There are loads of summer reading lists for adults, teens, and school age kids, so I’d like to offer up a short list of beach (or bedtime) reads for the preschool set.

Dot’s awesome dragon cake and party brought to mind one of our household’s favorite books: Jack Kent’s There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon.  A friend gave us a copy of this, her (now grown) sons’ favorite book.  She confided that she’s been buying every secondhand copy she could locate since the book went out of print decades ago.

Billy Bixbee (no relation to the Incredible Hulk) wakes in the morning to find a small dragon in his room.  Eagerly, Billy tells his mother about the dragon.  Trouble begins when she insists “There’s no such thing as a dragon.”  Diligently, Billy tries not to acknowledge this figment.  Undeterred, the friendly beast follows Billy to breakfast.   As the Bixbees persist in ignoring the mythical creature, he grows larger and less well behaved.  Eventually he carries off the Bixbee house while chasing a bread truck for snacks.  Eventually, the family acknowledges the dragon and he reverts to his original house pet size and mannerly behavior.

Our 3.5 year old loves this book.  The text is delivered in around 5 short sentences per page and is 22 pages long.  The story is simple, but funny.  It can entertain an older toddler without taxing their attention span.  The dragon and the humor make it appealing material for a beginning reader.

Random House is reprinting There’s No Such Thing As A Dragon, so you don’t have to raid my friend’s stash for a copy (release date September 8, 2009).

Get in touch with your inner actor by reading When Dinosaurs Came With Everything aloud.  Buy a box of donuts, get a box of popcorn at the movies, or visit the barber and receive a dinosaur free.  The child narrator finds errand day dramatically improved with each additional dinosaur.  His mother, on the other hand, grows increasingly stressed out. Writer Elise Broach and illustrator David Small create a charming world.  The pictures and narrative capture a very familiar parent-child dynamic under extraordinary circumstances.

“Mom!” I yelled.  There at the front desk was a stegasaurus.

“What on earth is going on?” my mom cried.

“It’s a special day,” the nurse explained, “Today, dinosaurs come with everything!”

“Yessss!” I said

“Noooo,” my mom groaned.

Did you read that out loud?  It is serious fun, especially with kids to egg you on.  Once she recovers from her initial shock Mom finds smart ways to incorporate the dinosaurs into the family.

When Dinosaurs Came With Everything is also around 20 pages.  It takes longer to read than There’s No Such Thing As A Dragon, but the true-to-life dialog is easy to inhabit.  This book can stand up to any number of repeat performances.

Get a headstart on color theory with White Rabbit’s Color Book by Alan Baker.  The vibrantly colored illustrations walk White Rabbit through a series of primary color baths.  The beautifully illustrated bunny takes a swim in “sunshine yellow” then tries on red to find herself orange.  After a wash, she discovers the combinations to make purple, green, and brown.

The simple text averages one sentence per page.  While color mixing may seem mundane to grown-ups, it engages young listeners.

What summer selections are you and your family enjoying?

Hi, everyone – Sister Diane here – and I’m excited to be guest-posting on Dabbled today!

I recently published an ebook of weaving projects you can do without a loom, so I’ve been weaving a lot lately. I got to playing around one day with some variegated cotton yarn, which weaves up to look a lot like Fruit Stripe Gum. (Anybody else remember this stuff from the 80’s?)

Since the weaving looks so candy-like, I decided to turn it into a cute little candy-shaped drawer sachet. I particularly like it because it’s cheery, compact, and not too frilly. Here’s how to make your own!

Materials:
Cardboard
Ruler
Sharpie
Skein of variegated cotton yarn (I’m using Sugar n’ Cream)
8″ Straight tapestry needle (optional)
Tapestry needle (large eye, dull point)
Scissors
1/8″ Ribbon
Cotton ball and fragrance oil
Scrap of cotton quilt batting

Begin with a piece of stiff cardboard, at least 10″ x 10″. Measure out a 5″ x 5″ square in the center, and draw it with a Sharpie.

