how to make a toddler craft kit!

we had a sweet little friend turn 2 this past weekend & kenna & i collaborated on some gift ideas for her. well... i decided to make her a little craft kit & we put all of kenna's favorite craft supplies in it. i guess that counts as collaboration. it turned out to be a super cute & easy idea, perfect for the little crafty one in your life!

here's what we did:

we collected bunches of fun crafty supplies- all of these came from the dollar tree except for the paints & the little strawberry notebook. i got those at target because i wanted to be certain that the paints were high-quality washable & non toxic! truthfully, the whole craft kit idea came to me when i saw those stinkin' adorable fruit & princess themed sponge stamps!

 gather your supplies & find a cute box or container it all fits in. this one was also from target in the kid's closet aisle. i just loved the little colorful hearts! perfect for our little friend's birthday.

put it all in the box & add a fun little label with the recipient's name! [this one was from martha stewart for michael's ages ago.]

wrap the box in some tissue & tuck it into a pretty bag- instead of a traditional gift bag, i like to use a little reusable shopping tote since they come in so many cute & fun designs & are usually inexpensive! then the birthday girl can carry her stuff around in style!

ta-da! ready for giving & spreading a little crafty goodness. 

other 'kit' themes i think would be really fun would be a cooking kit [a set of play dishes & toy food etc.], or a bug-catching kit for the little menfolk [dollar tree has lots of bug catching tools right now, & maybe add a tiny flashlight in there!]

heirloom doll furniture!

there aren't too many things that were mine when i was little that i get obsessive about wanting my daughter to have. however, after my mom died & i saw she had saved my little wooden doll cradle & high chair, i knew i had to have them for my baby girl.

well. 2 years later, i finally finished painting & refinishing them for her. i'm sad it took me that long since she was almost 3  & i wasn't sure how much longer she'd be into dolls, but i was so excited for her to have them!

this is how they started out, pretty but a little drab:
& then a little bit of this with a whole lot of heirloom white:
this was the first project i did using the heirloom white & smoke glaze technique that i discovered on shanty2chic's twine pumpkins. it gives the item kind-of an aged, imperfect look, & i really like it on most things, & it worked fine for awhile on this set:

well, another almost-a-year passed & i started to reconsider the 'aged' heirloom white. does your decor plan ever change as you see more & more of your child's personality emerge? well, my K has this huge, colorful, dramatic personality. she's always singing, always coloring & begging to paint, & plain off-white just didn't seem to suit her. so as i started finishing up some things for her now that she's been in her big girl room for awhile, i re-did the little pieces one more time!

a little 'watermelon' for the crib:

& a little 'aqua' for the highchair:

& look how cute in her bright, colorful room! much more suited to my girl's colorful, ever wild little personality. [& a bonus... the multitude of stuffed animals have a place to be up off the floor! this is just a fraction of her massive crew, each of which she can & will ask for by name at bedtime!]

it looks great with her green walls & with the smaller pink 'bebe' cradle i also painted for her. all her babies get tucked into her choice of cradle each night. so sweet!