Family summer fun plan!

When I was a kid, we still had two weeks left of school at this point—but my kids' summer vacation starts today! So for the third year in a row, we're running our own "DIY Summer camp." (Check out our plans from 2013 and 2012!)

The idea for DIY Summer Camp came from the Power of Moms blog. Around here, we keep it pretty simple. First, we brainstormed fun things to do at home, and places to go or fun things to do away from home:

I decided we could put any idea on the list, even though we may not get to do it this year (such as visiting the beach; the closest ones are 1000 mi away). We listed fun things we like to do every day as well as special activities and things no summer would be complete without.

Some ideas to get you started:

Fun things to do at home Play in the sprinklers Play with water balloons, water guns, etc. Make a slip'n'slide Paint Grill Fireworks Make ice cream, cheese, slushies Crafts Night games/flashlight game Read Puppet shows

Places to go/fun things to do away from home Beach/lake Baseball game Library Museums Historical sites Restaurants Factory tours (especially candy factories!) Pool/splash pad Park Hike/nature walk Movies, outdoor movies or drive-ins

You can also list things you want to learn, skills you want to work on, other goals, events you want to attend, etc.

Next, I worked on our weekly schedule. I decided I liked last year's day themes so much, I wanted to use them again. I also included routine/schedule items on each day, and a few fun ideas from our list relating to the theme of the day.

• Make it Monday: arts and crafts
• Townie Tuesday: visit or research something fun to do in our town, such as the library, local restaurants, and other attractions
• Wet Wednesday (and Friendsday Wednesday): play at the pool or lake or in the sprinklers, get slurpees, playdates
• Thoughtful Thursday: acts of service
• Fun Fridays: trips, movie nights, game nights

At the bottom of this poster, I added two new things. The Rotation Ideas is something I saw on Pinterest (but failed to repin, so I don't have a link :( ), where you have several stations with activities for your kids, and they rotate through them. Our rotation ideas include drawing, reading, playing outside, playing the piano, spending time with Mom, etc. The point is really to make sure that we all get some down time each day without resorting to (too much) screen time.

On the right hand side, there's the Banish Boredom list, fun things we can do at any time from writing in journals to a list of games/makebelieve they enjoy to singing and dancing and sidewalk chalk. I tried to stick to things that don't take supervision or much help from me beyond set up in case boredom strikes while I'm putting the baby down for a nap or making dinner.

After I took this picture, I added one line to the bottom of the chart, just as a reminder for us, that every day they're expected to do their chores (bedroom, independent chore and cooperative chore), read, and practice/write.

I also made up a loose schedule for our days so we all know what to expect. I have two versions of the schedule, the one nap and two nap variations, since a lot of our plans revolve around the baby's schedule still. Having that schedule can help us all remember when the fun happens ;) . I scheduled rotations during the baby's nap time so I can have some downtime as well, and even built in the kids helping me entertain the baby while I'm making dinner on one-nap days (when she's super grumpy).

The only thing that's missing is an adorable picture like this:

Fingers crossed for our best DIY summer camp yet!

Week Off

Sorry we've been gone this week. Stayed tuned for next week when we have some more awesome crafts including PB's second birthday party and how to spice up your business cards.

Missing us? Here are some oldies but goodies:

Turn a Purse Into a Camera Bag or Die Trying

Father's Day Scavenger Hunt

17 Father's Day Crafts

General Moving Tips and Tricks

DIY Apothecary Jars in the Bathroom

Dyed Rice Artwork

Quilted Curly Pig Tails

Reversible toddler sunhat

Two years ago, we had a Wayward reunion at the beach—and I had big plans about all the crafts I wanted to make for our cute beach gear.

Top priority was a sunhat for my girls. I found a cute free toddler sunhat pattern with ruffles and ties online at Merriment Design, and I used a photocopier to blow it up to adjust to my 3-year-old (I think I sized it up very slightly for my 1-year-old, too).

The pattern is adorable as is, but . . . I'm wayward. I can't just sew according to a pattern! I have to do something! So I adapted Merriment Design's pattern to make the hat reversible. You can see a peek of the inside fabric in this shot:

For the most part, the changes are pretty easy, but be sure to read the notes at the end!

Materials needed:

• Merriment Design's pattern (first link in her materials list)
• 1/3 yard (approx/depending on size) each of two fabrics
• Rotary fabric cutter, self-healing cutting mat and clear acrylic ruler
• Fabric scissors
• Iron & ironing board
• Thread
• Pins
• Sewing machine

Cut out your hat!
Using Merriment Design's pattern:

• Cut 4 triangles from fabric 1
• Cut 4 triangles from fabric 2
• Cut 4 brims (2 top, 2 lining): Fold fabric 1 in half, right sides together. Cut 1 brim pattern on doubled fabric (making 2 pieces). For the second brim, fold fabric 2 in half, wrong sides together. Cut 1 brim pattern on doubled fabric (making 2 pieces).
• Cut 1 strip 25″ x 2″ for ruffle in each fabric
• Optional: Cut 2 strips 16″ x 1″ for the ties in each fabric (I used ribbon for my 1-year-old's hat, and omitted the ties for my 3-year-old's)

I won't copy all of Merriment Design's instructions, but following her directions, sew together the 4 crowns in each fabric, and then sew the two pieces of the brims together in each fabric (you will end up with four separate pieces at this point: a crown in each fabric and a brim in each fabric).

