Valentine's Day Boxes

Doug was in charge of helping the kids with their valentines day boxes this year.  They use these in their homeschool valentine exchange party.   I think they turned out great!  (They sure look better than the red shoe boxes covered in glitter glue and heart stickers that I used to make.)

Marcus helped create a purple minion box. 

And Sophie helped create an R2D2 box.

Mommy does some crafting of her own...

Here are some outfits I stitched up for Marcus and Sophie for Valentine's day.
Marcus asked for a Robot or Caveman valentine shirt.  (Odd request, but that is what he wanted.)  So I made him a Robot T-Shirt that said "Love Machine". 

It is an applique that was done on my brand new embroidery machine.  The embroidery machine was a gift from my dear, sweet husband for Christmas.  I have been dreaming of owning an embroidery machine for years, so I have been having a lot of fun playing around with it.  This was my first time using it on a t-shirt.   (T-Shirts can be hard to embroidery on because of the loose, knit fabric.)   I am still very much a beginner...so as you can see I am still getting the hang of things. 

  Really we need a forum capable of "tactile-perception" to get the feel for this t-shirt.  The gray is this silver chenille/minky/velvety-stretchy-mystery fabric that is SO soft.  (I honestly don't know what this fabric is.  I just had it in my scrap bag.)  The black is a corduroy.  The two fabrics really create an extra soft and touchy robot applique.  This was my first time ever using my new embroidery machine on a t-shirt. 

Sophie of course wanted a matching t-shirt...so she also got a robot t-shirt. 
I also sewed Sophia a matching skirt.  She usually doesn't like skirts, but I thought I could lure her into wearing it with the bait of extra, big, luxurious, gathered pockets.  (Sophie LOVES pockets and insists that she has them in everything she wears.)   Sophie made good use of these pockets today.  She used them to stash about 4-5 pacifiers in them should she need them for back up. 

Here is the complete outfit together:

And here is the obligatory "stand by the door and let me take your picture" shot:

Thanks for looking!!

Links to Become Attached To:
- Don't waste your homemaking 
- Homemaking Link Up

Valentine Box Collages

Busy at work on their Valentine Boxes:  here they are showing me their hands covered in glitter glue

Today Marcus and Sophia are participating in their very first Valentine exchange.  For the special event we had to create some very special Valentine's Day boxes.  I really wanted the boxes to be something Marcus and Sophie created.  So, we decided to decorate our boxes "collage style". 

Marcus busy at work decorating his Valentine Box

Sophia busy at work decorating her Valentine Box

 To create your own collage boxes you will need to wrap a small box in white paper for your child.  We used a paper roll that goes to our easel, but you could use white packing paper or whatevever you can find to serve as a "base" for your collage.

Then, provide your chid with lots of fun collage supplies:
Some ideas are:

1)  Washable Paint (We used Red, Pink, and Purple)
2)  Glitter Glue (And LOTS of it!)
3)  Foam cutouts in various shapes (We used Hearts and Flowers)
4)  Red, Pink, and White pom poms
5)  Feathers
6)  Printed vintage valentines.  (Just print and cut out!)  You can download and print those for free from here.

This craft was really special to me because Marcus and Sophia put a LOT of work into decorating their boxes.  I mean, they probably worked hard on them for about an hour in DEEP concentration.  They made heavy use of the paint and  foam shapes.  But most of all, they made use of the glitter glue!!  I made the mistake of putting about 20 tubes of glitter glue on the table.  (Can you tell I like to buy in bulk?)  Well, the kids used all TWENTY glitter glue tubes.  These boxes have so much sparkle that I am not lying to you when I tell you that they took a full FOUR days to dry. 

Using her mouth to open the glitter glue

I know that these boxes may not look as "fancy" as some of the other V-Day crafts you see on the web.  However, in my humble opinion, I think they are the mot beautiful creations out there.  Why?  Because they were made with loving care and attention by my two special Valentines!  

Sophia's finished product

Marcus's finished Valentine's Day Box

Sweetheart Apron

As I said before, I have been sewing up a storm over here lately. Besides making Sophia an apron, I also made one for myself. ;)

So here are some pictures of my Valentine's Day Apron:

It is my own pattern. The top features a heart shaped bodice and it has a wide flared skirt. I made the ties very long so that they could be easily tied in front. (I love the practicality of that!)

