Homemade Holiday Gifts

KM worked very hard this year making lots of holiday gifts. I couldn't post pictures before hand because it would have ruined some suprises, but now that we have visited our last family stop I had to show off her craftiness.

At our co-op holiday party the kids made these great ornaments with plain glass ornaments and acrylic paint. KM immediately wanted to make them for all her grandparents and aunts. We all had fun doing this one.

KM has tried her hand at cross stitch before, but never really had the stamina to finish it.

She worked on this for quite some time and was very happy with the results:

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Modge Podge! KM does now too! We got some plain glass bowls from the dollar store, added some Modge Podge and tissue paper and here are the results -

I had to play with the lighting and such and these pics really don't do them justice, but I think you get the idea. It gives them almost a stain glass like look. They can be used for centerpieces, fruit bowls, candle holders or whatever. You can also do this on other glass surfaces or to cover up something else. KM has now been stockpiling things that she wants to decoupage for gifts!

Our latest family - homeschool project ----

Every fall we do some sort of improvement or remodel in the house. One year we put in hardwood floors, some of you may remember last year we remodeled the entire kitchen area, another we replaced a window, front door and slider. Luckily CJ is a super DIY guy and I am the super saver shopper type - so between the two of us we have done it all on a really low budget!

Once we started homeschooling we tried to get KM involved, she is really not big into manual labor, but has been getting much better about it, especially since she is getting older and feels a bit more confident with certain things.

Well this year there really wasn't any pressing things that needed to be done around here, so CJ got an idea, but first you have to have the background...it all started back when the gas prices skyrocketed up over the $4 mark and his work truck was guzzling about half of his paychecks that he decided to get a little compact car. So he purchased a little KIA Sophia for about $1000. He used it all that summer and then he got in an accident with his truck and thankfully we had the KIA as a back up because just as his car was getting out of the shop I got into an accident and needed to drive the KIA.

I will say that it was a little putt-putt car, but it got us from A to B and several points in between when need be, but when gas prices started coming back down, both our vehicles were fixed and back on the road and winter came it didn't make sense for us to have the 3rd car on the road anymore, so he put it out front for sale. Usually things get snapped up off our front lawn but the KIA just sat and sat and sat ~ No one apparently wants to drive a manual around her! ~ So he decided to list it on Craig's List and very quickly got an offer that someone wanted to trade him a quad for the KIA. ~ Now just in case you didn't know how much of a JEEP/ATV/4 wheeler of any sort freak CJ is I can refer you to this posting and just say that if it has to with mud he is there! ~ So he traded the KIA for a quad and spent all summer zipping through the woods. He had a great time and KM and her friends loved taking rides on it.

We have had discussions over the last few years about getting an RV again and how much fun we had when we could just jump in and go! So CJ was always checking craig's list for feasible possibilities, but I could just not justify spending the cash on it and there was NO way we were going to get a loan for one. However he managed to work out another trade when he saw the words "willing to trade for ATV".

Now it needs some serious exterior work and minimal interior work, but considering it is older than CJ it realy isn't that bad -

It runs great, is pretty good on mileage considering it's age, has TONS of storage, I can drive it and it sleeps 6!

We are planning on taking the stove out completely and putting in a bigger sink there, since we always use a grill when we are camping. The bathroom needs to be redone. We are thinking of using some leftover flooring to get rid of the orange carpeting. The outside will be powerwashed and painted - there was some talk of bedliner on the exterior, but I am trying to push away from that one. I would be happy if we could also find a bit bigger fridge, but I am not holding my breath on that one.

All in all we will be doing a lot of work, but we have all agreed to do it together! It will be a fantastic project that we will be all be able to reap the benefits of it in the long run!
I will keep you all updated as things progress!

Earth Day

Here are some great links to get you thinking a little more green today:

• Kaboose's list of various links for today
• Planet Pals has a ton of resources
• Lesson plans page - earth day pages
• Teacher Planet: Earth Day Theme
• Federal Resource for Education Excellence - Climate Change Resources

Will have an update this evening with how we spent our earth day!

We actually got very little "Earth Day" related things done today - you see our Public Schools are on vacation this week and we here at GCK are not, but KM had been VERY social on Monday and Tuesday so she needed to buckle down today before her aunt - SR - came over for a sleepover and won't be leaving until late tomorrow (Thur) afternoon. Which left really only today and Friday (at which time we will also have SC) to get her work for the whole week done before her VERY BESTEST BEST Friends from Maine come for their visit this weekend!!! So though we did talk about the fact that it was Earth day, we really didn't do anything extra special, it was also really really rainy outside, but I was thinking that maybe tomorrow I will get the girls out there to do something -

oh but wait to tomorrow is an extra extra special day...
you will have to wait to see!

