Silly Eagle Books

signs of spring

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:16:00 +0000

I'm getting excited for spring to arrive. We've already got our daffodils blooming, and the pink buds of our jane magnolia are breaking open. I'll have to get a shot of that for you soon--it's my favorite plant in the front garden. I wait for it all year.

Also, today after arriving home from the grocery store, we found a big box of review books from our friends at Tiger Tales! Thank you!

We eagerly tore into the box and have already read half of them. (We forced ourselves to save the rest for bedtime reading--reviews to come soon!)

We checked out a beautiful book from the library last week called The Bedspread by Sylvia Fair.

It's the story of two elderly sisters who decide to decorate their bedspread by stitching their childhood home onto the cover.

Maud is the very precise and neat one on the left while you can see Amelia is the more creative and free-spirited sister.

Both do a beautiful job of recreating their childhood home onto the spread in their own unique styles.

After they finish, the sister turn the bedspread so that the other can see their work.

"I--I'm afraid my stiching isn't quite as tidy as yours," stammered Amelia guiltily. "I'd forgotten my stiches."

"But Your house is happy," said Maud rather sadly. "I had forgotten the happiness."

The illustrations are lovely and I enjoyed how this book celebrates creativity and all its many forms. Its inspiring to see how every person has his or her own individual talents and gifts.

The sisters decide they enjoy working on their bedspread so much that they continue until they die at the age of 103. Then, their work of art is hung in a museum for all to see.

While not about spring specifically, the sisters embroider their childhood gardens onto their bedspread which reminded me of our own garden and the joy we get out of it.

I hope that when my girls are old and grey they remember our happy spring garden blooming with daffodils, tulips, and pink magnolia blossoms.

What spring flowers are you looking forward to or enjoying already?

Indoor Hopscotch

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:25:00 +0000

Alternate title: Yet Another Use for Painter's Tape

We were stuck inside earlier this week (cold rainy day) and since no trouble-making cats in top hats showed up to entertain us, we entertained ourselves.

Tape on the floor. It's not a new idea, but it was the first time we did it and we liked it.

It's still there.

Oh, and we ran out of space, so that is why it ends at 7 rather than 10.

But you will probably plan and measure better than I did and yours will make your children happy that it has the full 10 squares for hopping.

Happy weekend!

free lent activities ebook

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:07:00 +0000

I know I'm late sharing this with you, but I just found out about it last night. Nicole of Tired, Need Sleep and Erin of The Royal Baloo have teamed up to create this ebook as a guide for parents in sharing the Easter story with their children.

I downloaded the book and have looked through it. The story is divided into 7 weeks and each week has one part to focus on. There are not activities for every day, but rather one main activity (a stained glass window) and a few other suggested activities to further engage in the story.

There are printable templates for the stained glass window crafts--which is nice and easy--little prep time is needed.

I'm going to be doing this with Juliet. She loved our advent activities so much I think she'll be really excited to be learning more about Jesus and his love for us.

If this is the sort of thing you are interested in, head over to Nicole or Erin's blog to download the book.

It's free!

Did I mention that it's free? :)

daffodil craft

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:17:00 +0000

Our daffodils have bloomed outside, which makes me feel like spring is here. (Even though it has still been pretty cold.)

We made these daffodils last spring and they have lasted on my bookshelf all year. They look so happy and cheerful sitting there.

If you have a few pipe cleaners, some yellow tissue paper, and some cardstock or ribbon (for the centers), you can make some, too. Find directions here.

One of Lucia's favorite books lately has been I Am a Bunny . We read it at least 10 times a day. There's a beautiful page filled with daffodils.

Each page is breathtaking. I don't mind reading it all day long at all.

What books do your children ask you to read over and over again?

international edible book festival

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:28:00 +0000

One of my favorite bloggers is hosting an edible book festival. Up until yesterday evening, I had never heard of such a thing. But once I read her post, I decided we were in.

Now, you know I love books. I even love book-inspired crafts. But I am no baker. In fact, I only bake on three days a year: Ben's birthday, Juliet's birthday, and Lucia's birthday.

I make cupcakes. Because they are somewhat easy.

Cakes are off-limits.

Always have been. But now, now, I must try my hand at one.

I will be enlisting the help of my two assistants--Juliet and Lucia.

We'll see what we come up with.

Either way, we'll be sure to have some fun.

