Baby It's Cold Outside!

Our youngest sister lives up in Alaska with her little family.  Their winters are long and cold so for Christmas I sent them a "Baby, It's Cold Outside!" package to help them survive the winter.  

I included things like a movie (so they could cuddle up together at home) and some hot chocolate (to warm them up).  My favorite addition to the package was a snowman kit!

I scoured our local thrift shop and found this fun, colorful crocheted scarf.  Another option would be to make a simple scarf out of fleece.  I found a carrot nose at Hobby Lobby in the floral section.  The hat was constructed of stiff felt, a ribbon, and hot glue.

For my snowman's buttons I found some brightly colored ones (to go along with the scarf) and glued golf tees to the back.  This allows them to be pushed in to the snow and (hopefully) stay put!

I did the same thing to some small stones (for his smile) and larger stones (for his eyes).  You could also attach a tee to the bottom of your top hat so that it will stay put!

I had a great time putting together this little snowman kit--and hopefully they've had just as much fun building snowmen with it!

Briefcase Doll House

We just celebrated my daughter's 4th birthday.  It's crazy to think that my first post on this blog occurred when my oldest was only 4!  

Months ago I found the cutest idea floating around Facebook for a dollhouse that you could carry around.  I just knew that my daughter would love something like that and planned on having it ready by the time of her birthday.

I started off by heading to the local thrift store to find a very small briefcase that I could use for the dollhouse.  Just when I was about to give up this little thing appeared before me.

It was the perfect size!  And once I opened it up I realized that it was an old cassette tape holder... that's not something you see anymore.

After using this free pattern to make some adorable felt paper dolls (and clothes!) I realized that this little home was big enough for 2 dolls. 

 With the original post as inspiration I began to design my dollhouse.  It was fun to go through my stashes of felt and scrapbooking materials to see what I could create.

I decided to modge podge everything (except the felt blankets) because I know how little kids are and didn't want the papers to get dirty or torn.  I also opted not to have a hanger for a change of clothes.  There were two reasons for this--the first is that I made lots of little outfits (not just one) and the second was that the clothes would inevitably fall off once the dollhouse was closed.  Instead I painted a small box to hold all the doll clothes.

Since my briefcase had an extra little insert (originally for hold the cassettes) I decided it would be fun to add a kitchen!

The inside was so cute that I couldn't bear to have her carrying around a drab brown case.  I decided to paint it purple (her favorite color) and modge podge a little house to the outside.

My daughter was thrilled to open this on her birthday and she has already put in a few requests for additions.  We'll see what I can do for her.

This little portable dollhouse is sure to bring hours of fun for one sweet little girl.

Felt Flower Wall Art

Over the summer we rearranged rooms at our house.  Since that time I've been wanting to hang some pictures up on the big empty wall above my daughter's bed.  I had a few pieces I knew I wanted but I needed more to fill out the space.  I searched so many stores for something that caught my eye.  I wanted some sort of flower that popped off the wall.  I just couldn't find anything I loved.  I moved on to scouring Pinterest and decided that I could make some flowers.  I love the huge paper flowers but knowing that they would be within reach of my kids I decided against that idea.  Instead, I settled on felt flowers.  

I found some great tutorials here.  All were fairly simple and only required felt and hot glue!  When I was done making my flowers I spray painted a piece of cardboard to stick in my empty frame.  After deciding on an arrangement for my flowers I hot-glued them to my cardboard.

I am so happy with how my felt flower arrangement turned out and my daughter just adores them up on her wall!

DIY Toy Stethoscope (and a giveaway of the book Teddy Bear Doctor!)

One of the things I love most about being a mom is watching my kids play. I love to see them dress up and watch where their imaginations take them. Pretend play is such a magical and important part of childhood and learning.

