Summer Fun Idea: Plaster handprints

Something that becomes clearer to me each day is how quickly my children are growing up.  This is  bittersweet since I love seeing the milestones and growth each child is achieving.  But it makes me sad because I know we can never go back to the sweet, simpler milestones.  I'm sure that all mothers can relate.

 

Although I did get hand prints when my babies were small, I was looking at my son's big paw this summer and trying to figure out how he had grown from the tiny impression to the big hand.  I have no record of the in-between, so I decided to "capture" each child right now with a hand print pressed in plaster.

Tatting Inspirations

Now that I'm getting going with tatting, I thought I should look around the web for some interesting projects.  There are LOTS to be found and so here's a quick highlight of a few of the ones that caught my eye.

From http://www.allcrafts.net/tatting.htm  -- this neat button spider...

... and the front and back of a Celtic Wreath.  This involves two pieces, one smaller piece in red and one green that are made up to a certain point, interwoven, and then finished off in green.  Cool.

 

From www.be-stitched.com, this super adorable hedgehog and lots of other free patterns AND a whole set of how-to info at http://www.be-stitched.com/tat.asp.  Is he adorable?!  I love him!

Summer Fun Idea: Making a Prayer Rock

This is an Summer Activity Jar idea I found in The Friend magazine, published for children by our church.  It's a Prayer Rock.  I remember making one when I was a child, so I was tickled when my kids  brought me the instructions and asked to include it in our Jar.

We cleaned rocks we chose from the yard and then painted a base coat.  When the base coat dried, we decorated with different colors, and then finished off with mod podge.  When the rocks had completely dried, we put them on our pillows.

Every night when we pull the covers back to get into bed, the rock is there to remind us to say our personal prayers to Heavenly Father.  Then the rock goes on the floor next to the bed.  When we get out of bed in the morning and step on the rock, it's a reminder to say our morning prayers to start the day.

As you can see, I made a rock with the kids.  Can you tell which one is mine?  I'm loving the extra reminder to make my prayers a higher priority in my day.

Interestingly, a few weeks later my children had the chance to make a second prayer rock at Christ Centered Children's Camp, sponsored by our local congregation!  I say:  The more reminders, the better!  : )

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

Summer Fun Idea: Balloon Ping Pong

In my last post I mentioned a list of summer activities I've gleaned from the internet to help keep my kiddos entertained.  Before summer vacation began, I printed up small images all of the pictures I'd found, laminated them, and cut them out.  On a wall in our kitchen I hung a three-month calendar with all camps, vacations, trips, etc. recorded.  Then I put a jar with the activity pictures close to the calendar.  Every night (nearly) one of the kids gets a turn to draw an activity out of the jar for the next day.  We then tape the little activity picture on the square for that date on the calendar.  Mom does get veto power if it's something that won't fit into the next day's schedule, but then we just put it back into the jar and draw another possibililty.

It's a good system for us because it helps give motivation for the kids to get their morning routines done quickly--too much dawdling and we run out of time to do the activity, it allows me time to run out and get any extra supplies needed that I might not have on hand, and when we look at the calendar, we see the fun things we've done all summer.

This Balloon Ping Pong was one of the first pictures we drew from the Summer Fun Jar.  I saw this idea at bakersfieldmom.com.

Supplies are simply a balloon, paper plates, and tongue depressors.  Since I only had the cheap floppy paper plates, I just taped two together around the edges, and it gave enough support to hit the balloon.  We didn't have tongue depressors either, but rather than run out and buy some, we just taped five popsicle sticks together, and it worked just fine.  We played with Ping Pong rules, using our napkin holder as the "net" in the center.

I was surprised at how long my kids were entertained by this activity.  And then when Dad got home, the parent match was even more fun.  Yeah, he beat me, but only because he's an INTENSE GAME PLAYER.  Sheesh!  It's okay-- he has many other redeeming qualities...   : )

Hope this brings someone else as much enjoyment as it brought us!

Beginning to Shuttle Tat - Part 2

 Slowly, but surely...

Here you can see three attempts, with growing degrees of success going from left to right.  I'm still getting the hang of the counting, picots and joins and the beginning was something completely foreign until I had an AHA! moment on the trick with the paper clip (which was necessary since I haven't found written instructions for what I needed to do yet - but see below).  

All of these are an attempt to make a Celtic Snowflake from the book Celtic Tatting by Rozella F Linden.  It really just involves chains, joins and picots with no reverse work or making rings.

  

Here if you follow where I started on the bottom right, I got the first 2 loops (roughly) okay, but then failed to read the instructions properly and missed putting in another 5 double stitches to move the 3rd loop to the proper place.

Here I actually got all the way around and only messed up on the last loop!  Here you can clearly see where I didn't join those top two picots in the middle early on in the loop when I should have.  Again, another case of not really reading the instructions properly.