Now, measure and cut a row of slits in the top and bottom edges of the cardboard. Take a look at this tutorial I did on CraftStylish for instructions on how to set up a simple cardboard loom.

Begin weaving, following the instructions at the CraftStylish tutorial. The variegated yarn will create its own stripes.

This is a good moment to mention this long needle I’m using to weave. It’s called a straight upholstery needle, and you can often find them at big-box craft stores. They’re inexpensive, and they make this kind of weaving a snap. But if you’d rather not get one, just use your regular tapestry needle to weave.

Once you’ve woven a square, remove it from the cardboard and finish all four edges. Again, that CraftStylish tutorial will show you how.

Now, fold the woven square in half, matching the edges with the short, knotted fringe. Thread your tapestry needle with about 12″ of yarn and tie a secure knot in the end. Sew the two layers together along this edge, using a small running stitch. Knot the yarn securely at the end of the seam.

(You could also sew this seam on your sewing machine, of course.)

A note on those fringes – just brush them out of your way as you sew. They should end up hidden inside the sachet.

Now you have a woven tube. Carefully turn it right side out, so your seam faces the inside. The best way to do this is to push the bottom edge of the tube into the center, and continue pushing until it emerges from the top, as shown here.

Cut about 8″ of ribbon. Tie a tight double knot around one end of the tube, about 1/2″ away from the edge. Tie the ends of the ribbon into a bow and trim them to about 3/4″.

Now you can add a fragrant filling to your sachet. I’m using a cotton ball with some drops of cedarwood oil, but you could use any fragrance oil you like.

I like to use cotton quilt batting to stuff these sachets, since it will hold its shape more precisely than fiberfill.

So first, I fold the batting into thirds, so it forms a long strip that’s as wide as the center of the candy shape, as shown.

Next, I place my scented cotton ball at one end of this folded strip, and begin tightly rolling it up. See how much that cotton ball is compressed? Keep rolling until you have a roll just big enough to fit into the woven tube.

Slide the roll into the tube, pressing it firmly.

(And by the way, you could also skip the batting and fill your sachet with dried lavender or cedar shavings.)

Cut another 8″ of ribbon and tie another double knot and bow in the open end.

Voila! Your sachet is ready to tuck into a drawer. Wouldn’t a little set of these make a cute gift?

Sooo, I was subscribed through Google Reader and wasn’t seeing the updates (after you requested, via twitter, I look)
You asked me to subscribe (follow your blog) on Blogger and I did that, but the updates still weren’t there.
I was getting antsy about not seeing your blog posts, so I just went into Google Reader, hit the add subscription button, and added “dabbled.org” (I think)
The address shows up in the reader as “http://dabbled.org/feed”
I’m having NO problems now getting your posts in Google Reader. I’m not sure what the problem was before, but the address Google Reader had before for your feeds was “http://www.dabbled.org/feeds/posts/default”

So, it sounds like if you use Google Reader you need to just go back in and re-subscribe to Dabbled.org to start receiving feeds again. I’m leaving my contest open to help spread the word to my missing readers for a bit longer, so go enter now, pretty please! You can link back to this post to enter.

Recently at Dabbled..

Grab the Feed! http://feeds.feedburner.com/Dabbled/

Here’s some of the way cool people you’ll be seeing:

• Diane from Craftypod… I swear this woman has done it all! (Though she does have some weird affinity for plastic canvas, hehe)
• Paul from Dudecraft… The talented crafty guy who seems to find the best stuff on the web to share.
• Sarah from Sewer-Sewist…She’s always interesting, and a lot more than just sewing…
• Carissa from Good N Crazy… Super Mom Blogger and web maven!
• Adrienne from Baby Toolkit… Love her kids ideas and insights!
• Heather – talented artist and designer (and past Dabbled Contest winner) with a fun blog
• Rachel – the queen of finding all things crafty on the web at One Pretty Thing
• Heidi – You’ll remember her fabulous Easter Basket tutorial from earlier this year
• Colleen – Crafty lady with so many ideas, blogging at Some Art Talk (and proprietress of Some Art Fabric)

… and maybe more, who knows!?

