The Name Game

I wanted to make each of my grandchildren a special gift for Christmas. 

I decided to give them each a special name picture that was just theirs and no one else would have.

Went to Hobby Lobby and bought scrapbook paper trying to match each personality. I wanted it to be fun and colorful.  My one grandson loves Star Wars so I went to a speciality scrap book store to get the licensed Star Wars paper. Luke Skywalker is crouched next to the M in his name.  My other grandson loves baseball so I used a baseball to dot his i, the background looks like the cover of a baseball, stitching and all.

The girls pictures are fun and colorful.

I wanted the frame to have glass but didn't want to spend a lot of money.  Found just what I wanted at A.C. Moore, just the right size for $9.99 a piece.

My neighbor found out about the project and said that she had a Cricut cutting machine and I was welcome to use it. I took all of the supplies over to her house and we spent the afternoon being creative and having fun. Used Hodge Podge to glue the letters and fun shapes to the background.

Grandpa attached the hanging wire to the back of each one and taped the hanging hardware on the back so that Mom or Dad could hang them up.

The kids loved them and they have a special gift from Grandma.

The Magic Pouch Builds a Village

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Grandchildren in Chicago. I wanted a new idea for the Magic Pouch, something different. I finally decided it would be fun to build a Christmas village. I went to the Dollar Tree and bought all of the pieces that they had for a village including the snow. Because some of the pieces were too large to fit into the pouch, they had to go on treasure hunts to find them.
What fun they had!

The first time that they checked the pouch, there was a note saying "Lets build a Christmas Village together. Before we start, ask you Mom and Dad where we can put the village. "

Then : "Go to Miles' bed". There they found a note saying: "Go to the dryer".  They found two buildings (gift wrapped) and the "snow" inside the dryer - the fun begins.

Miles really got into this. In between the Magic Pouch discoveries, he started to use Legos to add his own parts, he made a hobo with campfire and a little newsie guy with a newspaper (that one really made Grandma proud). Walking across a bridge was Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars and in the corner was the TARDIS with Doctor Who standing next to it. I think he covered many different angles.

Fall Leaves

I received a video, via email, of my grandchildren in Chicago jumping into a huge pile of leaves. They were having so much fun!  They were jumping from a step ladder.

It got me thinking that our grandchildren in Florida don't know what pretty fall leaves look like.

Grandma decided to fix that. Grandpa and I took a ride up the mountain in search of the brightest leaves. Grandpa pulled over and I jumped out to pull "fresh" leaves off the trees.  When I put them in the box, I realized that they would probably dry out and fall apart before they arrived. To solve that problem, I got out the iron and wax paper. Using a tea towel, I pressed the leaves between the wax paper with a hot iron. I then carefully peeled the wax paper off. This put a waxed coating on the leaves to preserve them.

I placed them in a Ziploc bag, then into a padded envelope along with a letter and some fall picture books.

They were excited to get the package.

Before waxing.

Grandma's letter

More Grandma Fun Toys

It is so exciting to receive an unexpected box in the mail with a surprise made especially for you by your Grandma.

New "Friends" I Made for My Grandkids

Magic Pouch to the Rescue!

My grandson has always been all boy, very active. When he started kindergarden it was very hard for him to sit still. One night I was talking to him and his Dad on FaceTime. He didn't look very happy,
Seems that he has been bringing home Oops Notes from school. He had a problem keeping his hands to himself and talking out of turn. Of course it broke my heart, I was frantically trying to think of how I could help. I was so far away. Then it hit me -The Magic Pouch!
Miles is a huge Star Wars Fan. Grandpa and I spent the weekend going from party shops to Hallmark Stores looking for a Star Wars bracelet. Finally found one online and ordered it. The plan had begun.

The Magic Pouch wrote him a letter.

The letter included Star Wars stickers and a chart.

The following Friday, Miles and his Dad called me on FaceTime to show that he had 5 stickers on his chart. A whole week without one Oops Note!  Hooray Miles and Magic Pouch!

The Magic Pouch send a special Star Wars book to him.

Oh No...Magic Pouch Mistake?

We just got back from visiting our three grandchildren in Florida. The magic pouch was a big hit. Because there are three kids I used a new, larger bag that I receive as a gift when I bought Clinique makeup. The twins are two and a half years old so I used mainly Fisher Price Little People, bubbles and sunglasses. Their older brother, Colin is almost six years old and really into Power Rangers. I was surprised at how many small Power Ranger toys that I found in Target. Colin wanted to know why the Magic Pouch was bigger than the last time, nothing gets by him. I told him that I didn't know because it is magic it just appears in my purse.

The day after we arrived home I received a picture text from my son. It said "Look Grandma, It's the Magic Pouch!" It was a picture of Colin standing next to a large Clinique ad in a department store and there was my new makeup case. What was I thinking? Should have used an older case? He decided that  the Magic Pouch's picture was there because it is famous....whew!