I'd love for you to join in with us! You don't need to have a blog to join, just make a children's book-inspired cake, take a picture, and send it in.

Check out the details on Zoe's blog here!

$3.75

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:52:00 +0000

We found all these gems on our library sale cart today. We went in for a bird show and came out with this!

I've read a few of these, but several are new to me. I'll let you know which we end up loving.

Recognize any of your favorites?

five for friday: library booklist for preschoolers

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:07:00 +0000

Here's a little list to take to the library with you this week. We've been enjoying these.

Augustine by Melanie Watt

This is perfect for art lovers (tons of art references throughout the book) and for kids who have moved or are starting a new school. Little Augustine moves from the South Pole to the North Pole and he has a rough time at first. I should mention that it's great even if your not in the middle of a move--we read it so much this week.

What To Say To Clara by Barney Saltzberg
This is a little late for Valentines Day, but it's the sweetest story about a little boy who gets tongue tied when a new girl, Clara, shows up at school. He doesn't know what to say to her and finally comes up with, "Hello."

The Paper Princess by Elisa Kleven

A little girl draws a princess and before she can finish it, the wind blows it away. The paper princess has an adventure until finally landing on a little boy who decides to draw a birthday card on her back (it's blank) and give to his sister--who is the little girl who drew her to begin with. The illustrations are really pretty and, of course, the story is wonderful.

Elsie's Bird by Jane Yolen and David Small

This is another one about moving and starting over. Elsie starts out in Boston and moves west with her dad after her mother dies. (That's the sad part, so if your kid isn't ready for themes like that, I'd avoid it.) She brings a canary with her who becomes her best friend. It's a beautiful book.

Horace and Morris Join the Chorus (but what about Dolores?) by James Howe
Dolores can't really sing, but she has a lot of heart. Eventually, she gets a spot in the chorus with her friends.

What books have you been enjoying this week?

Ikea bookshelves save the day

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:58:00 +0000

We spent a few hours in Ikea yesterday--searching for the perfect bookshelves for our hall library project. I've been wanting to put some shelves in our upstairs hallway to help deal with the overcrowding of Juliet and Lucia's bookshelves in their rooms. (Yes, we have a bit of a book problem.)

That's Ben the builder (above) toting little miss Lucia around. We were initially drawn to the ones with doors, but then envisioned them cracking and breaking in about 2 minutes after we had set them up in our home....

For another brief minute, we dreamed of having this ladder, but then envisioned our children climbing to the top and jumping off....so that dream will have to wait a few more years as well.

We settled on the Billy Bookcase in white. But I had to admire the new yellow and green options. They don't really go with our house, but I do like them.

Our bag carrier.

Here are the ones we ended up with. Ben also picked up a pair of the "B" bookends. There were not "V", "J" or "L" ones, which was kind of sad, but we'll figure something out. Might be a good project to work on after the shelves are set up.

Ben worked hard on putting them together yesterday afternoon and they are all set and ready for books. We've put a few in, but we need to sit down this afternoon and really organize and arrange.

We have been looking at bookshelf options for awhile and if you are looking for something really useful and reasonably priced, Ikea is totally the way to go. There are other lines of bookcases, but I really love all the options the Billy lines offers.

We we were expecting Juliet, I bought a small Expedit for her room. I thought it would be plenty of room for all her books.

That thing filled up in about a year.

Now we have the Expedit in her room, and the two billy's in the hallway. We've dubbed it our "hall library" and I hope it will not fill up too quickly! They are not just for kids books--Ben and I are taking the top halves of the shelves for ourselves and the bottom halves are for the kids.

I'll post some pictures when we get it looking half-way decent. :)

How do you organize your family's book collection? Where do your books live?

Poetry for kids

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:04:00 +0000

Juliet brought this home from school yesterday. Robert Frost has always been one of my favorite poets, so I was thrilled that she got a little early exposure to his work (who knew they read Frost in preschool?)

And while I think this poem is a bit dark for the preschool crowd, I'm sure her teacher didn't go there with the kids. From what I got from Juliet, it was about a man in the woods, but it wasn't his woods. And there was snow. Then, they made a pine cone bird feeder. Which is always a fun time.

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening illustrated by Susan Jeffers

It did remind me that there is a picture book adaptation of this poem that I've seen in bookstores (I don't own it, but would love to.) And as I type this, I'm thinking this is probably what Juliet's teacher shared with the kids. She always reads a book and does a craft with it, so I'm guessing this was it. (My detective skills are amazing, aren't they?)

