Friday, February 26, 2010

Layout and Toddler Time

Layout first, so nobody has to suffer through my toddler time ideas if they don't have too:). It's almost unbearable to myself some days.


Did this layout for the Silhouette blog earlier this week. The challenge was to do it in under a hour. Which I am happy to report, I did. It was completed during naptime along with a good deal of goofing around on the computer. OK, maybe the stitching was showboating it a bit, but I love that machine! Rolling pin, tab, and title all cut with the Silhouette. Dot Spot stamps and Raspberry Fizz ribbon by PTI. And Cosmo Cricket Gal Friday paper. Loving their stuff lately too. Got a couple pads from Michael's on clearance and have been using the heck out of them.

Silhouette's got t-shirt transfer paper now. Pretty cool stuff going on. My mind is a'spinnin'. I think I found a way to afford these Pottery Barn pillows. Just got make a knock off.

Toddler time wise, Hank has loved playing with corn starch slime this week. Doesn't get any simpler than mixing 1:2 parts water and cornstarch and then adjusting with either ingredient to get the right consistency. It's both liquid and solid at the same time and very sensory oriented. Add food coloring and extracts for color and smell if you want to get the Mommy of the Year Award:). Hank likes picking out the colors.


I threw some marbles and plastic animals in it for interest. Two 1 hour periods spent playing happily with this stuff in the afternoons. Kinda pain to clean up (be prepared for a mess), but if you just let it dry for 30 minutes, it vacuums off the floor and any unfortunate furniture that gets in the way.

Bookwise for Hank, it isn't very often that Matt and I have the same opinions about Hank's books. Matt will read Dr. Seuss for hours, I try to hide every copy in the house. We both agreed that Dirty Joe the Pirate was a hilarious story. The library is dangerous, we think we're saving money by keeping Hank in fresh reading material, but often end up buying the favorites that we've discovered. Could be worse, right?

13 comments:

  1. Erin...I was a follower of yours when you were with CK but lost track of you when you left there. I stumbled across you from another blogger who designs for papertrey ink!!! I was so excited to find you again and to see how Hank has grown since he was a much younger baby. I always loved your blog and all the projects you did on your site and you are still as great as ever!! I have also seen your layouts in CK mag so I knew you hadn't gone far:)

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  2. Had to jump in about books this time, Erin. :o) I have similar feelings about Seuss as you, except for Horton. Love Horton. Whether he hears a who or hatches an egg, an elephant is faithful 100%! Don't forget Seuss's birthday next Tuesday, March 2nd. You'll have to let Matt read all the books he can to celebrate!

    Cheryl

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  3. We LOATHE Dr. Seuss in this house - yeah, apart from the 3.5 yr old who can recite them (you'd think that would mean she would choose other books for reading time but noooooo!!) However, with my educationalist hat on, they are VERY good for developing language (grrrr!)

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  4. Love your LO--that rolling pin is cute!! I actually really like Dr Seuss, except that my 5 year old son talks in rhymes all the time now!

    I chose your beautiful button card as my inspiration for the PTI blog hop!http://melissaspaperie.blogspot.com/2010/02/pti-february-blog-hop.html

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  5. Aww, the apron and smock are just so cute! Lovely layout and what a total doll Hank is.

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  6. Love your LO and your Tottler time sharing. Wonderful ideas on both departments, thank you very much for sharing!

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  7. Love your cute layout. I would love to know what size your layouts are. Please keep them coming. I want to use my PTI stuff for scrapbooking as well as cardmaking.

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  8. There is NOTHING wrong with buying books for your children! We believe in our house that it is best to be surrounded by them at all times. Your page is great!

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  9. Thanks for sharing your toddler time idea. Our friend turned us onto to playing with dried beans. We bought a couple of pounds of pinto beans (very cheap) and gave our two-year-old some bowls, buckets and scoops. She entertained herself for hours dumping beans between containers, "cooking" her own food, etc.. The interest lasted for a couple of weeks, and the clean-up is relatively easy. And on Dr. Seuss, I remember that I loved his books as a kid, but I could live without them as a parent. : )

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  10. check out Don't Let the Pigeon Ride the Bus by Mo Willems - it's fun and NOT Seuss!
    http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Let-Pigeon-Drive-Bus/dp/078681988X
    (I'm a huge fan of the library too!!)

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  11. As a nurse I'm a little nervous to see marbles on the table and tales of beans - both of which are choking hazards to young children - love the mess, but please be careful!

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  12. I just had to smile when I read your notes about books and the library! I, too, am not a fan of Dr. Suess. (I brought Green Eggs and Ham home from the library when I was in elementary school and hated it!) I always say that if one of his books enters our house it will be my husband's fault. I am also finding that bringing books home from the library just causes me to get on Amazon to order personal copies. ( . . . or in the case of "Good Egg," 2 copies, so I could give a replacement to the library since my 9 mos old really loved the pop-up chick in the back! LOL!)

    By the way, so happy to see you posting again! I've missed you!!

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  13. another fun activity for the summer is homemade sidewalk chalk paint...
    1:1 cornstarch
    food coloring (or tempera paint)
    (if you use tempera paint, you may have to add more cornstarch).
    Paint on sidewalk with paintbrush.
    It takes quite a bit of food coloring (I use the neon colors, takes less).
    My pre-k class LOVES to paint on the sidewalk and it washes off after a couple rains.
    I buy my cornstarch at Sams.
    Good luck.
    wendy

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