Make the reversible ruffle!
Match the 25" x 2" strips and pin right sides together. Sew a seam along one edge.
Press closed, then press open, then fold back and press flat:

Using two rows of long basting stitches along the raw edge, gather the ruffle to fit along the outside (larger in circumference) edge of the brim. Matching fabrics, pin right side of ruffle to right side of one brim, with raw (gathered) ruffle edge along outside brim edge (larger in circumference). Sew down.

Place the other brim right side to right side, "basically making a ruffle sandwich with the two right sides together" as Merriment Design describes it. Sew along outside edge.

Always being careful to match fabrics, sew the crowns and brims together using Merriment Design's instructions. If you're using ties, I recommend sewing those to the matching side of the brim before sewing to the crown. When the ties are on the "wrong" side, you can tie them in a bow at the back of the crown.

Notes!
Between the extra fabric from enlarging the hat and the added weight of the ruffle seam, the brim of my 3-year-old's hat was a little extra floppy. She loved it, but I would recommend lining the brim using interfacing.

There are two ways to do this:

1. Iron fusible interfacing onto the brim fabrics before cutting out brim pieces.

2. Fold interfacing in fourths and cut 1 brim (making 4 pieces), sewing the two pieces of each interfacing brim together, then adding those pieces to the outside of the ruffle sandwich and sew, being careful to match the asymmetrical shape of the brim.)

Rebecca with a friend

I made my girls' hats with a total of 3 fabrics: one fabric for both girls' hats so they could have a matching pair, and the other side in two different fabrics to match each of their towel coverups.

Unfortunately, the beach didn't agree with my one-year-old and she hates hats. But Jaime was kind enough to model for us (okay, she was making a face, but you get the picture here):

What do you wear to the beach?

DIY Summer Camp

Nobody in my house is more excited for summer vacation than I am—I can hardly believe our summer vacation begins next week!

The first weekend of summer will be consumed with MOVING TO A NEW HOME about 20 minutes away. We're sad to leave our neighborhood & friends, but excited for our new home, and getting to know our new city. We've already signed up for a pool pass and swimming lessons, and I'm looking at all the fun summer activities coming up, from the city festival to movie nights to open air markets. So I'm adapting our Summer Family Fun Plan from last year to create this year's DIY Summer Camp!

Once again, I'm very worried about spending the whole summer vacation in front of the TV and computer. Last summer, a perfectly timed email from The Power of Moms gave a great example of how to avoid the couch potato summer, and we made up our family fun plan.

We started with a summer bucket list--a  list of all the things we want to do, all the places we want to visit, all the things we want to learn, including experiences that no summer would be complete without:

This year I'm starting with our themed days of the week. For 2013, our days are:

• Make it Monday: arts and crafts
• New Town Tuesday: visit or research something fun to do in our new town, such as the library, local restaurants, and other attractions
• Wet Wednesday: play at the pool or lake or in the sprinklers, get slurpees
• Thoughtful Thursday: acts of service
• Fun Fridays: trips, movie nights, game nights

Last year's DIY Summer Camp, also had activities the kids need to do every day, like reading and writing practice (my 6-year-old wrote stories or journal entries, or practiced his full name; my 3-year-old did letter worksheets from Confessions of a Slacker Mom; my 2-year-old . . . mostly ran around ;) ) and chores. This year we'll build on that with more of a set schedule. I'm thinking we'll tackle chores—which now include homework—from 9-10 each day, then head to the park for a little while before swim lessons.

Last summer, we also came up with a list of their favorite fun things to do, which would go great in an "I'm Bored" jar.

Everyone is excited for our summer plan, and I love the flexibility and structure it offers. I have ideas for fun things to do every day all ready to go, and I can plan ahead for them.

What do you do in the summertime?

Reversible toddler sunhat

Ever seen a carnival-themed wedding? At first glance it might sound a little weird, but it's definitely a way to show your fun personality! Check out our Facebook page for pictures from the Carnival Extravaganza wedding reception we attended this weekend.

Last summer, we had a Wayward reunion at the beach—and I had big plans about all the crafts I wanted to make for our cute beach gear.

Top priority was a sunhat for my girls. I found a cute free toddler sunhat pattern with ruffles and ties online at Merriment Design, and I used a photocopier to blow it up to adjust to my 3-year-old (I think I sized it up very slightly for my 1-year-old, too).

