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Making Friendship Bracelets – Kids Craft

February 19, 2009 By Laura 5 Comments

(This post contains an affiliate links, for which we may be compensated for.)

To add to {A’s} ka-trillion other hobbies, {A} has taught herself the art of bracelet making, using the Klutz Friendship Bracelets Craft Kit (affiliate link) She just LOVES to make things, and will put hours on end into creating this or that. Or more of those things. : ) She is also passionate, about GIVING the things she makes, to others. Which is great for 2 reasons: 1) it’s a Christ-like thing to do, and 2) For all she makes, we’d be pushed out of the crevices of our own home, if she kept it all. : )

So she put in over-time in the weeks leading to Christmas, and made every one of us a bracelet in the colors that mean the most to us, as well as one for most all of her cousins. I hired her to make one, to give to my God-Daughter for Christmas. Plus, she made another for one uncle, who requested one for himself.

Each bracelet is a bit tedious and time-consuming process. But she doesn’t seem to mind it, as she sits and chats, or enjoys the peace and coziness of the fireside.
The craft kit and book gives simple directions to learn how to make these bracelets, step-by-step, with lots of photos, and a starter set of string colors to work with.

This is what the Klutz Friendship Bracelets Craft Kit looks like, and you can find it HERE.

She has made SO many, and has really had fun doing so . . . .

But most all of these are given away by now. The third one in from the left, is mine. It’s brown, with my kids birth colors, which are also the branding colors of my business. I LOVE it. She gave it to me on Christmas morning, as ONE of many things in a beautifully wrapped box. Some of the items in that box with my bracelet, were drawings from all of my children, made with love. (SO sweet. They make me 2 0r 3 a day, but you know, these were Christmassy-special), green-apple and water-melon lollipops (I have a little sucker-addiction as of late), and get this…a $50 gift card to Macy’s. WHAT?? From my 11 year old kid?? I was dumb-founded. Turns out, she rightfully earned it, working side by side with her Dad at a local firm. Impressed with the work she was doing for their company, along with her Daddy-Boy, they gave it to her. And she gave it to MOI (that’s ME, in French. You knew that, right?) , for Christmas.

Can I tell you how HAPPY I was to get that card? VERY!! I knew JUST what I was getting with that card. Something I just can’t get myself to spend money on (especially for myself), but needed pretty badly. Want to know what I bought? Because I WILL tell you. I am joyful enough in this grateful heart of mine, to tell you just what I spent that $50 on. I brought my daughter with me, to share in the happy shopping day, as I threw those items happily on the counter for the cashier to ring up. You want to know, don’t you. Are you sure?? Ok. I’ll tell you.

Bras.

Yes, it’s true!! These things can put a BIG SMILE on your face, when you really need them. As the lady handed me that bag, and thanked me for shopping at Macy’s, I turned to my daughter next to me, and jumped up and down hugging and thanking her for my new under-things. I might have even squealed, in my moment of excitement. She wrinkled her nose, and shushed me, as she often does in her cute-little way, when she is ‘slightly embarrassed‘. (<That’s a big expression with my kids.) But I knew it made her happy, to make me so happy. Though she could NOT understand WHY I would choose THAT to use my $50 on. But, she was happy for me.

OH!!! I’m sorry. We were talking about her bracelets, and not my under-things.Right. (But they are so nice!) So sorry.

So this is the latest new technique she has learned:

Cool huh?? It’s called ‘Broken Ladder’.

She wants to make lots more, and maybe have enough done to sell a few. She has more business-ventures going in that head of hers. I love her ambition though. She is good with her money too. She saves some, spends some, and often gives away some, in one way or another. Often times, to buy supplies to make things, to give away.

I always wonder, just what she will choose to do with her life, when she is all grown up. You know, on days when I can ‘go there’ and think about that. But for now, we mostly enjoy watching her ‘get there’. Because we can tell already, it’s going to be good, when it comes. And we’ll spend that time, in the future, looking back to these days, when she was on her way.

She’s a colorful one, for sure.

This craft kit really is a fun little gift, for girls or boys! They’ll spend hours making bracelets for their friends and family.
More embroidery thread, in a wide variety of colors, can be found at any quality craft store.

Thanks for dropping by, for another peek at what we’ve been up to.

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Lavender Sachets

February 19, 2009 By Laura Leave a Comment

We believe this is the last craft to reveal. Lavender sachets. It was actually one of the first we made. Probably one of the least creative, which may be why I saved it for last. lol.

If you all recall this header:

And husband/Daddy, learning how to use the machine and sew, all in about 2 minutes, (and then hogging the machine, because he was having so much fun)……….

