Apple Fun for Toddlers

Apple lacing card

Apple activities and units have been popping up on my Pinterest home page in the last couple of weeks, so I decided to create some materials and do some activities with Luke.  Luke had a play date with three other toddlers today (ages 22 mos., 2 years, and 3 years), so I threw a few apple activities into the mix. They had fun, and I felt like Supermom. Haven't felt like Supermom in a while, so that was very nice.  The mom who hosted the play date made some homemade applesauce, and that was a big hit with everyone and a wonderful way to end our apple-themed morning.  In a not-so-related-note, she also had homemade ketchup from her own homegrown tomatoes (maybe I don't feel like Supermom).  The ketchup was awesome. I must get the recipe and make some.  I'll be sure to share when I do.

I started by making a large felt tree and a felt board as the support.  For the felt board, I simply wrapped white felt around one of my old canvasses and attached it to the back of the canvas with a staple gun. Amazingly, Hancock fabrics had a sale on felt when I went to buy it. Yay!

To make the tree, I just went to cutting.  I didn't make a template or draw my design on the felt (although I have used chalk on darker felt once before to draw objects before cutting them out). As this project was meant for young ones, I tried not to worry too much about perfection.  I'm amazed that everything is still in good condition after its first use with four toddlers.

Tree in progress

I cut out the tree trunk, and then I began cutting cloud-like shapes out of dark green felt for the top of the tree.  I cut one large piece for the top as well, but I liked the idea of the kiddos being able to create the tree themselves and make it different each time. I am quite pleased with the results.  This tree can be an apple tree, pear tree, orange tree, etc...

Completed felt tree

Then I needed some apples.  I found an apple image online and created red, yellow, and green apples for the tree.  I printed them, cut them out, laminated them, and then I attached  Velcro stickers to the backs so they would stick to the felt tree.  I also created a cute little apple basket.

Apple tree
(large piece of green felt used here instead of the smaller pieces)

This morning I let the kiddos help me put the tree on the felt board and attach the apples.  I did some songs and chants about apples as they played.  We worked on color recognition as we put all of the red apples in the basket. We talked about how some apples are sweet and some apples are sour. We also did some counting with the apples.  Here are some of the songs and chants I used:


I'm a Little Apple
(to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little apple, short and round.
I make a munchy, crunchy sound.
If you bite into me you will see...
I'm delicious as can be!

I sang the above song to the kiddos as we began our "lesson". I showed them a real apple as I sang the song. It can be found here along with some other activities.

Here are two chants that I threw in as they were building the tree:

Apples Juicy

Apples juicy, apples round.
On the tree or on the ground.
Apples yellow, apples red.
Apple pie and juice and bread.
Apples crunchy, apples sweet.
Apples are so good to eat!

As I said the above chant, I pointed to the apples "on the tree" and those "on the ground".  I also pointed to the "apples yellow" and "apples red." This chant, along with some other apple activities, can be found here.

This next chant can be found here along with some printables.

Apples, Apples

Apples, apples, one, two, three.
Apples for you, apples for me.
Apples big, apples small.
Apple trees tiny, apple trees tall.
Apples sour, apples sweet.
Apples, apples are nice to eat!

As I sang this next song, I placed apples one at a time onto the tree.

Ten Little Apples

One little, two little, three little apples,
Four little, five little, six little apples,
Seven little, eight little, nine little apples, 
Ten little apples in an apple tree.

Apple prints

This afternoon once we got home, Luke and I made some apple prints. I cut open the apple and showed him the seeds inside, and then we painted them and stamped them on white poster board. This activity was a big hit with Luke. He is really into painting right now. We used washable kid paint, so I just got out the garden house and washed us and everything around us down a bit when we were finished.

Luke also got his first lacing card today. I don't know if it will be noticeable to anyone else, but he has such a look of concentration on his face in the picture below. Today is the first time I have seen that look on his face.

