I’ve got an approach though, and I’m going to make this announcement before anyone opens gifts, “Okay everyone, this is how this is going to work. We’re going to each open up gifts one at a time and you’re going to love them. If you don’t, I’ve brought along these Gift Complaint Forms for you to fill out if you are unhappy with what you’ve received.”

I have no idea if it’ll work, but it’s worth a shot, and my nerves already feel better since I have a plan.

Even though kids are struggling with new emotions and probably quite anxious themselves, it’s good to be reminded to enjoy the moment, even if you really, really dislike your present.

Download the Gift Complaint Forms for your kids or friends (PDF)

Download the Gift Complaint Forms for your kids or friends (PDF)

We recently went on vacation. With three children under the age of ten. With a twelve hour drive—both ways.

This seemed like a good idea at the time, but as we closed in on the actual date, thinking about the drive made me think I’d had a major lapse in judgement. In order to ensure we all made it to the beach (and back), I was going to have to put a plan into place.

So we checked out 20 DVDs from the library. And downloaded a slew of free apps to our phones and iPads. But (weirdly) our kids get a bit sick of media after a while, so I needed to hatch a secondary plan.

Part two of my plan was to bring out one new entertaining thing every hour of the drive. Each hour I would unveil some thing they could fiddle with for at least fifteen minutes.

This seemed like a really great plan until I did a quick calculation of everything in my cart at Target, and I had a small heart attack. So part 2B of my plan was a challenge myself to find one thing to entertain three children each hour for a twelve hour drive, both ways, for under $100. (That’s 24 things, if you’re counting.)

I am proud to announce my victory, thanks to Target, Michael’s, and United Arts & Education. We’re back home, safe and sound, sanity intact.

When the very talented Erin of Inky Winke agreed to do a one week course, we happily jumped on board.

I’ll share a few photos of our classmate John putting his work on the press, and when we’ve had a chance to breathe, Tom and I will share what we’ve cobbled together.

In an informal poll of my teacher friends, they say you can’t miss with a gift card, so I tend to stick with that, but I feel it’s a bit underwhelming to simply hand over an envelope. So this year, I bought some inexpensive flowering plants and potted them in simple plastic containers. I used these envelopes (purchased at my local craft sore) to write a nice note, taped them to a colorful straw, and tucked a gift card in the envelope. For less than a dollar per gift, plus the cost of the card, I had gifts for all the fantastic educators in our lives.

Hooray for simple solutions!

About five years ago I finally took a class. I knitted one small green scarf, and then life went up into a big tornado of crazy and my knitting needles made their way to the basement.

Fast-forward to a few weeks back. The Olympics (which I dearly love) began, and I found myself glued to the television in the evening. I was engrossed enough that it was not conducive to work, but I found myself a little fidgety. “This would be the perfect time to be knitting,” I thought to myself.

A quick Google later, I found myself learning to knit via an online tutorial. Hooray for the internet! I was quite self congratulatory as I began to see the beginnings of a scarf come to be.

But then I noticed my scarf was getting wider. And somewhat triangular. But maybe that was just my eyes, so I persevered. Bu then it started getting really wide and really triangular.

This is the point at which I started counting stitches, which, clearly, is something you should do periodically when you knit. I think somehow I had separated the yarn and added stitches or something like that. Long story short? It was time to start fresh.

I’m happy to announce that I am currently knitting something that resembles a rectangle. But I do see the downside of this online learning. I missed having someone on the couch next to me to look at my triangle and tell me where I had gone wrong. No matter how good this internet thing is, there’s sometimes no replacement for some hands-on learning. So to all my knitting friends, you’ve been warned that I will appear on your couch someday soon, where you will have to tell me a a sweater is not a great project for a beginning knitter.

But in the meantime, hooray for rectangles!

Time for comfort food.

Plus, a nice guy named Eric dropped us a line saying he and his wife loved the soup we recommended a few weeks back, and it seemed like they should have some dessert to cap off the evening of good eating.

We love this Cinnamon-Apple Cake, originally published by Cooking Light. Not too sweet, not too much guilt, but loads of flavor.

