Child’s name- matching game! And giveaway!

I got this idea from my husband- who read it in one of his  literacy books for his masters program. I spiced it up a little bit, of course.

The idea is for the child to match capital letters with lower case letters. So, using the child’s name, I made a card with each letter, twice. One capital letter, and one lower case.

I attempted to do this many ways- including drawing out block letters on cute paper. But, in the end I decided this was easiest. (Then, I realized that if I had a Cricut, it would be ten times easier!)

So, I chose the size for my cards and drew them out on heavy cardstock, using an example card that I measured out.

 

Then, I chose colorful, fun paper for the borders on my cards, and cut those out using the same example card. (I did this over a period of many days, whenever my boys would give me a chance to work on it…And, yes, I am working on the carpet!)

 

I cut out a square from each of the border pieces… I wasn’t very particular about not cutting through the border, because I knew I was going to laminate them later, and you can’t see those cuts anyway. (It saved me a lot of hassle of folding and cutting out a perfect border.) (When I make yours, I’ll make sure it’s flawless!)

Then, I cut out each letter, as close as I could. (Like I said, a Cricut, or even stickers or something, would have made this much easier!)

The, I taped them onto the cardstock! (yep, tape, it’s easier than glue and, I planned on laminating, so I knew it wouldn’t matter.)

Since my son is only 2 1/2, I made it as simple as possible- I chose the same borders for capital and lower case, and I did letters with multiples, in the same border as well. (ex. C and c, and also H and h, twice because Christopher has 2 H’s.) I also used two different colors of cardstock, just to make it a little bit easier. (Some letters are cream, some are a tannish color.)

And- the finished product!

Christopher likes that I spent all this time making a game just for him! He plays it with them facing up and he definitely needs a lot of help still!

You can play that way, or with the cards facing down like Memory, for older children. This would be great for children ages 4-6, especially. This is a skill they work on in kindergarten and first grade.

Nope, not a match.

Yeah! A match!

Do you think your child would like this? Maybe you should make them one! Or, better yet, sign up for my giveaway, and I’ll make them one!

They can be for girls, or boys, or if their names are short, I’ll do both! I have lot’s of cute paper to choose from, and if you win, you can even choose your own colors!

Here’s how to sign up!- You only need to leave me one comment stating that you did all of this!

1. Check out my children’s book blog, and become a follower! (If you’re reading about this on my children’s book blog- you’ve already accomplished task #1!)

http://iwritechildrensbooks.blogspot.com

2. Post my children’s book button on your blog, or, if you already have one, leave me a comment telling me.

3. Refer one friend to check out this giveaway! (They don’t have to drop your name or anything, I’ll trust that you did it!)

4. Then, leave me a comment letting me know that you did all that! (Don’t forget your email address, so I can get in touch with you!) You can even leave the name of the child you want the game made for!

This might seem like a lot, but it should be pretty easy. And believe me, your son or daughter will thank you when they have a new matching game, and learn how to write their own name! Plus, you never know, you might find something kind of interesting on my children’s book blog! :)

While you’re at it, feel free to take a button for this blog too! And hey, if you don’t care to enter the giveaway, please leave me a comment anyway, with a link to your website, so I can come check out your blog! I love sharing blogs!

Oh yeah, one last brag!

This is what I found when I was busy cutting some of the letters! I’ve let Christopher use scissors, often, always supervised. Recently I noticed he could cut with one hand. Then, suddenly, he can cut on straight lines! I’m so proud!~!

Finger Painting!

We stopped by the dollar store this morning to get some safety pins for the Roadshow that I’m helping with tonight. We saw some finger paints! I couldn’t resist- because this is what happened when we tried to make our own finger paint!

I mixed flour with water and food coloring- and added karo syrup. It really wasn’t too bad, but just didn’t work quite like I wish it would have. Definitely good for an easy, do-it-yourself type of finger paint. But, I’m glad I found some at the dollar store today too!

 

I’ll tell you- one of the best things about having kids, is playing with them. I love finger painting! (I think Christopher enjoyed it a little bit too!)

Funny marshmallow teeth and sand!

I found this idea here! We couldn’t resist, and even added a little more with the whole pretzel hair-do idea. The pink is basic butter cream frosting made for a thick consistency. I explained to Christopher that when he gets a little older he’ll lose teeth, that’s why my face has a missing marshmallow!

 

He made one too! It was fun! (But, by the time I got out of the shower, after this, his was down to a paper plate licked clean!)

We also had some fun with colored sand. My mom went through some of her craft stuff and let me take whatever… the sand was not my choice- she added it to the stuff. But, it was fun, and not too messy either! Christopher enjoys squeezing the glue into the shapes he wants, then dropping the sand all over it!

