ToddleBits

Oh, Sure. I Had an Orgasm Too When I Was Giving Birth.

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Fri, 16 May 2008 02:51:00 +0000

Well it wasn't really an orgasm, per se...but you probably couldn't tell it by listening to me. There were a lot of, "Oh, God"s and "Ahh ahh"s.

I gave birth naturally and was seduced by the notion of an orgasmic birth, which I read about in our childbirth bible, Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way.

Such bliss. Ending ones pregnancy in the same way it began. If only 'twer twu.

While I was not so lucky as to experience this Heavenly gift, there are plenty of women who have brought their babies into this world while cheering "O". (I know, sounds a lot like cheerio, but there are only so many ways to say "orgasm" so bear with me).

A new documentary, Orgasmic Birth, is set to premier on May 16 in Prague China. For a little preview, visit the film's webpage or check out ABC's 20/20. According to Midwifery Today, 20/20 will air its piece on May 16 as well, but I haven't seen confirmation of that on ABC's site. Just keep a look out.

And, if you have any tales of wild, passionate, birthing, by all means, share them here! On second thought, maybe just a nice comment saying that you too are intrigued by this notion and will happily visit the filmmaker's website would suffice.

My Toddler, The Poet

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:01:00 +0000

"Oh me, oh my. Not a thing goes by."

With the wisdom of an eighty year old woman in her voice, Little Bit has been repeating this line since yesterday at dinner.

We have no idea where it came from.

We have no idea what it means.

Now, don't get me wrong. I believe my little girl to be as precocious and brilliant as can be, but could she really have made up this little rhyme?

"Oh me, oh my. Not a thing goes by."

She says it with such conviction.

It's quite funny to hear. She may as well be sitting in a rocker, sporting glasses and a hearing aid, talking about the good old days.

"Oh me, oh my. Not a thing goes by."

And I can't decide whether or not it makes no sense at all, or makes absolute perfect sense. Apparently there's a fine line between nonsense and genius.

For now, I'll stick with the latter...but I reserve the right to change my mind tomorrow when she's pouring her milk onto her PB&J.

Wordless Wednesday: Frustration

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:33:00 +0000

Tuesday's Toddler Tornado: 5 Ways to Reuse Baby Clothes

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:45:00 +0000

After Little Bit was born, we saved every stitch of clothing she outgrew, knowing we would be trying for another baby relatively soon (and hoping for another girl). Now that Bitty Baby is growing out of them, we've got piles upon piles of baby clothes that are taking up space in their room. Much of it will be consigned or donated, but some pieces are either too worn or too sentimental to give away.

Here are 5 ways get some more life out of those baby clothes:

1. Give to a teddy bear to wear.

Some garments are just too dear to us to part with. From both girls I have set aside a few outfits to hold on to as keepsakes. One is the going home outfit that Little Bit wore home from the hospital, and the others are just outfits that I loved seeing them in.

By dressing a medium-sized teddy in their clothes, I can hold on to the clothes, have them out where I can see them regularly, and make a bear look adorable!

2. Refashion into a quilt.

You can create a keepsake to last forever by cutting squares out of them and assembling a quilt. Even if you don't have mad sewing skills, there are companies like this one that will use the clothes you send them and make a blanket for you.

3. Embellish over stains and give away.

I always hated throwing away onesies with small stains, but what else is one to do with them? This Recycled Life shows just how to hide little blemishes, and make those onesies even cuter, by sewing sweet appliqués over the stains. Then, you can donate them, pass along to a expectant mother, or save for your own future bundles!

4. Use as scraps for crafting.

Even worn-out and stained clothing can have some good spots left on them. Cut off the bad parts and save the rest for future arts and crafts projects. Fabric collages are always fun. You could also use the fabrics as scrapbooking embellishments, or use pieces of them to make appliqués to cover up other stained clothing (see #3). Really the possibilities are endless.

5. Repurpose as Gift wrap.

The colors and themes found on baby clothing are ideal for wrapping a gift for another baby. Fabric is often a better choice than paper when wrapping awkwardly shaped items such as pacifiers, bottles, and some toys. You can find many ways of folding fabric to cover your gifts here.

These are just a few ways to squeeze a little more life out of those adorable baby clothes that you just can't find anything else to do with. Because really, who wants to throw away a sweet little yellow ducky romper just because it has a little spot on it?

