Makedo Winner Announced!

Well, just a slight delay in posting the winner of the Kit for 3 from Makedo, sorry about that.  We have had a weekend full of Halloween festivities including a party of our very own that was so much fun.  I'll share details about it later, promise!  

Anyways, without further ado, the winner of 170 pieces of re-usable and creative free play is...

Congrats April!  Please email me at SmashedPeasandCarrots@gmail.com with your mailing address and Makedo will send your prize to you right away!

PS.  The kids have a Halloween parade at school tomorrow, it's going to be so cute!  I love seeing all the little ones dressed up and excited to march around their school.  Which reminds me that I better get their treats for their classmates finished, there's nothing like waiting until the last minute, right!  ;-)

PPS. Have you seen this cute animated stop motion video trailer by Diana Schoenbrun for her new craft book, Beasties?  It's so cute...how do they do that stuff!?  

XOXO,

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere

Last weekend we took the kids to one of our favorite pumpkin patches to pick out our soon-to-be jack o'lanterns, they were so excited.  If they had it their way we would make a trip out there every day.  And our home would be filled with pumpkin goodness from floor to ceiling.  Maybe it's a good thing we make the rules.

The kids had a lot of fun searching for the perfect pumpkin.  We always let them pick out one for each family member and it's fun to see which ones they choose for each other.  

They have been discussing what kind of faces they want carved into their pumpkins ever since.  Good thing we are doing that this weekend!

I really love this mom and pop pumpkin patch...all pumpkins, any size, for $5.

When you are done you pay by dropping your money in the slit at the top of this old box.  Honor system style in this day and age?  Love that!

Little Eloise spent much time looking carefully for the perfect pumpkin...

Of course it was waaaay over there.  Isn't that always the case.

At the end of the day, our Pumpkin Express was finally at full capacity so it was time to bid farewell to the pumpkin patch.

Until next year!

XOXO,

Cardboard Pumpkin Craft and a Makedo Giveaway!

I have always loved decorating for Halloween, it's one of my favorite times of year but now that I have two preschoolers under my roof Halloween has taken on a whole new meaning.  Noah and Penelope started asking to decorate our house back in September, begging like no other, that is how excited they are this year.  I held them off until October 1st and ever since then our house has had an explosion of crafts and projects that their little hands could create in as much orange and black as possible!

A really fun project we did earlier this month has been using this cool little kit of doo-dads and thingamajigs from a company called Makedo.  

Makedo is a reusable connector system that allows you to use any materials, like cardboard, plastic and fabric, to easily join together and form new objects or structures.  It is the ultimate in creative play for kids and adults.  And when you are done creating you just pull apart the pieces and then you can re-use them for another brilliant idea.  Cool right!  I love that this whole system is not only reusable but that it gives a new life to all those empty cereal boxes, cardboard boxes, etc that you would throw in the recycle bin.  Easy free play that's for sure!

We have the Kit for One and it comes with all the pieces above. 

One of the pieces is a safe-saw which allows you to cut your materials.  This was so awesome to have for cutting cardboard.  It works great!  Have you every tried to cut apart cardboard into random shapes?  Sooo not fun....but with this tool it was a breeze!

There are also a bunch of lock hinges which can move freely like a hinge or be locked into a particular position.  

And there are a ton of these re-clips which include a pin and a clip.  

You just push the pin through your materials that you want to hold together and then use the clip to lock it in place.  Then you just squeeze the clip part together to release...easy!  The cool thing about the pin is that it is pretty bendy...not firm like a nail, so it's not a stressor to let the kids use them although obviously we use this kit only when Mr. Smashed Peas and I are playing with them as my oldest is only 4 years old!

The kids of course were just dying to make a pumpkin to add to our front porch.  I think he turned out so cute!  We used the safe-saw and cut strips of cardboard from an old cardboard box we had sitting around in the garage and used that as the majority of the pumpkin.  Then we used an orange Lucy clothing gift box for the face and used the safe-saw to cut out the eyes, nose and mouth.  We pinned it all together at the top and the bottom and, just like that, the kids made their very own festive little pumpkin man.  

So, are you interested in owning one of these fabulous kits from Makedo?  It really is hours of fun and creative play with your kids.  Really, truly.  

Well, you are in luck!  

Makedo is offering ONE of their Kits for Three to one of you lovely readers, aren't they the best!  This kit is 170 pieces of reusable connecting fun.  Just check it out:

You can enter this giveaway up to FOUR ways (one comment per entry for up to FOUR entries per person!)

1.  Tell me why you would love this Makedo Kit!

1.  Like Makedo on Facebook here

2.  Like Smashed Peas and Carrots on Facebook here.

4.  Be or Become a Follower of Smashed Peas and Carrots!

The giveaway will be open until Friday, October 29th at midnight

I'll announce the winner the next day!

