Ghost Shirt

Thanks for still following me.  Life sometimes gets in the way of all of the things we want to do, like blogging.  I still plan on posting occasionally, but it will be few and farther between posts.  But if your here, thanks for sticking with me!

This cute little ghost shirt is adorable.  I saw this post on pinterest and I really wanted to make one. I had the felt and the ribbon on hand so the only cost of this project was the white shirt and that was $3.88 from Walmart. 

It only took me about 10 minutes to pull it together.  Cut your felt, pin it and sew it.  Easy Peasy!  The bow is not actually sewed onto the shirt.  It is attached with a safety pin.  That way I can take it off after Halloween and use the shirt as a layering shirt. 

Just wanted to pass along a fun idea!

Bobcat Trail

Just wanted to share, incase any of you are cubscout moms!  I made up this little handout to give my boys, who are entering Wolves.  It's the first 7 requirements to passing off the Bobcat Trail.  The only thing it does not cover is the Child Protection Exercises. Click on the image above to download.

I am hoping the boys will keep them and refer to them often as a reminder of all the things a cubscout stands for!

Make a Bouncy Ball

This was a fun little project.  I got the idea and instructions off of The Idea Door.  They were not very bouncy :(.  The kids loved doing it though and played with them for hours.  Super fun project for your science lover.  The only ingredient I didn't have on hand was Borax.  If you don't have Borax in your house, you will want to make sure to get some. It's great stuff!

River of Time Trilogy

I love to read!  It's my favorite past time.  I don't get to do much of that during the school year, but I've done a lot of it this summer.  I've read a bunch of good books. I seem drawn to Young Adult Fiction this summer. 

This trilogy, River of Time, hooked me with the first book!  And dang it all, I'm just about ready to commit to not reading trilogies, because I go crazy wondering what is going to happen in the next book.  Luckily, the third book, Torrent, comes out in September of this year!  (I won't really stop reading trilogies, just wait for them to all be out!)

The books are about teenage sisters who accidentally find a way to travel through time.  They travel back to 14th Century Italy.  They come during a time of violent war and find themselves fighting for their lives.  They both learn a lot about themselves there. They also learn about love!

The books are action packed and keep you anticipating every move that Gabi will make.  Whether she is fighting for her life or fighting for the man of her dreams. The characters are rich and full of depth.  I'm especially fond of Luca.  Which is slightly funny as he is not the main love interest.  However, I just like his character immensely.

It's a beautifully portrayed piece of historical fiction.  I am attached to the characters and find them entertaining.  I love the girls, because they are strong women and I think that is important to portray to young girls. 

Overall, this is a great summer read.  I would recommend them to any teenage girl! If you have read it, I would love you to comment and hear what you thought!

Wooden Spoon Puppets

 This was a fun and cheap project.  I picked up 4 packs of wooden spoon s at the dollar store.  Turned the kids loose with acrylic paint and craft supplies.  And wala, we have our very own wooden puppet brigade! This was the best picture I could get with all of them.  I had 4 pairs of hands behind the theater, so it was a little squished!

 This project took up several hours, because after the puppets were done, we had to have a puppet show!

My little boy was doing Potter Puppet Pals!  It was hillarious.  It's fun to see how the kids will us their imagination and the things they come up and oh, the things they say! This was a great boredom buster and it cost me $2.00!  That makes it even better!!

Tangled Party Favors

 How cute are these? I can take no credit for them.  My cute sissy-in-law Maggie made them for my little girls Tangled birthday party.  I can hardly wait to see all the little girls faces when they see them!

Would you be intersted in a tutorial?  I bet I could get  her do one if there is enough interest.  I think she's done all of the princesses.  Leave some comment love if your interested.

What a GREAT and YUMMY idea!!

Have you seen Pintrest?  I'm kinda hooked!  Well, looking at it anyway.  I'm afraid to get started because I am afraid it will become an obsession! I saw this awesome idea on there and had to share!  All you do is pour some Capri Sun into a popsicle mold and add sliced fruit.  It's so pretty, I don't know if I would eat it! 

If you haven't checked out Pintrest, you must!  It is a wealth of ideas!!

