6 Ways to Say Thanks

Back in the prehistoric era, before email existed, people sent thank you cards.  It was considered the polite thing to do, and nearly everyone sent a handwritten card to acknowledge a gift, service, or visit.

Nowadays thank you cards seem nearly obsolete.  Even after more formal events, like weddings and baby showers, cards are not always sent.  Sometimes thanks are sent digitally, and sometimes this custom is foregone altogether.

But I don't understand that.  When a gift is given, isn't it merely common courtesy - plain old-fashioned good manners - just to say 'thanks?'  Aren't our loved ones' feelings worth the few minutes that a card takes?


So since our children were born, we have sent thank you cards for gifts, visits, and events.  We especially work hard to show our thanks for birthday and holiday gifts.

This practice can actually be very educational - and fun, too.  Here's a few simple ways to do 'thank-yous' that are age appropriate and fun:

• Take a picture of your young child with a sign that says, 'Thanks.' S/He could be awake or asleep, an infant or a toddler - but any picture of your child will be cute.  Slide the picture into a store-bought card or attach it to the front of a piece of paper.  Write a simple thank you as if from him/her inside.  For fancier cards, you could have your pictures printed professionally as cards.  Many printing companies do this.
• Let your child paint or color a picture on a blank piece of paper.  On the other side, write their own words saying 'thank you' for the gift.  Include a picture of your child opening or playing with the gift.
• Have your children create pictures on index cards.  For very young children, write inside a note card for them and include their art.  This is an easy way to send cards for multiple young children!
• For beginning writers, use big paper and a light-colored marker.  Write a short, simple message for them and allow them to trace your writing with a dark color.  They get handwriting practice and to learn good manners at the same time!
• Write the notes for your child in a blank note card and let them sign their own name.  Eventually, they'll be able to write the 'love, name' part, and soon a whole sentence:  'thank you for the ___.'
• Finally, turn the thank you cards into a family project.  Get out paper, scissors, crayons, markers, paints, glue, stickers and gently-used wrapping paper and allow the children to go to town.  You can even make your own envelopes out of construction or other paper for those larger-than-usual creations!

We usually make a few each day until we're finished.  This way the children don't feel overwhelmed and the cardmaking remains a fresh, fun project for the duration.

How does your family say 'thanks?'

Shared over at I Can Teach My Child.

A Simple (Frugal) Nativity

I've been wanting to make a nativity with my kids, but it's hard to find materials that are simple enough for their young fingers to handle.  When a friend told me about this flowerpot variety, I knew it was perfect!

You'll need:
3 small flowerpots
a few fabric scraps, in a variety of colors
glue (we used Elmer's)
3small balls
masking tape (optional)

Gather your materials.  I shopped waaayyyyyyy ahead for this buy purchasing the flower pots at the Dollar Tree back in the spring.  My three are very small but came as a set, so the price was great!  We paid $1 for this whole project.

Having shopped so long ago, I couldn't remember if I had purchased small styrofoam balls or not, so My Little Man and I rolled some spare yarn into balls.  For the third, we covered a Ping Pong ball with the same yarn.

Flip two pots upside down.  Glue or tape one ball each to the top (was the bottom) of the pot.  This forms the heads of Mary and Joseph.

Next, wrap the third ball in a scrap of fabric.  Tuck it into the third (upright) flower pot.  Our ball seemed a bit too low to be baby Jesus, so we put a cardboard scrap underneath the ball to prop it up a bit.

Choose two fabric scraps to wrap around Mary and Joseph.  Our scraps were a bit raggedy, so My Little Man asked to trip up the edges a bit.

Using your glue, attach the fabric to the pot.  With two more scraps and more glue, create head coverings for Mary and Joseph.  (The wet spots you see in our pictures did dry and can't bee seen - it was just glue from this step.)

My Little Man chose to stop at this point.  He liked the look of his Nativity without a face, but if you choose to continue, use whatever materials you'd like - googly eyes, yarn for hair, beads, buttons, etc.

While this Nativity isn't suitable for preschool playtime as the clay pots are breakable, it's definitely something that I'll be dating and displaying every year - and if you did want to let your kids play it, you could always do this same thing with simple plastic cups.

Have you ever made a Nativity with your kids?  What kind of materials did you use?

Gobble, Gobble: A Turkey Trinket

When I saw this on Pinterest a few weeks ago, I had to try to make one.  The kids and I decided that it would make the perfect gift for Grandma for her birthday, and now I'm hoping they'll make one for me, too.

To make a Turkey light block, you'll need one glass block and one light kit.  We bought ours at Hobby Lobby and used a 40% off coupon.    Also, you'll need acrylic paints, brushes, and sealant spray.  Candy corn is optional.

