|
Homeschooling Adventures at the Maxwell's
Sunday, May 17, 2009
CRAFT - Carton Wallet
I'm finally back with another craft. I'd stepped down as the craft writer for HSB and now I'll just show crafts whenever I get around to it. I enjoyed being the craft writer, but I was having a hard time keeping up with the weekly deadlines. This craft was from an issue of Family Fun magazine.
TURN A CARTON INTO A WALLET
SUPPLIES
1 (1/2 gallon) milk or juice carton with plastic cap, rinsed
Scissors
Paper towels
Template from Family Fun
Sharpie marker
Ruler
Butter knife
Cut open the carton so it lies flat, put aside the cap for now. Dry the inside with the paper towels.
Cut out the template and tape together. Tape the template onto the carton so that the top circle lines up with the spout.
Mark the outline of the template with the marker. Using firm pressure, trace the dotted lines with the butter knife. A ruler will help you mark the straight lines.
Remove the template and go over the scored lines again using the ruler and butter knife. These need to be done a couple of time in order to get it to fold easily.
Use scissors to cut out the shape from the carton. To make cutting out the circle easier, first make an X with a sharp knife.
Following the fold lines you marked, create an accordion fold on each side of the wallet.
Tightly squeeze the accordion folds.
Fold the top flap down, pushing the spout through the hole. Screw on the cap to keep the flap in place. You may need to trim the hole a little bigger to get it to fit easily onto the spout, but be careful not to make it to big or it will slip off over the cap.
|
• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
|
Friday, May 15, 2009
Wish List of Books and Movies
I'm finally sorting through my mountains of pages torn from magazines and I'm compiling a list of books and movies I'm wanting to see. I'm also checking my library inventory and on Netflix, anything I can't locate at either of these places will go onto this list. I need to declutter some of this paper in my house, it's overwhelming. I'm tossing the pages as I'm going, but I'll have this as a reference for the ones I can't locate otherwise.
BOOKS
GOD STORIES - edited by Jennifer Skiff
THE PAPER BAG CHRISTMAS - by Kevin Alan Milne
THE HERETIC'S DAUGHTER - by Kathleen Kent
THE OFFICIAL GUIDE TO CHRISTMAS IN THE SOUTH OR IF YOU CAN'T FRY IT, SPRAY PAINT IT GOLD - by David C. Barnette
VETERINARIAN AT SEASIDE ZOO - Work It series
TEACH YOUR CHILD HOW TO THINK - by Edward de Bono
THE ENGLISH AMERICAN - by Alison Larkin
LAST SEEN LEAVING - by Kelly Braffet
LIVING ARTFULLY - by Sandra Magsamen
BAD KITTY GETS A BATH - by Nick Bruel
READER'S DIGEST HOMEMADE
STAR OF THE WEEK - by Barney Stalzberg
THE RED LEATHER DIARY: RECLAIMING A LIFE THROUGH THE PAGES OF A LOST JOURNAL - by Lily Koppel
THE LITTLE GIANT OF ABERDEEN COUNTY - by Tiffany Baker
THE LOST RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS - by Barbara O'Neal
DEEPER by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF IMMATURITY by Klutz
THE PUZZLING WORLD OF WINSTON BREEN by Eric Berlin
TWENTY-ODD DUCKS by Lynn Truss
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD by Allison Lassieur
THE STORY OF RUBY BRIDGES by Robert Coles
HENRY VIII by Sean Stewart Price
HIP-HOP US HISTORY by Blake Alexander and Alex Rappaport
THE 39 CLUES by Rick Riordan
CHASING YESTERDAY #3 TRUTH by Robin Wasserman
WARRIORS by James Harpur
WHO CONDUCTED THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD by Peter and Connie Roop
THE MANY RIDES OF PAUL REVERE by James Cross Giblin
HARRY HOUDINI by Vicki Cobb
CHARLIE by Tina Nolan
THE MONSTER HEALTH BOOK by Edward Miller
THE GREAT FAIRY RACE by Disney
THE MISSION OF ADDITION
THE ACTION OF SUBTRACTION
LOST IN THE STORM by Holly Webb
FLY GUY Series by Todd Arnold
TWO TIMES THE FUN by Beverly Cleary
WAR HEROES - VOICES FROM IRAQ by Allen Zullo
HEROES FOR CIVIL RIGHTS by David Adler
BLOOD AND ICE by Robert Massello
THE WRITING ON MY FOREHEAD by Nafisa Haji
SING THEM HOME by Stephanie Kallos
MOVIES
HORSE TUNES FOR KIDS - DVD and CD - Songs by Brent Holmes and Harvey the Horse
INTO THE UNKNOWN with Josh Bernstein
IDITAROD by Discovery
EVEREST by Discovery
I'll try to keep this updated. I know I have a slew of book and movie wishlists somewhere in this house! |
• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
|
Friday, January 30, 2009
CRAFT CORNER - Floral Ruler Holder
My family goes through these canisters of sugar-free drink mixes rather quickly, and I always wondered what I could use them for instead of just tossing them. I finally thought of something and quickly went through my stash of crafting supplies and found some things to use with it.