(One-handed showoff)

…..while the ‘other kids’ were working at the other end of the table…….

He did let {A} get in there for a LITTLE bit….

….until he kicked her back out, because he wanted another turn, and couldn’t take it anymore.

It was definitely a gift-making family affair!

how-to-make-lavender-sachets
NOTICE how the sachets are hung out to air out!! It’s a comical little story, really……

We had bought real dried lavender. That is what the 4 kids in the photo up there are doing….cleaning the buds off the sticks. WHICH, mind you, smelled NOTHING like lavender, flowers, or ANYTHING NICE. It smelled like…well, dried weeds.

SO, we had lavender scent oil drops that we had bought, and had planned on adding a drop or 3 anyway. Just give it a little boost in smell. But from the smell of that bowl of dried buds….it needed LOTS of help. And our sweet little helper was there, ready, willing and waiting, to help….A LOT……..

That is, until we ventured to take that saran wrap off and spoon some in our sewn sachet bags anyway. HOLY…..the SCENT SURELY SHOWED UP!! Gees…it was through the whole house, and stuck in our noses for DAYS. We made all of the sachets, but man….they were SO POTENT!! Really…just…..a little MUCH.

So I hung them out one day….ALL DAY. Not sure if that helped, much. When it came time to package them with other crafts, for Christmas gifts, we triple zip-locked them.

And-you-could-still-smell-them. Grandma was so kind about how nice hers smelled, with her little telling-giggle.

If it is true, that a lavender scent helps you sleep well, these babies will knock you out for a lifetime!! They did smell like SOMETHING NICE in the end. Just a little more than necessary. : ) Update-2016: These days, I know to use 100% real natural lavender essential oil, as opposed to the concoctions they sell in the store. (We use doTERRA, for all of our essential oil needs.)

It’s been fun, showing you all of our craft-gift ideas this year! Hope you’ve been enjoying it, as well.

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Our Valentine’s Day – Ideas

February 16, 2009 By Laura 8 Comments

I hope everyone isn’t over the whole Valentine’s thing by now. You know…sick of photos and Valentine talk. After all, it was over 2 days ago!! We’re just trying to catch up here!! And please forgive me too, but I took a load of photos, and I have a hard time deciding which ones to share. But also, it’s for the sake pf preserving our kids’ childhood memories, here on the blog.

You’ll get a lot of good Valentine’s Day ideas for your kids in this post, for next year and on, though!

As you all know by now, we really TRY to follow the liturgical year. However, Valentine’s Day has been removed from the Catholic Liturgical calendar I believe. Still, as homeschoolers, we also try to study the history of every holiday or liturgical celebration. But I have to say………….we find Valentine’s Day, and St. Valentine, complicated, confusing and head-spinning. Anyone else?? I have read 3 or more differing stories of how (St.) Valentine’s Day came about. What’s more, there are more than one ‘Valentine’. Indeed, this day we call Valentine’s Day is shrouded in mystery and legend. They aren’t even sure who the REAL Valentine is, from what we have found. It seems there are 3 martyrs, all who did indeed die ‘for love’. But for the LOVE OF CHRIST, not the romantic kind of love we tend to color Valentine’s Day with.

Now, if any of that sounds confusing, it’s because I was just as confused, typing it. Still….we CELEBRATED LOVE in our own simple way.

The kids always wake up in the morning, to a little-something for them, on the table.

I couldn’t choose just ONE moment, that put a smile on my face, so I made them into one. : ) It’s just FUN watching them open and look at their stuff. It takes so little to get them ALL excited.

Like a handful of straws, not for drinking, but building. More on that later.

Animal crackers, and Cherry Chapsticks.

Valentines of course, and Puppet Kits, to do later on today.

But first, we had {A’s} morning basketball game to get to!

Have I mentioned I am not properly equipped to photograph basketball games? I rarely even bother bringing my gear, getting this kind of quality of shots. But I also have to avoid flash, because I don’t want to disrupt the focus of the girls. Anyway, here’s the best of what I got Saturday morning.

She’s always put in for the tip-off, to start the game, because she’s the tallest. (She’s the one with the ridiculously long braid. #8 : )

It took her no time to put her team on the scoreboard – it was also the first HOOP of the game!

She managed to draw a COUPLE of fouls in the game, so this is one of the times she got a couple of free-throws.

SCORE!

We just love to watch her play.

More free-throws. She’s good at drawing the foul.

There’s only 1 more game before the play-offs. We all cry a little, when another basketball season is over until November. We’re so sad!

