If you're new here, Toddler Craft offers great information on crafts and parenting, subscribe to my RSS feed so you don't miss out on fun new craft ideas. Thanks for visiting!

Today we have a special guest post that I think you will enjoy…

Preparing for a new baby certainly does take a village. When I found out I was pregnant, my parents, my husband, his family and our friends rallied around me for what was a relatively easy nine months — no complications, no morning sickness and a quick delivery, although she was breach and I had to have C-section. Lily came into the world on August 4, 2005, and was a healthy, beautiful baby. We were thrilled! Our “village” surrounded us with help, but little did we, or our little village of support, be prepared for what happened next. ??With a new baby, I took a few weeks off of work, but decided to return to my hair salon, where I was a part owner, after a month. I’d run a salon that was part of a successful chain and managed over 20 employees, so when the company asked me to take over management of a new location, I decided to throw my work hat back into the ring. The workload would be less than my previous position, which suited me fine since I didn’t want to be away from Lily for long periods of time. ??About a month after going back to work, I started to feel run down. I was tired, couldn’t catch my breath and had absolutely no energy. I chalked these symptoms up to being a new mommy — until I started losing weight. Not the normal shedding of baby weight, but a good 5-7 pounds per week. So I went to the doctor, told him my symptoms and had a complete physical work-up.??He did blood work and I had a chest x-ray, which showed the cause — there was fluid buildup around my left lung. After more tests, scans and biopsies, the diagnosis came back. It was on November 21, 2005, just a few months after Lily popped out into our lives. ??I had malignant pleural mesothelioma — which is a cancer in the lining of the lung and is caused mainly by asbestos exposure. I’d been exposed to asbestos as a child, and now, 30 years later, I was diagnosed with mesothelioma. ??It was devastating and my first thoughts weren’t about me – they were about my Lily. At the initial diagnosis, I was told I’d have less than 15 months to live if I ignored it. That hit home, and after looking at my husband and child and thinking of them alone, without me, I decided I’d do whatever was necessary to stay on this earth with my family. ??Prognosis with mesothelioma is grim, so we did the most drastic thing we were offered — which was flying to Boston to undergo a treatment called extrapleural pneumenectomy. This surgery entails the removal of my left lung, all the tissue around it, lymph nodes, diaphragm on the left side, the lining of my heart and even one of my ribs. Then my diaphragm and heart lining were swapped with surgical Gore-Tex. ??During the surgery, they used a heated chemo wash to get rid of any other cancer. The next 18 days were spent recovering in the Boston hospital, two more months of recovery before beginning chemotherapy, and eventually radiation treatment… all on top of being a first-time mom. ??This is where our village comes in — we could not have done this without them. If there’s anything funny about cancer (there isn’t) it shows you who your true friends are. ??Lily stayed with my parents while we were in Boston, where they had their own village to help them be not only grandparents, but essentially parents. They rallied around my baby girl, and Lily learned to eat real food, crawl around and experience life in my South Dakota childhood home. I was sent email updates and pictures of her every move and I was thankful this village was watching over my Lily if I could not.??That period of time shaped who I am and who we are as a family. Although I am OK, I could not return to work, as it was too much with only one lung. Being a stay-at-home mom was the best option for me, and we live life to the fullest. We boat, camp and never take life too seriously, as we learned firsthand how fragile it can be. ??The moral of my story is this — embrace what life throws at you and with the bad, can also come a lot of good — your village will show you that.

Heather Von St. James is a guest blogger for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance

photo credit: Marit & Toomas Hinnosaar

Today we have a guest Post from Michelle at Party supplies!

Kids have the best imaginations and their parties reflect those unhindered spirits that make kids so carefree.  The themes and crafts you have at a party determine how occupied the kids will be and what memories they will take away from the event.  At my son’s 6^th birthday party, we used Super Mario Bros party supplies to create a household game.  We decorated and encouraged kids to dress up so that when they showed up, we had an obstacle course set up, like the level of the video game.  Most of the boys wore overalls, and we had fake mustaches ready for them to stick on to top off their costumes.

We try to make our kid’s birthday parties as interactive as possible.  Pizza stations, where kids can top their own mini-pizzas make for easy to please and not too expensive food. The stations also take up a little bit of time.  Having cupcakes for everyone to decorate with icing and candy is another option for a hands-on activity.

Having a craft for the kids to work on can also double as their party favor.  Depending upon the age, interest and gender of the attendees.  Kids that are old enough to handle paints can decorate their own t-shirts, aprons, hats or whatever else you can think of.  Kids love paint, but clean up can be a nightmare if they’re too young to handle the responsibility of keeping the paint where it belongs…not on the floor.  If the party is near the holidays making ornaments can be fun.  Picture frames are another good option. You can have a Polaroid on hand and take pictures of the kids for them to put in their frames to take home

Younger kids are a little bit tougher.  Toddler parties aren’t drop off the kid situations, so parents having something they can do to interact with their children and everybody interacting altogether is the goal.   Edible decorating is good for this age group. It can be messy, but the last thing distracted parents need to worry about is policing what goes into their toddler’s mouth.

If you pick a theme like we did, that may help you by having some sort of genre to follow.  Super Mario party supplies are one way to go of course, but consult your kids and use you imagination!

It is hard to believe that it is Thanksgiving already!!  Time has really flown!  It seems a second ago we were preparing for Halloween!  I have compiled some of the fun thanksgiving crafts featured here on toddler crafts.  These are fun activities to help teach your children about the meaning of Thanksgiving.  They can also decorate the house for the holiday which kids always love!!

• Thanksgiving Thankful Tree
• Preschool Thankgiving Crafts Cutouts
• I am thankful for -Thanksgiving activity
• Thanksgiving hand turkey craft

Have fun and have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

It’s hard to believe that it’s October already!!  Do you know what that means?  It’s time to think about Halloween and those fun Halloween Crafts!!   I have had a lot of fun Halloween crafts in the past here, so I thought I would highlight a few of them here, so you can find them easily!  Halloween is such a fun holiday for kids (and adults!).  There is not much better to kids then getting to get all dressed up and go around and get candy!  Enjoy and have fun!!

• P is for pumpkin craft
• Halloween Umbrella Decoration
• Halloween ghost Craft
• Halloween Cookies
• Pumpkin Craft
• Halloween painting craft
• Pumpkin Decorating Craft
• Ghost Craft
• Make a Halloween Candy bag

Happy Halloween!

Guest Post by Jennifer Richards

How to Create a Paper Bag Kite

The summer provides a great time to spend time with your kids. I found a guide on the Factory Direct Craft blog that explains how to create a paper bag kite and this project looks like a lot of fun. I am going to make this with my kids because it looks like a lot of fun. I have always enjoyed crafting and my kids seem to enjoy it as well. There are many great craft ideas that are perfect for kids of any age.

The necessary craft supplies for this project are a Paper bag, Clear tape, Scissors, Sock yarn or kite string, and a Yarn needle.

1. Trim the top of the bag until is it even and then remove the seam from the bottom of the kite. There should be a flat paper tube remaining.

2. It is now time to decorate the bag. Your kids will love this part.

3. Cut the center of the tube close to the seam

4. On a flap in the center of the kite, add 3 layers of tape. These should be on top of each other.

5. Next, you will need 2 feet of yarn. With the yarn needle, thread the yarn you just cut through the tape about 1/3 inch from the edge and make a knot.

6. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with the other remaining flap.

7. Tie a not at the center of the yarn and you should then attach a piece of string. This will be used to fly the kite.

8. Create the tails by taping 10-14 inch sections of string to the flaps along the bottom.

9. You are ready to fly your kite after adding some extra string to the loop.