From the category archives:

Crafty

Craft ideas and instructions – go make something fun with your hands for your baby or yourself! Our most popular craft projects have been Make easy toddler pants out of an old t-shirt and Alter your board books. Have a look around, make something, and share your pictures!

Activity #268: Makin’ it: Custom letter art

February 6, 2012

In a college photography class, Sue Tenerowicz was introduced to letter art. Her assignment that was to go out in the world and find letters that the world created. Then spell something. She says, “A simple idea, but the concept stuck with me.” “I’ve always used words in pictures to send a special message. Sometimes, [...]

Makin’ it: Wipeable art table

January 30, 2012

For many years, when I watched HGTV, I would tell myself that if only I had a staple gun, I would be reupholstering stuff left and right. And then my husband bought me a staple gun for Christmas two years ago. Twenty-five months later — yesterday — I used it for the first time. We [...]

Publish your own I Spy book

January 16, 2012

We are big fans of the I Spy books, starting with the board book versions I bought when Julian was a baby. We play “I Spy” with regular books, too, and now we’ve graduated into Where’s Waldo? territory. When Julian was four, he and I did a little photo shoot with big plans — still [...]

Makin’ it: no-sew Moby wrap baby carrier

January 9, 2012

When my second son was born, I flirted with sewing to create this Moby-style baby wrap (AKA the “fauxby”) to keep little Milo super close. It is the snugliest baby carrier that I’ve ever had. My mom helped me to hem the edges. Once I saw how legitimately simple it was, I made another two [...]

Toddler fun: sitting in boxes

December 28, 2011

To accommodate our holiday guests in our tiny dining room with its four-top table, my husband ordered a new camping table from Amazon.com. It arrived in a cardboard box big enough for a 7-year old boy and a 4-year old girl to lie down in. How do I know this? Because my kids got in [...]

Shutterfly photo books: story ideas (and giveaway!)

December 16, 2011

My mom makes mini photo books with Shutterfly for my kids every time we spend a weekend together, so we have a whole bunch of them. She is/was a creative director at her own ad agency, so she’s pretty darn good at it. But the hardbound books that Shutterfly is promoting now are in another [...]

5 gifts for crafty kids (without crafty parents)

December 1, 2011

If you have a DIY kid and you don’t have the time, energy, or interest to get crafty, here are five fun gift solutions: 1. Kiwi Crate Subscription Each month, a collection of hands-on activities based on a theme (like color, gardening, or dinosaurs) – including arts, crafts, science – arrive with all materials in [...]

I am a holiday card ho this year. (Ho ho ho!)

November 30, 2011

I cannot tell a lie. Over the course of this year, at various blogger events, I collected three different $50 gift cards to customized paper goods companies, and I was determined to use them all. My annual mailing list is about 75 households long. Hence, I uploaded the same photo to Minted, Paper Culture, and [...]

Before and after: a baby gift transformed

November 15, 2011

I hope the person who gave this stool to us can forgive me for what I have done. We received this stool as a gift when Julian was born. Six and a half years later, the boy had zero interest in sports, and I felt like the stool just doesn’t suit him. And so I [...]

Activity #328: Host a clothing swap party

November 14, 2011

Nine months on, nine months off? Something like that. Your 46th weekly challenge is to obtain some new-to-you clothes that you’ll enjoy along with an afternoon of girlfriend hilarity all for the cost of some cucumber-scented spa water. The end of the year is a perfect time to plan a clothing swap. Whitney totally hates [...]

(Giveaway) New kids’ craft book from Make and Takes

November 11, 2011

I am so proud of our buddy Marie who has just published her first book. The team at her publisher, Wiley, who maintain a pretty solid crafty website themselves, put together an adorable package of Marie’s ideas and photographer Nicole Gerulat’s images. As you can see in the table of contents above, the projects are [...]

Mom and baby costume idea: Owl in a tree

October 14, 2011

This homemade owl beanie is so cute, I had to share. Not only is it a simple sewing project, similar to the make a baby hat out of a tshirt post I did a few years ago, but the whole Owl in a Tree is a clever mom and baby costume idea. The mom behind [...]

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