Do you have any tips for parents of babies and toddlers, or even preschoolers? Parenting lessons you'd like to pass on? Snack ideas your just itching to share? Or a product you think every Mommy and Daddy of little ones should know about? Post your link here every Tuesday and check to see what others are doing!

Newspaper Streamers

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:10:00 +0000

Hooray for newspapers!

What a great theme for this week's Unplugged Project. So many possibilities...we made streamers!

We used strips of newspaper, a round plastic lid with the center cut out, a popsicle stick, and yarn and tape to hold it all together.

This picture shows pretty well how it all came together:

I think this was Little Bit's first experience with streamers and it was an instant hit! She loved swishing her new toy all around her body...

or just carrying it around with her.

And, not wanting to leave Bitty Baby out of the newspaper fun, we folded a newspaper hat!

We had actually planned on doing a couple other newspaper projects, but Little Bit fell sick at the end of the week and we just didn't get to them. But never fear, I'm sure we'll do them soon!

Go check out what other folks did with newspaper at Unplug Your Kids!

Family Portrait

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Sun, 11 May 2008 02:19:00 +0000

I've always preferred candid photos over posed. I love the reality that is depicted and the stories they tell. This picture in particular has always resonated with me.

We've stopped for a photo in front of the Washington Monument and nobody can look up because the sun is so bright. My mom is holding us closely and smiling as though all is perfect. A real smile. You can tell just by looking at her eyes.

That's the thing about my mom, she was always happiest just being a mom. She also happened to be a single mom serving in the military. We moved around, saw husbands come and go, but my mother's love swaddled and protected us from the harsh realities of her world.

We were such a happy little family that my brother and I never really knew things were supposed to be different.

Somehow my mom managed to carry out all of her roles in such a way that we never felt deprived of anything.

That's what I see when I look at this old picture. No, life was never perfect, but we were blinded by our happiness to that fact. We had each other, and we had a mother who was strong, confident, nurturing, and completely selfless.

About 10 years ago I framed this photo and gave it to my mom for Mother's Day. She thanked me and was happy to have received it, but she was puzzled as to why I chose this particular picture. Our albums were filled with better pictures of the three of us...professional portraits with us all actually looking at the camera. My explanation at the time was something along the lines of, "I don't know, I just always liked this one."

Well, Mom, only a decade later and you finally have a more complete explanation as to why this image of our family is so meaningful to me. Consider it the second half of the gift. :)

Our Mother's Day Gifts for the Grandmas

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:59:00 +0000

I didn't think it would be this long between my Mother's Day Crafts post and now, and I'm sure you've all been just teetering there on the edge of your seats waiting for me to present the silhouette card idea that I left as a teaser at the end of the post.

Oh...you didn't get that far? Just a skimmer, huh? Well, here it is anyway.

On the inside I included this poem (that I wrote so please be kind):

This is your day,

It's all about you,

Flowers and cards and how do you dos.

This one time of year,

We remember to say,

Thank you, dear Grandma, for your loving way.

We also made some hand flowers and taped the hands onto a pipe cleaner stem. One hand from each kid. Tis very cute. In fact, I think I'm going to make an extra one to keep for myself. :)

The silhouettes were VERY easy to do. The hardest part was getting a good profile shot of a kid who won't stay in one place for more than a second. Once you have the shot, there are just a few steps in Photoshop to go through.

I found directions here. Basically, you delete the background using the magic wand tool, desaturate, decrease brightness, and increase contrast. Very easy. Just make sure you have a good clean background...saves a lot of time with the magic wand.

I'm loving how mine turned out, but I think that someone who really knows what they're doing could turn this idea into something truly impressive. If you do try this, let me know. I'd love to see what others can do with the silhouettes!

P.S. A BIG heartfelt thank you to those who offered your kind words and prayers. The Lord heard you and every time I thought I had tapped out all my baby-watching resources, He would send someone else over to help keep an eye on my little ones so that I could go spend some more time with my husband in the hospital. Between the memorial services for Grandpa tomorrow and Daddy-O coming home, things should definitely start getting back to normal by the weekend. Thanks again for your thoughtful words.

Is it Over Yet?

