Summer Time: Writing Letters

Mr. I came to me the other day and asked if he could write a letter to his Nana and Papa. It was so sweet. He asked for directions on how to write it. He told them about his day and what he was doing for the summer and then put it in an envelope to send it. 

It was fun explaining the different ways to write a letter and how to send it. He didn't realize it was going to take a couple of days to get there and then he would have to wait even longer for a reply. Nana was great about responding quickly and Mr. I was excited to receive a letter in the mail. 

Have you written a letter lately?  Get out your paper and pen and start writing. There is alway someone who enjoys a surprise in the mail. What a great way to say hello and an unexpected way too. 

Summer Fun: Recycling Bug

A while back in school my son's class was asked to make litter bugs. They had to use items around the house that could be recycled. I save random stuff all the time because I love to be crafty and I can always find uses for most things I save. My husband however would say differently. 

This project was so much fun putting things together and making something so cute and fun. 

This project was made using a water bottle, milk tops, kleenex box, dixie cup, magazine pages, hot glue and googly eyes. 

We cut the the bottle in half and used a page of a magazine to stuff the top. Then I hot glued the dixie cup to the top of the bottle on the inside. I then glued the bottle of them bottle back other the dixie cup. 

The kleenex box was used to make the wings. The feet are made from several milk tops and the face too. I took a red milk top and cut out a smile for the bugs mouth. 

There are so many great items you can use to create a bug. Dig through the trash can and recycling bin and get your crafty ideas going. It's so much fun to see what can be created with trash. 

Summer Time: Fun Fort

Boys love forts and they are so easy to build.

My boys really enjoy climbing through blankets and dark places. We made a fort using my stash of blankets, the sofa, chair and coffee table (more like a hiding place for blankets).

Mr. I helped me round up the blankets and over lap them onto the sofa and coffee table to make an area where they could crawl through. 

Mr. E enjoyed playing around in it and trying to pull it down. He's kind of like Godzilla. 

This is Mr. I peeking out.

We also found another fort idea on Pinterest and like doing it too. You just use a fitted sheet and cover your couch or as my mom use to say it, "sofa". I tried finding it again to post it here but can't seem to find it.

Summer Time: Chalk People

We love playing outside with the sidewalk chalk. It never gets old and we always find so many things to do while we are playing. 

This particular day we decided to outline everyone and have them make themselves into ninja's or whatever they wanted to be. 

The neighborhood kids even joined in. 

Here is what the kids drew. 

We have also make sidewalk paint as well. Click here for the post and directions on how to make it. 

Summer Time: Bean Play

The other day I was looking for something that both of my children can do together. It's hard because there is such a big age difference. Mr. I is 7 and Mr. E is 2. 

I decided to get out my beans that I have been saving for cold winter day but never got around to using them. 

I just opened the bag and poured it into a bowl with little things that I save for projects. I added a formula scoop, bread tags, measuring cups, milk tops and a couple of other random toys. 

I put a table cloth on the floor and let the boys explore. They played for hours using the cups to scoop and pour. The little guy enjoyed dumping the whole bowl over and over so mommy had to play clean up a couple of times. 

Mr. I liked calling the beans good deeds and bad deeds. Here he is showing good deeds. 

This is good deeds and bad. The good deeds out weigh the bad deeds. I took the opportunity to explain what each are according to what God would like us to do. He must of been paying attention at church. He had a lot of good answers. I was proud. :)

Summer Time: Silly Putty

Here's some gooey fun for the summer. My son loves to do science experiments and here is one that is sure to please any little guy. It's sticky and messy just what every boy enjoys. 

We used school glue and liquid starch. We got the starch at Wal-Mart in the laundry aisle. 

We started by adding equal parts but ended up having to use more glue and starch to get to the right consistency. 

We started by adding glue into a bowl with a little food coloring. Mr. I loves the color red so we had to use it. 

Then I added the liquid starch and just started mixing and kneading it into my hands until it turned into something like silly putty. 

We had fun making it and playing with it as we mixed it up. It also worked on newspaper however ours was a little sticky. 

Summer Time: Rain Sticks

This summer has been super busy for us. We are making crafts like crazy. Trying out science experiments and going to everything we can find. 

My son wanted to make something using a paper towel roll and I thought why not make a rain stick. We looked on Pinterest of course and took some ideas from a couple of different places and made two different ones. 

Supplies:

Paper towel cardboard

Rice

Tape

Wax paper

Foil

Cardboard 

Our first rain stick we poured the rice into the tube and used foil on the ends. I cut out round pieces of foil and taped them on. 

The other rain stick we used wax paper on the ends and taped it up one end. 

Cut two strips of cardboard and fold them accordion style. Placed the cardboard inside the tube and added rice and tape other end.   

Decorate the rain stick with whatever you like markers, stickers, construction paper, etc...

We tested them both out and my son liked both but I liked the one with the cardboard inside. It's sounds more like a rain stick. 

