I am not the crafty type. AT. ALL. I have a blog so that I don't have to create baby albums. So when I do happen to do something crafty, I get pretty excited.
And I get even more excited if said crafty project helps my job of being mommy to be easier!
Last week, Alejandro was gone for five days, working out of town and Grammy came two weekends in a row. That means that on Sunday Danny had Mama, Papa and Grammy in the house, but by Tuesday morning, there was only Mama.
I needed some way to help him count down the days. So on Monday afternoon, off to Walmart's kid-craft section I went in search of felt and a permanent marker and a dowel big long stick. When I got home, I also went in search of my glue-gun and yarn. This is what I came up with:
I glued together 3 full sheets of blue felt to form the back, and glued that to the big long stick. Then I cut strips and squares to make the days of the week. Lastly, I cut squares of different colors to be used for the week's events. With my sharpie, I wrote the days of the week in both languages (because we're bilingual around here and we want to pass that on). Then I jumped on my computer and found pictures that would remind him of his usual weekly activities. These I glued to the felt squares with the the glue-gun. (My glue-gun doesn't get super-duper hot, so it didn't damage the paper picture, but you could laminate the pictures if needed.) I picked a picture of his preschool class with the fire-truck to remind him of preschool. Yes, that's me sportin' my work-out clothes and a prego-tummy to remind him which days we go to the gym. I had to actually change and snap that one in my bathroom mirror using my phone. I don't generally photograph myself in work-out clothes. Ahem. Our pastor's big ol' grin is up there for church, and then of course, there are pictures of Grammy, Grandpa and Alejandro for the day that they'd all be returning to our house. I also made one with my face on it, since I occasionally travel as well and I want to be able to use this in the future.
All parts of the calendar are glued except for the squares with the pictures. Oh, and of course, the star, which we move around as the day changes. I try to remember to have him change it first thing in the morning or right before he goes to bed, but if not, I move it myself. It's tacked underneath the hall banister just outside his bedroom.
This made our week go so much easier!!! Each time Danny started asking for Papa, we could walk over to the calendar and talk about how many more days between now and when he was home. Plus, the added bonus of getting to look at his picture helped him feel closer to him. Plus, then he got to see all the fun he was gonna in the meantime and be reminded that Grammy and Grandpa were coming back! The total project, including the trip to Walmart, took me about 3 hours.
If you decide to make one, take a picture and post a link so we can see yours!
Happy crafting! (Did I just say that??)
