Seedlings

My little seedling was helping me plant some seedlings the other night. Like most kids, he loves playing in dirt so I knew he'd like to help me start some of our vegetable and flower seedlings.
It took him quite a while to fill up his two little pots, but he was so careful about scooping the dirt into them.We planted cucumber seeds in the pots he filled, along with zinnias, 2 varieties of tomatoes, onions, peppers, and some herbs. I'm not counting on them all coming up, but for a few dollars, it's worth the chance.
I'm most interested in watching the seedlings grow along with Sojo, and getting him excited about gardening from early on. It's worth the twice-daily shuffling of the seeds inside and outside to take advantage of the best sunlight.
He also helped yesterday with planting our lettuce and spinach seeds, though he kept creeping over there to dig some more in the dirt. Hopefully I can keep him from pulling up the seedlings when they start to sprout.

So what's going in your garden this year?

Constructive Eating Kids' Tableware

Getting a toddler to eat can be a daunting task, not just because they're often picky eaters, but because they have trouble navigating their utensils and food. My son still has difficulty scooping up food on his plate, even though he'll be 2 very soon.

Constructive Eating has helped with that. They sent us a set of Constructive Eating Utensil Set ($19.95) and plate ($14.95), which not only makes meal time more fun, but makes it easy for kids to scoop up their food.
The set of construction vehicle utensils is quite charming and sturdy, but able for toddlers to hold easily.
To be honest, I was wary about this set, because from the moment I opened it (seconds before serving dinner, stupidly), my son was over-the-top excited to use these. Uh, oh, I thought, assuming he'd be more interested in playing with the trucks than eating. Surprisingly, he actually used these to eat every noodle off of his plate.

(that's his new "cheese!" face for photos)

The "pusher" truck helps to deliver (haha) food onto the spoon, which makes it easier for my son to scoop up his food. The fork is easy to hold too, and is a perfect size for his hands.

We were also sent the Constructive Eating plate to try out too, which is a bright orange "construction" color. There are divided sections on the plate which keep food separated for pickier eaters, and spots on the plate to "park" your utensils. It grips onto the table nicely too, which makes it easier to eat off of. And all of Constructive Eating's products contain NO Lead, NO Bisplenol A (BPA), NO PVC, and NO Phthalates, so parents don't have to worry about what else other than food is going into their kids' mouths.

Oh, and there's a special pink set too, for girls who'd prefer a pink truck to a yellow one.
Overall, we love this plate and utensils and how it makes an ordinary meal into something extraordinary.
Disclosure: I received a sample plate and utensil set from Constructive Eating for review purposes.

Tech Tuesday: Setting up a Facebook Fan Page

You may have noticed that I recently made a Katydid and Kid fan page (become a fan!) and it's been fun linking my blog posts to Facebook. I wanted to make a fan page rather than post my blog posts on my personal Facebook page, because I still have real friends (verses what Mr. Geek calls "vrends" or virtual friends) and relatives who don't really want my latest review posts clogging up their news feeds.
It was pretty simple to set up, and I'm still adding more applications and features as I learn more about it. To get started, either log in to your current Facebook account (or create one if you don't have one already) then click this link. The page will look like this:
You'll need to choose what type of page it will be. I selected the Artist, Band or Public Figure tab and chose "writer". Then I typed in the name of my page and made sure the box was unchecked, about allow the page to be publicly viewed.

There you have it, your own fan page. You'll want to add an image, like your blog button or something too, and of course add your website in the profile. Once you get more than 25 fans, you can get a "vanity" url, like mine which is "http://www.facebook.com/katydidandkid" rather than "www.facebook/q8129379879i23" or something like that. To get that, simply click this link and follow the instructions once you get more than 25 fans.

