Floral Fabric Sale

Spring is in the air today! Up in New York it's tipped over 50 degrees, and all I can think about is how ready I am for warm weather and some fun in the sun. So this week's fabric sale is going to have a floral fabric theme-- it won't be long till crocuses start to appear!

To get the 20% discount just call in anytime 9am-6pm EST toll free 1-800-231-4231 until next Friday and just mention this blog.

From left to right: vintage red rose yellow, floral spring bouquet, and pink rose polka dot.

Fabric Crafts and Sewing Projects

I think my favorite crafts are those that turn practical objects into something truly beautiful. With that in mind, here are some ideas for fabric crafts that will not only leave with something you can use, but with something that will make you happy every time you see it.

Decorated Fabric Glasses Case
Betz White provides detailed directions on how to make this adorable catapiller felt and fabric glasses case. As she points out, once you've got your fabrics picked out, the sky is the limit to what sort of decorations you can adorn the case with. So find a cheerful floral fabric or a chic fashion fabric, and get started!

Fabric Fat Quarters CD Holder Case
CD cases are great for travel or for the car, and Irene over at Mushroom Villagers has complete directions with photos on how to make a case that holds 6 CDs. However, if you wanted to make a larger case her method is easy to double or even tripple. So get some fat quarters of your favorite polka dot or stripe fabrics and get sewing! I think these could be a great handmade gift for any music lover.

Fabric Zippered Change Purse with Wristloop
If you or someone you know keeps misplacing their wallet, then maybe one of these fabric purses with a loop to go around your wrist is the answer. Split Yarn has all the directions need to turn your favorite cute vintage fabric into one of these purses. What a great idea for a handmade gift for any (slightly careless) little girl!

Is Recess just Play Time?

Turns out running around and climbing on jungle gyms and other outdoor games might be more than just fun. In an article published today, it turns out that research has shown that kids who get 15 minutes or more of recess in their school day do significantly better in school. They focus more, behave better, and get better grades.

It points out the irony in the fact that kids who misbehave in class are often punished with having recess taken away. What a way to make a problem worse!

It also suggests that maybe the boom in attention deficit disorder is a result of expecting kids to concentrate for too long. As a mom of one boy who its been suggested might need ADD medication, I find it VERY interesting that it has been found that walks in nature have been shown to be just as positive (if not more) as medication in a study of ADD elementary school kids.

Teachers today are more stressed than ever about making kids reach certain achievement levels, but it's clear that you don't get better kids by forcing them to act like adults. Kids thrive with active play, something I've always though just from watching my kids, but it's nice to see science backing this up.

The study also found that 30% of kids interviewed got little to no recess, and that many schools have been cutting back their recess. If this includes your kids school, do something! Organize with your PTA and/or write to the principal. When your a little kid, play is more than just play!

Monday Giveaway

Hope you all had a restful and enjoyable weekend. Of course I had to get sick with strep throat, but at least I had time to rest. While drinking plenty of mint tea I enjoyed reading your memories over your bedrooms from childhood. They reminded me that when you are a kid, your room really is the only place where you can feel in control. It's your bedroom where you start to create your own personality.

Anyway, here's my memory: as a kid I always partly enjoyed getting punished and "sent to my room." I mean, that was where all my toys were, how was that a punishment?

Congratulations to Christin for winning a pillow of her choice. I hope it helps make a kids room a little extra fun and colorful.

Following on this theme, this week The Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. will be giving away a product from our wide selection of kids wall art. Artist Jamie Letzner makes a wide range of beautiful name tiles that she designs and paints by hand. Pictured themes are kimono girls, gone fishing, butterflies, and baseball diamonds. but there are many more.

Here's how to win one of these adorable name tile sets for kids:

1. Leave a comment about a piece of art either your or your kid created recently.
2. Mention how you found this site
3. Check out the Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. to see what other kids wall art they sell.
4. Make sure I can contact you! Either leave an email address in your comment, or make sure that you have contact information on your blog profile.

You can receive an extra entry towards this giveaway if you link to this give-away in your blog and put that link in your comment. Or Twitter this giveaway and follow me on Twitter.

The give-away is open for entries until Sunday, March 1st, at 11:59 PM. Winners will be chosen at random, and announced Monday afternoon. Good luck!

Note: At this time, the Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. cannot ship give-away items internationally. They apologize for the inconvenience to all of you great people living outside of the U.S.

Fabric Craft Ideas

Just a couple more ideas of what do with all that fabric you've got lying around the house:

Fabric Wallets: These could be a fun way to use leftover quilting fabric to make a cute kids wallet. This website has full instructions as well as a free pattern to print out.

Fabric Silhouettes: Pick a toile, damask, or other geometric fabric as a background to create a fabric silhouette of your child that is sure to be a one of a kind keepsake. The Thompson family is kind enough to provided detailed instructions.

If you have a lot of unsightly cleaning supplies or other odds and ends under the sink, maybe a sink skirt is just what you need. I would recommend a floral fabric. Country Living has all the directions here.

