I've been avoiding Christmas

Hey everyone!  I'm sorry that I haven't posted in so long, things got busy with work, and then the Christmas season started and I just couldn't do it.  You see Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday!  I dream in snow flakes and Christmas trees.  But things are a little different this year, and I was bummed about not being able to do Christmas my way, until I realized that this blog will be how I celebrate this year.  I will just celebrate the season with all of you!

So Merry Christmas to all of you!

To make these lovely trees, all you need are styrofoam cones, yarn, buttons, and pearl pins.  I happen to have the cones left over from a craft I was going to do in October, but never got around to.  They have a couple of sizes at WalMart for a good price, but if you want bigger cones then you will have to go to a craft store.

Simply tie in a knot in the end of the yarn, and pin it to the top of the cone and then just start wrapping.  The top is the hardest part.

When you finish it should look like this:

Then just add the buttons by pinning them onto the tree.

Sorry for the bad photo, sometimes I can't get the camera to focus no matter what I do.  I really love the way they turned out, and I can't wait to put them out to help put me in the holiday mood!

An Easy Turkey Craft

Thanksgiving is just around the corner!  What are you doing to celebrate?  This year I am going to two Thanksgivings.  I will start the day with my side of the family, at my grandmother's house, and end the day with my husband's family.  How will I eat two Thanksgiving dinners you ask?  Well, it's all about strategy!  I have favorite things at both places, so I take small samples of everything, but indulge in my favorite items.  Plus, there is nothing like your own family's food, and I am going to them first.

While I am busy obsessing over my Thanksgiving eating strategies, here is a craft to get you in the mood for the big day.  All you need are leaves, glue, brown paper or a brown paper bag, and white paper.

Step 1: Dry out and press your leaves by placing them in a book between wax paper for 36 hours.  This step is totally not necessary, but it makes them a little easier to glue.  It also makes them a lot less pliable.

Step 2:  Cut out your turkey body and place it on your white paper.

Step 3: Arrange your leaves around the turkey and glue them down.  Don't forget to add a face!

I love how it showcases the amazing colors of Fall that I am obsessed with!  I actually missed the turn to my grandma's house the other day because I was too busy staring at foliage.  Isn't it amazing how bright the colors are after pressing also?  I love it!

Fall Tree Craft

Hey everyone!  Can you even believe that Thanksgiving is this week?  I can't!   Well, this craft will help you enjoy the last few bits of Fall that we have left, before we dive head first into winter and the holiday season.

All you need for this craft is paper, water colors, coffee filters, and crayons.

First step:  Trace your child's hand and forearm on the white piece of paper.

Don't mind my terribly chipped nails!

Step 2: Color the hand, which will serve as our tree trunk, however your little heart desires.

You could also use paint for this, or even paint your child's hand.

Step 3:  Lay out at least 3 coffee filters.  I used a torn up paper bag to paint on, just don't use newspaper because the ink will run onto your project and make it look dingy.

Step 4: Paint the coffee filters with water colors, only using the colors of Fall.  If you do not have water colors you could color them with marker and then give them a quick dip in some water to make the colors run together.

Yes, it's true, I used a bit of green.  As I mentioned before, our leaves don't really change in So Cal.  I had to include it!  After they are painted you must wait for them to dry.  It shouldn't take very long.

Step 5:  Fold the coffee filter into eights and cut out a leaf shape.

Step 6: Arrange and glue your leaves around your trunk.  Don't forget to make one falling!

Happy Crafting!

Fall in Southern California

I'm a HUGE fan of the Fall!  I love the crisp, cool weather, the fires we can light at night, and most of all I love the changing trees.  Unfortunately, we don't get a lot of that around Southern California.  In order to do this project I actually had to go on a leaf hunt.  It's true, you can call me "The Leaf Thief" because I had to go and take leaves off of trees so that they were a beautiful Fall color, and not the gross brown that was littering the ground.  Luckily, I have amazing neighbors who really didn't care to lose a couple of leaves for the good of crafting.  If you also have a leaf deficiency then I might suggest going to the park, or as a last result, going to the craft store and buying the fake ones.

Today, to celebrate the beautiful colors of Fall, and the coming together of families for the holidays, we are making Leaf People.  I was inspired by a Martha Stewart post where she made animals for each letter of the alphabet out of leaves. (You can check it out by clicking here)  That seemed way too complicated for me, so Jake (my youngest brother) and I made Leaf People of ourselves.  He even made them hold hands!  I knew he loved me!  It's hard to tell when they are twelve and full of eye rolling and face making.

To start, I gathered A BUNCH of leaves from the neighborhood.

Then we laid out our people.  Make sure they have heads, bodies, legs and arms.  I included feet for mine, and Jake included (giant) hands for his.  Work with what you have, anything goes!

He is so going to hate me for posting a picture of him, but he's just so cute!  Once the leaves are all laid out and you are happy with your person, glue them down.