Some other things you might want to add right away are a fan badge for your blog (follow the simple instructions there),
and automatically having your blog posts published to your Facebook fan page. To do that, I set up an application with Networked Blogs and then under the page settings tab for the Katydid and Kid fan page, I linked my blog posts with the page.I'm sorry I didn't make notes as I was doing this, but from what I remember it was really easy to connect your blog to your page. If you get stuck, email me and I'll see if I can help. The one thing I do remember doing was making sure I didn't connect the blog posts to my personal profile, just so I wasn't double posting and so that my real friends didn't have to see my posts unless they became a fan of my blog.

So there you have it. Quite a chunk of info on Facebook fan pages. Good luck, and consider becoming a Facebook fan of Katydid and Kid!

My Crowning Achievement

My weekend project--made during naps and even on a long car ride to visit Sojo's cousin's house yesterday.
I've been wanting to make him a birthday crown for a while now, having not gotten around to sewing one for his first birthday last year. But I did it! And I love how it turned out.
I had an old wool sweater that I had knitted and felted, naively for a baby (this was pre-Sojo), thinking at the time that it would actually fit over a baby's head. Defeated yet hopeful it could be used for something else like a teddy bear, I was stashed it away to be repurposed one day.

I cut the bottom of the sweater into a crown, which was actually a perfect fit for Sojo's head and didn't even require a seam (the sweater was knitted in the round).
For the "S" panel on the front, I cut out a circle from a piece of scrap felt that I had made
and needle felted a red "S" onto it.
For instructions on needle felting, see my posts here or here. For wet felting (like the scrap piece above), check out my tutorial here.

I then needle felted colorful circles around the crown
Finally, I wet felted little balls to sew onto the tips of the crown.
I love how jester-ish it is, and I hope that Sojo will look forward to wearing this on birthdays to come.

On a related note, I finally finished the Ministry Shawl.
I'm pleased with the result, but I should have budgeted my yarn better. I made the shawl too wide, and therefore it's a tad too short (I should have made a longer, narrower shawl). I added fringe along the edges to make up for it, and I like that it brings more pastel color into what could be a funeral-esque shawl.
I'm off to drop it off today, so hopefully the recipient like it. What have you been creating lately? Inquiring minds want to know (and would love to see links!).

Glitterful Felt Stories {Giveaway}

I'm happy to be featuring Glitterful Felt Stories again here at Katydid and Kid. I've gotten to know Shelby, Glitterful's owner and mom of 3, and I think that her felt play sets are perfect for taking on the go. Glitterful Felt Stories was my BlogHer conference sponsor last year, and it was nice promoting her felt stories.

Glitterful Felts has introduced a new patented travel felt roll ($10), which is perfect for on-the-go.
We have a travel felt roll along with a few stories, including perennial fave, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom ($10),
which are great to take along in the car. They're mess-free, lightweight and can be entertaining for your little ones, especially if you have one of the sets based on one of their favorite stories. Plus they don't make any noise!
Glitterful Felt Stories would love for you to check out their website, and are kindly offering 1 K&K reader

A Travel Felt Roll and Story of your Choice!

To Enter
Visit Glitterful Felt Stories and comment here about the item you like best or what you'd choose if you won.
Extra Entries (leave a separate comment for each one):

• Blog about this contest (2 entries--leave 2 comments)
  
• Subscribe to my updates
• Become a Fan of Katydid and Kid on Facebook
  
• Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect
• Add my "Kid on the Go" button to your blog
  
• Follow @GlitterfulFelt on Twitter and tweet this giveaway, leaving a link to your tweet in the comments. You can tweet once per day (leave a comment each day). You can copy and paste my tweet if you'd like: Win a travel felt story roll and story of your choice from @GlitterfulFelt http://goo.gl/fb/Pdb0 @katydidandkid #giveaway

US Postal addresses only.

You must do the first entry in order to enter ("I want to win, thanks!" comments will NOT be considered). You will have until Sunday March 28th at 11:59pm EST to enter. The winners will be chosen via random number generator the next day and notified by email. I'll also post the winners on my blog HERE. If I don't hear back from the winner within 72 hours, I'll pick another.
Disclosure: I was not compensated for this giveaway or review, but have received other felt items in the past.