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Wed, 07 May 2008 11:43:00 +0000

Grandpa's funeral is Friday.

Daddy-O will probably be released from the hospital by then. Appendectomy.

Finally got some sleep last night, but didn't get to read any of the wonderful blogs I enjoy visiting everyday.

Will somebody please come over and watch my babies?

I'll be back soon.

Tuesday's Toddler Tornado #1: Mother's Day Toddler Crafts

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:39:00 +0000

This is the first of what will be a regular Tuesday post. We're gonna dish out a potpourri of toddler goodness, including craft ideas, child-rearing tips, product recommendations, and anything else that parents with toddlers would find useful. Please feel free to join me on Tuesdays and share your tot knowledge with others. I'll have a Mr. Linky up (yes, there's going to be another Linky widget hanging around the blogoshphere!). Since Mother's Day is coming up, I decided to do a theme this week. And, since I have nothing of my own to share, I'm going to give some link luv to those more clever than I!

The gifts that are made with love are always the ones we remember. In fact, that's what Mommies and Grammas often ask for when Mother's Day comes around. Rather than just have Little Bit scribble on some paper (which I've done in the past), I've been trying to find some crafts that she can do that are more "gift-worthy." Here are just a few of the ideas I've come across in my search:

Cards

Use the dainty petals of flowers as stamps to make a truly lovely card for your child's sweet old granny, a la here!
Don't just write a card, make a keepsake! I found this precious hand-print card via the Crafty Crow.

Flowers

Mother's Day + Flowers = 1 happy Mum.

Check this out to see two great ideas of how to turn the "flowers" idea into a gift that will be treasured forever using hand prints and photos.
If those weren't quite what you were looking for, you'll definitely find something here. There are several ways of making flowers listed using materials like cupcake holders, pipe cleaners, and tissue paper.

Miscellany

Go here to learn how to make a stained-glass looking frame from tissue paper.
You can find several hand-made gift ideas here, including a very clever dish towel gift. The one shown has writing, but it could be modified for toddlers by simply having them draw designs (aka scribble).

In addition to having Little Bit make something for the grandmas, I'm planning on making a silhouette card using digital photos and cardstock...more on that coming soon!

Have you posted recently about your ideas for getting your little one involved in the upcoming Mother's Day? Feel free to post your link (but don't forget to also leave a comment, just in case I lose my Mr. Linky widget again)!

Green Seek-N-Find

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Mon, 05 May 2008 03:11:00 +0000

Green was the theme this week for Unplug Your Kid's weekly project. We painted a green apple tree earlier in the week, and today, we sent Little Bit on a green treasure hunt!

We gathered as many green toys as we could find and Daddy-O planted them throughout the yard.

Then we sent her on her way, armed with a handy-dandy green basket!

After much encouragement and several explanations as to what we were searching for, she began to look for the green .

Then she started to get the hang of it...

Here she is showing off her collection:

Once she had collected all of the toys, we talked about where else we could find green in our yard; the leaves on the trees, a blade of grass, the foliage growing in our flower bed.

She also found some yellow.

Check out what others did with this week's theme here!

Apple-Stamped Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:46:00 +0000

I've seen the potato stamping done before and always thought it was such a cool idea. A couple days ago I was flipping through this book and came across an apple stamping project. It met our criteria for an excellent toddler craft (easy and quick!) and I just couldn't wait to try it.

So, since this week's Unplugged Project theme is green, I decided to stick with green paint and make an apple tree!

Just a few supplies were needed:

I cut out a tree trunk from some brown construction paper and let Little Bit do the gluing.

Then we dipped the apple halves into a plate of green paint and started stamping!

The only problem we encountered was that the apple was a wee bit too big for my toddler's tiny hands. Rather than stamping, her technique was more like: cradle the apple in both hands, dump it over onto the paper, then mash it down. But whatever...it still came out great!

Here's to quick, easy, and fun toddler art!

A Place All Her Own

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Thu, 01 May 2008 02:03:00 +0000

In an attempt to provide Little Bit with more independence, we decided to give up some precious real estate in our kitchen (actually, it was only being used to hold the gazillion phone books that we've somehow accumulated over the past six months). She now has her own cabinet filled with her own stuff.

