Decor ideas.

G got a "NEW" room due to gaining a new brother. The boys will be sharing and she go to move into Daddy's former office. He still has a few things (a desk, and filing cabinet) left in the room. However we are looking forward to decorating her new space. I found this picture today and thought it would be really cute to add color to her room that is wood paneling. They are just left over scraps of fabric inside of embroidery hoops. I think it is a great way to use some scrap fabric we have from hubby's Mom's stash that I was given!

Easter Baskets

While my mother was visiting us a few weeks ago she made Easter Baskets with my children. They had a blast making them and I thought I would share the results of their crafting with you. Both baksets are covered milk jugs. Jboy made a basketball with orange felt and black foam. Ggirl made Hello Kitty out of cotton balls and colored foam.
At the Easter Egg Hunt we attended both kids filled their baskets numerous times over and had a blast!

Resurrection Cake

I am getting my ideas together to make our annual Resurrection Cake.
We will be making it a little different than last year but my kids are very excited about this project. In the past we have done a two dimensional cake but this year we are planning on making it 3D. We will have to get some yummy candies and cookies to decorate with but this is always a fun project that gets my family talking about Christ and his FINISHED work on the cross.
What do you do with your family to celebrate our Savior raising from the dead?

Polo to Messenger

Hubby was cleaning out his closet and got rid of a few shirts. I salvaged this one and decided to upcycle it into a messenger bag for Jboy. I didn't have a pattern I just started cutting and pinning. I think it turned out pretty cool. J was so happy with it he immediately started filling it up. It was also brought to the dinner table and checked on numerous time throughout the meal. Now, I need to make a girly one for G.

I'm melting, melting...

I am sure all of you have seen a how-to on making your own crayons on a blog somewhere. If not it is super easy.
Step one: Take all your broken crayon and peel off the paper. We had lots because it is a hobby of J's to break crayons.
Step 2: Break them up into small pieces and put them into a mold of your choice. We just used a cupcake pan and liners.
Step 3: Bake @ 225 degrees for 25 minutes.
Step 4: Cool and remove from mold and there you have your very own crayons.
Today we made a few of our own. The kids thought they were doing something naughty because they got to peel all of the crayons themselves and break them into (as J says) "Little Tiny" pieces.
I think the colors turned out pretty cool. I only wish I had different molds to use to make different shapes. I will be on the hunt at the thrift store for some for next time.

What does God say about that?

In my pursuit of a teaching my children God's word and writing it on their hearts, I wondered if G knew what God said about what we are to do with certain parts of our bodies. I wondered if she knew we were to use our hands to serve others. I wondered if she knew that God had things to say about our eyes, ears, and mouth. So, here is my idea. I wanted to draw a picture of what a "Godly Girl" looked like. I didn't have a large sheet of papers so I taped up a few in the shape of G's body to the back of her door. I then traced her outline onto the paper. Next, we drew her features and her clothes. Now for the fun part. We went on a "hunt" in God's word to see what He had to say about our bodies. We took a looked at 2 verses today. One on the HEART and one on HANDS. We wrote in the verses on the picture of G and discussed how she could "do" these things that God commanded us to do. This is hopefully going to become a daily activity, until we can't fit anythings else on our "Godly Girl". I will do one with J too, but he was napping during our project.

My version of the Felt Nativity

Here are my attempts at the sweet felt nativity set that I saw, and blogged about a few posts ago. I have the wise men, a shepherd, and an angel started. They just need to be dressed. My kids think they need faces however I feel that it would just take away from them. What is your vote? Do they need a face or not?

Completed Mary, Jesus, and Joseph(minus his headdress)
Hopefully a picture of the completed set follows soon!

Happy Birthday Banner

This post is long overdue. I made this banner last winter and have never gotten around to posting about it. I have seen many reusable birthday banners in the blog world and wanted one of my own. We have used it @ everyones birthday party's this year and look forward to many more. Her is a pic of G's 5th birthday opening presents under the banner.

Bike Plate

Our church had a Bike Rodeo in the Fall and the kids had a blast. G has never been able to ride her bike @ our home due to uneven, or unpaved, or too busy roads. So she was set free in the church parking lot and improved her skills greatly. She is a lot more willing to ride than I ever was. I think I was around 9 before I learned to ride a bike. To those that say you never forget how to ride a bike have not seem me in action as an adult. I possess NO biking skills.
The kids made a little craft while we were there and thought I would share the idea. It is simple, and cheap! Maybe it is something you could do to get the kids excited about warmer temps. coming soon. Happy Crafting!

