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, it was a message written in the snow, captured in a photo, and sent to a loved one. Other times it was an “I Love You,” written in the sand to capture a beautiful testament with a glowing sunset on the beach.”

“When my husband, Rob, and I moved back to the Bay Area with our boys, I started noticing the letters that were all around us – like the great H on the span of the Golden Gate Bridge. I kept seeing letters in everything from fences to flowers.  It brought me back to that college assignment.”

I want to do this with my kids! I think it would be so much fun to go out on hunts for letters in their names, snap photos and then print them out for a bulletin board or the door of their room. (Although I’m sort of envying my friends who named their kids Max and Ty right now. I don’t know if any of us have the attention span to seek out Julian and Scarlett.)

I used images from Sue's site to make Scarlett's name

Want to try this?
Here are three ways to go (the first being the most hands-on):

1. Take your children on amazing scavenger hunts until you find (and photograph!) all the letters. Print your photos and choose one of these multi-photo frames to display your masterpiece.
2. Find your letters on flickr using this fun tool. Print and frame.
3. Let Sue do all the work for you and buy your chosen word from her on her website SpellItOutPhotos.com

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Letter art not your thing? Choose another fun makin’ it project from our growing list.

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 unfulfilled as of this writing — to make our own I Spy book. We ended up with unbound printed photos. (You can do it, that way, too.)

DIY I Spy Book

1. Set up a solid colored background on the floor. We used a foam play mat.
2. Gather a laundry basket full of {insert nice word for “junk”}. Include favorite objects and personal items.
3. Spread your items on the background as you like. Since there’s no wrong way to do this, let your preschooler help.
4. Try to talk your preschooler out of being in the picture himself. I failed. See above.
5. Photograph the scene.
6. Arrange new items and repeat.
7. Upload set of photos to your choice of photobook makers and order yourself a book.
8. Alternatively, cheap out and simply print the results on your own printer. Paper clip the photos together to make a set of I Spy cards for use in the car or on the plane.

Another fun version of this activity is to dump your purse and photograph the results.

This is part of our year-long series Makin’ It with The Rookie Moms. To contribute your own idea, click over here.

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 the box, of course.

In an excellent post about the most basic and universally loved toys on GeekDad, the author says:

Boxes can be turned into furniture or a kitchen playset. You can turn your kids into cardboard robots or create elaborate Star Wars costumes. A large Box can be used as a fort or house and the smaller Box can be used to hide away a special treasure. Got a Stick? Use it as an oar and Box becomes a boat. One particularly famous kid has used the Box as a key component of a time machine, a duplicator and a transmogrifier, among other things.

He notes humorously that this toy can be procured easily from Amazon.

[They] include one with virtually every order I place there.

Here are a few inspirational photos of cardboard boxes, the most versatile toy in your house this week.

from The Imagination Tree

to make while keeping your box-sitting toddler company: cardboard thank you postcards (via designsponge)

homemade marble run – this one is from a cereal box by Made by Joel

Cardboard shape sorter from Parents.com (this article has 11 more box ideas, but is super annoying to navigate due to the ads and one-idea-per-page format.)

I love the Dr. Seuss feel of this silly bedroom set. Make a few “frames” for kids art? via Tip Junkie who has 32 cardboard box ideas posted.

Probably not feasible for most of us, but we do have a handful of small people, furniture and animals who could inhabit a box, via Busy Being Fabulous

Another one from Parents.com. Unless you are a stylist for Parents magazine, your cardboard kitchen won’t look this cute, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

Have you come up with anything cool to do with cardboard?

Update: Two fabulous friends shared their boxes with us over on our Facebook page.

Cori’s kids show us in fast-motion what fun a box can be.

Mike knocks our socks off with this pirate ship he made for Emme to navigate puddles at the park.

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 spray painted it.

(Of course, over the past six weeks he has developed an INTENSE passion for both football and fútbol. But he did agree to the stool makeover in advance.)

And as you can guess, I am much happier to have the yellow stool in my bathroom than the original one.

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 this photo series but I love it. To be fair, she was trying on outfits from the “pass-through” pile.

We’ve mentioned this idea here and there, but here are the instructions for how to throw a clothing swap on your own.

