Curious George DIY Birthday Party- Cake & Favors

Curious George, everyone's favorite monkey!

Yum..Cake!

So my son was 2, so I made him his own cake along with making more practical cupcakes. I found a nice figure online and wanted to use some type of fondant for decoration. It being my first time, it came out OK. I don't advise eating it, but It can be used as nice decor. To cut it, I used some cookie cutters and just a knife. The twirls were just wrapped around a straw then were slid off and set to dry.

I found some nice cupcake cups that matched the colors, I think they were under the theme "circus" . 

I made a small cake banner that said Happy 2nd Sebastian and used 2 balloon sticks to hold it up.

I also did something I found online. I pre-scooped ice cream into leftover cupcake cups. Then froze them on a cookie sheet. When it was time to serve, I just brought out the sheet and ice cream was all ready. Super easy!! (You can see them on the left lower side)

The ending to the party, was the fun favors.. 

In each one was-

• A Curious George book ( you can find new sets of 6 paperback books on ebay)
• 3 bean bags I made in the coordinating colors
• A Curious George magnet I made (You can find other items on Etsy)
• 2 lollipops with curious george hanging on like balloons (printed out george pic and taped to candy)

 It was a great party and fun to do! And my Mr was crazy sugar delirious after (:

Curious George DIY Birthday Party- Decorating and Food

Curious George, everyone's favorite monkey! 

With lots of free images online, pbs made my work easy.

Starting Out.. 

First I knew I wanted a Curious George somewhere, so I found a nice image of him flying with balloons. I printed it out 3 feet high and backed it. You can use cardboard or foam board, anything rigid. 

I them nailed it to the tree and added some balloon sticks to look like he was flying.(If you've never heard of balloon sticks, they are sticks that can hold balloons on the end, You can stick them anywhere and you don't need helium. Kids love to run around with them like magic wands, pretty cool!)

The Tables and Food...

Since it was an outside party, I decided to keep the decor simple and focus on the food, cake and games for the decorating. With balloons and some easy pre-made banners, it didn't take long to hang everything. For the tables, I wrapped some empty boxes in striped wrapping paper for height and used some basic gift bags to hold the balloons in place.

I printed out some pictures of George for the table along with tent cards for the food. I wanted to be safe just in case of allergies, etc. 

The food ideas were kept simple with small kids in mind. I started with popcorn, 2 different kinds, one plain just salted and another with cheese ( I just used a packet from an organic Annie's macaroni and cheese box, worked amazing!)

 Next was a crudites with cucumber, carrots and celery. I put a little salad dressing in each cup before I placed the vegetables for easy dipping. I used little cups for easy holding of little hands as well as keeping everyone's separate so it didn't get too messy or germy (: 

 Same for the fruit. I also put some images of the characters on die cuts and used 1/2 pop sicle sticks. Just chopped strawberries, blueberries and pineapple.

I did put a plate for adults as well so they could take what they wanted.

I made some easy pinwheel sandwiches. There are a lot of recipes online. I made 2 varieties just in case of allergies, one with cheese and one without.

Popcorn was also self serve.

 I had some crackers and cheese along with drink boxes for the kids, just easier than cups, (although I don't usually buy them). For the adults I had a range of drinks like Iced Tea and limeade with seltzer. 
I found yellow plates and cups and saw a very cute idea to put tape around the top of the cup and you place it upside down on the plate to make the Man with the Yellow hats hat, but it was just too windy to lay them out, so they stayed stacked (:

It worked really well using the cups and kept everyone relatively neat! You could also use divided plates and have the adults serve the kids.

Next..Let's play!!

Dyeing Eggs with Natural Food Dye for Easter..

It's Easter and it's time for my sons first time dyeing eggs!

  I had natural food grade dyes from making play dough in my previous post. The dyes work well and I've also used them for frosting so why not egg dyeing?

I first got together some basics, glass bowls filled 1/2 way with warm water and added 2 Tablespoons of vinegar. I then found an egg dipper I had (you can easily make one out of wire or just use a spoon). I also had a white crayon we could draw with to use as a resist.

