End of the Year Teacher Gift

M1 is officially done with 3 year old preschool this week. Just in time for her 4th Birthday on Monday. According to her, it just wouldn't be right to be in 3K as a four year old!!! Fortunately, in her case it works out that the finishes just days before her birthday :)

I wanted to share the picture frame I crafted for her teacher. She was a nurse for years, stayed home with her kids for many years & then went back to get her teaching degree. So... this year is her first year as a teacher. I wanted to make something special for her. She's a terrific woman & has taught M1 oodles of things throughout the entire year. I'll be delighted for M2 to have her as a teacher in another year.

Supplies- Unfinished Wood Picture Frame, Mod Podge, Craft Paper or Ruled Paper, Hole Punch, Paint Brush, Paint, Alphabet Stickers.

1. I began by painting the frame a dark barn red color & allowed a few min. of drying time.

*I got this frame from IKEA. It was a cheap pack of 3 unfinished picture frames that really come in handy when I'm looking for a quick Mod Podge project. I also regularly buy the unfinished wood frames from Michael's Arts & Crafts. Can't go wrong... they're only $1.00!!!

2. While the frame dried, I went ahead & traced the frame onto my piece of craft paper. (I found a piece of paper @ the craft store that looks like a ruled piece of paper. If you don't have one you could just use a plain ruled piece of paper.)

3. Cut out the rectangle & made it just a bit smaller than the face of the frame so some of the red paint would show around the edges.

*Below I layed it out just to be sure it fit correctly.

4. Use the Mod Podge and apply a layer to the entire face of the frame.

5. Lay the craft paper on top of the face of the frame over the Mod Podge glue. Be sure to press down around the entire frame to get any bubbles out & get it flat.

6. I usually go over the entire surface with Mod Podge one more time once the paper is down to give it an extra layer to secure.

7. Allow an hour or so to dry completely.

8. Use alphabet stickers to apply a message to the frame.

I chose "My First Year" since it's her first year as a teacher. I thought it would make a great memory. Other messages could include "World's Best Teacher" or "I Love My Teacher." You get the idea!

(Also, if you don't have stickers you could use various letters from magazines cut out & glue onto the frame.)

9. Once you've got your stickers in place, apply another thin layer of Mod Podge over the stickers to secure them as well. Allow to dry.

And you're done! What a cute gift... I certainly hope she enjoys it.

I was able to print a picture of the class as well, so it's a finished deal.

M1 is so anxious to give it to her this week & I am still in awe that she's turning 4! Where does the time go??!!

Enjoy! s.b.

Healthy v.s. Not Healthy Food Cut-Out Activity

A fun activity to get the little one's minds thinking about food. I feel like all my kids want to eat lately is JUNK! So this morning, the girls & I did this activity. Very easy & it was a great way to spark a good conversation about what foods we should be eating throughout the day!

Supplies-  Paper Plates, Scissors, Magazines, Markers, Glue Stick

 1. On one side of the paper plate write the word "Healthy."

M1 wrote it herself, I wrote for M2... it all depends on your child's age.

2. On the reverse side of the plate, write the words "Not Healthy."

3. Begin searching through magazines for pictures of healthy & not healthy foods.

4. Once your child finds a food, cut it out for them or have them do the cutting. (Again, depends on age.)

5. Glue the picture of the food to the correct side of the plate. 

Here is M1 gluing a picture of milk to the side that reads "Healthy."

6. Repeat steps 3-5 until you reach a desired amount of food pictures on each side of the paper plate.

And here she is holding up her finished product...I was happy she chose to show the "Healthy" side.

She did tell me that the foods on the "Not Healthy" side looked soooo delicious!

Enjoy! s.b.

Spring Flower Picture

We are still having WAY below normal temperatures here & are anxiously awaiting some warmer weather! Today we got the feel of a warm spring day by crafting this bright flower picture.

Supplies- Colored Construction Paper, Patterned Scrapbook Paper, Glue, Scissors, Colored Buttons

1. Cut eight-ten small strips (about 5-6 inches long) to be used for the flower pedals.

2. Repeat with two other colored papers as pictured below.

3. Place a small dot of glue at the end of the paper strip.

4. Bend the strip of paper around & pinch it closed to form a circle, as pictured below.

5. Repeat with all of the strips of paper.

M1 loved doing this & it was GREAT for her fine motor skills. It took a few for her to get the hang of it but once she got going, she loved it!

Here are all of our paper circles...

6. Glue a button to the base piece of paper. (We used blue "like the color of the sky" says M1)

7. Begin gluing the paper circles around the button to create a flower.

8. Repeat steps 6 & 7 with the remaining two colored flowers.

9. Use green paper to create long stems for each flower & glue them underneath each blossom.

10. We added a few extra green buttons for the leaves of each flower & M1 insisted on a yellow sun button as well.

Turned out pretty cute. I may have M1 write Happy Mother's Day on the top as a gift for one of the grandmas this weekend. Hope some of you are enjoying warm weather this week!

Enjoy! s.b.

May Basket Treats

Hooray... It's almost May! Our family continues to count down the weeks until baby M3 arrives, so we're thrilled to be so close to yet another month. We're also loving the warmer weather. Today we made after Easter treat using the jelly beans from the Easter bunny. They turned out so cute & we're calling them May Baskets! YUMMY!

I bought these from the store to use for the handles of the baskets...

Then used a pizza cutter to slice them a bit thinner...