Anyways, I'm going to see if our library has a copy of this book. Hopefully, yours does too. But if it doesn't, you can always print out the poem and let your child glue snowflakes around it as you read it. Either way, it's an easy way to get some beautiful language into their heads.

children of the world mobile

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Last week, I shared some photos of a new favorite book of ours, and in the background, you could see a glimpse of Juliet's mobile hanging from the ceiling.

Source: meghanmarymorrow.blogspot.com via Vanessa on Pinterest

I've shared photos of it before on my friend Meghan's blog, and a few people have inquired about where we got it. It was a gift given to Ben a long time ago, and we have no idea where it originated.

However, someone emailed me asking about it again, so I tried to hunt it down online and was successful, finally!

I thought I'd share the source with you in case you are in the market for a cute mobile.

Source: serrv.org via Vanessa on Pinterest

You can buy it on SERV which sells a ton of beautiful fair trade, handmade goods.

Being a bit of a mobile junkie (see my pinboard devoted entirely to mobiles), I was delighted to find these other beauties.

Source: serrv.org via Vanessa on Pinterest

Noah's ark looks really fun for a nursery. Have you seen my favorite Noah's Ark book?

Source: serrv.org via Vanessa on Pinterest

Animal jamboree

Source: serrv.org via Vanessa on Pinterest

I also love this nativity one. It would make a fun addition to our Christmas decorations. I'm really thinking about this one....

Happy Valentines Day, by the way!

(don't forget to enter my giveaway, if you haven't done so yet!)

printable valentine paper dolls (joan walsh anglund)

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:34:00 +0000

If you are still looking for something for your little girl for Valentines, I found these cute printable paper dolls by Joan Walsh Anglund.

I recently picked up this copy of A Child's Year at goodwill. Most of her books are out of print, so it's fun when I find them in thrift shops.

The February page is full of red hearts and it makes me smile. I hope your week is off to a good start!

My Memories digital scrapbooking software review and giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:07:00 +0000

This giveaway is now closed.

Here's a peek at what's going in Juliet's Valentine box tonight. (To get full use out of our mailboxes, I've been dropping notes and treats inside everyday since February 1. Lucia is getting treats, too, but of a more toddler-friendly variety.)

The old candy necklace, a vintage punchout valentine, and a personal note I created myself using some new digital scrapbooking software from My Memories.

I was given a chance to use the software and this is my first creation. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and how easy it was to use. (My favorite part is the stitching on the sides--much easier than using a real sewing machine!)

Back before I had kids, I got into scrapbooking (it kept me busy during the summers while I was a teacher). But since becoming a mom, I have not made one single book. Pulling out all the paper, scissors, photos, etc is just too much for me.

But this scrapbooking software is really easy and best of all--no piles of mess! Just upload the pictures you want from your computer and pick your papers, colors, fonts, embellishments, etc. and make it how you like.

I don't know if I will ever have enough time to sit down and make an entire book, but I do like being able to whip up cards, signs, invitations, and valentines from time to time.

My Memories is offering you a chance to win one of of their software packs. All you have to do is visit their site, and leave a comment here telling me which digital kit is your favorite. (There is a coupon code at the bottom of this post, if you want to get started now!)

For an extra entry, you can like their facebook page or follow them on twitter. (Leave a separate

comment telling me you did!)

Blog- http://blog.mymemories.com/
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593
Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/mymemoriessuite

I will choose a winner next Friday!

And in case you want to get started now, you can use the code STMMMS28049 to receive $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store.

how to wrap a book like a pro (or not)

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:29:00 +0000

Sadness.

Confession 1: I am a horrible gift-wrapper.

Confession 2: I am okay with it.

I always look forward to the holiday season when bloggers like to bust out their fanciest ways of wrapping packages and gifts like a pro. You've seen them. Their gift-wraps are works of art.

Maybe you even possess the gift-wrapping talent gene.

I don't.

But I love looking at it. I even have a pinboard where I collect beautiful gift wrapping ideas--in the hopes that maybe I will be inspired to pretty up my packages.

I even made some map-feather gift-toppers and wrapped a fake present all fancy-like for a blog post, just to see if that would push me into it.

But it didn't.

