I was tracing and cutting, and tracing and cutting, and I think I traced and cut too much. I thought I’d take it easy with this summertime KCW–a shirt or two, maybe a quick pair of shorts. Well, that turned into a shirt and pair of shorts for all 3 kids, make that two of each for everyone. And then, ooo that dress is cute, maybe I’ll make that too. Oh and I have those other projects I should probably finish. Which is why his large pile is staring at me.

In reality, this week I’d like to finish these four tee shirts for sure and….

and these four pairs of shorts. We’ll see…

Go check out my post on the kcw blog to see who got featured on day one. And keep up with all the kcw sewers on the new kcw community website!  Happy KCW!

Kiwi Crate contacted me a few weeks ago and asked me if I’d like to review one of their crates. How could I say no? Kiwi Crate is a company that delivers a box full of crafts to your door! Could there anything better than that? My kids were so excited when the little green box arrived, I couldn’t even get a photo before they started tearing into it!

Each box contains the makings for two projects and some extra treats as well. We received the Nature Explorer crate, which is part of their Summer Discovery Series.  The crate had the makings for a nature box and a lantern. In addition to all the supplies for those two crafts, there was also a deck of cards, little kiwi birds to cut out and color, and a lovely little book about constellations.

I have three kids and there is only one of each project. You might be thinking we just got a big fight delivered in the mail, but not to worry Kiwi Crate has thought of everything! They have an option to tack on extra supplies for each sibling, which not only makes for less fighting but more fun in the end.

I decided to see how my kids would do with just one. And they did great! Even though projects are simple, there are lots of different parts. So everyone gets a turn doing bit of the project. My kids picked the nature box to work on first. They put the box together, colored the stickers, and decorated the outside of the box.

Then they added one of the many different scavenger hunt boards to go in the bottom of the box. The one above is a for color scavenger hunt, but there is one for shapes and one for actual things (leaf, twig, etc) too. Best of all, there is a blank one to make up your own scavenger hunt.  Every project in the Kiwi Crate has an activity that goes along with it. Not only do you get to spend a lovely morning with your kids making things, but then they can go off and play a game for the rest of the afternoon! I wasn’t kidding when I said they thought of everything!

After a few backyard scavenger hunts, the lantern making project was up next. This kit came with a super fun (and very sturdy) star punch and my three year old went crazy for it! Many loud karate chops later we had a table full of colorful stars. And not too long after a working lantern!

The activity suggested for the lantern was to build a dark fort and take it inside. My children ran upstairs, intent on making the darkest fort in the world! There they created not only a fort, but a whole world.

Kiwi Crate makes projects that are simple and beautiful, spark the imagination, inspire you to learn and play and make more! Not only that, but they are delivered right to you door. I knew I was going to like getting a project kit in the mail, but I didn’t expect such a thoughtfully designed experience to be waiting for me and my children.

Super simple and super fun project. Cut out a square of a picture from a magazine or newspaper. Next, glue it to a piece of paper. Then finish the drawing. See what strange and hilarious things come out of it! Title of my children’s works appear below the pictures. (please excuse the crummy phone photos.)

Alligator Loves His New Pants

Two people sitting on a couch with their heads on fire and Monster 

Pretty Darn Cute Cat

Two Donuts

Have you done any good projects lately?

This summer I’m trying to get my kids to do a bit of reading and writing everyday. The reading bit is no problem–I have a heathy addiction to the library. But I wasn’t sure what I could do for writing practice.

Turns out my children love worksheets, or in internet speak, printables. I am not a teacher and have no idea what my kids officially need, but I know what they like. They are engaged and putting pencil to paper. I think that is good enough for summertime.

I started a printables board on pinterest to keep track of the good ones I come across. Here are the ones that we keep coming back to:

for my 3 year old: You can customize this printable to say whatever you like. He’s just starting to learn how to write his name, so I plug that in most of the time and he loves it. The day I plug in P O O P to that worksheet is the day I become the funniest mother in the entire world.

for my 6 year old: This is not the most exciting printable, but it is my six year old’s favorite. There is a space on top for drawing or pasting a picture and enough room on the bottom for a super short story.

for my 7 year old: My daughter loves to read, but sometimes she reads so fast I’m not sure the all words have time to reach her brain. So I’ve started giving her book report sheets to fill out. She likes the ones where you get to draw a picture. I like these printable book reports that focus on separate things: one for characters, one for researching the author, there is even one for writing a new ending!

I’ve only just scratched the surface, I’m sure. If you have any suggestions for writing work or cool printables you’ve found–please share! My kids will thank you!

If you are like me, you’ve waited until the last possible moment to say good bye to google reader. Like so many other crafty blogs you can follow my blog with Bloglovin. I hear Feedly is another option that is easy on the eyes and easy to use. But my favorite reader has to be the Old Google Reader. It looks like, you guessed it, the old google reader. They built it for those of us who can’t deal with change, even when change is thrust upon us. Where are you reading your blogs now that google reader is gone?