Valentines Advent for Kids

As the mom of three kids ages 4 1/2 and 3 I always have had good intentions of making holidays fun and kid friendly. In the past I have always failed miserably! This year I am making it happen (at least for Valentine's Day!).

I decided to do an Advent type calendar of activities from February 1-February 14. The hardest part (at least until follow-through) was coming up with a list of preschool friendly ideas. After doing that, I made up cards with each activity listed. You can get these cards here. They are based on Index Card templates. I trimmed them, inked the edges with permanent marker and mounted them with Elmer's glue on red cardstock. You could add ribbon to make them cuter.




Here's the plan: I bought this cute basket on sale from Hobby Lobby and will fill it with the materials to make/do the day's activity. Every morning the basket will be displayed for the kids to find and read what we will be doing! I will work the activities around our calendar so that the ones that take the longest will be done on days the kids drive me crazy don't have preschool.

They'll look a little something like this:

On this day I'll feed the kids a lunch similar to this, heart shaped jello (made in heart shaped ice cube trays), and heart shaped valentine cakes.







Other ideas are:
Reading 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Making heart wreath (out of construction paper)
Making valentine paper chains
Making Oreo truffles
Scavenger hunt
Valentine Bingo

Hopefully this goes well and I can update about how it's going through the month of February. What do you do with your kids to have fun with the holiday?


Linked here:
Fingerprints on the Fridge
Between U & Me
Fireflies and Jellybeans
Life as Lori
Simply Designing

Link Party #1

We've yet to come up with a fancy name for our Link Parties... so for today it's just called Link Party #1! (Any suggestions for a cute name are welcome!)

As I mentioned last weekend I just ordered a Silhouette SD! I am super excited to get my hands on it and see what it can do. I have never even tried it out but I've seen so many cute things online that people have made. That's where this link party comes in.



Link up your Silhouette projects (Cricut, Cuttlebug, etc. are fine too!). This is just for projects you've made using one of the above (or similar) machines.

Simple rules:
1. Please become a follower of That Village House - we like new friends.
2. Link back to your specific post - not just your main blog.
3. Visit others and comment - it's nice to be nice.
4. Link back to this post on your blog so that others can join in on the fun - we all like to be recognized, right? You can grab a button or a text hyperlink is just fine.

Remember... this link party is ONLY for your Silhouette projects (or the like). Soon we'll start link parties for ALL your crafting, cooking and decorating glories!

Hall Bath Remodel

I can't believe this hasn't been blogged about yet!! It was one of the most anticipated remodels that we had when we moved into our house almost 2 years ago. The HALL BATH!!

Remember this house was built in the 60s and most recently was occupied by 5 college renters! It needed some major help that's for sure. Don't believe me? Check out the kitchen and exterior remodels we did.

THE BEFORE PICTURES

Notice that the tub was never intended to be a shower! The previous owners had rigged a shower head to do the job and the tile splash didn't even reach the head.


Lovely square tiles with old, dark grout. The one thing it did have going for it was that it was installed on the diagonal!


The toilet area had tile up the wall. For what purpose? I don't know! It was in better shape than the floor though. At least the grout was still white!

THE AFTER PHOTOS

We purchased a new toilet, installed beadboard all the way around the room (equal to where the tile had been on the wall).


Ahh... a real shower head & tile surround. We kept the same tub to save money and it was still in fair shape.



Fresh tile, fresh paint, new beadboard, fixtures and it feels so clean!

The lighting isn't fantastic so I apologize! But hopefully you can get a good idea of where we came from and where we took it!

We also renovated the vanity top & lighting...but I can't find the pictures of that project. So, when I do find them I'll show that off too!


Now... I can't wait to see similar results from our latest project... the master bath!!!




Linked Here:
Sugar Bee

Easy Valentine Decor

I'm sure you've all seen (and have probably already made) the cute rag wreaths that are all over blogland. I saw some cute Valentine ribbon at Hobby Lobby on sale for 1/2 off so I figured I'd give it a shot.

The first thing I did was form a circle using floral wire. I made mine pretty small since I wasn't really sure where this thing was going to end up.

I used skinny ribbon (a lot of other wreaths use fabric strips). It's what I had so I went with it! I tied a ribbon to the circle form and trimmed to the length I desired. Then I used that as my template to cut all ribbon.

Then it begins.... just start tying the ribbons on your circle form.

Once it is finished all that's left to do is find a home for your new decor.

This is a really really inexpensive craft...especially if you happen to have all the supplies. If not...just wait for those inevitable sales!

Linked here:
Making the World Cuter

Keeping it Simple

C.R.A.F.T.

Big Announcement & Upcoming Link Party!

I'm super excited to announce that I've ordered a Silhouette machine!! I can't wait for it to get here so I can get cracking on some crafting! BUT... I need your help! I've never seen one in person so I don't exactly know what it can do. SOOOOOO... this leads to another exciting announcement.

That Village House is having it's first Linky Party!!!

WHEN: Wednesday, January 26 - Friday, January 29
(if my linky ability works like I expect it to!)

WHAT: Link up your favorite Silhouette (or Circut, Cuttlebug, etc) projects

WHERE: Right here on That Village House!!