Hope some of these ideas have helped!

Presidents Day Fabric Sale

So in honor of Presidents Day, this week the fabric sale at the Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. will be inspired by the color palate of America. So I've gone through our blue fabrics and red fabrics, and picked out three fabrics that have both red and blue (as well as white) in them. Call in anytime 9am-6pm EST toll free 1-800-231-4231 this week and just mention this blog to receive a 20% discount on any of these three fabrics.

From left to right, the fabrics are blue and red stripe, blue boat, and retro rocket fabric.

Monday Giveaway

Hope you all had a great weekend plus a great Valentines, and happy Presidents Day!

A little bit of Presidents Day trivia for you: out of 44 presidents, 8 were left handed: James A. Garfield, Herbert Hoover, Harry S. Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.

Congratulations to Aura for winning a girls charm bracelet.

This week the Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. is having a huge bedding sale. So I decided to have the giveaway for some our kids pillowcases and pillows made with fun fabric prints.

For boys, choose from vintage baseball, nautical, vintage airplane, and firetruck. For girls, choose from dragonfly, tea party, pink toile, and posy pillowcases.

Here's how to win:

1. Leave a comment about the favorite part of your bedroom as a kid.
2. Mention how you found this site
3. Check out the Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. to see their kids bedding sale.
4. Make sure I can contact you! Either leave an email address in your comment, or make sure that you have contact information on your blog profile.

You can receive an extra entry towards this giveaway if you link to this give-away in your blog and put that link in your comment. Or Twitter this giveaway and follow me on Twitter.

The giveaway is open for entries until Sunday, February 22nd, at 11:59 PM. Winners will be chosen at random, and announced Monday afternoon. Good luck!

Note: At this time, the Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. cannot ship give-away items internationally. They apologize for the inconvenience to all of you great people living outside of the U.S.

Valentines Day Inspired Fabric Sale

This week for the fabric sale over at The Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. we're going to take some inspiration from Valentines Day and make our Valentine to all of you be 20% off all of our red fabrics. To order just call in toll free within the next week at 1-800-231-4231 and mention this blog post.

Here are just a few of our red fabrics: going clockwise they are red wagon fabric, red gingham fabric, mini apples fabric, red polka dot fabric, cherries jubilee, and big red ticking stripe fabric. Hope you enjoy these red fabrics!

Valentines Day Trivia

Yesterday I mentioned some crafts, now here is some trivia about Valentines Day that should be fun to share with your kids.

-In the United States, the first mass-produced valentines of embossed paper lace were produced and sold shortly after 1847 -- around 170 years ago!

-The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas.

-In England there used to be a character called 'Jack' Valentine, who would knock on the rear door of houses leaving sweets and presents for children. Although he was leaving treats, many children were scared of this mystical person.

-110 million roses, the majority red, will be sold and delivered within a three-day time period.

-California produces 60 percent of American roses, but the vast number sold on Valentine's Day in the United States are imported, mostly from South America.

- In 1866, candy manufacturer NECCO made the first "Conversation Hearts" — then called "Motto Hearts." According to NECCO, eight billion of these little candies are sold between January 1 and February 14.

-The Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine's Day.

Hope these were interesting, and I hope you enjoyed seeing some of these vintage Valentines Day cards.

Valentines Day Crafts for Kids on a Budget

Some people complain that Valentines Day is just a holiday created to get people to spend more money, but I disagree. Since I was a little girl cutting out red paper hearts and making a mess in the process, I've always loved Valentines Day. And there are plenty of ways to celebrate this holiday on a budget, so don't listen to those naysayers!

From Kaboose we have directions on how to make a Valentines Day Pinata that except for the candy, will hardly cost you a dime to make. I can't believe I didn't think of this myself-- we have pinatas for Halloween, but why not for Valentines Day? I can already see little candy hearts flying all over my living room. To complete this easy craft the only thing you might not already have in your house is the pink tissue paper. A great way to get the kids involved in helping out if you are throwing a Valentines Day party for them.

Pipe cleaners are a fun and cheap craft supply, and there is a ton that you can do with them. From Activity Village is this idea for pipe cleaner hearts with beads to decorate them. Hang them with ribbon as a party decoration, attach to a Valentine card to make it 3D, or whatever else you can think of.

Have a girl who just loves jewelry? Well, she might not be able to put this craft in her jewelry box, but she will enjoy making and wearing it-- till she eats it anyway. From Very Best Kids there are directions for how to make these candy necklaces. You just need some Valentines candy, tulle or other sheer fabric, and ribbon.

Hope you and your kids enjoy one of these crafts!

And on the subject of budget crafts, over at the Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. receive $5 on any of our kids crafts with coupon code WB21395CFT. Expires 2/13

Monday Giveaway

Hope you all had a great weekend! I know I enjoyed getting out in the sun a bit-- finally a weekend that was not freezing. I had a nice time walking around outside in the park.

Congratulations to Jenny and Marissa for winning one of the light plate switches. I hope you and your family enjoys them!

