Homemade Valentines! Toddler-Style

Because I <3 art projects, and I <3 Valentines Day, two simple painted valentines your toddler will enjoy!

Valentine 1: Marbled Heart

It's not original, but it's construction paper. It's kludge-y. And so cute!

Supplies:

Construction Paper in Valentines-y colors

Scissors

Sharpie

Small-medium sized Box

Acrylic Paint

3 Marbles

Foil or Wax Paper

Step 1: Cut construction paper into a bunch of rectangles by halving the paper until you have your desired size and amount of cards.

Step 2: With a sharpie, draw hearts in the middle of the rectangle. They don't have to be perfect!

Step 3: Have child place the card in the box, then squirt some dollops of paint in the box around the card.

Step 4: Allow child to wiggle the box back and forth, running the marbles through the paint, then back onto the card.

Step 5: Take shirts off because you can see by how they are starting to paint their fingers that this is going to go south quickly!

Step 6: Step back and enjoy the full on finger and tummy painting session! (I mean, you can't get a more washable paint than acrylic! So don't fret too much!)

Step 7: Since the backsides of the cards are bound to get some sort of paint on them, I recommend placing them on foil or wax paper to dry so that they do not stick to your counter. After they've dried you can add a note in sharpie and sign their name. ^_^

Valentine 2: Sponged Hearts

This one takes more time per card, so is perfect for that special someone...in our case, DADDY!!!

Supplies:

Construction Paper (preferably white)
Scissors

Easel or Window

Tape

Paper Plates

Acrylic Paint in various valentines-y colors

BIBS!

Sponges

Puffy Paint (acrylic, but pen style)

Step 1: Fold your construction paper in half and cut out half a heart on the seam so that it opens into a full one.

Step 2: Tape to an easel or window, somewhere paint will wash off easily when it doesn't quite make it to the card.

Step 3: Arrange different colors around the circumference of a paper plate as a mock pallet.

Step 4: BIB THOSE BABIES!!!

Step 5: Hand them a sponge and their pallet and let them go to town!

Step 6: Paint usually makes it on the front of the card so it is safe to rest on the counter to dry. At this point, write a cute note and sign their name with the puffy paint, and allow to dry.

I recommend the easel/window placement, versus a table top because it's a different angle to improve the hand-eye coordination, and also works on the supinating wrist motion!

So it's not the most creative card, but kids love sponges, and bonus activity at the end is washing out the sponge and watching all the paint disappear down the drain. 

The Ultimate Love... Captured in a Belly Cast

Not to be confused as competing with God's ultimate love, I personally venture to say a man and woman's ultimate love is their child!

Not puppy love that twitterpates you in your romantic dating years. Not young love that grows with sincerity and passion, and lingers on into early marriage. Not fur-baby love, although my snuggly cat in my lap would beg to differ!

Children make you do things no other being could expect: We adopted a Vegan lifestyle for our children (because who in their right mind gives up aged cheddar?!); a pregnant mother will stave off sushi and caffeine for their unborn child; and I've heard a man say in encouragement to their toddler, "okay! Go make a big poop, then show me!" We also gave up smoking for our children, and I know our girls kick-started an adventure to healthy, but the point of it all is that we enjoy it, and enjoy them, so we do everything to keep them healthy and happy as well as ourselves.

Kaylee was our first, and a scary adventure, but I had the MOST supportive husband! A surprise, but a welcome one! We figured everything out with her, and she was our inspiration to continue being fun-loving people and just include her in all of it! She was a smiley baby, totally colicky (over milk, so yes I paid my dues, don't be jealous!) and I love her more than myself...

River...she was also unexpected, but I was worn out, and my husband was not exactly excited this time. We were planning on talking about when we were going to have another, but not for a few more months after we found out she was already on her way, and I had to work to be excited for her. Stress came on quickly when we decided our little house was just not going to work, then the house we finally got into needed gutting and remodeling. Our whole lives revolved around stress. Granted, we bonded and teamed together to face the stress (minus the picking the house battle...whoever says it's fun is LYING!), but our contentment and joy ran out the window along with our sanity! I was not breathless with anticipation, but rather anxiety. I hadn't even come to love my new momma-body yet.

