Sunshine and Sick Days

It's pretty quiet around here today. Chi-Chi is off to school and little Muffy is flaked out with the flu. The sun is shining, but it looks like we'll be spending most of the day indoors, snoozing, reading and sucking on popsicles! I'm not short on things to do around the house, with eleven little boys descending on me Saturday morning for Chi-Chi's 6th birthday.

It's been awhile since I've found myself in a crafting mood. It was a busy winter on many fronts and not feeling very well, I didn't have the energy, desire or inspiration for creative projects. I recently stumbled on these adorable toadstools and I could not resist giving this project a try. It was so incredibly simple I whipped it up between the supper dishes and bedtime stories! I think this was the quick hit I needed to get me back into a creative mode!

I only made one, though I'm tempted to complete the pair. I thought they would make a perfect nature-inspired addition to our science/tadpole observation area. I've got some super fun activities coming to this area over the next month, so I'm expecting the little ones to spend a lot of quiet time observing, studying and admiring in this space.

The project was a little pricier than I expected. The stool itself was about $24 at Michaels, but I was glad to see it was made in North America instead of overseas. It's actually a reasonable price I suppose. We get so used to paying dirt cheap prices for items made in China and I think it skews our sense of reality. I checked my wool stash, but I didn't have any red on hand. A quick note to Deanne Fitzpatrick and a few days later there was a yard of cheerful cherry red wool in my mailbox! I followed the directions on the tutorial, using my hubby's staple gun and raw wool I already had on hand as stuffing.

As Muffy looked longingly out the window this morning, he remarked with sadness that he would not be able to go on his nature walk today. I told him we can still appreciate and enjoy nature even though we are stuck inside with the flu. I opened the windows a crack to let the fresh air and birdsongs filter in. I also guided him over for a morning visit with the tadpoles. Immediately he smiled, delighted in the comfy feeling under his "bum" and settled in for some quiet observation. He was even treated to a morning rainbow as the sun reflected through the aquarium. I'm glad this new little seat added a bit of comfort, happiness and magic to Muffy's sick day!

I'm half expecting to see a Smurf crawl out from under that toadstool! So cute!