Fabric flower

I’ve seen lot’s of fabric flower tutorials. I have been wanting to try one, but I wanted it for myself. So many of them are aimed toward baby girls. That’s great- except I only have baby boys. :(

So, I decided to try this one!

First, I cut out my circles. (I didn’t have satin, or sating ribbon like one of the comments suggested, so I used the closest material to satin I could find in my stash.)

Then, I started burning. It wasn’t as easy as I thought it might be, but it did work. (Also, I didn’t have a lighter, only matches! heehee)

It took a few times of recutting and reburning to get the sizes/shapes I wanted. But in the end I was pleased with it. (I didn’t use all of my original circles.)

Then, I added a super cute and sparkly button. By simply sewing through the pieces of fabric and through the button.

My final finishing touch was a bobby pin, slipped through the thread in the back.

Now, I can wear it in my hair.

Or on my necklace. (No, I don’t think I like this one.)

Or on my shirt. (I just made it stay, I would use a safety pin, if I liked the way this looked.)

Probably in my hair!

I’m happy with the way it turned out. (It doesn’t really match my pink shirt though, so I’ll have to go change… maybe plain black?)

Monkey Bread

This one was my husband's idea!

Have you ever had that Monkey bread stuff from the freezer section in your grocery store? I haven't, but it does look really good. And I guess it tastes kind of like what he made- only his was much cheaper!

1 can Pillsbury country style biscuits (They were on sale for 4 for $1 I think.)

Some melted margarine

cinnamon and sugar

Dip the biscuits in the margarine, then in the cinnamon and sugar. Place in pie plate as seen above and bake for 10 minutes in the oven. (350 degrees I think...)

We've also done these before with the biscuits cut into 4ths. I like them because they get a little crunchy on the outside, with the sugar, but still stay a little gooey inside. Yummy!

I sure do LOVE my husband!

Family Proclamation frame

This was a Christmas present for my in-laws. I had a lot of fun making it and really loved the way it turned out. Here’s what I did:

Step  1: Buy glass-less frame and Proclamation to the World for $1.50 from Deseret Industries.

Step 2: Find pictures of each family member (their kids and grandkids, and them too.) I ordered prints from Wal-Mart.com. I had a recent picture of almost everyone. But facebook and blogs helped too.

Step 3: Measure the mat inside the frame and create a pattern piece of paper to place on each picture and trace before I cut each picture. A couple of them I cut too soon and had to very carefully re-glue them.

Step 4: Cut and arrange pictures, making sure not to forget anybody! (Yeah, I almost forgot Uncle Jeff, and Christopher- my own son!) Glue the pictures on the mat.

Step 5: I had a piece of glass from another frame that I had used for another project (magnet board). I placed the glass in, replaced the back of the frame and wrapped the present!

I am definitely learning to LOVE photo projects!

Cupcake fun

We had a Ward party on Saturday. Whenever we are invited to something that we have to bring a dish, I get excited. It means I can make something that maybe Brant doesn’t like- and I won’t have to be the only one to eat it. It means I can try something new, and if it’s gross, oh well.

So, instead of taking a nap on Saturday (which I really did need,) I made cupcakes. And decorated them. (I used my electric mixer in the garage so I wouldn’t wake up my sleeping boys… silly huh?)

Start with plain chocolate cake mix- made into cupcakes.

Add a little bit of homemade frosting- recipe at the end if you want it.

And some food coloring. (Do you like my organization of the colors? I think I’m so clever!)

I used my Pampered Chef frosting tool that I got for my wedding. It’s fun. I don’t really know how to do it right and I suppose I should LEARN, but for now, I like to play around with it.

The cupcakes with the tooth picks sticking out had little paper flowers with chocolate chips on them, but I did that after I took pictures. And the green “grass” is coconut that I put in a ziploc with some green food coloring.

I’m not going to lie, I don’t LOVE cupcakes. In fact, I don’t even really like them. But- they were a big hit at the ward party. They were gone pretty quick and I think a lot of little kids enjoyed them!

I do LOVE ward parties though. It’s so fun to go and talk with people and eat a good dinner. I always overeat and regret it later. This time, I had just the right amount!

Frosting recipe I used: (maybe not my favorite, but it does decorate fairly well.)

Thick Vanilla Frosting

1 cup shortening
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar (sifted)
4 tablespoons milk

Beat together shortening and vanilla for 30 seconds medium speed with an electric mixer. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar a bit at a time while beating. Then add 2 tablespoons milk. Slowly add in the rest of the powdered sugar and the rest of the milk until you get the right thickness for your frosting.