When my oldest two were younger and had just started school I remember how excited I was whenever they brought home any kind of art work. Full of pride, I would hang it on the fridge or kitchen wall convincing myself that they were going to be famous artists one day.Then I had more children.All … [Read more...]
Halloween Fun?
Yesterday my sister and I decided to get our families together, invite my dad over and have a little Halloween fun. Our focus was to get the kids involved in carving the pumpkins. A little ghoulish fun with a creative slant. So, we had my dad, our husbands, a 13 year-old boy, a 9.5 year-old girl, a … [Read more...]
Hooked
When I was about 12 years old my mum taught me how to knit. Just the basics. Casting on, casting off, knit, purl - the basics. I was able to make little scarves and hats and blankets for my barbies and cabbage patch kids. As I got older I'd get some nicer yarn, better needles and would make … [Read more...]
Holiday Time: Big Kids Edition
So you may have heard about a little holiday coming up soon? This week is all about the Christmas books - though this first one also includes Hannukah, Kwanzaa, and more generic winter and fall activities, for those who don't celebrate the coming of the big guy in red. Later in the week, I'll cover … [Read more...]
Super Easy Sugar Cookies for the Non-Baker
I'm not much of a baker, but every holiday season I whip up some simple sugar cookies that can be cut into holiday shapes and decorated with the kids. I've sampled a number of recipes but this one from Canadian Living is by far the best and the easiest, with no weird or hard-to-find … [Read more...]
Christmas Craft Traditions
When I pulled out our Christmas decorations last week and proudly displayed the school artwork and crafts that have come home over the past 12 years, my sister (a teacher) mused, "I wonder whether the kindergarten teacher who helped out with that little cut and paste Christmas tree expected it to be … [Read more...]
Channelling Martha
My son came home last week with assignment called "Structure". It required him to make something, from scratch, using raw materials. The teacher also wanted to see the design, the plan and the resources. As you can imagine, I was nervous.I'm not crafty and I'm not very good at building … [Read more...]
Feeling Fall-ish
I love fall. I love the weather, the staggering natural beauty, and the seasonal fruits and vegetables that making fall cooking so much fun.Last weekend, I took my girls out for a nature walk. We wandered through our neighbourhood, and picked an assortment of brilliantly coloured leaves. The … [Read more...]
Craftastic
I suck at crafts. Like so many other things, I wish I were better at them. I consider myself a creative person: I love drawing and graphic design and photography and writing. But give me a kid, some glitter glue and a pile of popsicle stick and I come up blank. I think a big part of my … [Read more...]
Mother’s Day Gifts
Barbara Reid is one of my favourite Canadian artists and authors. Even if you don't know her name, you're sure to know work which looks like this: I was fortunate to meet her and, even better, my kids got to do a workshop … [Read more...]