I didn't have any shelf-liner handy, so I cut up some empty cereal boxes that were just waiting to be made useful, and put some poster putty on the bottom to keep them from sliding around. Then, I cut about an inch off the bottom of an oatmeal box and used it to hold her forks and spoons.

Now, she can get her own dishes out at dinner time and put them away when they're finished being washed. She loves being helpful like that :).

My next goals are to teach her to fold laundry and dust. Don't you just love the "Mommy's little helper" stage?

Bird Watching with Binoculars

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:23:00 +0000

I had a flood of ideas going through my mind when I read that this week's Unplugged Project theme would be birds. There are so many possibilities when you consider projects involving eggs, feathers, seeds, or birds themselves.

I concluded that I could get rid of some of the garbage I've been collecting by making binoculars out of toilet paper rolls. From there, I thought it might be neat to gather a collection of photos of some of the birds who frequent our backyard and chart how often we see them.

Little Bit has gotten better about differentiating between ducks and geese and some of the other birds we see regularly, so this seemed like a great way to get her to start really looking for differences between the various bird species.

Daddy-O obligingly went around and snapped some photos of birds that were hanging around. Within about 45 minutes he had photographed geese, Mallard and Muscovy ducks, coots, several finches, a crow, and a woodpecker.

Once they were printed, we glued them onto our chart.

As for the binoculars, Little Bit got to pick out some wrapping paper around which to wrap the TP rolls. Not surprisingly, she chose the pink with polka dots paper.

We affixed the paper to the TP rolls, then roughly followed these instructions to make the binoculars. Once they were complete, I took Little Bit outside to show her how to use her new toy.

She caught on quickly!

Each day Little Bit will put stickers beside the pictures of birds that we see while we're outside. I will continue to add photos of birds as we come across them.

Thanks, Mom Unplugged for this week's bird theme! Come on over to Unplug Your Kids to see what ideas others came up with!

Flattery? Or Blatant Disrespect for Copyright?

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:12:00 +0000

So, what do you do when you find out somebody out there in Bloggy Land decided to copy an ENTIRE post off your blog; links, pictures, and all?

No credit.

No links back.

Absolutely no mention of your original post.

I have no idea either. The blog-keeper doesn't provide an Email address, so I left a comment requesting that they credit the "auther." Apparently I was in such a rage that my nostrils were flaring and I couldn't see what I was typing. So now I have this idiotic comment hanging around some plagiarizing blogger's site saying, "Hey, look at me. I'm the moron who wrote this to begin with and I want you to know it."

Yes, it is nice to know that someone had an interest in what I wrote. But I need props. I need recognition. I need a link back to my original post and ToddleBits displayed prominently either before or after the text.

So, Mr. or Mrs. Plagiarizing Blogger, if you're reading this, you should know that if you don't credit my work I will probably....do nothing- because I avoid confrontations like I avoid eating shrimp and chocolate during the same meal. But you can be sure that I think what you did is very, very wrong.

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

The Crafty Crow

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:17:00 +0000

Need some interesting new craft ideas for your kids? Go check out The Crafty Crow! This is one of my new faves. I found it while clicking around on Craftzine.com and I've been hooked ever since.

And...toot-too-la-looo...sound the bugles! Right now the Edible Finger Paints project that we did recently is being highlighted there! Go check it out and see what other fabulous ideas you come away with. I guarantee you'll be back again!

WW: The Shirt Says It All

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:02:00 +0000

Earth Day Round-Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:45:00 +0000

Since the '70s, Earth Day's environmental significance has continued to grow. While it's true that "everyday should be Earth Day" sometimes we need a little reminder to stop for a moment and take a mental inventory of what we're doing to help .

Over the past few weeks, we have tried to engage in activities that would instill in Little Bit an appreciation for the natural beauty and wonder that surround us.

We:

gave some of our birdies a yummy snack.
enjoyed a laid-back nature walk.
learned how to plant seedlings here and here.

We also read this very sweet Little Golden Book:

Aside from it being a little wordy at times, this book perfectly explains to little ones that everything we see around us is a gift from God.

Simple activities like such as these can have lasting impacts on our children.

Did you do anything with your family to commemorate this day? If so, please feel free to post your link to share with others!

