Goodnight Peep Diorama -- Peeps Show IV

I entered the 

Washington Post's Peeps Diorama contest

again this year

and was a finalist with my entry

"Goodnight Peep"Peeps Show IV

If you click on the link above

you can see the winner, finalists, and semi-finalist entries

(they even have a cool video tour of my diorama!)

(Look but don't touch!)

 Here's "C" checking it out...

and showing you her copy of Good Night Moon

so you can see the size of my diorama.

I started the diorama on Saturday morning
after coming up with the idea in the shower.
(I do all of my best creative thinking there)

Geoff and my mom took care of the girls
so I could spend the afternoon building my diorama.

Sadly, I actually had all of the materials I needed
to make the diorama except the peeps, rocking chair and fire place!

They interviewed me for the
Washington Post's Magazine
you can read it here.

For those of you local Northern Virginia folks,
you'll see me and my diorama
in the magazine this weekend
(April 4, 2010 issue).

Some of you have commented about
my new head shot on my blog....
it's from a series taken recently by Diana Adams.

This great portrait was taken by my photographer friend, Diana Adams

to appear as my "head shot" for the magazine interview. 

Thanks so much Diana!

And finally....
In case you didn't get enough Peeps action yet,

I was a semi-finalist in 2008 

with my "Sesame Peep" entry 

#19 on the slide show

Yes, I'm a total Peep Nerd. 

Fondly,

Pink and Green Mama,

MaryLea

Homemade Gift: Lego Book

We attend a lot of children's birthday parties

for various school friends,

neighborhood friends,

and family friends.

All of those kid parties start to 

add up, especially when 

you need a gift to bring for each child.

I prefer homemade gifts 

whenever possible.

I think they're more thoughtful,

heartfelt, appreciated, and creative.

But what do you do when you

are running out of time, ideas,

or you just aren't that crafty?

We came up with the "Lego Book"

as a solution for one of "E"s friends recently.

She noticed that he enjoys 

playing with Legos 

during indoor recess (so do we!)

We love collecting our Lego building ideas

in a three ring binder that I keep in our block center.

We made this little boy, his own book

out of a three ring binder

with a custom cover 

typed on our computer.

We printed out lego construction ideas/instructions

on card stock (to make the pages sturdy)

and slipped them in protective covers.  

We got the directions from the Family Fun

and Lego website and packed his 

book full of ideas!

Simple and fun. 

Homemade Gift: Sock Animals

I'd never made a sock animal before

and I wasn't sure how to proceed,

so I just made it up as I went.

There are probably better directions

out there than mine...

but... I did end up with two finished animals

(a sock bunny and a sock kitty) 

when I was finished!

Stuff a child's sock to form a body.

The heel looked like a good little 

snout/nose/face to me.

I saved all of my sock bits

as I cut them up,

you never know what you're going to need!

I mixed and matched socks to make 

them more "patchwork-y" (new word!)

and interesting : )

I used the skinny long pieces 

(from the toe end) to make 

arms, legs, kitty tails,

and bunny ears. 

Inside out the skinny bits 

to sew skinny little 

tubes with rounded ends

for appendages. 

Then right-side out them, 

and stuff them before you sew

them to the body.

Sock Kitty starting to 

come together....

Pin on those arms and legs

(bunny ears!)

and start sewing.

Sew on some button eyes

and a nose.

Sock Kitty's Tail.

(just like an arm but with 

less stuffing a bit skinnier)

Sock Bunny's 

Pom-pom tail.

(how fun would HE be 

in an Easter Basket?!)

They'll need 

BELLY BUTTONS

of course!

Finished Sock Kitty.

(Do you see the little pink 

felt paw pads

I sewed on her paws?)

Now make sure you give them a 

good squeeze and a cuddle

to fill them with love!

Happy Sewing!

* Backyard Spring Fun

We've been enjoying the beautiful spring weather here.

The girls have been busy "creating" 

with nature in the backyard in their little corner

they call "Nature School"

There has been a lot of lounging with books in the grass....

Exploring flowers as they emerge

from their winter rest...

A fairy ring!

and yard/garden/house projects for mom and dad

like trying to revamp this old rug

with a coat of spray paint on the border

to revive it's sadly sun faded self 

back to a portion of it's former glory

(note to self, don't JUST tape off the edge,

next time lay out newspaper too 

so you don't get a pale ghost of over spray on the rug!)

Easter Basket with Grass

This year, we're growing "natural" Easter baskets

with cat grass instead of our usual shredded paper grass. 

I actually remembered to start them this weekend.

(a small miracle since we're in the middle of some major home renovations right now!)

First we lined our Easter Baskets with aluminum pans. 

Crafty Recycling at it's finest.... (leftover from our favorite dinner rolls!)

This way, we can remove the trays easily after Easter and turn them into Fairy Gardens! : )

Cat Grass seeds mixed with potting soil.

Might as well grow something the kitties can enjoy when we're done...

Mini-Saurus set to work watering our baskets with her spray bottle.

(Yes... I have blue painter's tape on my doors, they still need a second coat of paint)

Our baskets are sitting by the door, waiting for some sun... and misting from little friends.

Tiny the snail gets a misting too!

Happy (Natural) Easter!

Fondly,
Pink and Green Mama
MaryLea

Around Our House...

Pet Store Price List...

Sleeping kitties...

Portraits...

Blank canvases...

Well-loved colors...

Listening to "Tiny the Snail"

crunching his lettuce

in afternoon sunshine

(yes...we still have Tiny the Snail)

Bendaroos snail sculpture

by the Frog Princess

(on a real shell base)

Plaster of Paris hand print

cast of Mini Saurus' little hand.

Kids Art: Fishy Watercolor

The Frog Princess "E"

has a pet Betta fish

named "Aquamarine"

She painted this sweet little

watercolor portrait of him

during our snowy week off of school.

I just love it and think

she did a great job!

She used watercolor with a few

sharpie (permanent maker) details.

Happy Fishy Painting!

* Homemade Fabric Tree Stump Fairy House

I started making this as a birthday gift for one (or both) of the girls

but I couldn't wait to show it to them, so (of course) I gave it to them 

as soon as I finished it...

Yes, their birthdays are in February and March.

Yes, I finished this in December ( a few days after Christmas)

and gave it to them during a blizzard  during winter break this January.

I am an instant gratification crafter  when it comes to making stuff

for my own kids... I can never save it as a surprise. 

Tink was ecstatic to have a new place to call home.

Heads up for those of you getting ready to ask for a tutorial...

I free-form stitched the whole thing without a pattern.

I do a lot of my crafting this way, I just make it up as I go

(again, the instant gratification thing)

This is only a problem, when I'm  asked to make more than one of something...

since there isn't a pattern it's a bit tricky to re-create. 

I can try but it won't be the same. 

I sandwiched plastic craft mesh between two pieces of fabric to create rigid base/platform

(and only broke ONE sewing machine needle in the process).

I used organic cotton quilters batting  between two shades of brown cotton fabric

for the stump and free-hand machine-stitched the "bark" patterns. 

The roots are stuffed and stitched to the base. 

Our Mama Kopp slugs and snails LOVE to visit here for tiny  acorn cap tea parties!

(check out her Etsy Shop here)

For another WONDERFUL Fairy Tree Stump you can make 

at home, with an oven, salt, flour, water and aluminum foil...

go here and check out Filth Wizardry's beautiful DIY Pixie Hollow!