I have hosted no fewer than nine clothing swaps with my stylish friends and spawned at least three known copycats. For the record, this is better as a a no-kids-allowed event (or just pre-crawlers), so let Daddy take the bambino out for a hike while you get some well-deserved girlfriend-time. The whole event can take less than two hours.

Here’s the step-by-step to planning and hosting:
(kind of long, but I want to make it mindless for you)

1. Stake out a day. Work with your partner or a babysitter to find a good day for the swap. Plan around naps and try to avoid mealtime so that you are not trying to be Martha Stewart while you are running around your living room half-naked.
2. Invite the ladies. Send out an evite to all your potentially willing friends.
3. Purge. Set aside a good hour and clean out your closet of stuff you haven’t worn in a year or wouldn’t want to wear right now even if the proper situation presented itself. Be brutal. If you’re feeling those flipping annoying post-partum body issues, get a good friend to help. (Do your marriage the small favor of not asking your husband if your “butt looks big in this” because it probably does!)
4. Merchandise. Clean and fold the things for the swap. Bust out the iron even. Create a separate bag of clothes so ugly you’d be embarrassed for your friends to see (stained t-shirts for instance) — these can go in the pass-through pile (modeled by Whitney as “Before”)
5. Think about how you’ll set up your space for the event. Is there a mirror handy in the living room or will you have to tidy up your room too? Is there space for hanging clothes? If you have room to “merchandise” your stuff, it is a little more fun to “shop”.
6. Make little signs — use the computer or write on index cards what the categories of clothing are so that guests can sort their offerings. (Download our labels here.) And, have a few blank labels available for the day of.

On the day of the event: tidy up, wear cute underwear, get some appetizers or have your friends bring them, and wait for everyone to bring you new clothes! We usually start out browsing the piles casually enough and trying stuff on here and there. Once you try on a cute spangly dress, it is fair game for someone else to have a go at it. Let your friends decide who really looks best in it. I am notorious for trying to get my hands on everyone’s good stuff.

Afterward, get someone to help you load the car or take stuff directly to the charity.

Note: we often have a grab bag category, maternity, men’s clothes, shoes, and baby clothes.

If you’re still not convinced, here are my top eight reasons to host a clothing swap:

1. eat drink and be merry (just easy snacks and spa water)
2. enjoy a fun afternoon with friends
3. feel good about donating to a worthy cause
4. get a heap of new clothes for free (especially good if you have a changing-mom-body!)
5. get a license to buy a couple new pieces for all your thrift
6. play dress-up and get silly
7. purge yourself of unwanted clothes
8. re-gift your recent holiday loot (I like to hold mine in January)

… I’m getting off my soapbox now.

So, do you love or shove the clothing swap for moms?

By the time you have a toddler, you probably know the best way to keep a small child occupied is to show them something they’ve never seen before (no, not TV).  And how about something that they can smoosh, squeeze, or secretly taste a tiny nibble of?  Even better!

In our not-so-recent blog blast, SusieJ generously imparted a bit of wisdom that must come only with being the mother of four boys.  Her amazing post regarding eating out with the whole family (especially for those of you who aren’t rookies, but are dragging a larger crew around with you) is packed with tips.  My favorite part, however, is the suggestion to ask the chef or waiter for some dough for your children to play with.  I’ve been to a Mexican restaurant where giving the kids tortilla dough is part of their schtick, and it’s just brilliant.  I’ve never thought to make this special request at a different restaurant before, and you can bet your sweet buns that I’m going to start.

The uncooked dough is smooshy and wonderful to touch, and guaranteed to keep kids busy making “doughnuts” and snakes. And if you want to get all Martha on me, you can even bake it when you get home.  Or just toss it and be grateful for a relatively peaceful meal.

When our kids were younger, Heather was a little bit obsessed with putting them to bed at each other’s houses in order to allow us to have nighttime plans with each other. We pulled this off quite a bit when we were rookie moms. With two kids each now, it’s not really worth the hassle; we’re more likely to suck it up and pay for a sitter. Back in the day, however, it was not uncommon for me and Ryan to bring a a Pack and Play to a dinner party and put our baby to bed in our friend’s bedrooms.