Scissor Flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:25:00 +0000

Our theme for this week's Unplugged Project was scissors. Scissors? What in the world can I do with a child just shy of 2 years old with scissors? She can't use them to cut with...I tried and she is nowhere near ready. So, I decided we would try to turn the scissors into flowers and make a garden!

I figured we could just use a pair of old-school safety scissors, separate them, and use each side as our flower structure. It sounded easy enough, but getting the scissors apart proved more difficult than expected.

Daddy-O had to break out the power tools.

Once the scissors were separated, I used pipe cleaners to shape flower petals around the handles. I then got an old shoe box and put florists foam on the inside.

I poked some holes for seeds.

Little Bit was responsible for sewing the seeds and watering.

She looks like she's trying so hard to water her little seedlings well without spilling anything!

And voila! Instant blooms!

Here is our finished flower box. We added some moss to help hide the unsightly florists foam, and overall I think it turned out rather nicely!

While this isn't a project I would do again, due to the difficulty of breaking the scissors, I was glad to be able to reiterate the steps in planting seeds with Little Bit.

To see what others did with scissors this week, click here!

A Seed Has Been Planted

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 03:39:00 +0000

Yesterday we planted a few seeds...

We got some annuals and followed these directions on using eggshells and toilet paper rolls for planters.

Little Bit did a fantastic job at pouring the potting soil into our tiny planters.

In fact, she didn't want to stop handling the dirt; so soft and fluffy!

I helped her use her new snail-shaped watering can.

And now we wait!

Seeds. Soil. Water. This was all it took to hold my little girl's attention longer than any of our projects thus far. What is it about gardening that is so attractive to youngsters? Is it the getting dirty part? Or is it that on some level we are all drawn to the natural world?

The flowers we planted will sprout, bloom, and die, but my daughter will learn lessons to last a lifetime: responsibility, patience, and an appreciation for God's creations.

Yesterday we planted a few seeds...

Mountain of Pillows

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:24:00 +0000

Here's a little boredom buster that we do around here sometimes.

Collect as many pillows from around the house as you can.

Put them in a big 'ol pile in the middle of the room.

Then let the kids go at it!

It'll wear your little one out and buy you a few minutes until you can think of something else to do!

Have fun!

Finding Nature

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 03:28:00 +0000

As Earth Day approaches, we've been trying to do more activities that focus on appreciating nature. We recently made a special treat for our backyard birds, and today we went on a nature walk!

The weather was perfect: clear skies and light sweaters!

As we began our walk, we came across a fence blanketed with lusciously sweet Jasmine. Delicious!

We walked some more and soon discovered a school of happy tadpoles wriggling around in what was little more than a puddle of water. Little Bit wanted to hold one, so my cuz fished one out to show it to her. I was thrilled to come across the tadpoles. I can't remember when the last time was that I saw one...perhaps not since I was a kid myself and actually took the time to look for such tiny beings.

We tried to let Little Bit set the pace as she stopped here and there to examine a weed or admire a flower.

So often she sits relegated in her stroller and I push her along steadily forward. Today we paused, listened to, smelled, and discovered the world. Our world. Our beautiful Earth.

Wordless Wednesday: A Little Crack

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:07:00 +0000

***I know it's a little blurry, but I couldn't resist!***

Themed Activities

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:27:00 +0000

I had always envisioned that once Little Bit got old enough, we would do fun projects together all the time. I got books and looked online for ideas, but we never really did anything...until...I started participating in Mom Unplugged's weekly themed projects.

For some reason, having a theme and a deadline every week has made all the difference in coming up with ideas and actually following through with them.

We planted a rock garden for the rocks theme,

made a memory book for the books theme,

and painted with pudding for the food theme.

It has been a blast! This week the theme is scissors. Since Little Bit is just shy of two-years-old, it will be a fun challenge to come up with something for her!

Even if you don't want to join the Unplugged themes, it would be really easy to do your own weekly themes. Just take some concepts, either as specific or as general as you wish, put them in a box and pull one out every week. Once you have the theme, you've got some direction on what to focus on in your search and the fun can ensue!

This is what's been working for me lately, and I have to give a shout-out to Seeking Imperfection for sharing it with me! To see what works for others this week visit WFMW at Rocks In My Dryer!

Lemme know: How do you come up with ideas for activities to do with your kids?

