Homemade Mother's Day Gift Ideas

A week ago I began a link party for Homemade Mother's Day Gift Ideas. Have you shared yours yet? Today I thought I would feature a few in case your child still needs to make you one or maybe one for a grandmother.

Virtual Flat Stanley in the Netherlands

So last week I introduced our Virtual Flat Stanley Series. Flat Stanley is based on the book, Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown. There are now a series of these easy reader books about a boy named Stanley who is made flat when a bulletin board falls on him during the night. He is flat and small enough to be mailed in an envelope to travel.

Now this series began because my aunt emailed me a couple of weeks ago to help her step-granddaughter with her school Flat Stanley project. The Flat Stanley template they mailed to England never got returned, so she had nothing for the project. Since I live in the same state, I thought it might be fun for her to have some from around the world--even if they were just pictures due to time constraints. I e-mailed a few blogger friends and got a few responses. Now we are opening it up to anyone who wants to participate. You can get more information here.

Today Flat Stanley is in the Netherlands!

The first person who responded to my request was from E Strea Chikitu in the Netherlands. For those who have not had the pleasure of visiting this wonderful blog, you will often see her beautiful creations there--often crocheted and she even gives the patterns sometimes. Oh, how I wish I could crochet better. I may attempt it again after seeing her beautiful creations.

Now some information about this particular Flat Stanley:

On April 30th our queen handed over her crown to her oldest son. And so we have a new King this week.Our oldest daughter gave Stanley woodden shoes and Dutch National colors so he will be ready to celebrate The Crowningsday.Stanley is in our front yard with Rozemarijn. We put out the flag since it's our new Kings birthday today.

This picture is for the prince becoming king.

You can see more pictures of honoring the new king at E Chikitu Strea .

Hazel and I wanted to explore The Netherlands a bit more. After all the whole point of this series to learn more about other places. Luckily we had a few books from the library and found some crafts and coloring pages at DLTK's Crafts for Kids. The first book we have out is Easy Breakfasts From Around the World by Sheila Griffin Llanas. Now we had this book for Around the World in 12 Dishes, so you will see it again soon as we do our post about Finland.

This book is wonderful because it gives a little introduction to each country and then an easy recipe for a breakfast there. So our breakfast from the Netherlands was Anijsmelk and Hagelslag. Anijsmelk is warm milk flavored with anise seeds and honey or sugar. Hazel loved it!! I was actually surprised at how good it was since I am not usually a fan of anise seeds. Then Hagelslag is toast with chocolate sprinkles on it. Now we didn't have any chocolate sprinkles, but we had leftover Christmas sprinkles so we used those.

We also had some Gouda cheese. We made Hazel's toast and cheese into butterflies. We happened to use whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread for the toast. Oh, and we cut up some apple since breakfast in our house is not complete without some fruit.

Crushing the Anise Seeds

Hazel enjoyed playing chef. We made this when she stayed home with a cold the other day, so it gave her something fun to do in the morning.

Stirring the Anijsmelk

Spreading butter on the toast

Her favorite part was of course putting on the sprinkles. I have to admit we had red and green sprinkles all over our kitchen after this breakfast.

We also wanted to learn a bit about the culture. We did some coloring pages where we saw the wooden clogs similar to the ones on Flat Stanley as well as windmills and tulips. Plus of course a map and a flag.

We also made a windmill from a toilet paper roll. We got his craft from DLTK.

Steven was surprised when Hazel told him about the windmills in the Netherlands. 

We also took out of the library Birthdays Around the World by Mary D. Lankford. Now since one of Hazel's dolls or stuffed animal has a birthday every day, we can say she loves birthdays. So I thought she might enjoy hearing some of the customs in other countries. This book gives a little introduction about each country as well. For example it tells us at The Netherlands means the low lands. It also goes into how the windmills were used to pump water from the land. Now they use diesel and electric pumps.

