Happy New Year!

Happy New Year All!

I love taking the time over the holidays to think about our lives and some of our projects.  Today we were  thinking about the 4 -fun  GWMG projects and all the lovely people we’ve met along the way!

It seems like yesterday we were asking a few friends to grow sunflowers (season 1) with us on FB:-)  Then we opened forcing paper whites (season 2) to the public that fall.  We ended up with a handful of special people across the U.S. growing them with us.

Just last spring we started designing our Bean Stalk Wall Chart w/seeds (season 3).  These kits were adored by people who purchased them and the chart will act as a keepsake for all future projects.  The artist who painted this fantastic chart created a magical experience for us!  Brianna had no idea the process involved with creating a chart:-)  We only printed a few dozen charts and they sold very consistently through the year.  We had only 10 left when we attended our first craft show and at this time sold them all out before the show was even over.  Now we need to decide if we will ever print more in the future… at this time we like that there are not many out there in the world:)

Winter 2010… Our Grass Heads did ok but the fall/winter kits are hard for us because we can’t get outside and really a crazy time of year. We are considering  sticking with only spring/summer kits. Plus since we’ve started flower fairies it might make more sense to focus on those for the holidays.  For the new year we started a new FB Page for Flower Fairies just to help us stay focused on growing and gifts on our GWMG Page. Then we decided in order to stay organized we also needed a page for all the GiveAways we love… All efforts to keep us focused on each topic– lol!  Tis the Season to getorganized:-)

Spring/Summer 2011 Project Plans are underway! Yes, PUMPKINS for season 5!  We are ready for our challenge and hope we have others to share it with us again next year.

We look forward to another year!  Happy New Year Friend and Family . . .

Making Finger Puppets For New Year’s Eve Fun!

New Year’s Parties have sure changed since Brianna has come along:-)  This year she’s planning a finger puppet show for us.  

Supplies:

Old cardboard from wrapping paper — works PERFECT (or you cold use poster board), Fabric Scraps, Skin Color Felt, Markers for eyes and mouth (can also use other decorations), Hair: felt, ribbons, yarn or string and of course hot glue (adult)

The Easy Steps

1) Let your little one pick out the character’s needed for the show.  Brianna chose Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, Allyson and of course herself:-)

2) Fold over cardboard to fit over your finger (can leave the top open)

3) Hot glue sides together

4) Have your little one pick out color fabric scraps to go around puppets and have an adult hot glue edges

5) Let your child look through ribbons, felt, etc and look for the best hair for each character (adult hot glue on character)

6) Cut a thin band of skin color fabric out and wrap and hot glue edges around the top for the head (adult)

7) Add eyes and mouth with marker (adult or child)

8) Arms: cut tiny pieces of pipe cleaner and hot glue them into skin color felt (adult)

– Brianna counted out the number of arms needed

I think my 8-year old niece would have been able to do most of this on her own but still fun for Brianna because she got to pick out the puppets clothes and to be involved.

New 2011 Flower Fairies

In 2010 we’ve had a lot of fun with flower fairies… because they have become such a large part of our projects we started a new page for them in 2011.  The new FB page will simply show the birth of any new fairies. This will allow the GrowWithMeGifts Page to focus again on growing projects and kids crafts.This spring we hope to take on PUMPKINS!

New in 2011 we will have backpack fairies! Don’t all little gals need a buddy to take along with them to school?!  The one shown here is Rapunzel inspired.   ooo… I just love her gold hair:-)

Don’t forget to ask about fairies for Birthday parties, etc.

HAPPY “almost”  NEW YEAR!

Last Minute Craft: Candy Cane Reindeer

Walking though the grocery store tonight I saw a kit to make candy cane critters.

I remembered I had a TON of green pipe cleaners, red pompoms and lil eyes at home!  If you have these items then all you need to do is pick up some candy canes and get crafting!

We simply bent the pipe cleaner into a “V” then wrapped it around and used a pencil to make twirly antlers…. Of course use non toxic glue to add the nose and eyes:-)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Tree 2010: Story to Remember

Brianna has been picking out our tree since she’s been 2 years-old. This tradition started because when I was a kid my dad allowed me to pick out most our trees.  No matter how the tree looked my dad always told me the tree was beautiful.  There were times I used to think the tree looked bad but my dad always sat back and said, “This is the best tree yet!”  As I got older I knew he didn’t always mean it but I knew he didn’t care how it looked as long as I could be involved.

Back to 2010:  While at the tree lot Brianna passed up many perfect trees to find the right one.  It was cold and the snow was deep, so we encouraged her to hurry and pick one out.  She finally picked one that looked a little slanted but James grabbed the saw and cut it down.

Round one: forced it to be straight... looks pretty good

The next night we took it out of the garage and James put in the stand.  That’s when we noticed the tree  was more than a little slanted.  The trunk bends left, then right and the left again… Soooo… this made it hard to straighten in the stand but with a few tricks we tried to make it look straighter. We had a ball decorating the tree and it was looking ok but we did force the poor tree to stand in  a way it was never meant to stand = straight!