Should be some great info and a great deal of fun, so stay tuned!  Be sure to let them know you appreciate them by commenting on their guest posts, and heading over to their blogs, too!  And spread the word… nobody’s gonna wanna miss this!

PS: Still trying to find the missing readers… grrr Feedburner!… here’s how you can help, and win a prize!

• Check out these fun flower cupcake toppers, made with sugar, at Wisdom of the Moon.  Love this idea…
• Post-it Note Animation found at Dudecraft
• Wardomatic’s Mid Century Childrens Books collection… some awesome vintage illo! (His own art is nifty too!)
• Goofy Plush Monsters, and other cool links, at Superpunch
• A fun felt pin, similar to ones we did on Dabbled, but nicer looking from Ready, Set, Craft!
• If you blog in Blogger, some helpful posts on personalizing your template at Crafting with Cat Hair

More Cool links.. previously Twittered… (follow me on Twitter DotatDabbled:

• For the Bacon lovers… we’ve had tiaras, how about a dress? http://tinyurl.com/l8apqk
• Fabulous 20,000 leagues under the sea cake… Cepholopod-y goodness! http://bit.ly/19uUHX
• Love this circa 1967 mod comic http://bit.ly/XN0vk (via the oh so hip @dudecraft!)
• I love the story/drawing/crochet of Darla the Duckling http://tinyurl.com/n33adq by @WooWork
• Love these underwater photos via superpunch: http://bit.ly/nTAQB
• Newly discovered: Loving all the funky cool street art at http://www.woostercollective.com/
• Pretty odd and fascinating… the story of a homeless girl and dad played out in the Sims 3: http://tinyurl.com/nr5n5v
• A Light Breakfast… this is just way cool: http://bit.ly/pIh0P

Not my favorite coloring job, but I love the design of the old robot.

Oh, and PLEASE make sure you have the updated RSS feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/Dabbled
And win a prize by spreading the word, here! (that’s also where you can find the original Mr. Buttons sketch)

1) So, first off, the easy stuff… In 5 sentences or less, who are you, what do you do, how long have you been doing it?

Basically I’m a geeky mom that gets bored easily.  Since I like working with my hands and love learning new things, crafting just seemed natural.  I also like to make people laugh, so stories about my weird little kid often show up on the site, along with ways I incorporate my nerd heritage into our family.  As for how long I’ve been doing this- the mom gig for two years, and the crafting for one.

2) You have some great stuff… How did you get into creating your clever geek ware?

I wanted to learn how to cross stitch to make my mother a piece that said “Be excellent to each other” (a quote from “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”) since she said that to my sister and I a lot when we were fighting as teens.  When looking for fun cross stitch patterns on the internet, I stumbled across Sprite Stitch.  It was like a switch flipped in my brain.  Oh, the possibilities!  I used Johloh’s (the creator of Sprite Stitch) patterns to teach myself how to stitch.  But then I would think of other things that wouldn’t work in cross stitch, so I taught myself how to crochet, knit, and sew after that, so I could cover all my bases.

3) So, what’s your favorite creation?

The Space Invaders guitar strap (http://www.thedomesticscientist.com/2008/07/25/space-invaders-rawk/), hands down.  I love just love the colors on it AND it’s functional!  Function rocks.

4) You’ve been published in gamer magazines right?  Are you now the idol of all gamer geeks everywhere?

Yup, Nintendo Power published me.  That magazine has a real love for geeky crafters.  They also published Cassie from the Mario Scarf Blog and Johloh from Sprite Stitch.  I got a lot of requests for the Guitar Hero scarf pattern after that was published.  As for an idol?  I wouldn’t go that far.  I think Cassie and Johloh are of idol status, but not me, yet.  I am trying to build my readership, though, and appreciate anyone that comes by!

5) Do you just do this for fun, or do you sell your stuff?

I just do it for fun, mostly.  I tend to give away most of my stuff as gifts, but the leftovers usually end up on Etsy.  Right now, though, the only things left in my Etsy shop are some dice bags.  I really need to get on that….

6) Why did you start your blog?
I started my blog mostly to keep connected with the outside world.  I was having a hard time transitioning to being a stay at home mom in the middle of NOWHERE and needed mental stimulation and adult interaction.  The blog has definitely taken on a life of it’s own and I’m happy to have met so many wonderful people from around the globe because of it!

7)  Anything else you want to add?
As soon as life calms down, I’m going to be doing a full overhaul on the site. I’ll be adding a forum, concentrating the post topics (and hopefully posting more often!) and in general making the site more domestic-ey and science-ey.

Wow, we can’t wait!  Thanks for sharing, Renee, and for all the great inspiration!  We here in Dabbled upper management always love a geeky project, and are looking forward to seeing what you do next!  Be sure to check in when your overhaul is complete…

Visit The Domestic Scientist blog!
Some Dot Picks:

• The Guitar Hero Scarf
• Guitar Hero Cupcakes
• Space Invaders Guitar Strap
• Magic The Gathering Cookies

Related:  Geeky Cakes

More Dabbled Interviews, including Jennifer Nakatsu Arntson – (Vinyl Designer), Dave Gugel (Halloween), Naomi Henderson (Cupcakes), Cory Godbey (Author/Artist), Shannon Riffe (Silkscreening Entrepreneur), Diana Evans (Artist), & Diane Gilleland (Crafter Extraordinaire)

PS: DABBLED still needs your help! Pretty Please?

So, here’s the skinny. Hopefully there are enough of you left to make this work!! If you would be so kind as to include an announcement on your next blog post telling people who follow Dabbled that they may need to update their feed (They need to go to http://feeds.feedburner.com/Dabbled to get the updated feed, if they haven’t seen any posts in the past few days). That’s it, just include that in your next post, and leave a comment here with a link, to enter the contest. I’ll pick one (or more, if there are enough entries) who will win a prize! So, tell your friends, please!

So what’s the prize?
Well, you can pick… Either a set of 10 postcards of the “Wizard of Oz – Poppies” print (they’ll be in the new store when it’s up!) or I’ll do a picture just for you — whatever you want – for web use or print use- , and you can have it digitally delivered to you (anything from a picture to a party invite, to a blog header). An excellent opportunity!

And I finally got a sketch for “Worn” for illustration friday this week… I’m working on coloring it, but the sketch is here for your perusal! Meant to be done in the Poppies style, I call him Mr. Buttons. His gears are a little worn and he’s a little worse for wear, but he always has candy for us kids!

So without further ado, here are some of the interesting geek/nerd cakes & cupcakes that I’ve found in my flickr travels. Hope you enjoy! Links to the original items can be found below the big pic.

Tomorrow we will be spotlighting more geeky fun!

1. Geek out to the max Cupcakes! iPhone Icons,
2. Rubic’s Cube Birthday Cake Love the idea of the m&m’s!,
3. Hans Solo encased in carbonite…very clever Star Wars cake!,
4. Motherboard cake – great computer geek idea,
5. Gamer Bride- the bride is apparently ‘playing’ her wedding cake,
6. Star Trek Wedding Cake – wow, this is an actual classy star trek cake!,
7. Tetris Cake – they have a bunch of how to make it pictures, too,
8. Geek Cake – everyone loves code on a cake, right?,
9. Death Star Cake – now THAT is a great simple idea for doing a Star Wars themed cake!

Along the geeky food line… remember Guacamole Han Solo and Jar Jar Salad?

• All Flickr Roundups: HERE