The Toy Box Years: Yarn Heart Craft

The Creators of the Toy Box Years

The creators of the Toy Box Years are my two beautiful daughters and wonderful, handsome soldier husband.

"Nani" (our oldest) is a 11 year old 6th grader who loves Taylor Swift, ballet, books, fashion designing and sewing. Ask her what she wants to be when she grows up and it changes daily to anything from "an artist" to "a teacher" to "a singer/dancer". Nani is also currently fighting a battle against brain cancer -- recently diagnosed in June 2016.

"Nudgie" (our youngest) is a very smiley, very happy, very giggly, very spirited 8 year old 3rd Grader who's favorite toys are anything that gives mommy an anxiety attack - ladders, stepstools, the climbing wall at the playground. Like her sister, she has a love of reading and coloring, loves gymnastics and still provides mommy lots of snuggle time!

"My Marine" is my high school sweetheart. We've been married over 20 years and met when we were 17. (You do the math....) His favorite toys are Blackhawk helicopters, the lawnmower, our steam cleaner, and microbrew beer bottles. My husband is also my hero in that he proudly serves his country as a Blackhawk crew chief (hence his favorite toy!). And need I say that there is nothing hotter than my man in uniform!

All About Me......

Once upon a time I had a career and worked in the corporate world. Once upon a time, I dreamed about leaving that all behind to follow my true calling -- being a wife and mommy.

The first part of my calling was fulfilled in 1995 when I married my Marine (now soldier) and my love. Little did I know that being a military wife would change me in so many ways and that because of that, I would have an extended family all over the world from Japan, to California, to North Carolina.

The second part of my calling took a little doing, but I finally achieved that dream in 2004 with the birth of our first child, followed 4 years later by her baby sister.

So now, when someone asks me what I do for a living - I simply smile and say proudly that I'm following my calling - I'm a mommy and a wife -- and I couldn't be HAPPIER -- I'm living in the Toy Box Years!!

This past weekend, we tried to make the yarn heart craft that I saw in Family Fun magazine.

Personally, it was an ok craft. I wasn't a big fan of the cornstarch glue. For me, it came out really lumpy and just didn't seem right.

So, after some adjustments, we had a solution that seemed sticky enough to try this craft.

I used two small heart cookie cutters and one big one.

The girls had fun doing it - so I guess that's all that mattered.

In the end, they came out ok. But if I were to do this craft again, I'd do the following:

1. Use liquid starch instead of the cornstarch glue they have in the recipe. It just never worked for me and I ended up adding some glue to the mix to help the yarn stick together.

2. Not use the large heart cookie cutter. Between the glue mixture not working and the cutter being a bit too big, the yarn just never hardened and the heart just fell apart when we picked it up. The smaller cookie cutters worked really well.

Bottom line - out of 5 stars, I gave this craft only 2.

8 comments:

Annette W. February 15, 2011 at 5:55 AM: I posted about our failed attempt too!!! haha
Anonymous February 15, 2011 at 6:06 AM: As long as they had fun that'sall that matters! That looks too complicated even for me though! I'm horrible at yarn crafts
Mass Hole Mommy February 15, 2011 at 1:11 PM: You are a way better woman than I am. I hate messy stuff like that and I hate sticking my fingers into it. Yuck.
MaryAnne February 15, 2011 at 2:24 PM: How frustrating. Good to know the cornstarch glue doesn't really work - your idea of just using liquid starch sounds like the way to go!
Michelle February 15, 2011 at 4:29 PM: That is funny I did this with Emily and loved it! I did have to add a lot more warm water to the glue so it was not lumpy. I actually liked the corn starch glue better than using regular school glue. After trying it I thought that liquid starch would probably be easier too. My church used to sell crocheted ornaments that were starched and that is what these made me think of.

At least the girls had fun...that is definitely what matters :0)
Anonymous February 15, 2011 at 5:39 PM: Ew, that glue looks pretty gross. At least they enjoyed it! Having fun is always better than the finished product (unless you have kids that cry when the project falls apart...that stinks)!
It's Grace February 15, 2011 at 10:02 PM: You just don't know until you try, right? You are such a nice Mommy! Gooey glue and glittery stuff drives me crazy. I'll have to check out Family Fun for some other ideas, that is a great magazine.
Personalized Sketches and Sentiments February 16, 2011 at 11:11 AM: I love that you had a photo of the three of you during your craft making... Your girls are adorable!

Blessings & Aloha!