4th of July Festiveness- Wednesday Color Tablet Flags!

It is the week leading up to 4th of July and while I have been quite busy crafting away, I wanted to make sure that the kiddos were having fun as well. Their are plenty of Independence Day kid crafts out there, but I really wanted to incorporate some fun Montessori learning as well-even though we are off school for summer vacation! At any rate, the idea ran through my head one night to have the kids create American flags for the holiday, but instead of coloring them, painting them, or even using tissue paper as we have done in years past why not

"Montessori-ize" it using the same idea as our color tablets. Check out these great flags:

You've got to love your local home improvement store! I headed out with the kids and picked out several paint chips sheets (3 sheets per color per kid) of the colors red, white (3 shades) and blue. Here you see the Red "Daredevil" sheet with various shades of red cut into 1 inch squares and place in like piles.

The same thing was done for the blue "Star Spangled" sheets that I picked up.

Next, the children had to start laying down the darkest red color first to make the stripe of the flag and then glue the chip color onto the flag template sheet that I provided. The children began with darkest red and patterned their way through until they got to the lightest red shade. They did the same thing for the white stripes making their way from darkest to brightest white. When finished with the first color pattern set, they then repeated that set until their were no more stripes left.


Once the stripe patterns were complete the children moved onto the blue portion of the flag. Again they needed to place the blue paint chips in darkest to lightest shade order.

Someone is proud to have done it, "all by (my)self!" :)

For the finishing touches the children each dipped their finger in white paint and made fingerprints for the stars of their American flags.

The three finished products! Montessori inspired crafts for toddlers up through the 6-9 period.

To try this activity at home DOWNLOAD and PRINT my flag template here

Blessings!

4th of July Festiveness- Thursday

Make your 4th of July festivities fabulous with the 4th of July Party Collection. Simply download files for FREE HERE!, print and enjoy this patriotic collection from Tweedle Dee Designs.



Did you see? Water bottle labels, cupcake toppers, invitations, etc. All high quality and for FREE!

One last thing, Kellie Medivitz is kindly offering a free download of her cute red, white and blue paper and star tags! Go HERE to download the PDF files - the instructions are included.

Gotta love it!

** Sorry blogs friends! I have no idea why this post is out of order or how to fix it. I'm still posting 4th of July ideas DAILY this week.**

Blessings!

4th of July Festiveness- Tuesday Firecrackers

Another GREAT idea to make your 4th of July celebration even more perfect! This is for all my paper-crafting friends out there.

An Altered State of Mind created these darling firecrackers made from Life Savers candy. She removed the existing cover and re-wrapped them with digital papers that she printed. Wrap ribbon around them prior to wrapping the paper. These would make perfect party favors or you could use them as table decor.

Feeling inspired I decided to make my own version. Here is the step by step directions and then the final product. Enjoy!

1. Seeing as how I couldn't find rolled Life Saver candy, I decided to use Mentos. First remove existing paper cover while leaving the foil wrapper.



2. Cut ribbons to length of the tube-like structure and glue in place. I used hot glue for time purposes, but tacky glue should work fine as well. Be sure to cut a smaller piece for the tied ribbon and place it under the one ribbon piece goes around the entire object prior to final gluing. Once in place, tie double knot.



3. Measure and cut your pre-chosen paper to match the same size as the original candy label. Glue label onto candy cylinder. Be sure to have a nice clean edged seam.



4. Finally, line up each candy fire cracker and lightly glue one to another on the sides to hold in place. Adhere coordinating ribbon around the body of the crackers. Finally add your own decorative touches with tags or embellishments such as flowers, glitter or even to add some simple charm, buttons.



There you have it. A sweet, thoughtful, fun and personal gift that would be perfect on your 4th of July table for decoration, at each place setting if you are having something a bit more formal or even as a cute little hostess gift or "thank you for coming" little something for all you BBQ guests. The possibilities are endless. Now who says you can't have firecrackers in Massachusetts? Happy creating!

Blessings!

4th of July Festiveness!

Independence Day is almost here and no doubt you are getting ready to celebrate with a backyard cookout, pool party, or parade with friends. When I saw these tin can luminaries from crafts-for-all-seasons.com I had to share their great (simple, cheap and recycled!) idea!



Things Needed:

Empty vegetable or soup cans, cleaned out and labels removed
Water
Nail
Hammer
Scrap paper
Ruler
Tape
Spray paint in red, white, and blue

1. Begin the tin can luminaries by filling the cans up to the top with water, then place them in the freezer until the water is frozen solid. This will allow you to hammer a nail into the side of the can without the can denting.



2. Next, think about some designs you want to punch into the sides of the can. You can easily find a template pics of a star, USA, etc. on-line, download and print. Cut out your templates, place on the can, and trace around them with a permanent marker (or draw freehand).



3. Continue making the tin can luminaries by using a nail and hammer to punch out the design. Start at one end of the pattern and place the nail along the line. Gently pound the nail in with a hammer. The nail will go through the can into the ice. Continue working around the pattern until the design is punched out.



4. Allow the ice in the can to melt, and dry the can completely.

5. Next, spray the bottom portion of the cans blue with the blue spray paint. Protect your work surface with newspapers and use good ventilation (outside is a good idea!).



6. When the cans are completely dry, cut a piece of scrap paper to wrap around the can. Make it 1/3 the height of the can. The cans I used were 4.5 inches high, so I made my first strip of paper 1.5 inches. Wrap the paper around the bottom part of the can, covering the blue painted area, and tape it closed.



7. Now take the cans outside again and this time give them a good spray of the white spray paint, and allow the cans to dry well. When they are dry you can remove the paper strip.