We have our own chickens so I had eggs, most were brown and a couple white, but I suggest using white to show more color. The brown eggs, as you will see, tended to not show the pinks and yellows as much. 

I had 4 colors; red, blue, green and yellow. They are made by confectioncraft

I diluted the dye paste in the bowls and stirred them around. You can see the colors they became. The blue became a purplish color.

My son then dunked a few in. After a few minutes, I realized this would not be as fast as the dyes you get at a store. It would take some time and the eggs would have to sit a bit. So we went out and played for 1/2 hour.

After returning we found the above. the purple had dyed the eggs to almost a grayish purple, which I though was amazing. The yellow did well on the white egg. The reds hardly did anything. It gave a slight hue to the brown egg, but I am thinking a white egg would do much better.

After some re-dipping we concluded with the above eggs. A nice subtle range of natural earthy colors.

You can see how each is slightly different.

We will have fun hiding and eating them!

Montessori Reading For Little Ones Interview - Meet Pauline Meert

My little man has turned 2 and I've been finding great learning items for his play room. I am came across a shop on Etsy called ForLittleOnes. The shop had these wonderful book sets for young ones to start to learn reading, inspired by Montessori teaching.  

I choose the 8 Early Reader set, Bundle A and B. It comes with 8 books, each with cards.

I thought they were a perfect addition to any childs learning materials and thought they'd be great for my little man. 

The moment he opened the package, my son wanted to read them all. 

They are a perfect size for his little hands to hold. Each book comes with sight word cards tucked safely in the back. 

The pictures are very cute hand drawn images, easy for a child to identify and the words are nicely printed and written so that a child can understand and relate them to the picture.  

On each package, it explains a little about the Montessori method and how to use the books. Great Gifts!

I wanted to introduce the woman behind ForLittleOnes, Pauline Meert...

    Hi! I am Pauline from ForLittleOnes on etsy.com, a store dedicated to meeting the needs of children through Montessori materials, activities, books, and toys.

 Can you tell us a bit about Montessori teaching?
    Montessori education is the perfect mix of beauty, simplicity, and learning. A Montessori teacher is trained to guide children towards their full potential. This is done through a carefully prepared environment, by using cleverly designed materials, by fostering life long skills, and by offering each child a deep love for learning. Montessori education at its core thrives to respect and nurture each child’s dignity and uniqueness leading them towards their God given full potential. It is beautiful. I am currently doing my Montessori Masters and continually falling in love with the method. There is so much depth Maria Montessori’s work!

 What inspires you to create?
    The children in my classroom are very inspiring. By watching them and their needs I can see what materials would be helpful. They challenge me creatively. Other people, artists, friends, family, also inspire me. I love creating baby dolls for friends and family who are expecting. I find hobby stores to also be create places for inspiration, particularly during sales!

 How did you learn to create your items?
    I began by learning to sew from a wonderful teacher when I was 18. She was very patient, even when I wanted to create a full renaissance dress after 2 month of classes. She helped me and encouraged me. I only took classes for a little while and then went rogue making what I could and trying new things. Through my Montessori training I found many ideas of things to create and tried my hand at using various medias. I do a lot of trial and error!

 Have you always wanted to make and sell your creations?
    Not really. This all kind of happened. In high school I discovered that I loved to sew. When I began my Montessori training this love spread to creating materials and various trinkets for children. I enjoyed this and found a way to share it with others through Etsy. Etsy challenges me to create new materials. It also inspires me to be more creative. 

 
Can you share any new items coming out soon?
    At the moment I do not have a lot of new items in the works. I am working on my Masters and teaching full time which makes time disappear far too quickly. I do hope to make more books in the near future as well as more Saint Peg Dolls. Feel free to ask for a custom item though!
 
Where can your products be found?

    Currently my products are only available on etsy or if you come by my place!

    I can be found in a few different places-

    http://montessorigeek.blogspot.com/

    http://www.pinterest.com/MontessoriGeek/boards/

Thank You Pauline!
Sincerely, Sue

How to get your Baby to Sleep - Book Recommendation

Short story- 

When my son was 5 months I met a woman in the produce section of my grocery store. Her son was around the same age and she started to talk about her sons sleeping. She said I had to get this book "Healthy Sleep, Happy Baby" by Marc Weissbluth. 