When it came down to the task of wrapping real presents, I just do what I always do.

Grab whatever is closest, slap on some tape, and use a sharpie to write the recipient's name on it.

That's all.

Totally pin-worthy.

A lot of times, the tape doesn't really stick. So I just sort of turn it over and smash it down and hope it stays shut...

Also, I don't bother with making the folded edges pretty. Nope.

Just fold and smash, tape, and hope for the best.

That's right. The woman who spent several hours carefully affixing tiny white office labels to the back of a cardboard box in order to create the perfect backsplash tile effect in her daughter's dollhouse cannot take two seconds to make sure gift wrap is folded down neatly.

I have no explanation.

Just thought you should know.

cloud dough recipe

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:18:00 +0000

I found a recipe for cloud dough on pinterest and tried it out with the girls the other day.

Easy.

Fun.

Just right for little Lucia hands and big-girl Juliet hands.

It is very messy--so we took it outside in the backyard.

The girls were inspired to bring in some pine needles and magnolias leaves and make wintery nature arrangements.

We also had measuring cups and tiny plastic animals running through the white dough.

It was really fun. Your kids would love it. I found the cloud dough recipe at Tinkerlab.

The Cloud Collector's Handbook is on my list of books to get my hands on. I think the girls and I could have a lot of fun with it this spring.

kids craft spaces

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:07:00 +0000

Without a dedicated craft room or space in our home, our kitchen table generally looks something like this.

Most projects take us several days to complete from start to finish--even the very simplest ones. Phase one usually involves me cutting out shapes and gathering supplies. Phase two involves the girls working with the materials, and phase three involves the drying process.

All of these processes require the use of our kitchen table.

So, most of the time, there is some sort of craft material inhabiting our table space in one of the three phases, unless we have company coming over at which point I hastily throw all the stuff into the garage or our kitchen pantry.

You can see left over lunch items, paper hearts, scissors, scraps, wipes, tea mugs, and piles of books.

It drives Ben crazy, but we don't really have any other options.

What about you? How do you deal with craft messes in your home? Is it everywhere or do you have a nice and neat space for it?

how to keep toddlers from drawing on the wall

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:08:00 +0000

Behold. Lucia's latest artistic endeavor. On our wall. (chalk)

She was caught in the act and promptly reprimanded by Ben. At which point, Juliet ran gleefully into the room with this in her hands:

She then proceeded to point out to Lucia the "no-no" behavior and reinforced the "yes-yes" one. All she really got was a blank stare, but so far, no more art explosions on the wall, so maybe, just maybe this worked.

I've always loved No No Yes Yes by Leslie Patricelli. She has a wonderful series of board books for toddlers.

Have your kids ever used your walls for their own artistic purposes?

thar she blows! vintage whale book goodness

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:21:00 +0000

I'm a big Robert McCloskey fan (who isn't?), but I had no idea about Burt Dow, Deep-Water Man until a few weeks ago. (Shameful, I know. And I call myself a book blogger...)

Have you read it? The story is wonderful, but again, it's the pictures that really get me. Here are some for your viewing pleasure. (Our whale project yesterday reminded me of this book.)

This poor whale gets his tale caught on Burt's hook.

Burt fixes it with a band-aid!

Not just any band-aid--a peppermint striped one.

Which only makes all the other whales jealous--you can't blame them--I kind of want a peppermint striped band-aid now, too.

These photos were taken as we were reading the book one afternoon--so I had a little helper with me. :)

Have you seen this book? The colors are so beautiful. I hope your library has a copy.

Have a wonderful weekend!

whale valentines day craft

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:04:00 +0000

You've seen the book My Heart Is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall. It has inspired many a valentines day project. A few years ago, we made a heart fish for our cat. (Yes, count us in the group of crazies who make valentines for their pets.)

Christianne made adorable animal valentines for her daughter's class based on the book and just recently, Whitney shared her kids' heart project (you have to see the mosquito).

We needed something easy and fun to do, so I cut out some hearts in various sizes one afternoon--just old school style by folding the paper in half and cutting half a heart shape. I wish I had a heart paper punch, but I don't.

We got out the mod podge and made some heart animals. These are whales--the big heart cut in half. I wish I had a picture of the giraffe Juliet made, but we sent it to her sponsored kid and I forgot to take a picture. It was crazy cute, though.