But ALL CHILDREN ARE BLESSINGS!!! And I truly do believe that. It's what you do with that blessing that will determine whether you experience the joy. I am determined to enjoy my children, I didn't labor for nothing, that's for sure! So this piece of art is where I learn to enjoy my blessings, and is the symbol of ultimate love.

The project starts when you're in your last trimester, when you feel like a beached whale, and your body is screaming at you, and you're not sure if you want the baby out already, or if you want to keep it in there indefinitely! That is the time. When you are at the peak of what you feel is unattractive.

You can buy a kit, I've picked one up for cheap at T.J. Maxx, or you can just buy Plaster of Paris strips at Michaels, (bring your coupon, of course!) which is cheaper than the most discounted kit I've seen! I had to re-do mine because posture is key, and I would recommend just buying the rolls of plaster tape. Then all you need is a dish of water and scissors. It is best to stand if you can so your belly does not appear slouchy, and apply a thick coat of vaseline. I had the best results using horizontal strips cut to size on my belly, and a mixture of horizontal and vertical strips on my chest, but cut down to half the width so they followed my curves better. Be generous and layer those strips until it looks smooth. Also apply a coat of water over the whole thing at the very end to fill all of the little holes in the mesh tape. When it has dried you can sand it, but only so much!

This process helped me love my body more, even if only for the baby inside! It also gave me some much desired attention from my husband, as he was the one who put all the effort into draping wet strips of plaster all over me!

Since it was so close to River's debut, I never painted my Belly Cast before she was born. Then with the two girls so little and helpless, I had no down time to work on it until she was a year old. Now that she is 2, I have finally completed it! But that is a beautiful thing to have taken so long to finish it, because every time I set to work at it, I would think of River, my love, my mini-me, and Kaylee, her enduring sister, her patient guardian. They are my Ultimate Love! And how befitting that I would finally finish this 2-year project at this "love"ly time of year!

Feel free to Google search "Belly Cast" because MAN are there some BEAUTIFUL BELLIES to get some ideas!!!! Seriously some cute and absolutely gorgeous casts!! Make it yours, after all it's your baby you're lovin'!

The Nearly Free Chicken Coop!

Chicken season is coming, and about this time two years ago we were scouting free wood piles and picking up all sorts of pallets that local businesses tossed to the curb. Sure, they can use wood recycling, but a lot of places just keep bins of wood, which is not only amazing for your wood fire, but it can be upcycled into projects like this!

We only had 4 hens at that point in our venture, so an enclosed space was nice, and the previous residents in our home left this nice sized dog kennel, which provided elevation for our birds and the enclosure we desired. However, you do not have to elevate yours as we did, I would recommend 8 inches so that it is off the ground during rainy weather, but space enough to make it drafty and unappealing to vermin and giving your cleaning shovel space to scoop out the junk, all while providing the ground underneath it a breather, because you will want to move it! Penned chickens ruin the ground, which is why we let ours free-range most of the time!

So your first task is to collect as much wood as you can, you can return what you don't need, or burn the excess! Most of our wood was nailed together, so we worked hard to pull out all of the nails, sometimes sawing them off if they were stubborn, in order to free the planks on the pallet! Now take the sturdy frame of the once-pallet and use those 2x4s to make your own frame! Box shaped bottom, bracer in the middle, then upright posts at every corner and middle, but make sure one side is taller than the other by 6 inches to allow for a slanted roof to properly shed rain. Frame out the top as you did the bottom. Then take all of the blanks you removed from the pallets and use them to make a floor (unless you found sheets of plywood in someone's free bin, that would be lighter and better!) and walls, and roof. Use a nailgun to make this process faster! There will be some holes in between the boards, but try to get them as tight as possible, my chickens did not mind through the winter, and honestly I think a little fresh air kept them happier. I always made sure that they were toasty and cozy through the coldest days! For the back of the coop, we used a sheet of plywood that opened on a hinge, and hooked closed at both ends at hook and eye loops. Then you can clean it out and collect eggs easily. Don't forget a door, which is also easily made of plywood, hinge, and hook and eye closure!

These are the model plans we used to base out pallet coop off of! Since Brandan works at a sheet metal company, he was able to snag a piece of corrugated sheet metal for the roof, but you could use corrugated plastic for a cheaper option, or scout any metal manufacturer's recycle bin! For more plan details, click here, otherwise we used just the basic dimensions and replicated what we could.

