on-hand modern

the cute

next week you'll be seeing plenty of the SCARY on this blog, so today i leave you with the cute.

(photo by k)

happy trick-or-treating!

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wditot: 10.27.10

[enough about me, let's talk about...]

--cheap home depot lighting never looked so good (except maybe here)

--i know i said i liked white walls, but i'm strangely attracted to this bedroom

--some people go all out for halloween!

--chili and cornbread...in a jar? and pumpkin pie too! (really want to try this with my grandma's pumpkin chiffon recipe)

--like a giant surprise egg: chocolate pinata cake

--pretty pumpkin wreath

--i'm a sucker for kids' self-portraits

--pretty needlework

--this made me laugh: my friend holly is older than a bunch of dead people

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from the archives: free halloween mask templates

i posted these last year as a free download, and here they are again. i used two layers of wool felt to make the masks in the photo + ribbon for the fairy and elastic for the superhero.

hope they are useful to someone!

edited to add: here are last year's finished woodland fairy and batman costumes. and you'll find their (easy! almost-no-sew) pig and rooster costumes from two years ago here.

happy halloween week!

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design with kids in mind

hey, there's our kids' play space featured as part of 6th street design school's "good design: kids in mind" series. there are some other pretty great spaces too. take a look?

(thanks, kirsten!)

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olivia's baptism

girl--

innocent, pure.

first baptized,

then receives the Holy Ghost

to guide and comfort her

through

Life.

a quiet moment--

whispered words, watery eyes.

a new

girl--

yet the same--

brings her parents joy.

***

junior librarian birthday party: part 2

my head and heart have been somewhere else this past week, so i didn't get more party details posted like i promised. lucky for me, you guys are an easygoing bunch and have forgiven me already. (haven't you?)

the party was loads of nerdy fun. we made bookmarks using the photos we took of the guests as they arrived at the party. (heh. all 2 of them--i love a small party for children this age. i treat it like a fancy play date, and everyone's so relaxed and mellow. of course, as homeschoolers we have the luxury of not being obligated to invite an entire classroom of children--i know small parties aren't an option for everybody, and in fact, when our families are around for parties, they are anything but small!)

we competed in relay races like "pass the bookworm" (think gummi worms and chopsticks) and "librarian walk" (everyone tried walking around the room while balancing a book on top of their heads, which, surprisingly, turned out to be a lot more of a challenge than i thought!).

the main event at the party was the DIY library bags that everyone made. i bought some plain canvas totes at the craft store, along with some black fabric paint and sponge brushes so we could freezer paper stencil them. i downloaded this set of silhouette glasses and k turned them into a usable template/stencil. (this is where i tried and failed miserably--something about positive and negative space and cutting and not cutting--it was a disaster, so i handed that task off to the engineer.)

having never tried freezer paper stenciling before, i was a bit nervous about how it would go, but it turned out to be a great (very doable) craft for 8-year-olds. i ironed the stencils onto the bags prior to the start of the party (tip: iron a square of freezer paper onto the inside of the bag as well so paint doesn't soak through) so all the girls had to do was paint them and then wait for them to dry. fyi, they were dry to the touch by the end of the party, but i did send the bags home with the stencils still attached--all the instructions i'd read online had said not to remove the stencil for at least 12 hours.

other highlights from the party:

the cake!

booklight favors (a booklight has been on olivia's wishlist for such a looong time!)

dad's storytime + fairytale charades

also, grandma sent the perfect shirt for the party, don't you think?

thanks for reading!

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junior librarian birthday party

 

 

 

i'm kind of in love with how these pictures turned out, even though they are far from perfect from a technical standpoint. 8-year-old teeth/smiles/poses/models are classic, no?

the eyeglasses are my favorite. they are actually sunglasses from the dollar store. (i punched out the lenses.) the rest of the dress-up stuff we had on hand.

you might be wondering:

who asks for a "librarian" birthday party anyway?

my kid, that's who.

more details tomorrow.

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junior librarian birthday party: part 2

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