Travel Size Kleenex/Tissue Pouches

So I'm starting on some gifts. This is a quick and easy one. If you use felt and pinking shears there is no hemming. Plus I like to have a different texture for tissues so I can find them by just feeling around in my purse, because lets face it, when either you or a little one need a tissue there could be a gross, runny nose emergency. OK enough commentary.

1. Make rectangles of felt, "pinked" about 5 1/2" X 7 1/2"

2. Fold over the long sides to the middle with a little over lap, you can pin here but felt isn't very slippery so you don't need to.

3. Sew up the side seams, I matched the edge of my presser foot to the edge of my fabric as a guide. I also used a bright thread just for fun. Don't forget a small back stitch on both ends of the seam.

4. Stuff with Kleenex (either the little pack or a wad, at least it's not all over your purse)

Sweet Emmeline Apron

Something I've been sewing is finally finished...Check it out here.

Candy Science - Floating Letters

OK, it's true, we can't stop doing these - Loralee has such a great site full of ideas, this one is called floating letters. The kids should place the candy (skittles or M&Ms) submerged in water. Don't stir, just leave it, for awhile. Come back when you remember to check it (1/2 hour +). You may need to carefully swirl the water to raise the letter up if you don't see anything, but if you still don't see anything after that, come back later.

As you can see when our letter was floating, the candy coating had completely dissolved into the water, but how cool is that? Seriously cool.

Batty

Please bare with me as I finally upload some pictures of our Halloween costumes - think of it like dress-up ideas...So here is C as a bat... he loved it, so I guess it was worth making 5 different sets of ears :) He pretty much flew everywhere he went and loved that he could tuck his wings under his arms. An already broken umbrella, cut in half worked great for the wings. I took out all the hardware to make it more comfortable. I sewed each half onto a piece of black grosgrain ribbon then sewed that directly onto the shirt, pinning from the underarm outward. Yes he is wearing plastic vampire teeth, which I liked because it slowed the candy intake.

Note: I loved playing with these photos in Picnik, I highly recommend an enjoyable way to waste time and create cool pic effects!

Warning: it could be very addictive...

And a last shot of my bat in the belfry (cell phone camera - such great quality)

I remember and I'm thankful

Today I remember those who lost their lives for our freedoms. I think of pausing, in grade school, for a moment of silence, to remember. Taps were played over the intercom, silence echoed through the halls of our old school and then the principal read, In Flanders Fields. We wore poppies for the week leading up to the holiday, like a blood stain on our lapels. At such a young age I felt the gravity of the sacrifice. Now as a grown up and with my own children I am ever more thankful for my freedom.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

~John McCrae

Candy Science - Dye Job

So here is another candy experiment...Chromatography

We used M & Ms as suggested. You put the candy on drops of water and the result is quite beautiful...

Then add a drop of the colour to a strip of coffee filter (label in pencil with the original colour)

Stand up the filter in water and the water seeps up the filter strip separating out the colours of dye used. (I might recommend a magnifying glass to bring the results close-up (since we didn't use very big drops of colour), or use bigger strips and more colour...

It's fun to see. To help our filters stand up we leaned them on the side of the bowl.

This is a fun one that is easy for the kids to participate, in fact they could do everything. Check out the above link for all the details...very cool ideas.

Candy Science - SweetTarts

Anyone have a few of these lying around? I'll be honest the results were pretty weak, but my kids loved this science activity - They want more candy science tomorrow...

So with a SweetTart, I found two different "experiments". Both produced better results with a crushed candy (which may have been the part my boys liked the most, crushing - what's not to love) - So this is before - an intact candy and chipping fingernail polish in a lovely blood shade for Halloween.

Experiment #1 - EROSION found here under "candy erosion" Don't even bother with the hair dryer option - these candies are way too tough, no erosion = boring. What we did is pour vinegar over the candy and watch, partially crushed (edges) erode. It was very mild, but worked and maybe my kids understand something about erosion now (That it takes forever).

Experiment #2 - ACID test. The best website for candy experiments is here. She has really cool ideas for tests and she explains them simply and scientifically. Again this worked faster with a crushed candy.
First she explains "Sour taste is the body's way of identifying acid, so if your candy tastes sour, it contains acid. "
What to do:

1. Dissolve the candy in a half-cup of water.
2. Sprinkle a spoonful of baking soda into water.
3. Watch for bubbles. If it bubbles, the candy is acidic.

She suggests dissolving the candy in water first (we were a little impatient, maybe after watching the erosion do nothing so intently) so our candy wasn't fully dissolved before we added the soda, but it still bubbled a little. Pretty cool.

