I’m a huge fan of advent calendars, and I think they can be used for way more than the countdown to Christmas. You can countdown any special occasion…a birthday, a wedding, or a baby’s due date. Here are some of my faves, both products and DIYers.
Here is my new favorite! It looks like this adorable and simple countdown calendar is made from cans. I just love it! Found on Room Envy.
How cute and graphic is this advent calendar made from metal tins? Found on Twig & Thistle.
I was amazed the first time I saw this toilet paper tube calendar by Maya Made. So clever!
This is one of my fave advent calendars of all time by Pickles…little gifts hanging from plastic rings. A child’s dream…snowing presents! Found via The Crafty Crow.
You can make your own embroidered felt calendar with the help of the Purl Bee.
Oliver hasn’t had a mobile in his room because I haven’t found one that I like (read: not plastic). Until this week! Check it…
The Woodours Wood Musical Crib Mobile has it all…music, cute stuffed danglies, and it has a wooden arm! I mean, how hard is that? Oliver is really digging it!
Here are a few others that I found…
How gorgeous is this knitted mobile by Bla Bla Kids? I think Oliver needs one over his changing table.
Artistic, graphic, and compelling for both baby and adult. These modern art mobiles by Puka Puka are gorge. Found via Design Mom’s Babble column.
I love the simplicity of these bamboo mobiles by Petit Collage. But would they make my baby giggle and coo? I’m not so sure. Perhaps I need this one hanging over my own bed. Found via Design Mom.
Materials: Wooden spool, Covered floral wire (12-inch piece), Wire cutter or old scissors, Scissors, Colored paper, Small button, Feathers, Pen, Clear tape
Step 1: Wrap the middle section of wire twice around spool tightly. Twist together to secure. Bend wire to make a foot on each leg and trim excess with old scissors or wire cutter.
Step 2: Trace the end of a spool and a button about 1″ apart on paper. Connect the circles to form a neck, and add points on head. Cut out shape, and draw eyes, beak, and spiral.
Step 3: Tape the paper body to one end of spool, then flip over and attach 3 feathers to other side, taping each one individually. Adjust feet so turkey stands.
As Halloween was fast approaching, I did not have a costume for Oliver. It was truly like the cobbler’s kid with no shoes. So based on his wardrobe, he was either going to be a teddy bear (brown onesie), an elephant (gray onesie), or a frog (green onesie). He has frog-like gestures sometimes so I went frog. I modeled the collar and wrist/ankle bands after this costume from Parents magazine, but the tongue/pacifier was my most proud invention! He may look back one day with a big eye roll!
How cute and easy is this? Sawing the heads off of plastic animals might be a bit distrurbing, but the end result would be adorable in any kids’ bedroom or playroom! Found via Ohdeedoh.
I wasn’t sure exactly how to title this post without being uncouth. Ma Cacabane is the ultimate item ever for the more private youngster in our lives: an entertaining, well-designed porta-potty. Well, it’s just the four walls, but it’s the best thing I’ve ever seen!
Planning a backyard Halloween party? Check out these fun games and adorable (if I do say so myself) decorations that I designed for this month’s Parents magazine.
I made homemade stencils and spraypainted the letters to the broom bristles. Seriously, my favorite Halloween decoration ever!
Have a bone hunt: paint a bunch of dog bones white and one orange and send the kids on a mission to find them. The one that finds the orange one wins a special prize.
Wrap a bunch of boxes in black paper and make windows, doors, and shingles using yellow post-it notes. Have a contest with the kids to see who can build the tallest haunted house.
Make a spooky street sign with scrap wood and black paint.
Give your pumpkins some personality by dressing them up for the occasion!
This old fashioned game never goes out of style! Put grapes, noodles, and baggies of pudding in glass bowls, blindfold the kids and have them guess what they are touching!
I’m totally amazed at the cool effect this produces…Recyclart featured these basic jars striped with vintage zippers (I’ve been wondering what I could do with all of mine :). The repetitive texture makes for a unique surface; it almost looks like a gorgeous woven textile for a split second. To be honest, I’ve never explored the creative applications of zippers…now I’m intrigued…
I think the only way to get back is just to jump in feet first. I can’t believe that five weeks have passed since I last blogged but these 35 days days have seemed like one long day, broken up into three hour increments when my son wakes from his naps.
But I am vowing to rejoin the blogging world…I miss my daily perusals and posts! So here’s my soft re-entry.
I’m so in love with these urban quilts—Soft Maps by Haptic Lab. They are cities and neighborhoods, stitched in quilt form. They are no chump change…the throws are $2,400 a piece, but they are so intricate with their accuracy that I get it. The one above is Manhattan (must have wooden pieces), and below are Park Slope, Brooklyn (my neighborhood—holla!) and Washington, DC.
I seriously can’t believe that 2 weeks have gone by since I last blogeed. I do have a good excuse—our sweet baby boy decided to make an early appearance in this world. Oliver Fisher Cohen was born on August 29th at 9:19am. He was almost 6 weeks early, so the contractions took us by surprise, but he’s here, happy, and healthy!
Here is a pic of Oliver laying on a blanket that my talented mother knitted for him.
