Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year and this is the year of the dragon.  I had the kids make a dragon mask which I printed on card stocks from Alphamom’s site.  It’s a simple craft that yields lots of fun.  The kids have been running around the house growing with their masks on pretending to be dragons.

I’ve been having fun creating flower bobby pins for my girls’ hair.  They are quite easy to make and my girls like wearing them.  That’s a great combination.

My girls wearing these flower bobby pins.  Even though there are several colors to choose from, all of them chose pink.  Why did I make other colors?

If you’re interested in making these flower bobby pins, I have a simple tutorial.

Materials needed:

Bobby pins

Felt fabric (any colors you want)

Glue gun

Scissors

Instructions:

Follow the above photo from left to right, starting from row 1 to 3.

Step 1: Cut a square that is approximately 2″ x 2″.  This is the size I went for but you can decide on any size.

Step 2: Cut the edges of the square to make a circle.

Step 3: Once you have the circle, start cutting from the outer edge of the circle in a spiral format all the way to the inner circle.

Steps 4 & 5: Start rolling the cut circle from the outer edge.  Keep rolling and you’ll begin to see a flower forming.

Step 6: A perfectly formed flower.

Step 7: Flip the flower over and open the small circular flap.  Apply a dab of glue to the bottom of the flower and close the flap down.

Step 8: Cut a small circle from another piece of felt.  The circle should roughly be the same size as the bottom of the flower.  My circle was cut from a 1″x1″ square.

Step 9: Slip the circle in between the bobby pin.  Apply glue on the top side of the circle where the ridges of the bobby pin run.

Step 10: Put the flower on the circle and squish it a little to make sure the flower is adhered.

Tada!  You’re done and you have a beautiful flower bobbin pin ready for your girl to wear.  My boys enjoyed helping me make these pins that they made more than I had originally intended.  Now we have a lot of flower pins of various colors.  I think it’s time to share some of these lovelies with friends.

We’ve been enjoying our baby boy for the past two weeks and he is such a wonderful blessing to our family.  It’s been so good to have a baby boy again.  Our last boy was born over 7 years ago so we have forgotten what it was like to have a baby boy.  We’re so used to having girls that both Evers and I keep referring to Nathaniel as “she” or “her.”  There are also several boy-related things that brought back memories, specifically related to the potty.

Here’s Nathaniel in the snuggler I made for him.  This snuggler works so well and he is quite content and warm all bundled up.

Our regular routine still goes on though at a much slower pace.  School is still in session with daddy as the substitute teacher.  It’s been wonderful to have him home for a month.  He is my substitute teacher and my caretaker.  I’m very grateful and blessed by him.

When Nathaniel makes a peep, there’s always someone who is more than willing to hold him and comfort him.  Here is his big brother holding him while doing schoolwork on the computer.  He is quite good at multi-tasking I might add.  It’s so heart-warming to see how everyone cares for this little dude.

Getting ready to head home with family…

About to board the van home:

But not before one final “Ding family tradition” pose:

And one more up close:

The Lord has blessed us with yet another healthy son.

I am pleased to introduce you to Nathaniel Luke Ding, born @11:33p on 1/5/12 in Los Gatos, CA.  Measured in at 8lbs 1oz and 20inches.