Tales of a Crafty Mommy

The story behind this new blanket that has a hippo amigurumi: My husband asked me to make a special gift for his co-worker who is expecting their first baby girl.  I made her a blanket using the granny square stitch and switched colors every five rounds.   See this post to find out what you will need to make an Amigurumi .  Hippo Crochet Amigurumi Security Blanket by OneandTwoCompany Pattern Review   The original pattern to make the hippo security blanket I used several years ago has been updated and now includes the arms for the hippo. This is such an EASY security blanket to crochet. It uses very simple stitches, it works up fast (unless you do a lot of color changes).  OneandTwoCompany has beautiful designs. I am very pleased with their patterns. The instructions are very clear, easy to follow, it has a lot of pictures, and she is also available to help when neeeded.  (Other Granny Square blankets I have made are available here  and  here ). The blanket has

I went back and forth for several weeks whether to have a calendar wall in our dining room or not. In the end, I decided "why not!?" Sure thing, I went to Jo-Ann's, my go-to store for school supplies, and got several teaching posters at $1.99 each.   Why posters? It's a constant teaching aid. The kids are able to choose to count, review the colors, or shapes several times throughout the day. Sometimes my oldest (almost 5) helps my (almost) 3 year old with the shapes and colors. They also take breaks from playing to go look at their posters.  I placed them at their eye-level. Easy for them to read, touch, point at.   I do have a younger child, age 1, who is interested in the pictures and imitates his older siblings. So far, he is doing really well at not pulling them down. So I think it'll work out well.  We have also included a Fruits and Vegetables poster to help remind us of healthy things to eat.  During meals, the kids have asked if the foods