The Details for the Multicultural Kid blogs Pinterest Scavenger Hunt!!

Are you up for the adventure?

Some of you may know about our Multicultural Kid Blogs group. We have slowly been building our presence on the web, first with a Facebook page, then a subscription to all of our Facebook pages, and now finally our own Twitter and Pinterest accounts. And now, we are officially launching the Multicultural Kid Blogs website, where you can discover our member blogs, learn about our blogging carnivals, find great products and books, and more! To help introduce you to the wonderful blogs that make up this group, we have created a Pinterest Scavenger Hunt, which will run from July 15 to July 28. You will have until July 31 to submit your entry, and the drawing will take place on August 1. You could win one of four fabulous prize packages!

Here's how it works:

Create a Pinterest board specifically for the contest and name the board "Multicultural Kid Blogs Pinterest Scavenger Hunt." Each day a new clue (or two!) will be revealed. Follow the clue to the blog of the day and pin the post described in the clue. (Any image from the post is fine). In the Rafflecopter below, enter the link to the Pinterest board you created for this contest. The Rafflecopter will also have lots of other ways to earn extra entries. The only required entry is the link to your Pinterest board. Please note: You can enter the Rafflecopter at any point during the contest. Obviously your board won't be complete until the end of the contest, but you can enter the link in the Rafflecopter before then. If your name is drawn at the end of the contest, we will check your board at that time. The final clue will be given July 28. Participants will have until midnight Pacific time on July 31 to finalize their boards. The drawing will take place on August 1. Winners must have pinned all of the correct posts to their board. Winners will be notified via email and must respond within 48 hours or another name will be drawn. Good luck, explorers!

Scavenger Hunt Schedule

(Visit the Scavenger Hunt main page for a full list of clues as they are revealed).

July 15

All Done Monkey

Crystal's Tiny Treasures

July 16

The Squishable Baby

July 17

Be Bilingual

July 18

the piri-piri lexicon

MommyMaestra

July 19

Creative World of Varya

Expat Life With a Double Buggy

July 20

Sprout's Bookshelf

Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns

July 21

Open Wide the World

MotherTongues

July 22

MarocMama

Head of the Heard

July 23

For the Love of Spanish

July 24

InCultureParent

July 25

Crafty Moms Share

The Art of Home Education

July 26

The European Mama

Spanish Playground

July 27

Vibrant Wanderings

A Hotchpotch Hijabi in Italy

July 28

Kids Yoga Stories

Final day to enter the contest is July 31, 2013, at midnight PDT. Drawing will take place on August 1, 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sharing Saturday 13-27

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I am always so inspired by each post shared. Last week was definitely that way, so if you have not had a chance to check them all out, please do so!! Last week we had a tie for the most clicked.

Disney Princesses Sightings and Peg Dolls

Have you entered my current giveaway?

Disney World Princesses

As you know we went to Disney World in June. Hazel loved meeting all the princesses. There is a McDonalds near our house that has had many of the princesses and I have taken her to see them there, but they only have the white ones since the actress is white. So on her must see list were Jasmine, Pocahontas and Tiana. Of course whenever we saw a chance to meet a character, Hazel wanted to even if she had no clue who the character was. We spent a lot of time waiting in character lines. I think she has now decided the princesses at McDonalds are actresses, but the ones in Disney World are the real ones.

To remember our visits I made Hazel some peg dolls for the princesses. (I still need to make a Merida and hope to make a mermaid Ariel one as well.) I got the idea from Pinterest. Apparently there are many out there and I cannot find the exact pin to give you the source I originally saw. I however played with their hair in different ways.

Now one of my favorite photos of Hazel meeting the princesses is this one of her and Rapunzel. She has just told Rapunzel that she dressed as her for Halloween.

Our count for princess sightings: 

Cinderella we saw 3 times.

Aurora/Sleeping Beauty we saw 3 times.

Belle we saw 2 times.

Ariel we saw 2 times (once in a dress and once as a mermaid).

Jasmine we saw 1 time.

Pocahontas we saw 1 time.

Tiana we saw 1 time.

Merida we saw 1 time (and it was after the heavy downpours so we were soaked).

Rapunzel we saw 1 time.

Snow White we saw 1 time. (Sorry, I cropped out her friend since he was in every picture of Hazel with Snow White.)

We did not see Mulan since we do not know her story and Hazel really has no idea who she is.

Now Hazel knows who the princesses are, but does not know all the stories behind them. She also has not seen many of the Disney movies since she is scared easily. She likes to watch Cinderella and Pocahontas, but that is about it for those movies. I won't let her even try Snow White or Aladdin. I remember seeing Snow White when I was five and I had nightmares for weeks afterward. My mother was not happy with my father for taking me. For Hazel the princesses are about beautiful dresses. She is at the age of loving dresses and the fancier the better. I remember being like that too, so I do not worry about how this will influence her since I know I grew up the same way.

