Category Archives: Uncategorized

Lydia Celebrates Earth Day

Lydia’s favorite way of celebrating Earth Day is by spending time outside and enjoying nature.


———-
Earth Day 2014

Earth Day 2013

Earth Day 2012

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Basket Tutorial


My friend Kit found a tutorial to make your own basket with card stock. I thought it sounded like fun so we looked at the directions and gathered all of the supplies. The first step was to measure and cut strips ¼ inch wide and slightly longer than the circumference of your basket. We have a paper cutter at my house, so I asked for help and we were able to skip that step.


The next step was to trace two circles for each basket. This will be the bottom of your basket. You can make it whatever size you want; our circles have a diameter of 2 inches


Next you carefully cut out your circles.


We decided that both of our baskets would have a base and sides that were yellow and have green and our favorite color woven in. We cut the yellow strips in half and put a small amount of glue on one of the circles.


We carefully arranged the strips around the circle. If you use yellow card stock it looks like a sun at this point! Our baskets had sixteen strips in them, but as long as it is an even number and they are evenly spaced it will work. After your base strips are in place you put glue on your second circle and place it on top of the first, sandwiching in your strips of paper.


After your glue is dry fold up your base strips, for us that is the yellow ones. Then weave your long strips of paper and glue the ends together creating a ring.


Continue weaving your long strips alternating colors until your basket is as tall as you would like. We used five strips of paper on ours.


Next trim your base strips (yellow for us) so that they are about 1 inch taller than your basket. Fold over every other yellow strip and tuck it inside the basket. Next make one more colored ring and glue the ends together. Carefully place the ring inside your basket and fold the remaining yellow strips over the ring tucking them inside the basket.


The final step is to create your handle. We used a strip of yellow that was 8 inches long. We were able to secure the handle by weaving it between the colored rings on the inside of the basket.

We are ready for an egg hunt!

Leave a Comment

Filed under Tutorials, Uncategorized

Winter Break

I had an awesome winter break.  I visited my grandparents house for Christmas. I was excited that I was able to wear my new dress when we went out for dinner on Christmas eve.


We were in a rush to be on time for our reservations so when we got back my parents wanted take my picture.


After I hung my stocking by the fireplace I looked outside in case Santa was running early and I could catch a glimpse of him. I didn’t see Santa or any reindeer, just a nice blanket of snow to make them feel at home.

I woke up early on Christmas morning, my stocking was full of candy and there were gifts under the tree with my name on them. I got a new outfit, earrings, a Fancy Frost N Glaze Lalaloopsy doll, art supplies and a new outfit for my American Girl doll. I played with my new toys and spent time with my parents for the rest of Christmas day. On boxing day we packed up the car and headed home.

When I got back home I arranged a time for Lydia to come over so we could exchange gifts.


She said I could open mine first.


From the first peek I could see that it was pink!

<img src=
I love the Hello Kitty lunchbox Lydia gave me! I set it to the side because I was so excited for her to open the gift I found for her.


I was so excited for her to see what was in the box that I told her to rip faster.


Doesn’t she look surprised!


Lydia loved the squirrel stuffed animal I got her.


Here we are with our gifts. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing. I wanted Lydia to stay overnight, but when we asked our parents said “not today.”

A few days later I arrived at Lydia’s ready to spend the night. We played in the snow for a long time working on a giant snow fort. When we both got too cold to stay out any longer we went inside for hot cocoa. Just after dinner we decided to change into our pajamas.


After playing with our dolls I had the idea to style Lydia’s hair. She agreed and said I could do anything that I wanted! I put it up in pigtails and used pink hair ties to match the Piglets on her pajamas.


It turned out so well that we decided we should pose for a picture.


After I finished with Lydia’s hair it was starting to get late, so we pulled the quilt off her bed and snuggled up with our stuffed animals to watch a movie before bed. We planned to stay up all night talking but when the movie was done Lydia’s parents said it was “lights out,” we stayed up talking in the dark for awhile but we were both really tired so we didn’t last long. I don’t remember it but the next morning Lydia said that I fell asleep right in the middle of a story! In the morning my parents picked me up, I was so tired that I took a nap that afternoon.

My winter break was awesome. I saw my grandparents, spent time with my best friend, slept in late almost every day and got fun presents. Even though I had a lot of fun, at the end I was almost ready to go back to school.

Did you have a long winter break? Did you do anything fun?

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Paper Crane Ornaments

I love to do art and crafts of all sorts, after I read Happy New Year, Julie, I knew I wanted to make my own paper crane decorations just like Julie. Lydia would prefer to spend time outside, but she is my best friend so she agreed to join me. After making one we both had so much fun we wanted to show others how to make their own.

You will need origami paper, or paper that has been cut into perfect squares to make the crane. We chose this metallic paper in Christmas colors.

The first step is to fold your paper in half every direction and then to make a base that I call “double square.”

After the next folds Lydia thought it looked a bit like the Star Trek logo, so I held it up to her shirt. What do you think?

Here we are with the folding complete. You could put a piece of thread through the top of the crane or simply perch your crane on the branch of your tree if you wanted, but we decided to make ours fancy with beads and ribbon.

For this part you will need a completed paper crane, a head pin, an assortment of beads, ribbon, pliers and an adult to use them.