I also lined them up & let them sit over night thinking they would harden a bit to make a more stiff handle, but they were still pretty soft the next morning. Definitely didn't do what I wanted them to do but it was worth a try! Maybe another day would have done the trick?

Then I made a batch of rice krispie treats according to the directions.

Sprayed our muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray & started adding spoon fulls of rice krispie treats to each muffin cup. Pressed them in firmly & made a small indent in the center of each basket.

For the "grass" we mixed a mixture of powdered sugar & water to a thick frosting consistency & added a few drops of green food coloring.

Spoon a small amount of the green frosting into each basket & top with a few jelly beans or M&M candies. 

Press the "handles" into the rice krispie baskets firmly. Ours stood up pretty well & didn't fall over like I expected them to.

Not that we need any more treats in our house (there is more candy here than we need from Easter) but these were a fun treat for the girls. We'll deliver a few to the neighbors as well.

Enjoy! s.b.

Envelope Bunnies

Only a few short days until Easter arrives. After a week of baby shower planning (I hosted a shower yesterday.) we're back into Easter mode. This cute idea comes compliments of Martha Stewart and her fabulous website. M & M each made their own Envelope Bunny & they turned out oh, so cute!

Supplies- Glue, Envelope, Scissors, Pink/White/Black Construction Paper, Crayon/Marker, Small Pom Pom.

1. Seal the flap of the envelope. (Gotta love that big tongue!)

2. Draw bunny ears on the sealed side of the envelope, as shown below.

3. Cut out the bunny ears, following the lines drawn above.

4. Use an opposite color construction paper to cut out small ear shaped inserts for the middle of the ears. (For example, we used white inside ears for the pink bunny & pink insides for the white envelope bunny.)

5. Cut out two small black construction paper eyes for each bunny envelope you're doing.

6. Glue the construction paper ear middles onto the envelope ears...

Press down to secure....

7. Glue the black eyes into place.

8. Place a large dab of glue in place of the nose. Set the pom pom onto the glue & allow a few hours to dry.

9. Draw the bunny mouth under the pom pom nose using a crayon or marker. (We did manage to draw the mouth while the glue under the nose was still wet. You could wait to do this step until the nose is completely dry....might be a bit easier!)

10. Once the nose is completely dry fill the bunny pocket with the pretend Easter grass...

And treats of course!

I think these little envelope bunnies would make the cutest little classroom treats. A great alternative to baskets that I'm sure any little one would be delighted to receivce!

Enjoy! s.b.

Tornado in a Bottle!

Lots of weather action going on in our neck of the woods lately. This week we've had some pretty severe weather, including a couple tornadoes. Perfect timing since it's Tornado & Severe Weather Awareness Month! The girls managed to sleep through it all but we thought it was still important to talk to them about the situation. My husband is off a few days this week to allow me to spend some time with one of my bf's visiting from Australia, so I thought I'd find an activity for them to do together while I'm out shopping & enjoying some adult time. Here is what I suggested... Tornado in a bottle! (I'll keep you posted as to how it goes... )

It's a classic & a staple in most elementary classrooms.

Supplies- 2- two Liter Bottles, Duct Tape, 1 inch Metal Washer, Water, Glitter, Food Coloring, Scissors, Hot Glue Gun (optional)

(*Images below are all from the web, not my personal pictures)

1. Fill one of the bottles about 2/3 way full of water. Optional- add food coloring to give your tornado color or glitter to mimic debris that the tornado picks up along the way.

2. Place the metal washer over the opening of the bottle

3. Use duct tape to fasten the two containers and the metal washer together. Make sure to make the tape tight so no water leaks out. Optional- I've used a bit of hot glue during this step while making this in my classrooms as well. It helps create more of a waterproof barrier underneath the duct tape.

4. Turn the bottle with water over so that it is on top. Swirl the bottle in a circular motion. A tornado will form as the water rushes from the top bottle to the bottom bottle.  

The finished product should look like this...

If you want to be really fancy & save the time/mess of duct taping the bottles together, you can usually find one of these fun tornado in a bottle "tools" to create the same effect at a local school/teacher supply store.

They are fairly cheap & can be used over & over.

I'd also like to try to create a tornado in a bottle using two smaller water bottles to see if they would work just as well. The bonus is they wouldn't be as heavy as the filled 2 liter bottles... much easier for M1 & M2. Has anyone tried this?

Enjoy! s.b.

Yellow Easter Chick

Our 1st Easter craft this spring...Now if the weather would just warm up a bit so it would actually feel like spring! The girls were excited that this particular chick had moving arms!

Supplies- Yellow/Orange Construction Paper, Glue, Scissors, Tape, Google Eyes, Brass Fasteners, Yellow Feather.

1. Cut out a large egg shape for the body, a diamond shape for the beak & two small orange legs.

2. Trace two little hands on the yellow construction paper & cut out.

3. Use the brass fasteners to attach the hands to each side of the body for the wings (large oval).

*These fasteners were super cheap @ Michael's... if you don't have them handy, just glue the hands (wings) to the side of the chick. He'll still be just as cute w/o moving arms!)

(Closing the fasteners to complete the attachment)

4. Turn the chick over & glue on the eyes. (If you don't have google eyes, small construction paper circles can be used in their place.)

5. Fold the orange diamond shape in half to create a small beak. Glue it beneath the eyes.

6. Glue the legs onto the bottom of the chick.

7.. Use a small piece of scotch tape to fasten the feather to the top of the chick (on the backside).

And he's done! M1 & M2 enjoyed flapping the little wings by moving them up & down.

Enjoy! s.b.