Supplies for a Bike Plate:
Index cards
Hole Punch
Yarn
Stickers
Markers or Crayons

Directions:

Give index card, crayons, markers, sticker to kids and let them design what they want their bike plate to look like. Lots of kids wrote their names, other did pictures, some wrote scripture. When kiddos are done decorating, punch 2 holes at the top corners, Use yarn to tie to the bike. My kids both put their plates in the front of their bikes. Others put them in the back like a licence plate. Easy Peasy!

Made with Love

Found this Scarf for boys/men. I have been wanting to get/make a scarf for the men in my life but felt like my ideas were a little too girly. The scarf on the little boy looks very manly and I think I just added something to my Christmas to do list! Yay!

Family Fall Festival

It has been a while since I have posted but I figured I should at least show my finished products for my families Fall Festival costumes. All are homemade except for Buzz. But I did make my Buzz a jet pack so he had some piece of homemade goodness.

The Challenge

My Sister in law has set a challenge this week for herself and challenged her followers to join in. She is trying to craft as much as possible this week before she has to start homeschooling her two boys next month. She is working like a mad woman even causing harm to her own body. She has done an amazing job on all her projects. I am not as gifted as she is in my ability to sew. Most of the time I just pretend like I know what I am doing and it turns out pretty well. I don't know how to sew using a pattern I just make up my own pattern. My mother tried to teach me when I was younger and I couldn't pay attention long enough to grasp the concept.
I joined in her challenge over the last few days and I have a few pictures of my projects. For our church's fall festival our family is going to dress up as Toy Story characters so I got started on those costumes. I have made a Woody vest and a pair of chaps for Jesse. I have also sewn a Buzz Lightyear pillowcase (not pictured). I made G a few new hair bows. G's favorite is the blue one. She likes it because I used a button on it from the dress our late Grammy Smith wore on my wedding day. I like the pink and black one the best, and I think the cupcake turned our nice too. Maybe I can make a few more crafts before the week is up.

Treasure

Oh just found this. I think the little cowboys and cowgals would love to make these. I am not sure what to use for for hammers and chizzels. Maybe I will send the kids home with their treasure rocks.

IDEAS WANTED!!!!

I am teaching 2,3,&4 year olds VBS in a week. I have to decorate my class room in a Western/Cowboy/Dude Ranch Theme. I welcome any ideas you might have to make this a toddler friendly fun room.
I have a few things together all ready. I have made a fire pit and i am making a river with fish. I also bought a rope and tied several loops in it (calling it a lasso) for the kids to hold onto as we got to different stations. I wanted to make swinging doors like a salon would have but I am not sure tape and cardboard would hold up through a week of kids hanging on them.

IDEAS WANTED!!

Tee Pee

Just browsing a few blogs and found this. What a cool idea for a reading corner! I can think about a million and a half ways to use this cool DIY Tee Pee. I love utilizing the great ideas of others.

A bow for G girl

G gets a little jealous when I make bows and gifts for others. After the proper encouragement that Sharing is what God has commanded us to do, and that it is part of "loving" our neighbors as yourself, she understood. She still wanted some new bows for herself.
I decided she needed a little prize after being sick for a week. She was a trooper having a stomach bug, and a fever, and having her parents drag her around the country. At one point we were out to dinner with some folks from the new church and G just laid her head on the table and went to sleep. My poor girl.
So, I made her these. She was over joyed!

Flowers in her hair.

This is one of the flower girls in the hair bows I made. She is so precious. She made it down the isle with her giraffe in hand!

EATable Art.

Painting bread was so much fun and super easy! I took 2 egg yolks, added a splash of water. Whisked them together and poured the egg wash into my empty egg carton.

We then selected what colors we wanted to make our "paint". A few drops of food coloring in each. (good lesson on primary colors was given to G)
Then we just painted away on our bread.

You can also paint cookie dough before baking it. Once the master pieces were complete we stuck them under the broiler for a minute to toast them up.


Looks good enough to eat.

This is in the works!

Found this and I can't wait to make it. When Andy gets off of work I am going to ask for an old shirt of his and whip this up. I wonder if I can make one in my size, I know it would only be a shirt, not a dress but it is too cute!

My Mother's Day Gift

G made me the most precious gift for Mother's Day. She had me draw a flower on a piece of paper and then she asked for her crafting box. I have a box full of ribbon scraps, beads, feathers and other goodies that are hers to use. She went off into the kitchen and told me "don't peek Mom". I obeyed, even though I love to peek. She hid the picture when she was done. Mother's Day morning I was awakened by a slap in the face from J and a "Happy Mother's Day from G. She quickly ran to get her picture she made me. I think it is great! I plan to frame this one. She is so crafty!