Have fun shaking! 

Father's Day Tie

Here's a fun project for Father's Day that Dad is sure to enjoy. 

Supplies:

Felt

Scissors

Glue

Yarn

Hole punch or something to make a hole

Paper

First you want to make a template of a tie on a piece of paper. Pin the template onto the felt as shown here. 

Next cut out the tie and decorate with other felt pieces.

Punch two holes into the top part of the tie on both sides. Thread the yarn through and tie it up like a necklace.

Happy Father's Day!

(BTW - I made my ties in the car.)

Summer Reading Programs

Barnes and Noble - Read 8 books and get a free book.

Half Priced Books - Read 300 minutes and receive HPB Bookworm bucks.

Local Library - The Metropolitan Library System is doing a summer reading programs for children birth and up. The offer prizes and coupons as you reach your goals.

The Daily Oklahoman - For ages 5-12. Win prizes in random drawings when you send in the answer for the week.

Scholastic Summer Challenge - Children log minutes and complete challenges for daily prizes.  They can also read for the World Record.

Book Adventure - Children read books and take quizzes to earn prizes.

Chuck E Cheese's - Earn 10 tokens for reading for two weeks.

Summer Time - Magic Mud

Today we got our hands messy with magic mud. 

Mr. I and Mr. E loved playing with it. They used the cars to drive through it. Mr. B even enjoyed it. (14 yrs.) 

The magic mud is like a goppy liquid but hardens when you poke it. 

To make it all you need is corn starch and water. I also added food coloring but it's optional. Add about 5 tablespoons of corn starch and about that much water or more and mix. 

14 Days of Valentine's - Day 14

It's Valentine's Day and I hope you have a wonderful lovely day.

If your looking for a last minute gift, flowers and candy are always good. Who doesn't love a beautiful  vase of flowers that can be placed on the table to admire for a couple of days. Candy is so yummy.

Don't forget a card. It's always nice to hear words of encouragement and how much you're loved. It might be the only time of the year you express your feelings. Don't miss this opportunity.

Get out the crayons, markers, stickers and glue and get busy making a card. It's the little things that count in the end.

If you have children send them flowers at school or balloons. It would make the day special for them too.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Need one for your sweetie. 

14 Days of Valentine's - Day 13

Here's the last of my heart crafts that you can cut out and make a new friend. I love butterflies and I really like how easy they are to make. You can make them all different colors and add designs. They are just so beautiful.

Be sure to check out the other days on this site. There are other heart crafts available.

Enjoy!

Right click and save. Open and print.

14 Days of Valentine's - Day 12

It's just a few days more. I hope your are enjoying all the goodies. Make sure to take a look back at the other days to see what all I have available. I'm sure you find something that you like.

Today I'm going to share another one of my favorites. I told you a couple of days ago my son loves space so I had to make a special one just for him. I love the letters on the moon. It looks like moon writing.

Right click and save. Open and print. 

If you have any problems downloaded my images please let me know and I can email them to you as well. I'm still getting the hang of sharing print outs. 

14 Days of Valentine's - Day 11

I enjoy February so much. There are so many wonderful things you can do for Valentine's Day. March brings spring and rain. I'm so ready for some sunshine. March also brings St. Patrick's Day.

If you like clovers you will enjoy this heart craft. This one you can keep up all through March too.

If you want to make more just use green construction paper and cut out three hearts and glue them together.

Right click to save and print.

14 Days of Valentine's - Day 10

It's only 4 days until Valentine's Day. Do you have something special planned yet?

When you think Valentine's Day you think hearts. There are so many neat things you can make with hearts. I came up with one for my "Little Love Bug".

Have your child cut and make a bug for themselves. Add a magnet on the back and hang on the fridge or poke a hole in the top and hang it from the ceiling.

Right click on image and save. Open and print.

Note:  If the buttons and tiny circles are to hard to cut out just use whatever you like to draw them on. Remember this is my first time to share things like this. I'm still learning. :)

14 Days of Valentine's - Day 9

Make a CD for your loved one. I did this one year for our anniversary. I have Itunes so this was super easy but I just went through the songs and got our favorites. I picked out songs we loved to sing together. It was fun.

You can also make one for the kids.

If you don't want to make a cd you could just add a playlist to Itunes and program it to the ipod. 

Don't forget a label. I know there are ways to make it on a computer or I have also seen cd engravers you can get for your computer. They will burn an imagine on it. I don't know much about that though. I just used Sharpie markers and wrote I love you and the date I made it. (DO NOT USE REGULAR MARKERS OR BALL POINT PENS ON YOUR CD IT WILL MESS IT UP)

One other thing you could do is instead of music record yourself giving a special message or do a little of both. Most of all have fun.

14 Days of Valentine's - Day 8

Here's another fun valentine's day card for kids. A couple of years ago I made moustaches and lips for lollipops. The kids really enjoyed playing with them. I decided this year to do it a little different. I made cards that they can cut out and play.

