Our Garden....Harvest Time!

I've said this before but it certainly bears saying again...I never thought I would enjoy gardening.  When my son asked me to create a garden for him, I put him off for an entire year hoping {praying really} that the interest was a passing fancy and that he would move on from that idea.  Well, he didn't and after asking again and again I finally conceded and created his Spring Garden.

Now it's time to confess.  I have LOVED everything about this little garden of his!  I didn't think it was possible, especially because my non-love of nature still exists, but I truly do and this has not only been fun but a learning experience too.

We have talked to, fertilized, weeded and watered this little garden with care and our efforts have paid off.  We have harvested our first crop of the season and I don't think we could be anymore excited!

Some of the lessons that I've learned from this:

Green beans grow quickly.
Cucumbers are a vine plant and really need a much larger space to grow in {2x2 is WAY too small}.
Next year the little raised boxes will house only flowers; larger raised boxes for the vegetables are a must.
Carrots should be planted alone {those poor things have been crowded out by the beans and cucumbers; no growth at all}

Yippee -- tomatoes!

Our one red strawberry

Here's another -- YAY!

Growing cucumbers

Booming with green beans!

Picking his strawberry

Our harvest -- look at those green beans!

Growing food that we can eat and being proud of our accomplishment ranks #1 for us.  If you haven't tried a garden, give it go...you might be surprised at how much you enjoy it with your little one too!

Operation 50 States

School is out and the proverbial question on every parents mind is 'what is my child going to do this summer?'  For many moms and dads, the journey to summer fun begins months before school is actually out.  They begin looking at camps early on because the good ones will fill up within minutes of open registration.

Being a first time mom, and because no one clued me in, I learned that school-age camp is expensive.  What I paid for four to six weeks of preschool camp will only cover one week of school-age camp {What??? Who thought this up?}.  For those of you who follow me regularly you know that my life is ruled by a limited budget, so $220 for one week of Lego camp just won't work for me.  Time for plan B -- camp/summer fun at home for a fraction of the cost.

My son loves all things maps and travel.  He informed me just a few days ago that when he's an adult and rich {yes, he actually said that...LOL!} he plans to travel the world.  So I began thinking about ways to support his travel interest that would be fun and educational.  What better way to do that than to "travel" the country!

Of course, you can't travel without luggage.  Enter our homemade suitcase made from an old packing box.

Started with a regular packing box cut in half

Use a cup to create the rounded corners needed

Draw a semi-circle

Cut out using a box cutter or straight blade

Use glue to connect the sides to the bottom {same for the top}

The bottom is complete!

Top and bottom of the suitcase

To make the handle - cut slits in the box and stick a strip through

Handle shown from the inside of the suitcase

Tape the flaps down to the inside of the bottom

The hinge attached with glue to a small square of cardboard

Glue to the bottom then add screws to keep it attached

Working reinforced hinges

Added an American flag and wording

He was so excited he had to use it right away!

This journey is just beginning. Travel with us as we learn during our summer of fun with 'Operation 50 States'!  

Where we like to party!

All About the Dollar Bill$

Are your kids constantly asking "mom can I have this" when you walk into a store?  Well mine certainly does.  Even though I think I've done a pretty good job at showing him the value of things, nothing brings that life lesson home like being in control of your own cash.

Growing up one of seven children, we didn't receive an allowance.  It was understood that being a member of such a large household meant you would pull your weight and getting paid for it was simply out of the question!  I happen to agree with that philosophy.  I don't think children should be paid to be a productive member of their households.  So how do you teach them the all important money management skills?  You give them their own money -- an "allowance" -- to help them learn fiscal responsibility.  My son understands that the chores he is responsible for is his contribution to our home.  Making his bed, feeding his fish, clearing his plate, vacuuming his room are all important to help our house run smoothly but these things he is not paid for.  He receives money per month so he can learn how to use money wisely.

When I was trying to figure out a good way to do this, I went on an internet search and found Laurel at Ducks in a Row who was teaching this same life lesson to her three children.  I loved the register that she used so I totally stole it to use for my son.  Hold your horses folks...it's all about the dollar bills ya'll!

Used vinyl to label the jars

We visited a local church one Sunday and the children received these containers as part of the financial responsibility lesson.  What a God send...truly!

Cool quarter stickers to add to the top of each one

Each month he receives $1/how old he is {5 yrs = $5} The register will help him to keep track of the money he receives and the money he spends.

The register book

Simple register -- easy for young ones

The Rules -- because there have to be rules...lol!

Making entries

Counting his money {forgive the dog and the mess in the background..LOL}

This idea has been pure genius.  Since we began back in April, my son has cut down tremendously on asking for things because he knows if he wants something it must come from his own money.  He's learning to think before asking and has learned to decide on the value of an item before dropping his cash.  That to me sounds like a lesson learned!

The Doc Is In!