Our Virtual Flat Stanley is in Kenya!

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

This month we are "traveling" with Around the World in 12 Dishes to Kenya and it seems only appropriate that is where our Flat Stanley is as well this month! This month's Flat Stanley comes from the children of Andrea at Ziezo - Crafting and Living in Kenya. Now in the past we have posted about Kenya. Our first was when Hazel did a post card exchange with Andrea's children. We also posted about Christmas in Kenya for the Christmas Around the World Blog Hop. Then we posted about a wonderful book, A Kenyan Christmas by Aunty Kiko which Andrea was kind enough to send me for my research on Christmas in Kenya. Since we have done a bit about Kenya itself and will do more next Tuesday for our Around the World in 12 Dishes post, I thought we would focus on the Maasai people there.

The Maasai (sometimes spelled Masai or Masaai) are an ethnic group of people in Kenya and Northern Tanzania. They are a well known group due to their location near many game parks in Eastern Africa and for their distinctive customs and dress. They are well known for their jewelry.

Source

Although the governments of Kenya and Tanzania have programs to encourage the Maasai to give up their semi-nomadic way of life, they continue their old customs. The speak Maa, but are also educated in English and Swahili (the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania). 

Source

The Maasai are a patriarchal group with the elder males sometimes making decisions for the entire Maasai group. They have a full body of oral law and most disputes are settled with a payment of cattle.  Many Maasai have become Christian and a lesser number Muslim. Their wealth is seen as the number of cattle and children. Their lives center around cattle since it is their main food source. Due to high infant death rates, children are not truly recognized until they are three moons. End of life is non-ceremonial with the Maasai. Bodies are left out for the scavengers. (Source)

Bridal Set of Necklaces (Source)

The Maasai live in a Kraal, which is a hut village or typically a group of huts surrounded by a stockade. (Source) The Maasai's is arranged in a circular fashion and the fence is made out of acacia thorns which keep the lions from attacking the cattle. It is the men's responsibility to build the fence and the women's to build the hut. Traditionally extended family share a Kraal, but with new land management system it is unusual to see a single family in a Kraal. The Inkajijik is the Maasai word for house. They are loaf shaped and made out of mud, sticks, cow dung, cow urine and grass. Women build the house as well as supply the water, collect firewood, milk the cattle, and cook for the family. Warriors are in charge of security while boys are in charge of the livestock care. With the arrival of formal schooling, the livestock care has become a parental responsibility while the boys are in school. 

Livestock is important to the economy of the Maasai. It is their primary source of income. The livestock they have are cattle, sheep and goats. A Maasai prayer is "May Creator give us cattle and children," or "Meishoo iyiook enkai inkishu o-nkera". 

The Maasai diet traditionally consists of meat, milk, and blood from the cattle. People drink blood on special occasions such as a circumcised person, a woman who gave birth or the sick and it is also used for intoxicated or hungover people. More recently the Maasai have become dependent on food produced other places like maize, rice, potatoes and cabbage. Some Maasai who live near crop farmers are forced to farm and use their own products as their main source of food. This is traditionally frowned upon by the Maasai since it is believed that tiling the ground is a crime against nature. (Source)

Source

The Maasai hunt lions. It is a sign of bravery to hunt a lion in the Maasai culture. Due to a decrease in the number of lions though, they now have group lion hunts instead of solo ones. They are hoping to give the lions a chance to increase their numbers again. Since the Maasai believe females are the giver of life in any species they do not hunt the female lions. They also have laws against hunting lions hurt by drought, snared or poisoned.  From the lion they take the mane, tail and claws. The women take the mane and beautifully bead it and give it back to the warrior. When the warrior becomes a junior elder he must through away the lion mane, however first he treat it with respect by sacrificing a sheep and rubbing the mane with a mixture of sheep oil and ochre. (Source)

Warrior Shield for Lion Hunting (Source)

With that we will stop looking at the Maasai. Now you will have to wait until next month to see where Flat Stanley shows up. And if you are interested in hosting Flat Stanley where you live, please check out the information here.

Flat Stanley/Sophia So Far (top 3 are Hazel's)

 

Sewing School 2 Book Review and Giveaway

I am so excited to be participating in part of the Sewing School 2 blog tour! I have been eying Sewing School by Amie Petronis Plumley and Andria Lisle for several years, but I kept reminding myself, that Hazel was too young for it still. Then I was asked to review their second book for kids which includes machine sewing. I of course jumped on the offer and they are also willing to give me a copy for a giveaway!

