FREE Patterns

Have you ever been to Art Projects for Kids? If not, run there, right now, but be prepared to stay for a long, long time. Kathy Barbro is an experienced and gifted art teacher, and she shares over 600 projects on her blog. Whenever I need inspiration for kid crafts, she's one of the first places I turn.

She shared a wonderful watercolor project for Winter Birch Trees. I'm going to let Kathy give you the actual directions, but I'll share our enjoyable experience making our own trees. Michelle and I enjoyed the experience as much as the wee ones. The kids were able to do everything themselves except I cut numerous long strips of tape for Pixie, but she decided on the placement and did the rest herself. Oh, I also taped the paper to the table, both to hold it in place and to create the matted look border. I have plans for a number of other projects using this technique.

Taping to table, cutting strips, and making tape trees on watercolor paper.

Watercoloring the whole thing.

Sprinkling with Kosher salt.

Drying. If you are the impatient type... like one little Pixie we know... you can speed the drying with a blow drier!

Removing the tape.

Adding lines on tree, shadows and snow.

Gammy's 

Mommy's

Bug's

Fairy's

Pixie's

It's your turn now :)

FINALLY was able to wake up to snow. Granted... it's only 1", and granted... it's suppose to rain in a couple of days and it will probably be all gone, but this morning I feel like I'm 5 years old and I want to get on snow clothes and go outside and play! I have been waiting to share our Snowflake Applique Block until there was actually snow on the ground :) As always, the applique was designed to fit on a 6" block, but can be enlarged or reduced to meet your needs. The pattern can be found HERE. Enjoy!

BTW... If you are looking for a swell idea for using this applique, make sure to check back next week. Michelle will be sharing an awesome project. Get excited... very excited ;)

The Little Robin Grieves - Nursery Rhyme
 

The little robin grieves
When the snow is on the ground,
For the trees have no leaves,
And no berries can be found.
 

The air is cold, the worms are hid;
For robin here what can be done?
Let's throw around some crumbs of bread,
And then he'll live till snow is gone.
 

The other day I came upon a stack of large flip charts. Do they even use those any more? Anyway... opening them brought on a ton of delightful memories.

I didn't homeschool my children. To be honest, at the time, I only knew of 1 family that homeschooled, and the thought never even crossed by mind. Instead, I surrounded our children with enrichment learning, and I think my family would all agree, that some of their best learning, certainly the most enjoyable and memorable, occurred within the family. One of the things I always did, was to print poems on flip charts, which were displayed in our family room, which I then surrounded with picture books and resource books on the topic. We kept a poem up until everyone had a chance to mostly memorize it... at least become intimately familiar with it... and we had enjoyed crafts and outings that corresponded with it.
 

I thought it would be fun to share some of the poems that the wee ones haven't learned yet.  The nursery rhyme, The Little Robin Grieves, has long been one of our favorites. I think I like the poem so much because it speaks of the seasons and encourages us to help these lovely creatures :)   
 

Although we haven't gotten any noteworthy snow yet, the above picture was taken last year, our feathered friends still appreciate the food and heated water we provide for them. 

Above is this year's winter picture, sans snow or sun!!!

If you've never looked at Michelle's Winter Wonderland Curriculum, you are in for a treat. Although it is geared to preschool/kindergarten, many of the activities will be enjoyable for children of all ages and it has a list of some wonderful winter books. One of the crafts we will be doing this week is to make the ever popular pinecone feeders. The tutorial is available in the Winter Wonderland Curriculum. We will doing other activities, which we will be sharing, too.
 

BTW... we have many books on winter, birds and animals in winter, but I just read a review on the book, A Bird in Winter by Hélène Kérillis and Stéphane Gire , and thought it would be perfect. It was inspired by Pieter Breugel's painting, Hunters in the Snow, and is about an eight year old peasant girl named Mayken who finds an injured bird in the snow. She nurses the bird back to health. Not only is the book's water colors suppose to be lovely, but I'm hoping it demonstrates the joy in helping all creatures, great and small :)
 

Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1565)

The book is due in on Tuesday. I'll do a review on it them :) And, fingers crossed... Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!
 

I woke up at 6:00 Monday morning with an idea. I must dream in crafts, because I often wake up with some scathingly brilliant or totally lame idea... my dreams don't always transfer well to wakefulness! Anyway, I knew I wanted to add something to Bug's Art Supply Messenger Bag, and somewhere in the night I decided to make a key chain of sorts instead of appliqueing a design on the bag. It didn't take me long to decide what I wanted to make. Bug Loves Legos, and is currently into the Ninjagos.