She swore by it, how great it was and how well it worked. She spoke about how her son went to sleep every night early and slept through till morning. At the time, I was very tired, as everyone who breastfeeds knows, sleep is a prized commodity. I decided to give it a try, and ordered a copy.

 

She was so right! We were putting our son, who was in his crib next to our bed at the time, to bed when we went to bed, like 9-10 pm. We just figured that was convenient for all. According to the book, and his age, we should try 5-6 pm!! I was like, WHAT? That's crazy sounding.  So we tried it. It took 3 nights of letting him cry for 5-10 minutes, then silence. Silence for 4-6 hours! I was amazed. 

Since then, we recommend this book to everyone we know who has a child. My son is now almost 2, and is a wonderful sleeper to this day. He still goes to bed early, at the latest 7-7:30pm and sleeps all night. 

I HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!! Try it, at the worst your child might sleep more! (:

You can purchase this book at various online and book stores. And if you don't mind used, try Ebay or Amazon!

Great FREE Ipad Apps for 1-3 year olds Preschool

Yes, I did it, got an ipad, and am now sucked into the app world. And now having an almost 2 year old, I am on the search for some great FREE apps, preferably ones with some creativity and some accent of learning. So I went on a search and after downloading and deleting and downloading and deleting, I now have compiled a short list of some of my and my sons favorites. None of these apps are gender specific, so they are great apps for your little girls too.

My first app choice is Endless Alphabet. 

I can't say enough great things about this one. It's a very cute and creatively designed app. Little monsters run the show. You choose a word, the word appears, they say it , they the monsters come parading out and scramble the letters out so your toddler can drag each letter to it's appropriate spot. Once your toddler touches a letter, it comes alive, saying the sound of the letter while animated until it is in it's letters spot in the word, the letter is then said, and it continues until the word is spelled out. They then all cheer and say the word. Then a short explanation of the word is played out with the monsters animated and the word is defined.

 The narrator is a woman, she's nice sounding and silly at times. The monsters are cute and non threatening. The words are various and interesting. My son started doing it at 1 1/2 and is not almost 2 and still LOVES it. And I swear he has learned letters through this app. I found him repeating the sounds of the letters at his wooden blocks and it is fun for him in the process. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

You can read more and find it on their site

Another fun app is Pepi Tree

We found the version for free during a promo, and I'm sure you can still find it, or at least the mini version for free. It's a super cute animated app that takes place in a tree. There are 5 different levels of the tree. The app opens to cheery music with a hooting owl, where your little one can touch the animals or insects that appear in the owls vision and then are dragged into the puzzle place of each object. Then you can scroll up to meet a fuzzy catepillar ready to eat. He eats a leaf with the help of your child then wraps into a cocoon and turns into a butterfly. Once you take his picture, you can let another eat a pear and it goes on to an apple and a plum. Super cute.. There are 3 more levels down below the owl, one where you feed a squirrel family, another where you can grow things and feed a porcupine with a crazy rabbit and the lowest, with a maze.

Each level has a cute music jingle, you can't help but hum, while it's played. The animals are silly and cute and my son really likes doing all the tasks. A nice nature addition to the apps.

You can read and find it on their site

They also do a Pepi Bath app, where a boy or girl needs to be cleaned, so there is a laundry side and a bathing side. You wash their clothes in a washing machine and hang them to dry, or you brush their teeth, wash their hands, comb their hair, etc. Very cute animation and easy to follow. Also available on their website

A great App company is Toca Boca

They make a lot of good apps. Some are just entertaining, others better in the learning department. Some are available free while others have a fee. They have Toca Kitchen or Toca Monsters, where your little ones can learn to choose food and cook it in different ways according to the animal or person eating. There is Toca Band where they can choose band members, make them sing in different ways and choose to create many different bands, all singing variations of the same song. Toca Hair Xmas is a small app letting them cut Santa or a Christmas Trees hair, yes a tree. You can decorate with ornaments, trim them up, change the color and more. And we have Toca Train, where your child can be a conductor, running a train, picking up customers, collecting and dropping off parcels and even sipping a drink while blowing the horn. Very cute.

