Hispanic Hertiage Month--Some Legends of Puerto Rico

Hispanic Heritage Month is every September 15th to October 15th. Last year we really focused on Mexico for Hispanic Heritage Month. We also have done two Mexican Cinderella tales in our Fairy Tales in Different Culture series (as well as a Hispanic American version). This year we are going to expand out a bit. You will be seeing some Hispanic Heritage posts in our Fairy Tales in Different Cultures series (including this week) as well as our Flamingo Friday posts. Today I am going to share with you two wonderful picture books that tell two legends from Puerto Rico. Before I begin with the books, I need to send out a huge thank you to Daria over at Daria Music for sending these great books to me. If you have not checked out Daria's site, you should. She has amazing CD's as well as a great monthly page with several giveaways each month. This month she is giving away a basket full of castanets and a set of fair trade zamponas.

For my little ukulele player...

Have you heard about the Waverize It! Facebook contest over at Jo-Ann Fabrics? I have been waiting to tell you all about it. Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts and Waverly Fabrics have joined together to celebrate National Sewing Month and Waverly's 90th Anniversary to bring this amazing contest! To help advertise for the contest Jo-Ann's sent me two yards of Waverly fabric to make something outside the box. Well I thought the perfect thing to make would be a case for Hazel's ukulele. Now I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, since I have not shared about her ukulele yet here. 

Back in June, we were at the Cape visiting my parents and my sister and nephew came up. My sister was dropping my nephew off for his six week visit. Well my sister has started to learn to play the ukulele and she had hers and her son's with her. Hazel loved playing her cousin's ukulele so much. Well my sister had happened to buy a ukulele before finding her son's and didn't know what to do with it, so she mailed it to Hazel. Talk about a wonderful surprise package!! Hazel was so excited!! All we had to carry it around and store it in was the box that it was sent in. Not all that pretty or exciting. I also didn't like to take it to too many places since I didn't trust the box to last forever. However Hazel had other plans. She wanted to bring it to both sets of grandparents and then she had an invitation to play at the library with some of the librarians.  The first week, the librarians forgot their ukuleles so Hazel played by herself. The next week, only one remembered hers, so she and Hazel played together. She happens to be the children's librarian so she tried to teach Hazel a bit. (Note: Since I did not ask permission of the librarians I am blocking out their faces.)

Then this past Monday, three of the librarians brought their ukuleles in. (We had only planned on two, but a third was working at a different time and brought it in since she knew we were on the schedule.)

Oh, and then there was one of Hazel's friends at Trader Joe's (yes, my daughter has friends at every store) who wanted to hear her play, so we stopped there one of the Mondays, but she wasn't there, so Hazel played for other friends there. Needless to say with all this public playing, I wanted Hazel to have something besides a cardboard box to carry it in. Oh, she has also been told she can play at church anytime as well for a service.  Now enters the Waverize It! Contest. (If you would like to hear Hazel play and sing, you can go here.)

Now I had been contacted to see if I would I would like to help promote this contest for National Sewing Month which is September. It is put on by Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores and Waverly Fabrics. Waverly is celebrating its 90th anniversary.  I of course jumped at the chance. They sent me two yards of fabric.

They asked the bloggers to Waverize their lives by making something with this fabric for every day use. I thought a ukulele case would be perfect. Then I thought about what I would want. I wanted it to be padded on the inside to protect the instrument and to be stiff on the outside to protect from banging, etc. I decided to put between the lining and the exterior, quilt batting and plastic canvas. This way the case is fully washable. I also envisioned it having a zipper. I called my sister and talked to her about it and she said to make sure the zipper went around the head of the ukulele, so I did. 

My first idea was to use the box as a pattern, but I decided to be more sophisticated. I traced the ukulele and added a bit for seam allowance and give and used this for the base. I also wanted to give it a pocket so she could store something small like her picks. Then I made a little bag to put the picks in with some of the scraps. I attached a ribbon to it so we can attach it tothe case so she doesn't lose them. She doesn't really use her picks anymore, but my sister sent her some, so she has them. 

I put a pocket with Velcro closure on the front. I also added some iron-on flowers and star to jazz it up for my sparkly girl. 

Now if I had this to redo, I would sew it in a different order. I was not sure which to do first with the plastic canvas as part of the lining. I should have sewn the zipper in first. Oops!! It is a little messier than I had hoped, but it works.

And Hazel loves it!! I used a parachute clip to make the strap adjustable so it can grow with her. I put a flower pin on it to make it work a bit better for her now. 

With some of the remaining fabric, I made Hazel a tote bag so she can bring her music (if she ever officially learns how to play and read music) with her and a little zippered pouch to keep money or a key in. The pouch fits in the pocket on the case as well as on the tote.

Hazel asked what she could use the bag for and I suggested music or library books or to take her toys to Nonni's. Then she got really excited about it.

