Creating a More Positive Car Atmosphere

The kids and I made a journey up to my mum's this weekend. We used the trip up to learn about distance and time estimations by playing a game estimating distances to the next town. I had to admit i had an ultimate, non-academic purpose in mind - focusing them on short--term goals so they would whine less about how long the trip takes! LOL

Here were the rules:

1) As we left each town we read the distance to the next town on the mileage sign, then everyone estimated how long they thought it would take to reach the town (each person had a minimum five minute increment, unless the next town was really close, in which case we did two minute increments). 

2) Whoever won that round was owed a dollar by Mum (great motivation to keep them all playing! LOL). 

3) Whoever currently had the least amount of money got to choose their time frame first so that they all got turns at having first dibs at the most likely times.

4) Once your time rolls past, you were out of the competition. So, for example, if Tanner said 2:23 and Nicolas said 2:28 but we arrived at 2:24, Nicolas would win as Tanner's time had already rolled by.

5) The clock kept ticking at unscheduled stops (taking photos, pit stop) unless Mum called a delay, in which case we added the stop time and recalculated. The only time I called a delay was when I took a 15 minute nap, so we added 15 minutes to everyone's totals when we resumed travel.

6) If the town is one we plan to stop in, the stopping point is where we calculate to. If we are just driving through, we calculate at the entrance to town, where the "Welcome to... " sign is, or equivalent.

 It worked well, and by the time we arrived Tanner had earned $4, and the others $5. The only reason Tanner was down one was that we stopped to photograph the mountain goats he saw, and that meant his time expired by the time we got there! LOL Best of all, I think they are getting a better idea of how times and distances work, so we managed to roll a math lesson in while bringing the whining WAY down!

Creating an Organizer

I have decided to create a home organization binder this year as one way of getting myself more organized and in control of my daily life.
I have often tried to do all these tasks on the computer before, but find it is not practical. The computer is not portable, a pain to get out every time I need to check something, and increasingly it is occupied by children working on schoolwork or games!
I decided if I was going to have a binder I wanted it to be pretty. I was not finding what I wanted until I was at a crafting garage sale and found a great chipboard one. The binding on it was already covered in pretty pink fabric. Perfect!

The next job was to find some paper I liked to cover it with. Luckily I have a daughter who also crafts as none of my extensive collection co-ordinated with the binder. However, she had a book of paper that I just LOVE that all co-ordinates and she very generously shared with me.

I chose a patterned piece for the outside covers and a teal one for the inside. Incidentally, the teal and green were our wedding colours. How cool is that?

I decoupaged them in, then added two coats over the paper to try to seal it a bit better so it would hold up. The key to successful decoupage, as in so much of life, is PATIENCE! Use thin layers and let it dry completely before adding the next one.

Next I added ribbon to trim the edges. This part was a bit tricky as my ribbon was not as thick as I would have liked. For those of you who preplan supplies, choose a 1" ribbon, then you can just fold it around the edges and be done with it! I attached my ribbon with Sookwang sticky tape, making sure to fold it over the edges of the binder to protect the paper edges from catching and ripping off. I started where the paper joins the cloth and worked one piece of ribbon around the top, outside, and bottom edge of each half of the binder.

See how the bottom and outside edge have a nice narrow border?

Next I used ribbon on the inside to make a thicker border as the ribbon wasn't wide enough to cover the inside edge well.

I figured out the hard way that I should have done the outside edge top to bottom first, then cover it with a horizontal piece. Why? Because it is hard to fold in the ribbon on the second end to the exact spot you want it. By doing that order you only ever have to fold one end, because the final ribbon piece, the vertical one close to the binding of the book, wraps around the whole book and is just doubled over on top of itself so it doesn't have to line up to a nice spot. See?
On the first one I did below, the ribbons didn't match so nicely, and my pretty rose is to hide my messy corner where I ended up with sticky strip and no ribbon!

Finally I added some Stampin' Up Vintage Roses to the front and voila! I was done!

My pretty binder has me all excited about getting organized!

Creating Memories

My daughter and I took advantage of the Groupons we found last fall and spent the afternoon at a paint your own ceramics place. I expected to be there about an hour, and I was dragging her out after THREE hours!

Painting was a lot of fun, but the best part was spending time with my daughter. She loves colour, she loves creative expression, and she loves spending time with her mummy! We had a wonderful afternoon together. She made a butterfly box for her dresser and a cereal bowl, and I decorated a container for the sponges and dishbrushes by my sink so I can get rid of my plastic one.

Pictures to come after we pick them up next week!

Going on a Trip

We have a family reunion next month in Australia. I am so excited. I get to go!!!

Now for the not-so-exciting part: it is my flat self going, not the flesh and blood version.
When I heard about the reunion (which was planned in about 6 weeks; can you tell my sister helped?) I wanted to go, but of course that is not possible.

