Happy Valentine's Day!

I found the idea on the left at Be Different, Act Normal, who got it from Martha Stewart via Chronicles of a Mommy. I really liked it, so I adapted it for Nursery.  Our lessons are flexible, so I decided to teach the one on love. I will give each child a white bag to color (scribble on), then stuff in a little treat and clip on the pre-made heart decoration. I had some magnets handy, so I glued a magnet on the back of the clothespin.

I will give the original to my assistant. She deserves a treat; she is awesome!

Understanding of a Child

I started cleaning out the garage, a little bit. Missy L's Hannah Montana Beanbag Chair was out there. I don't really have a space for it in the house, so I was going to give it to her to take home. Unfortunately, I discovered a mouse had made itself comfy in her chair. It does not fit in the washing machine either (Yes, I really tried that!) so I ended up throwing it in the garbage.

When her daddy brought her over on Friday, there was her chair sticking out of the top of the very full trash can. Uh-oh! He explained to her what happened, and when I apologized, she said, "It's Okay, Grammy. I understand."

Now we are faced with needing to sell our house, and we can't quite come to terms with it. We've only lived here 20 months. I need to go to the Lord and say, "It's Okay, Lord. I understand." And let go.

Proud Grandpa

Just in time for Father's Day last year, I saw this cute picture at  "Be Different...Act Normal". I liked it, but I didn't want to cut out all the letters and try to take pictures of all the grandkids. Plus, I only have six, and the word "Grandpa" has seven letters.

A quick trip to the dollar store yielded these cute divided frames. I used recent pictures I already had on the computer, and my Scrapbook Factory program to print out the images.

My husband loved the project and hung them up in the family room. I ought to replace the 'baby' now that he has been born, but it's kind of cute with Holly's tummy.

Tiny Treasures Pocket Pillow

For Christmas, I made each of the grandchildren between ages 2-5 a wall organizer with pockets, kind of like a hanging shoe organizer. I used the scraps to make them a matching pillow. I don't have an organizer to photograph, (They all took off with them!) but here is one of the pillows.

You can't really see it in the picture, but there is a zipper down the middle. It opens into a lining, so that he can put all sorts of things in the giant pocket inside the pillow. There is a flap to button, tie to tie, and small outer pocket as well. I stitched the tie in the middle so he can't pull it out of the eyelets.
The back is just a simple patchwork pattern.

I got used pillows at a thrift store and just stuffed them inside the covers. It's cheaper and just as easy as pillow forms. I originally intended to take off the original covers, but quickly discovered the filling was too hard to work with. If you do this, watch for plain edges (no piping, buttons, or fringe) and soft fabrics that will easily work into the new pillow cover.

It's also a good idea to get the pillow form first. Measure it and make the finished cover to fit.