Jackie-O

Jack-o-lanterns as designed by C (left) and E (right)

Jack-o'-lantern . .jack-o'-lantern
You are such a funny sight
As you sit there by the window
Looking out at the night

You were once a yellow pumpkin
Growing on a sturdy vine
Now you are a jack-o'-lantern
Let your little light shine.

Spooky Necklaces

We had a lot of fun making these glue ghost necklaces by Martha. I even went into the boys kindergarten class and the entire class made one. At the craft table - for each chair, I put an outline of a ghost on white paper, taped on the table. I pre-cut squares of wax paper, taped over the top. The children started off writing their names with a permanent marker on the wax paper. Then, using the glue bottle, they traced the ghost with glue, then filled it in. It was a very fast, easy craft to execute, but drying time is at least overnight so make sure there is a flat, out of reach place to dry the ghosts (a wide window ledge for example).

Another fun necklace idea is making skulls with Brenda at Alpha-Mom. She makes these for Day of the Dead celebrations, but my boys fancy their skulls for Halloween decor. She has a really cool aut0-photo slide show showing how to make the skulls that my 5-yr olds watched, then did it themselves. Her salt dough recipe is easy and fantastic! We also used the dough to make various other bones.

1/2 c. salt
1 c. of flour
1/2 c. of water
a cookie sheet
a toothpick

Bake at 250F between 2 1/2 and 3 hours.

Someday when my camera returns from the shop I will add photos, but the boys strung together skulls, ribs, bones on a string that is now morbidly adorning their bunk beds (I think as a warning to pirates not to cross them, they have been playing pirate ship lately.) I added purple jewels in the eye sockets of mine and added them between pennants on my B-O-O banner.

Up to my ears in EARS?

Today I've been working on making BAT ears, for a Halloween costume of course. I can't believe this costume is even a possibility (the reality of it is yet to be determined). You wouldn't think a pair of ears could take so long... The added factor is an opinionated five-year-old who says things like,

"Too bunny-ish."
"Those look like bones."
"It's not ears for a bear, Mom."
"How am I (the bat) supposed to hear anything with those?"

Oh and did I mention the only other thing I have done for this costume is disassemble an umbrella and cut it in half. The logistics of attaching the wings are still pending.

Anyone need any spare ears?

Busy Halloween activities

SO I'm without a camera and it is putting a little dent in my blogging. Since I can't take any photos of the new stuff we've done lately, I thought I'd at least post some links for some the of traditions for Halloween we've carried over from last year...

Hanging the Decorations we made last year -

Ghost Chains

Pop-up Haunted Mansions

Glow-in-the-Dark Skeletons

Traditions:

Ghosting: This year for our ghosting treat we made candy corn bark - which was really yummy! The Recipe girl has great pictures and instructions here. We used broken Halloween Oreos (the one's with the orange icing), broken pretzels, candy corn scattered on a cookie sheet then poured melted white candy chocolate on top.

Mini Pumpkin Patch

So these aren't really pumpkins, they are upside-down, painted acorns, (My sister-in-law Adrianne's idea for something to do with all our acorns). I thought they turned out so cute. The boys (and I) had fun decorating the jack-o-lantern faces with (beware) permanent markers.

Here are her instructions from her comment...

CRAFT MATERIALS:
Acorns
Orange acrylic paint
Brown acrylic paint
Black permanent marker

1. Remove the caps from a handful of acorns.
2. *Coat each one with orange acrylic paint, adding a bit of brown to the acorn's point for a stem.
3. Let the paints dry, then add a jack-o'-lantern face with a black permanent marker.

*I actually painted the acorns while the boys were at school, it was a little messy even for me. I found the best way to paint them was hold them between your thumb and first finger and paint with up and down brush strokes. (I might consider a quick spray paint, rather than hand painting these tiny things.) The faces are the most fun and very easy for kids to draw on...

hmmm? What is this?

Any botanists out there? After soccer - C (of course) found this berry/seed pack/fruit...Any ideas? It is quite beautiful and pretty - not the best close-up though sorry...

Trip Blip - Seattle, Ballard Locks

Free -
3015 NW 54th St
Seattle, WA 98107
(Oh and if you park on the Magnolia side of the locks it is free parking too, otherwise standard city rates - I think it is $2/hour?)

Highlights -
Watch the fish in the underground viewing area of the fish ladder
Watch the boats move through the canal locks (just like a mini-Panama Canal)
Picnic in the beautiful English gardens
Stop and smell the roses...

Army Engineer site with more info about the Locks
General Info

Seattle Scenes