Then I got the brilliant idea of combining the reunion with my homeschool plans to study geography by making and mailing a flat stanley. So today I spent my afternoon making a Flat Elouise.

For those of you so inclined to make a similar project here is how I did it:
I cut a piece of newspaper the same size as my cardstock (I used letter sized cardstock), then folded it in half and cut out the outline of half a person. I opened and checked it and trimmed it until it looked about right.

Next I cut a newspaper section the size of half a shirt so I could make a top in two pieces so I would have a seam down the front.

I then traced the original piece onto different papers to make the skirt and shoes. After cutting them out, I attached the pieces from the bottom up -  shoes, then skirt, then top.
Next I found a picture of me and cropped my head. I then measured the size of my Flat El head and custom printed the photo to match.

After attaching the head, I used a 1" circle punch to cut pieces of circles, then layered them to create my curly hair. The above picture shows me with half my hair on.
After this I got to do the fun part - embellishing. I used ribbon to make a belt. Because it was a light coloured ribbon, I found the seam showed through, and so I doubled the ribbon over and used glue dots to attach it.
Then I used halfback pearls from my Stampin' Up pretties kit to make a necklace and for buttons down my skirt. I used the Stampin Up vintage roses to accent the waist and for a flower in my hair.


Now I am packed and ready for vacation! LOL

Why I Now Save My Cans

I made this beautiful garbage can for my daughter a while ago. She needed something for her room to collect the endless bits of garbage she seems to make in a day. I had made smaller ones a few years ago for a birthday party, but now I am grabbing the true potential of containers.

To make this garbage can was so easy:
Open your cans with one of those can openers that removes the whole lid without leaving sharp edges. Clean and dry your can thoroughly before decorating your container.
Choose your paper and measure it to the right height, and cut it. I found it best to measure the height to the inside of the metal rim. Because my container was so big (this is the 2.84L Costco diced tomato tin) I needed two pieces of paper. I chose to repeat the same pattern but you could use complementary papers. My papers came embossed with these sayings. You can cut out or stamp words to add if you want something on there that's personalized, like a name.
I hot glue gunned the papers on the can, then covered all my edges with ribbon. I then embellished with a few punched out hearts and a couple flowers and I was done. 15 minutes for a gorgeous garbage can!
I have more can ideas in my head so hopefully they will be published soon, as long as I can keep my recycling-happy family from removing all my cans! LOL

Valentine's Day

We had a Valentine's party at our house yesterday so wanted to make it look pretty both for yesterday and today.
Sunday night the boys and I cut out a bunch of hearts from construction paper. We used red, white, pink, and purple paper. We folded them in fourth and cut a half heart shape so that it opened out to make 2 hearts from one piece of paper. Then we used the corners to make more little hearts. From one piece of 9 X 12 paper we got two large hears and four little ones.
The large hearts were taped on the mantle and mirror with edges overlapping to make a nice fake garland.

Isn't that pretty?

We punched holes in the tops and bottoms of the little hearts and strung ribbon through them to make vertical garlands, which we hung over the tables and in front of the windows. With narrow ribbon you would need to loop a knot at the top of each heart to anchor it in place, but ours was big enough that the hearts just hung in place on their own.
How easy it is to make things pretty and festive!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!!

Creating a Treasure Hunt

Tomorrow we are hosting a Valentine's Party for some of our homeschooler friends. The kids used to say that missing the holiday parties was one of their biggest regrets of not going to school so we started doing our own. Of course ours are way better than school parties so it becomes another bonus of homeschooling!

Tomorrow our theme is focusing on the Treasures in our lives so we are doing a treasure hunt. Michael and I just had fun putting together our clue list. Most of ours, but we lifted a couple off the internet. I am sharing them with you, so SSSHHH! Don't tell my kids! LOL


Love is patient, love is kind,
Your next clue is right behind. (painting in dining room)

In this place we quickly heat
So we will have something to eat. (microwave)

Step by step walking I go,
Yet somehow nowhere I go. (treadmill)

While on your hunt for treasure gold,
You may be hot, but your clue is cold. (freezer)

Feeling chilled? You’d rather not!
Come get stoked! This clue is hot! (fireplace)

This box is mostly filled with things that rarely bring you glee
Like bills, and junk, and other stuff you'd rather never see. (mailbox)

You are doing quite a-MAZE-ing!
Find your way through, and I’ll help you! (Valentine's maze to complete and bring to me)

When you're feeling less than fresh there's just one place to go
To wash and get all squeaky clean and scrub between each toe. (tub)

When you need to have a rest
I am the place you love the best. (bed)

Wetter and wetter the more it dries,
Find it to find your surprise. (towel)