Potted Purim Gifts

(I posted this picture on Facebook and some folks wanted the tutorial, so here it is! We made a few little Purim Shalach Manos for Freida's friends from Gan Chai, and I figured I'd go with a child-led theme...)

Freida has been on a green-thumb trip ever since Tu B'Shvat, and when I asked her what she wanted to give for Shalach Manos this Purim, her response of "flowers!!" was no surprise.

We started out with some tiny plastic pink planters, and crushed up some oreo cookies for the soil.

I cut little yellow flowers out of some cardstock paper and had her color them up.

Then I punched a hole in the middle of the flower, stuck a lillipop through it, and used some tape to secure it.

Next I had her fill her planters with the soil, and cover the top with a layer of chocolate rocks.

The chocolate rocks helped hold the flowers securely in place.

We wrapped each in a bit of cellophane and added a little gift tag.

And there you are, potted Purim gifts for under a buck each! :)

Happy Purim flowers from my little bumble bee!!

Sticky Sapling

(This post is over a week late in the coming, but the activity concept was so fun that I want to shoot it out there to you all either way - before I forget about it and it gets lost in a pile of neglected blog "drafts".)

In honor of Tu B'Shvat, I broke out a new form of art for Freida. It was quite the hit! While I personally feel she was too old to truly reap the benefits of such an activity, she seemed to enjoy the tactile observation either way. Ideally, this is the perfect art form for a 2 year old; mess-free, removable, and extensively creative.

The general concept is contact paper. Simply tape a nice big sheet of contact paper on the wall - sticky side forward. Give your toddler enough art materials to get insanely creative with (feathers, foam cutouts, scraps of colored paper, sequins etc.), and demonstrate the method! Watch their little hands discover the world of sticky goodness, and explore the properties of weight and layout. They'll learn so much from this activity, and you'll definitely get a nice chunk of time to yourself!

I gave Frieda a pile of brown paper squares, and a stack of colorful paper leaves. After some simple directions she went ahead to create her own tree! I was excited when I realized how capable she was! And the best part is when they come up with ideas on their own - she asked me if I could cut out some red apples for her to add to the mix! And after she finished her tree, she proceeded to request materials to make a "flower garden" (I stuck up some more contact paper, cut out some paper flowers, and cut up a few pipe cleaners to use as stems)! Nothing like schepping creative nachas! :)

Little Seeds

Freida came home from Gan Chai this morning all aglow from Birthday cheer. The trees birthday, that is. She marched proudly into the house sporting a birthday crown and showing off a petite potted gift.

The excited was so uncontained that I decided to harness it and we head out back to fill up some uprooted areas in the backyard with soil and seeds.

While we'd love to start up a real live garden - dreaming of the Berkowitz's - we're starting off slowly, and began by hoeing and filling up the empty areas with fresh soil, and heaps of little Forget Me Not seeds to grow alongside the outer brush against the fence.

Freida enjoyed the sensory experience of working the earth, not to mention the thrill of getting muddy and grimy without a nay say from her mama. :)

Dirt pellets are a fantastic way to show kids how the earth "drinks" the water. Tightly packed dried out soil turns to volumes of moist soil instantly once watered, and the look of discovery on little faces watching is sheer deliciousness! (The Target $1 aisle has heaps of these little potted pellets for Valentines Day right now!)

P.S. Kids can play with mud forever!! Best way to keep 'em entertained in a jiffy! :)

Weekend Round-up!

Happiest weekend wishes!! We're going for the homestretch here - each time I open my planner, my heart skips a beat seeing how close my due date is (12 days!) - so right now I'm all about last-minute pre-baby tasks. And there are heaps of them! My lists don't stop, but thankfully I've been crossing plenty off recently, and I'm starting to feel settled enough to go at any moment (besides for the unpacked hospital bag!). It was so much fun opening up boxes of stored baby gear - some things made me feel like it's been ages since my last newborn, and other things had me reeling at how recently I stored them away! Yesterday, Freida and I went through a huge box of baby things (plush rattles, swaddle blankets, newborn rompers etc.) - it was so special to be doing that with her; feeling like I've got this beautiful big girl on my hands, helping out with the newborn chores... :) So while I go through and fold this basket of freshly-laundered baby items, here are a few things I've been meaning to share over the course of this week:

- These popcorn bird-feeder garlands are such a charming fine-motor skill activity for Shabbos Shira! (Plastic needles will do the trick!)

- A whimsical read + a wonderful recipe for french toast.

- A $200 bubble blower. Baby keepsake, anyone? :)

- 2012 in Nail Laquer.

- This insanely-awesome playhouse has left me dreamy....

- This bathroom-themed survey made me laugh out loud.

- This hot-pink number got me thinking about my right to bare arms.

- I loved this honest + beautiful piece on parenhood.

- Ever wonder how much you'd earn if all your housework was done as a paying job?

- Hilarious (and ridiculous!) Super Bowl cupcakes!

Have a wonderful February weekend!!! I'll be back to share some of my hospital-bag-packing necessities next week!

Menorah Magic

The week before Chanukah it suddenly dawned on me that Freida needed a Menorah. Last year I was able to excuse the lack of a little holiday candelabra with the fact that my little bug was simply too young to be playing with fire (hence, the magnetic variety). This year, after her 3rd birthday and her arrival at the "age of education", came her entering into the covenant of Jewish women through the igniting of a Shabbos flame (more on that beatific ritual and her arrival at the threshold later), there was no getting around the colorful little Chanukah candles!

When I asked Freida what kind of Menorah she wanted to light, she was quick to reply "a war elephant!". That majestic battle animal had graced the full-colored spreads of her many Chanukah books (especially this one), and apparently she took to the beast. :)

I found the idea online of using Model Magic clay to create a Menorah out of any form (toy, object etc.), and we walked down the block to Blick to pick up a $2 bag of white clay. We then picked up a big pack of colorful Chanukah candles and headed home to get crafting.

I opted out of using Freida's beloved Shleich elephant, and opted for the plastic $1 Target version instead (it was bigger anyways).

You basically just smoosh some model magic onto the top of any object of your choice, stick in the candles securely and let the whole thing dry with the candles in it.

Once dry, remove the candles and spray paint (or simply paint) the whole thing. You can even get bling-y and add some glue and glitter for a more glam effect.

Light up!!

You don't need to worry about the wax dripping all over - it pops right off the painted surface. The most important thing with this Menorah is to never let those candles burn all the way down - spray paint is rather flammable, if you know what I'm saying. Also, the Model Magic burns to a char. :)