The apron itself is reversible. The front side has a Patty Young fabric from her Andalucia line. The reverse side is a black fabric with strawberries, cherries, and hearts. (Perfect for a Valentine's day apron in my humble opinion.)

It also has two heart shaped pockets on the polka dot side:

I also sewed a matching table cloth out of the black fabric for my kitchen table.

Thanks for looking!

Valentine Day Crafts

Marcus and Sophia also did their own share of craft projects for Valentine's day.

They made several homemade valentine's for their Nana and Papa.

To make these, I cut hearts out of craft foam. The kids then glued them onto some paper heart dollies. We then attached "googly" eyes and the kids drew a mouth and some eyelashes. (Yes, those are mouths and eye lashes in case you couldn't tell!)

The other thing the kids made were heart mobile's. I cut some hearts out of plain white card stock. I then gave the kids some red and white tempra paint and various tools to pain the hearts. The results were pretty cool. We ended up with some really cool swirled textures on our hearts.



To finish up the hearts we cut some photos out of an old 2009 family calendar. I then had the kids pick which photos they wanted to paste to the hearts and where they wanted to paste them. They really enjoyed getting to sort through the old family photos and putting them on their hearts. The kids also got the idea of gluing some red and pink pom-poms to the hearts.

Thanks for reading!

Your friend,

Cathy aka The Attached Mama

The Attached Mama Crafts: Special Valentine's Day Edition

You might think that the reason I haven't updated my blog is because I haven't been doing much. However, the exact opposite has been true. I have been SO busy here that I haven't had much time to get online and "check in".

So I thought I would post some pictures of what we have been up to.


Every year for Valentine's day I make something for the kids. To me a handmade gift is the best way to really show someone that you love them. It means so much more than anything that I could buy for them at the store. BecauseThis year I refinished some furniture for Sophia and Marcus's play room.

I found a doll size high chair and crib at the thrift store for next to nothing. The only problem is that they were in REALLY bad shape. There was splattered paint on them them, writing, dents, etc. However, the pieces had "good bones" and I saw a lot of potentional in them. They were solid wood and well constructed, so I thought that they would last for years to come. So I decided to buy them and try to make them over.

Here are the BEFORE pictures of the high chair:



I didn't think to take a "before" picture of the crib...but you get the idea.

Here are the pieces AFTER:


Doll Highchair AFTER: painted red to match their retro style kitchen


Doll Crib AFTER: The crib is also painted red to match their play kitchen. I also sewed a matching quilt for their dolls. It has the red gingham on one side with a rick-rack border. (If you know me well, you will know that I LOVE anything with rick-rack on it.)

The reverse side of the quilt is made out of red fabric with small white hearts. I also made a small mattress for the crib and a cover out of the red gingham. Here is Sophia favorite doll (Baby Susan) enjoying her new sleeping space. :)

Close up of the heart fabric:



I also sewed the kids a matching table cloth for their craft table.


Finally, the kids each received an apron for Valentine's day. I am nearly always wearing an apron when I am at home. So I wanted to make Marcus and Sophia an apron to wear too. I am blessed with children who love to help their mommy. And I though that they might enjoy having an apron to wear around while we clean and cook.

I made Marcus a reversible spider-man apron. It has a spider-man print on one side with a deep red double pocket (to hold the various toys he always carries around in his hand!). The reverse side is a matching red fabric with a spider-man pocket.


Sophia's apron is made out of the red gingham and heart fabric. So it matches the table cloth and doll bedding. :) I also put her initial on the front.


The aprons made me really happy because the kids both loved their aprons. When someone comes to our house Marcus will run up and say, "Look what mommy sewed for me?!"

Well, everyone...that's it for tonight. Thanks for looking! More updates to come later this week.

Valentine's Day Cider Recipe

I am always kind of sad when Christmas is over. It is kind of depressing to take down all of the decorations and still be left with a few more months of winter.

SO...I am replacing my Christmas addiction with another holiday and getting ready for Valentine's day. It may be early...but hey, it helps to pass those winter months.

We made this delicious and kid friendly Valentine's Day Cider Recipe that we found in Martha Stewart Kids.



Ingredients:
1 Quart Apple Cider
1/4 Cup Hard Cinnamon Candies

Directions:
Stir 1 quart apple cider and 1/4 cup hard cinnamon candies in a medium saucepan over low heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, until heated through and candies have melted completely, about 8 minutes. Serve warm.