Beloved Childhood Toy

It is so fun when you can take a toy or game that you played and loved as a kid and play it with your own children.  I brought out "Blockhead" today to see if Ronan would get a kick out of it and we played for ages!  It is so simple, you just each take turns building a tower until it falls and then you shout and giggle and try again.  I highly recommend this toy for the winter months!  It is still sold on Amazon.

Elephant Quilt Update

I have finally found the photos of the completed elephant quilt!  I am really pleased with how it turned out.  I wanted satin edging since kids always seem to like that on a quilt.  The coloring is off compared to the blue cotton edging which bugged me at first, but now I don't mind it so much.  When I first showed it to Ronan he said "No, I don't like that one!" and rejected the quilt outright.  But he has since warmed to it, and is in turn warmed by it.  :-D

Elephant Quilt

 I started a quilt for Ronan a couple of months ago and was able to finish it up just be fore we left Minneapolis.  These are shots of the quilt as I was pinning it to machine quilt.  It is part of my stash busting year in which I use only fabrics that I have on hand.  I had to cheat a little bit to get a small amount of grey fabric for the elephant and Ronan's name.  Also, I think I had to buy the satin binding, but other than that it is all stuff I had!   I am glad to report that the batting was even left over from another quilt. 

I designed the quilt myself with a lot of inspiration from Red Pepper Quilts and Handmade By Alissa, two of my favorite blog quilters right now.  The elephant image was taken from a Quilting magazine and the letters from the Arial font enlarged and printed out on our computer.

More shots of the finished product soon!

A Google Eye Adventure

 

Since our move, I have had the pleasure of being a stay at home mom for a little while until we get a little more settled in.  Each week I organize a couple of crafts for Ronan and I to do together.  Usually he doesn't get what I'm going for and gets bored but sometimes I pick a good one for him.  This craft began as an exercise in making egg carton caterpillars but became much more interesting when we cut them up into one egg carton aliens and monsters!  Ronan loves using "google eyes" and in enthusiastic about any craft that involves them. 

We just used google eyes, markers, misc. stickers and colored pipe cleaners to make our creations.  This is definitely one we would do again!  Oh, and I also was able to pull a string through one of the aliens and tied it around his neck for a necklace.  Also a thumbs up from Ronan. 

We're Back!

I didn't anticipate taking such a large hiatus from the Family Craft Blog, but the summer can just sort of get that way!  Our family made the huge and difficult decision to pack up and move to Wisconsin.  We're now living in a small rural town in Southern Wisconsin instead of the bustling metropolis of Minneapolis.  There are a lot of differences (hello, no Starbucks within 25 miles!) the main one being a slower pace of life, which we couldn't be happier with.  While Blake and I are sorting out the job situation, we are getting settled in at my Mother's house which she has generously opened her doors for us while we get on our feet again. 

And now that we are mostly settled in, and computer set up and moments here and there of free time, we can bring back the blog!  Thank you for patiently waiting for our return! 

Kristen, Blake & Ronan

New Fabric

Just as I was composing a post in my head all about using up scrap fabric and stash reduction, I found myself at Crafty Planet and picked up a yard of this.  Erin McMorris' line for Free Spirit called Weekends.  This is the "Go By Bike" print that I immediately fell in love with.  I seldom pick up a yard of new fabric the way I used to since we are trying to be tight with money these days.  But Crafty Planet is a dangerous place to be with a tenner burning a hole in your pocket.  Luckily I had just gotten a 15% off coupon, so I felt that justified the purchase.  :-D 

So.... next post will be about using up existing fabric!

Sounds of Summer

I thought I'd share a playlist of family-friendly songs we're listening to this summer. Blake and I come from the "mix-tape" generation so we love the challenge of putting together a playlist that we will all enjoy. Here are some of our favs!

Party With Children - Ratatat
Woody's Roundup - Riders In The Sky
Day-O - Harry Belafonte
Lovely, Love My Family - The Roots
Hold Him Joe - Ziggy Marley
Sticks and Stone - Jonsi
I Love to Boogie - T.Rex
Fast and Slow - The Laurie Berkner Band
We're Going to Be Friends - The White Stripes
1234 - Feist
Everyday - Rogue Wave
Electric Car - They Might Be Giants
Hold On Tight - The Backyardigans
The Mighty Mighty Elephant - Robbert Bobbert
The Ninjas - Barenaked Ladies
Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag - Minnutes
Your Personal Penguin - Sandra Boynton feat. Davey Jones
 I Made You Smile - Jay Condiotti
One and One Makes Two - Johnny Cash