Overall, all Toca Apps are very impressive with their animation and easiness of use. My son figured everything out very easily, which is important. No ads popping up or annoying banners. Great Overall Apps.

You can read more and find the app on their site

There are many more apps I could list but I'd start with the above if you want some nice fun ones with easy learning ability and great animation.  Also 2 to mention are the PBS has their own app and the WWF has a nice app

Happy Apping!!

Hop Hop Hop to Easter!

Easter is just around the corner!

Mr Hop A Long knows all too well and is ready to jump into your eco basket! Made of sift organic cotton and eco friendly materials, perfectly natural for your little one.

Ms. Hop A Long is ready as well!

They can introduce themselves here at my Etsy Shop..

Hop Hop Hop...

Eric Carle Birthday DIY Party Ideas - Making Animals

When my son turned one, I knew exactly what party theme to do. He was in love with the books "Polar Bear, Polar Bear what do you hear?" and "Panda Bear, Panda Bear, what do you see?", both written by Eric Carle. I would read them every day and he fell in love with pandas and polar bears. 

Eric Carle is known for his collage style children's books with fun rhymes. The Eric Carle website has his books and lots of other items available for purchase. There is also an Eric Carle museum where you can see his book art.

I decided to try and make everything based on those 2 books.  Unfortunately there weren't a lot of party ideas with those specific themes, but I was able to come up with some easy ideas that I wanted to share in case you have a little boy in love with pandas and polar bears too!

Making Animals

My first idea was to use his books and images to create the animals to place around his party area. I scanned in some images and printed them out. Then laminated them (optional), so they would keep as play things as well. It is such a waste to spend all this time making something and not have it last for another purpose. You could also always pass them on to another friend with a little one. I made 3 large ones so I could stick them on tables, walls, etc.

 (*Eric Carle images are copyrighted, so you can't sell them for commercial purposes)

I also made smaller ones and decided to attach popsicle sticks to them, so I could put them in bowls and such, as well as use them for puppets later!

I just taped the stick to the back.

They would be lots of fun with a little puppet theater!

Next I'll show you how I made masks for the little ones!......

Handmade Organic Childs Tee Pee Playhouse

For my sons 1st Birthday gift I decided to make him something from a new book I received as a gift.

It's called "Growing Up Sew Liberated", making handmade clothes & projects for your creative child, by Meg McMlwee. It's a super cute book that has a lot of great patterns included, like clothes, toys and this great teepee playhouse, or a hideaway play tent.

I found a bunch of organic cotton canvas I had laying around so I figured it would be perfect for this project.  I reviewed the instructions and altered the pattern to add another 2 feet of height to the teepee, I want something he can grow with and play in till his bigger. (The teepee pattern is a set of instructions, so you can alter the size if you want). 

Besides fabric you would need 4 poles that would slide into the teepee channels, so it can stay up. I found some at a local improvement store. You need a lot of room to lay out, so a floor or large table is good to have.

In the back, I enlarged the window and added velcro so it can roll up. He tried to crawl out of it at first, but it can be used when he can walk and look in.

After it was done, we set it up in his soon to be playroom downstairs. It has now become the chill area for some stuffed animals since he's small still, but am sure it will be the place to be when he's bigger! Happy Playing!

My Organic Baby Mattress

I forgot to finish my organic mattress series and explain what I did find in the end of all my searching for a safe and organic mattress. Oops! 

I am not endorsing exclusively any of the following (and have not been paid by any company), but these are the purchases we ended up making when trying to find safe organic alternatives for our baby's crib.

My Organic Baby Mattress

After a long online search for a safe, organic and non chemical mattress, I decided on buying one from Ecobaby. Their mattress is made with a soft organic cotton ticking (outside fabric), lovely! and filled with organic wool batting, which is Naturally fire retardant, no chemicals here!) with spring coils. I also opted for the toddler clip edging, which allows my baby to use it into his toddler to child years, nice! And a bonus is that they are made right here in the U.S.!