The pattern is adorable as is, but . . . I'm wayward. I can't just sew according to a pattern! I have to do something! So I adapted Merriment Design's pattern to make the hat reversible. You can see a peek of the inside fabric in this shot:

For the most part, the changes are pretty easy, but be sure to read the notes at the end!

Materials needed:

• Merriment Design's pattern (first link in her materials list)
• 1/3 yard (approx/depending on size) each of two fabrics
• Rotary fabric cutter, self-healing cutting mat and clear acrylic ruler
• Fabric scissors
• Iron & ironing board
• Thread
• Pins
• Sewing machine

Cut out your hat!
Using Merriment Design's pattern:

• Cut 4 triangles from fabric 1
• Cut 4 triangles from fabric 2
• Cut 4 brims (2 top, 2 lining): Fold fabric 1 in half, right sides together. Cut 1 brim pattern on doubled fabric (making 2 pieces). For the second brim, fold fabric 2 in half, wrong sides together. Cut 1 brim pattern on doubled fabric (making 2 pieces).
• Cut 1 strip 25″ x 2″ for ruffle in each fabric
• Optional: Cut 2 strips 16″ x 1″ for the ties in each fabric (I used ribbon for my 1-year-old's hat, and omitted the ties for my 3-year-old's)

I won't copy all of Merriment Design's instructions, but following her directions, sew together the 4 crowns in each fabric, and then sew the two pieces of the brims together in each fabric (you will end up with four separate pieces at this point: a crown in each fabric and a brim in each fabric).

Make the reversible ruffle!
Match the 25" x 2" strips and pin right sides together. Sew a seam along one edge.
Press closed, then press open, then fold back and press flat:

Using two rows of long basting stitches along the raw edge, gather the ruffle to fit along the outside (larger in circumference) edge of the brim. Matching fabrics, pin right side of ruffle to right side of one brim, with raw (gathered) ruffle edge along outside brim edge (larger in circumference). Sew down.

Place the other brim right side to right side, "basically making a ruffle sandwich with the two right sides together" as Merriment Design describes it. Sew along outside edge.

Always being careful to match fabrics, sew the crowns and brims together using Merriment Design's instructions. If you're using ties, I recommend sewing those to the matching side of the brim before sewing to the crown. When the ties are on the "wrong" side, you can tie them in a bow at the back of the crown.

Notes!
Between the extra fabric from enlarging the hat and the added weight of the ruffle seam, the brim of my 3-year-old's hat was a little extra floppy. She loved it, but I would recommend lining the brim using interfacing.

There are two ways to do this:

1. Iron fusible interfacing onto the brim fabrics before cutting out brim pieces.

2. Fold interfacing in fourths and cut 1 brim (making 4 pieces), sewing the two pieces of each interfacing brim together, then adding those pieces to the outside of the ruffle sandwich and sew, being careful to match the asymmetrical shape of the brim.)

Rebecca with a friend

I made my girls' hats with a total of 3 fabrics: one fabric for both girls' hats so they could have a matching pair, and the other side in two different fabrics to match each of their towel coverups.

Unfortunately, the beach didn't agree with my one-year-old and she hates hats. But Jaime was kind enough to model for us (okay, she was making a face, but you get the picture here):

What do you wear to the beach?

Family Summer Fun Plan!

My oldest just finished kindergarten, so our family's very first summer vacation is upon us. The thing I'm most worried about is spending the whole summer vacation in front of the TV and computer. A perfectly timed email from The Power of Moms gave a great example of how to avoid the couch potato summer, and we made up our family summer fun plan.

We started with a summer bucket list--a  list of all the things we want to do, all the places we want to visit, all the things we want to learn (and for my sake, all the areas we want to reorganize this summer), including experiences that no summer would be complete without:

Then we worked on our plan for our own Do-It-Yourself Summer Camp, creating themed days of the week. Our days are:

• Make it Monday: arts and crafts
• Talents Tuesday: learning new things, science experiments, music
• Friends-day Wednesday: playdates and outings with friends
• Thirsty Thursday: Play at the pool or lake or in the sprinklers, get slurpees
• Fun Fridays: trips, movie nights, game nights

Also part of DIY Summer Camp, we also came up with activities the kids need to do every day, like reading and writing practice (my 6-year-old writes stories or journal entries, or practices his full name; my 3-year-old does letter worksheets from Confessions of a Slacker Mom; my 2-year-old . . . mostly runs around ;) and chores. We also came up with a list of their favorite fun things to do, which would go great in an "I'm Bored" jar.

Everyone is excited for our summer plan, and I love the flexibility and structure it offers. I have ideas for fun things to do everyday all ready to go, and I can plan ahead for them.

What do you do in the summertime?