Good Luck!

XOXO,

Oldies but Goodies...Halloween Style!

I thought today I would do a little Round Up of a few of my favorite past Halloween/Fall crafty tutorials and recipes from my blog.  Many of them would be perfect for an upcoming Halloween party if you are hosting one!  They can all be done in one afternoon so if you have a bit of time to kill this weekend maybe you might want to give one or two a try.  Enjoy!

Happy Bat Crayons would make the perfect favors for a Halloween party!

Toilet Paper Pumpkins can liven up any room in your house...and the kids can help make them too, score!

How about making some Fall Boo Frames...everyone needs a little candy wrapper decoration in their life this time of year!

Need some treats for the kids?  Try these super easy and yummy Cornflake Pumpkins...

Or what about some Rice Krispie Pumpkins?  They are cute and easy to make!

If you have some little ghouls in you house they might like these Rice Krispie Eyeballs...oooh scary!

And this Pumpkin Pie Fruit Dip is always a hit at our house...great for a party too!

Hope you liked my little Round-Up!  It was really fun to look back at past posts (and then cringe at my photography!) I should do that more often though, really, it brings back some good memories and reminds me of a few things I want to make again! :-)

Happy Friday to You!

XOXO,

Whip Up Guest Blogger Series: Waterproof Shower Caps

Holy cats!  Today I'm over at Whip Up where the amazing Kathreen has invited me to be a part of her guest blogger series!  I'm showing you how to make your very own Waterproof Shower Cap...rad!
Click here to check it out!

XOXO,

Material Girl Fabric Shop and a Big Announcement!

Today I wanted to share with you one of my favorite fabric shops ever located in the Chicago Suburbs.  Material Girl is located in historic downtown Crystal Lake and is pure kid-in-a-candy-shop heaven if you are a fabric addict like me.  I could seriously spend hours in here browsing all the latest designer fabrics, vintage trims, and buttons!  Oh my, heaven on earth I do believe!

Here is a peek at some of the beautiful fabric in the shop.  Most of the store is organized by color which I love just for the pure eye candy of it all when you walk in the door.  

Many of the designer fabrics, Amy Butler and Aneela Hoey to name a few, are grouped together for easy to find project inspiration.  Christmas fabric anyone?  I even spied Dr. Seuss's The Grinch last time I was in!

This is the adorable owner, Susie Fox, and one of her amazing and talented sewists on staff, Darlene.  Susie took over this shop over a year ago and has transformed it into the most beautiful place.  She has put the most personal touches in the design and aesthetic and you can just tell it is a place near and dear to her heart.  She always jokes to me that she lives here since she is here so much and I always tell her that I wished I lived here! :-)

Susie has used the most unique ways to showcase all her pretty shop fabric...I just love this bureau turned fabric display at the front of the store...ahhhh LOVE!

And how sweet are these fabric bolts tucked into a vintage trunk!

Material Girl also has an amazing collection of vintage buttons and trims for sale.  I have spent many hours browsing these collections.  There are so many goodies here I don't know if I will ever have the time to sift through them all.

Of course since this fabric shop is part sewing studio there are lots of pretty quilts to drool over.  I just about died over this Sherbert Pips quilt.  I still have my Sherbert Pips sitting on my shelf waiting for me to finally get my butt in gear and make Eloise her quilt...one day!

Pretty blue chair with pretty blue cushion...there is creativity in every inch of this store I tell you.

This store has vintage charm like no other I have seen.  Check out this cutting counter!  Do you not just want this in your own craft room?

And this cutting counter?  I'll take one of each please!

Lastly I just have to share the area designated for their sewing classes.  I saved this area for last because in only ONE month's time I will be here to teach my very own sewing class!  How cool is that!  I will be teaching a Beginner's Apparel Class on Tuesday, November 8 from 5:30-8:30 pm.  In the class we will be making the Ofelia Dress by Patterns by Figgy's.  This pattern is so sweet and perfect for those who are new to sewing apparel.  The pattern is sized for ages 12 months-6 years.  I will walk you through cutting your pattern and fabric all the way to your final stitch and give you all my little tips and tricks for sewing professionally made children's clothing!

If you live in the Chicago area and are free that night I would love for you to come so we could meet!  It will be such a fun time!!  We can create a beautiful little girls dress, talk about sewing, have a little kid-free girls time, and get to know each other outside of blogland...YAYYYY!  You can sign up online here or just call the shop and register that way.  

Material Girl Fabric Shop 

                                                                   21 N. Williams Street 

Crystal Lake, Il 60014 

815.459.2084

I am so thrilled to share such big news with you and am looking forward to November when this class will become a reality!  

Happy Wednesday Friends!

XOXO,