Concentrating really hard on his apple lacing card

As part of our apple fun today, the kiddos also got to play with a real basket and some large, red pom poms.  I threw these in with Luke's John Deer tractor/farm set and just let the kids play. Luke had fun with this once we were home as well.

He loves his vehicles

Below are some free printables that I created in case you want to do some of these activities with your little ones.

Apples for the tree and a basket ( I cut mine out, laminated them, and then I attached Velcro stickers to the backs):

And an apple for a lacing card (I cut mine out, laminated it, and then I used a hole puncher to add holes around the outside edge of the apple):

The original apple image I used can be found here.

Cozy Corner for Luke's Room: Sneak Peek

I picked up some items from Target today (above) to create a cozy little hideaway for Luke's room.  Every child needs a secret spot of some sort to which they can retreat.  I have a feeling I'm going to crawl in a lot too. I'm hoping to get it created tomorrow or at least by the end of the weekend.

I've been seeing lots of great forts, tents, and other hideaways and reading nooks on Pinterest, and I am smitten.  Here are some that I like, and one of these is the inspiration for the one I'm making Luke. Can you guess which one?

From Sew Liberated. This blog features a very kid-friendly home.

Great use of space here.  This one found at Apartment Therapy.

I love the magical feel of this tent and room.  Found on Pinterest via Tumbler.

Love the alphabet and the string of lights.  This one from Apartment Therapy as well.

Love the colors here and all the cozy rugs and pillows.
Found this on Pinterest.

Carnival Tent Display

Three elementary schools, one from the city of Huntsville, one from the city of Madison, and one from Madison County teamed up with The United Way to hold summer reading carnivals this past week. I signed up to volunteer at the public library's table at the county school, and I also volunteered to create a display for the story time area.

I went straight to Pinterest for ideas, and I created quite a Pinterest board dedicated to all things carnival. I can't wait to throw Luke a carnival-inspired birthday party! This backdrop from a wedding was my main inspiration:

This image and other pictures from the wedding can be found on the  Style Me Pretty blog.

I said I would never make these paper fans again after making them for a bridal shower this spring, but I gave in and made them anyway.  I used needle and thread to hold them together last time, but this time I used a hot glue gun, which made the work a lot easier and quicker.  I don't know which caused me more injuries, though--the needle or the hot glue. I am dangerous with both.  There are many tutorials out there on making these fans. Here is one from Crafty After All.

I had an old copy of Heidi that was a hand-me-down given to me when I was young.  It was falling apart, so I decided since this was a summer reading carnival, using pages from a children's book seemed appropriate.

I had plain red printer paper to use, and the other papers are digital scrapbook papers that I printed from my computer.

The draping of the display, which was not perfect and drove me crazy, was done with plastic tablecloths from the dollar store.  I cut each tablecloth in half lengthwise, and then I folded the cut halves in half lengthwise so there would not be as much transparency.  The wind was against me the day of the installation, and I was completely by myself setting it up.  With that said, I guess I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

I was very impressed with the tape I used to attach the display to the brick.  I will purchase Scotch Tough Duct Tape again for similar projects.  It held the display securely all day on brick in full sun, and it came off easily and did not leave residue.

The font I used for the "READ" sign is a free font aptly called Carnival and available from Dafont.

Here is a list of the scrapbook papers I used for my fans:

The solid blue paper (with great texture, I must add) is from the Sending You a Papyrus kit from Scrapyrus Designs.

The red and white chevron paper is from the Shining on Me kit from AH Designs.

The yellow polka dot paper is from Mommyish, and was part of a Pixels and Company Collaboration titled More or Less.

The blue polka dot paper was created by Captivated Visions for the Everyone Has a Story Kit.

Baby Shower Idea

My best friend Jennifer visited me this weekend and was such a big help. She did the aisle-by-aisle thing with me at Babies R Us so Lee wouldn't have to, went with me to Motherhood Maternity to get some more clothes, helped me organize and determine what I still need to add to my baby registries, and she helped me clean out the master bedroom. This last one was a tough chore for me to do by myself, but now that it's done I feel that I can begin to tackle the rest of the house.