Easy and Cheap Graduation Gift

 I spent 3 years recently serving in the Young Women's program in our church.  This year I've been hit with a wave of graduates!  Which is good, but it can get expensive.  The dilemma I was facing, do I give them all 5 dollars, and really what is 5 bucks in the scheme of things or do I come up with something fun and affordable I can give to everyone.  I opted for fun and affordable!  I went with the old adage, "just popping in", but there was a lot of fun stuff that fell under the word pop.

I filled each bucket with fun crinkly paper and then added the goods.  Everything here came from the dollar store, even the cute buckets!  We have Otter Pops, Ring Pops, Pop Rocks, popcorn and soda pop!  I also considered, Cracker Jacks, Blow pops, Tootsie pops, bubble gum, because it goes POP!  You could go a lot of different directions with this.  Each basket cost me about $6.00 to make.  You could go way cheap, and just do it and give out single items.  Or use a cute cellophane bag and put in a single packet of popcorn, a single pop rock and a tootsie pops.  Tie it up with cute ribbon and a tag.  Perfect, easy and cheap! 

I used glue dots to attach the tag to a colored Popsicle stick.  Then I used glue dots again to attach the Popsicle stick to the backs of the popcorn boxes. 

The best part is, that these can be used for anything. Teacher appreciation, neighbor gifts, birthday gifts, and just about anything you might want to celebrate!

I really want to win this.  That's why I'm posting about it here on the blog! Some of you know that I am a food storage junkie!!  However, I don't yet have an electril mill, which is sad, because I have lots of wheat!  I'm to lazy to use a hand grinder so I just buy flour.  I figure if we ever need the wheat, we'll just eat it as berries or break out the handgrinder :).  Go to Take It From Me for a chance to win one of these babies!  I'm crossing my fingers for this one!

Put Me in the Zoo

 Today we read Put Me in the Zoo.  Then we put some dots on our faces with face paint.

The kids loved it!  It was a lot of fun.

Fun With Milk

We have been doing a farm unit this week.  The kids have been loving it.  We talked today about cows and milk!  We used whipping cream to make butter.  We finger painted a cow picture with pudding and we let the kids make a mess with a glass of milk.  Definitely very messy, but oh so fun!  I just hope they don't do it at the dinner table.  The kids loved it!

String Art

Super easy and fun, as long as the kids are willing to get messy!  Take some white glue and water it down a bit.  Have the kids pieces of string into the glue and then use their fingers to squeeze the excess off the string.  Then they can make a picture with the string!  It's fun and easy art!

Rock Pets for Earth Day

We made these cute little guys yesterday.  We celebrated Earth Day yesterday due to an Easter party today.  The kids loved painting them and were so excited to take them  home!

Chick Keepsake

First of all, sorry about the bad picture.  I took it with my cellphone.  I forgot my camera today and I was hurrying quick to catch a picture of these cuties!  I found the template on Kaboose.  They have some great ideas on here for Easter.  I may be doing a few more of their projectes between now and Sunday!

Coffee Filter Umbrellas

These were fun to make.  We had these coffee filters (can't remember the specific style) that were quite small on top.  They were perfect to make umbrellas out of.  We gave the kids watercolors and had them paint them (the paint bled through to the opposite side) and slid a pipe cleaner through the top for the handle.  Easy and cute! 

Sour Cream Banana Bread

First of all, I have to say, that I don't really care much for banana bread.  I don't really like banana's.  I have to be in the right mood to eat them.  My sister made this bread and asked me try it, and it was AMAZING!  I can't really taste the banana's, and it is very moist and crumbly.  It reminds me more of a pound cake!  Oh, it's so good!  This is my new recipe for banana bread!

Sour Cream Banana Bread

1 cup Margarine

1 & 1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 & 1/2 cup mashed bananas

4 cups + 2 Tbsp. flour

1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 & 1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup walnuts chopped (optional)

Cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs and beat.  Add bananas and beat.  Mix dry ingredients together in a small bowl and add to the creamed mixture.  Add sour cream, beat until smooth, stir in nuts.  Pour batter into 2 large greased and floured loaf pans.   Bake at 350 for 1 hour.  To test for doneness insert a sharp knife into the center of the bread.  If it comes out clean the bread is done.