So that has been one of our main forms of entertainment this summer. Hazel LOVES playing her ukulele. And now she has a wonderful case to take it places. The music teacher at her new school already told her to bring it in when they have music class. Needless to say, Hazel is very excited.

Now it is your turn to head over and Waverize your life. To enter the Waverize It! Facebook Contest, just sew something unique with Waverly fabric and take a picture of it. Then head over to this Facebook page to enter. You can also check out the entries that have already been submitted there. The Grand Prize is 30 yards of your favorite Waverly fabric and a $250 Jo-Ann Gift Card. Then there are nine Second Place Winners who get 9 yards of their favorite Waverly fabric and a $150 Jo-Ann Gift Card. You can get more details here.

Amazing Prizes I Won This Month

This month I have been very lucky! I won two contests!! I won first place in the Multicultural Kid Blogs Pinterest Scavenger Hunt and I won one of Daria's contests on her Monthly Song Page. I thought I would share with you some of the amazing things that have been arriving in the mail the past two weeks. 

Now first we won some electronic books. Now we are a pretty low-tech family (old fashion cell phones, etc.), so I do not have a Kindle or anything of that sort, so I got the pdf versions. From Be Bilingual, we got the pdf version of Be Bilingual Practical Ideas for Multilingual Families by Annika Bourgogne. I have not had a chance to read it yet, but since Hazel's new school focuses on Latin, I think I may try to refresh my high school Spanish and teach her some as well. Which leads us into our next electronic prize. From the Spanish Playground we got Los Pollitos Story and Coloring Book and we got Spanish Animal Cards (cards are available for purchase here). To go with the Los Pollitos we got this adorable wooden chicken toy. 

When you hold the toy by the handle the chickens peck at the food. The toy next to it also came from Spanish Playground. It is a top game called Toma Todo. Hazel and I tried to play the other day. It is a great introduction to learning Spanish for us.

Next we got some books. From Hartlyn Kids we got The Bamboo Dance by Cress Sia and one mock passport. The book contains a sticker for the passport. The Bamboo Dance is about two boys in the Philippines. It introduces some Philippine food, dance and culture. It is a perfect book to add to our Multicultural Library. 

We also received two wonderful books from Lee & Low Books.  The first is Rainbow Stew by Cathryn Falwell.  This book is about a group of kids who are visiting their grandfather on a rainy day. Normally they go out to play, but with the rain, they cannot. Their grandfather suggests making his famous rainbow stew. It requires going out to the garden and picking all the colors of the rainbow to put in the stew. It is a wonderful book about family togetherness, healthy eating and more.  Hazel asked to make rainbow stew after we read it.

The second book from Lee & Low Books is How Far Do You Love Me? by Lulu Delacre.  This wonderful book travels the world with how far a parent loves her child and the child loves the parent. It covers all the continents and gives a quick view of each as well as culture there. Another wonderful addition to our library.

The next  thing we won is a stuffed China from Plushkies. I thought Hazel would be more into this, but she did not seem as interested as I expected. However maybe the next time we discuss China she will get more into it. She was also overwhelmed since there were three packages awaiting our return from Cape Cod this week.

Our final prize for the Multicultural Kid Blogs Pinterest Scavenger Hunt is a Caxixi Woven Rattle from Africa which was provided by World Music for Children by Daria. We also happened to win Daria's monthly contest and won two kazoos. Hazel LOVES the kazoo. She figured since we won two, one is for her and one is for me. She has not stopped playing hers since we opened them the other day.

Now Daria has several contests on her Monthly Song Page each month and this month she has a link party for African posts. Make sure you stop over to enter and share!

Thank you to everyone who provided prizes for the contests!! We are loving ours! And a huge thank you to Leanna over at All Done Monkey who organized the amazing scavenger hunt!! And if you are interested in checking out the posts that needed to be pinned for the hunt, you can check out my board. There were so many great multicultural ideas shared there.
 

Best Halloween Costume Contest

Ok, so I was thinking, wouldn't it be fun to share our kids' (or our own) Halloween costumes and pick our favorites. So here it is!

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All you have to do is link up the costume you want to enter. If you do not have a blog or a post with the picture you can use either your blog address or Crafty Moms Share for the address and then upload a picture from your computer! You can enter more than one (and they can be from the same post). Enter each costume separately. Then display the button on your blog either in the post or somewhere else and ask people to come vote for their favorite costume. The winner will get a homemade felt bat. We will follow my Giveaway Rules, however this is open internationally. A winner will be announced on November 15th!

Fiber One Snackcessory Challenge

Have you entered my current giveaway yet? Come win the fantastic book to inspire creativity and imagination!!

A bit ago I was contacted and asked if I would make and share a Fiber One Snackcessory to help promote the contest they currently are running. They offered to send me all the materials I would need to make this Snackcessory. I was intrigued and needed a bit of creativity challenge so I said yes. This weekend a package arrived with my supplies.

