I'm BAAAack...

I am so excited to be back and join in the fun in the craft blogging community!  I just popped in to read some blogs and I am psyched to start playing again.

Here is something I found that I will be putting on my to-do list.  I must have missed it in preparation for my trip.  The tutorial was posted on Sew, Mama, Sew!

It's good to be back!

No crafting

Sorry to anyone looking for crafts!  I'm incommunicado.  Visiting my mom, who just recently went into a nursing facility.  She's doing great, though I don't really know if she needs to be there forever.  But she seems to be dealing with it alright.  Please say some prayers for her, and for my siblings down here who are dealing with some serious issues of their own.

Enjoying the view from the balcony, from our super great deal Priceline hotel (I love Priceline!).

Kids in the Kitchen - Pre-reading Skills #1

Many people don't realize that picture recognition (a little child pointing out McDonald's before they can even make a complete sentence) is a pre-reading skill.  At this age you can start printing out pictures with the word identified beneath it, and without you or your child realizing it, your child will get jump-start in reading skills.  This really works!  Here is a simple example:

These pictures can be taped around the house, on the fridge, all over, but just remember to put them at eye-level for your preschooler.  

The argument against whole-word language is true - we MUST learn phonics.  But by displaying picture cards we are creating connections where none were. In addition, you'll notice I used small letters instead of capitals.  Adults often think that teaching the simple formations of capital letters is better for kids, but honestly, how many capital letters do you see on this page?  The sooner they become familiar with the curves and shapes of small letters, the better!

So where is my craft project, you ask?  Must you rant on about reading?  Well, it is a subject near and dear to my heart, and this project is something all teachers are familiar with.

It can be adapted for ALL reading levels, from NO skills to advanced, to any abilities or different abilities. 

First get a file folder.  You can use a plan manilla folder, or if you just happened to find a sweet deal on decorative folders at Target, you could use those...  27 CENTS for 144 file folders.  YES!  really!  I bought them out.  I will never need folders again!

Next, assemble crayons, glue, and scissors.  And now you can start to decide how hardcore you want to get...

I will describe the simple project here, then at the end I will go into some variations.  But really, the whole project is super SIMPLE.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Print out the star sheets from HERE or stars with eyes HERE.  Color the stars, two of each color.  Glue one of each color to the inside of the folder.  

DONE.  

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Give the folder to your preschooler or a child of similar abilities, and give them the stars that are left over.  Teach them to match the colors and put the loose identically colored star onto the one glued to the folder.  

This will not only help the child learn colors, but shapes as well.  And if you have a laminator, I would suggest laminating the hand held shapes, for durability.  Kinkos still has laminators for use to the public.  In the past they were about $1 a sheet, which is what I did before I bought my $18.99 laminator at Costco, which you can see on this project or this one. 

Now, here are some variations:

You could use characters from tv or books instead of stars.  You could use the same character, like the stars, or you could use many different ones.  You can do a multitude of shapes, or anything.

You could also have your child do the coloring, and if they are coordinated enough, you could have them to the cutting!  And the gluing!  So you see where I am going with this... Another idea is to use Velcro dots on each shape, so that it stays where the child puts it.

If you are really feeling the neatness bug, I would suggest heading over to the Dollar Tree, where they have a great teacher's section.  For $1 you can pick up some die-cut shapes for use in color matching for this same project.

I hope you get the chance to be creative today!

Chocolate!

I'm back!  I have to get up to speed with my blog reading.  But in the meantime, I've been enjoying some great food.  

Fresh pineapple, fresh strawberries, pound cake...

What a way to cap off a great dinner!  

I was going to show some pictures of cutting up the fruit & cake, and melting the chocolate, but I figured everyone knows how to do that.

But really, if you haven't done it, you should give it a taste!

Believe me, this tasted even better than it looked! 

We had leftovers but as you can imagine, they went quickly.

Whether cooking or crafting, 

I hope you get the chance to be 

creative today!  

 

Quilting

I started to collect some fabrics for <this> quilt I'm going to make.  But I'm trying not to buy all at once, because I want the quilt to be more relaxed than planned.  I just want it to have some movement and I figure that if I buy all of my fabric over a period of one week (very possible! lol), then it could possibly look more stilted.  This way I can add some fabrics to it from scraps and from clothes, and from places other than Joanne's. Which I love, but basically I'm trying to hold out until I'm inspired. 

And this weekend there is a quilt show in Hershey, PA, right by my house.  I'm wondering if they will have fabric for sale in the Merchant's Room.  I've never been to a quilt show.  It is called Quilt Odyssey.  One of the classes they are hosting is the history of quilt marking - this sounds so interesting! 