In the Netherlands, the family often decorates a birthday chair. They may use garland called slingers. The birthday child often gets to choose the food for the evening meal and stays up later than usual. Traditionally they have very rich and elaborate pastries called gebakjes. A birthday cake is served without candles. For a very large or special birthday they may have an ice cream cake. A game often played at a party is Koekhappen. Children are blindfolded and try to eat a soft cookie hanging on a string. Another traditional birthday game is Zacdoekje Leggen or Drop the Handkerchief. Children sit in a circle and one child is It. The It child walks around the circle and if they catch someone not paying attention they drop the handkerchief behind that child and then that child has to chase the It child around the circle. If they tag the It child they get to sit back down, but if the It child makes it back to the empty spot in the circle, the new child is It. Editorial Note: I have been informed that the family with this wonderful Flat Stanley does put candles in the birthday cakes.

So that is what we learned while Flat Stanley is in the Netherlands. We hope you will join us next week to see where Flat Stanley is visiting.

Flat Stanley's Travels

Fairy Tales in Different Cultures--Domitila

Ok, in honor of Cinco de Mayo (one day late) we will do another Mexican Cinderella. This one is called Domitila and the version we read was adopted by Jewell Reinhart Coburn. We had big plans to do lots of Mexican crafts to share with you for Cinco de Mayo, but it didn't happen. I have realized two things, the weather is nice so we want to be outside and Hazel needs time just to play with her toys right now, so most of the crafts will wait until after her school and classes end. Since we shared Adelita, another Mexican Cinderella, two weeks ago, we will not share all the information about Mexico. However I thought it would be fun to share a bit about Cinco de Mayo. 

Cinco de Mayo is Spanish for the fifth of May. It is a special holiday in Mexico because it commemorates the day Benito Juarez, who was president of Mexico, led his followers to a temporary victory on May 5, 1862 against the French army led by Archduke Maximilian of Austria in Pueblo. The French did eventually succeed to throw out Juarez, but after pressure from the United States, France withdrew and Maximilian was executed. Juarez returned to Mexico and remained president until his death in 1872.  (Source: Fiesta! Mexico's Great Celebrations by Elizabeth Silverthorne )

Now onto our story for this week: Domitila! One of the things I love about this book is on every other page is a picture and on the word pages there is a beautiful trim with a Spanish phrase on top and the English on the bottom. Each phrase is a piece of good life advice or saying.

On a rancho in the Mexican state of Hidalgo lived a poor farmer and his wife with their only child, a daughter named Domitila. The family worked hard and were very happy together. Her mother always told her, "Do every task with care, and always add a generous dash of love."  Together they built the bricks for their adobe casa. One day there was a very bad storm their house was destroyed and Domitila's mother became ill. Their small corn patch was also destroyed. Her father sent Domitila to the governor's mansion since he heard they were paying well for cooks there and her money could help feed them until they could grow some more corn. 

While cooking in the governor's mansion her cooking skills were recognized and she became the second cook. One night she was in charge of cooking dinner for the abuela and the eldest son of the governor.  The arrogant son was upset at what she served and called for her. The abuela told him to try the food first and he loved it.  The next morning he expected food just as good, but during the night Domitila had been called home since her mother was gravely ill. 

Source

She arrived home too late to see her mother. She stayed with her father in mourning. In the meantime, the eldest son decided to find the mysterious cook.  He only knew she was a great cook, lived on a rancho in Hidalgo and made beautiful leather pieces. He rode all over Hidalgo in search of her.  An evil widow sent him on a wild goose chase and then went to Domitila's father's casa so she could trick the governor's son into marrying her daughter.

While visiting Domitila's casa, the evil widow ends up tricking Domitila's father into marrying her. Now Domitila has to serve her evil stepmother and lazy stepsister.  Domitila discovers what it is like to work without happiness and love. 

Meanwhile, the governor's son smells the delicious delicacies of Domitila's at the fall fiesta. The women at the fiesta tell him all about Domitila and where to find her. Sure enough he finds her and falls in love with her. They get married and the evil widow and her daughter run away. Domitila's father joins the happy couple at the governor's mansion where they all live happily.

