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Homeschooling Adventures at the Maxwell's
Sunday, November 30, 2008
On Our Calendar For December
So far our calendar is pretty sparce, nothing much happening aside from our normally scheduled lives. I have a doctors appointment on the 2nd, hopefully I'll be able to get a scrip for some ADD meds. After reading about the symptoms of ADD in both adults and children, I realized that I've had to deal with this all my life, so I'm really hoping I'll be able to get some help for it finally.
The 3rd will be an ice skating trip with our homeschool support group. That should be interesting!!
I have a meeting on the 4th, need to remember to take all the bills and paystubs with me for it.
The 6th is what I'm most looking forward to this week! We'll be going to a town about an hour away to see the "Zany Umbrella Circus" which is supposed to be on par with the Cirque de Soliel except WAY cheaper.
The 10th we'll be meeting with our hs group again and then our hs 4-H group will meet directly afterwards.
The 13th will be the Christmas dinner for my hubby's company. It's not extremely dressy, but it is fun to get a little dressed up and get out with NO kids for a few hours. We always have a lot of fun hanging out with all those silly people. He's lucky to work with such a great group of people.
The 17th will have us meeting with our hs group again, this time for our potluck lunch and meeting. I'm not sure what the topic of discussion will be, but it's always great to hang out with like-minded people.
24th is Christmas Eve and it's the day we gather at my parents for dinner and gift exchange. My kids end up getting as much at their house as they do at ours, sometimes more!
25th is Christmas, and I'd love to just stay home and have people visit us here. But most likely we'll be going to visit my husbands family instead. I've tried getting everyone to come here instead, after all we have been the only ones with kids for years (not so now that we have a grandson), but old habits are hard to change I suppose. But, one good thing, it does get us up and dressed instead of just hanging around the house in our pj's all day.
31st is New Year's Eve and we normally just celebrate it by letting the kids stay up until midnight then maybe letting off some firecrackers saved from the 4th of July. We usually end up playing board games and doing crafts all evening just to pass the time.
I know our calendar will fill more as we read the newspaper and see dates for interesting activities, but I won't let it get so filled to ruin the peace we truly need at this time of the year. |
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Saturday, November 29, 2008
Setting Up To Do a Month of Blogging
Looking over this past year of blog posts, I'm rather disappointed in myself for not writing more about what's happening around our home. The majority of my posts have been copies of ones I post on the HSB Company Front Porch as the craft writer. There have been a few other posts stuck in here and there, but nothing very personal.
So, to remedy that, I'm going to try to post every day for the month of December. I already set up several posts and just saved them as drafts. I grabbed my calendar to see what we had coming up this month and wrote headlines to remind me to do reviews after the events. There are many more things I plan to write about, and of course, the crafts that get posted every week will still be here. I've lost the majority of the people that would stop by my blog to check in on me, so I hope this will help to bring them back.
So be sure to check back everyday for the next month. I'll be posting on all sorts of topics. Such as 4-H, our great support group, my business idea, household organization ideas, lesson plans, Etsy and Ebay, menus, recipes, and several others. |
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008
CRAFT CORNER - Crazy Quilt Ornament
As I was decluttering in my bedroom today I came across a stack of paint samples. I started to toss them since we were no longer considering any of these colors but then decided to try to use them in some sort of craft instead. I thought up this craft and I think it looks pretty darn adorable!!
SUPPLIES:
Paint sample books or cards (from home improvement stores)
Card stock
Fine point black Sharpie marker
Stencil
Glue
Scissors
Hole punch
Yarn, string or ornament hanger
Take a stencil in whatever shape you prefer, I used a star but I think a heart would look great, too. Really, just a square will wind up looking just as nice. Use the marker to trace the stencil onto the card stock.
If you press hard enough the marker will just barely bleed through onto the back of the paper which will make it easier when time to cut it out. If it doesn't bleed through, you can just retrace the stencil on top of the paper scraps later.
Cut the paint samples into various sizes, try to keep the edges very straight. Lay the scraps onto the cardstock until you have a design you like. Start gluing the scraps being careful to not let any of the cardstock show through the cracks and make sure you completely cover the stencil lines.
