I Heart Gabriel

I have a nice walk once my commuter bus from NJ~NYC drops me off... It's about 1 mile from the new WTC site, across Canal Street, through SOHO (South of Houston) & then across Houston (that's House-tun for you non-New Yorkers ;))& finally into the "Village", where I work.And then I do the same walk in the afternoon to launch me home. It's about a mile each way & a great time to think, let my creativity flow. So I came up with this tee shirt idea.

I don't know about you, but I am pretty over the buy a new shirt for every holiday trend for children. Especially when they are so easy to make... & Especially when creating one makes the item one of a kind. So as I walked & passed by some of the more touristy-item vendors I of course, kept seeing those "I <3 NY" tees. You now, the ones with the hearts? I would display a jpeg picture here but that is an actual logo that is COPYRIGHTED. Imagine? So I'd rather not... But I can say that I looked up the font & it's pret-tee close to the American Typewriter type. At first I wanted to do "I <3 MA" but was told it looked like my son was a Massachusetts lover, rather than a mama lover, lol... So I used American Typewriter Condensed for the bottom line, changing "MA" to "MOM".

Mother's Day Tee Shirt



Materials Needed (+ red food coloring, not pictured here, but below):

First, we created the picture we wanted to trace, then placed it on cardboard backing:

Took the blank tee & placed the piece of cardboard, with the picture on it, inside, between the front & the back of the material:

Then, I began with the writing. Using craft fabric paint, I traced the letters... 
I M O M 

Allowed it to dry...
~~~
Then, I took a small bowl with a little water mixed with a couple of drops of food coloring & A heart-shaped cookie cutter...

& allowed Gabriel to dip the heart into the bowl & "stamp" the shirt...

(BTW: This was the paper underneath:)

Allowed the tee to dry, hanging...
~~~

Didn't it come out beautifully? Looks very street chic to me~ almost like graffiti art.
Unique~ One-of-a-Kind, like G!
I <3 my little archangel more than he can possibly know...


<3 Lishie & Gabriel


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Bottle Cap Magnets

Recently a friend of ours gave Gabriel some very much appreciated hand-me-down clothes along with a stack of magazines… Ranger Rick, Highlights & Nick Jr. from when her son was younger. Gabriel took to each magazine like each was a new book. And I was surprised to see him focus on the Dora the Explorer items most of all in the Nick Jr. Magazines. Why? Well, we limit his TV time to mostly Sesame Street & Jack’s Big Music Show. Television is sensory-overload for our tot.  So I am not sure if Dora’s cute face beckoned Gabriel from the pages or what, but I allowed him to watch the show. And lo & behold, in his little rambling voice… he “answered” her questions. Whoa. This was a huge step for us… Needless to say, I have become a Dora fan.
 
Saying all that, you’ll know why I chose this “A-Dora-Ble” craft to highlight her. I was Pin-spired by The Creative Salad’s bottle-cap magnet post (are YOU on Pinterest? No? You should be especially if you are reading a craft blog!)  And I had already been collecting bottle caps… so this came about…

Bottle Cap Magnets

Step~X~Step

Self-adhesive craft magnets! I love these because they are easy to cut with scissors & they are thin. They also adhere well. Parents, PLEASE glance at this article on the danger of magnets for children.

& Good 'ol bottle caps. Mine are a collection from our office, where in our lobby, Think Coffee sells Boylan soda:

Small stickers... Ours, starring that famous bilingual gal of the small screen. Place one sticker inside the cap. Then, "paint" over the sticker using homemade

glue/sealer/finish (see below, also known as "modge podge")

Did you know that homemade "modge podge" is a 50% school, white glue to 50% water ratio? I did... 2 "drops" of water + 2 "drops" of white glue=

Allow to dry well... 

Almost done!!! Uh oh... Watch out for Swiper!

Time for GLITTER FUN! Yes, I said glitter & fun in the same sentence. Yes, I am a mom... ha ha... Want to lessen the mess? Use glitter glue pens like these:

Dab the glitter glue on top of the sealed stickers & around the fluted edge of the cap... Allow to dry, AND...

Now you have a new, fun, one-of-a-kind set of magnets... Oh, again, watch out, ¡cuidado! ~ Swiper!

Teacher Appreciation

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week!

So please show those teachers in your life, past & present, how much they have affected you! I want Gabriel to always be thankful for the good in his life & I try to instill this gratification by example. I always thank people who mean a lot to me, as should he… And I am very thankful for the teacher in his life now…

So over the weekend we crafted this Popsicle Stick Flower Box for Mrs. V. We sure hope she loves it as much as I love the way Gabriel giggles at the feel of the tackiness of the school glue on his fingers! 