And, yes, everyone ate this for breakfast this morning because it’s been just that kind of week.

We had an old IKEA table top sitting around. I found the clamps I bought three years ago and mounted them to it. Next I burned a screen with our mission statement (which will be a future entry) and another screen with a pattern I found online. Being that this was going to be an experiment, I didn’t worry too much about registration issues. I simply taped a right angle to the print station.

After digging through a storage closet I found the gigantic sheets of paper I had leftover from my own wedding invite from nine years ago (yes, I do hoard art supplies).

With a bit of Speedball water-based ink and a squeegee it was show time. The biggest difference between the water based inks and the plastisols that we commonly use is the speed at which water-based ink dries… which happens to be very quickly.

After an hour of playing around we ended up with a stack of prints. Overall (despite the color options) I’d say this little experiment is going to open up some doors for future efforts. This experiment also left me asking a couple questions: What are good water based inks for printing posters? What is a good paper choice for screen printing? Drop me a line if you have any suggestions! Have a great weekend.

And so I began searching for a bed and linens that integrated into our play area. Something minimalist and simple, but still fun. And after much searching, I couldn’t find a single thing that I liked. Particularly something gender-neutral. I sighed a lot.

Fast-forward a few years, and I had taken a brief summer course about quilting. I quickly learned that I could never be a traditional quilter. I have the utmost respect for those who have the precision and patience to make all the pieces come together just so. It really is an amazing skill.

But after doing a little hunting around, I discovered there were many folks doing a much more free-form version of quilting, starting with the Quilters of Gee’s Bend and moving on forward. I loved this no-rules kind of quilting. Just throw together some fabrics and run with it.

So I made a few doll quilts, and found they are a joy to produce. If you’ve got a little sewing know-how, you can knock one out in no time.

Of course, this process can be applied to all kinds of things—larger quilts, table runners, bags, etc. I’ve included my process below. I’m sure it would make some more experienced sewers cringe, but, hey, this is how I go about it.

Don’t wish to embark on this crafty journey but would still like a modern doll quilt? I’ve got these two for sale: Birds & Cars

Feeling brave? Grab your fabric, and jump in! After all, it’s small. If you screw it up, you can always start over. Please note, I haven’t included all the minutia, making the assumption that you’ve done a bit of sewing before.

My quilts measure 21″ wide by 18″ tall, a perfect size for this affordable doll bed. Remember to measure your bed to see what size would work best, making sure it’s wide enough to accomodate whomever will be sleeping under it.

My mother, who has been a teacher for about a zillion years, created this great activity that takes advantage of this concept—building an ocean under your kitchen table! On these freezing winter days, we can always use an activity to keep us invigorated indoors.

Simply cut out fish in many different colors, create some underwater plants, and hang them from under the table. In our house, some of the kids are too young to cut fish, but they eagerly get involved in drawing eyes, fins, and decorating. Add other marine life if you feel inspired!

Once you’ve created your ocean, hunker down for some play. Sometimes the kids just like to hang out under there, on their backs, taking in the scene. Other times, everyone gets on bathing suits and suddenly we have deep sea exploration on our hands. Turning out the lights and giving everyone flashlights adds a whole new dimension of fun.

Think you’re incapable of cutting out a fish? We’ve included a template for big fish, little fish, and seaweed. For the seaweed, simply cut the spiral, and then pull one end to unfold. Create a bigger spiral for longer pieces of seaweed.

Then crack out your goggles—you’ve got an ocean to explore.

DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE: PDF format

Early in the afternoon, our oldest child came wandering into the living room and said she’d noticed two birds on the leafless tree outside her window. “They need a birdhouse,” she decided.

And that seemed like a great way to begin a conversation. We talked a bit about thinking about others, and how to help make sure they get what they need. We can help give the birds shelter and protection, and in turn, they help our eco-system by controlling the insect population and disseminating seeds. When we take care of each other, the world we share is a much better place.

Each child spent the afternoon decorating their house, and as the sun began to set, we hung them one by one. Three little people, making their contribution. A small gesture of kindness, but full of spirit.