Singsongy Sunday: Big Jumps

Yay for ever-darling Emiliana, yay for smiley snail friends :)

Puppy Valentine Lollipop Card Printables

Visit the always-creative Tricia-Rennea for these free, kidlet-perfect, valentine lollipup, kitty, and mouse-friend cards (so cute!) ... Just print, cut out, make slits for the stick, and slide in your yummy lolli.

You could also give these to your puppy friends, by using dogtreats like jerky stick snacks instead of lollies!

Into the Trees

The Cure Cover; An Ultrarelaxi-Version by Nouvelle Vague...

FREE Valentine Printables Links List: Colorful, Cutesy Critters Edition (WooHoo!)

Don't you just love these bright, happy colors and smiling animal faces? Visit Secret Agent Josephine to print out your own pagefull of Valentines like the ones above (for free!) I'm going to print out two sets, cut and laminate them, and then use them as a Lovey-Dovesy-Animals Memory Match game. You could also turn these into a lotto game set :)

... Missy Balance at Crafty Carnival has these beeyond-adorable bee valentines free for the sharing, too (sans the Gracie part):

... Tipnut and Vintage Holiday Crafts both have oodles of retro valentines featuring animal & kidlet cuties like these:





... Jamie Hamblin Designs has a duo of valentine purty birdies (a set of owlie girls, and a set of owlie boys, too!)

...Other owlies (w/ matching bookmarks!) at Living Locurto ...


...Other other owlies at Toad's Treasures...

...Lovebirds at TheLongThread...



...And don't forget these zebra friends, these dino guys, these panda/fox friends, these turtle/bee buddies, these wise-cracking animal cuties, and these strangely delicious lolli snail classics, too... Fun, fun, fun...

Baby Bear Buddies

Aren't these little grizzly cubs the cutest? Rightly so, this gem of a photo won Oliver Klink an award over at the National Geographic site :)

* Matchy Music: The House at Pooh Corner mp3, the Josh Pyke cover version (via CoverLayDown.)

"Perhaps I am a bear, or some hibernating animal underneath,
for the instinct to be half asleep all winter is so strong in me."
~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh

FREE Valentine Cupcake Toppers Pretty Picks Printables

Who doesn't love cupcakes? And who doesn't love love?... Pretty up your yummies with these absolutely adorable (and easy-to-make!) add-ons (like the ones above from Paper Glitter...)

...and these from Creative Party Place...

...and these from Accent The Party...

...or these from Go Graham...

Yay for beautified deliciousness!

Days-of-the-Week Superhero Button Ring Sets

Button rings make really fun party favors & giftlets... and when grouped in sevens, they make for an especially adorable days-of-the-week ring set. They're great as everyday accessories, or for pretend play & superheroing (... and grownups loveum, too!) I have some snazzy little sets up for sale right now in my Etsy shop, but they're so supersimple to make.

PLEASE REMEMBER: Tiny little fingers and tiny little mouths can sometimes add up to curious trouble. Smallish things (like these rings) can be tricksy business with kidlets who are still in that oral fixationy phase; so always trust your mommy instincts and use care, common sense, & supervision with younger children under threeish. That having been said...

Here's the how-tos:
1. Get yourself some adjustable ring blanks. Lots of arts and craftsy places will sell them, and there are shops on Etsy, too.

2. Gather together an assortment of buttons (most artsy craftsy stores sell bags of mixed buttons, but vintage buttons make for extralovely, superunique designs.) Sort through the colors & shapes and pick out the ones that catch your eye (if you're making a days-of-the-week set, you might want to try creating an overall theme like "garden buddies," etc.)


3. Clip off the backs of the buttons so they lie flat. Then make pretty little stacklets of two or three buttons. Layer the smallish buttons on the larger ones, and glue them together with an adhesive (I use planet-friendly, kid-friendly, nontoxic Crafter's Pick The Ultimate Super Glue.)

4. Let your pretties dry overnight. Then glue them to the ring blanks.

5. Dry overnight.

6. Wear.

6. Accept random compliments.

Singsongy Sunday: Give To Get Back

Love it!

Brainy Little Monkeys

What clever, clever creatures...

