Make Something with Your Hands: Fine Motor Fun

My niece's heart

Last weekend, I was going through my craft supplies, and I came upon these little heart-shaped needlepoint templates I had bought last Christmas.  A perfect fine motor activity for our princess weekend, I thought!  I threaded some plastic jewelry-making needles with colorful thread for the girls (complete with a bead at the end of the thread so they didn't have to tie anything to get started on their hearts), and then set them free to "sew" however they wanted to.  

I was so impressed with their handiwork.  Flannery is almost five now, and her cousin is 8, and they both used such neat and careful stitches.  Flannery loves patterns, so I think the methodical part of this craft was right up her alley.  She kept saying, "and over, and through" as she worked on the border, and she was determined to get it just right, undoing stitches if they didn't look even.  My niece also undid and re-did some of her needlework so that "the pink is splashed all around."  She has a nice flair for design!

The only help they needed was with tying the string at the end.  And they seemed so pleased with themselves.  I've said it before, but I think it's really true for many of us:   making something with our hands is rewarding.

I think we'll do this craft again during the holidays--I'm picturing a tree filled with cute hand-made hearts and stars.  What fun!

Flannery's heart

Did you learn a neat skill as a child?  (sewing, woodworking?)  I learned to weave in 3rd grade, and to crochet, as well, and I remember really enjoying working so hard on a project and having a beautiful finished project at the end.  

Be Creative

When I was sitting in the waiting room at the children's hospital last week convinced that Flannery had broken her arm, I told her all about casts, and how once you get a cast, it's really fun, because all your friends get to sign their name on it and decorate it.  Flannery was excited about the possibility of getting a cast.  She wanted a blue one, and she wanted to glue sparkles to it.  

So when the doctor told us that the arm wasn't in fact broken, but was only sprained, my poor, sweet, Flannery seemed a little dejected.  A little disappointed.  

"I wanted a cast..."  she whimpered in a tiny whisper to me.  

So, I assured her that we could glue sparkles onto a sling.  That we could decorate a sling.  That we could sign our names on it if she wanted.  

Which helped a bit.  

The next day, we got out the sparkly fabric paint and some fancy gems.  Because sometimes you just have to do something crafty to cheer up the sad girl with the non-broken arm.  :)

Did you ever break a bone as a kid?

Painting Wooden Birds

I recently went a little overboard during a trip to Michael's.  I'm not usually a huge shopper, but craft supplies are my weakness.  A few weekends ago, I walked into a Michael's looking for pipe cleaners and beads, and I came out with these adorable carved birds that I just fell in love with.                                                      Flanna and I finally got around to painting them, and now they're sitting in my kitchen windowsill--one red, one blue, and one rainbow bird.  They really brighten my day.  Now I just need to seal them so they don't fade and then suspend them from the ceiling on some fishing line so they don't look like clutter, and instead look like they belong in my kitchen window.  

What small item in your home brings you a bit of joy every time you see it?

Jewelry Making with Cross-stitch Needle, Beads, & Thread

Flannery sorted these beads before starting her necklace.  

These cross-stitch needles are great...not sharp, and perfect for stringing beads.

Hah, the tongue out means she's thinking!

Flanna took this photo of me when she was done with her jewelry making. 

The necklace is done!  And it's a "patterin".  (Jeepers, that mispronunciation gives me the heeby jeebies.)  

Do it Yourself Christmas Cards, aka, we all make mistakes

This year, I was a little bit overzealous and decided that we could make our own Christmas cards.

Let me first of all apologize to those of you who won't be getting Christmas cards in the mail this year.  A Christmas e-mail will be forthcoming very soon.

It turns out that I vastly underestimated the amount of time required to make your own Christmas cards.   I just assumed this project could be done in a weekend.  I assumed wrong, my friends.

Some of you (especially if your last name begins with A through F) might be lucky enough to get a real handmade card from us this year.  If your name begins with G through Z, cough, stammer, mutter, mutter, um, then, please refer to the aforementioned forthcoming Christmas e-mail.

Anyway, if you're interested, here are some of the Christmas cards we made.  We painted, glued, glittered, glitter-glued, and generally decorated for 2 days straight.    It was great fun.

But next year, I'm going to start 3 weekends ahead of time.  Or maybe I'll just make a snapfish photo card next year.  Somehow that sounds appealing again.

What DIY project have you bombed?  Hey, at least you tried, right?

Cotton Tails

My friend Nikki has taught me a lot about being a good mom. Like how to be a bold advocate for your child. And how to think big even in a small town. And how to be flexible when dreams go sour. But one of the small things she taught me, which has really made a difference in my life so far, is to treat your child's teachers well. She is so thoughtful to her children's teachers, and I'm always envious of the neat teacher gift ideas she comes up with.

So, I always think of her when holidays come up and I'm trying to come up with teacher gift ideas. This week, to celebrate Easter (or Pascha, as we call it in my church), Flannery and I made some cute bunny bags to hold some little gifts for her teachers. I think I must've seen this done at a preschool during one of my SLP internships or something, so I can't take all the credit for it. (Although I did add the cotton ball tails myself!) It's a really easy wrapping idea for spring.

You just take lunch-sized paper bags and, while they're still folded, you cut out a bunny silhouette. Then, you open them up, glue on buttons for eyes and a nose, glue on a cotton ball for the tail, and draw a little mouth. Flannery did lots of the steps herself (except for the cutting part. That would've been an ER visit for sure.). And when we were done, she said,

"These are so great, mom." Very matter-of-factly. And that made me pretty darn happy.



What lessons have some of your friends taught you about motherhood?