Around 12am that night we heard CRASH!  That tree was not going to be anything it was not meant to be!  So, I put the trunk in and the correct straight way in the stand (added a rope to be safe) and let the tree be who he was meant to be.  The tree now stands firm and happy!

Although the tree is not perfect it will be a memory and lesson we will always remember.

Happy Holidays!

Reindeer hand print towel: toddler project

Last Christmas we made helping hand towel… this year we decided to add feet and well why not make it into a reindeer:-)

All we used:

6 Hand Towels

6 Red Beads (thread and needle)

Fabric Paint: Dark Brown, Light Brown and Blue

Rags

Paint Brush

Lil hands and feet:-) I’d recommend a 4 Year old + There is no way Brianna would have been able to do this last year.  You need a very steady hand and foot — lol!

– – – – – –

Step 1: Lay the towels flat(newspaper under them to be safe)

Step 2: add the light-colored brown paint right on the child’s hand.   Do one hand at a time — we tried 2  the first time and it didn’t work out well.  You will need to spread the paint on the child’s hand with your hand then have a rag ready to wipe up your hand, so you don’t get it on the towel when you help the him/her push hand down.  Then count to three and hold the towel down and have the child pull his/her hand up.  Repeat with the next hand.

– complete all hands on the towels

Step 3: Feet… spread the dark brown with your hand on your child’s right foot.  Have a chair for him/her to hold on to when they pull their foot off.  Have the child place the foot in the center of the hands.  This is actually pretty easy for them to step in the middle.  Then you will need to clean your hand off before you hold both sides of the towel and then count to three and have the child place the foot down on newspaper and repeat paint for each towel.

Step 4: Eyes: squeeze some blue eyes on each towel.

Step 5: Take a paint brush and better define the hand prints if needed.

Step 6: Nose: Sew a bead or button on the nose!

Step 7: dry over night…

Step 8: Wrap up for your loved ones… they’ll love em:-)

Merry Christmas

Great Winter Project: Forcing Paper Whites

First of all… where does the time go?  We are moving into season five (5) of our growing kits!!!!!!!!!

Quickly Looking Back:-)

Season 1/Spring Summer: Sunflowers

Season 2/Fall Winter: Paperwhites

Season 3/Spring Summer: Jack and The Beanstalk

Season 4/Fall Winter: Grass Heads

Season 5/Spring Summer: thinking pumpkins? maybe just instructions on our blog but maybe seeds with something cute?!

Per above we loved Season 2!  Below are the instructions so you can work with you little one(s) to purchase and grow these on your own!

At the store purchase:

• Glass Container (paint with glass paint if you would like)
• Paperwhite Bulbs (2)
• Decorative Glass Marbles or Beads
• 2 decorated sticks to use if the plants need to be prompt as the get talle

About Paperwhites:

A native to Europe and Asia, it is now grown around the world. Paperwhites are a small member of the Narcissus family (Daffodils and Jonquils are larger family members). Did you know? Narcissus were named after the legendary Greek youth Narcissus who was strikingly handsome.

What Does Forcing Bulbs Mean?

In simple summary, you are convincing a spring bulb that it has slept through the winter months and encouraging it to awaken into full spring bloom, even though the snow is piling up outside your window

 What to Expect

• Paperwhites produce clusters of small, fragrant flowers. The blooms last a week or two. The foliage and flower stems can grow about 15 inches tall.
• Plan on about four to six weeks from planting to bloom if you start them before Thanksgiving; they will bloom faster when started later, in about two to three weeks.

Getting Started:

1. Make sure the small stones, gravel, pebbles, or marbles are in the container and filler ½ way to top  (Please rinse the stones clean first.)
2. Set the bulbs on top of the stones with the pointy end up and the flatter root end down
3. Place the bulbs close together but not so close that they touch. Fill around them with more stones so they stand up. When you are done, the top half to a third of the bulb should still be visible
4. Now you can pour in water – just enough so it is touching the very bottom of the bulb.  If the water covers too much of the bulb, they can rot
   1. Now put them in a cool, dark place for one to two weeks. When the roots have begin to take hold, and the plant has sprung from the bulb
      1. Then take the pot out into a brightly lit room. Four to six weeks later, your Paperwhites will be in bloom. Make sure to place in a sunny window sill.

As they grow you can show your children that the roots are forming or starting to sprout. It can be your child’s job to check the water level everyday. No matter how you choose to enjoy these little beauties, they are sure to bring pleasure to all who see them.

Christmas Wreath: a new family tradition

There’s nothing better than the smell of fresh evergreen:-) My cousins own a Greenhouse and in the winter they create the most lovely wreaths  (I still want to write reef  — lol) .  We ordered one this year without decorations, so Brianna could add the pretties.  She really enjoyed taking part in adding the decorations:-)

We decided to make this a new family tradition.   Each year we will get a new wreath and pick out a few new decorations:-) When Brianna turns 15 the wreath will be full of beautiful decorations and memories.