Recycled Craft: Valentine Wreath

Many of my friends know that when I receive flowers, I dry them and use them in crafts. They also know as a family we try to recycle materials we have in our home instead of tossing them in the trash..so it was no surprise that when my husband gave me flowers last year and in previous years that I would use them to make a wreath.Materials:- Dried Flowers or Artificial flowers- an old bed sheet

Celebrating Las Posadas: family, food, books and crafts

In Mexico and many parts of Central America, people celebrate Las Posadas during the nine days before Christmas. It is a reenactment of the journey Joseph and Mary took to find shelter before the birth of their child.


At Christmas time, our city hosts a candlelit procession called "La posada" which means "the inns" or "the shelters" in Spanish. For many, it is a religious and social

Snowflake Ornaments and Snow books

This week we made some Snowflake ornaments for our unit study on Snow. We are still continuing with our reading books about the Advent but we also included some books on snow in hopes up that we would get some this year. It rarely snows here where we live but that does not stop us from hoping. My youngest son and I selected two books about snow and winter this week. I am Snow by Jean Marzollo,

Candy Cane Angels, Peppermint Ornaments and Books

Last Wednesday we decorated our tree. My husband grew up in Indiana and his family has a tradition of picking a tree in the woods, cutting it down and trimming the tree on Christmas Eve. I grew up here in Texas and my family would decorate the tree on the first week of December. We have learned to compromised over the years and begin decorating our tree between the 10th and 14th of December since

Books on Nativity and Nativity craft ornament

Pictured above our Nativity Cd ornamentThis Sunday marked the second Sunday of Advent. Last year was our first year celebrating the Advent as a family. I have to confess that in years past the focus was on the presents, That changed last year when decided to keep Christ in Christmas.It started last year when we read children’s books on the Nativity, I felt a strong desire to teach my children

Snowman books and a Snowman ornament craft

I have always had a love for making homemade holiday ornaments. My inspiration came from my mother who would always hang the handmade ornaments we made her as children. No matter how old or worn, my mother proudly smiled at the handmade ornaments on her tree that reminded her of our love for her as children.Each year when we visit my Mom and Dad, looking at her tree is like looking at a family

Cd Advent Wreath for our first Sunday of Advent

This Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent and the boys and I made together our of Advent Wreath from recycled materials. We are known for making recycled holiday crafts and this year is no exception. During Advent our family will be keeping CHRIST in Christmas and sharing the gift of Faith, Hope, Love, and Peace.Family ReadingWe read in our Doubleday Illustrated Children's Bible the story "Time

Fall Craft: Soft Sculpture Pumpkin

This month we are doing a unit study on Fall and Pumpkins and each year we love to make recycled crafts as decorations for the Fall and this year is no exception. Decades ago when I was in my 20s, it was popular to wear hosiery. Believe it or not I still had some stored away. Why? I guess I thought either the style would come back or I could use it for something crafty. Fortunately for my boys

Our Paper Autumn Wreath and how you can make your own

This is a wreath we made and I thought I'd share with you how we made it. We are known for recycling odds and ends for craft projects. To make this wreath we used:construction paper in colors of yellow, red, orange, brown and greencrayonsmarkersToilet paper rollsand a wire coat hangerHere is the link where we got the idea to make ours: Autumn Wreath Craft. The difference between ours and the one

Chore Sticks

I have been wanting to find an easier way to getting the boys to do their chores, but it is a “chore” in itself to motivate them. We have tried using chore charts before but a preschooler and an older special needs child, I needed a more physical way presenting a chore chart to them so I found chore sticks.

In my search, I found out about a variation on chore sticks from 30 Handmade Days, in

The Lion and the Mouse and some shadow fun

This week we are reading books about Kenya, one of the many nations in the continent of Africa. We read a wonderful twist on the Aesop fable "The Lion and the Mouse."The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney. In this wordless book set in the African Serengeti, the fierce and strong King of the Jungle (the Lion) captures a small mouse. The mouse begs the Lion to let him go. The Lion releases the

Craft Stick Christmas Trees

This year we made a new ornament for our Christmas tree and as gifts for family. The boys loves the way they came out and so do I. We had some large craft sticks that are about the size of tongue depressors.We used a total of four craft sticks for make each tree ornament. One was used as the trunk of the tree, one was used as the bottom branch, one as the third branch from the top (it was trimmed

Felt and Fabric Ornaments

This mid-week we started learning more about the symbols of Christmas. I think it is great way for find out why we use them during Christmas as decorations and how they bring meaning for us of Christ.We made some felt ornaments for our tree this week! One of my favorite ornaments are fabric and felt ornaments. I started making them long before I had children and used fabric of the leftover

The Legend of the Poinsettia and a Craft

The Legend of the Poinsettia retold and illustrated by Tomie de PaolaThis story is about a little girl named Lucida who lives with her parents, little brother and sister in a small village in Mexico. Her family and other villagers are preparing for Christmas. Each year the people in the village attend the procession at church to bring gifts to the Baby Jesus.After being asked by the church to

Have a Recycled Crafty Christmas: Week 3

Welcome to our third week of our month long blog meme. Each week families will be showing and sharing ideas for making decorations and ornaments out of household items that have been recycled into festive items for the Holiday season! Show us what your kids made or what you have made with your kids!You can also participate by sharing Holiday memories of keepsakes that have been passed down to you

Recycled craft: Fabric Scrap Wreath

Materials:Pinking shears, rotary cutter or scissorsAssorted FabricMetallic ribbon or wired ribbonCoat hanger or wireDirections:1. Shape your coat hanger or wire into a circle shape. Set aside.2. Sort through your fabric scraps to find a color and pattern combination that you find pleasing.3. Cut your fabric scraps into one inch by six inch strips using your pinking shears, rotary cutter or

Have a Recycled Crafty Christmas: Week 2

Welcome to our second week of our month long blog meme. Each week families will be showing and sharing ideas for making decorations and ornaments out of household items that have been recycled into festive items for the Holiday season! Show us what your kids made or what you have made with your kids!You can also participate by sharing Holiday memories of keepsakes that have been passed down to

Have a Recycled Crafty Christmas: Week 1

Welcome to our first week of our month long blog meme. Each week families will be showing and sharing ideas for making decorations and ornaments out of household items that have been recycled into festive items for the Holiday season! Show us what your kids made or what you have made with your kids!You can also participate by sharing Holiday memories of keepsakes that have been passed down to you

First Thanksgiving Homes (Thanksgiving craft)

This week we are doing a unit study on the Thanksgiving. As part of our study, I wanted to teach my children about the first Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims and Wamponaog people. We read books about Pilgrim and Wanpanoag life in the 1600s.

The books we read were:
Tapenum's Day: A Wampanoag Indian Boy in Pilgrim Times by Kate Waters
Giving Thanks: The 1621 Harvest by Kate Waters

We read that the

Our Season Tree for Fall

In early September I posted about how we made our Trash to Treasure Bulletin board for our inside front door. For September it was a green tree with apples now we have changed the tree for the Fall season.

The tree was made from packing material (like paper grocery bags) that we crumbled to give the effect of bark. We used leaf garland and trimmed pieces to tape to our tree. We originally