I wanted to use both kids' hands, so we made our block double-sided.  First, we chose our turkey colors, and then I painted the kids' hands according to their plan.  To make the turkey print, I painted their palms and thumbs brown, with their fingers different colors.

After the block dried, we flipped it over and did the other side.  I worried that the hand prints would be difficult to distinguish from the print on the other side of the block, but when done, I think it looked pretty good.

We let the turkey prints sit for an hour or so for the paint to dry well.  We used a Sharpie to add details to the turkey's face and to write, "Gobble, Gobble" near him.  Certain colors of Sharpies worked better than others - next time I'll use paint for this.

Then we were ready to create the light fixture!  We added a bit of candy corn inside for fun - not so much that it would be near the light bulb - and plugged the fixture into the whole in the glass block.

Voila!  That's it!  Plug it in and watch your turkeys shine.  

How do you decorate for Thanksgiving?

The Great Pinterest Challenge #3 - Antique Window Picture Frame

My husband bought me an antique window mirror for a wedding gift, and I love it.  So when I saw this chalkboard window on Pinterest, it made me curious.

How else could I use an antique window?

I started working on that idea.

While on our Creeper Trail vacation this summer, we found several antique windows, and I bought two.

I decided that this space above The Big Helper's bed would be the perfect place for one window.  I found some great photographs of castles and thought it fit her room perfectly to "frame" a poster-sized castle photo with the window.

Unfortunately, getting the printing rights to the photos wasn't easy - and then I had another brainstorm in Disney.

What better photo than Cinderella's castle?

To make the frame, first I washed the window and painted it white.  (To make this job easier, I cut up scrap paper and taped it inside.

At a balmy 79 degrees, it was too warm to be inside - and so My Little Man and I took the window to the grass and added brackets for hanging.

Making the picture fit inside wasn't easy.  Because my camera is rather elderly, my photo couldn't be enlarged enough to fit the window.  It took a friend, two poster prints, and several hours of cutting and measuring to make it all work out.  (I'm not exactly a precise person - and if your photo were big enough, you could have this project done in a snap.)

Voila!  The finished product.  Because my Big Helper was already asleep, hanging it will wait until tomorrow.  Doesn't the white frame (the woodwork in her room is also white, matching her other windows) pop?

** Voting for the Great Pinterest Challenge opens on October 28th.  I'd appreciate your votes.   Thanks for the inspiration, Ruffled!

How to Make a Busy Bottle

Disney World is really far away.  Really, really far away, at least to a four-year-old's brain.

So, to make the car trip more fun, I put together a bag of new and fun toys for the trip.  My husband and I made this "busy bottle" as one of the activities.

Modeled after one of those 'Where's Waldo?' type of pillows, this was easy, quick to put together, and best of all - very  inexpensive!

First, I cut an index card to the size of the window I wanted to have, and taped it onto the bottle.  (Be sure to use sturdy tape and make tape doughnuts - otherwise your edges won't be straight.)

Next, my husband used some old spray paint from the basement to paint the entire bottle.  After it dried, I removed the index card, and voila! we had a small viewing window.

Then we scavenged for items to put inside it.  As we found things that would work, I wrote them on another index card and dropped the items into the bottle.  When we had enough, I filled the bottle 2/3 of the way full with dyed pasta.  You could also use dried beans, dried corn, rice, etc.  Making the objects you want to find the same size/color/shape as the filler material ups the difficulty level.

I mod-podged the list of items to find onto the back of the bottle and coated it with another layer to seal it in. Then I glued on the lid to make sure those noodles stayed in there.

That was it!  Now it was time to find all those objects hiding inside.  It's not as easy as it sounds!  Tilt the bottle and shake it as you look through the window.  Can you find them all in one sitting?

This entire project cost us nothing to make and was finished in minutes - and most of that was drying time for the paint and Mod Podge!

My Little Man liked playing with this, and it even kept my father-in-law amused while he waited for a pizza.

What do your kids do on long car trips?

Making Memories: Stepping Stones

I like involving my children in gift-giving as often as possible, and since our parents need little in the way of traditional, storebought 'gifts,' we usually try to make them something unique.

About the time my son was born, my dad became a Master Gardener through Cooperative Extension and Penn State University.  He started adding to his garden, and so we decided to make them stepping stones for Grandparents' Day!

This was super easy to do with both my four-month-old son and my Big Helper, who was about two then. It worked with our budget, too!

We went to Lowe's and hit the gardening section.  They have many kinds of gardening tiles with a variety of shapes and finishes.  (You can pour your own from cement if that's your thing, of course, but this worked for me - and each tile was only a few dollars.)

On a washable surface, prepare your paint on a flat, disposable or washable plate, a foam brush, and baby wipes or wet cloths.  With the baby/child seated in your lap, hold up a little foot and paint the bottom.  When it's good and wet, gently press it onto the tile to make a footprint.  Wash the painted foot carefully, and then repeat with the other foot to make it look as if s/he walked across the tile.

