Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is around the corner. What is everyone doing for the BIG dinner? Last year, I tried making a turkey for the first time and it was quite an ordeal. It turned out well though. This year, we'll probably just stick with Chinese hot pot, which should be so much less work. ^^ As long as all the love ones are together eating at one table, it won't matter what we eat. For the occasion, we're making some paper autumn leaves. 

First, I selected tan, yellow, orange and brown construction papers, and drew some leaf shapes to cut out the stacked papers. 

Then, I had Sophie add in some details to the leaves.

She did a fine job making each leaf special. =)

We collected the ones that were already done in a pile while we worked on the rest.

After the leaves were all drawn, we strung them all together and decorated the mantel.

Does it fell like autumn enough yet? ^_^ Maybe if I light some pumpkin scented candles.
We wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving!

Fall Is Here

Yay, fall is finally here. Time for some fall-themed crafts fun. We've made three kinds today and the kids really enjoyed them all. 

First we did foam sticker pumpkin decorating. The left one is created by Sophie, and the right one is by Brandon. Since they're still young, I don't really like to use a sharp knife for pumpkin carving, though that would be a lot of fun down the road. For now, foam stickers will do. ^_~

Then we created a "FALL" banner for our reading corner.

Lastly, we used pompoms to make 10 cute super-spiders. Sophie thinks they should line up in a row like all good spiders should do. ^_^

Now back to sipping my tea and enjoying my quiet time while they nap. Happy October! Now if the weather could just cool down a little and rain would just come to give California some moisture and water supplies in the reservoirs and stop forest fires , that'd be super wonderful! 

Dresses Extravaganza

Yesterday, I went with a friend to try on wedding dresses for her upcoming wedding early next year. Today's project is inspired by all the extravagant dresses I saw yesterday at the shop. 

First I used nude colored construction paper to draw the girl's head and upper body, then I have Sophie glue it at the top, center of a portrait black construction paper. 

Next, I used a pink construction paper to outline the dress for the girl and then cut it out using scissors and have Sophie glue it to the girl's body.

 Just as is, I think it's already looking pretty good, but we're going to make it even fancier.

By using leftover gift tissue paper, I found a pale pink and a hot pink combo that could go well together. I cut up the tissue papers into rough squares, then from the bottom up, I have Sophie glue the tissue squares one at a time until she reached the waist line of the girl's dress.

Tah-dah! It's almost finished.

Using the same method, we tried for a purple dress.

A slightly different way of scissor works, but still simple enough to complete.

Sophie said she wanted to add polka dots to the dress. I love watching her when she's working in full concentration. ^_^

For the final touch, she wanted to add some jewels as decoration.

Here are the final products:

Handmade Father's Day Gifts

Yay, happy Father's Day to all the great fathers out there who love, teach and provide for their children.

Let's take a peek at what we've made for Daddy this year. We've prepared these presents long before the Day. 

Here is a finger-painting we've done together. I drew the tree branches and they painted the leaves using their tiny fingers. So cute*

Next, we found rocks from the backyard, and Brandon helped me clean them.

After the rocks were cleaned, we dried them outside under the sun so we could paint them.

We picked 12 rocks total, 6 rocks per child. I let them choose the colors they wanted for each rock and labeled the paper plates with their names so I know who painted which ones.

After that, we just had to wait until they dry for at least 24 hours. I also had to find a place to hide all these plates, which was the more difficult part.

The next day, when the kids were taking their naps, it was assembling time. Can we tell what we are making yet?

Caterpillars!

I lined up the rocks and put glue between them.

After another 24 hours, I cut up black pipe cleaners and made legs for the caterpillars.

Then the eyes.

On a separate day, we went to the craft store, and the kids got to pick their gift boxes and some shredded paper. When we came home, we put everything together.

The boxes were perfect for the caterpillars, because butterflies came from caterpillars. Brilliant choice, kids!

We also bought a frame for their tree finger-painting.

Daddy was surprised, and said that he'll bring these presents to his work and put them by his desk. ^_^

Coffee Table Happenings

In the last entry, I shared about the kids and I doing baking and crafts at our dining table, today I am going to share about what we do at our coffee table. We have not a very big house, and so the kids' play area is basically anywhere and everywhere in the house. We like to be in the living room area during the day because it's more open and it gets in the best sun light. The kiddos are still relatively young (3 and almost 2), and so I don't try to do too much with paints and brushes yet, feeling that it'll just get so messy for me to clean afterward. As a result, we used colorful construction papers recently to make a poster. 

This whole poster took us 2 days to complete, and I was in charge of the cutting, while Sophie was in charge of the glue stick, and Brandon was in charge of telling us what should be on the poster. 

I used the drawing paper roll from Ikea, and I cut a strip to the length of our coffee table and taped it down so it would be secure in its place and would not get bended or torn during the whole gluing process. 

First, we started with some clouds. It must have been a sunny day! 

Then we cut and glued some trees and grass.

Oh, don't forget Mr. Sun himself.

Next, Brandon wanted birds, and Sophie wanted a face for Mr. Sun. Then ideas started to sprout from there: we added apples to one tree and oranges for another. After that we threw Sophie and Brandon in there too. All the while I was busy cutting out the shapes, Sophie was diligently gluing everything in place without me telling her where to put everything. She decided that she and Brandon has to be separated by the orange tree, and so be it!

Or course we couldn't let the children be without clothes, so we added them in. Sophie decided that her orange pocket had to be horizontal, on the side of her green jumper. I was thinking of more of a traditional approach where the pocket is vertical, in the middle of the chest area. Maybe she's got a better set of eyes for design than me. I am hoping. ^_^

We picked up where we left off 2 days later and started adding more to the poster.

First of all, we added animals. I personally wanted a pig in here because I was born in the year of the pig in the Chinese zodiac. ^^

Sophie didn't seem to mind the idea of a pig joining the poster.

Then we added in some balloons, with strings. Yes, Sophie had to make sure of the strings by using a black marker.

Then she decided that five balloons are simply too few, so she added in 2 more.

Brandon requested that we also have Baa Baa Black Sheep, too.

Here are a few details that I added in after all the gluing was done.

This was the final result!

The coffee table edges are rounded so that I don't have to child-prove it with spongy wraps and sticky tapes. It also has side drawers that I could fit remote controls and diapers in, which is a great feature to me. I found it on Overstock.com last year with 25% off when we first got the house. Great deal!

Anyways, now the kids are napping, I am going to think about a way to put this artwork up on the wall somehow, maybe for a short while, so Daddy could enjoy it too, and also have his coffee table back. ^^