Popsicle Stick Flower Box

 

MATERIALS NEEDED:  

Popsicle Sticks, buttons, craft “grass” or Easter basket grass, a small box or plastic planter & letters. Many times  I repurpose anything I can find for these projects.  

For each flower, you will need 4 popsicle sticks. We used pre-colored sticks but of course, you can also use wood-hewn ones.

Step~X~Step

 Take the first 2 sticks & make an “X” . Where the 2 sticks meet in the middle of the “X”, dollop a spot of school glue, then affix the 2 sticks.

On the middle of the “X”, dollop another spot of school glue, then affix the 3^rd stick.

Allow the “Flower” part of the craft to dry…

When thoroughly dried & adhered… dollop a spot of school glue to the middle of the back of the flower then affix the “stem” popsicle stick (we used a green one here). Allow to dry.

When affixed/dried, place a dollop of school glue in the middle of the FRONT of the flower, then affix a craft button… Decorate with glitter glue!

For the box part,we re-purposed this cool piece of cardboard (it inspired me to begin with because it looked like a flower box!) from the packaging of our Ipad:

 

  For the “grass” we used this scrunchy craft  tissue but you can also used scraps of shredded paper painted green or Easter grass. 

Then we (school)glued the stems of our flowers CAREFULLY to one side of the box.And allowed it to dry. Then glued it AGAIN.

Finally, we added a personal touch using adhesive felt letters.

We think it is beautiful.

What do you think?

<3 Lishie & Gabriel

Visit my food blog DeLish for some yummy recipes.

Super Moon

You heard about the Super Moon, right? We heard about it. According to NASA the perigee full moon on May 5, 2012 will be as much as 14% bigger & 30% brighter than other full moons of 2012.  But, alas, although we kept Gabriel up to see it, the fog was too thick in NJ. 

I had planned on this paper plate moon craft & went ahead with it:

It really does not need any explanation or directions. We had silver dessert plates left over from Gabriel's 3rd Birthday Blast Off!  although, you could use a white paper plate & color it silver with crayon or markers....

And then all you will need is school glue, one googly eye & we used glitter glue... (But you could use school glue + glitter.)

These are the best crafts! Gabriel loves putting on the googly eye!!! And he loves the sensory of touching the tackiness of the glue! For the glue stick "writing", I assist him hand over hand.

& we get this beautiful, finished product to hang... along with a little science lesson on the moon. Out of this world fun!

<3 Lishie & Gabriel 

Visit my food blog, "DeLish"

Weighted Sensory Pillow

I chose this as my inaugural post because it sums up this blog- it is about art with an archangel as well as art for an archangel, my son Gabriel. Most, if not all of the arts & crafts I will blog about are in essence for my son. Crafting & art at an early age not only stimulates creativity but also teaches a child how to use many of his fine motor skills. Fine motor skills are movements that use the small muscles of the fingers, toes, wrists, lips, & tongue. These are extremely important in his development.

This project- a weighted sensory pillow- was important to me because it also helps with his proprioceptive senses (A sensory receptor, found chiefly in muscles, tendons, joints, & the inner ear, that detects the motion or position of the body or a limb by responding to stimuli arising within the organism). If your child has sensory issues for any reason (Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), an Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), ADHD & other neurological disorders, or even simply issues with sleeping…) you may want to consider a weighted pillow or blanket. Based on the sensory integration technique of deep pressure providing the child with unconscious information from the muscles & the joints, the added weight or pressure may help the child calm down and better integrate sensory information. As a result, the child may become more organized, & improve in their ability to concentrate on play, learning or eating.

These items (weighted pillow & blankets) are extremely expensive so I decided to make my own… And he manifested in the form of Monkey Face:

How to create a weighted pillow from an existing pillow form:

Buy a small animal pillow, or a stuffed animal that can lay flat across a lap (like a pillow pet), or on a sleeping chest. Like Monkey-Face:

 

Next, find a seam on the side bottom (pictured) or side & carefully tear it open about six" long.

I had to take out half of the original stuffing (use your judgment)... Then I inserted only 2lbs of Poly Pellets. 


 Suggested weight is 10% of their body weight + 1 pound.


BUT I didn't want it too heavy 
(Gabriel's 32 lbs, which would mean a 4+lb pillow)

Distribute the pellets into the body of the stuffed animal guiding them into place. Then, with double thread, sew the seam back up well. I also took off the pink, decorative hair-flower above Monkey-Face's right ear & replaced it with a hand-sewn orange "G" for Gabriel:

I hope you will enjoy reading my blog as much as I love to make the crafts & share my excitement with Gabriel.

I also hope you will come back & visit!

Please, if you have a moment to lollygag, stroll on over to DeLish, my food blog.

<3 Lishie & Gabriel