Ash Tree Meadow Holiday Discount

20% off Ash Tree Meadow Prints!

Ash Tree Meadow would like to send out a little bit of love for the Holidays! 20% off your purchase! Just type in HOLIDAY2011 when asked for a coupon code during checkout if you purchase something from the shop, and Etsy will discount your order by 20%! Hopefully, you can find someone who would love an Ash Tree Meadow print as a gift this Holiday season. Of course, you could just give yourself a little gift too! ;-)

Check it out on the left sidebar or here!

Tot School: 15.5 Months

~15.5 Months~

This week, in tot school, we worked quite a bit with our magnet board and a set of picture/object magnets.



We have been exploring and talking about the shape of a circle as well this week. You can see some circle objects peeking out behind her arm in this picture. The Stink Bug gets a kick out of digging through the entire container and pulling out the objects that are circles. Some times she will stick them on the board, other times she will stack them all in one hand and walk around the room with them, putting them in interesting places.





We have also been working with some picture/word flash cards. These cards have a picture on one side, and the word on the other. We mostly have been working with her identifying the picture, and signing or saying what it is. I will also show her the word but, I do not expect her to recognize the words.



This week we brought out a fun preschool game to play with; although, we have been making up our own toddler games with it. The game is made up of various farm animals, which can be separated into half's, and haystacks to hide them under.



Here is a close up of what they look like. We have had lots of fun, opening and closing the halves, and putting them in the container, one in each haystack. We also play "the nut shell game" where I ask the Stink Bug to figure out which haystack the animal is hiding under. Lots of fun to watch her "try" to follow the moving haystack. We are definitely working on some object permanence and tracking skills with that game!

Upcycled Sweater Toddler Dress 2

Upcycled Sweater Toddler Dress 2

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, I needed a new semi-casual dress for my Stink Bug to wear for our family get together. I really didn't want to go out and buy anything new so, I started digging around in my closet for some old sweaters that I was no longer wearing. I tend to have a pile of those hanging around.

This particular sweater no longer fit me well but, was in good shape. To get the main body pieces of the dress, I laid another dress (which currently fits my daughter) on top of my sweater. I cut around it, making sure to leave enough room for seam allowances. I only cut out the body sections here.




After that, I eye balled, and cut the length that I wanted her sleeves to be. Once again, being sure to leave enough room for seam allowances. I wanted to use the "curl" of the cuff so, I cut from the bottom of the sleeve. Less sewing for me! YAY!





With the body of the dress inside out, and the sleeve RIGHT side out, I tucked the sleeve in and pinned it. If you are unsure of whether or not your sleeve has the correct side out, pin it and turn the whole dress right side out. You will quickly see if you have it done correctly. Better safe, than have to spend your time seam ripping, and fixing! Go head and sew the sleeves as well as the sides of the dress.





Next, I eye balled how much of the neck of the sweater I wanted to use, and cut it. I wanted the neck to be somewhat large on the Stink Bug. (She has a larger head and HATES to have things pulled over it!) I thought it would add to the over all look as well. You may not like this look, by all means, change away!





Here is the neck, over the body of the dress.





I wanted to give the neckline a little bit more room, and shape so I cut out the front of the neckline a little bit deeper than the back.





Turn the dress inside out, if it isn't already, and the neck piece right side out. Pin together, just as you did with the sleeves. Check as before. Sew all the way around the neck once you have checked!





Turn your dress right side out and check your work!





Add some embellishments if you like. I used some of the left over sleeve fabric to add a little star. I zig-zag stitched around the edges to sew it onto the front of the dress.





Here is the cute owner of the dress, my Stink Bug! I made sure to leave her lots of room to wear it through the rest of the winter! I paired it with some cute leggings, and she was ready for Thanksgiving.





My model was ready to be finished, and did not want her picture taken ANYMORE! Unfortunately, this sad picture was the only one that I got of her standing up. I am sorry Stink Bug!





For you busy moms who are thinking, "Who has the time?!" I completed the dress, as well as one for Christmas, in one nap time. (Check out the other dress .) Which for my Stink Bug, was right at an hour. I even took pictures! I am sure you can do it in a nap time too!

Signing Saturday

Here is a little clip of some of our signing fun from this past Saturday! The Stink Bug is 15.5 months old!

Toddler Christmas List

(image source)

Not sure what to get your little one for Christmas this year? I thought I would share what our Stink Bug has on her list! She is currently 15 months old but, I have quite a few gifts on her list that I know she will need to "grow into" this year. Much can change in the development of a toddler in just a few short months. I find that it is better to have toys that she can grow into, rather than toys she will quickly grow out of.

I have tried to include information on where you can buy some of these, as well as approximately how much they cost! I hope this helps you make your little one's Christmas list! Oh and for those of you who are curious, this is THE list that we gave to asking relatives (grandparents, etc.) so, clearly your little one might not need bows or leggings! :-)

Here is a little snippet...



You can download her whole list for free here!

Signing Saturday

I thought I would start a fun new segment to my blog called Signing Saturday! I hope you enjoy getting to meet my Stink Bug! We were having a good time signing during lunch, not the best signing, but still fun all the same! Enjoy!

Tot School: 15 Months

~15 Months~

Our first activity this week was a tot tray activity. We worked on sponging up water. The Stink Bug has had a recent fascination with using paper towels to wipe EVERYTHING! She gets a kick out of wiping her baby doll's faces too so, I figured, why not give it a try! I modeled how to do it once, by sprinkling some water on the tray and then wiping it up with the sponge. She really took off after that!



She got so into the water sprinkling that she enthusiastically shook it ALL over the tray, as well as herself.



The wiping she was a bit more careful with but, really wasn't into getting every drop wiped up. She really wanted to get the wiping over with so she could get back to the sprinkling!




We also worked on putting small objects into an ice cube tray again this week. This time we used "puffed" treats.



You can see how that went over...




She was of course more interested in using leaves!




We also worked on this AWESOME latches board. At first, I wasn't sure that she would be able to master the latches without assistance but, she has been fascinated by it, and by the end of the week mastered opening each one.




There are a few that she has a difficult time closing but, I think that is mostly because once the latch is unlatched, and the little door or window is opened, the activity is "finished" to her. I don't think that she really sees the point in latching it back each time. I will definitely keep this activity out for awhile for her to explore, and will bring it out again when we talk about numbers and colors. (Each door has a different latch as well as a color, number, and corresponding number of animals inside.)



Last but not least, we have been working a lot on shape sorting/puzzle type toys this week. We have a few toys that she used to practice this but, this is the only picture that I took. (This particular toy has a triangle, circle, and square.) This week she was able to do circles, without any issues, as well as stars and some squares. I believe that these shapes seem to be a little bit easier for her right now because they don't require her to turn her wrist quite as far to figure out how the shape fits into the hole. Triangles are a bit much for her at the moment.