SUPPLIES:
Canister from sugar-free drink mixes (such as Crystal Light)
Decorative paper (premade or make your own)
Adhesives (I used glue dots and a hot glue gun)
Scissors
Fake flowers and greenery
Take the wrapper off of the canister and throw it away. Measure around the canister and along the length and cut your paper to match, making the measurement a little larger for the circumfrence for a slight overlap. Apply glue dots to the two short sides of the paper and line up with edge and glue down then roll the paper around and press to glue the other side.
Pull all the leaves and flowers off the stem and seperate into different piles.
Do any trimming that needs done to make the flowers flush on the back.
Take the glue gun and adhere the greenery around the top of the canister and onto the paper.
Then fill in with the flowers still using the glue gun.
Fill with rulers and you are done. If it seems a little top heavy with the rulers in it, as the canister is very lightweight, fill the bottom of it with a handful of pennies before adding the rulers.
Dianna and her family share their home with an every growing variety of animals: two cats - Widebutt and Colors, one hamster - Lightning, one rabbit - Fun Bun, two hermit crabs - USA and Crabby, and a tank full of fish. The kids are big animal lovers and will drag in anything alive if they can, mom and dad usually stop them though. It seems like a never-ending process to keep the house from smelling like a zoo!! They hope to expand their animals to include some outdoor ones once the weather finally warms up. |
• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
|
Thursday, January 29, 2009
CRAFT CORNER - Make Your Own Iron-Ons
My hubby recently tore the front of a pair of his jeans, since the jeans were in otherwise good condition we decided to try to salvage them into work pants. My oldest son had ripped the rear end out of a pair of his jeans so I used them as the source of fabric for the patch to make the repair. It worked great and best of all there was no sewing involved, it was all very quick and easy. I still had loads of the denim fabric left so I decided to design some cute iron-on designs for my daughter. I scrounged around in her drawer for a plain shirt that she never wears. Here's the craft I came up for for this week along with the list of supplies.
SUPPLIES
Scrap fabric (I used denim, but you can use anything that can be ironed)
Shirt (something plain without a design)
Fusible webbing (I used Heat 'n Bond Brand Iron-On Adhesive ULTRAHOLD No-Sew)
Sharpie Marker
Fabric Marker
Iron
Start by cutting out a piece of fabric a little larger than you need. Cut out a piece of the fusible webbing to fit inside this area. Adhere the webbing to the reverse side of the fabric by ironing on the paper side of the webbing. Follow the directions that come with the webbing you purchase, but I used Wool setting on my iron for this. It only takes a few seconds for it to adhere, then let it cool.
On the paper, use the Sharpie marker to draw out whatever design you want. You can use stencils if you like. Remember that whatever design you draw it will be the reverse image you'll end up with. What this means is if you are writing letters or numbers, draw their mirror image on the paper. Once you have the designs you want, cut them out.
Peel the paper from the back and arrange onto the shirt in the order you want them to remain. Iron into place using the same setting as before.
You can leave it as is or embellish the designs with fabric markers. If you want to get real creative, you can use fabric paints, sew on ribbons, or even Bedazzle it. The options are endless and the only real expense you'll have is the cost of the fusible webbing, just recycle unworn shirts and clothes from the rag/donate box. This could even be a fun craft to use in vacation Bible school, day camp, and so on.
Although this shirt was found way at the bottom of my daughters drawer and I cannot recall ever seeing her wear it, she was quick to inform me that I "ruined" her favorite shirt and set out to design decals of her chosing for another shirt. Sigh. |
• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
|
Thursday, January 29, 2009
A Cute Valentine Friendship Poem
This is a nice poem to give to a friend for Valentine's Day. I found it in THE BOOK OF VIRTUES by William J. Bennett. No author is credited, if you know who wrote it please let me know so I can give them proper credit.
NEW FRIENDS AND OLD FRIENDS
Make new friends, but keep the old;
Those are silver, these are gold.
New-made friendships, like new wine,
Age will mellow and refine.
Friendships that have stood the test --
Time and change -- are surely best;
Brow may wrinkle, hair grow gray;
Friendship never knows decay.
For 'mid old friends, tried and true,
Once more we our youth renew.
But old friends, alas! may die;
New friends must their place supply.
Cherish friendship in your breast --
New is good, but old is best;
Make new friends, but keep the old;
Those are silver, these are gold.
If you'd like a chance to win the valentine this poem is on, check out how on the Company Blog from February 2nd through the 6th. Just remember that the craft and contest won't be posted until February 2nd, but you can go ahead and check out this weeks posts if you'd like, they are all worth the trip. |
• Comments (0) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
|
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
CRAFT CORNER - Weave a Cloth Basket
With this craft you can make a colorful centerpiece for the family table or a catchall for a growing collection. With this easy fabric-wrapping technique, both kids and adults will enjoy making their own basket.
