Working without a pattern. Attempt 1. Raglan peasant style.

The kids were having so much fun with the air-dry clay. I couldn't resist making something too. I've never tried an elephant before. I may have to figure out a pattern to sew one too...

Birthday party guests love self-hardening clay. If you time it right it should be slightly hard enough to paint when they are ready to sit down again after a few games. Our friend is holding up some magnets he painted that were pre-formed in shapes of cupcakes and ice cream.

The cake.

Some air-dry clay and preformed magnets to paint. Fun birthday party crafts!

Better lighting on one- I'm no photographer. A quick construction paper creation created with the help of a small assistant. Thanks Abigail!

My first internet fabric purchase. It arrived on Friday and she was wearing this on Saturday. She likes it, I think it is cheerful. There was also a fabric with pink bubbles on it. I'll work on that next week.

These gummies are so yummy, fun, and easy to make. We made red, green, and GRAPE. (I just love the grape!)These bunnies are standing up to show how sturdy they are. My capable assistant also whipped out 2 dozen cupcakes while we were in the kitchen. A perfect "Goodie and a Movie" night. Thanks Dana!

The red turned out ok too. Again, what to do with just one ball?

Another sandwich wrapper. The fabric is shiny on one side to keep the sandwich fresh.

So the blue turned out yummy after all...I mean not too bad. Kind of jewel tones. But what to do with just one skein of wool?

Beautiful yarn, with beautiful color mixing. I was totally loving how perfect things were going.

And then things went terribly different from my lovely plan.

Fun sandwich wrap. Although, we still use tupperware for our sandwiches, this velcro wrap made with laminated fabric will keep our sandwiches fresh too. What a great alternative to ziploc baggies- which are devastating to the environment.

What can you do with one old cardboard food package, and 6 hours to spend in an empty space? Make a kitchen! Here is the stovetop and counter, some broccoli, carrots, waffles, potatoes, tomatoes, asparagus, bread, eggs, etc. You get the idea. Took a long time to make and hours of play. Who knew that a box of granola bars could be so useful, especially the box! A note on those hours; a caution to anyone who flies standby, you may want to consider a confirmed ticket.

A birthday party goodie bag treat. These melty beads in the theme of a pirate are way more fun than candy loot.

Polymer clay 'stick'. Sliced thin, poked 2 holes, baked, attatched to sock as button. Someone bought a 10 pack of all white socks. This will help us keep better track.

I was having a hard time keeping track of the pencil. This should work fine, I made it big enough to hold a few. It has an elastic strap to hold it around the cover of the notebook. Not a great sewing job, but I had a lot of help and had to cut and sew very quickly to avoid little chubby fingers.

I thought keeping a journal would be a good resolution for the new year. I'm not a writer, but a quick sentence about what I'd like to remember from the day, what I am thankful for, and what I've created. Also, a running list of what I'd like to create. Seems simple, but I failed to write in it yesterday. The first day.

Some scraps of batik cut in the Sizzix variable heart shapes then decoupage glued onto a composition book. I would have bought a new pretty journal, but, have you ever tried to do that with a bunch of kids?

This easel was a gift from Dana. (Ikea is so cool) Just what a budding artist can flourish with.

These floam creations abound. The package actually says "no mess". I cannot describe how utterly misrepresentative that is.

Not a great angle, but this little vest matches a dress and a skirt to complete the trio.