If you can find your googly eyes, I couldn't, then go ahead and add them in!  It would really add a lot to this easy project.  If your child is doing this alone, have them do your family in leaves, or even a self portrait.  For the younger kids, they probably won't look much like people, but who cares!  As long as they are having fun, and enjoying an easy and pretty much free craft, then I am thrilled!

Here is how our little guys turned out:

Did I mention how much I love that they are holding hands?

I really hope you try this out, there is really no excuse not too, well unless you live in the Arctic and nothing grows.  That would be a good excuse!

Happy Monday!  And thanks for sticking around even though I was sick last week!  It's the curse of being a teacher.

Super Baby, To The Rescue!

Everybody loves a super hero!  Especially kids!  And what better way to have fun with super heroes than to make your own cape.  I've tried all kinds of capes, and this one seems to work best.  Tying the towel/blanket/sheet around the neck can hurt and it just falls off.  But this cape won't fall off, and you make it with an old t-shirt.

Lay out your old shirt:

Then cut up the sides, cutting in to the neck at about the middle of the sleeve:

Then cut around the neck, leaving a bit of a border.  When you finish slip it on a brave kid and watch the magic happen.

This is an old UCLA Den shirt from my husband's huge collection.  I love that it says "Champions Made Here"

Super Breleigh to the rescue!

I hope that you use this to turn your kids into extraordinary super heroes!
Up, up and away!

This is where I originally saw the idea.  She used velcro, but I figured I didn't need that extra step.  Check it out!

It has been suggested that the velcro may make the cape more safe.  So true!  As we learned from the Incredibles, capes are not the safest choice in the super hero uniform.  So be safe out there super heroes!

Kindergarten Activities

Hey everyone!  I'm so sorry that I wasn't around yesterday, it was completely unintentional.  You see, there is this AMAZING blog/site called Once a Month Mom, which is all about dedicating a day each month to preparing freezer meals for your family.  That way when things get busy, you always have something to serve for dinner.  The first time I had followed their plan was last month and I loved it!  Everything we ate was delicious and even my very picky husband like it.  So this month my mom decided that she wanted to do it too.  We opted to try the diet version of the meals, since both of us already have enough fat to keep us warm for winter.  I figured that with two people it would maybe take 5 hours.  Boy, was I wrong!!!

This is what we started with!!!!

 It took us the entire day and into the evening.  I didn't get home until almost eight, but it was so worth it!  My freezer is stocked full with great breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and the best part is that they are all healthy!  Needless to say, after a long day on my feet, I was exhausted and frankly not coherent enough to blog about anything, especially education!  But I am back and today we are going to talk about a couple of kindergarten art activities.

As a sub, I'm in different classrooms almost everyday and so I get to see what everyone is up to.  The sad truth is that art is often pushed aside in favor of test practice.  But in Kindergarten there are several standards that go along with art, so you still see cute projects decorating the rooms.  Please keep in mind that if I mention a standard, I am referring only to the California State Standards because those are the ones that I am the most familiar with. If you ever have a question specific to your state just let me know, I am more than willing to do the research and find out.

OK, chances are that if you have ever worked in Kindergarten or with a kindergartner then you know this poem:

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate

The first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late!"

The second one said, "There are witches in the air"

The third one said, "But we don't care!"

The fourth one said, "Let's run, let's run!"

The fifth one said, "Isn't Halloween fun?"

Then WHOOOOO went the wind

And OUT went the lights.

And five little pumpkins rolled out of site.

Great poem!  They use it in Kindergarten to practice counting, coordination (with the movements) and rhyming which is so important to speaking and reading!  But here is a great craft that I recently saw:

Here is what I love about this activity:  The students practiced their cutting with all of the pieces, which is a standard.  They also practiced counting, and writing with the numbers.  And the best part?  The glittery stickers!  I mean, come on!  If you are five and the teacher says that if you follow directions that you are going to get five glittery stickers, you are going to pay attention.  The kids there were also so excited to tell me the poem that goes with it.

If you are interested in exploring this poem more at home I would highly recommend googling it!  DLTK's is a great resource, and youtube even has some people that show you the movements that go with the poem.  WARNING: The videos are really cheesy!

One last thing I want to share for today, just because they are cute:

I love these cute spiders, and they would be great to make at home.  Most teachers make these "I see" pages several times a month, and then put them together in a book for students at the end of the year.  It is a really great teacher gift!

See all tomorrow!  I am hoping to share a pumpkin science experiment!

A Love of Fall and a Halloween Inspired Wreath

Oh, how I love Fall!  The cooler weather, the apple cider, the scarves, the fires in the fireplace and the holidays. Somehow, Southern California has forgotten that it's Fall.  Today is was over one hundred degrees here!  To convince myself that it really is Fall, I made a Halloween inspired wreath.  So far, it's not really working, the heat is way more convincing than a wreath, but it sure is cute and it does make me smile.  Because it so cute, I wanted to share it with you!

