Every day I do a little cooking, loving, playing, praising, crafting, praying, and learning as I "Rain" it all in.


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

Monday, July 29, 2013

School Prep

It's about that time. As we approach August, I am excited and nervous all at the same time. I realize that not only is my oldest starting Kindergarten, but so am I...we are beginning a homeschool journey that seems a little strange and thrilling to me and I think a little of the same for my child, too.

So, I was contemplating this homeschool journey and thinking about blogging it here, but I really think, rather than go on and on about that, I will just share things I am learning as a mom, along with the usual food, garden, home, etc type stuff. From time to time, I will share some fun things that we've discovered but since I have found that I can get easily bogged down by reading other homeschooler's blogs, I won't go there often.

What I will do, is share this super cute Pinterest project (one of few I managed to do this summer) that I did with my boys to celebrate the Fourth.

Aren't they cute!? We did their handprint with blue fabric paint and I painted the stripes in red with a sponge brush. In hindsight, I think I would've done grey shirts...they don't stay white long! (: We were sure to put their names and the year on them too, so someday, when I make them t-shirt quilts, I can add these little cuties to it.

Happy Back-to-School, whatever that may look like for you and your family! Have a great year!!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Summer Bucket List

After searching Pinterest and online for summertime "bucket list" ideas, I was inspired to make my own list.


 Just a word of advice, though- if you search online, you will most likely become completely overwhelmed and feel that you are lacking in every area of your life because the woman with the perfect website or blog makes you want to puke on her perfect little picture because she can do nine thousand things with her ten kids in tow and still look super model-ish and unstressed as she tells you her latest homemade accomplishment ....whew...glad I got that out!

Anyway, the point is, that there is no right or wrong when it comes to your list and we can't do it all, contrary to popular belief (and all those cool blogs we come across--yes, I am guilty of feeling guilty, too!). So choose things that are meaningful to you and your own family. Also, be sure these are things that are realistic and doable for your family.

Take into consideration these tips when you make your list:

1.  The ages of your children- this one is self explanatory, you want things to be age appropriate

2.  Your summer schedule- for example, my husband is crazy busy at work and does weird night hours in the summer, so he is out for lots of things or we have to do them on the weekend

3.  Your geographic area -we live in a small town, 25 miles plus from lots of things to, so I wanted to be sure we added lots of things to do at home or very close

4. Your summertime budget-every mom knows you don't want to break the bank for a fun summer so 
             keep your budget in mind when you make the list

5. Ask your children what they'd like to do-I've been asking my four year old what he'd like to do this summer and he is already excited about doing many of the things on our list

I am already beginning to think that the benefits of doing the things on our list, will be that I can pass on wisdom to my children as we do things, they might accidentally learn something, the physical activity, the quality time together, and the memories we will be making. Don't forget to take pictures so you can remember your summer! One fun idea would be to take pics of each thing you do and make a bucket list photo book that your family can enjoy forever (and don't worry about this one...that's what all those cool photo sites are for-you can add pics and make a photo book without craft skills!)

Enjoy making your list! Here's mine- hope it inspires you to make your own with your family!!

 
SUMMER BUCKET LIST

o       Aquarium
o       Zoo
o       Philbrook Museum
o       Woolaroc
o       Movies
o       Library
o       Cherry Street Farmers Market
o       Broken Arrow Farmers Market
o       Picnic
o       Play in sprinkler
o       Blow bubbles
o       Paint outside
o       Sidewalk chalk
o       Make homemade ice cream
o       Swimming
o       Obstacle course
o       Treasure Hunt
o       Air & Space Museum
o       Camping
o       Visit a children’s museum
o       Visit a natural history museum
o       Go to a Pick-Your-Own farm
o       Make garden stepping stones
o       Make popsicles
o       Go to the Lake
o       Nature Center
o       Make butter
o       Mini golf
o       Go fishing
o       See some fireworks
o       Shade for under playhouse for table and sandbox
o       Incredible Pizza
o       Plant pumpkins & work in garden
o       Catch fireflies in a jar

Monday, February 6, 2012

Valentine's Day Roses


 I LOVE this Valentine's Day idea from Family Fun!!
They have some really cute ideas on their site...check it out. I came across this in their February issue and thought it was so cool and I couldn't believe I'd never seen this before! Maybe I've been living under a rock, but I had to try this and my four year old, loved doing it, too. Who knew that celery made a really cool flower stamp!?!?!? This is so easy and a great project for kids. All you need is finger paint, paper, and celery!
 Have fun with this...you can do different colors, a collage of flowers, and more. Of course, we can't just make one thing while we have the paint out, so we did several pictures and I now have some very fun artwork for my wall as well. Enjoy! It will be beautiful because you and your kids did it together!!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Valentine Road Map

  I used to despise Valentine's Day, but since I have kids now, I've found that it's kind of a fun thing to do and a good excuse to buy some extra chocolate (as if I really need an excuse). And, it is an extra special opportunity to be super mushy, which for me, with all the testosterone in this  house, is not always possible!
  Last year, I did a really fun road map valentine for my husband. It was so nostalgic for me and he absolutely loved it! It was simple, but thoughtful, and still inexpensive (depending on your "travel coupons").

I made the boys a dinner they both really like...I can't for the life of me, remember what it was, except that I'm pretty sure it included mashed potatoes...and we all had placemats that I made from 12x12 scrapbook paper, which I placed some of their little goodies on at dinner. For my three year old, it was a book and some M&M's...easy to please! 

 I helped my little one make a card for his Daddy and he insisted on doing hand tracing, too. The card on the left, we made with both of our thumbprints in the shapes of hearts and added some stickers, of course, because every three year old loves stickers!
 These are the "travel brochures"...each is a little mini valentine with a travel theme.
 The "travel itinerary" is a the little "booklet" that enclosed the "brochures", "coupons", and "map".



 This is my favorite part...the map! Each tag with ribbon has a date and something significant to our relationship (for example: when we started dating, when he proposed, etc.). I wrote little notes with some of them and at the "end" I wrote him a little love note.



The coupons can be whatever you want. I can't remember what I did on all of them, but I know one was for a batch of his favorite cookies upon request...didn't take long to cash that in on some PB cookies!

The only materials I used were scrapbook paper, ribbon, inkpads, markers, and stickers....all of which I already had in my craft supplies and the end results were something special!


I hope this inspires you to have some fun and make something special for you favorite valentine, too!

Friday, December 30, 2011

What to do with Those Tiny Proof Sheets

So, if you are not totally obsessive compulsive about photo organization and use them to index, what do you do with those little tiny proof photos that come when you get prints???

I received a beautiful locket for Christmas from my grandma and I was trying to figure out how to get some photos that would fit in it...four of them, at that. Then I realized that I had these little proof sheets that always just sit around and collect dust or get thrown away when I order prints, so I thought I'd give it a shot.


And, it they worked perfectly!! As with any items like this, you have to use the piece of paper in the frame or the plastic or glass cover to trace around the photo to cut it the right size and pop them in. This only took me about 5 minutes to do.

This got me thinking about some other ways to use these little tiny treasures that I hadn't thought of before.....use them in ornaments, decopage boxes or other small things with them, use them to make magnets (I have to try this with photos still and I had just realized I could use these little ones like this with the magnet project I posted earlier!!), use them on a family calendar to identify each person's activities, use them to decorate ID tags for backpacks/bags, and there are probably a ton more ideas out there! The point is, we no longer have to let these little beauties go to waste, we can find a purpose for them and have fun doing it!!