When Julian turned two, he started sleeping on a mat at his little preschool. This liberated us from the pack and play, so we’d just bring his jammies and his objects d’securitie (I just invented that expression) and put him to bed anywhere. He is a champion sleeper, so this worked well for us. We went to dinner parties and enjoyed adult company while respecting our kid’s bedtime. Win/Win.

When we left our friend’s houses, we’d carry our sleeping toddler to the car, snap him into his carseat and drive home. He’d usually wake up, look around and ride quietly home where he would fall asleep the second we put him in his crib. Like I said, champion sleeper, and believe me, my second child does not behave this way. So, for those who can pull it off, take advantage!!

Heather, the big advocate of this idea, was once featured in “Be frugal but totally cool,” an article about parents finding ways to use babysitters less. Unfortunately for us, they did not mention our book which includes at least three date night ideas that don’t require sitters. In the picture, she and Alec are entertaining their friends Jeffrey and Ha with a game night, while their kids sleep in their own beds.

Your 43rd weekly challenge is to either entertain at home after your child has gone to bed — or to pack it all up and go out to someone else’s home and execute the  famous  Half-Sleepover Move.

Have you done it?

Your 42nd weekly challenge is a seasonal photo assignment. You can’t take a bad picture in a pumpkin patch. Good assignment, right? Find a pumpkin patch. Go. Take pictures.

Use hay as a background, too.

photo: backpacktobuggy

photo: Marketing Mommy

If you do this, we would LOVE to see your photos on our rookiemoms facebook page. Is your baby too little or is it the wrong season where you live? Choose another challenge.

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 this project is the author of the blog Humpty Was Pushed.

She provides step-by-step instructions in her post.

While she sews her owl eyes and nose to the hat, you could just as easily cut them from felt and glue them if they are just for one or two wearings.

Now that I know how to make a baby hat out of a tshirt, I have a hard time getting rid of any tshirts that have their hems intact. I see each of them as potential beanies!

Sewing not your thing? Buy one of these on Amazon.

Most classes for babies provide a free trial experience. Take advantage of these freebies before committing to a paid class. Try to talk your other mama friends into joining you so it’s the most fun for YOU.

Your 41st weekly challenge is to contact a local music, dance, or exercise class for moms and babies, and arrange to take a free class.

• Kindermusik Village classes are for babies under 18 months and each class is 45 minutes long.
• Gymboree classes for babies focus on either music or playing – you can choose.
• Music Together is mixed age classes up to age five and the classes are an hour long.
• The Little Gym starts as young as four months old with a general movement and socialization curriculum.
• My Gym is a children’s “fitness center” that starts classes with parent participation at age – get this – six weeks!

You may find that your local independent music or movement centers for kids offer a free trial visit as well. Have you tried any? Let us know!

Not ready for this rookie mom challenge? Go back and start with an easier one.

Whitney ran into my friend Jeanine outside her house. Jeanine was helping her 9-month old daughter, Pepper, touch some furry lavender sticking out from Whitney’s garden, and didn’t realize whose house it was. The girls had been going on a sensory tour of the neighborhood.

Try it yourself to keep the neighborhood walks interesting:

1. Stop and smell the flowers.
2. Lean in so your baby can touch a fuzzy leaf.
3. Look at the bright colors and shadows.
4. Step on crunchy leaves and sticks, rustle paper or candy wrappers (err, I mean Luna Bar).
5. Are you eating or drinking something your baby can share? Squeezable applesauce maybe?

This is your 38th challenge. This baby tour of your block is great preparation for walking with a toddler.

Share your experiences in the comments.

My friend Mary (who had her son Del in the same hospital the day after I had Julian) gave this idea to our moms group. She said that 13-month old Del loves the pet store where he can check out the animals, especially the birds.

Does your baby love animals? Mine really did (and still do) but when we went to the Zoo, I found that he couldn’t really see the large animals that were so far away from him in their habitats. A visit to Petco where he could get right next to the turtle tank and mouse cage was just as much fun — and closer to my house!

To kill two birds with one stone (no-offense, bird lovers), you could be a really nice friend and offer to pick up pet food for that post-partum friend of yours, meanwhile taking your older baby on a super fun and free outing.

This is your 37th weekly challenge for rookie moms. Baby not old enough to appreciate the fish tank? Start at the beginning.