So, I drew out a pattern based on his favorite character, Kai. I am so pleased with the way it turned out and I think Bug is going to love it! Do you have someone in your life that is into Legos? If you do, this might be the perfect gift to whip up... just in time for the holidays :)

The original post, Bug's Christmas Gift, can be found HERE.

Materials:
Felt
Embroidery floss
2 split rings (key rings)
Copy of the pattern

Note: If you haven't done so already, you may want to read How to Cut Out Felt.

Note: Our stitch glossary can be found HERE.

Make a copy of the pattern.

Cut out the pieces out of felt. Note: When you cut out the hood, your background felt will become the face of the ninja. Pick out the background color you want for the face.

Begin by laying out all the pattern pieces on the front background.

Remove all the pieces except the arms and hands. Pin or staple them in place. Sew the hands on using a running stitch and 1 strand of floss. Sew the arms over the hands with a blanket stitch and 2 strands of floss.

Sew on the body using a blanket stitch and 2 strands of floss.

Position the hood on the body. Using a disappearing marker, mark the opening of the hood. Remove the hood, and draw on the eye brows and eyes using the pattern as a guide. Using a stem stitch and 3 strands of floss, embroider the eye brows. Using a detached chain stitch and 3 strands of floss, add eyes. 

Sew on the hood using a running stitch and 2 strands of floss around the outer edge of the hood, and using a blanket stitch and 2 strands of floss, sew around the hood opening.

Add the chest detail: Add the belt, then the ties, using a running stitch and 2 strands of floss. Sew on the small face using a running stitch and 2 strands of floss. Add the eyes, nose and mouth using a straight stitch and 2 strands of floss. Using a stem stitch and 6 strands of floss, add the roping. (Note: I didn't get a photo at this stage

If you wish to add initials to the back of the key chain, do it now using a stem stitch and 6 strands of floss.

With wrong sides together, blanket stitch the front to the back using 2 strands of floss. Cut out a small circle for the key rings. (This will become an eyelet.) Using a blanket stitch and 2 strands of floss, embroider around the entire eyelet. Keep your stitches close together to give strength to the opening. To reinforce. you can go around the circle a second time.

Put one of the key rings through the eyelet. Put a second key ring through the first and attach it to a bag, keys, etc.

"Go Ninja, Go Ninja, GO!" Okay... I know this song is for a VERY different group of ninjas, but I couldn't resist this piece of nostalgia ;) Ya' gotta admit, it's a hoot :)

Back in early November, I had my idea for Bug's Christmas gift. He LOVES to draw, and I thought it was high time he had his own supplies. So, I got him a sketch book, a couple of "how to draw" books, and a nice set of pencils and erasers. 

I think he will really enjoy the drawing books. The first is The Boys' Guide to Drawing by Aaron Sautter. It has "aliens, warriors, robot and other cool stuff". The sketches get harder as you progress through the book. The other book is Drawing Dragons by Sandra Staple. It teaches you "how to create fantastic fire~breathing dragons" and such. This book is more complicated than the first, but the pictures are awe inspiring, and like the other book, the drawings become more complex as you make your way through the book. The Kohinoor Gioconda 24 Piewce Drawing Set includes pencils, erasers, chalk and charcoal. Lots to experiment with. And, of course, I included some Strathmore Drawing Paper.

Next, I needed something to put everything in. I thought of making him a messenger bag, but I must admit, I decided to buy one instead. I started looking at kid's bags but they were too small, and had designs on them that Bug would consider babyish. Finally, I hit some shops in town. The price tags were all very dear! Did I really want to spend $50.00 just on a bag? Then, I got lucky. I was in Aeropostale. I didn't see any bags, so I asked. The manager said there were a few in the back left over from a promotion. She brought out the bag, and it too was $50.00. (Must be the going rate for messenger bags this year :) As I was hemming and hawing, she did a price check, and it was reduced to $15.00! Well... YAY! So, I bought the bag.

It is really a cool bag. It has a distressed look about it, too. Just the kind of place to put all your treasured work. I did want to do SOMETHING to add a little panache and individualize it. I considered appliqueing something on it, than decided it would look more "grown up" to add a tag. After considering Bug's favorite things, I made a keychain to look like Kai, a Lego Ninjago. I also embroidered his initials on the back.

And here is the final result...

Although I think Bug will like his drawing supplies, I know he is going to LOVE Kai. Tomorrow I will share the pattern I made just in case you have a Ninjago lover in your life :)