Pinterest project- Jan 2013

This was not what I imagined for my first post of 2013. But right now this is what is on my mind. My one new year's resolution thus far is the following. I want to work on completing at least ONE project I've posted to my pinterest boards. The way I see it, I've pinned lots of cool crafts, recipes (which I actually do use), games, etc, etc. But half the time after I pinned them I forget what I pinned. Until I'm trying to look up some other pin and see it again. The whole thing is silly really. So my goal: complete one of those great ideas a month. The whole thing will feel less silly. And pinterest as a whole will hopefully feel like more than a time suck. Although to be honest I'm not on all that much. My time is wasted reading fictional stories, either online, on my kindle or in a physical book. ;)
Anyhoo, for Christmas I used one of my many pins to make a gift for my nephew Josiah. When I saw this pin I immediately thought of my large motor skills, very active nephew. It was perfect. This hopscotch mat looked like something I could easily put together and Josiah would love.

Hopscotch mat for Josiah

 And hopefully it would be good for my sister-in-law, who like me needs ways to direct play in a productive manner while still allowing for those large motor skills to be used. (They are going to run all over the house unless you give them something else to do with their bodies. Sit down games only last so long)
In the end, it really wasn't to difficult. I bought 2 yards of canvas from Walmart and cut it in half. This was great because then I could make one for my boys as well. I cut numbers our of blocks of felt and used the numbers on the second one.

Mat made from extras for my boys. I used fabric pant to draw the boxes 

Using a zigzag stitch I sewed around the edges to hopefully deter unraveling. Unlike the blogger who originally posted the idea, I used fabric paint in addition to felt.

Tic-Tac-Toe outline

 For the back tic-tac-toe game I cut out rectangles and painted x's and o's on them instead of adding felt letters. I also used paint to write the numbers for the dart/bomber game on the back.

Bomber/Dart game

Because there is snow on the ground and I had no desire to dig for rocks, the bomber bags double as both bombers and hopscotch rocks. Josiah seems pleased. And the boys played with it some last night after we exchanged gifts. All and all I too was pretty please with the results. I sadily didn't take any pictures of the tic-tac-toe pieces or the bag I put it all in. It was one I made a few years back, but it was brightly colored and the right size. I wrote hopscotch in fabric paint on the bottom.
 My boys now want me to add a tic-tac-toe game and bomber game to the back of ours. We'll see. For right now thought the hopscotch mat seems enough for them.

On a side note, we have hard wood floors and canvas sides very easily across the floor. While places heavy books on top of the canvas can work it doesn't work well. I have been using the double sided tape from our plastic window coverings used to winterize the house. I have used these sheets for several years now, with the exception of this one (I decided after last year and the cats slashing every single one it was not worth the work). Because the tape is meant for the wood trim around window I figured it would be safe on my floor. So far it has not caused any problems. Of course by the end of day two the fabric decided it does not want to stick anymore and you have to replace the tape. But that's better anyway. If it doesn't stay long on the floor it has less potential of ruining the finishing.

Gifts for their teachers

Last year I had wanted to make the boys' preschool teachers gifts for Christmas. Sadly it did not come to fruition. This year I was determined to get it done. So the day before the last day of school I sat Aiden and Cai down to work on teacher gifts in the morning.

Aiden unwrapping candy canes

 I had decided on making hot chocolate mixes. We followed this recipe, although I"m not sure we used as much peppermint bits. We added mini chocolate chips and mini marshmallows to the top of the jar as well. The boys had a great time hammering the candy canes to make the tiny bits.

Cai helping or just being impatient for his turn. However you want to look at it. 

 I then hot glued Christmas fabric to the top and added a candy cane to each jar. For most of them I used old sunflower butter jars. I think one was placed in a salsa jar, a few in plastic peanut butter jars and Ian got to use canning jars cause I ran out of the others.

Cai hammering the candy canes

 Ian made his own batch when he got home from school that afternoon. I think at that point we left of out the peppermint bits cause he was worried about being done so he could watch Clifford. Of the priorities of a 6 year old. I did make him write "Merry Christmas from Ian" on all his cards. I figure he can do write and I'm sure the practice is good for him. :)

All but Ian's done

 I was kinda proud of these. One with the month we had in December I'm proud I even got them done. I figured in the span of a week we dealt with strep throat (Ian), lice (all of us but Mark) and pink eye (Cai).  The fact I actually got these done and given to all 8 teachers is kinda amazing. Note about the 8 teachers. Ian made gifts for his teacher and the two aids. Cai has two classroom teachers and a art aid. Aiden's speech therapy class has a teacher and aid. So we had 8 total to gift for. Plus I made two extra for our pastors at church. :)Number two reason for being proud: I thought they all looked nice when I was done. It is always nice to make something that looks nice when it's all finished.
 In addition to teacher gifts this year, Ian made gifts for his classmates. His class had a stocking exchange where they were asked (if they wanted to participate) to bring in a small gift for each student. The point was to not spending more than a few dollars for the whole class, so the suggestions were to bring candy canes, stickers, pencils, etc. We made recycled crayons. I had a ton of broken crayons that I cut into small piece. We then melted them in silicone penguin molds that I had gotten a few years ago for free. The shape didn't turn out great but that's okay. I still felt good about it. And who doesn't like mystery crayons with several different colors swirls around? I'm not sure exactly what all the boys got out of all this. My hope was they could experience the joy of giving. If we continue such traditions, I hope they can learn not only the joy of giving but that it's possible to give something fun without spending alot. That making it is just as fun!