If there were a step-by-step guide to teaching patience at the toddler level, I’d buy the DVD, the book, the book-on-tape, and subscribe to the Twitter feed, Facebook updates, and Instagram posts. But, no matter how hard we try, dinners out, and sometimes even dinners in, require a delicate time balance between the pre-food entertaintment, food arrival, waiting for food to cool down, and then the digestion/wait-for-the-check black hole. Potential solution? Placemat entertaintment.

I have this awesome set of paper placemats called Let’s Make Some Great Placemat Art. It’s imaginiative and open-ended, but still too advanced for my 2.5 year old.

I love this hand-drawn/digital take on placemat messages, but we are still in the letter recognition phase, rather than the letter creation one. Note to self: save for age 5. Or my next dinner party. Via Habitat Kid.

Alas, sometimes the right solution is the easiest one. Just toss down some brown paper and cups of crayons and let the madness take its course. I’ll do anything to avoid the dinnertime Mickey Mouse Clubhouse videos on You Tube. Photo via Country Living.

{Image via Love Your Chaos}

I am no sports fan (shocker, I know), but my husband and I got invited to see the Brooklyn Nets play at the Barclay Center last night and we were curious (plus it was our friend’s birthday—yay Alex!). The place is amazing and I love how they really Brookl-afied a sports team…everything was very hip from the music to the mascot to the colors—black and white. As we were leaving, I joked that I’d parlay the experience into blog post with a “how to knit a basketball net”, but my brilliant husband suggested that I go with a black and white theme. Brilliant, I tell you.

I am so in love with these plates by Lisa Grue, I don’t even know what to do with myself. The black ink on white ceramic or porcelain is one thing, and then there’s the addition of the pom pom. Stop it.

I swear I’ve seen every chalkboard paint idea known to man, but I’ve never seen a chalkboard helmet. Oliver would pee his pants if he could color on his bike/scooter helmet with chalk. By Tom Derracott.

How perfect is this minimal snowman craft? Just gorgeous. Via Pinterest.

Mer Mag posts some of the best kids crafts, and this feather headband is no exception.

I’m always looking for craft storage solutions, and I love how people apply their craft to everything…even their organization systems. Found via The Daily Telecraft (cute blog name).

Ok, these are not DIY, but I love them so much! I found the bunny on Ebay and the dog on Art Fire. $55 each. Sold.

Give me some flat, black, oval rocks and I’ll make this homemade domino set too. By Repeat Crafter Me (again, another cute name).

Yes, you can wear your heart on your sleeve, but you can also wear it in your hair, on your collar, on your shoe. Here are some great gifts and DIY’s just in time for Valentine’s Day!

I love elbow patches, and this heart-shaped one from Honestly WTF is such a cute surprise.

I made these Heart Felt pins for Parents magazine last year. Sew easy!

Hearts make the perfect ear covers for a knitted hat. Spotted on Nicole Hill’s blog.

Turn these clay hearts into necklaces, pins, or magnets. Watch a how-to video on Parents.com. (Yes, that’s me!)

Hearts on your shoes? Yes, please. From Ban.do.

Diane Von Furstenberg makes these sweet heart ear buds. Only $15 on Net-a-Porter.

I think I’d have to have this cute hair-do to wear this headband by Giant Dwarf.

Last night was a smorgasbord of television—the Golden Globes plus the 2 pre-shows, episode 2 of Downton Abbey, then the season premiere of Girls on HBO. It was a hunkered-down, DVR-set, Indian take-out kind of a night. Yes, it is totally permissable for a mother of 2 babes (okay, a toddler and a baby) to zone out for a night in front of good television, but it’s also fun to take to some couch crafting. Yes, there are crafts you can do beyond knitting, sans glue and paint, that can be done cleanly in the comfort of your living room. Let’s explore the options, shall we?

Pom-poms are the perfect couch craft. Yes, they leave a little fuzz behind, but all you need is yarn, scissors, and your hand to make awesome pom-poms. These gorgeous gems are by Fox & Owl.

Origami is another ideal project for sofa crafting. Here is a great project that you can tackle to get you ready for Valentine’s Day! These orgami-heart bookmarks make a perfect Valentine craft for the kids to give out at school. By Oh Dear!.

A tiny needle craft is a fabulous activity to keeps your hands moving during tv time. Plus if you can make something utilitarian, even better! I love this cross-stitch iPhone case spotted on The Purl Bee. It’s tradition and technology all in one. You can buy the blank kit here (it comes in 6 colors).

Dear readers, what are other good, clean couch crafts? After all, Smash starts up again soon!

{cardboard tv via pinterest}

If you challenged yourself to document everything that you bought, do you think you’d spend less money? And by document, it could be any format…a typed list, a phone snapshot, a voice memo. What if you told yourself you were going to draw everything you buy on a daily basis? Enter Kate Bingaman-Burt, a dedicated (gross understatement) illustrator who has been drawing every last purchase, from baggage check fees to a new hair brush, since Februay 2006. Here are some of her drawings from December 2012. Crazy or cool? You decide.

Spotted on Flavorwire.

If you had the brilliant idea that she should make a book, well, she already has, and a new one is due out in the Spring. You can buy it here.

PS…Check out this post from 2 years ago about a guy who photographed all of his possessions!