Sometimes I like to have regular playdates with coffee, girlfriends, and kids running about like banshees, jumping in and out of the pool and sandbox, and SOMETIMES I like a good THEME.  You may recall Vet Hospital Day and Christmas Cookie decorating day.  I force my friends to get crafty with me, and I think with “Funky Felt Craft Day”, I may have found their limits.  If I move us along to “Sew Their Own Pillow Day”, I’m pretty sure my dear friends might lose my number.

I found a Felt Craft Book at the American Girl Doll Store in Chicago, and in the mad dash of buying the girls their first American Girl Dolls (thank you Grandma Sally!), I bought this book for me.  You’re never too old for childrens books…someone should put that on a tshirt.

I bought an insane amount of felt…none of which we used.  My wool felt leftover scraps were more than enough.  I bought beads in every color of the rainbow, and craft glue…should have bought more glue….because seriously, when in your life have you said those words pertaining to crafting with the Under 5 Year Old Set?  Then, knowing I was still in the midst of good days and bad days (now living out lots of good days with skin healing faster than lighting, YEAH!), I gave myself a break and asked my friends to help me cut the felt.  Those ladies may have mad professional skills, but if they decide they done doing fancy things in the real world, they could make a fortune as seamstresses.  Excellent cutting!

I made a time management mistake: it takes  A LOT of time to cut felt crafting patterns, even the simple ones.  Especially when 6 little sets of hands are joining in on the fun.  I wish I could post Dr. B’s dog, but my picture was too blurry.  His project was Blue Ribbon Cute.  The girls all chose cupcakes, and then the mayhem ensued.  After 3 hours in the pool and lunch…the mayhem of tired children gluing tiny beads ensued.

In a long playdate, the kids usually take part in the theme for little more than 30 minutes, sometimes more, sometimes less.  I never judge a theme by it’s duration.  It’s just a tool to introduce new concepts and engage their minds for a few minutes of fun.  I love it when they love it, but with little people, attention span can be affected by many factors.  If I do this is again (and I would love to), I would have the pieces pre-cut so they could start right away, and I would have bigger beads.  That being said: next time: simple round cookies and glitter glue might be more than enough! I’m not sure if they’ll remember this craft or the hours they spent screaming on the Slip and Slide, but what matters, is that they remember on a lazy summer day, they had a blast hanging out together.  They don’t need to know that this craft enhanced their understanding of geometry, balance, color, and fine motor coordination.  HEY, where did those 3 dozen butterscotch cookies go?