Once you have it the way you like it, let the glue dry if necessary. If you can see the lines on the back of the cardstock, follow them to cut it out. If you can't see it, then simply retrace the stencil on top of the scraps and cut it out cutting inside the marker line so it doesn't show on the finished ornament.
Use the marker to make a variety of stitch marks everywhere the papers meet up. A crazy quilt uses a variety of decorative stitches, so have a lot of fun with this.
Draw a straight stitch all around the outside edge of the ornament, this really makes it look nice. Turn the ornament over and do these same stitch marks on the back. In the center, write your name or greeting and be sure to date it.
Punch a hole near the top edge of the ornament and tie on some yarn or string. Now it's ready to hang on your tree. |
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Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thanksgiving Book Contest
Saturday, November 22, 2008
CRAFT CORNER - Gift Tags
This is a fun craft project to do during the week of Thanksgiving. I just lay out supplies on the table and allow the kids and visitors to make tags whenever the mood strikes.
Here are some basic supplies to have on hand:
3"x5" index cards (white, colored, lined or unlined, whatever you have on hand)
Variety of glues and adhesives
Christmas card catalog and other catalogs
Fine point Sharpie marker
Scissors
Some extra supplies that will help with creativity:
glitter
string/yarn
small beads
decorative edge scissors
colorful markers
hole punch
To make the gift tags demonstrated here, begin by folding an index card in half.
Unfold and cut along the fold line.
Here is where the variety comes in. For this one, fold the index card half in half again, but do not cut. Cut out the photo from the catalog that you want to use and glue to the front of the card.
Since this index card was lined on one side, it made it easy to use the marker to write To and From.
Continue decorating the tag with the supplies you have on hand, for this one we used glue and glitter.
This next one is half an index card and just markers.
This next one is half an index card, the edge trimmed using a pair of decorative edge scissors, hole punched into one corner and some string tied through it.
To use these tags on gift packages, tie with the attached string if you used it or just tape it directly to the box or bag. And don't limit yourself to just surplus catalogs, you can print photos and use the recipients picture on the tag instead. Take a magazine and look at the pictures in it, the ads have some amazing little areas that make beautiful tags, like flowers, jewelry, etc. You'll be amazed at what you'll find when you start looking. Have fun!! |
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Tuesday, November 11, 2008
CRAFT CORNER - Art Quake
Create an "art quake" by cutting apart a shape. Then paste it back together leaving spaces in between each piece. Notice how the spaces give energy and movement to your piece of art.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
Two contrasting colors of paper (such as black and white or yellow and red)
Scissors
Glue
WHAT YOU'LL DO:
Cut one sheet into a large, interesting shape. (My interesting shape happened to be a rectangle, feel free to bask in my creativity!!)
Then cut that shape into unusual pieces. Put the pieces back together like a puzzle on the uncut sheet. Leave spaces between each small piece. Let the bold color of the uncut sheet show through. Paste down the pieces when you are happy with the way they are spaced.
How's that for art that really moves you!?!
Here are two more example that my son and daughter made and wanted me to post on here.
 This one appears to be missing a lot of paper, my daughter decided to do this art project her own way and, you know what, it still looks good!!
Another option: Try "art quaking" a magazine photo. Cut it into strips. Past the strips down, in order, on construction paper. Don't let the strips line up exactly with each other. Let the construction paper show between each strip. The new photo will look as if it's been through an art quake! |
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Friday, November 7, 2008
CRAFT CORNER - Fun Fabric Parachute
This craft will be a hit with kids of all ages, and it is very economical.
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Piece of fabric, 15 inches square
Piece of fabric, 5 inches square
Ruler
Fabric pen or pencil
Scissors
4 pieces of string, each 15 inches long (can also use yarn or thin ribbon)
Small stone, 1 inch wide
Rubber band (I couldn't find my rubber bands so I used a hair elastic instead)
Lay the 15-inch fabric square onto a table with the right/front side, facing up. At the upper left corner measure 1 inch from the side and 1 inch down from the top. Mark a small dot on the spot. Mark a small dot in the other 3 corners in the same way.
