Candy Cane Wreath

 I saw many different varieties of candy cane wreaths around pinterest...so I pulled my favorite parts of different wreaths together to make one all our own. 

First Kimberly painted an old cd with red acrylic paint....

 while the paint was wet, toss on the glitter...a lot of glitter.  After the paint and glitter dried I sprayed the whole cd with Spray Acrylic Sealer to keep all the glitter in one place.

 I used 18 candy canes for our wreath. 

I used the glue gun to make pairs of candy canes.  

 Testing out the look.

  Below you can see that I added green ribbon to each pair of candy canes. I also used the glue gun for this. After the ribbons were added, I placed the candy canes into the wreath shape and glued the tops and bottoms together.  It is still pretty floppy at this point.  

I then used a lot of glue around the circular center of the wreath and placed the glittery cd in place.

This made it much more stable.

I added a pretty bow in to the center of of the wreath and green ribbon for hanging.

We are all very happy with this years wreath. 

The Day of Preparation

 Today it was all hands on deck!!

Time to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner and Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Luke made the pumpkin bread.

 Laura's first apple pie.

 Gracie made the pumpkin pie. 

 A beautiful centerpiece from our neighbor. (I love this idea for the vase)

 Daddy and Kim used her BabyCakes machine to make cake balls.

 Kimmy made very cute pilgrim hats.....

 all by herself!

 Gracie with her pies and pretzel and M&M dots.

 Laura made us very yummy caramel corn.

We are almost ready for Thanksgiving.

For full disclosure...we told the kids to eat cereal for dinner tonight.

Mr. Gallon Man---Equivalent Liquid Measurements

 We have reached a point in our Saxon 3 Math where we needed to find equivalent measurements of liquids.  I had seen this fun visual somewhere out there on the world wide web so today we recreated it to remind us of these measurements. 

Mr. Gallon Man

 4 quarts equals one gallon

 2 pints equals one quart....and 8 pints equals one gallon

Finally, 2 cups equals one pint....or 16 cups equals one gallon.  

We have now hung Mr. Gallon Man on the learning wall to remind us of equivalent liquid measurements.  

Happy 19th Birthday, Laura!!!

 Only one more year as a teenager.

Where has the time gone?

Thick and Quick Toboggan Hat

 I made my first crocheted ear flap hat last night.

I used Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick yarn.  I just love this extra chunky yarn.

 Kimbery made the braids herself (I helped attach them to the hat.)

Daddy is the professional pom pom maker and once again he didn't disappoint us.

I found the pattern on the Lion Brand wedsite.  You so have go be a member to access this pattern, but it is free to sign up and download tons of patterns specific to the Lion Brand yarn.

I now have 5 orders for this hat.  We may end up with one of every Wool-Ease color.
You can find this and other toboggan hats at the Lion Brand website.

This is the winner...

 I think this leaf from our maple tree in the front yard is the biggest maple leaf I have ever found.

 It's a lot bigger than Luke's hand.

That's a big leaf!!

 

Leaves

by Elsie N. Brady

How silently they tumble down
And come to rest upon the ground
To lay a carpet, rich and rare,
Beneath the trees without a care,
Content to sleep, their work well done,
Colors gleaming in the sun.

 

 

At other times, they wildly fly
Until they nearly reach the sky.
Twisting, turning through the air
Till all the trees stand stark and bare.
Exhausted, drop to earth below
To wait, like children, for the snow.

Craft Hope Project 25----We are Kenya

We Are Kenya is an organization who believes that one way to change a society is to change the future of it's youth. They are a nonprofit dedicated to feeding and educating sweet children in the slums of Soweto, Kenya. Soweto is the second largest slum in Kenya and home to We Are Kenya. Soweto is a large slum whose people daily struggle with sickness, crime, hunger, and hopelessness that results from severe poverty. In a slum where many children have one or no parent, the daily quest for food supersedes any hope for education.

 

They need handmade knitted/crochet hats, gloves, and scarves. Approximately 200 to be exact for kids ages 4-15. Winters get cold at night and we need to keep these sweet kids bundled up. Sewn hats and scarves are also welcome.

I made up some mittens with yarn I had on hand.  It is a small thing...but it can make a difference in a child's life.  If everyone does a little, a lot will be accomplished. 

The Project 25 mailing deadline is: November 15, 2014.  Please try to have all of your handmade items to them by this date.

We Are Kenya

10914 Hillcrest Drive

Laurel, MD 20723

Physics for Kids

We have been having fun learning about force and motion. Recently we spent an afternoon doing experiments. Kim and Luke love science, and couldn't wait to repeat these experiments when Dad got home. These experiments all came from the Young Scientist Club Kit #33.