Here is how I made it:

To make this wreath I bought a foam wreath (WalMart has them the cheapest!), black yarn, a 3 inch circle punch, pins, scissors, and a scary book.  Yes, I am completely obsessed with the yarn wreaths that are so trendy now and wanted to try it out, only to cover up all of my hard work.  And no, I guess you don't really need a scary book.  It could technically be any book, but how cool is it to make a scary wreath from a scary book?  Well, I think it's cool!  I used the 3 inch circle punch to punch out about 300 hundred circles (WAY too many!).

Then I tied a knot in the yarn, and started wrapping.  And wrapping.  And wrapping.  And wrapping.  Yeah, I pretty much wrapped my life away, but I was pretty impressed with myself when I was done.

Getting those tight strands with no space between took some practice, but it all kind of blends together, so mistakes are easily covered.

After I had my yarn wreath, and was thoroughly impressed with myself, I started pinning the paper circles on. I found that if you pinch the circle in the center, they make a pretty flower shape, and look much better on the wreath itself.

This is the wreath after I finished all the paper circles:

Then I used some stiff felt that I had leftover from the wedding and cut out a couple bats and pinned them on.

Cute, right?  It's even better on the door!

I hope that you think this wreath is as adorable as I do.  Now, please excuse me while I turn the air down enough to enjoy a glass of hot apple cider without sweating.

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A Halloween Tutu

You should know that I am a little bit obsessed with tutus.  They are adorable, and so easy and inexpensive to make.  Plus, my niece looks adorable in them!

Here is what you need to make your own:

3 yards of each color tulle you are using

Ribbon that matches your color scheme

Yep!  That's it!  Like I said, easy and inexpensive.  Next I laid out each piece of tulle and cut them in half at the fold.  If you don't do this then you are going to have ridiculously huge pieces of tulle to work with.  I then wrapped my tulle around a piece of cardboard that measured 15" and secured both the top and bottom with rubber bands.  Then I cut the fabric at both ends so that it measured 7 1/2 inches and looked like this:

The next step is hard to photograph and the photos that I did take turned out horribly because, well because I'm white! Ha ha ha, my white skin reflected in the lens and they just look horrible and white and blurry.  Please excuse my whiteness and the resulting lack of photos.  But, all you do is fold a piece of tulle in half so that it has a loop at the top.  Put the loop behind the ribbon that you are using, and pull the bottom up over the ribbon and through the loop.  It's called a slip knot.  It should look like this:

Then just keep adding pieces until it is the right size and looks like this:

When you are done, tie it around the waist of a cute little girl and just giggle at how cute it is!

It doesn't get much cuter!  And the best part is that you can make them in any color!  I am currently working on an Angel's tutu for Bre and I can't wait to see her in it.  For now I will just enjoy how cute she is in this one.  Happy Monday!

This blog is linked to a great link party!

Googly Eye Frame

"Hi, my name is Jamie and I'm a Pinterestaholic"  
It's true if there is a rehab for people who spend too much time on Pinterest then I need to go.  All of my meals come off of Pinterest, I am constantly getting craft ideas from there, and my home to do list is incredibly long because of that site.  If you aren't on it, then look it up!  


The moral of that story is that today's craft was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest. The super lame part is that I can't find the pin to give the person credit for their super cute idea!  If you've seen it please put the address in the comments so that I can add it.


Today we are making a . . . 

It is so easy and pretty inexpensive.  The frames are usually $1, but I got these on sale for 68 cents.  I would also HIGHLY recommend buying googly eyes at Wal Mart.  They are the least expensive that I could find anywhere!  If you don't already have ribbon or chip board letters then I would probably skip that part if you are doing this on a budget.  Here is how it goes:

Step 1: Paint the frame whatever color you would like in the background.  I painted the first one white and then decided that I didn't like it, so I painted the second one green

Step 2: Gather all of your supplies.  Several different sizes of googly eyes and glue are what you need to start.

Step 3: Glue the eyes close together, in any pattern, or lack of pattern, that you want.

Step 4: Glue the ribbon.  I lifted it up in the middle and glued so that it wouldn't sag with the letters.  Sorry for the crazy pictures, I'm still learning!

Step 5: Add the chip board letter by gluing them.  You can use any saying that you would like.  I used boo and eek because they were short and I had the letters for them.


And that's it!  I love my cute frames, but my favorite part is probably that awesome sound that they make when you move them. Side Note: How amazing is that paper I used for the background?!?! Here are some modifications to keep in mind:  If you have a toddler only give him the big googly eyes, and don't expect them to be close together.  You could even put pipe cleaner antenna on the top, or a funny mouth on the bottom.  For Kindergartners or First Graders have them make patterns with the different sizes, and then explain the pattern to you using letters, i.e. AABB, or ABAB.  The most important thing is to have fun!

Thanks to a good friend, here is the original post that I found on Pinterest: A Diamond in the Stuff This blog is full of amazing crafty ideas!  Be sure to go and check it out!

This post is linked at Fireflies and Jellybeans Show Off Your Stuff Party!