Keep your fingers crossed for me that it actually works. I've never done a link party before so I am not totally sure what I'm supposed to do! HAHA. But, if all goes well Tiffany & I will start a weekly link party to link up your favorite crafts, decorating projects, recipes, etc.

This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between That Village House & Linky Tools!

Sledgehammers & Dust

What's new at your place? Well... take a look at what's going on at mine!!!


Oh, yes another renovation is happening. I've shown you my pantry remodel, the exterior remodel, the kitchen remodel, and YIKES...I've never shown you the hall bath redo? Well, what kind of blogger am I? I'll show you that real soon!

Things are happening around here... it's the final major interior remodel we have to do in our house. My husband spent a few hours Friday doing the demo and come Monday we'll have a handy man doing the work. I'm pretty excited to get rid of the nasty 1960's tile! Check back soon for progress...

Tiffany's Newest Addition

I know you'll join me in wishing congratulations to Tiffany on the newest addition to her family. Davis Benjamin was born January 14th. Tiffany and her husband couldn't be prouder of their little man. He joins two big sisters (ages 3 and 17 months). Doesn't that impress you even more that Tiffany is so creative and crafty with such young little ones?

Needless to say things may be a little slow over here at That Village House. Hopefully I can step up my game and get my creative/crafting juices flowing while Tiffany spends time cuddling her newborn.

This may be the cutest thing That Village House does all year!

Congrats to my friend. I have a feeling I'll want to help Tiffany with any crafts she may have the next few months. I mean SOMEONE has to hold the baby, right? :) I will be the first to volunteer.

DiY Stick Horses

Here are some stick horses that I made last month!

I had this grand idea of handing them out as party favors for my daughter's birthday party (I'm not sure what I was thinking?) and after searching endlessly online for inexpensive ones, I finally just decided to make my own. To see the rest of the party, click here.

So here's a quick tutorial of how I made them.

I would NOT suggest trying to crank out 16 before a party (again, what was I thinking?), but making 1 is super easy & super cheap! By my 3rd one, I was able to complete one, start to finish in 20 minutes. The most time consuming part is getting happy with your pattern. It's all down hill from there.

Step 1: Draw a head pattern out of a paper bag and cut out your material.

Fold yarn into the seam of the mane and sew everything together, inside out.

Step 2: Flip the head right-side out and trim up any yarn pieces.

Step 3: Cut pointy ears out of felt and glue together with a glue gun, pinching the bottom until the glue has dried.

Step 4: Hand-stitch the ears on, but then cheat and use fabric glue for the eyes and bridle.

Step 5: Stuff the heads.

Step 6: Push the dow rod (covered with Gorilla glue or hot glue) all the way into the horse's head. And then finish stuffing the neck of the horse.

Step 7: Use fabric glue and fold-in the material at the bottom. Try to keep the glue on the inside. I used clips to hold it shut for a few hours until the glue was completely dry.

And there you go. Your very own stick horse!

Your kids will love it!

Good luck!!

If you need more clarification, dimensions, etc, just let me know!!

Updated: 
I've received a lot of emails asking if I make and sell these horses in different fabrics. As much as I would like to, I just don't have enough time to be taking orders right now.

I will however, cut out a pattern for the horse's head & ears for $12 for you. If you'd like me to do that, you can email me at benandtiffany@gmail.com

Thanks!

DIY Candy Jar Apothecary

I'm a little late to this apothocary gig but better late than never, right? I first noticed these things back in the fall from these sisters. I made one for my mom for the fall season with some cute candy corn but of course I didn't take a picture of the process ... so today I'm here with the tutorial. **Disclaimer** I typed this all out while my husband was watching Winter Wipe-Out... that show is REALLY distracting!!! Please forgive any typos...and if you need any clarification just ask! :)


You'll need to get your unfinished wood pieces from your local craft store. I got mine at Hobby Lobby & Michaels (because Hobby Lobby didn't have everything I needed...but your's may!).
I painted these back in the fall... so imagine them in raw wood. :)

You need:
1 candlestick
1 round
1 base
1 finial for the top

Then you need to decide on the jar. I hadn't ever seen these smooth Ball jars ...what a great idea! I ended up using the larger jar with the metal lid.

I used Gorilla Glue and glued the candlestick to the base and put a book on top for about 30 minutes or so. Do the same with the round piece to the bottom of the jar. My jar had a concave bottom the candlestick would have had a hard time attaching to.


Next I took twine and hot glued it all around the metal lid.

I attached the finial with my Gorilla glue to the top of the lid. I would suggest using a screw to secure it. If you use the finial to unscrew the lid you may just pop it right off. :) Also you need to attach the candle stick to the jar. Remember you attached the round circle to the jar - so you have two wooden pieces to glue together.

I went back and sprayed the top of my jar black after I wrapped the twine. The spray paint gets on the twine just a bit which I liked and think it gives it a little more character (and age). If you get a little glue happy (like I did) you may also need to go back and spray paint your wood pieces again to cover up your ooze.

Then I filled it with conversation hearts and added a "J" I got at Hobby Lobby and voila... it's done!

I think this project cost me around $10 since everything I used was on sale. Gotta love those sales!

Linking Here:
Making the World Cuter
Keeping it Simple
C.R.A.F.T