My best customer has once again asked that I stretch my crafting ability to help with her daughter's 5th birthday party.  This year's theme -- Doc McStuffins.  Now let me tell ya, I love this show personally but my little guy will only watch it when there is "nothing else good on" {the words that come out of that boy...lol}.  So I was excited to help make her little girls' dreams come true with some very cute centerpieces.

The Doc Is In...let's party!

After searching the internet, she found centerpieces that she loved but didn't love the price.  She immediately emailed me the picture and asked if I could do something similar.  Because she is totally okay with my creative license when doing work for her {which I love!},  I was able to use the photo as a starting point to create something that was functional and that she would be proud to display.

I started off the project with the intent to try and get these centerpieces as close to the original inspiration as possible, so when I saw these great buckets in the dollar bin section of Target I was excited.  They were a great size but the wrong color -- nothing a can of spray paint wouldn't fix.

$1 bucket from Target

Sprayed with white primer

Spray painted hot pink

Now for the images.  My customer wanted the centerpieces to look the same from both the front and the back.  She was able to find free images online that we used so the next step was to create each one in mirror image -- the most important step for making them back-to-back.  I don't have Photoshop and wasn't sure how we were going to do this but she was determined and found a way to do this herself {girl power!}.  I took the images to the UPS store to have them enlarged.  The plan was to make the images fill an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper but that proved to be more difficult than either I or the young man at the store thought it would be.  In the end, I had to settle on them being as big as he could make them {which wasn't very large} and that meant I would have to rethink how these centerpieces would be done.

Enlarged image - cut out

Traced on foam core board then cut out with a straight razor.
Each image was then glued front/back to the board.

Since the images were smaller than expected, I needed to find a smaller container.  Target to the rescue again!  After saying a little prayer, I walked in and what did I see in the dollar bin section but a stack of these beautiful white containers.  It was like I heard a choir of angels singing 'hallelujah'...LOL!

$1 container from Target

Using my Silhouette machine, I cut the shapes needed to decorate the smaller container.

Hot pink oval glued to each side

Number five

Adding polka dots

Fifteen minutes and front/back is complete

Sides completed -- total time approx. one hour

When I placed the containers together one on top of the other, I didn't like how 'unfinished' the bottom container looked.  So I decided to make something simple to go around the bottom of each one.

Cut strips of tissue paper in hot pink and purple.  Using hot pink ribbon
I glued the strips on in an overlapping fashion to create a "skirt" for
the bottom of each larger container.

Measured 1 1/2 inches from the bottom and glued the ribbon around the bottom.

At this point in the process I was under the gun.  I was working on three different projects simultaneously and I didn't have the time to document the way I wanted to -- most of this project {and at least one of the others} was done very late at night.

So let me tell you how I wrapped it all up. Using glue {and a three pound weight}, I attached the small white container to the larger one.  I cut off about an inch of the tissue paper and made small slits in each section to give it a "fringe" look at the bottom.  I cut out the name on my Silhouette and glued them on the larger containers {both front and back}.  I attached each image to the base using thin purple craft sticks and inserted them into a cut piece of styrofoam that I purchased from the dollar store.  To finish them off, I took the same hot pink ribbon and glued it over top of the fringed piece at the bottom and filled each container with tissue paper and VOILA...sweet and charming centerpieces!

Lambie

Stuffy

Doc McStuffins

NOTE: Apologies for the poor individual photos.  I was in a hurry to deliver these and realized I hadn't taken pics.  I took several and these were the best.  Must remember to look at the settings on my camera before taking pics...oy vey!

I love helping others make memories.  Happy 5th Birthday Miss Corrine!!!

Where we like to party!

A Year In {Picture} Review

What do you do when you have three projects due approximately the same time?  You work round the clock to get them all done!  This project was smack dab in the middle of the hustle and bustle that made up the first three weeks of May in Little Blue's crafting room.

Each year, I try my best to come up with an end of the year gift for my students.  I strive for something that is heartfelt and that the parents will think twice about before chucking it in the all too familiar "circular file" {aka - trashcan}.  This project began swirling around in my head sometime in February.  Now, let me be real with ya here -- I thought this up and said out loud "this is great and it'll be so easy, I only have seven kids".   HAHAHA...when am I going to learn??  Every time I say how easy something is, it takes twice as long...LOL!  I was asked by a co-worker would I do this project again.  Certainly!  I loved everything about putting this together and now that I know the time it takes, I'd start waaay earlier!

I'm happy to say that the kids thought they were cool and their parents were overjoyed and a little emotional when they saw them.  They were created in a way that would allow each family to have them framed if they so desired -- a great way to show their child's year in preschool and perhaps it will end up as a keepsake for years to come.

Check out our preschool year in 'picture' reveiw!

Navy blue/light blue for the boys

Yellow/green for the girls

I'm certain that at some point in the not so distant future there will be a post on how I actually created these.  But for now, I'll just sit back enjoying my cup of chamomile tea and smile at a job well done!