Later after lunch, the kids put together their puppets. I found a kit of 4 animal puppets put out by Martha Stewart at Wal*Mart. Each animal is so easy to make > No scissors or glue needed! Just follow the directions, peel off the paper tabs, and stick!

Yes, even {A} made one. I know, she’s too old for puppets. But she does love crafting with the kids.

I asked all of the kids to lay down on our kitchen floor, so I could get this ‘puppet portrait’. I knew it would be cute, and I didn’t even step on them taking the shot!

Later that evening, we had a fancy, soft-music, table-clothed, candle-lit dinner, WITH our little valentines.

Making such a dinner took longer than we thought. They were knew recipes to us. So by the time we sat down, we were STARVING, and I never took photos of our entrees. But, we had: Lemon Pepper Chicken Sandwiches (with colby-jack cheese and thick-cut bacon) on Kaiser Rolls.

We had fun saying “Pass the Grey Poupon, please!”

We also had French Onion Soup, that was better than any we have ever had in a restaurant. It takes quite awhile to make it, but boy was it good!! The Gruyere Cheese is key!

And dessert, of course. A heart-shaped chocolate cake, with a very light whipped strawberry frosting made from scratch. Also delicious!

The next day the kids got to being creative with their abundance of straws:

And {A} baked us another treat.

It was really nice to have Valentine’s Day fall on a Saturday.

But we’re just going to carry on, celebrating love for the rest of the year.

Hope yours was wonderful too!!

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A Little Love Around the Homestead – Valentine’s Day Decor and Activity

February 13, 2009 By Laura 7 Comments

Not much to say tonight. But then, LOVE needs few words, right?
We just wanted to share with you some of our Valentine’s Day decor and activity.

Can you see me?

Triplets working on valentine cards for family, after their school work today.

Using rubber stamps and stickers is a really fun, easy and mess-free way for kids to make really cute cards.
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Is there any love for us, greater than our King’s?

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We have some very simple family Valentine’s Day plans for tomorrow.

Now doubt I’ll have my camera out to play, along the way.

Wishing you all a Happy St. Valentine’s Day full of LOVE and lots of XOXOXO‘s !!

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Mini-Masterpiece Magnets Made by Kids – Gift Ideas from Kids

February 12, 2009 By Laura 8 Comments

If you need gifts from your little kids, that they made, for loved ones, these Mini-Masterpiece Magnets are perfect!
It’s basically finger-painting fun, made into little framed pieces of colorful art, to use on refrigerators. Your recipients will love them, and your kids will be so proud they made them, themselves!
We’re teaching you how to make them!

First, just let your kids finger-paint with vibrant colors, on large quality, acid-free art paper.

We call them “Mini-Masterpiece Magnets.”

It was abstract fine art, done our way! And each one SIGNED by for the artists, no less!!
They all had a hand, in making each one. 😉

These are a fantastic gift idea from kids, that they can make themselves with love, for Christmas gifts and other occasions, for family and loved ones!
They are so fun for the kids to make themselves, and they will make them proud to have their masterpieces on display on anyone’s refrigerator!

Here’s how we made them:

We took those full sheet finger paintings, mounted them on magnetic material, cut them into 3″ x 3″ squares, and then ‘framed’ them with some black vinyl.
It’s that simple!

Then we made up sets of three, put them in those nifty clear bags I love, with a ribbon and a tag that said ‘Mini-Masterpiece Magnet Set’. : )

We thought they were so colorful and fun, and honestly, it was my favorite hand-made craft gift we made to give as Christmas gifts. We can only hope others could appreciate all of the colors and happy-emotion of these paintings, to adorn their refrigerators, perhaps to hold up a masterpiece of their own child’s, or a shopping list!

We made A LOT of them, and really…….they were truly hand picked into sets, for each recipient. They may look all the same to some, but it was a painstaking task for us silly ones, choosing which ones we wanted to give to who, and which we just had to keep!

Here’s a closer look at a few of these priceless paintings:

Big Mess. Crazy Colors. Loud Laughs. Huge Fun. = ART MADE WITH LOVE

Save this idea for a rainy day craft, or as a Christmas gift idea from your own little Picasso-People.
Our kids had a blast making them, and as an update (2016), they have been loved and enjoyed for many years by all who received this gift from the kids. They’ve been on our own refrigerator for all these years, holding up other pieces of their art, and bringing us smiles from the memories we made, making them.

Thanks for coming by for some more inspiration and ideas!

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(This post contains an affiliate links, for which we may be compensated for.)

We call them “Mini-Masterpiece Magnets.”

Here’s how we made them:

Big Mess. Crazy Colors. Loud Laughs. Huge Fun. = ART MADE WITH LOVE

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