I loved the positive messages throughout the book and that Domitila worked to help her parents. She did not need rescuing by the governor's son. I really enjoyed this story.

Sharing Saturday 13-18

If you have a homemade Mother's Day Gift idea, please share it here!

 
Well my first a reminder that Chelle over at Having Fun at Chelle's House has decided her life is a bit too crazy to keep co-hosting with me right now, so I am back to being solo. If you have not had a chance to check out last week's wonderful ideas shared, you really should. I was so inspired!! Here are my features. First of course is the most clicked from My Snippets of Inspiration: 5 Things I'll Never Buy Again. She shares her recipes for breadcrumbs, cream of --- soup, and more!

Then a couple of my absolute favorites (maybe because they are crafts I have tried).

1) From Bridgit's Bell: Flower Fairies
2) From Nestled Under Rainbows: Knitted Waldorf Doll Hair



Last week there seemed to be a large number of gardening type posts. Here are a few of my favorites (but there are more, so go back and check them out!).

1) From Buggy and Buddy: Planting a Bulb (Love the printable to record observations.)
2) From Mommy the Teacher: Spring Time Science (Oh, I love the hypothesis to go with the experiment.)
3) From Little Wonders' Days: Sensory Garden (Yes, something for all five senses!)
4) From Life with Moore Babies: Growing Pumpkins in Pumpkins (Yes, they planted pumpkin seeds inside pumpkins and then planted the entire pumpkin after they were growing. Oh, Hazel would love this!!)

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here or earlier this week, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog. 

Featured Button Code:

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From Your Hostess: This week has been busy for me (at some point I will share what has been taking our time and energy, but I think it will be after we have made some decisions), so only a few posts including our Virtual Flat Stanley Series (won't you come join us?),  Some more Flat Sophias, a Mommy/Daughter Day including ice cream at a farm and Hazel's Mother's Day gifts for me and her grandmothers.

 

Now for This Week's Party 
 
A Few Simple Guidelines:
1)  Please follow Crafty Moms Share via GFC (or one of the other ways that work for you).  

2)  Link any kid-friendly, child-centered post. Please no etsy shops or giveaways, etc.  Remember to link to your actual post. 

3) Post the newly updated button on your sidebar or somewhere on your blog to help spread the word.

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4) I would love it if you would follow me on Facebook and Google+

Disclaimer: By sharing here, you are giving Crafty Moms Share permission to use your photos for features and to pin your craft at Pinterest. 

More Flat Stanley/Sophias

Do you have a great idea for a Mother's Day gift made by a child? Please share them here!

Yesterday I shared our idea of a Virtual Flat Stanley. I thought I would share two more Flat Sophias we have made and the rough idea of the paragraph we are looking for from people.

 Hazel wanted us to duplicate the original Flat Sophia we made for my aunt. Unfortunately Daddy cleaned up our supplies by throwing them away so we did not have the same paper for the top. This was our substitute one where we cut a doily for the lace trim.

 Hazel was really excited when I braided this one's hair so it would look like her. She wanted this one to wear a dress as well. We used craft tape for the ribbon.

Now for a sample paragraph:

My name is Hazel and I am four-years-old. I live North of Boston in Massachusetts which is in the United States. We took Flat Sophia to the Saugus Iron Works. This is a reconstruction of the first successful iron works in the New World. Unfortunately the Iron Works was not open for the season yet, so we only got a picture by the sign and the gate. Then we took Flat Sophia to the library and went to a Mother Goose Story Time there. All the kids got stamps on their hands, so Ms. Martha stamped Flat Sophia for us.

You can put in as much information about where you live as you want. When I use it, I will do some research as well.

Then I went to PicMonkey to try to add a picture to the button. If you save the button on your computer you can add your Flat Stanley/Sophia picture to the button as your own overlay in the Edit. Here is how ours looks.

Please visit our original Virtual Flat Stanely/Sophia post for all the details and the template!