Now first what is a snackcessory? Well it is a container to carry your Fiber One bar (or any other snack). I'll admit it took me awhile to decide to do this because I try to stay away from most bars of any type and really any processed food, but I figured we are always looking for ways to keep snacks so why not try it.

Second, what is the challenge? You must design and enter your own snackcessory at Fiber One Snackcessory Challenge. You will have a chance to win a trip for two to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City in February 2013 and the nine finalists will each be awarded a $500 gift card for a handbag of their choice and a box of Fiber One Bars and Brownies.

Well my package arrived this weekend. It had a black container that looks like it is a hard case eye glass case, adhesive spray, a plastic ziplock bag, a small jar of glitter, a Fiber One bar, and directions. At first I was going to not do the glitter. My big fear was and is the glitter getting everywhere. I attempted to seal it, but I must admit it is coming off a bit still.

They asked us to personalize them, so I helped Hazel add some gems this morning. They were sticker gems, but did not stick to the glitter. We used glue which made them slide around a bit and they dropped a bit down the side. They originally were all in a line. Then I added her name in glitter glue. She wanted the black case as soon as she saw it. She loves opening and closing it and needless to say, for her, glitter only makes it better.

Then I decided to get creative. My first thought had been cover it with fabric. I thought about doing it like the fabric covered Easter eggs. Instead I decided since I knew Hazel would love the glitter to do some fabric covered boxes. My next challenge was finding the right size box. I found two. One is from dollhouse furniture (as a miniaturist I save lots of little boxes and containers) and one is from modeling wax that I bought for Hazel that we have not used yet. I added adhesive Velcro to the dollhouse furniture box so it could close and stay closed. Hazel added princess stickers. I think this one is for her as well.

Then I got to thinking of one Hazel could make with me. I wanted it to be more than covering a box. I thought of sewing one, but Hazel couldn't help with that. I came up with toilet paper rolls. I decided to double them up so it would be stronger. Now I'm imaging using this in a purse or school bag, so you want it to be strong as to not crush your bar. I traced the bottom of one of them twice and cut out the circles from some cardboard we had in recycling. I glued the bottom on and then for the top I cut a piece or ribbon. I glued the ribbon onto the circle so it had both ends hanging off a good amount. I glued one end to the tube and folded the other end and secured the fold with glue. I let them dry (or at least I did with the one Hazel made which turned out better). Next we picked fabric and cut out two circles slightly bigger than the cardboard circles and a rectangle big enough to cover the toilet paper roll. I used pinking shears so I would not have to worry about fraying. Hazel picked some of the nursery rhyme fabric I had leftover from her quilt. We Mod Podged the fabric on. We did the circles first and then the rectangle. We let this dry. Then I cut a adhesive Velcro square to fit the ribbon and put Velcro so it would close. And yes, the Fiber One bar does fit inside! I think I may go enter this one in the challenge! Won't you join me in it?

Summer, Beach & Mermaids

So my mother-in-law asked me to print her a copy of the picture above in as an 8" by 10". I did, but it got me thinking about beach frames. So while at Michaels the other day I picked up two inexpensive frames on clearance. I knew I would cover them with shells and such so I didn't worry about their colors. I also bought some more shells and sea glass. Then I saw the Mermaid Contest over at Taming the Goblin.

Over the weekend, we made the frames. We decided to start by covering the frames with sand. We had some from last year's fairy garden. So our first step is to spread some glue on the frames. Hazel loved doing this!

Then we did our best to cover them with sand.

At this point we should have let the glue dry, but I had an anxious three-year-old helping me so we went ahead. She could not wait to start gluing on the shells, rocks and sea glass. (Sorry the picture came out a bit blurry.)

Then we let the glue dry for a few days (and it still wasn't completely dry--guess I globbed it on a bit much). By the way we used craft glue. I called my mother who just made one of those shell wreaths to see what she used and she used a hot glue gun, but didn't recommend it with Hazel helping. She thought craft glue would work fine and it did.

Mermaid Taking a Nap Framed

While it was drying I looked for pictures of mermaids. I found several at Graphics Fairy, but they were more vintage and not as kind looking as I hoped for. I did a search and came across Deviant Art. My favorite there is Mermaid Taking a Nap. Of the four I showed to Hazel, her favorite is one I found on Graphics Hunt. There are so many out there and I tried to look for friendly and not too sexy ones.

Hazel's Favorite Framed

Then I hung them in the family room to get some pictures. After that I put Hazel's favorite in her room and I changed the picture in my favorite to the beach picture. After all this is what I bought the frames for.

I do think we are going to use some of the wooden frames I bought ages ago to make some more shell frames for our mermaid pictures and for her beach picture as gifts.

So how do you like our mermaid inspired craft? I'm off to enter it in Taming the Goblin's Contest.




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