In Like a Lion...

Let's hope for the Lamb!!!

March came roaring in with a wintry storm that called off our coop classes for the day! So I thought we would start wishing for spring around here...

We started by making a calendar to track how many wintry days and how many springlike days we have this month.

Then we decided to make some flowery wreaths and garland strands to hang all over the house using some recycled tissue paper - HERE is a great link for tissue paper flowers of all kinds!

Here is a rather interesting elementary level art project lesson plan.

Here is a cute little play from Scholastic.


On another note there is only about 18 hours left to register for World Math on March 4th -Be sure to Go here to register and challenge people from all around the world!

Quick Recycling Project - Art Smocks

I had some old towels laying around that I had been trying to figure out something to do with, when it hit me this morning - Art Smocks!

Here's what to do:
Very simply fold the towel in half one way and then fold it again the other way, mark off the center and cut out a hole, big enough for ~ whomever it is intended for~ head to fit through. Pinking shears would obviously work best, but since it is a towel and they are weaved, holes made from regular scissors will work as well. Then WALLAH -


If you want to make it last longer, have the time, and ability - you can also seam off the edges of the head hole. For now I just want to see how long it will last without the seaming.


I am going to save the extra circles that we cut out of the neck - to make bean bags with! 2 for 1 project deal today!!!

Recycling Project #1

As winter begins approaching we tend to look for more quiet projects to do around the house. We are also generally trying to pinch lots of pennies together, as CJ's work slows down great deal. So we tend to do lots of recycling projects and I figured this would be a great thing to share here!

This afternoon I decided to take my sewing machine out of hiding - it spends the summer in my closet you see and generally does not see the light of day until Christmas and Yule presents start being worked on, but it is getting an early appearance for this project!


At some point, in the not too distant past, I saw an article or a clip on a show or a blurb on some other blog - I can't keep these things straight sometimes - a project to recycle jeans that were either too short or had a hole in the knee into a skirt. It is a fairly simple project and you can find a great set of instructions with all the pictures for it HERE .

For KM's version however we skipped a few steps and only made the two panel version using extra material remnants we had laying around in the craft closet instead of using the bottoms of the pant legs. Here was our outcome -
They have now traveled to the art center in KM's bedroom to get some final fashion touches added!

I wish I had discovered this or remembered to try this sooner!!! It came out so cute and is such a great way to get a little extra life out of the jeans!!! The thing I have to work on now is her nervousness with the sewing machine. She is always worried she is going to break something, injure herself or mess something up. Any suggestions on how to get her more comfortable with it would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks for stopping by!

Gotta love Freecycle!!!

That would be the consensus around this little house anyway!!!

Although it is not in perfect condition, SC had the biggest smile when she went into the backyard today and saw this little house waiting for her. It took me nearly 3 months of trying, but I finally got picked to receive something. I am so glad that this was the one I got! Kids outdoor toys are one of the hottest items on the Freecycle lists that I have seen. I think it is mostly because they charge so much for the items new that when you have only one or two kids, it is just not economically feasible to spend that much on an item that really doesn't get played with for that long.

If you don't freecycle already, I highly recommend that you go on to Yahoo and search for your local areas group. It amazes me some of the items that I have seen on there and how quickly things go!

Lightbulbs to Leadership - please view and sign!

This really is an important issue! Please take a look and sign to make a difference!
http://www.lightbulbstoleadership.org/

Here is what I recieved in an email from Sierra Club:

To help spread the word and remind folks who really holds the power, we've put together a short new video called "Unleash Your Power."
Will you help us get to 40,000 signatures by telling your friends about the video and asking them to sign the letter? http://action.sierraclub.org/lightbulb_friends
As you know, fuel economy standards are being decided right now by a little-known government agency -- and we'll be delivering our letter right before the public comment deadline. We have until July 1st to gather as many names as possible to show the widespread desire for better gas mileage and solutions to global warming.
We're shooting for 40,000 names on the letter -- which is ambitious, but possible through you.
Click here to tell your friends about the video and the sign-on letter.

A great day to meet new friends!

We had the first meeting of the environmental club KM wanted to get going today.

We had less attendants than we thought we would, but things happen & it turned out to work out ~ much easier to get 5 kids to agree rather than 10 without a doubt!

They even had plenty of time for some fun!

Thanks to all who could make it and all who tried!