This bread is very moist and freezes well.

Volcano

I think, this one might be my very favorite page yet.  Although, the W page is going to be way cute too.  And of course, we had to make volcano's out of baking soda and vinegar.  The kids really enjoyed the V week.

T is for......

Turkey!!

Plant a Garden

I'm skipping around a bit.  I have a lot of posts that I would love to do, but I can't seem to keep up with my life!!  Thanks for sticking around even when I only post once a week :). 

It's warm where we live.  We've been in the 70's for the past week.  It's been wonderful.  We've been talking about spring and how things grow.  Last week we planted veggies.  The kids loved it.  The cute planter sticks came from Oriental Trader.

Of course, the on the day we planted veggies, the wind was howling and it was the only cold day in the week.  So we rolled with it and planted inside.  The mess was colossal!!!  But the kids loved it.  In fact the next day we planted flowers, but I don't have any pictures. That was a little crazy!  I just know that I am done with potting soil for a few weeks!

These Make Me Happy

This is a stretch from my normal posting, but I bought these, and they make me really happy.  I've used them probably 6 times this week and they make me happy.  I made bread this morning and they made me smile so I had to share.  They have like every measurement available, even 1/8 tsp and they have a 3/4 cup!  It's the coolest thing ever! And I love, love the green.  It's so bright and fun! Best part is they were on sale!  Just wanted to share what is making me smile today, although hot bread slathered in butter may be part of that happy feeling :)!  Happy Friday everyone!

Race Car Painting

 Again, not another new idea, but a fun oldie.  Let the kids paint with matchbox cars and trucks!  It will provide hours of entertainment.  A slightly messy kind of entertainment, but fun anyway!

Toilet Paper Roll Race car

 Do you ever see something and think, "Wow, that's totally cute, I'm so gonna make it!"?  And then you think afterward, "What was I thinking?".  That was totally this craft.  Holy schamolie!! Making these with 18 preschoolers was hard.  I won't lie, it was REALLY hard, but the boys totally loved it!  This one was made by my 6-year-old that night.  He totally loved it, but I had to help even him.

I won't repost it, because the great idea can be found here.

Jello, Salt & Sugar

 Everyday things, found right in your home, make for the best craft supplies.  This was a few months ago.  Tyson needed to decorate a flag for a school project.  I forgot about picking stuff up over the Christmas break and the night before he went back, we were racking our brains to figure out what to do.

We've used Jell-o at preschool before and the kids loved it.  So I broke out the Jell-o and the rock salt.  The Jell-o bled a bit into the rock salt, so we used sugar to put a light coat over the top of the salt.  It looked really cool and it smelled great too!

Restaurant

For R week we had a day where we did one center as Restaurant.  It was so much fun. We made up a menu for the kids and slipped it into a page protector so that the kids could circle what they wanted to have with a dry erase marker.  We had half of the kids be the servers and the other half the customers and then we switched.  We let the servers wear aprons and chef hats, because essentially they were being both!

On our menu we had ritz crackers, vanilla wafers,  marshmallows, licorice, bannana's, cheese sticks, carrot sticks and chocolate chip cookies.  We gave the kids a menue and let them circle what they wanted and while they waited, they colored a placemat at their seat.

It was a lot of fun.  I didn't get many pictures because it was cRaZy!!!  The kids loved it!

Simplify

"We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are." ~Marjorie Pay Hinckley~


I love this quote.  Need some inspiration?  Visit Chocolate on my Cranium!

Fun with Shaving Cream

This is not a new idea by any means.  It is an oldie, but a goodie.  Kids love to stick their hands in the foamy shaving cream and draw and write.  It's a great way to encourage writing their names.

It is however, soooo messy!  But that is what makes it half the fun!

Plus, my sister swears that it cleans table tops really well!

A little leave......

I'm sick!  So sick and today my 3-year-old is threw up in the car!   It's not been a pretty couple of day's at my house.  Plus we are coming up on our spring break. 

