I've got a super-fast project you can whip right up for a holiday gift! Your kiddo will love opening up and flying away in a handmade reversible superhero cape for Christmas, so grab some shiny fabric, and let's get sewing.
This is seriously SO EASY you're going to laugh at me for making a blog post about it. Stuff you could figure out on your own is my crafty specialty, yo.
Materials:
Superhero-worthy fabric: I followed Mikko's lead and headed straight to the gymnast/ice-skating costume section of Jo-Ann's, where we picked out (on sale, woo!) some sort of shimmery spandex stretch fabulousness. We made sure to get two contrasting colors for each cape so they can be reversible plus have an intriguing lining. Other fabrics that would work well would be satin, silk, or, for a floatier sort of fairy cape, perhaps something like organza. If you were going for something more Middle-Earthly, you could do a light wool, or an opaque costume fabric for a vampiric tot. Unless you're going for a floaty look, lean toward drapey fabrics.
Thread to match — any regular sort will do, and the color match doesn't have to be perfect, just subtle.
Some form of closure — I used and am quite happy with Velcro Soft & Flexible Sew-On Tape — it comes in white, black, and beige, so choose the one that coordinates best.
A Jo-Ann tip for you: They now have a free mobile app that will give you scannable coupons on your phone. Since I always forget to bring my mailed coupons, this has been a serious money-saver. If you don't want to wait for specialty fabrics to go on sale, there's almost always a coupon for 50% or at least 40% off one regular-price item, which includes one cut of fabric. No, Jo-Ann isn't paying me to say this — just some advice that's helped me out recently!
Instructions:
Measure out how much fabric you'll need in length by measuring from your child's neck to where you want the cape to fall. (I can hear you saying "Uh-duh.") I found the width of my fabric sufficient to wrap around my kids' little necks with room to spare. I erred on the long side with their capes, particularly for wee Alrik, since I figure they'll last longer that way.
Cut out both of your pieces of fabric to the same length (which might have been done for you at the store — I had to make two boys two capes each, so I did additional cutting at home) and match up the seams, shiny sides together so you're looking at the dull underside of both pieces. Pin around the edges. If your pieces are uneven, as mine were, start with one corner with both layers matched perfectly together and pin, then work from there, smoothing the fabric as you go so you keep the layers from puckering.
While you're pinning, your kids will be hard at work doing the same with the scraps (one can only assume).
This post is especially for Momma Jorje, because every year I post about our St. Nicholas Day celebrations after the fact, and every year she suggests it would be better if I reminded everyone beforehand so they could join in!
So: Let this be your reminder! Put your boots out tonight and Saint Nicholas might just stop by to tuck some shiny little goodies inside!
(Unless you've been naughty, of course. Then all bets are off.)
Since we speak some German at home, we like to learn about the culture as well. That's why we celebrate Nikolaustag, or St. Nicholas Day, each year.
Because the feast day of Saint Nicholas is December 6, empty boots (Nikolausstiefel) generally go outside the door the night of December 5, the eve of Nikolaustag (Nikolausabend).
Please head over to the Healthy Child Summit today to hear me talk about breastfeeding beyond infancy and tandem nursing!
The Healthy Child Summit is FREE and is in sneak-peek mode right now, and my interview was selected for inclusion in this preview. The full summit will be available in February, but for now you can hear me speak today only!
Since my giveaway for Appleseed Lane ends Friday,
I thought I'd share our fun with the
November box on crime scene science!
We bought a subscription to Appleseed Lane,
so we get a science-based box once a month
with fun activities, crafts, and a book to explain it all!
Mikko was eager to spread it all out.
As you can see, we had two of everything
with the sibling add-on (no fighting! woo!).
Mikko loves crime-solving games and shows
(this is actually true and, yes, I know he's 6),
so he was ready to get right to detecting.
We had to solve which nefarious caterpillar sibling got into the cookie jar.
One thing I love is Appleseed Lane supplies ALL the materials.
For instance, one of the activities called for a pencil, and I was thinking:
Oh, no, I have to find a pencil? But it was included — but unsharpened.
So I was thinking, Oh, no, I have to find a pencil sharpener?
But the sharpener was INCLUDED! It's so easy.
This bag of flour was a great relief to me,
because we never have any now that we're grain-free!
That was another one where I read the directions first and had a mini-panic
before realizing: Nope, it's all included. Whew!
So, anyway: First up, handprint molds!
See that little packet of unsweetened Kool-Aid? Included!
No running to the store. Love it.
Welcome to the Sunday Surf, a tour of the best blogposts I've read throughout the week.
Here's hoping you all had a celebratory Thanksgiving weekend! We just stayed home and the boys puked. And I cleaned up puke. And they puked some more. It was … different.
But now it's time for the holiday season, and I am stoked! Christmas music, ahoy!
Once upon a time, I used a Sunday Surf to talk about manifesting a hedgehog. Since Mikko's now enthusiastically on board, we are one step closer. Don't you just adore his drawing of a hedgehog? Totally unprompted. We made a shopping list and went to the pet store to get some supplies.
Q4. What if something bad happens? I’ve heard about horrible things that can happen during a birth.A. We’d be really screwed. Once we get out into the woods by the fire and the drummers burning incense, we enter a force field and can’t leave it to go to a hospital. Ambulances can’t get in, either.
Q5. Is the midwife trained? A. If you’re lucky…but if not, usually one of the drummers (by the fire, in the woods) will drop his drum and put out his incense and come over to help in an emergency.
Jim Gaffigan: Mr. Universe - 4 KIDS (by jimgaffigan)
"Four kids. If you want to know what it’s like to have a fourth, just imagine you’re drowning … and then someone hands you a baby."
"We had all our babies at home … just to make you feel uncomfortable."
"People always assume there was some laziness involved. ‘You didn’t want to go to the hospital?’ ‘It was far. I didn’t feel like putting on pants.’"
"People are like, ‘You didn’t want to go to that germ-infested building where sick people congregate? … Didn’t your wife want to give birth in a gown someone died in yesterday?’"
"There was also a midwife there, because we believe in witchcraft."
I'm Lauren Wayne, writer and natural parent. I embrace attached parenting with an emphasis toward green living.
Riding the rails with my husband, Crackerdog Sam, and our hobo kids, Mikko Lint Picker (born June 2007), Alrik Irontrousers (born May 2011), and Karsten (born October 2014). Trying every day to parent intentionally and with grace.
— it comes in white, black, and beige, so choose the one that coordinates best.
I'm Lauren Wayne, writer and natural parent. I embrace attached parenting with an emphasis toward green living. 
