Sew God's Grace

I was shopping for some new shirts for Maddie the other day, and we weren't finding a whole lot of interesting ones (or ones that had logos/sayings that I was comfortable with!). I finally just picked out a plain gray shirt and told her we would applique something onto it. She requested a powercat, and I was happy to comply. She really liked it, as did her brother Evan. So we made one for him, too! For more details on how to applique on a t-shirt, see this post . Then see this post for help on placing your powercat applique. I fold the t-shirt in half to find the center.  Be sure to use a ball point needle for knits. I've enjoyed making these with the kids because they are able to trace and cut out their patterns and even iron them in place. Makes for a pretty quick afternoon project!

Last year, the kids and I made this to give to their swim teacher after they completed their lessons.  Judging by the number of hits that post got, I thought others might be interested to see what we did for their swim teachers this year. Having just finished two weeks worth of lessons (three hours each morning since I had three in different levels!) we definitely felt like celebrating with some cupcakes.  Since we were finishing up on July 4th, we baked cupcakes in star-spangled cupcake liners.  (Local people, check out the cupcake liners at the General Store in Sharon Springs--I love them!) I put the cupcakes into clear plastic cups after frosting them with red frosting.  The kids were more than happy to help with 4th of July-themed sprinkles (The sprinkles were also from the General Store, just FYI.)  I wrapped the cups in cellophane because I was out of clear plastic treat bags.  I will be stocking up on those because the cellophane was much ha...

When I asked Anna what she would like to do to help celebrate her fifth birthday, she said that she wanted a tea party.  So, once school was out for the summer, that is what we did!  Though it's not my strong suit, I actually managed to do some decorating!  I found some great free printables online.  I used the banner and place cards for our guests.  You can find them  here.   I also made some  tissue paper flowers .  I was trying to figure out how to hang them without putting pushpins in our ceiling.  My husband and I came up with the idea of hanging them from the ceiling fan blades. I got out my good china and everything! When the girls arrived at 10:00 that morning, they all went downstairs to decorate foam crowns.  (I found them at Walmart in the kids' crafts section.) Then we came upstairs for tea! I've served my girls tea before.  I've put ice cubes in it so it won't be too hot and put in lots of ho...

The kids and I made this delicious popcorn for Christmas gifts this year. My eight year old spent a lot of time learning to curl ribbon with a scissors as we packaged various homemade gifts. This recipe contains one of my favorite combinations--chocolate and mint. Except for a few years after I was pregnant with Maddie and developed an extreme aversion to peppermint (I was so thankful for cinnamon-flavored toothpaste or I would have been concocting my own blend!), my favorite flavor of ice cream has been mint chocolate chip. So, what better way to improve on oreo popcorn than by adding a little peppermint flavor? I was completely into peppermint this Christmas season! (You should have seen all the recipes I was collecting on my Pinterest boards!) Here's the recipe: Oreo Peppermint Popcorn (adapted from Plain Chicken) 18 cups air-popped popcorn 1 24 ounce package almond bark 20 oreos, crushed 1/2 cup finely crushed candy canes or other peppermint candy Place po...

I found this project on Pinterest and thought it would be a fun way to connect with Maddie.  She is the type of girl that loves gifts and secrets.  I hid it on top of her pillow the other day.  I wrote that we could leave little messages to one another and then hide it somewhere for the other to find.  I'm still waiting for it to turn up somewhere.  I asked her to use her cursive when she writes, so it will be handwriting practice for her as well! You can download the cute labels (they have one for boys, too) here.   I decorated it by covering the outside entirely with scrapbook paper.  There's a great tutorial for doing this here.   I hadn't thought to use washi tape on the binding--I may have to see if I have any that matches. There are many possibilities for making this cute little journal, but the important thing is just to have something special between you and your daughter. Here's another fun journal-decorating id...

Maddie, Evan, and Anna just finished private swim lessons a little while ago.  Their instructors did a great job with them and worked them very hard for a week.  (They definitely slept well at night!)   I was wanting to get their teachers a little something, so I was thrilled to find this idea for a gift.  See  here for instructions on assembling and also to download the labels. I followed the instructions with the following changes: We used blue tissue paper in the bottom instead of paper grass because I couldn't find any. We used stickers instead of washi tape (again, I couldn't find it nearby and did not want to wait on shipping.)  I found lots of fish stickers in the scrapbook area at Walmart, and my kids picked the ones they liked. I placed the fish inside a baggy because it was recommended by the manufacturer of the paint cans I ordered. I did find the Swedish fish at Walmart--I had never seen them before so I was n...

We made these treats for Vacation Bible School today.  They turned out so cute--I had to post them. For each carousel, you will need the following: 1 cupcake Frosting Sprinkles Three animal crackers A drink umbrella We let the kids build their own carousels, so for each one we put a large dollop of frosting on the plate along with a plastic knife.  For sprinkles, we liked the idea of each child having their own sprinkle container.  But, what to use? We had used these multi-purpose containers for ranch dressing the day before.  You can find them at Walmart in the paper goods aisle.  Using a single hole punch, I punched two holes in the top of the lid.  Put some sprinkles inside, pop on the lid, and you have your own personal sprinkle container! The kids had a great time with them, from pre-school kiddos to the junior high aged helpers.  Looking for a way to tie this into a Bible lesson?  Well, our verse t...

Okay, my picture is not the best.  But, since I rarely do anything special for Valentine's Day, I had to note this one!  My mother-in-law picked up some heart-shaped marshmallows for the kids for Valentine's Day.  I was feeling like doing something a little special, so I melted some semi-sweet chocolate chips.  I added a small amount of shortening to help thin the chocolate out, and then I dipped the marshmallows into the chocolate at an angle.  Needless to say, they were a big hit with the kiddos!  Try something like this the next time you are wanting to do something special but don't have a lot of time to do it.  A little chocolate makes ordinary life special!

I am always looking for easy crafts that all my kids can participate in.  It's hard to get the little ones to "go play" while I try to concentrate on something more difficult with the bigger ones.  I try to save the more ambitious projects for nap time.  Well, here is another one that everyone enjoyed:  Fruit Loop Bracelets.  You need pipe cleaners and Fruit Loop cereal. Simply thread Fruit Loops onto pipe cleaners.  Twist to close at desired length. Then enjoy the "fruits" of your labor! The little enjoyed a bowl of Fruit Loops while the others worked. Hope you enjoy this quick and easy project, too!

I realized the other day that I have been taking lots of pictures, but I haven't put any on my blog.  Well, here is an easy and fun kids' craft:  Graham Cracker Stoplights.  (This is definitely my kind of craft; quick and satisfying!) We got the idea from Evan's Clubhouse Junior Magazine by Focus on the Family.  Separate each graham cracker into four rectangle crackers.  Spread with peanut butter and arrange red, yellow, and green M & M candies to make your stoplight.  Enjoy!  As a bonus, my younger kiddos just ate the separate components of the craft.  It was quite a success.