Tell us about your projects, finished or in-progress, a funny kid moment, a personal accomplishment or just something that made you smile.

Each week I'll get the ball rolling by sharing a Peek from our week and then invite you to do the same by linking up to your own post.

This week I offer a twofer. First, an installment of Stuff Yaya Makes. The children and Yaya have a separate life I often know nothing about. I'm so happy they have the magical world of Yaya to explore. Apparently sometimes they enjoy a little show called Mike the Knight. I've never seen it, but I hear Mike does right, so I'm on board. 

Eli likes to take on the persona of Mike. The Knight.

So Yaya made him a steed. Complete with faux fur tail:

Second, a Pintrest idea that was a huge slam dunk:

Take pans of baking soda, drop food-colored vinegar into them and watch the bubbly goodness happen. That's science people.

Oh, speaking of pinterest...
Have you read my nationally, nay...internationally run Associated Press article about crafters and pintrest? Yes, the where where I, my awesome crafty buddy Kristen Cunningham of Sewtastically Made, and my other bff Martha Stewart and featured?

Well, you can find it in several reputable news sources, but my personal fave is this one from the Winnipeg Free Press because
a) It's Canadian! That's international baby!
b) They use a huge picture of my fabric decoupaged eggs as the header of the article

Am I insufferable yet?
Well, then you chime in and share your cool stuff!
You could get peeking in three easy steps:
1. Blog about your Peek of the Week - whatever it is. Whatever happened that made you proud, laugh, smile, inspired, excited, or just plain happy - now that's worth sharing.
2. Include a link to this blog or put the Peek of the Week button (on the sidebar) in your post.
3. Link your blog post using the InLinkz button below.

If you don't get a chance to get here on Friday, feel free to link your post up later.
The InLinkz button will be active for 5 days.

Busy Busy

Look at those busy little elves down in Yaya's workshop. She has a whole little Christmas crafty *cough*sweat*cough* shop down there.

 I think Eli may have found his calling.

He even makes characters:

 Sweet right?

Hazel was like, "Crafts. Yawn."

Peek of the Week - December 2, 2011

 

Take a peek at that serious crafty concentration. Those dudes are hard core. 

What's Peek of the Week, you ask? It's our regular Friday feature and it's all about you! I want to hear (and share with my readers) what wowed you this week. It could be a cool finished project, a work in progress, a personal accomplishment, a cute kid moment, or something that surprised you.

If we could peek into your week - what would you want to show us?

Each week I'll share my own Peek of the Week to get the ball rolling, and invite you to link to your blog post about your Peek of the Week. I know y'all are up to cool stuff - we wanna see it!

So, for my peek this week I bring you the classic story of "Hey, I could make that."

You see, I saw these great felt and bead ornaments somewhere for like $5 bucks a pop. And I thought, "Hey, I could make that." 

Even better, the boys could make that. 

So for $10 bucks worth of felt and beads and pipe cleaners we got like an hour of fun crafty family time, and like 12 great ornaments for our 70's-tastic tree.

 It was such a great project for the kids. They went to town. 

 And look what we made!

Not even sure you need a tutorial on this but here's a quick one:

Supplies needed:

green sheets of felt

a pack of chunky wood beads (or whatever)

green sparkly pip cleaners (or whatever)

To prep for the project I cut circles out of the felt in 5 sizes from about .5" diameter to 4" diameter (or whatever). I also snipped a little slice in the center of each circle so the boys could string them on the pipe cleaners. 

And then it's just stringing. To make the quintessential tree shape you'll use smaller circles as you go up and a bead between each one. But the boys didn't stick to that model and their trees turned out great. Cater to your own OCD levels on this one. 

Loop your pipe cleaner at the top and viola...ornaments a go-go.

And...

I also carried on a Christmas tradition this week. This is where the photo I mentioned yesterday comes into play. See, a few years ago I came across a photo, circa 1981, where my Mom had crafted a beautiful and very detailed brick fireplace out of construction paper to hang our stockings on for Christmas. Apparently we didn't have a fireplace and she wanted to remedy that. 

That's how she is. She can make something special out of nothing and she did it all the time to fill our childhoods with whimsy and magic. I hope I'm doing the same for my kiddos. 

I'm so sad that I haven't found the picture (yet). But if I do, I'll definitely post it. 

But even without the photo, I whipped up our very own construction paper hearth:

 And it totally warms my heart. 

And Amos digs it too. 

So that's my peek. Now it's your turn.

You could get peeking in three easy steps:
1. Blog about your Peek of the Week - whatever it is. Whatever happened that made you proud, laugh, smile, inspired, excited, or just plain happy - now that's worth sharing.
2. Include a link to this blog or put the Peek of the Week button (on the sidebar) in your post.
3. Link your blog post using the InLinkz button below.

If you don't get a chance to get here on Friday, feel free to link your post up later.
The InLinkz button will be active for 5 days.

Terra Nova

I don't know if you've seen the new show Terra Nova. I have. It's pretty good.

The fella's hoping it will be the new Lost. We shall see.

Eli of course has not seen it, but he could've been AD for set design. He made his own little Terra Nova in the backyard the other day, with Yaya's eager assistance.


It had everything. Foliage. Dinosaurs. Mountains. Water. Rock Cliffs. Icebergs. Penguins (clearly). Spaceships to get you there. Trees, both natural and man made. And Eli as benevolent dictator.

I love his brain.

Peek of the Week - September 2, 2011

What's Peek of the Week, you ask? It's our Friday feature and it's all about you! I want to hear (and share with my readers) what wowed you this week. It could be a cool finished project, a work in progress, a personal accomplishment, a cute kid moment, or something that surprised you.

If we could peek into your week - what would you want to show us?

Each week I'll share my own Peek of the Week to get the ball rolling, and invite you to link to your blog post about your Peek of the Week. I know y'all are up to cool stuff - we wanna see it!

So, our peek this week is a Yaya project. She and the boys have taken it upon themselves to beautifully decorate the back fence. It's whimsy-tastic!

Hard to see here, but that says Eli, Amos, and Hazel!

Hard at work...

And, a Hazey gaze, because no post is complete without one. Could we have a little redhead on our hands? Sometimes it looks like it. Wouldn't that be fun!?


Now, it's your turn!
You could get peeking in three easy steps:
1. Blog about your Peek of the Week - whatever it is. Whatever happened that made you proud, laugh, smile, inspired, excited, or just plain happy - now that's worth sharing.
2. Include a link to this blog or put the Peek of the Week button (on the sidebar) in your post.
3. Link your blog post using the InLinkz button below.

If you don't get a chance to get here on Friday, feel free to link your post up later.
The InLinkz button will be active for 5 days.

Peek of the Week - July 15, 2011

What's Peek of the Week, you ask? It's our Friday feature and it's all about you! I want to hear (and share with my readers) what wowed you this week. It could be a cool finished project, a work in progress, a personal accomplishment, a cute kid moment, or something that surprised you.

If we could peek into your week - what would you want to show us?

Each week I'll share my own Peek of the Week to get the ball rolling, and invite you to link to your blog post about your Peek of the Week. I know y'all are up to cool stuff - we wanna see it!


My peek:
This week we peek in on what Yaya's been up to in a little segment we like to call, "Stuff Yaya Makes."

Yaya hung out with the boys while I had my 36 week appointment a few days ago and in the midst of an impromptu Eli room rearrange she whipped up some cool stuff.
First: an awesome racecar ramp that spanned an entire wall of his room.

Second: a super sweet racecar for Amos to skirt around in.

That is one happy boy.

Yaya's totally out-funning me lately. Being this pregnant has rendered me basically useless. I'm really glad she's here.

Now, before we get to your peek, there's one more thing...don't forget to enter the My Birthday Giveaway! I pick a winner tomorrow!


Ok, now it's your turn. What have you've been up to?
You could get peeking in three easy steps:
1. Blog about your Peek of the Week - whatever it is. Whatever happened that made you proud, laugh, smile, inspired, excited, or just plain happy - now that's worth sharing.
2. Include a link to this blog or put the Peek of the Week button (on the sidebar) in your post.
3. Link your blog post using the InLinkz button below.

If you don't get a chance to get here on Friday, feel free to link your post up later.
The InLinkz button will be active for 5 days.

Chirp

Welcome to another edition of "Stuff Yaya Makes."

With spring in the air, Yaya and Dizzy have been hard at work crafting a sweet little abode for our feathered friends.

All you need is a funky box, glue, and some fabric.
An eager 3 year old doesn't hurt.
Alright birdies, get your applications in quickly.
Reasonable rent in a no-cat yard.
Location location location.
Spacious angular great room with fabulous porthole window.
Must see inside!

It's Electric...

There's an epidemic around here. An obsession really.
It's electronics. If you'll notice in the above photo, this is pre-dawn. My children are obsessed with iProducts.

Amos' first official sentence, "I want Manny!"

Loosely translated that's: "Give me your phone so I can play the Handy Manny app, Lady!"

That's three iProducts at once, and I'm sure the iPad's just out of frame.

We were plumb amazed when little A could turn on and slide to unlock the iPhone at like 9 months. And not from being taught.

On the bright side, they're playing some cool apps like Memory, Puzzles, Color Learning, Letters, etc. And hey, at least the t.v.'s off.

Look out Yaya! It's contagious!

(Oh, and those are some cute home sewn Valentine jammies somebody stitched you, you lucky Valentine!)

Stuff Yaya Makes - Sea Fairing Edition

This is a new little segment I'm calling, "Stuff Yaya Makes." Yaya, as you may know, is my mom. She came to join our little slice of chaos in December. The boys love having her just downstairs because she's always good for a snack, a laugh, or an extensive craft project.

So, from time to time I will highlight some of her best creations, which, I might add, are all crafted from items she nabbed from our recycle bin.

Continuing the nautical theme that she and the boys are so fond of, Yaya's latest creation is a kid-sized sailboat. Complete with sail, flags, and rudder, this vessel is ready to brave the open waters, were there any waters near our landlocked location. And also, for your sadistic pleasure, you get a little glimpse of what Thursdays look like around here. Four kids make one fine mess, and have a grand time at it.



See that thing Eli's sitting on? That's another Yaya project. Saturday morning while the fella and I were still wiping crusties out of our eyes, she and the boys were playing cars when she whipped up that crazy racetrack.



Ahoy and good night.

Yaya is also finally represented in the Cast of Characters on the sidebar, as is the wee one, expected in August.