On the edge, I painted the name and date, and then I repeated this procedure for the other child.

When finished, spray with a sealant to prevent fading or flaking, and  voila!  You've got simple, unique stepping stones!

What are your children giving their grandparents for Grandparents' Day?

Homemade Journals

I recently finished reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  I've been excited about this book for some time, and my husband and I thought that recording our own gifts would be a great way to keep our hearts and minds parked on the abundance that God has given us and not in the sludge that we deal with as part of this life.

I saw pictures of the beautiful journals that Brandee decorated here and thought it sounded like fun, so My Big Helper and I set out to create our own blessings journal (I'd love to have a cute name for it, but no luck so far.  Any suggestions??)

You'll need:  the cheapest notebook you can find (we used the regular comp book picked up at Target for $0.40), two sheets of matching 12" X 12"scrapbook paper, one piece of coordinating 12" X 12" paper, a glue stick, Mod Podge, and a paintbrush to apply it.

Line up one sheet of the scrapbook paper along the bound edge of the notebook.  Cut the paper so that it is much bigger than the front cover of the comp book itself - we cut ours to be about 10" by 12".  Then, using your glue stick, rub glue on the front cover and apply the paper, leaving the binding uncovered.

Open the notebook.  Rub more glue along the edges of the inside cover  and fold it over.  I made a cut diagonally from the corner of the paper to the corner of the notebook to make folding the edges neater.

Glue down and fold over the edges as if you were wrapping a present.

Then, from the coordinating paper, cut two pieces that are 6" x 8 " and one strip that is 2" by 12".  Glue  the former pieces over the inside covers, hiding the printing there and any rough edges that you may have left behind.

Paint a thin layer of Mod Podge onto the binding of the book.  Cover that with the coordinating strip.  Clothespin it and allow it to dry.  Add embellishments to the covers as you'd like.

Your journal is ready to go!

Our whole family is excited about using our new journal, and we've been writing in it as we discuss our day at mealtimes and whenever something strikes us in between.

So, for only $1.15, we have a beautiful journal full of paper that's personalized and ready to go.  Much cheaper than the blank journal books that you buy, and it's every bit as beautiful!

Do you record blessings?  Journal in some way?  How do you record your thoughts?

DIY Father's Day T-Shirts

With Father's Day rapidly approaching, it's time to be making your gifts!  Here's what we did last year for Daddy (we can't share this year's project since the big day isn't here yet - we don't want him getting wind of our plans!)

Since Daddy needs t-shirts and he's very particular about the ones that he likes, we decided to try making some to meet his specifications.  :-)

First, we bought shirts in good, paintable colors:  charcoal gray and forest green.

Then, I drew the words I wanted on each shirt in solid, block letters with a piece of light-colored chalk.  My Big Girl at 5 was able to handle painting her own words.  (I expected them to be pretty messy, but she did amazingly well.  I guess I didn't give her enough credit!)

I mixed one part acrylic paint with one part fabric medium.  Using a stiff-bristled brush, scrub the paint into the fabric.  (It's a good idea to put an old cookie sheet or piece of cardboard inside the shirt and masking tape it tight to hold it in place before painting.)

When my Big Girl had finished with her words and I had painted my Little Man's, it was time to do their hands.  We used a contrasting color and dipped one hand at a time into the paint, stamped it on the shirt, and then wiped it clean before doing the next one.

My Little Man's hands made a heart, while my Big Girl's just showed the size of her hands.

After drying for several hours, I pressed the shirts with a light iron and then washed them with some salt in cold water.  That sets the paint so it won't fade or wash away.

Voila!  Personalized shirts for Daddy in just a few hours!

Mother's Day Coasters

When my kids were small, we made coasters for Grandparents' Day.  I've wanted a set ever since, and so this year I decided to make them for myself for Mother's Day.  These are very inexpensive to make and take only a few minutes, but they are very durable.

I bought a set of small tiles from the tile aisle at a Lowe's Home Improvement Store.

Next, I painted my son's hand with simple acrylic paint and he stamped it onto the tile.

We repeated the same step with the other hand on another tile.

My daughter then used her fingers and thumbs to create a flower (her hands are now too big to fit all on one tile).

Next, we sprayed each tile with a clear, triple-thick sealant and allowed it to dry for a few hours.  This puts a glossy sheen on each tile and prevents it from being scratched or damaged.  Until this point, you can wipe the paint off and start again; after this, your picture is permanent!

Then, I cut a piece of felt a bit smaller than the tile so that it would not be seen from above.  This will prevent the tile from scratching any surface on which it's placed.  You can also use the sticky felt dots that you can buy, but one piece of felt costs much less than those dots!

