Smash Book

 That's pretty much what it is! I made my own, and then as a surprise got one for Easter! I was so excited when I got it! Here are pictures of my old and new one....

 My new Smash Book

                                     New paper and accessories

 A pocket I glued on the side

 Pages in the Smash Books

Knitting

Hey Y'all! I am real sorry I never got to posting this, but ya know that blue/green scarf I was making? Well it kind of got messed up so I turned it into a bag! And I keep forgetting to post a picture of it, so I am going to show you right now! :)

Knitting

At the auction for the school, I won a basket of 5 things of knitting yarn, three sets of needs, and a really cute knitting bag!  And in the meantime I have been knitting a lot of things. :)

 No, I did not knit this, but my awesome Library teacher MRs. Rickard did! She has bee knitting since she was in college and she is SUPER good!

A scarf I am making...it is a lot longer now.  :)

I also knitted this really cute purple bag for my calculator and scissors.  :)

Thursday Thing

Here is my new cutter!

Bottle Cap Making

Well now I guess it is safe to say I am totally into bottle cap making! I have already had "orders " for bottle caps from my mom in return for bottle cap tools! I got my hole-puncher yesterday and it is SO much easier to do bottle caps! I will have some pics later.......maybe from my birthday party....   :)

Bulletin board

I just re-did my bulletin board, with a bunch of new letters, pictures, and other things!

 My entire board

 my collage

 some pictures

 random things

 letter from my bff, and a painting

 paintings

cut-out from a magazine

Painting Fun

Today it was super nice out so we did watercolor painting! Later tonight we are having an " art auction ". I guess the kids think that they are going to get 20 bucks for a picture of a flower  . . . they are in for a surprise lol.

Pillows!

Today I went to Joann's and got fabric and made tie-pillows! It was really fun making them, and I made one for myself, one for John Luke ( Spider man) one for my dad ( Boston Red Sox! ) and I used old fabric to make one for my sister Mary Catherine. :) 

Paper Bag Animal Puppets

These handmade toys and games are meant for little hands to enjoy -- but children can lend a hand with the construction, too.
Kids don't need to pull any strings to find puppets eager to put on a show. In fact, they can make the chatty creatures themselves with paper.


Lion Puppet How-To
1. Cut the mane from construction paper.
2. Slip bag's bottom into mane's opening to create face. Cut ears and arms from another bag; inner ears, eyes, nose, teeth, and claws from construction paper.
3. Attach arms to front half of side pleats, ears and teeth under face
Tip: Glue tiny details, such as claws, onto larger pieces before you assemble your new puppet.
  

Dog Puppet How-To1. Fold under lower corners of bag's flattened bottom and glue.
2. Cut blaze and belly from white construction paper, ears and tail from brown, eyes and nose from black, and tongue from pink.
3. Glue everything in place, securing tongue under face and tail to the back of bag.



Pig Puppet How-To1. Glue pink construction paper to bottom of a pink bag to hide creases.
2. Cut ears and snout from decorative paper in a rosy shade; glue in place. Add tiny construction-paper eyes and nostrils.
3. Cut arms from pink construction paper; glue to front half of the bag's side pleats.

Craft Time!

The kids worked on some crafts, like painting rocks to look like lady bugs, or decorating crosses with beads! They had a lot of fun, and here is what you can do to do the same thing.

Lady-Bug Rocks
What you will need:

( Makes 4 )

4 regular size rocks, see in pictures below.

Paint, not water colors, real paint.

Paint brushes.

( You can find these at craft stores )  Adhesive Goggly eyes. If you can't find adhesive ones, just take a hot glue gun a hot glue gun it onto the rock when it is time.

A black permanent Sharpie marker.

What you need to do 
First, take your paint brush and dip it in the paint color you want. Paint over the rock, and let it dry. When it is dry, take the black sharpie, and draw a line down the middle, and fill in the front with all black. Then draw  black dots around the lady bug. Take the goggly eyes, and stick them where the eyes should go.











You can put them in your backyard, in the garden, or on your front porch step. You can also just draw words on the painted rock, it is great for kids!  

Home-made Ice-Cream!

Have you ever not wanted to go all the way down to the grocery store to get ice-cream? Or just day dreamed about making your own? Well now, with this recipe, by following easy directions, you can do it!

What you'll need:

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup milk or half & half
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 tablespoons rock salt
• 1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc) 
• 1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag
• Ice cubes 

How to make it:

1. Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.
2. Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it.
3. Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it again carefully.
4. Shake until the mixture is ice cream, which takes about 5 minutes.
5. Wipe off the top of the small bag, then open it carefully. Enjoy! 

Tips:

A 1/2 cup milk will make about 1 scoop of ice cream, so double the recipe if you want more. But don't increase the proportions more that that -- a large amount might be too big for kids to pick-up because the ice itself is heavy.


I hope you like it! I think I may try it myself....

Fun Fact

Did you know that . . . . . . . . . I am making a 2011 scrapbook because we FINALLY have a good camera to take tons of pictures for all of the events, so I am making it my project. I am going to Joann's to get paper, stickers, ribbon, and the whole sha-bang! I am ordering pictures from Costco, and am buying a full page scrapbook, not the kind you just put pictures in, so its gunna be great! I am really excited!