My last attempt (so far) doesn't quite have consistently-sized loops or picots and that left loop got a bit twisted, but I'm fairly satisfied in that I can say the following:

   - I DID make it all the way around

   - I'm getting more consistent in my picot sizings, especially those involved in joins

   - Joining still needs a bunch of practice

   - To get started I was supposed to make a first loop onto a paper clip (that would hold that 'picot' until the final join).  I figured out that I need my shuttle thread to be still attached to my ball thread (so that it's really just one continuous thread and not 2 separate one, as I think the instructions implied), hence my AHA! moment. 

 Here you can see that these babies are pretty tiny:  the snowflake using size 10 thread is only about an inch (2.5 cm as you see here) in diameter!

Not bad for starters and now I'm confident to try a few other things.  I'll probably plunge into another  Rozella Linden's book 'Easy Tatting' published by Dover; that seems to have more instructions on the various tatting moves than the Celtic Tatting book does.

Apropos 'instructions':  I've looked at a few of these now and I must say the instructions are not mathematically logical to my mind.  You'll find an instruction that has 5-5-2-2-5 where the number represents the number of double stitches and the '-' represents a picot, so I would read this 5 double stitches, 1 picot, 5 more ds, 1 picot, etc.  BUT the understanding seems to be that a picot is counted towards the number following it, so the instructions are meant to mean 5 double stitches, 1 picot, FOUR ds, 1 picot, ONE ds, 1 picot, ONE ds, 1 picot, FOUR ds!!!  That's just silly if you ask me, but I suppose I'll get used to it. 

Have a great day!

Janice

Summer Fun Idea: Homemade Lava Lamps

I think I'm the world's best copycat.  That's why I love the internet so much:  It helps me find awesome ideas that I can copy and use for my own family.  Summertime is no exception, and thanks to many fantastic bloggers, I was able to put together a fun list of summer activities for my very active brood.  Since I've benefited so much from other bloggers' generosity, I thought I'd go ahead and share some of our favorite things in case others are searching too.

This is an idea I first saw at S.L.Smith Photography, but I think she found it at Family Fun Magazine.

We used big water bottles, oil from the pantry (I think we had Canola on hand), tap water, food coloring, and Alka Seltzer tablets.

Fill the bottles about 2/3 full with the oil and then fill with tap water to the top, leaving about an inch to an inch-and-a-half at the very top.  We put 20 drops of food color in, but mostly because we wanted to make sure we had vibrant color.  I think we could have used less...  : )  The food color will slowly drip down to the bottom and color the water, leaving the oil clear.

To "activate" the lava lamp, break an Alka Seltzer tablet into quarters and drop a quarter into the bottle.  It will immediately start to fizz, sending colored water bubbles through the oil to the top.  Very fun to watch, even for The Mom.  The bubbles last for about a minute for each quarter tablet dropped in.  We noticed that after several rounds with the Alka Seltzer, the oil and water began to look cloudy.  But after a day or so of rest, it all cleared up again.  These are definitely reusable.

Hope this brings someone else as much enjoyment as it brought us!

Behavior Chart

 I'm reposting one of my old posts from a couple of years ago that is saving my sanity this summer!

A challenge I face with four kiddos under 10 is how to be consistent in behavior rewards and consequences.  In the past I've found great ideas that worked well for a few weeks.  But in the end they all required me to keep track of too much stuff, and when I became overwhelmed, the rewards stopped.

This Behavior Chart has worked for us for a couple of years now because:

• It's really helped my kids see instant rewards/consequences for their behavior choices
• It allows them to work towards goals they set
• The best part is that I don't have to maintain or keep track of anything.  That last benefit is the primary reason the system is still working!  : )

The inspiration came from a system my son's teacher used at school, but it's simple enough that my preschoolers have also used it with success.  I printed up the words I chose to use on colored cardstock and then laminated them. The colors I chose obviously reflect traffic light colors (go forward, slow down, stop).  Then I cut a foam board down to the size I wanted and glued the strips to the board.

The kids all decorated their own wooden clothespins (ownership!).  My awesome husband installed a little shelf in the kitchen, I screwed two hooks on the bottom to hold the chart, and we've been in business ever since.  The kitchen is the center of our home, so it works well in that room so that the kids can easily monitor where they're at, behavior-wise.

On top of the shelf is a jar full of pompoms and three smaller jars. The kids set goals for something they really want, and then when their jars are full of pompoms, they earn their prizes. Each time they reach "Awesome" they earn a pompom.  If someone has stayed on awesome until the end of the night (our toughest time), they get five pompoms.  Each morning all clips begin again at "Good Job."


Throughout the day when I see good or poor behavior, all I have to do is say: "Move your clip (up) (down),"and they do all the rest.  Because of the desired goal/prize, they never forget to remind me when they've earned pompoms!  And I love that it frees my mind up for other things. 