8. Next, make another paper strip 2/3 the height of the can. In my case, I made the strip of paper 3 inches wide. Secure around the blue and white portions of the can, leaving only the top portion exposed, and secure with tape. Take the cans outside again and this time spray the top section with the red spray paint, and allow to dry. Remove the paper strip and you will see the pretty red, white, and blue stripes.



9. If you want to further decorate the tin can luminaries, this is the time to do it. If you would like the designs you punched to show up better you can paint them a different color, such as black. When you are ready to illuminate, add a little sand to weigh down the cans and add a tea light candle. Your guests will love them!



Isn't it fun to share great ideas?
Blessings!

It's time to CREATE! :)

If you are anything like me you have tons of priceless art made with much love especially for you by your little ones. In an attempt to organize and rethink things a bit I decided to make a little art of my own giving new life and purpose to those beautiful treasures made for Mama...

Embroidered self portraits:


This school year during one of our art days each of the children created their own self portrait using crayon and colored pencil. I really loved how each turned out and how interestingly each child viewed themselves. Inspired by another friend who is a master at embroidery, I decided to see if I could recreate each child's portrait using this technique. Granted, G.'s was the easiest and least time consuming than I am assuming that the other two will be, but I thought that this was a really neat way to preserve this moment in their lives and as a bonus create some new and meaningful artwork for our home. My plan... once each of the children's portrait is embroidered I plan to frame them and hang them "gallery style" in our hallway. This is super budget-friendly art project that I must admit has become rather addicting! Give it a try... come on, you can do it! :)

Original image created by G. on the Left, my embroidered recreation on the right:


Blessings!

Always be prepared.

The summer season is in full swing. With lots of kids around, pools open, and hot grills cooking away it is the perfect time to review with your kids what to do in case of an emergency. You never know when an accident may happen or if for some reason something may happen to YOU! Make sure that your children are prepared for an emergency situation just in case you are unable to make that call.

I designed these cute little tags to be Sticky-Tacked to each of our phone bases in the house so that just in case one of my children should forget who to call in an emergency it is clearly and plainly posted.



To use simply DOWNLOAD and PRINT using this link: (I've included lots of fun colors too!)
http://www.4shared.com/photo/ZNsus4__/emergency_phone_tags-S3S.html


Next, write in "Dad's" contact number during the day in the box provided. For better durability laminate, cut out individually and then Sticky-Tack or tape onto your phone base.

What is that old adage, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?"

Blessings!

New Materials Arrive!

OUR PACKAGE HAS ARRIVED!!!


For those of you who may be looking for a lower cost alternative to purchasing Montessori materials from on-line retailer, I have found a wonderful place to go - the Yahoo group called, "Montessori- Buy, Sell and Swap."

I just purchased the pink tower, 4 knobbed cylinders, and the brown stairs for $135 which included shipping for this 27lb. package! Over at Alisons Montessori (which by the way, is a great Montessori resource!) this same grouping of items NOT including shipping would have cost me $315!

I purchased these items from another Group member who lives on the west coast. The transaction was fast, simple, and completely secure as we used Paypal the for payment transfer. People are selling items everyday at a fraction of the cost of buying new from retailers. Montessori- Buy, Sell and Swap on Yahoo. Join now! :)

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Blessings!

Exciting news!

I am very excited to share the news that sowing3seeds has been featured on The Montessori Goldmine. This is a wonderful site where Montessori homeschooling families from all over the world collaborate and share what they are doing and how they are schooling. It truly is a "goldmine" of information and inspiration. This weekend marks our third time being featured at http://themontessorigoldmine.blogspot.com/ What an honor!

Be sure to check them out! It will be well worth you visit!

Father's Day Printable

It is crunch time. Less then 24 hours from now it is Father's Day. Are you ready? Have your kid's made their homemade gifts and crayon drawn cards? In case you are still looking for that perfect little something here is a fun thing to print out, have the kids color and then complete with them. You can even laminate it for safe keeping. A little bit of a spin on the traditional card--- not as time consuming as making a book, but personal, sweet and YES, with an educational spin (spelling and hand writing practice!) to boot! Here is an blank copy:



DOWNLOAD and PRINT this file here:
http://www.4shared.com/file/fqeu6xZ5/Fathers_Day_page_1.html

EXAMPLE OF COMPLETED WORK:





Some other great ideas:



These cute cupcake toppers come from PaperGlitter and you can download them!
Print on heavy card stock, attach to popsicle stick and insert into cupcakes!
DOWNLOAD and PRINT this file here: http://peekaboostudios.com/fathers_day_toppers_01.pdf


Enjoy!
Blessings!

A Little Yumminess!

Thought that you might enjoy some pics of a new cake flavor for me (and a little surprise for a friend!)

Dark Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cupcakes!


Want some??? :)

Fair Day is here!

In a little more than an hour and a half we will be participating in our first end-of-year homeschooling achievement fair. After 3 hours of trying to decide what work should go on our presentation board and endless layout attempts then tri-fold is finally complete. Here is a sneak peak at what will be up for display at our public library for the next week. I am eager to see the other families who are participating in this fair and celebrate with friends, old and new a super successful school year! So tell me, did you participate in something similar or did you take the brave step and organize one yourself. Tell me about it, I'd love to hear!

Board complete:



E. side close up:
(He chose all of the things to represent himself on his name plate)








C. side close up:
(She chose all of the things on the name plate to represent herself)








G. side up close:
(She chose all the things on her name plate to represent herself)







What a terrific school year! Off to the achievement fair!


UPDATE: PICS FROM THE FAIR!

THE JOHN'S BOARD AND PROJECT




THE MATHISON'S TRI-FOLD:



AND GREAT END TO A FUN-FILLED DAY!