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Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Book recommendation

This week Lazy Kid and I are focusing on learning about art, so I checked some books out from the library to expand our repertoire of craft techniques. One of the books I'm most excited about is called Easy Art Fun, by Jill Frankel Hauser. This book is really designed for use in classrooms, but a lot of the projects lend themselves to home crafting, as well.

What I like best about the book is that it's designed to be used by early readers, so the format of each page is the same, and it's all really clearly spelled out. Each project fits on two page sides (which face each other, so there is no flipping back and forth to finish something), and each offers variations on the project to make it more complicated or with a different theme. There are sections that focus on coloring, cutting with scissors, making toys, making gifts, making things for pretend play, making music, and making wearable art.

Lazy Kid is not quite five, but she reads really well, and she was able to breeze through reading several of the projects to pick out one she wanted to do. The book is a great way to get kids some practice with real-life reading, rather than story reading - practical reading really does use a whole different subset of words and phrases that kids need to learn.

And the projects are quite nice, with several old favorites and quite a few that I've never seen before. Lazy Kid chose to make the Monster Mouth game, where you decorate a paper bag like a monster face and try to throw balls of paper into the open mouth. Personally, I want to make some bendy people (paper cutouts with baggy ties taped to the back to let you bend the dude into different positions) and a few other projects that are new to me.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Busy Baby Book pattern page


Busy Baby Book Pattern

Treat that new arrival as an excuse to raid your fabric stash (or hit the store for new goodies!) to make a soft cloth book to stimulate all of baby’s senses. Choose washable fabrics in bright colors with bold contrasts, or pick fabrics that have a variety of different textures. Go crazy with the embellishments, adding more color and texture with fabric scraps, yarn, or whatever you have handy.



This pattern would be perfect to display near your selection of fat quarters, or it could easily be made into kits using the awkward ends leftover from your finished bolts of cloth. It looks adorable made in black-and-white prints with bright accents, or it can be made in a variety of diffent colors and textures of scrap fabrics.

A person with average sewing skills should be able to finish this project in about one naptime (2 hours).

Pattern includes illustrated directions and is packaged in a resealable plastic bag (6"x9"), ready to hang and sell.

Wholesale price: $4.00/pattern

Suggested retail price: $7-$9, or whatever the market will bear in your area

Free shipping on your first order! Shipping charges for subsequent orders will be the actual charges for USPS Priority Mail to your destination.

I am willing to make free samples to display in your shop, if you are willing to provide the materials. Please contact me for more information on this service.

For more information or to place an order, please contact Gretchen Woods at Lazy Mama Designs: lazymamadesigns (at) yahoo (dot) com.

NEW!! You can also place orders through my shop at etsy.com - just convo me with a request, including the number of patterns you'd like to buy, and I can post a custom listing for you at the wholesale price.

Thank you for your interest, and I hope to hear from you soon!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Online children's story time

http://www.storyplace.org/storyplace.asp

I haven't checked out the parts for older kids, but the toddler section is neat. It's got stories, games and crafts for about two dozen different themes, all simple enough that a toddler could do them with adult help. Check it out!