This week for the giveaway we are going to go back to jewelry and feature our girls charm bracelets. The lucky winner will get one bracelet with three charms of their choice. We have a wide range of girls charms to choose from, including horses, princess tiaras, butterflies, mom hearts, an more!

Here is how to win a girls charm bracelet:

1. Leave a comment about a memory you would like a charm for, or your favorite charm.
2. Mention how you found this site
3. Check out the Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. to see what other jewelry and jewelry boxes that they sell.
4. Make sure I can contact you! Either leave an email address in your comment, or make sure that you have contact information on your blog profile.

You can receive an extra entry towards this giveaway if you link to this give-away in your blog and put that link in your comment.

The give-away is open for entries until Sunday, February 150th, at 11:59 PM. Winners will be chosen at random, and announced Monday afternoon. Good luck!

Note: At this time, the Warm Biscuit Bedding Co. cannot ship give-away items internationally. They apologize for the inconvenience to all of you great people living outside of the U.S.

Valentines Day Cookies and Treats

Thinking ahead to next week, I've been scanning the web for some good recipes for Valentines Day. At this point, I can't wait to get on my apron and get started. Here's the three best I've found:

Heart Shaped Jelly Cookies
Love her or hate her, you have to admit that Martha Stewart comes up with are great ideas. These jelly cookies not only adorable looking, but they are actually pretty easy. The dough is your standard sugar dough, and if you think of them as a double cookie with the center stamped out of the top one, you realize how simple it is to do. Check here to get the recipe.

Double Dipped Chocolate Strawberry Tuxedos
If you are feeling really ambitious, these chocolate strawberry tuxedos would be a fabulous kitchen creation. But it's actually not as complicated as you might think, and the step by step instructions make it very clear what to do. The only part that takes some care is making the bow tie and buttons, but all it takes is a zip lock bag and some patience.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Topping
I've never been much of a cake person, but I make an exception to rich flourless cakes. I've used this recipe from Bumbleberry before, and it comes highly recommended. Perfect anytime of the year, especially when raspberries are in season, but the color combo goes perfectly for Valentines Day.

Hope you enjoy these!

Kids and Crying

My husband and I agree about most issues that arise with parenting. We both agree on limiting the boys' time on the computer, on not indulging their sweet tooth too much (but of course little!) and so on. But one area where we have disagreed in the past is how to react to tears.

Me, I'm a typical mom. Since day one I've always wanted to make sure the kids are as comfortable as possible. When they were babies I always had tons of pacifier chains lying around in case I needed to calm them down. And even now as older kids, if anything upsets them to the point of tears, I can't help but doing everything I can to be there for them.

My husband on the other hand, while he is completely loving towards the boys, he also feels that as older kids that they should work out their own emotions. "Let them cry it out alone a little," he'll say, but I can't stop myself from going over to give them a hug and kiss. I don't want to encourage whining cries, but when it's over something real I've always wanted to make them feel better.

Well, according to science, turns out I'm right. This article in The New York Times on crying is very interesting. Especially this part:

"Those whose parents were attentive, soothing their cries when needed, tend to find that crying also provides them solace as adults. Those whose parents held back, or became irritated or overly upset by the child’s crying, often have more difficulty soothing themselves as adults.

“Crying, for a child, is a way to beckon the caregiver, to maintain proximity and use the caregiver to regulate mood or negative arousal,” Dr. Nelson said in a phone interview. Those who grow up unsure of when or whether that soothing is available can, as adults, get stuck in what she calls protest crying — the child’s helpless squall for someone to fix the problem, undo the loss.

“You can’t work through grief if you’re stuck in protest crying, which is all about fixing it, fixing the loss,” Dr. Nelson said. “And in therapy — as in close relationships — protest crying is very hard to soothe, because you can’t do anything right, you can’t undo the loss. On the other hand, sad crying that is an appeal for comfort from a loved one is a path to closeness and healing.”

So: hug your kids when they cry!

Fabric Craft Project and Fabric Sale

I have always loved making Valentines for friends, and so I've been on the lookout lately for ideas. Here are some of my favorites:

From The Purl Bee Molly has directions for absolutely adorable sewn fabric Valentines. I also like what she has to say about them. She writes "I'm conflicted about Valentines Day. I'm all for the sentiment behind it but I feel a little weird about the commercialism and pressure it involves. With that said I love making valentines because they are the opposite of this. Hand-made valentines are not mass produced and they involve no pressure: If one doesn't turn out to my liking I can just throw it away."

From The Long Thread there is this idea to use a yarn heart Valentines Day card. I like the little buttons, and could see using other notions on a card. Like maybe a small colored measuring tape?

From Burda Style is this fabric card that is more a quilt style. I like how she takes the freedom to play around with different angles and dimensions.

And now, here are the fabrics that will be 20% off for the next week. Just call in and mention the blog to get the discount. Featured fabrics from the left to
right are the rodeo stripe, star rider red, and small pink and cream polka dot.