 Second Son loves demonstrating for the camera.  Can you tell?  : )

Here's hoping we can all enjoy the rest of the summer with domestic peace and tranquility--at least every now and then.  : )

Time and Choices - a different kind of craft post

Made by me. You are welcome to use it. 

Lately, the idea of time and choices has been on my mind a lot. While reading and studying the Bible and the Book of Mormon and pondering the words of our living prophet and apostles, I came across this talk by President Monson and another great talk by Dallin H. Oaks on Focus and Priorities.  There were a lot of things to think about, but I felt the main message for me was simple: "Time is a gift, a treasure not to be put aside for the future but to be used wisely in the present."


I am still trying to figure out what I have learned means exactly for me. I know I need to spend less time at the computer. Less time thinking about my next project and more time thinking how to make my family happier. Less time on trips to Joann's and more time on trips to the park or the library. Less time making crafts and more time making memories.  Less time reading blogs and more time reading books. 


So,  I made something to remind me of how precious time and choices are.

  

I know, it sounds a bit hypocritical. It's not. Trust me. 

Beginning to Shuttle Tat!

Last summer when visiting my sister-in-law in Poland, one of her household helpers, Pane Janine, showed me how to tat.  I tried it out a bit, but never quite got the 'flip' action of the knots.  I wanted to try harder and so bought myself a cute shuttle and some sweet patterns to inspire myself, but have only just now tried it out again.

Here you have the first feeble attempts, culminating in a botched-up ring (at the bottom).... not very consistent and certainly I bungled the ring completely and decided to start over. 

Then I found my own personal round-the-clock teacher:  Marilee Rockley and her Shuttle Tatting course on www.craftsy.com.  In case you don't know Craftsy, they have a wide assortment of video courses that you can watch over and over.  Each class covers a topic in-depth and provide lists of the materials needed as well as all the necessary techniques and lots of the instructor's favorite tips, tricks, insights and experience as well.  

Strawberry Shortcake Skirt

A while back I had gone to Joanns with a plan. Can I tell you, you really cannot ever do that, walk into Joann's with a plan. I never find the vision I have in mind when I do so. My daughter has this favorite Jersey Knit dress, with smocking on the top. I don't blame her for loving it, it looks so comfortable. Things get old and this dress really needs to be retired. Even with the holes, she would still choose to wear it everyday if I'd let her. 

SO, I was in Joann's looking for replacement fabric. 

Alas, I couldn't find anything, but I did find cute-ish smocked cotton fabric. 

This is why I say cute-ish:

Spotlight - Papercrafts from The Toymaker

As most of you know, I am a big fan of papercrafts.  Adding on to that my appreciation of nice colors and nifty designs, The Toymaker is a website that's bound to please me. 

From nice scrapbooking papers,

 to print-it-and-build-it toys of all shapes 

and very sweet boxes and baskets,


Marilyn Scott-Waters has lots of goodies for free and to purchase on her site. 

And as a published artist, she has a few nice books, not just her lovely papercrafting ones, but also 'Haunted Histories, Creepy Castles, Dark Dungeons and Powerful Palaces' with J.H. Everett and is in the process of making 'Mysterious Math Carnival' which is a series of games to improve all sorts of basic math skills.

 She's one of those artists that I'd like to sit at her side for a day to see/learn how she works all of her magic.   Go check out her site and have a fun time there!

Have a good day!
Janice

A Bit of Sunshine

                                                                                                                                                                           Janelle from one of my favorite blogs (Emmaline Bags and Sewing Patterns) sent me the Sunshine Award. She blogs from Australia (for just another month or so, then she is moving to a new continent) and you may remember her from a previous post. She designs fabulous handbags and has a great eye for fabric. She is also a wonderful and caring friend. Thank you Janelle! 

The Sunshine Award gets passed around to our favorite blogs. And you get to know me a bit more through my answers to the following questions: 


•My favorite color: Blue and green. And any combination of the two. 
•My favorite animal: Well, that's a tough one. I guess as long as it has fur or feathers, I'm good. 
•My favorite number: 17 (because you only have to memorize one math fact 9 + 8)
•My favorite drink: ice cold water
•Facebook or Twitter: Facebook
•My passions: homeschooling, my boys, colors, sewing, reading, knitting, jewelry making
•Prefer giving or getting presents: How about making the presents? Can I use that? 
•My favorite pattern: The one I am usually working on. 
•My favorite day of the week: Depends on the week. 
•My favorite flower: Tulips. 


And I pass the Sunshine Award to:

Ruby from Zaaberry, she has wonderful sewing projects 

and

Liz & Elisabeth from Simple Simon & Company, they are fun to read and always have amazing projects! 

If you have not added these great blogs to your reader yet, do it now!