Sweet Sweet Snow Angels

Matchy Music: Everywhere I Go mp3, by Lissie (via Captain Obvious)

FREE Home Library Bookplate Printables

This is one of the best sites ever, because all the bookplates are adorable, and all the bookplates are also... FREE! Visit Myhomelibrary.org for a hugehugehuge (no really, it's HUGE!) selection that's perfect for kidlet-loving parents & teachers.

Treehouse Point Prettiness: Vacations, Weddings, Concerts, Retreats

Looking to getaway? Treehouse Point is a supercoolcreative naturey resort in Washington where you can actually stay in treehouse! And, as if that weren't awesome enough, they also have a professional chef on staff who cooks with local and organic products (YUM!)

Preschool Hibernation Nature Theme Fun: "Sleepy Bears and Buddies"

Thursday our topic in class was "Sleepy Bears and Buddies."

...We talked about how some animals get sleepy during the cold months. Some of those animals sleep deeply all through the winter until springtime (they hibernate, like bats and snails), some animals such as bears and raccoons sleep more lightly and wake up every so often until springtime (which is called torpor.)

... Everyone brought a special teddy bear guest...

... and we made our guests little cozy caves out of recycled cardboard boxes, paints, and tissue paper scraps...

... We also had a big preschool-person-sized cave set up for pretending in (made from a card table and draped blankets.) We pretended to be sleepy bears. Then we put our teddy bears on top of the cave, next to the cave and inside the cave...

...We read these books together:

Hibernation

Time To Sleep

...And some flipped through these books at the discovery table:

Animals in Winter

Sleepy Bear

...We walked the trails, looking for comfy spots where animals might like to sleep...

...And sang this hibernation song with puppet buddies:

"Bear is sleeping

Bear is sleeping,

in her cave

in her cave,

wonder when she'll wake up

wonder when she'll wake up,

in the spring

in the spring..."

(we started with a bear puppet buddy and followed with: bat in her cave, skunk in his den, ground squirrel in the ground, ladybug under a log, snail in her shell, turtle in the pond.)

Heard during parent pickup:

Mom: "What did you learn about today?"

Child: "Animals who sleep a lot during the winter because it gets really cold."

Mom: "Oh yeah?"

Child: "Yes, and they wake up in the SWING!"

FREE Adorable Animal Buddy Valentine Printables...YAY!

Visit Kate.net to download your own set of these beyond-darling little animal buddy valentine cards. Not only are they cute, they each have a sillynsweet preschooler-approved-classic-funny-haha-greeting (Owl be your valentine, etc.)

SURFice Dog Sunday

When we set others free from our personal expectations, and instead allow them to embrace their own unique gifts, we learn wonderful lessons in love:

Covered in Snow

Matchy Music: Goodbye England (Covered in Snow) mp3 by Laura Marling (via HiFiHeart.)

FREE (and Darling!) Valentine's Day LoveBird Seed Packet & Tea Bag Printables

Visit Tricia-Rennea's blog to print these adorable paper packets; supercute and ready for folding & filling. Wouldn't these make perfect little Valentine's giftlets?... Or maybe even bridal shower favors, too?...

Say What? A New Version of Emma?

Yay! Being a girly-girl, I just love Jane Austen. And while I was roaming about the web this weekend, a wonderful popup popped up... PBS's Masterpiece Theatre will be airing a new BBC Emma Miniseries between January 24- early February 2010 (ready your DVR!) Personally, I really loved the Gwyneth Paltrow version and will find it difficult to top, but I think it's funny how they make 80gazillion versions of everything Austen ever wrote (so of course I try to watch them all!)
Here's a commercial clip:


You've prolly already taken this quiz:

Take the Quiz here!

... but at PBS's site, there's a brand new silly quiz for the taking: The Bachelors of Highbury Compatibility Quiz. Apparently I'm best matched with Frank Churchill... Hmm...

Kitty Communication: Meet & Greets

Did you know that friendly nose-touches between cats are the feline equivalent of a human handshake? They're the catsy way of saying "Hi! I come in peace. I'm friendly, polite... and I'm pleased to see you!" Not only will cats do this with other cats, but they'll sometimes try to greet other species this way, too (including humans!)