Voila!  A set of personalized coasters for about less than $2!

The Joy of Painting

Sometimes, it gets old doing the same old things.

Sometimes, there's a little guy who's very sensitive to sensory things and doesn't want to do even ordinary things.

Sometimes, that bugs me.

When I taught first grade, there was at least one kid in each class who just didn't like to get messy.  Usually a boy, he didn't like putting his hand in shaving cream or getting near paint or even spelling in Jell-O powder.

My son is going to be that boy.

And while that really is not a big deal, there's a tiny part of me that wants him to know the joy of a good shaving cream fight or to paint a glorious picture and not stress about the mess.

Maybe it's the slob in me.

Regardless, for the past few years I've been on a quest to find projects that will gently stretch his limits in the hopes of pushing him WAAYYY past them one day.

Today was a good day.

We've finger painted, painted on paper, on eggs, on cardboard, on banners.  We've painted with Q-tips, with fingers, with carrots and apples.  Even trucks.  Today we painted with plain old toddler brushers, but today he got into it.

I let him paint the door.

I haven't tried that in a while.

We used water-based washable tempera paint from Hobby Lobby in his two favorite colors, and I mixed in a few drops of dish soap to make the clean up easier.  I spread several layers of newspaper on the floor  and then called him over.

His first comment was about the smell of the paint, but his eyes lit up when he saw the door.  At first he sat down to paint, but soon he stood up to make a bigger picture, and twice he asked for more paint.

He started small, scrubbing his brush around, but his tiny movements soon became grandiose gestures, pushing the paint all over the door.

After layering paint upon paint for several minutes, he got very excited.  "I'm making lines, Mommy!" he said.  I love when he describes his art.  It's even better when he makes something besides his favorites - tornadoes and giant spiders.

He loved his masterpiece and insisted on showing pictures to Daddy and his sister.  I washed the door long before they got home, which was surprisingly easy to do - though certainly the messiest part of this project.

This paint dries very, very fast, so when you're ready to clean up, be sure to have newspapers still on the floor underneath.  Spray heavily with Windex and wipe with a newspaper.  It will "melt" and run.  Keep spraying and wiping, and in just a few minutes, you'll be ready for a final go-over with a paper towel.

There's something exciting about having a large canvas on which to work, but being able to watch the rain fall outdoors made this one even more fun.  Because this paint dries somewhat translucent, it would be especially fun to create "stained glass" windows with older children.  Maybe the next time we'll try to paint shapes on the door.

But for today, the simple joy of painting is enough.

Little Boy Gifts

This year, a lot of our grandparent and great-grandparent gifts will be homemade.  It's always a struggle to find things to buy for them anyway, and this year the funds just aren't there for extravagant gifts for everyone on our list.  I decided to have the kids tackle these gifts, but it was hard to find a good project for Luke to make.

There's always pictures OF him, and they're cute - but he doesn't do much but pose, and he hates that.  He could MAKE a picture, but so far he only likes to draw storms and snakes, and they're still kind of hard to tell apart.  You can't rush fine motor skills!  I could use HIM to make a picture, like a handprint something or other, and they are always cute, but Luke would have very little involvement or creative input - I would do all the work.

I finally decided to let him make pine cone bird feeders.  This is an oldie where I come from, but I was surprised to learn when I started working at a local preschool that the director there had never seen this, so maybe it will be new to you, too.

You'll need a pine cone or large plastic disposable cup, some string, a few tablespoons of peanut butter per feeder, a craft stick or plastic knife, a small sandwich baggie, and a few handfuls of birdseed.

First, cut a length of string and make a loop about an inch in diameter.  "Lasso" the smaller end of the pine cone with the loop.  If you're using a cup, poke a small hole in the bottom of the cup, knot the end of the string, and feed it through.  When finished, this will be the hanger for the feeder.  (Luke thought that he was the best string cutter ever and laughed and laughed while doing this.  It's the little things, you know.)

Using the craft stick, smear peanut butter on the pine cone, covering the whole thing.  Luke's started out like this ...

and ended up looking like this when he finished:

After you've thoroughly smeared your pine cone and gotten very sticky, put it in a dish with your birdseed.  Roll it around or scoop the birdseed up and sprinkle it on top of the pine cone.  It will stick nicely.

 Luke couldn't resist licking off some stray peanut butter.  It's clean - and an extra seed is healthy, right??  ;-)

After liberally covering the peanut butter in birdseed, your pine cone should look like this:

To keep it neat (and prevent me from vacuuming up birdseed for weeks) we then wrapped the cone itself in a sandwich baggie.  I let the string hang outside so it wouldn't get sticky.  We found that our smallish pine cones fit well inside rectangular butter boxes and we wrapped them right away.  When the grandpas open them, they'll be ready to tie onto a low branch or beam and watch the birds enjoy!