Cut a small slit on each marked dot. To cut a slit, fold in the edge of the fabric so that a dot shows on the fold. Then cut a small slit on the dot. Repeat with the other three dots.
Thread a string through one of the slits. Make a loop, and then tie the string in a double knot. Thread pieces of string through the rest of the slits in the same way.
Lay the 5-inch square of fabric onto the table, with the wrong/back side facing up. Then lay the ends of the string across the 5-inch fabric square as shown.
Place the stone on top of the strings.
Fold the cloth around the stone to form a small pouch. Close the pouch with the rubber band.
Take your parachute by the bundle and hold it upside down.
Take the pointed end of the parachute and begin rolling it towards the bundle until it looks like this.
Take your parachute outside and roll it up as shown. Then toss it high into the air. The parachute will open as it floats back down to the ground!
This would be a fun craft to do with a group of children using a wide variety of fabric squares so no two parachutes would look the same. You could also provide fabric markers and plain white fabric so they could design their own style. The part where the children may need help is threading the string through the small holes, but otherwise it's all pretty easy. Also, remind the kids to try to throw the rolled parachute UP and not OUT, it will make a world of difference! Have fun!! |
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Saturday, November 1, 2008
CRAFT CORNER - Beaded Book Thong
While I was shopping at the mega book store at my local mall, I noticed some of these "book thongs" by the checkout. There were merely pieces of embroidery floss with beads and/or charms on the ends. The price tag was $5.99!! OUCH! I made this one for just a few cents.
Here are the supplies:
Embroidery floss
costume jewelry
scissors
hand towel
I had a nice picture of all the supplies neatly laid out on the towel with the necklace still intact, however, I somehow lost it in the process of moving it from the camera to the computer.
I like to use a hand towel when working with beads as it seems to help keep them from rolling all over the table. I snipped the end of the necklace and took all the beads and sorted them into various piles with similar qualities. Cut 2 pieces of the floss, about 18" long.
Using your mouth, wet the ends of the floss to get them to go through the holes in the beads. You may need to do this with every bead and it sometimes helps to also twist the floss with your fingers to give it a slight point. Figure out how you want your beads to be assembled and put about 1 to 2 inches of beads on each end of both pieces of floss.
Knot above and below the beads on each end to keep them from sliding up and down the floss.
Put the two finished pieces together and tie them together about 2 to 3 inches from each end.
To use, just place in between the pages you want to mark.
Enjoy! These could also make nice gifts for the readers in your family. Look in your jewelry box, I bet you can finds loads of costume jewelry. The necklace I used still has most of the beads left, I could probably easily make 10 more just from it. I think I will, get a little head start on my Christmas gift making. |
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Thursday, October 30, 2008
Bummer of a Day
For some reason I'm feeling totally bummed today. I do have the tail end of a migraine (gotta love hormones) so I'm sure that's a big reason. I just have some things that I really need to take care of but I feel so scatterbrained that I can't seem to get anything done.
Plus, on top of that, I feel guilty that my husband is working two jobs and he still comes home to a messy house. I MUST make it a priority to have our home in a peaceful state for him to relax in when he comes home. I'm so blessed that he takes on the responsibility of earning our income, and I need to do a much better job of budgeting it. We are meeting our bills okay, all except our electric and it is horribly behind (I'm sorry worried about it too). I'm totally stressing myself out about where the money will come from for Christmas though. I'm working on cutting back on what we spend this year, but I still need to find the money for it somewhere.
I've been working on some crafts for the Craft Writer Blog on the HSB Company Front Porch, I really should try making more of certain ones and list them on Etsy just to see if they sell. If they don't sell, I could still give them away as gifts anyway, right? The problem is, I have great ideas, but seriously lack in the follow through. Right now I have a quilt top I started over a year ago sitting in a pile on top of my kitchen table. I bought the fabric February before last, cut it out several months later, arranged them in the order I wanted to sew them in several months after that, and finally started sewing them together last week. I haven't touched it since!!