Fairy Godmother Baby Shower Blessings Bracelets

I made these pretties as favors for my best friend's baby shower, and you can, too. They're inspired by Sleeping Beauty... I've always loved that scene in the Disney movie, when the Godmothers bless baby Aurora (what a warm and magical welcome!) Here's how the bracelets work: just say a prayer/make a wish, tie on the bracelet, and each time a guest looks at her bracelet, she'll be reminded to keep mom and baby in her thoughts and prayers. Wear the bracelet until the cord wears away or breaks and... then the prayer/wish comes true (or so we hope!) I'm currently taking custom orders and selling them in my Etsy shop, but the truth is, if you're a crafty sort, they're really supersimple to make. I figured it might be fun to share the how-tos:

1. Cut a piece of hemp cording to a length of your liking (it should be your desired bracelet length, plus at least an extra 2-3 + inches for knotting and tying off; especially if you think some guests might prefer wearing it as an anklet.)

2. Thread on a truly pretty bead (No scratchy, cheapo stuff please... I like to use beach glass beads or unique vintage finds; blue for boys, pink for girls, and a pastel mix for ?s)

3. Push the bead midway to the center of the cord and make a knot on one side of the bead, so the knot is right up against the bead.

4. Make another knot on the other side of the bead, so the bead is now sandwiched cozy-style between two knots.

5. Create your own instruction card and print it out on card stock.

6. Make two slits on the sides of your card to snuggle in your bracelet (then gather and tape the rest of the cording to the backside.)

These make a really fun favor to pass out with a guest book (then everyone can also write down their wishes for baby, and you'll have a forever-collection of wonderful thoughts for mom to take home, too.) 

Singsongy Sunday: Jool's Annual Hootenanny Jewels (Florence and The Machine)

Most everyone who knows me knows that I'm a bighugemusicnerd. Every New Year's Eve there's this trulyTRULYsupercool musical celebration with the bestbestbest BBC-courted bands. For 2009 they invited one of my favorite finds of the year, the ever-quirky-creative Florence and The Machine. Here's why I love them: 1) They combine synthy sounds with harp & strings 2) Florence can really sing 3) Other species love them, too (watch for the dancing polar bear groupie in the second clip...) Take a looknlisten for yourself:

* Matchy Music: Cosmic Love mp3, by Florence and The Machine (via blahblahblahscience)

Acoustic Tree Music

Who needs drums or pianos or whatevers when you've got a tree and an icechest...?

Unlikely Animal Friends: The Orangutan and Hound Dog

The National Geographic Channel has some of the most interesting animal behavior shows, including their recent special "Unlikely Animal Friends," from which this heartwarming excerpt was taken about Suryia and Roscoe:

Fairy House Preschool Photos

This fall my Preschool in Nature kidlets constructed the most lovely little fairy houses using all-natural materials. Miss Betsy and I took tons of pictures, and those pictures will be up this month in our art gallery space at work (YAY!) We'll also be showing Kristen's Fairy House on DVD. Stop by all January for admiring and inspiring... or if you're not a SoCaler, take a peek at this supersweet tutorial I found online (or this other one from one of my previous posts):

Nifty 50s Magnetic Pretty Paper Dolls

How adorable are these little magnetic paper dolls? They're made using the cute retro girlies from the Besty McCall site. Visit One Pearl for the easy info on how you can make your favorite kidlet her very own fashionable, LeaveItToBeavery set, too.

Fairy Folk Nature Books Pictorial

The Story of the Root Children


Mother Earth and Her Children

Children of the Forest

Fairy Houses, Everywhere

Goodnight Fairies

The past week I've been busy framing our Preschool in Nature fairy house photos, so I've sort of had fairies on my mind (more than usual...) The above books are some of my very favorite fairies-&-friends-oriented naturey titles for kidlets. And here's some other good ones (not pictured):

Fairy Houses
Home Sweet Home, A Little Book of Fairy Dwellings

The Princess in the Forest

Flower Fairy Paper Dolls

Flower Fairies, The Meaning of Flowers

The Sun Egg

In The Land of Fairies

In The Land of Elves

The Giant Golden Book of Elves and Fairies

1001 Things to Spot in Fairyland

Fairy Island