Thursday, April 5, 2012

Here comes Peter Cottontale


After much procrastination I am back with a project I've been planning to share. A fun little craft to squeeze in before Easter passes us by. My daughter and I (heavy on the I) had a fun making these little bunnies for Easter. I was pretty pleased with the way they turned out. Here is a list of what I used for mine:

- cotton balls
- patterned paper
- white paper
- large brads
- pink jelly bean
- glue
- cardboard
- ribbon/trimming
- spray adhesive

I began by printing out 2 copies of this template I made. You will need to cut and trace the ovals onto the back of your patterned paper. Then cut them out. I glued my bunny template onto some thin cardboard with spray adhesive so it would be sturdy. (An old cereal box would probably work fine.) I recommend cutting out the bunny once it has adhered to the cardboard. (I didn't do mine until the end and it was somewhat of a challenge.)

Next attach your eyes. I used black brads about the size of a penny. You could easily glue buttons or anything you wanted here. Now comes the task of gluing on the cotton balls. Do not be afraid to stretch, squish or even cut the cotton to get the proper fit. I started in the belly and filled it (including the oval) and the tail in first. Then I did then feet and moved up to the ears. Start at the top of the ears and move down to the face area. Mine worked out so the last piece of cotton at the bottom of the ears covered down to the eyes. I just squished the end down under the eye.

Then it is time for the face. I was the most concerned about this part but my method seems to have worked well. I squished and shaped the next cotton ball to fit in the space between the eyes. I placed the next cotton ball at the chin and two on either side, tilted, to make cheeks. Then you will just need to manipulate a couple more pieces to fill in up around the eyes to the ears.

Time for the pretty stuff. Glue your patterned ovals onto the cotton in the centers of the ears and belly. The edges looked strange at this point so I went around them all with another layer of cotton. I was able to pull my cotton from a ball into a longer strand which worked well for this part. Once the edges were finished I glued a pink jelly bean in for the nose and tied my ribbons around the neck.

This was my first craft project 'from scratch' so hopefully others will find my instructions easy to follow. Happy crafting!


Saturday, March 17, 2012

Everyone Poops



One of my favorite parts of parenthood thus far HAS to be potty training. I mean, who doesn't love throwing down with a 2 and-a-half year old every hour about visiting the bathroom? The fight preceding the act actually taking 4x longer than the act itself. Unless we are talking about a #2 of course, that can take some time.

But when it comes to #2 we aren't doing real hot. Maybe she just finds it easier to poop standing up, I don't know. I can count the number of successful potty poops on one hand. I even photo documented one for the hubby because he wasn't around to witness the great miracle. That's how sad my life truly is sometimes.

So this weekend we are implementing a potty chart strictly to track pooping progress. Our daughter loves stickers so she will get to place one on a sidewalk square for each #2 that makes it in the potty. For that little bit of instant gratification; a few M&Ms and a sticker to keep should suffice. Once she reaches the end of the sidewalk she will be rewarded for her grand accomplishment with a bike (actually a tricycle or big wheel). And with any luck, her bathroom visits will be like second nature.

I made the chart last night and today was day numero uno. I am happy to report we had a small victory. I had to spend 20 minutes hanging out in the bathroom, but I think maybe it was worth it. I wasn't even prepared as my chart hadn't been printed or put up. Had to call in back up (the hubby) for that task. I still intend to put "Merewynn's Potty Chart" in the blank spaces by the sidewalk.

The pictures aren't really great, but our bathroom is tiny and you can never keep a toddler still. Since I "borrowed" images from the interwebs for this chart I won't be sharing it here as was my original intent. There happen to be some sites out there that do have them available though, so have no fear. Potty Training Concepts has a variety to choose from.

Monday, March 12, 2012

... and then there was blog

I am deciding to kick off this blog with my most recent digital scrapbook page. It has been my most time consuming hobby for the last year or so. Even though I've had a slow down in my page production the last few months I still enjoy the sense of accomplishment with every page created.

I was chosen (and honored) to join Truman Studio's amazing Creative Team artists in January. This page features the newest kit available, Welcome Miracle, which also happens to be a collab kit with Amy Stoffel and I really enjoyed working with it. Head on over to Digiridoo Scraps and pick it up.