That being said, I am going to talke a little leave of absence.  Excuse me for a week or so, while we get better, spring clean, go camping and spend some quality time with family!

Thanks guys! 

R is for Rabbitt

Another alphabet page for our book!

It Feels...

This is another 5-senses activity.  We did 10 different materials, ranging from feathers to sandpaper and everything in between.  We had the kids feel each piece of material and then had them glue them onto the hands.  We asked the kids to describe the material and what if felt like to them.  I LOVE the answers that we got from some of the kids.  My own little girl, had some that made me crack up.  The sandpaper felt like Poppa's face, the fake leather felt like a couch and one of them felt like her dog Brody.  It was fun to hear their answers.

Fabric stores are great to look for material for this project.  A remnant can go a long way when your talking about 1 inch pieces.  Also look at the craft supplies and hardware stores.  We used sponges and Brillo pads, the possibilities are endless.

It Smells Like......

I wish I had a better picture to share with  you.  This is another way fun activity that takes A LOT of work, but the kids love it.

The paper says, mmmmmm...smells good!  It has a picture to represent these scents;
cherry, strawberry, tangerine, lime, peppermint, cinnamon, licorice, rootbeer, chocolate, banana, peach, and grape.

We used the candy flavoring oils to make our scents.  What we did was dab a little bit of each scent on a piece of cotton, which we then glued to the paper, next to the picture that represented it. I had the kids smell each cotton ball to try and decide where it went.

The kids loved it.  The only thing about this activity is that you need to stress to the kids, DON'T TOUCH YOUR FACE!  There is alwasy one who doesn't listen and touches their eyes.  It hurts like the dickens when they do it, but you can pretty much expect one of them to do it.

Green Eggs & Ham and Sneetches

Today we ate Green Eggs and Ham.  I thought the kids would enjoy this version a little bit better than real green eggs!  It is a small scoop of lime sherbet with whip cream sprayed around it.  We also gave them vanilla wafers as pretend ham.  They loved it!

 We also had Sam juice. (green kool-aid)

 We watched this video, and made Star Belly sneetches belts.  I just googled star clip art and found a big enough template.  Had the kids color them and then attached them to a strip of poster board that we had cut into strips.  I hole punched to holes in the back and laced them with string to make a tie in the back, that way they could take them on and off.

After our snack of Green Eggs & Ham we sent outside and had Sneetch races.  We had them run, skip, jump and twirl.  It was a lot of fun!

There's a Wocket in my Pocket craft

This is so cute!  I had to hurry and share.  I will also share our Green Eggs and Ham stuff this afternoon if I get a chance.  I cut two pockets out of construction paper and stapled them together.  My kids LOVE to use the stapler, but you could just glue it or use glue dots.  I found the wockets at Southern Plate (the cupcakes are way cute too) and printed them off.  Leave an opening at the bottom of the pocket and attach the wocket to a straw with some tape.  Then the kids can slide the wocket in and out of the pocket.  Add a cute little tag and your done! 

I was having a hard time coming up with an idea for this book.  I saw the wockets and knew I had to make them.  Hope this is helpful to someone!

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess!!

March 2nd is Dr. Suess's birthday!  It makes for a fun week at preschool!  I just wanted to share some great sights, full of great Dr. Suess themed ideas!

Click on the above link to visit ObSEUSSed!  This girl defiently loves her Cat in The Hat!

Visit Oopsey Daisy for a ton of fun party ideas and activities.  These could easily be adapted to a classroom setting.  She also has a fun Dr. Suess Matching game available for a free download!



Fun in First Grade has a bunch of ideas!  These are geared to twoards 1st grad and above, but I was able to get some inspiration and find a few ideas that I could make work for my kiddo's.

2 Teaching Mommies has this huge unit full of fun ideas!

Counting and pattern cards by Our Little Monkeys.

Visit A to Z teacher stuff for loads of ideas. 

Available for all grade levels.

Early moments has some great coloring pages.

Erica Bohrer's First Grade has a great page full of links.

One Extra Degree, has some fun links & ideas!

Oh and visit Seussville. 

Lot's of goodies available here!

If you know of other sights, please share!