This is the exact one I purchased-
The Apollo 260 coil crib with clips

I didn't order directly from them, but now I would encourage anyone to do so, as I had quite a delay from the web company I did order from. The mattresses are shipped directly from the Pure Rest/ Eco Baby company. (They were very nice when I contacted them regarding the other company I dealt with, I won't mention names..)

Waterproof Mattress Covers..I mean Wool Puddle Pads

 

After we received the mattress I started looking into waterproofing alternatives to those plastic lined covers, yuck! Even some of the companies said organic cotton covers but lined them in plastic, what's the point!? Luckily,  I found a wool puddle pad alternative for waterproofing! Yeah!  It's basically a nice felted piece of wool that you lay on top of the mattress and under the sheet. It works great and no chemicals or plastic coatings!

I purchased one on Etsy, but there are many companies that sell others online, although Etsy had the best price, I'd say (: The one I purchased was the exact size of the mattress. You can also get smaller sizes to use for changing areas, under car seats and other areas you may need them,. They are easily washed with a wool wash that you can find many places online. ( I also use it for his wool diaper covers)

Here are some examples of various wool puddle pads for sale on Etsy.

Organic Cotton Sheets

You can also find organic cotton sheets on many websites, I ended up buying some velour knit (so soft!) and 2 flannel sheets to interchange. I have found I change them more often when he is drool/teething and less when not, so I'd recommend having 3 sheets. That way you can wash and change easily.

I ended up purchasing some on Diapers.com. You can also find handmade ones on Etsy.com.

Overall

The search was frustrating but I now feel confident, as my little 10 month old sleeps with his face smushed on the natural mattress every night, that he's not breathing in any chemicals, sucking on flame retardants or laying on plastic. Yes they are more expensive than plastic mattresses and we had to save to get these items, we basically didn't splurge on anything but his mattress. It was a hard decision to do it, but it was definitely worth it.

All of these items are safe and of heirloom quality that can be passed down or reused for a nice daybed after your child is bigger or resold very easily. It's a great purchase for your child's health and well being and we are very happy with our purchase.

I hope my journey can help you in your decision to buy organic for your baby's crib!

What's in your canned goods?

Since I've had a baby, my husband and I have been learning all about what's in everything and we've found some surprising and disturbing issues especially with food. One in particular is with BPA, or Bisphenol A. You may know it from hearing about Baby bottle issues with BPA. Now every bottle is labelled BPA free, and that's a great thing. What you may not know is that BPA is still used and widely in many products.

BPA is controversial because it mimics hormone-like properties when used, affecting the endocrine system. It can also affect neurological, thyroid, heart issues and possibly be linked to cancer . Take a look at the FDAs page on public health effects of BPA.... And some how it is still used in polycarbonate plastics, epoxy resins used in almost all can linings and has been found in some paper products you may use. that's pretty frightening!

Wikipedia has an amazing in depth look into BPA, please take a look to understand the history and a more well rounded idea of what it can cause.

So you figure since it has been shown to cause issues, it shouldn't be used right? Especially if you are a breastfeeding woman eating canned goods, you can transfer it to your infant, who is most at risk for hormonal issues with this chemical. Baby bottles aren't the only container to change...

 

What is shocking, is that most companies have not tried to stop using BPA in their canned linings..well no one advertising themselves as BPA-free except ONE, who uses a vegetable based enamel material to safely line their cans, Eden Foods! You can read more about how they came to that decision and why on their website. If this concerns you at all, please support them in their thoughtful change and purchase their canned goods instead.

Besides cans, BPA is also found in register receipts or thermal point of sale receipts, carbonless copy paper, and can be found on bills of money, since so many of us save receipts in wallets and the BPA residue can get on the bills. Recycled paper such as toilet paper also have traces of BPA, since receipt paper is used when the recycling process is done. BPA is also being found in wastewater, due to the traces in toilet paper leaching into the water supply.

I don't know what the answer is to the toilet paper issue, unfortunately we all use it and it seems until the recycling of these BPA paper products is dealt with, we will continue to add more of this disrupting chemical into our environment. Atleast as consumers, we can support companies like Eden, like these few other organic companies , and demand change from others who still use BPA lined cans, it seems like it's crazy for a company especially selling organic food to use BPA lined cans!

Thanks for reading my rant..until the next (: