Hair Yo-Yos "How-To"

I saw these on a friend's website recently and I saw them again attached to a pin for the 4th of July. I started thinking about how fun it would be to have them as hair accessories.

Maddyn and Abby are always up for fun experiemental crafts, so we decided to try them last night when Abby was over....

Step One:
Find any scraps of fabric you have lying around....Cut a circle out of fun fabric. I used the top of a plastic cup for the size yo-yo I wanted.

Step Two:

Tie a knot in your thread. Stitch a running stitch about 1/4 inch from the edge and all the way around.

Step Three:

Pull the thread and gather into a yo-yo. For a typical yo-yo, you would want the inside of your circle to be neater than this, but for this it is ok. Tie a knot to keep the shape.

Step Four:

Embellish your yo-yo. I stitched a button in the center.

Step Five:

Stitch a pin to the back.Step Six:

Attach to headband -OR- glue to a bobby pin for a fun hair accessory!

Aren't they fun? The girls want to make more....another day for sure!

father's day cards

For father's day this year, I made little word clouds...they are really fun to make and you can personalize them using colors, fonts, shapes,etc. I asked the kids for characteristics of their father...

I came across www.wordle.net ....what a neat project. it's might be fun for a "back to school get to know me"..hmmm..

check out my wordle here...have fun!

End of the year teacher gifts

"End of the year gifts" for our teachers were really hard for me to think of this year....we've had 3 amazing women who have worked non-stop for the past 9 months and deserve a little something that will promote some R&R....So, I decided, for summer what's more R&R than a beach towel, a magazine, and some diet coke:-). I also decided to put in a little extra something expressing how much we have appreciated them this year....

I found this idea here...and modified it with a little more cuteness than just a jar using apothecary jars found at Walmart for $2 a piece! Score!...I like the way they turned out...bright, fun colors for summer! I hope they like them!

Camp Birthday Party

Lorien's obsession with the Jonas Brothers and the color purple had to be a part of her birthday party this year....so, we decided that we'd do a "campout"-themed party with some bits and elements from the Disney movie "Camp Rock" that featured the Jonas Brothers....thank goodness Target happened to have Camp Rock items in their dollar bins!

The invitations were done with pink, purple, and brown...Joe Jonas greeted the girls as they arrived to camp (good thing we haven't painted Lorien's room yet, so we could use this!)....The girls checked in with the camp directors (Maddyn and Abby) and received a glow bracelet and a licorice treat...(the boys were wondering why the poppers had to be saved until the end of camp)...We divided them into groups and they visited the Camp Store (what was better than a camp store to get all the supplies you need)....Camp food was always served on trays in the cafeteria.....
Camp crafts was always a must...they made picture frames and friendship bracelets (thanks to the help of another camp director, Maddie Atkinson)....And the best part of camp....s'mores! I think these girls devoured at least 3 a piece! With double marshmallows!The night ended with poppers (because you have so have some sort of firecracker thing at camp).... I think the girls had a lot of fun at camp tonight!

Teacher Appreciation Week 2009

So I'm posting this for my sister to see all the things we did, but I'd love to share it with all of you. This week we celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week....we had fun around here coming up with different things to give our teachers. Each day was a "theme"...some days we tweaked it just a little bit....below is a sampling of what we did...

Monday: Bring in a flower for your teacher.....well, I did bring in some flowers as fillers for vases, but I gave each of the teacher a basil plant, since I know they all love to cook....Tuesday: Bring in a fruit....this one was a little boring, but we tried to wrap it, so it looked cute....Wednesday: Wear your teacher's favorite color....I know... I couldn't have them show up empty handed! So, I made each of their favorite cookies and put them in a bag that was their favorite color...our house smelled so yummy!Thursday: Bring in a school supply...we brought in a box of pencils and some chocolate...what is more of a necessity for teachers than some chocolate?Friday: Bring in something homemade or a written note of appreciation....we did both. We made these mini magnet boards and some magnets, attached a little message, and wrote a note of appreciation!Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! We have loved our year with each of you ladies!

Winter Brrrthday Party

It's the girl's year for birthday parties! Maddyn had her big 9th birthday with 11 of her friends tonight. It's hard to keep coming up with ideas, but we came up with one we both liked...and I think one the girls really enjoyed....

We made hot chocolate jars...
Fleece hats...and fleece scarves...We ate white chocolate caramel corn and drank some hot cocoa....Made some wishes on a donut cake....

And opened lots of Webkinz, clothes, books, and even a little cash....It was all perfect for a wet and wintery brrrthday evening!

Thanks Wendy for staying to help - the jars would've been a disaster without you!

marble-magnet how to

I saw these cool magnets on Eve and Debbie's blog...Julie is going to make them, and I wanted to do a fun project this week so I thought I'd try them. I'm going to frame out sheet metal and put a huge bulletin board above the kids backpack hooks, so that they each have their own area for paperwork...really to eliminate the clutter that grows on my fridge door as the school year progresses....the kids were excited to make their own, each with things they are interested in at the moment....

Finley: water polo, swim, surfing, diving, mountains
Brennan: cars, Kung Fu Panda, basketball, swimming
Maddyn: flowers, American Girl dolls, soccer, and polka dots
Lorien: Hannah Montana, Jo Jonas from the Jonas Brothers, American Girl dolls, and gum

Supplies:
2" flat marbles, found in the floristry section of Joanns
E-6000 glue - super smelly, and super sticky for a clear adhesive (Walmart has this)
1/2" magnets - I got packages of self sticking ones in the craft section at Walmart
lots of magazines, catalogs, paper, etc.
scissors

Step one.... enlist the help of eager children to tear pages out of magazines or catalogs...you can also use scrapbook paper. I was happy the Vera Bradley catalog showed up because the paper was thicker....

Step two...cut pictures out leaving a large area around them. Glue marble over area and let dry overnight - at least 8 hours.....

Step three...cut the excess paper off and attach the magnets to the back...

Step four...admire your fun project!