Bunny Finger Puppets

For Easter this year, Z and I made bunny finger puppets to give to her classmates along with mini chocolate eggs. I was inspired by a craft I came across on Purl Soho. The puppets were really easy and fun to make but it took a lot longer than I had anticipated which is why the puppets have no eye or tail. If I had managed my time better or realised how long it would take, I would have added buttons for eyes and a small wool pom-pom as a tail.

If you would like to make them; it's fairly simple.
1) For each puppet you will need two colours of felt (we used pale pink/white, fuschia/white, red/white and dark grey/light grey combos - our white felt had a lovely silver shimmer to it). We had some felt in our craft closet and picked up the rest from Fabricland.
2) Draw an outline of a bunny so that it's height from head to the base (without the bunny ears) is as long as your index finger (ours was roughly 3" and the bunny ears were an additional 1.5" long). Cut two of each colour for one finger puppet.
3) Sandwich one colour between the other (for example, I placed both dark grey bunny pieces between the light grey ones) and stitch around the body using a blanket stitch. To make the nose, use several blanket stitches in pink.

!nkspiration: Olimpia Zagnoli

One of my favourite illustrators Olimpia Zagnoli has art directed Timbuktu, the first children's magazine designed especially for the iPad. I've always loved the clean, crisp yet whimsically joyful feeling of her illustrations and so I am absolutely loving Timbuktu's modern design.

 (first three images via Olimpia Zagnoli)

(Timbuktu first spotted on SwissMiss)

Map of the World

I grew up with a world map in our hallway and a globe on my desk. Our favourite childhood in-car game was 'countries, cities, places'. Coincidentally, one of the first few gifts I gave A while we were dating was a vintage world map. Needless to say, I love maps and having one around definitely improved my knowledge of places.

For the last few months I've been on a the lookout for a world map for Z. I'd love an illustrated map like this one by Julie Mercier or an interactive map such as this absolutely fabulous felt world globe hand-made by Jen Talbot. I'm inspired to make one for Z myself. 
 

via Design Mom

How to be an Explorer of the World...

Z started attending Montessori five full days each week, when I started work last April; it was a transition of sorts, emotional and physical. Her constant bout of illness eventually led to my resignation and I'm back to being a stay-at-home mom/freelancer (and loving it!). This April, she will only spend three days at school and two days at home. I'd like her to stay in school because Z is an introvert and the constant exposure to and interaction with children her age has allowed her to develop her social skills tremendously and she loves her time at school. But at the same time, I think we're both super excited about the days we get to spend together.

It's always been an effort to find activities that stimulate Z; she's super-curious, gets bored easily and tends to drift towards art-related activities. On our recent travels to Austin, and in my constant search of new resources; I came across a beautiful book, written and illustrated by the talented Keri Smith. "How to be an Explorer of the World - Portable Art Life Museum" is a guide to exploring your own environment with new eyes. What I particularly like about it is that it encourages activities that allow you to stretch your imagination and explore something familiar in a new way. It's certainly not a traditional parenting book and nor was it meant to be, but it is certainly perfect and exactly what I had in mind to inspire both Z and I on our days together.

What resources do you use to inspire your parent-ego?

Things I have been meaning to do...

  

 

 

One of my resolutions this year has been to do the 'simple, everyday' things with Z that I always put off for another day just because something more seemingly important comes along.

I'd love to ride the TTC with Z this winter. Plant a tree in the spring. Enjoy a quiet, early morning bike ride on Lakeshore.

The above are a great reminder by Citizen Scholar - "Things You've Been Meaning To Do" - a series of illustrations by Joanne Neborsky

City in a Bag

A's best friend lives in London, England. His lovely daughter just turned one and while looking for local gifts, I came across these awesome wooden toys. Aren't they just gorgeous? I wish they had Toronto. 

They can be purchased here.