Crafty India

In my humble opinion, I had a great idea the other day inspired by the sticker section at Target.

Dia and I were shopping for a friend's birthday gift when I decided to let Dia wrap it...with stickers. We were gifting her sweet Laila with a few books so I bought a simple box just big enough to hold them. I then selected as many cute, girly stickers as I could find: My Little Pony, Hello Kitty, metallic hearts, etc. Dia loved holding them in the cart and when it came time to wrap Laila's present, I set her up in her high chair with her stickers and some crayons and this girl turned a simple box into a shining beacon of artistic glory. (I know--I really should work on my parental pride.) No really, it did look great and it really looked like it was Dia's gift to her friend, something I really want to instill in her when we give gifts. Too often it's just me going to the store, picking it out, wrapping it up and then handing it to the child's mom at the party. Let me tell you, this time Dia took full ownership of this present. She talked about it non-stop.

"Mama, box for Laila. Happy tooo youuuuu. Laila books. Me do it. Me!"

She showed everyone in the house multiple times (we were staying at my parents' house) and when it came time to go the party, she ran right to where the box was and asked to hold it in the car. Then when we got there, she asked to hold it while we walked in. (Note to self: try to make the box light enough for the kids to carry! This one wasn't too bad, but I'll be more conscious next time.) To be honest, I was worried Dia wouldn't give it to Laila and would insist that it was hers (we love saying "Mys" around here--that's Dia-speak for "mine"). But instead this little 21-month old held the package the whole time we walked up to the house and while we looked for Laila. She then ever so proudly handed it over to Laila (who I think was slightly shocked to be asked to carry such a big box!). Both girls then proceeded to peel off several stickers and play with them--a gift in itself! I was so proud of her to be so generous and so excited to GIVE. Plus she just had a lot of fun decorating that box.

D with her finished creation

I think next time I'll go to the dollar store or order in bulk online just to save money. I'll also buy more puffy stickers because they are easier for her little hands to peel off herself. And that really was another bonus to this craft: Dia got to do just about all of it by herself. How many toddlers can say they wrapped their friend's present, you know? She was so proud of her work and that made me so proud of her. As a mom and as a home-schooling mom, I strive to instill that sense of accomplishment and capability in her. This tiny, fun little afternoon project did just that.

Happy Birthday, Laila!

And here's a video of D talking through her birthday present thoughts (I have no idea where she got the "no boys" concept but it cracked me up and she was still insisting no boys touch it while we were driving to the party!):