This quilt above, by Cynthia England, is a sample from a landscape class that Cynthia is going to teach. 

And while the one above is going on this weekend, I'm already putting another one on my calendar:

9/15/2011 - 9/18/2011
Greater Philadelphia Area, Pennsylvania

Merchants Mall & Quilt Show

Greater Philadelphia Expo Center100 Station Avenue, Oaks, PA 19456
(GPS Address: 1601 Egypt Road, Phoenixville, PA 19460) 

 Circles of Life, by Linda French

And finally, I just found out about what looks like a fun place to check out:

Quiltmakers Cottage

 Quiltmakers Cottage had the honor of being chosen as one of the “TOP 10” shops

 featured in the Spring issue of Quilt Sampler Magazine!

Where they showcased this:

 

Boy it looks like I've got a lot to do this weekend!  

I hope you get the chance to be creative this weekend!  

  

I'm looking forward to it!  I want to have something to show!

 

Blister in the Sun

 

Just putting up a quick post. I feel awful that I haven't been crafting!! 

My hands have been itching for activities. 

I have to say that yesterday I was at a golf tournament for work, and while I was there I actually brought fabric and scissors so that I could cut out small squares of fabric for some future project! At least I felt like I was being somewhat creative!


Have you ever been to a golf tournament? I had never been. My mom used to watch them on tv. I never got into it. It turns out they are somewhat fun. Well, if you are a GOLFER. And even then its mostly just the joy of being outside. I swear even the competitive people couldn't hit a barn if I built one right in from of them!


Our company has its own branch of Champions for Children, a 501 (c)(3) that gives money directly to children in our area. Completely non-profit.  If they need things as varied as a pair of shoes or even the cost of a therapist, the money goes straight to the kids. Its a great cause!


Along with lots of other volunteers, I collected donations from local businesses in the days leading up to the event.  We had some great prizes!  


But yesterday, I got to watch paint dry. Actually, I got to watch hole #6. And if anyone made it to the green on that hole, I and my compatriot were to go up to the green and measure the distance of the ball to the hole. Guess what happened... only 3 people made it to the hole on the first stroke, and...


The representative whose company had donated a kindle for the prize for hole #6 WON that prize!! Funny. He gave it back and they did a drawing for it. Very nice.


And you can see above on my header that I HAVE been somewhat creative. I played tonight on the computer and made a new header for myself.


And in case you are wondering, the title of my post tonight refers to the heat pounding down on my garden, which is in sore need of weeding and was almost washed away by the downpour on Monday.  The title is also the name of a Violent Femmes song.  No offense to V.F. lovers, but its not the greatest song.  I just thought the title was appropriate!  

Peace to everyone! 

I hope you get the chance to be creative today!

Monday morning coffee...

Good morning!  or if you are a Night-Owl, just HELLO.  I am heading to bed and look, I'm already looking forward to morning coffee! 

Tomorrow already feels like a half-caf day 

(I'm usually a de-caf girl).  I'll keep you posted.

I have not posted since last Wednesday - its like I'm living in some surreal world, where I am watching the things go on around me but I'm useless about getting anything done! 

I have, however, continued to work on one of my shirt projects, and I did get in a great visit with some wonderful friends we hadn't seen in YEARS (literally years!).  And did you notice I didn't say "old"?  We're all still just 21 at heart.

Quickly, though, I would like to share with you something I put together in about 3 minutes for the main bathroom.  

I often keep glass jars because I like their shape and feel.  When my kids were younger I didn't do this (but wanted to).  And then my sister-in-law showed me how she even used them to store leftovers, which sounds so simple, but it we had those throwaways, you know?  So I guess I never thought of it.  But now I use them quite often.  

Anyway, I had this nice glass jar and I thought how pretty it would be in the bathroom.  And the generic soap dispenser in there that I constantly refill always tips over when you go to use it.  People think it fits in the little shell-shape of the counter (it doesn't).  

But it falls over anywhere.  

So I used a hammer and a flat-head screwdriver, 

laid the lid upside down on 2 boards 

(so that the metal edges would flip up into the pump-part I was going to glue). 

Then I popped the pump into the jar lid, and just used Gorilla Glue to hold it together!  

My girls came in separately to both tell me how nice it looks and to thank me for it, because it no longer flips over when they go to use it!  Wow!

and I'd like to say THANK YOU 

to Ginger for featuring my lunchbags #2 and #3 on her link party!  

Check out her blog here:

 I hope you get the chance to be creative today!!