Jennifer is also helping to throw one of my baby showers (looks like there might be 3 or 4), and she remembered me telling her way back when about a cool idea I got from a blog...I think it was the Naughty Secretary Club blog. The idea was to have shower attendees help decorate onesies for the baby. Jennifer went ahead and brought me some craft paint and brushes that she had, but she also brought me some canvases in smaller sizes like 8x10 that she also had no need for anymore. The light bulb went off in my head...instead of decorating onesies, my shower guests could help create artwork for the baby's room.

So, I have another item to put on my before-baby-gets-here to-do list. I will come up with a design to put on several of the canvases (I'm thinking of a cohesive grouping of some sort that incorporates woodland critters), draw it on each canvas, and then at my showers my guests will all get to pick up a brush and some paint and contribute to the artwork. I love this idea. I really wanted some activity for my showers, but I'm not that big into the more common shower games, especially the one where chocolate is melted into diapers. I already told some people that if that occurs I'll leave my own shower. Gotta draw the line somewhere.

Now I just have to keep cleaning and organizing the house so I can make a space to start creating the design for the nursery art. And, I need to wait until a week from today when I hopefully find out the sex of the baby before I start getting too carried away with the design plan and artwork...wait, too late for that :)

Elizabeth Anne Designs Blog and Simply Bloom Photography

I visited the Elizabeth Anne Designs blog this morning and found this beautiful wedding, which reminded me a bit of my own wedding. I love the bride's dress and headpiece. They are my dress and headpiece just taken up a glamorous notch. If I could go back and do it again, I would wear somthing more like this instead.

My wedding was a simple affair. I wanted it to be casual, not too fancy and stuffy, so my guests could have a wonderful time. Everyone had an amazing time, but again, if I could go back and do it again, I would glam myself up just a tad.

The beautiful photograph above was taken by Simply Bloom Photography, which is located right here in Huntsville, Alabama.

Lee and I never got around to getting engagement photos made, so I am going to try my best to talk him into letting Simply Bloom do a shoot for us before we make any more additions to our family.

I love all of the sweet, creative engagement photos that are featured on wedding blogs like Elizabeth Anne Designs, and I really want (are you reading this honey) some great, professional shots of Lee and I together. Simply Bloom does on-location shooting, so I'm thinking Rainbow Mountain here in Madison would be a great spot. What to wear, though?

Here are a couple of photos from my wedding. My cousin Rob took the photos and did a wonderful job. He is now running another successful business, so I'm pretty sure he's out of the wedding photography circuit.



My wedding dress(just an off-the-clearance rack sundress) cost me about $50 from a department store. The bridesmaids dresses were found at CATO for less than $30. I know my parents are thankful I didn't clear out their bank account for my wedding. They wanted me to have just what I wanted, and I pretty much got it for under $5000 for a three-day, destination wedding right here in Alabama. This included everything...attire, food, decorations, and accomodations for everyone in the wedding party.



If you do go over to Elizabeth Ann Designs to take a peek at this wedding, check out the amazing bridesmaid ensembles. I would not have thought to use colors so close to white, but it works wonderfully.

I also love that many of the wedding details are diy. I think that by putting as much of yourself into your wedding, with the help of family and friends, makes it an extra special affair. I designed my own wedding and created many of the details alone or with the help of my family and friends. I didn't even have a wedding cake...my mom, a few aunts and myself made cupcakes of various flavors. The leftover cupcakes became entertainment later in the evening as a cupcake eating contest took place and quickly turned into a food fight.

I plan to do a more thorough post about my wedding when I track down and get more photos ready to publish. Besides, I've got to get my mind off weddings and hit the books.

Burlap Love

Alas, another holiday decoration. This one is from Ucreate.



I found this chair over at The Passionate Home. I have a chair I found at the thrift store that will be perfect for recovering in burlap. I could stencil our monogram on it or a design incorporating a dragonfly or two (another love of mine).