Last month I hosted my four-year-olds preschool co-op group. We learned all about the letter V.  After talking about what words start with V and having vegetables for a snack the fun really started.  Each child was given a badge (I printed off these adorable ones from Kids Activities Blog) and a stethoscope and became a veterinarian for the morning.  We talked about what a veterinarian is and what a veterinarian does (I thought this clip from Sesame Street was perfect).  I set up part of the house to be a make-believe veterinarian clinic. We had a waiting room with chairs and an exam room stocked with bandages and medical instruments to take care of hurt animals.  We sorted all the sick animals (my children all donated their stuffed animals for the morning for us to use) and graphed them to see how many we had of each (to squeeze some math learning in there) and then the kids got to take turns caring for the animals.  I printed out these dramatic play veterinarian clinic printables for each little veterinarian to use.  They took temperatures, listened to heart beats, pulled splinters, gave shots, and wrapped up sore paws.

My group of four year olds had so much fun playing animal doctor!

Listening to a heart beat . . .



Filling out paper work . . .



This little puppy must have had a really sore paw.  I think he got every bandage in the room wrapped around it!



The kids loved having their own name badge and stethoscope to play with and take home. They were so simple to put together too. I picked up a pack of six headbands from the dollar store, cut 12 circles from felt and six hearts, and found some ribbon scraps from my stash.

I sandwiched the ribbon between two felt circles, glued them all together along with heart on the top circle.

The top of the ribbon got hot glued around the center of the headband. I also wrapped and glued the ends of the the headband with some felt so little ears were safe from getting poked.  I noticed that the kids preferred to keep the stethoscope around their neck though--they didn't really put it up to their ears.

All done and ready to play!



Just perfect for caring for any stuffed animal friend.

Here's the whole batch. These could make a fun party favor for a Doc McStuffins party or something similar.

And one more bit of important information . . .

I wanted to tell you about this absolutely adorable book I found at my library while searching for children's books about veterinarians. I really wish I had found it before I had all my preschool preparations done. It's called Teddy Bear Doctor.



I was blown away with how clever and thought out this book was. It is packed full of creative ideas that will help your child create their own make-believe vet practice. The book starts out with projects for your child to make a "pet vet kit". It teaches them how to make a thermometer, syringe, stethoscope, and lab coat using everyday household items. The book then walks them through creating a waiting room, exam room, and recovery room. And my most favorite part of the book is found in the back. There you will find stickers and removable pages to aid your child in creating all the projects in the book. There are also patient check-in forms, appointment cards, exam checklists, and prescription forms. This book has it all! And it is all oh-so-cute!

A copy of Teddy Bear Doctor paired with a new plush toy would make such a fun gift! It's only $4.79 on Amazon right now. For that price you might as well get two copies . . . or three!

***Giveaway Closed***
So how can you enter to win? Simply leave a comment here on the blog or on our Facebook page telling us who you would love to share this book with.
Giveaway ends May 7, 2016

Don't want to wait to win? Pick up a copy here.

Felt Tool Set (Free Pattern Included)

Remember these . . .




If you've been hanging around Serving Pink Lemonade long enough you'll remember when I made my felt tool set years ago.  I made them for my oldest son when he was little but they're having a second go around now with my four year old.  This kid is my handy man.  He loves anything to do with tools, construction work, and trucks.  He loves this tool set and I love that I don't have to worry when he hammers the wall or saws my kitchen table because they're made out of felt and super soft.  It's a win-win!

Browsing around Pinterest I came across my pattern made into a quiet book page--which is so perfect because I don't think you can find a quieter set of tools.  This set would also make a fun homemade gift for a first or second birthday.

Find the instructions and template to make your own felt tools HERE.

And the toolbox?  HERE.



Happy crafting!

11 Felt Crafts To Make For Kids

Felt is such a great medium to make kid crafts with.  You don't have to worry about fraying edges, it's inexpensive, and it's easy to work with.

Below is a compilation of projects featured on our site made from felt.  They're all simple to make and many include free templates along with the instructions. 

Click on the pictures below to take you to the full project.  To see our complete list of felt projects click here.

 Tool Box and Tools

Grocery Sack

Dinosaur Play Mat

Super Hero Puppets

Cookies

Felt Food

Car Mat

 Princess Finger Puppets

Puppet Tutorial

Felt Pizza

 Quiet Book