Start by placing any beads that you want to below your crane on the pin.

Next carefully place your crane on the pin, we used teamwork for this part. You can use a sewing needle to poke a hole through the top part of your crane first to make it easier. The bottom of the crane already has a hole in it. Then put the remaining beads on the pin and have an adult cut any extra length off the pin and bend the top into a loop.

The last step is to thread ribbon through the loop and tie a knot creating a loop for your crane to hang from.

Here we are with our finished ornaments. Not wanting to be left out my cat Cricket jumped up on the table. Right after this photo was taken he started to paw at my crane, after I shooed him off the table explained to him that it wasn’t a real bird.

If you want to make your own paper crane ornaments you can find detailed folding instructions  here: http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-crane.html

Leave a Comment

Filed under Tutorials, Uncategorized

Enjoying the Fall Weather


Today was my favorite type of fall day where the sun is warm and there a cool breeze to remind you that winter is on its way. Lydia and I decided to spend some time enjoying the great outdoors by exploring an area close to where we live.


We started by walking down a path in a natural prairie area. This grass was taller than us, imagine what it must have been like for explorers and settlers to walk for miles in grass like this.


After awhile we came to a clearing where the grass was laying down and we were able to sit and soak up some of the warm afternoon sun. We didn’t stay long because we could see a wooded area that Lydia was anxious to explore.


We had just started walking in the wooded area when Lydia saw something at the edge of the trail, she called me over to look.


She had found mushrooms growing on a fallen log. I wanted to know what type of mushroom they were and if they were poisonous. We didn’t touch them just to be safe, but we looked at them really closely so we could try to identify them when we got home.


A bit further down the trail there was a small path that led into this natural shelter created by fallen trees.


We spent some time in the natural shelter pretending that we were lost in the woods and we were going to make this our new home. I wanted to move sticks to make rooms and a bed with a leaf pile for a mattress but Lydia said that it was best for us to make the rooms with our imagination and leave the area undisturbed.


At the end of the trail we found this log and sat down for a rest before heading home.


Lydia said her favorite part was discovering the mushrooms.


Do you like to spend time in nature?

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Stella Makes Knitting Needles

My friend Stella made her own knitting needles and wanted to share her tutorial:

Follow these steps to make your own.


First gather all of your supplies. You will need a 1/8 inch wood dowel seven inches long, sand paper fine and course grit, wax paper, glue, and two beads that fit on your dowel.


First have an adult cut the dowel in half and use the course sand paper to sand one end of each needle to a point.


Sand each needle with the fine grit sand paper until it is very smooth. You don’t want anything that will catch on your yarn.


Once your needles are smooth rub each needle with the wax paper. This gives them a nice finish and helps the yarn slide on the finished needles.


Put a small amount of glue on the blunt end of your knitting needles and carefully place your bead. The beads I chose fit on the dowel perfectly so I didn’t need much glue.


After your glue dries your needles are done!


Here is an action shot,  knitting a scarf.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Tutorials, Uncategorized

Halloween 2013

Lydia and I went trick-or-treating on Halloween.  Last year we coordinated our costumes, we decided that this year we would each do our own thing.

I tried on my costume the night before Halloween to make sure everything was ready.  My parents wanted to take a picture and I gladly agreed, thinking that it would save time on the big night.

I dressed up as a flower.  I also made a costume for my doll Josefina and dressed her up as a lady bug.

It rained all afternoon and into the evening.  I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to go out to trick-or-treat.  Right after dinner the rain stopped and Lydia came over.

Lydia dressed up as a turtle.  She made her turtle shell out of recycled materials
My parents insisted on taking a picture of Lydia’s costume, you can see how wet the leaves were!  Thankfully it didn’t take long and we were off to gather candy.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Athena and Lydia Explore

Lydia loves to spend time outside surrounded by nature.  I love to spend time with Lydia and am always up for an adventure, so when she asked me go go exploring, I happily agreed.


We started to walk down a trail, keeping our eyes peeled for poison ivy.  Lydia was pointing out and naming different plants and wildflowers the whole way.


We stopped by this small pool of water to see if we could see anything in it.  Lydia loves all living things, she even wore a shirt with a dragonfly on it!  I like some bugs, and wildlife that is cute and furry but I was thankful it has been too cold for mosquitoes.  There is a large pond on the other side of the plants behind us, but we couldn’t get close enough to look at it.


At the end of the trail was a field full of dandelions.


We laid down in the grass to soak up the warmth of the setting sun.


After awhile we decided we should walk home before it got dark, but promised that we would be back soon to do more exploring.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Lydia Celebrates Earth Day

Lydia celebrated Earth Day by enjoying the sunny weather today and spending some time outside. She was a little cold but couldn’t bear wearing a jacket, everyone here is more than ready for it to look and feel like spring.

For reference, this photo was taken in the same spot two days shy of exactly one year ago.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

First Day of Spring

Did you know that today is the first day of spring?
Lydia and I decided to go outside and celebrate spring coming!

After running around in the snow for a while we decided to make snow angels.  We stood next to each other and on the count of three fell backwards.

After that we were covered and snow and starting to get cold so we decided to go inside for hot chocolate.

 

What does the first day of spring look like where you live?

Did you do anything special to celebrate?

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized