Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Book Study: The Courage of Sarah Noble

Grades 1-4 Class


This year I've been blessed to teach a couple book study classes at a local homeschool organization.  One class is geared toward grades 1-4, the other grades 4-8.

In the younger class we've read:

Ox Cart Man
The Drinking Gourd
A New Coat for Anna
The Rag Coat
Miss Rumphius
The Bears on Hemlock Mountain
The Courage of Sarah Noble

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Easy Advent Calendar

With just a click here or there on the internet, we are introduced to so many fabulous ideas to inspire creativity from sites like Pinterest and other random crafty blogs.  This year, with the help of my GREAT 8-year-old, behind-the-scenes motivator, I wanted to make an easy, yet attractive advent calendar we could use for years. My girlie wrote a count-down-to-Christmas list.  Just about every day in December had an activity assigned to it.  We just needed a great way to display her ideas.


I found the following idea from Simple Mom.  We made some changes and created our own variation of the advent calendar.


Begin with an empty frame.  We happened to have one just stashed away awaiting a good use.  It already matched our decor.

Attach ribbon to the back.  At first I tried a glue dot, but it wasn't heavy enough to hold the tags.  I then tried tape.  Fail.  Lastly I pulled out the big guns and used Gorilla Glue.  The ribbons are now secure.

Our ribbons were about 2.5" apart
I found K & Company Brenda Walton specialty paper at JoAnne's.  In the paper pad it had a couple sheets that had numbers 1-25 on it plus some other holiday/Christmas designs.

I purchased paper tags measuring approximately 5.25" X 2.5" and placed a number and the activity on each tag.  Next, position the tags.  We used two colors; white and manila tags.  It wasn't part of the original plan, but as crafts go, the craft store only had one tag pack left of each.  Turns out, I like the look.  We added a couple more events in between the numbered dates.We then clipped them to the ribbon using red metal binder clips found at Staples.


Positioning the tags
Each year we can adjust the activities as desired.  It's a fun project, that was quick to complete and adds Christmas cheer to our living room.





Monday, October 31, 2011

Halloween Pumpkin Man Craft

Pumpkin Friends

My girlie LOVES to do crafts!  She found a pumpkin man project she wanted to try to tackle this fall.  Let me tell you...this was a long time-consuming project!  I will show you the photo steps necessary to complete this little cutie, but I have to warn you if you try it...it IS a LABOR of love!

Supplies:  These foam balls were a fraction of the cost of Styrofoam.  All supplies can be found at Michael's.

Placing clay around foam ball.  

It's best to slightly wet fingers to spread clay around in thin layer.

Gently press clay around the ball.

This is what the ball should look like when covered.  A dab of water smooths it out nicely.


Champion crafter


Now to make pumpkin creases

This is the end of a paintbrush.


Looking very pumpkin-y!

Add the toothpick arms. Apply glue to the toothpick before inserting.

Add the little hands.

Drilling holes for the legs.  Do not glue legs in yet.

The Workers

Hmmm....What next?

Everyone quietly working away...Pure concentration!

Stand painted.  Legs glued into block.

Now, form clay feet.  Oh great!  Blocks need to be repainted!

Hats in place...hopefully!

Four little pumpkin heads

Painting....painting...painting!  

Drying

The friends!  One little pumpkin had a tragic accident...kind of like Humpty Dumpty.

Project Complete!  Yay!  Happy Halloween!

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Making Halloween Costumes

Confession.  I love dressing up, perhaps even more than kids do!  I love to come up with ideas that are not your run-of-the-mill costumes.  This year my cousin-in-law shared an idea with me that we've run with.  I won't share the finished idea just as of yet, but here's our first step in the costume creation.

Painting the "P" on my girlie's shirt

Adding the glitter.  Bling it out!

The boys aren't so bling-ish!

The Girlie's shirt is done!

Sparkle-rama

Mission #1 Complete
Watch for the upcoming finished costumes!

Monday, September 19, 2011

"Crayola Doesn't Make a Color For Your Eyes"

I'm researching some art projects and stumbled upon this wonderful Crayola song with video.  I love the kids, activity, smiles, and mood of this song!  I hope our school time reflects some of the fun of this song!

Enjoy!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Home Economics Day- Learning to Sew

I'm drawing a blank for words today... I must have used all my creativity trying to teach the kids some sewing basics. The kids received a great little sewing calendar for Christmas. In it there are a number of sewing projects that are fairly simple with great directions. The first project is quilted coasters. We found some great fabrics at a local craft store. Here's our sewing day in photos...