A simple addition is feeder houses, which are useful for keeping food and oyster shells dry. They are simply made, and even the kiddos can help decorate!

This coop was free aside from the hinges and hook and eye closures. You might accrue a little more, but scout craigslist for awesome chicken run fencing, or any scrap wood if you don't have any free wood recycling bins nearby!

Happy henning!!!

Christmas Cards...Lovely Little Holiday Inspiration

First off, don't forget to play the ISPY game for your chance to win a wonderful set of Bob Books! I'm extending the guessing to Wednesday the 11th!!!

I love making my own cards, it adds a personal touch, and for holidays, they get me in the spirit of the season! I also love a bargain, and hand-making 60 holiday cards came to less than $30!!!

It starts with a photoshoot in early November. We pick a different outfit and try new setups every year. Then we choose three photos that are worth handing out to the world of friends that we have! We used to use Vistaprint for holiday cards because they usually have screaming deals and fast standard shipping, so they always look like your typical holiday card, with a bit of personalization. This year, I calculated out some pricing, and found it was cheaper to do what I love and make them myself!

I found glittery green plaid paper that was on clearance because it was deemed "spring" paper, with the green being light and bright, but any green will do for "Christmas green" for me!

For 60 cards you will need:
15 sheets of 12x12 paper --mine was 39 cents a sheet, but you can get them as low as 20 cents on a deal.
3 rolls of thin ribbon at 50 cents a roll (30 on a deal) or 60 strands at 1 foot length each.
10 sheets of Vellum (packs of 20ish sell for 5.99, but use a coupon and you halve that price!)
15 sheets of printing paper, either cardstock or regular paper, something to print your "letter" on (Or a stack of 3x5 notecards will print nicely for a buck a pack! Just flip your orientation if your printer has troubles feeding the smaller paper size)
Spray Glue!
Elmer's Craft Glue
Role of Double Sided Foam Sticky Tape (for dimension!)
Hole Punch
Your choice of pictures. We do 3 different wallet size ones. Which ends up being 3 sets of 15 sheets of wallets that come 4 to a sheet...all of it for $19 ...the most expensive part! (MATTE looks best!)
60 Standard Letter (#10) Envelopes...Office Depot sells a 500 pack for $10! Score!

I like to cut my 12x12 paper into 4 cards, each 4x8 inches. There will be a small 4x4 square left over, but that's great for using as gift tags or other projects!

Type up a cutesy little letter that is about 3 inches tall by 5 inches wide, updating your family and friends of any accomplishments you made this year, goals for next year, and a well-wish for sincerity! It's all right to brag about your family a bit, children and spouses should know that we take pride in them! Especially for those of you who, like me, tend to downplay the behavior of our family, be it kids or husbands or wives, it is a nice reminder to keep speaking well of others and building up your family in love!!

At this point I also like to print a little message on the vellum, because it just looks so darn cool! Merry Christmas in Red and Green, or bolded black! Remember, you will be cutting out 6 of these suckers, so place your text in a 4 inch high, 3 inch wide space; two rows of three! It's easiest to split the page into three columns, then copy paste your original text until you have 6 on one page, then space them as evenly as possible.

Next cut all of your pictures down to size, and your vellum and ribbon as well!

Now it's time to glue! I LOVE spray adhesive, it's fast, convenient, and holds just as much glue as a regular squeeze bottle. You can pick them up for about $4 a can, but if you use a coupon, you'll score some sweet savings on that, and you'll be able to continue using it into future projects! If your paper is glittery like mine, pictures won't stick well to the front side, which is where the squeeze bottle of Elmer's comes in. One line down the middle, place your picture, then move on to the next card. This way it is more like an assembly line, glue. stick. stack. glue. stick. stack. 

When you've finished all 60, go back to the beginning! I like to cut four little pieces of foam sticky tape for the corners of the second picture, so I can stack it slightly askew on top of the first for added POP! By little pieces, I mean slivers about 2-3 millimeters in width, since you're doing 4 pieces affixing each corner, it will be secure and uniform.

Finished another 60 pictures? Now flip it over! The backside of my paper boasts flat, blank whiteness, which is perfect for adorning with a picture and a letter. It also is a close friend of spray adhesive...they hug so hard that they instantly bond! ;) Haha, seriously though. Take a plastic bag from your card making purchase and place it on the floor, or desk, wherever you intend to spray the backs of your card accessories. A quick spray to the back of the picture or letter, and press into place on the back of your cardstock! The plastic bag will catch the excess glue sprayed, and keep your process quick but tidy!

