Teacher's Appreciation Week

Luckily Teacher's Appreciation Week is celebrated at the end of May at Lu's school.

I am one of the room mom's for Lu's class. Last year we made a sign for her teacher's door and gave her teacher's homemade pads. This year I wanted to get the kids in Lu's class involved a bit more. I found these cute cut out people at Michael's Craft Store. I am sending home one person for each child to personalize any way they would like. I am also asking parents to help their child write one nice thing about their teachers on a blank quote bubble that will be displayed with each person. Once I get them all back, I will attach them to a large banner to hang on the classroom door.

I'll post the results later.

Magic Carpets

Managing to squeeze a little craftiness in now and then!

The girls decorated their own magic carpets to sit on for a picnic lunch on the driveway.

Thank You!

Thank you for all your well wishes!  

We are staying on the East Coast and moving closer to family but have yet to choose a town. 

More updates to come...

Here is a shot of Em that I thought was too cute not to share!

Hope you are enjoying your day!

Where Oh Where Have They Been...

I know it has been awhile since my last post. I have been a woman on a mission for the past few weeks. We are selling our house (hopefully!) and moving. We put the house on the market this past Sunday. What a job it was to get it ready. Don't even get me started on keeping it "show" worthy with two small children. Needless to say, we are in a NO CRAFT mode. Luckily the weather has been great and we have been enjoying our local parks, farms and nature trails.

Wish us luck!

I'll be back to regular blogging once the house sells.

U is for Unicorn

Today's show and tell item has to begin with the letter U. Lu is bringing in her stuffed Unicorn and wearing her favorite bedazzled Unicorn shirt. I tell you, there are just some letters we get so excited about for show and tell :-)

To add to the fun, I made the easiest and fastest Unicorn horn in town.

Roll a piece of printer paper into a tight cone. Tape the edge. Fold the ends under to make a smooth bottom. Punch two holes on the bottom edge.

Thread a child's headband through holes.

Have fun! We like to sing the Unicorn song while wearing our horn.

Experimenting with Water Color

Lu got her first "real" lesson in using water colors. Usually I just let the girls have at it with minimal intrusion. This time I showed her a little bit of technique. How to load the brush (letting the paint suck up in the bristles versus scrubbing it all around to pick up the paint.) I showed her how to hold the brush gently. We experimented with working on wet paper and on dry. I showed her how to use scrunched up paper towel to make clouds and what happens when you sprinkle salt onto a wet painting.

A little technique goes a long way and definitely helps a child like Lu. She is someone who knows what she wants to achieve and if she can't do it she gets a bit frustrated. Afterwards she had fun experimenting on her own. This is what she created. 

Some of you may wonder why Lu's crafts are featured a lot and not Em's. Usually, Lu and I like to do crafts while Em is napping. It is a quiet time during our day perfect for some one on one attention, conversation and of course crafting (or baking.) Don't worry, Em gets craft time too. She just happens to like to do the same thing over and over...gluing down pictures of dogs. Every time I get a magazine, catalog, circular in the mail she says, "Doggie. Find doggies."

Corn Starch + Water + Food Coloring + Sunshine = Hours of FUN!

We splattered, painted, made tracks...

painted the many rocks in our garden...

Which was more fun, making the mess or cleaning up?

Easter Photos

Had to share a couple Easter photos!

I think I had the two happiest bunnies on the block!

Candy Ring Flower

Take one candy ring holder. 

Minus the candy. That isn't too difficult in our house! 

Snip off the plastic stem so your base is a flat as possible.

Cut out flower (I used a Sizzix Die.) 

Scrounge up a pretty button.

Glue together.

Hope you had a Happy Easter or Passover!

I always have crayons, markers, paper and stickers in my bag. I am the marker lady at Lu's gymnastics class. While I sit with Em in the waiting area, kids gather at my feet and draw. They have gotten so comfortable with the fact that I come packing (with markers) that my lack of markers today annoyed one little girl. I had the nerve not to bring the markers she liked to use! And yes, her Mama was talking on her phone on the opposite side of the room oblivious. Well, I digress. The point is, during the holidays I like to have lots of holiday themed activity sheets and coloring pages ready for those fits of boredom. There are a ton of sites you can go to if you Google "free coloring pages". Here are a few of my favorites. If you have a favorite can you let me know so I can check it out. Thanks!

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/easter_printables.htm

http://familyfun.go.com/easter/easter-printables/

http://abcteach.com/directory/seasonalholidays/easter/

http://holidays.kaboose.com/easter-printables.html