Lucia (15 months) even got in on the action. (Because it's never to early to start them on mod podge.) She had a lot of fun pounding the foam brush onto the paper.

I will say--she got the stuff all over her, so make sure your kids aren't wearing their sunday best. And don't be afraid to use an old cup lid as a glue holder.

The unpictured giraffe was 100% Juliet's idea, but the whales we saw in this vintage craft book. This is where people got their ideas before there were blogs. How very quaint. :)

What heart-y things are you up to this week?

kids flower costumes

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:52:00 +0000

Source: zulily.com via Vanessa on Pinterest

I saw these flower costumes on Zulilly today and they reminded me of a beautiful book by Elsa Beskow:

Around the Year

Juliet really liked the flower people.

I think the Iris costume is my favorite, but this stargazer lily is pretty cute, too!

Source: zulily.com via Vanessa on Pinterest

What flower/plant would your kids want to be? (There are some pretty funny and feisty weeds in that book!)

book-ish valentines day card ideas

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:09:00 +0000

I've been keeping track of some fun bookish valentines day ideas. Here are some of my favorites.

Source: vixenmade.blogspot.com via Vanessa on Pinterest

What could be easier than twisting two pipe cleaners together? I like simple stuff like this.

Source: thirtyhandmadedays.com via Vanessa on Pinterest

These are so sweet.

Source: bhg.com via Vanessa on Pinterest

I like the idea of doing a "10 things I love about you" list on a library card.

Source: family.go.com via Vanessa on Pinterest

Juliet would go nuts for this.

Source: quiltedturtle.blogspot.com via Vanessa on Pinterest

I like the bookmark take on the old paint chip valentine idea. And that punched out heart is a perfect detail.

Source: greenhalloween.org via Vanessa on Pinterest

These don't exactly look easy to make, but they are beautiful and I could see myself keeping it forever.

vintage noah's ark book

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:12:00 +0000

Sorry for not posting yesterday--Lucia's been extremely feverish the past two days and tending to a sick baby has consumed all my time. She is sleeping right now, so I thought I'd jump on and share some photos of a beautiful book I discovered earlier this month.

My parents' local library has a lot of old books. Like really old--the ones I get excited about.

This old copy of Noah's Ark by Miche Wynants was just calling out to me.

It alternates between black white and color illustrations. I can't decide which I like better.

This goes into my "I want to rip out the pages and frame it as art" category.

All the animals get on the ark--two by two...

Even the insects--which as a general rule, I am not a big fan of, but here, I kind of like them.

This inspires me to some sort of paper collage activity--the ocean is gorgeous.

I returned this one with great reluctance! It's on my list of ones I hope to find at Goodwill or at a library sale one day.

What books have you recently discovered?

valentines books for preschoolers: library booklist

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:05:00 +0000

image from The Valentine Bears by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Jan Brett

The key to getting holiday books at the library is to request them early! (Took me about 2 years to learn that lesson.)

So, hopefully, I am early enough in sharing this with you today that you can get a jump on a few of these titles.

The Best Valentine in the World by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (illustrated by Lilian Obligado)
This was my favorite this year, but it looks like it is out of print. So hopefully, your library has a copy. Lilian Obligado is one of my favorite illustrators, so that may be why I loved it so much, but the story itself is a good one, too--sweet and a little bit old-fashioned. It also doesn't hurt that the foxes are named Ferdinand and Florette which makes me want to adopt some baby fox cubs just so I can name them after the characters in the book. Don't worry, Ben will stop me. This is why I married him.

The Valentine Bears by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Jan Brett

I've always loved Bunting and Brett on their own, but combined? They are a superpower. And since learning from Whitney what Jan Brett's shoes look like, I like her books even more than I already did. This is a sweet tale about Mr. and Mrs. Bear who wake up early to celebrate Valentines day together for the first time. (Usually, they are hibernating on Feb. 14.)

Queen of Hearts by Mary Engelbreit

I can relate to Anne Estelle's quest for the most beautiful valentines box ever. I'm also loving the heart garland she has on the front cover. Maybe we'll make that this week.

The Valentine Express by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
This gives a good preschool-sized dose of the history of Valentines day--not too much, but just enough. Also, it lists some valentine-y cities in the US such as Valentine, Nebraska; Loveland, CO; Lovejoy, GA; Lovelady, TX, etc.