YOU WILL NEED:
1 1/4 yards of cotton fabric (one color or several to equal this amount) cut or torn into about 20 strips 1 inch wide
Scissors
6 yards of 1/2 inch cotton piping cord
yard stick
Begin by cutting or tearing the fabric into 22 strips 1/2 inch wide. I was lucky that I could skip this step as I'd found some of these rolls of fabric already cut to the right width. If you are using the ribbon like I did, you'll need to cut it into lengths of 1 1/4 yards each.
Start wrapping a fabric strip around the cord, beginning at the cord's tip and overlapping each layer as shown.
After wrapping 4 inches of the cord, fold the wrapped section in half and wind the fabric around it to start the base coil. Make sure you leave a small gap in the end of the loop as you'll need to feed fabric through it.
Continue wrapping and coiling the cord, stopping every 2 inches to secure the coil by looking the fabric strip once around the last fabric-covered ring. When you reach the end of a strip, start the next one using the same overlapping technique.
Once the coil is about 6 inches wide, start building the sides of the basket by positioning the cord on top of the previous ring. Continue to secure the the coil every 2 inches.
To finish the basket (mine was 4 1/2 inches high and 8 inches in diameter), cut the cord at an angle. Loop the fabric strip around the adjacent ring, covering the end of the cord and securing it to the basket. Trim off and tuck in any excess fabric.
Just by luck, mine fit my flower pot perfectly!! Didn't even plan it that way.
|
• Comments (3) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
|
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Girl Scout Cookie Time!!
We just signed Lindsey up for Girl Scouts, and just in time for the cookie sales! My husband took an order form with him to work and has sold several boxes for her already, she has set her personal goal at selling 250 boxes. She is hoping to earn a stuffed elephant. I told her that I'll be surprised if we can make it to 100 boxes, we don't know that many people.
I did just send off an email to a lot of people and plan to start making some phone calls here in a little while to help her out. I'd planned on taking her to visit with some of our friends and family to sell them, but the weather just isn't cooperating with us right now, so email and phone calls will have to do for now.
If you live in WV and would like to order some cookies, let me know by leaving me a comment. Or if you live elsewhere and want some and would pay for shipping to you, let me know that also. I can't imagine I'd be lucky enough to sell any on here, but it doesn't hurt to try, huh? |
• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
|
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Fun with Books
I recently joined the website Paperback Swap and have been listing and sending books out, and I just received my first one from there today. I was also surprised when I looked inside of it and found a label on the back of the front cover that shows the book is registered on Book Crossing too.
So I logged onto Paperback Swap to let them know the book was received and also onto Book Crossing to record where the book is now and how I came to own it. I thought it was an easy idea, so I'm going to register the books I list on Paperback Swap with a number in Book Crossing. |
• Comments (2) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
|
Sunday, January 4, 2009
CRAFT CORNER - Party Mask
I've seen pictures of people going to New Year's Eve costume ball's and that's what made me think of this craft. Of course, if your child likes dress-up or costume play, then this would be great any time of the year.
SUPPLIES:
Water colors in your choice of colors
Paintbrush
Scissors
White glue
Pair of glasses
Pencil
White cardstock or poster board
Glitter Glue
Bendy straw
Tape
Lay a pair of glasses on the cardstock and draw around them.
Add a mask shape around the outlines.
Use the water colors to paint any pattern you like, here is the order I painted this one in:
   
Run a bead of glue around the outline of the mask and where you traced the glasses for the eyeholes.
Dump the glitter onto the mask and shake off the excess. Some of the glitter may stick to any of the watercolors that's still wet, but it should rub off easily once it dries.
Cut out the eyeholes and around the mask once it is totally dry.
Extend and bend the straw. Then, tape the short part to the back of the mask. Tape over the bumpy part to make it stronger.
This is just one design idea, you can have a lot of fun coming up with other clever masks. Animals like a cat with pointy ears or a dog with droopy ears are two ideas. Instead of stripes, perhaps dots. You get the idea. Have fun!! |
• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
|
Sunday, January 4, 2009
CRAFT CORNER - Personalized Pencil Toppers
I just love doing things with beads, and this one is fun and easy. This might be an inexpensive gift idea for a child to make for his or her siblings or for a parent to make for the children in their homeschool support group.
SUPPLIES:
pencil eraser heads
pencil
string
alphabet beads
other small beads
white craft glue
Begin by placing the eraser head on a pencil. Put a little white glue around the base of the eraser head but not on the pencil itself. 
Cut a 2 foot lentgth of string. Wrap string around the eraser head, smoothing out the glue as you go. Wrap enough to cover most of the bottom half of the eraser head. 
Let this dry. In the meantime, arrange your beads in the order you want them and feel free to add some decorative beads in with the letters.
Once you have all the beads on the string the way you want them, tie a small bead onto the end to help hold other other beads on.
You can also add other beads in addition to the letters. For example if your child is a sports fan, add beads in shape of a baseball, basketball, etc. You can also add sparkly, shimmery beads for a "be-dazzled" look. These eraser heads can be removed from this pencil and placed on another one. Have fun!
|
• Comments (1) • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
|
|