I know I probably have some attention deficit problems, but I'm waiting for my insurance to kick in at my husbands main employer so I can go to the doctor and hopefully get some meds to try.
I'm just in a grumpy, blue mood today and was wanting to vent. I have a few friends that I chat with on msn messenger, but they all must be keeping busy with other aspects of their lives.
Well, I'm needing to get off of here. My hubby will be home in about an hour from work and I need to make it look like I've been cleaning today. I so need to declutter, that would make a huge difference around here. |
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Monday, October 27, 2008
CRAFT CORNER - 2 Hour Baby Quilt
This must be the year for having babies!! I know so many beautiful women that are bringing such wonderful blessings into this world, I just had to share this super easy and oh-so-elegant baby quilt. I call it a quilt, but it might actually be considered a blanket since the top is actually one piece of fabric and not a lot of smaller pieces sewn together. However, once it's finished, it sure looks quilted.
Here's what you'll need to make one similar to what you see here:
1 yard of soft flannel with some sort of pattern
1 yard of coordinating solid satiny fabric (look for both of these in the baby section of the fabric store)
1 spool of matching quality thread
Pins
Sewing machine
Scissors
Start off by washing both pieces of fabric, this will take out any sizing that might be in it. After washing and drying, iron them smooth. (Hmmm, should I have listed washing machine, dryer, iron and ironing board in the supplies needed?)
And no matter how carefully someone attempts to cut fabric, the only true way to make it absolutely "square" is to tear it. (Not all fabrics can be torn, such as jersey.) Start at one of the cut edges and cut a small snip along the edge about an inch in and then tear it all the way across the fabric to the other end. Do this on both cut ends to even it up. You do not have to do this to the selvedge ends, but you can if you want. If you notice that when you tear the fabric from where you snipped it that it doesn't make it all the way to the other end, then move in a little more and try again. Sometimes it looks like you are wasting a lot of fabric, but it really needs to be done so it will lay properly. Do this to both pieces of fabric.
Lay the backing fabric on a flat surface, I use my kitchen table (be sure to wipe up any food or other spills first), and smooth it out with your hands. The backing fabric should have the side you want to show facing the table. On top of it, place the top piece with the design you want to show facing up. You will have the wrong sides together. You will need the backing fabric to be about an inch larger all the way around the top fabric. If you need to trim any then continue with the tearing method you used earlier. Keep laying them together until you have them the way you need them.
After smoothing the fabrics together with your hands to make sure all wrinkles are gone, begin pinning them together. You may use safety pins if you prefer, or straight pins, that's up to you. It's a small blanket, so about 20 pins should work fine.
Once you have it all pinned down and are satisfied with it, you are ready to begin sewing it together. Start at one corner and sew in a pattern towards the opposite corner in a diagonal. Depending on the pattern on the fabric, you might just follow a preprinted line or you may need to eyeball a pattern yourself, either way it will still look great. You'll backstitch both at the beginning of the line and again at the end. Once you reach the end, go to the closest line beside the one you just did and do it again. Stay in the same diagonal direction until that entire direction is complete. Once done that way, start going in the diagonal the other way, again starting in the middle and working out.
Once done with all this sewing, you'll need your scissors to trim all the ends of thread. Just snip, snip, snip away. Flip the blanket over and do all the threads on that side too.
Now you are ready to use that excess backing fabric to make the binding. Start at one corner and down at the front fabric edge, fold the raw edge of the backing in to meet the raw edge of the front. Then fold in again so the folded edge of the backing is over the front piece edge. There are several ways to continue with the binding, it may depend on what you feel most comfortable doing. I just fold it over like this and start sewing, then stop after a few inches, fold a little more, then sew some more, then stop, then fold, then sew, all the way around. You can also fold and pin down all the way around, this will take more time initially, but won't require the constant stopping and folding like I do. You can also fold and iron it down. This would also take some time to do, but would also make it easier when it comes to stitching. If you are not sure try a different method on three of the sides and pick the one you liked best for the last one.
Whatever method you select, just stitch each side down overlapping the corners. Trim all threads and TA-DA, beautiful baby quilt that you made all by yourself!! |
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