Seven Random Things

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 02:31:00 +0000

I've received my first tag from Jenny at Bits and Pieces to share seven random nuggets of information about myself. I'm a newbie at this, so bear with me!

Here are the rules:

Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
Share seven facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here is some very useless information about myself:

1. I am a disaster when it comes to keeping things neat/tidy/organized. I've lived in this house since October and have yet to dust- anything. I've mopped 3 times. I come to terms with this when I think of the reputation that really smart people have of being messy; like a scatterbrained professor. That's what I am. I'm a scatterbrained stay-at-home-mom. I've got too much going on inside this smart brain of mine to keep up with tedious things like sweeping. This makes me feel better about my unkempt home.

2. I'm in the process of coining a new term: "Laptop Coupling." It's what Daddy-O and I do (or did when I actually had reasonable battery life on my laptop) once we've gotten the kids in bed and we're ready to spend quality time together. We sit next to each other on the couch with our respective laptops and tell each other about what we're doing. We share funny You Tube videos. Sometimes we will look at each other's screens and sometimes we will just IM the links. One time we played Scrabble online like this. But we were in bed, not on the couch. I'm telling you about this new term so that you can start using it, and if you hear someone else use in in a few months, you will know it came from here.

3. Since I'm talking about words, I will tell you that my least favorite words are "interim," "plethora," and "random." These are words that have been overused by either the general public or people very close to me, and I would be extremely happy if I never heard any of these words again. I will put aside my disdain for "random" for this post ONLY!

4. My dog is whining to go outside but I am putting it off because this is my free time and I don't like it to be interrupted.

5. I used to be a very big animal person...before I started making babies. I've had dogs, a horse, cats, rabbits, a snake (very briefly), birds, guinea pigs , and a little green tree frog. Actually, the frog lived in my shower and I would talk to him while washing, so I consider him a pet.

6. I just shared with Daddy-O that I am on number 6. I said, "Woo Hoo! I'm getting there!" He thought I said, "Woo Hoo! I'm beating you!" It was funny for both of us (because we aren't racing) and a nice moment of sharing. This is all part of Laptop Coupling, even though I'm not sitting right next to him.

7. I'm collecting garbage because I have this idea that I'm going green and that I'm a crafty person. Neither of which is really true. So I have a growing collection of garbage that I will one day use for crafts. But probably not. It will probably still end up in a landfill somewhere because I am neither green nor crafty.

Now, here are seven happenin' folks who can either play along or not. But these are fun, so you should totally do it!

If you want to play, just jump right in! Leave a comment and I'll come over to your place!

Edited (4/17/08): And one more for good measure...Jennifer!

Fun with Food

noreply@blogger.com (Chrissy) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 03:19:00 +0000

We had a blast doing this week's Unplugged Project. I was so excited about the theme, food! There were a ton of projects that I wanted to do with Little Bit, but ultimately I decided on painting with edible finger paints and making an ice cream cone bird feeder. I know, I've done painting in the past (here also), but it's fun, so why not?!

Pudding Paint

I saw the edible finger paint idea here and I thought it was the perfect trifecta: easy, messy, yummy!

What you'll need:

Vanilla pudding
Food coloring
Paper plates
Bowls for mixing colors

First I mixed the vanilla pudding with food coloring.

Then I stripped Little Bit down and let her start painting. She painted some...

and ate some...

and painted some more...

and ate some more...

and by the end she was strangely reminiscent of McCauley Culkin in that one movie:

But, she had fun

and created a masterpiece!

Ice Cream Cone Bird Feeder

This was actually one of our Earth Day projects, but it fit in perfectly with the food theme so I'm posting it here.

For this project you will need:

Ice cream cones
Peanut butter
Cheerios
Bird seed
String (we used zip ties)

First I spread the peanut butter onto the cone.

Then I put the cone onto the plate of Cheerios and bird seed. I love Little Bit's expression here! It looks like she's pleading with her Daddy to please get her out of another one of Mommy's wacky projects.

But, she was a good sport and helped get the bird food onto the cone!

With a little bit of my help, we ended up with this:

I can't wait for the birds to catch wind of the sweet treats hanging from our trees!

We have so much fun doing these projects. To see what others did with this week's food theme, visit the Unplug Your Kids blog.