If you want to slip them onto a lollipop all you have to do is punch a hole in the center and slip it on the stick.

Right click on image and save. Open up and print. They might need to be resized a little.

14 Days of Valentine's - Day 7

Get some draw erase markets and leave love notes on the mirror everyday. It's really easy to do and they wipe right off with your finger or a paper towel.

We have been doing this a while at my house and the kids like to play along too. 

It's a fun way to share. 

14 Days of Valentine's - Day 6

I have a child who is completely in love with space stuff. He enjoys reading books about the moon and space ships. I have learned so much reading with him. I can name all the planets and tell you a little about them and I know so much more.

I wanted to make him a special card for his friends at school, something that showed his interest. I looked on Pinterest and came across all the ones with glow sticks so I decided I needed to come up with one that include glow sticks. What kid doesn't like glow sticks.

I took a exacto knife and cut a couple of slits and pushed the glow stick through.

Here is what mine turned out like. I hope you enjoy it and let me know if you use it and what your kids thought. I would love to hear any stories.

Right click on image and save. Open and print.

14 Days of Valentine's - Day 5

Take construction paper in red, white and pink (or one of the colors I mention) take scissors and cut them into hearts. Write little love notes on them. Like the kind on candy hearts or make up your own.

Then take them and put them all around the house. Like in the sock drawer, pocket of a shirt in the closet that you know they will wear, wallet, inside the fridge on an item they will pick up, coffee pot or mug, on the mirror, on the tv or computer. Where ever you think they will find them.

Make sure you make a lot of them. Have the kids go on a heart hunt. Give a small prize at the end of the hunt. 

14 Days of Valentine's - Day 4

Today I'm going to share one of my favorite valentine's I made this year. I can't wait to share it with you.  I made a couple of different ones so you want to be sure to come back and check and see what I got going on.

This valentine is one that the kids can cut out and put together to make a new friend. My son loves fish so I started with this one.

You can use these for school or just for your children.

Have fun and let me know what you thought.

To use this right click on the image and save it to your computer and open up and print.

14 Days of Valentine's - Day 3

Here's a couple of cute little Valentine's for a boy or girl. Add a little treat with each and give as a gift. 

Right click on the image to save and open to print. 

14 Days of Valentine's - Day 2

Valentine’s Day will be here before you know it.

Here is another idea to help you out.

Valentine’s Day Scavenger Hunt -

Pick a location that you want to go for Valentine’s Day. A hotel, park, a restaurant, movie theater, trip, or wherever you want to take your family or loved one too.

Make a list of clues. Let’s say 14. Make them kinda tricky so that they won’t be able to figure it out so well at first.

You could say something like:

Start with a O

It’s black

Has 11 letters

Little Italy

Two Words

Fill in the blanks O_ _ _ E  G _ _ _ E _

Answer: Olive Garden

You your imagination. Use magazine, puzzle pieces, pictures of different objects that would give hints.

February the Month of Love

I love this time of the year. I get to use my creativity to make something sweet for my loved ones. I love coming up with new ways to surprise them.

This year I am making my son a mailbox and putting love notes and a small gift in it everyday until Valentine's Day. I haven't decided what else I will do. My husband will also get notes too. I leave them around in different places for him to find them. It's fun to see his reaction.

Here's some ideas to get you started. Get 14 cards, note cards, postcards, index cards. Whatever you can write a love note one. You can get cheap cards just about anywhere. Hallmark, Wal-Mart, Target the Dollar Store. You can also be creative and make your own cards with stickers, markers, construction paper, glitter and whatever else you have on hand.

Send one card the them everyday of the week or put it on the dresser, lunch pail, backpack, wherever you want you loved one to find it. Sending a card in the mail is great because not a lot of people get mail anymore and this would be neat for kids to receive one each day. Now I realize that on Sunday you can't send one so hid it somewhere in the house that they can find it. You can also do this during the week as well.  You can also send them to their place of work.

Inside the card you can say whatever you want. Be creative and have fun.

If you wanted you could put clues in them for where you will take him or her out for Valentines or pieces of a puzzle they will have to put together. Special stickers, candy, small toys, pencils, pens and anything small.

Start getting your stuff together now. Have fun with it and don't forget you got to do it everyday.

I made love notes this year using Picmonkey. I haven't figured out how to share documents yet so I hope that you can print these out and use them. If you right click them and save them to your computer you can put them in a word document and print. If you not you can always make them on Picmonkey and print them out yourself.

I had so much fun making them and I hope everyone enjoys them.

I also have some other ideas for Valentine's Day that I will share with you in the coming days.

What do you do for your loved ones? Do you countdown or just wait until the day?

Here's the one I made my husband for today.

These are the one's I made for my son. He loves jokes so I will hand write them in the bubbles. You can write whatever you like in them.

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