Halloween Fun

I once again used the bean bag board that was painted for two different birthdays: strawberry brownie and gingerbread. This time, it is being used at my uncle's 60th party, which we are celebrating today on this Halloween weekend. So, I went with a skull theme...

The holes for the beanbags are in the eyes and nose. I made lavender and flax filled bean bags with a skull fabric scrap I had on hand. I used this fabric on one side and different colored fabrics for the second side of the bag, so each child at the party can know which bean bag is theirs when it is time to take one home.

I hope I don't have to explain that the skull is in reference to Halloween and not the fact that he's turning 60... I'm not that dark, and he's not that old!

Quick Fix for Wooden Puzzles

I have had to perform wooden puzzle repair a few times in recent months. This sometimes becomes necessary with puzzles that are made by layering thin pieces of wood together. Inevitably, the top layer peels a bit away when little fingers are taking the tight pieces apart.

Simple fix:
Dab a bit of your favorite crazy glue in between the wood parts that are peeling away. Clamp the puzzle piece with one of these nifty binder clips.

Let it dry thoroughly, and let the games begin!

Birthday Bean Bag Toss

My baby is three years old... *sigh* I greatly enjoy the conversations we have these days. Some are rather insightful. She is genuinely helping me to tackle my "get well" goal for the year with daily requests for dancing and declarations of "Mom, just don't worry about it!" Life is good. To say that "I love her" is such an understatement. She really does inspire me to find the joy in every day and embrace it.

Part of the "get well" goal is to recognise and reflect on what is good. So, there you go. Now, we'll move past the introspective portion of the post and on to the Birthday Bean Bag Toss.

My cousin inspired me to create this game, as she created one for her daughter's birthday party last year. We weren't able to attend, but the pictures sure made it look fun. I had to create a game to go with the "Strawberry Brownie" theme Anastasia requested, so I painted a giant strawberry on a piece of scrap plywood I found laying in the garage. Jason cut out (with a tiny handsaw, bless his heart!) three holes for the bean bags to fly through.

For the party, we propped the board against a desk, with a rug keeping it from sliding around. The children enjoyed sticking their faces through the holes, and quickly discovered that it was much easier to "win" the game if you were standing right in front of it.

I handmade the bean bags, using scraps of fabric that I've been holding onto forever. I filled them with flax seed that I bought in bulk and a bit of dried lavender from my herb garden. The children noticed the yummy smell right away, which was neat to witness. They each got to choose a bean bag to take home and had another "strawberry" one hidden inside their goodie bag. Poor Anastasia had to wait three months for me to finish up her bean bags... which is why I haven't posted this until now!
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