This book is written for the child who has not sewn on a machine. It goes through thirteen lessons from how to use the book, choosing a sewing machine and fabric and much more! Then there are some great projects that include something every child will love. Finally it has a review of hand sewing and more! Since Hazel cannot read, I could not have her go through the lessons, so we went straight to the projects. I looked through them first and picked some I thought she might like and gave her those to choose from. She chose a couple to try with me and I made a few without much help from her. Hazel was so excited to get to use the sewing machine for the first time!

The first project Hazel wanted to do was make the felt microphone. I took her to the craft store so she could choose the colors she wanted for her microphone. Then we found the pattern pieces. Now one of the things I love about this book is how the pattern pieces are clearly marked and have a picture of the finished project on each one. The pattern pieces are also well organized and in the project instructions it tells you on which pattern sheet (a total of four) you will find the pattern. Hazel helped trace the pattern, and she helped cut it out. Then we did a practice sewing machine run on one of the scraps. Then we tried it with the real piece. Next I showed her how to turn it the right way. She got a bit frustrated and had me finish it. Then she helped me stuff it, and she got one of her rhythm sticks to help with it. She even helped with the start of the hand sewing, but she got bored and had me finish it. I added a button so she would have an on-off switch or volume control. Needless to say she loves it! She is such a little diva.

Extra Pocket Belts

Next we looked at the zipper pouch, but since she had lost interest we did not make one right away. I started to make her the extra pocket belt. Now my daughter loves clothes that have pockets and always wants something special in them. Since so many girl clothes do not have pockets, I thought this would be great. I used wool felt for the project and then embellished it with a wool felt flower I had bought on clearance. I also put a piece of Velcro in it so it could close. We tried it on one of the belts I made her ages ago, but she never uses since she had trouble with the D-rings. The book suggested D-rings as well, but Hazel suggested making one with Velcro, so we went to the store and bought some webbing and Velcro. Then she got her belt. I also made an extra pocket belt with the other half of the square of wool felt and another embellishment for one of her friends from the Waldorf School. We went to her birthday party this weekend. I made her a peg doll to keep in her extra pocket as well.

I also looked at the snack packs. I thought this would be a nice easy one for Hazel. I had some Disney Princesses fabric scraps, and I made her a lined one with a ribbon so it could be a purse or a snack pack on the go. I also added a ribbon to the front of it. Then I made her two of the basic snack packs from the same fabric. I used my serger just so the edges of the fabric would be finished, but it is not necessary. Then I used the sticky back Velcro the book suggested. I am not sure how that will hold up, but I figured I can always replace it with the sew in kind later.

Our final project is the zipper pouch. Since going to Disney World, Minnie Mouse is Hazel's favorite character. I had bought this fabric before our trip in hopes of making her a dress, but never quite got to it. (She still wants me to.) We made the zipper pouch into a Minnie Mouse purse. My mother gave me a bag full of zippers awhile ago, so I looked in it for a 7-inch zipper and we found a lavender one. The book suggested hand sewing the zipper in, but we used the machine with my zipper foot. I can understand why the book would suggest to kids sewing on their own to hand sew it though. We added the Minnie Mouse head and the ribbon so it would be a purse. Hazel was dressing up as Minnie this afternoon. Since I have not made her a costume yet she wore her polka dot dress with her homemade mouse ears and her purse. Needless to say she loves it!

So those are the amazing projects we have attempted from this great book. Hazel is really wanting to make the guitar, but I keep saying when she is a little older. I guess I may have to break down and try that one next. She also is asking why she cannot have her own sewing machine. Hmm, I think she needs to master mine first and be able to actually do it on her own.

Make sure you stop by all the blog tour stops to check out the other great projects that are made (and more chances for winning your own copy). Here is the schedule!!

July 7 – Our Busy Homeschool

July 8 – scrumdilly-do!

July 9 – Crafty Moms Share

July 10 – Jane of All Trades

July 11 – Windy Lou

July 12 – Adventures of a DIY Mom

July 13 – Improv Diary

July 16 – He Sewed She Sewed

July 17 – Teach Beside Me

July 18 – All Things with Purpose

July 19 – The Crafty Crow

July 20 – Family Style School

July 21 – Such Designs

July 22 – Red Bird Crafts

July 23 – The Long Thread

July 25 - mayamade

Also if you want more information on the book or project ideas, stop by Sewing School's blog and their Facebook Page.Or of course you can go purchase it or if you can wait, enter to win it below!

Now for the fun part. The Giveaway!! I now am happy to say that one of you can have a copy of this great book. You do NOT need to know how to sew for your child to be able to learn from this book or for you to learn together. The giveaway is open only to residents of the United States. (My apologies all of my international readers.) Please also follow all of my regular Giveaway Rules.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For this post I received a copy of the book. All opinions and photos (except the book cover) are my own. Linked this post to CashNet Sweepstakes.