I don't have anywhere to put this hanging light fixture, but those curtains would be great in my dining room. I got both these images from Potato Boutique, a blog devoted to burlap. Go visit the site and check out all the amazing purses made from burlap potato sacks.


A burlap bulletin board is another project I could handle. I have a love for beautiful, organized workspaces too, even though I don't really work and can't get organized to save my life. This lovely workspace was found over at Designed to Shine.


You can purchase these lovely napkin rings from EAB Designs. Check out the shop owner's beautiful blog here.



Burlap is being featured in many ways at weddings these days from tabecloths and tablerunners to invitations. The picture of this tablerunner was found at Young House Love, and these wedding invitations, which I wish I had thought of first, were found over at Love and Lavender. I designed my own wedding with a rustic style, but I never once thought of using burlap. It would have made a great addition. And it's inexpensive too!

Once I get all the other more important things marked off of my New Year's to-do list, I am going to make something burlap for the house.

Rag Garland and Ornaments

The xmas holidays are over, but I am still thinking about decorations. The two decorations I want to make for myself before next year are raggedy fabric garlands and ball ornaments. I've already purchased some syrofoam balls for the ornaments, now I just need some string lights and some fabric.




The darling ornaments above can be found here. I love the ones covered in burlap. Burlap is another fascination I have right now. I'll create a post just for burlap soon.




I love this primitive rag garland from Brown Paper Packages.




I also love this more elegant rag garland using a string of lights. I found it here along with a great tutorial.

I'm thinking I'll create a more primitive look in the living room. I want to use a strand of white lights on green wire and attach green fabrics so that it mimics greenery. In the dining room, I want to work mainly with whites, creams, and browns (like burlap). Maybe I'll add a little bling in there with some white glitter to mimic snow and a few touches of silver or gold. Now that I've actually experienced snow on December 25th, I don't feel as silly using snow as a decorating theme.

Creating xmas decorations is not that high on my priority list, however, so we'll see if I get any made by next year or not.

Pilosale on Etsy

I usually visit Etsy.com once a day to at least look at the home page to see what catches my eye. I have discovered a lot of great sellers this way. Today I discovered an adorable shop called Pilosale. The alphabet-bear pillow above was on Etsy's home page. I am crazy about baby and kid's items anyway, especially beautiful handmade creations like this pillow. I need to post some of the items I have purchased for my nursery-in-the-making. But for now, enjoy some of my other favorite items from Pilosale.



I am really into garlands these days, and I love this butterfly garland. This would be beautiful in a nursery, a romantic grown-up bedroom, or wrapped around a xmas tree.





Pilosale sells these cute loot pails separately or in combination with the crowns (she makes capes too). They are created from felt made from recylced soda bottles.



At first glance, I assumed this was notebook paper fabric. But no, this fabric is stitched to resemble notebook paper. Ingenious! This pillow also comes with a matching duvet cover. Pouches, cards, and more are also avialable in this same notebook style.

Sigh. If I could only purchase the whole store.

Etsy Holiday Decor

During my current bout of holiday spirit, I have been searching Etsy.com for seasonal decorations. Here are my favorites:





What a great use for old doorknobs from No Sugar, Extra Cream.



I wish I had thought of these great pocket watch ornaments first. They are available with a variety of ribbons from Leslie Jansen.



I love the way crafty people are upcycling sweaters these days. These heart ornaments from Red and Company are adorable.




Great vintage winter scenes like this are placed on ornaments and other decorations at Shabby Chic Ski Boutique.




I see lots of tin and silver platters at antique stores and thrift stores. Her Majesty's Pug turns them into decorative chalkboards.




I love dragonflies. Here is one from Mudgoddess that I'd want to display year round.



These sweet little birds can be found at Sushipot.



These gorgeous butterfly ornaments are made by Prince Design UK.



This sweet little pig is available from Middleburg.



These ornaments made from ceiling tin are from Cottage in the Sun.




These beadboard beauties are from The Shabby Chic Cottage.