Lastly, place your vellum with embellishment on the top of your card. Hold both the vellum and card in your fingertips and hole punch both ends of the card. The holes will be aligned if you punch both at the same time, so then you can slip your ribbon through and tie an adorable bow! Knots are cute if you just can't get a bow down! And you can snip the ends to any tail length you want! I chose a black ribbon to tie the vellum on, since it matched all of the accents, but they sell the thin ribbon in 9 yard spools in just about any color! I also went with a slot punch, but any hole punch works well! 

Each year is different! Sometimes I like to use little corner frames for my photos instead of foam tape! Sometimes a stamp on the vellum works better than printing it! You can even get really fancy and emboss your stamp, but the embossing gun runs about $25 and the glitter is usually $4 a bottle. All depends on what your future cardmaking plans are!

Have fun cutting and pasting, in the old school, not-so-digital, crafty way! 

Our Spin On Birthdays

Every birthday we get torn between who to spend time with, who to see, who to talk to on the phone, and it comes down to decisions of “who is most important?” I hate making those decisions, it's not fair to anyone. Well, this year is the year I said “No More!” I'm taking Birthday back to its roots, and what is the root of BIRTHday?! Birth.

Today we started off with breakfast together; a hearty whole-wheat, homemade soaked bread with homemade peanut butter, and homemade apple butter, topped off with Momma's special Chocolate Almond Milk! We always make all of these things together, and today was about togetherness.

Then, we listened to our favorite, Caspar Babypants Radio station on Spotify, while we drove to our naturopath. Kaylee received a full routine check, scoliosis screening, and everything. We learned about our bodies, we learned a bit about how they grow, and how to take care of them, because today was all about that healthy little body that was made in Momma's belly not-so-long ago!

After that, we came home and made art with our hands—some “thankful” turkeys! She cut her own feathers out of the paper, her first art project that she was allowed to do all of the cutting! We worked together to glue them all on, wherever she wanted. Today was a “Thankful Hands” Turkey kind of day, because today we are thankful for each other, so we work as a team to prove it.

We moved on to playdough when our turkeys were complete. Hands-on art was best for today, as she learned new skills to grow that capable little mind, and test those capable little hands, because today was about her and how much she has grown.

We lunched, and napped, and when we got up we danced and sang. We helped our sister, River, when she needed it. We helped Momma clean up too, because today was not about toys and stuff, today was about our bond with each other.

We read all of her birthday cards aloud, and she proceeded to carry each one around until bed, which was adorable as ever! We talked to all the wonderful family we have that wanted to wish Kaylee, “happy birthday,” and she learned how to leave voicemails, and express her love for her family in the simple form of communication we all do day-to-day. Because today is about love for others, above love for ourselves.

We finished off the night with a “together bath,” a whole tubfull of girls! Momma, Kaylee and River, talking about the day, talking about where they came from, and how they were born. Talking about our bodies and how their bodies will look just like Momma's when they nurse their own babies. Talking about Momma's “squishy belly” and how theirs will be squishy too when their bellies get “big big HUGE round for the babies.” Girly bathtime is wonderful! Because today was about where Kaylee came from, her BIRTHday, and how her bond with Momma was commemorated today!

Tomorrow we will have a dinner celebration with all of the family, with yummy dessert and laughter, and love! It will be fun and special, and allow everyone their chance to celebrate with this big-hearted girl! Because tomorrow will be family day, because when she came into this world, she came into a huge loving family!!!

So we will continue on with this newfound tradition, with the absence of stuff, and the full meaning of what it is to be born, and to be a Haertel daughter. We will limit the well-wishes to phone calls, but we won't tear ourselves apart trying to see everyone on this day. Don't worry, there will always be a family dinner to celebrate the birthday girl, right around this time, so that EVERYONE can celebrate with us, and we do not have to choose. This is so that we can still acknowledge the love of our family, because family is important. We will spend the day, re-rooting ourselves in each other, rediscovering our origins, going back to where it all began, with Daddy and Momma, because today is about family, and love, and connection. Today is the day we truly became our own little family, 3 short years ago.

Our "Stunning" Youthful Years, Around the Time We Found Out We Were Pregnant!