crafts with toddlers | The Whimsical Sweet

Tag Archives: crafts with toddlers

GIVEAWAY: sweet whimsy designs’ Monogrammed Toddler Scarf

I’ve taken some time off. I’ve stopped knitting. I’ve stopped creating. My kids are well-taken care of, though, so that’s good.

Knitting became a newfound love in my life. Piano was IT, forever and ever, and it still is, but I don’t have enough time to play. When the children are napping (which, among all three of them, is pretty much all. day. long.), there is no chance to play the piano. But, knitting, well…that’s a different story.

Knitting is quiet and peaceful. Quaint and lovely. Knitting can be creative.

I got a little creative LAST winter and came up with a design for a simple scarf for my then-one year-old: Something he could tie and untie himself. (Let’s face it, toddlers LOVE their independence!) So, I figured out a way he could do that in a very easy fashion. The scarf has a slit. Just slip one end through and VOILA!

The Toddler Scarf was born.

A sense of accomplishment and pride comes over your little love, as easy as that. However, I thought it was a little “too” plain. I thought a monogram would be nice.

The Monogrammed Toddler Scarf was born.

In order to “launch” my product, I thought I’d share one with one of you kind readers! I really don’t expect to start pumping these out until after the holidays, but the scarf would make such a nice Christmas present, yes?!

And so begins my Tri-Giveaway extravaganza! Stay tuned for a few more giveaways before Christmas. Share with your friends and family, spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, & Pinterest.

Thank you, friends! Your support is always appreciated & never taken for granted.

Enjoy December and all the joy it brings!

To enter, simply click on this link and follow further instructions.

You will also find it here:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/sweet-whimsy-designs/146219828726153

Please follow me on Facebook to keep up to date on the latest going-ons from The Whimsical Sweet & sweet whimsy designs.

Tags: Children, cold weather clothing for kids, crafts with toddlers, Creativity, easy toddler idea, gift ideas, giveaway, Holidays, kids clothing, kids gift ideas, parenting, passion, stay-at-home mom, sweet whimsy designs, The Whimsical Sweet, toddler independence, toddler scarf, two year old, winter, work-from-home Mom

Comments 2 Comments
Categories Baby, Birthdays, Children, Christmas, Crafts, Creative, Etsy, Gift Ideas, Giveaways, Handmade, Handmade Holiday, Holiday Gift Ideas, Holidays, Homemade, Knitting, Passion, Stay At Home Mom, sweet whimsy designs, Toddlers, Winter, Work From Home, Working Mom

Flashback Friday: Crafty Valentines

10 Feb

Originally posted February 8, 2011

It’s the time of the year to hibernate and snuggle up to the ones you love. Nothing beats hiding away from the wintery blah. Since Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, we’ve opted to send out some love to our family and friends. Our daughter decided she would make the list and she included all the tots in her life. Cousins, friends, friends’ siblings…she sure does know how to spread the love!

When I was young, my father loved to craft handmade Valentines for each of us. We were always so impressed with his sense of creativity (and always will be!). It is my duty to carry on this tradition. What fun it has been with a two year-old! Cardstock, a few stickers, some pom-poms, markers and of course classic doilies make for some beautifully nouveau valentines. Enjoy!

Tags: Arts, Children, crafting with kids, crafts, crafts with toddlers, Creativity, Family, kids, love, stay-at-home mom, toddler, two year old, Valentine's Day crafts

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Arts, Children, Creative, Family, Valentine's Day Crafts

Homeschooling Fun: Autumn Clay Tree

24 Oct

Since my oldest is only 3, we are not ready for full-time (or part-time) preschool, so we try to do fun things every day that somehow sneak in education. Sometimes this entails going out & about, sometimes it is at home. “Homeschooling Fun” will display my slight attempt at projects we do together. I have a plethora of resources where I usually get these ideas but sometimes they are my own. (I am ALWAYS open to new suggestions for resources! Please comment below.) Unfortunately, I don’t remember where this next project came from but I do know it was a lot of good, time-consuming fun!

Autumn Clay Tree

We started this simple project by going outside & scouting out the perfect tree branch. There are not too many trees around us, so we couldn’t find a loose branch on the ground, we had to cut this one directly from the grounded tree. Our daughter was quite intrigued by the different shapes of branches we found, not a lot look like trees if standing on their own. I tucked in a discussion of the what, how & why of trees. Lots of questions followed, which I always look forward to when explaining something to an inquisitive toddler!

We gathered indoors (it was chilly out that day!) & started “planting the tree” (sticking it to green construction paper*) by surrounding it with “soil” (green clay). *This was a little difficult with the flimsy construction paper. I would recommend something stronger like cardboard or wood.

Next, we pinched tiny pieces of clay (we used play-doh for times’ sake but homemade clay would have worked better), perfect for her petite hands, into the branches. We used colors she thought would be seen in the fall – red, orange, yellow & green. She did most of the leaves. She was very focused & excited to see the end result.

VOILA!

The pieces that fell were smooshed into the paper to become those fallen leaves. Easy-peasy!

What do you think? What would you have done differently? What indoor activities do you do in the fall with your children? PLEASE SHARE! We’d LOVE to hear!

Tags: Children, crafts, crafts with toddlers, Creativity, fall crafts, Homeschool, kids, kids activities, save money, stay-at-home mom, things to do, three year old, toddler

Comments 4 Comments
Categories Autumn, Children, Crafts, Creative, Economical Activities, Homemade, Homeschool, Kids Activities, Motherhood, Preschool, Save money, Stay At Home Mom

Homeschooling Fun: Autumn Stamping

11 Oct

For the last few days, our three year-old has been begging to paint. I finally found the time & patience to assist her in this activity. I couldn’t let her just take a brush to a piece of paper as we do most often, so we spiced it up a bit with some fall fun! At very little cost, we made apple & leaf stamps.

I simply took a slice of apple & carved it into shapes with a trusty knife. Admittedly, my first attempts were pretty pathetic, but lil’ t didn’t seem to mind at all! She had trouble holding the smooth apple while dipping it in the sticky paint, so I quickly carved a handle.

We collected some soft (not crunchy) leaves from the yard to get some texture in our stamps. Then we made a few shapes in the apple, ate the cut-outs before dipping the remains in the natural, washable paint, then went to town. She loved it!

This time we kept it simple: a few basic shapes & a jack-o-lantern face. Next time, ahh, well, next time I have plans…to be continued.

Tags: Children, crafts, crafts with toddlers, Creativity, Homeschool, Inexpensive activities, kids activities, natural parenting, stay-at-home mom, things to do

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Arts, Autumn, Children, Clementine Art, Crafts, Creative, Economical Activities, Homemade, Homeschool, Kids Activities, Motherhood, Natural Parenting, Preschool, Stay At Home Mom

The Party That Never Was

18 May

My son never got a first birthday party…not yet anyway. You see, he was in the hospital for the week leading up to his party. We had to call it off due to his susceptibility to disease since his immunity was very low. The invitations were sent, the party was planned, but the poor kid never had a celebration. We will work it out, we will find a date to celebrate the first year of his life with our close family members and friends. I am determined!

In the meantime, I thought you would enjoy the preparation of the invitations…they were rather fun to create! I decided on a “Hungry Caterpillar” theme-ish though I don’t usually like to choose themes for occasions such as this. This was too cute to pass up, and our little man is quite the hungry guy so it fit him perfectly! My daughter was even able to help out by coloring the outlines of the ovals as well as keeping me organized (something she loves to do!) Hope you enjoy…