Flower Applique Shirt

Another applique shirt for another birthday present!  This time, a simple flower with a cute button center. 

Rainbow Hearts Applique T-Shirt

I found this fun, simple idea for applique here.  It was easy enough to find fabric in the six rainbow colors in my stash.  The best thing about this shirt?  She can wear it with just about anything! 

American Flag Applique T-Shirts

Our 4th of July shirts were inspired by this tutorial, which promises to take no more than 10 minutes to complete.  I used Wonder Under, like with all my applique, which isn't mentioned in the tutorial, so mine took a bit longer, but still.  These shirts for the girls I whipped up in maybe half an hour the other night.  And for Jack?  A matching tie applique on his red t-shirt.  I had a vision of taking their picture in the Radio Flyer in front of the nearby pecan orchard while they were eating ice cream cones... and it almost happened.  The possibility of mosquitoes never crossed my mind.  And, yet, as we were unloading the wagon from the back of the van at the orchard, we were absolutely attacked by the horrendous creatures!  Imagine me, yelling at the kids to get back in the van and close the windows, re-loading the wagon (which didn't fit well in the first place), and worrying about melting ice cream cones.  And now imagine me driving back home (only a couple houses away) with the back of the van open because I didn't want to take the time to wedge the wagon in the right way.  All the while slapping mosquitoes on my arms and listening to Kate's panicked cry.  Mother of the Year right here!  We ended up taking our pictures in front of the garage door.  And they still turned out super cute.

A close-up of the applique on the girls' shirts

Pirate Ship Applique T-Shirt

The kids and I went to a pirate-themed birthday party a few days ago.  Super fun: they got tattoos, dug for buried treasure, and came home with a load of salt water taffy.  I made the birthday boy, three-year-old David, a pirate ship-appliqued t-shirt.  I found the original idea here.  He--and his mom--loved it!

I used white "puffy paint" for the skull and crossbones.

Princess Crown Applique T-Shirts

So, I forgot.  I said I didn't do anything special, besides the invitation, for the girls' princess party.  But I actually whipped up a couple t-shirts for them to wear on party day.  That's special, right?  I did a simple princess crown applique for both of them. 

Look!  Maggie is learning to stand still for a picture!

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Applique

For a friend's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"-themed birthday party, I came up with a new applique.  I do believe Leonardo is the one who wears the blue mask.  Everything is fabric but the eye's pupils, which I used black puffy paint for.  I hope the birthday boy liked it!

Superhero Training Camp

This past week was spring break for LCPS, and as always, I needed something for my kids to do.  My friends with the Las Cruces Playgroup and I put together a three-day camp.  And not just any camp, but a Superhero Training Camp!  With about 18 kids participating, we split them up into two groups (big kids and little kids) and then had moms (and at least a couple dads) walk them through different stations: obstacle course, a "skills training" activity, craft, and snack.  Super fun for our super kids.  Jack and Kate had their capes already from an AWANA superhero night last fall.  I found a quick tutorial for that here.  Seriously, I whipped up a last-minute one for Maggie in about half an hour. 

Back detail on the cape of "Super K"

Miss Maggie would NOT stand still for a good cape pic.  Ergh.

We set up the obstacle course every day so the kids could supposedly improve on their time each day.  It included:

Kicking a soccer ball around some cones

Crawling through several tunnels

Tossing a frisbee into a hula hoop

Climbing up a rock wall to save a baby at the top, then bringing the baby down the slide. Wheee!  I just love this picture of Miss Maggie.

Of course, wind wreaked havoc on our tunnel set-up.  And kids will be kids.

 

Every day, we planned a "skill-building activity" that would strengthen kids and give them the tools they needed to become a true superhero.  Day 1's activity was knocking over a wall (made with shoeboxes wrapped in butcher paper). 

And each day we had a craft that would help the kids pull their superhero identity together.  Day 1's craft was a mask.  I found a tutorial here and just simplified the craft a bit for our day camp by just using one layer of felt.  Although, as it turned out, the mask wasn't so durable, so in the future, following the tutorial would probably be a good idea.  The kids decorated them with buttons and little baubles and puffy paint (in some cases, waaaay too much puffy paint!). 

Kate's mask; I sewed the elastic on later

Our activity for Day 2 was throwing green ping-pong balls (which were supposed to represent Kryptonite) from one bucket into another. 

And Day 2's craft was super cool wrist cuffs.  Tutorial found here.  We had every mom bring a toilet paper roll, which we just cut into a cuff size and covered with felt (and, again, more buttons and baubles and puffy paint).  Then, we punched two holes on each of the cuff's ends and threaded some elastic string through to tie it up.

Of course, we had snack time every day.  Who can forget that?!?  Here's an actual picture of me with my girls!

Fueling up

Our craft for Day 3 was the BEST: Superhero Control Panels!  You know, so our little heroes would be able to activate their force field, or call their sidekick, or kick into high gear.  I found this tutorial here.  We had each mom bring an empty Jello box.  I spray-painted them and some straws and little styrofoam balls metallic silver.  I used scissors to poke a hole in the balls, then attached them to the straws with a little hot glue.  And then I duct-taped the straw-and-ball "antenna" onto the Jello box. 

A box of  control panels pre-craft time

Here's a better look.

We used adhesive craft foam to decorate them.

Our Day 3 snack mom was super-ambitious and brought all sort of fun (and accessorized!) treats.

Star-shaped Rice Krispies treats with fun labels

Snacks were enjoyed immensely. 

And, with that, our three days of superhero training were over.  We sent each kid home with a certificate (found here) that could be personalized with their real name, superhero name, and special powers.  All in all, the kids had a blast!