(Side note, one of the kids in the class is named "Vanessa", so that was more than a little bit exciting as we read it together--there are also a Minna, Lindsey, Pip and Tyrone--in case one of those is your name.)

The story part is really sweet. Minna and Pip wonder if grown-ups get Valentines anymore, and decide to make some for their neighbors. They make personalized ones for all the older people on their street and then deliver them via the "Valentine Express"--Pip's wagon. I like how it focuses on showing neighbors love and that kids can do big things all on their own. Good inspiration for kids to see.

If You'll Be My Valentine by Cynthia Rylant
This is a sweet rhyming book about a little boy who finds ways to show all the people in his life just how much he loves them.

Love, Ruby Valentine by Laurie Friedman
This was Juliet's favorite. Little Ruby loves Valentines day so much, she spends weeks preparing for it by making cards and gifts for all the people of Heartland. The night before she falls asleep and sleeps through Valentines Day--when she wakes up she is disappointed and thinks she has to wait until next year, but her pet lovebird tells her to give her gifts today. She does and realizes that every day is a good day to tell someone you love them.

The Ballad of Valentine by Alison Jackson
I always like finding books you can sing--this one is a remake of Oh My Darling Clementine. It's easy to sing and it will make your kids laugh at you. Well, maybe just if you can't sing--which I can't. If you can sing, they will probably stare at you in wonder and amazement. Either way--it's good stuff.

The Very Special Valentine by Maggie Keen
It's hard to find good toddler friendly books at our library, but this one has flaps and Lucia is into flaps right now. Juliet is still into flaps--do they ever get over flaps? I think I am still into them as well. It's full of forest friends which are good since we are in the "we don't read the words just talk and point at pictures and make animal noises whenever possible" phase with Lucia. Juliet loved this book too--we read the words with her. It also has a lot of shiny things in it--which are exceedingly enticing to my two little magpies.

Here are books we loved in years past:

What valentines books do you suggest to me? There's still time for me to make another library run before they are all gone!

personalized vintage-inspired bookplates for kids

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:31:00 +0000

It has long been on my list of things to do: buy bookplates and install them in my kids' books! The problem is that I have waited so long and have acquired so many books that I will need quite a lot to put inside them all.

So, no, I have not accomplished my goal yet, but I have found a shop that is nudging me closer to it.

Oiseaux on etsy has a beautiful collection of personalized bookplates for kids. I love the delicate fairytale quality of all of them.

And they are not just for girls--there are so many perfectly boyish options.

This one has almost convinced me to name my son Max--should I ever have one.

Check out the rest of the bookplates! You will love them.

Which one is your favorite? (I think this mermaid one is mine.) I feel like these would be a good little valentines box treat...

valentines collage for kids

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:18:00 +0000

Juliet made this for me two years ago when she was 3. I cut out some valentine images from a magazine and let her mod podge them onto the top of a cookie tin. (It makes a great canvas and is easy to hang on a nail!)

I got it out last week and have had it displayed as our Valentine Decor. You could do something similar with stickers, scrapbook embellishments or pink and red ribbons and heart.

If you don't have an old lid, a fabric or paper covered piece of sturdy cardboard would work, an old plate, or even a big rock would be pretty all decorated with valentines sentiments.

This years book list is coming on Friday, but here is a link to last years favorites if you need a few suggestions!

paint chip valentines for kids

noreply@blogger.com (silly eagle books) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:04:00 +0000

Last year, I made these paint chip valentines for Juliet's pink mailbox. You can see a picture of them when they were shiny and new here.

The picture above, however, is from this week. I wanted to show you how they held up over the year.

While definitely bent and worn--they are still surprisingly in good shape! And most of the wear and tear comes from Lucia's handling--she REALLY loves these things or she really loves opening and shutting the mailbox--either way, they see a lot of action these days.

I'm kind of over the whole paint chip thing, but I thought they were worth mentioning just because they are so easy, durable, and my kids seem to love them.

I've been storing away some books that I picked up at goodwill over the past few weeks. I plan on wrapping them and putting one in the mailboxes every day before V-Day. (Right now I only have six, so we'll have to come up with something else for the other days--have any good suggestions?)

I've got a Valentines Day Library book list coming up on Friday, but here's a sneak peek:

From The Best Valentine in the World

This is my favorite find this week. Ferdinand worked so hard on his Valentine for Florette! Makes me want to make a giant purple heart for each of my girls.