Putting the kids to work

When you're too pregnant to care

Not sure I would have cared much anyway, but I would have at least had the energy to clean it up afterwards. I'm certainly not moving the couches back and I'm most definitely not bending down to pick up and wipe up whatever showed itself from underneath. Ah well...

More Homemade Books

I guess I went a little book crazy today. They are just so easy to make!

I made a nature journal with a pencil pouch on the cover. In addition to the regular size pages in the nature journal, I also sewed a little mini book onto the inside back cover. Not sure why. Just for fun I guess. I added titles to the books based on whatever fabric I could find.

So far we've got A Fairy Tale, Caterpillars and Butterflies, Signs of Summer, Blue, Flowers, Unicorns, and Birds. I'm sure there will be more but not today.

 I think the chickens wanted in on the picture taking.

 Although the cloth covered books are for the kids' art packages they will receive after the baby arrives, I have given them a few of the simple accordion and accordion pocket books from Bird and Little Bird.

Replenishing our Art Supplies and Homemade Cloth Covered Blank Books

I posted a while back about needing art supplies for the kids before the baby comes. I am really trying to make conscious choices, especially when buying something new, so I put a lot of thought into what to purchase. I looked around town a bit and found nothing. We went to a place called the Texas Art Asylum where people can donate materials for reuse. However, there were not items like paint, crayons, markers, clay, etc. (which is what I was looking for). It was basically things you can find at Goodwill for much much cheaper. I haven't purchased it yet, but I know I can find recycled paper notebooks and the clay I need around town. We're going to have to pass on the beeswax and wool roving for now as we just don't have the money. I have some wool roving which I could mess around with but they are all colors that remind me of autumn, nothing bright for summer...

Here's what I bought.

I had $34 in Amazon rewards and so bought the Stockmar beeswax stick crayons for the girls and the Stockmar beeswax block crayons for Taven (he breaks stick crayons on purpose). I got free shipping and had to pay 6$.

I then decided to purchase these eco-friendly colored pencils. Although they may not be the same quality as Lyra and other more expensive brands (or maybe they are, we will see) I like that they are from California and from "well managed forests." I bought two sets of these markers, one for Eaden and one for Naia, and I bought one set of these watercolors. I could not invest in the Stockmar watercolors at this time and I like that these are refillable and I don't have to buy another plastic case over and over. Everything is from Stubby Pencil Studio and so is being shipped together. I paid $44.

So for a total of $50, I think I did pretty good.

 Oh wait! I also bought three Dover coloring books at a place called Whole Earth here in town. We LOVE Dover! 

One book is good for the crayons.

 This stained glass one is good for the markers.

 And I think this Fairy one will be good for the watercolors.

The key to being able to buy supplies such as these is making them last. I already tell the kids over and over what resources are used to make their art supplies and how we have to take care of them. Trying to get them to finish coloring an entire page before moving on to the next can be a bit of a challenge. I find that tearing them out individually helps. If I can find the time, I will sew some rolls for the crayons and markers. We already have some for the pencils. Doing this seems to keep them together and make them a little more special.

I also thought I'd make the kids some blank books. I went over to Bird and Little Bird for some simple book making tutorials. I made a lot, but these are my favorite.

I used the idea of recycled books as pages from Bird and Little Bird and then I added a neat cloth cover. I cut off some of the covers to my kids' coloring books for a more sturdy outside. I used a glue stick to help the fabric stay on before I sewed it. Then I sewed the recycled book pages down the center and glued some white pieces of scrap paper (if the kids left the back of an old drawing blank for example) to each page. Pretty neat! If I have time, I will make them bags for their homemade books and then put everything in a basket for each of them (with their new art supplies). They don't get new things often so I think this will be very special.

In other baby preparation news, my lovely mother has bought us some more cloth diapers! Thanks Mom! I also found quite a few of Taven's baby clothes while cleaning out my closet so I think we'll be okay there.

On A Sunday

Not too much going on around here. I've noticed that I'm much more patient and content with the last stages of this pregnancy than any other. I believe it is because I have a much slower life now. Staying home with the kids, enjoying every moment. Life is not all working and waiting to get off. Every moment is used in the best possible way and I am happy...very happy.

So far today (it's only noon, but I felt like posting for some reason), the kids have been checking out mama's thrift store finds from Friday. A globe (3.99), a bucket of shells (.99), an egg gathering basket making kit (1.99), and some onesies for the baby (1.00 each). I've been on the lookout for a globe and the shells have been a huge hit.

 Some early morning outside play before the temperatures rise.

 Then back indoors for some collage making and stained glass coloring.