Little visitors

Ashni turned her rain gauge that we made at Home Depot into a bird feeder. Apparently birds are way more interesting than the amount of rainfall in the backyard. She hasn't attracted many birds yet, but we did have this little visitor this morning. He hung around for quite awhile until Zion shrieked and scared him away.

More Baby Shoes

I'm working on some more baby shoes for Amelia's. These are all made with upcycled material and lined with felt. The cream colored ones are from a linen curtain and the darker tan ones are from some lightweight wool that I got from a craft circle. I really like the pair with the little owl on them. I did the owl with a freezer paper stencil. I think they came out really cute. I still need to add snaps to the mary janes, but I can't seem to find the snaps that I bought. SO, it's off to Walmart to get another package of snaps....blah.

What did we do today?

The longer we homeschool, the more I incorporate some unschooling philosophies into our routine. So this is what we did today:

Jena woke up and wanted to put together her 3-D puzzle of the sphinx. So, she and Granny spent all morning putting together the sphinx. Well, after about an hour, Granny was over the sphinx. Jena put together most of it herself. She's very proud and said it was the most complicated thing that she has ever put together by herself.



Ashni does not do tedious, complicated projects well (so no sphinx for her), so she worked on some pages in her reading workbook, helped Bijou with some reading on Starfall, played in the driveway for a while. Then she decided that she wanted turn her rain gauge that she made at Home Depot into a bird feeder. Here is the sign that she made for the birds. (that should say E-A-T)


Bijou wanted to do Starfall all morning. I'm happy that she has learned to use the mouse and can navigate the site on her own. It really comes in handy when I need to keep her occupied without me. Then she drew some pictures. I like watching how her drawings develop with age. This one is her grandfather, her great great grandmother and me (I think).


I have been working on a mini table top foosball table inspired by this one over at Filth Wizardry. Excuse the rubber bands, the glue is still drying. I used some more scraps from the garage to make the box. The bottom is covered in green felt and the players are clothes pins. The girls (and the husband) love foosball but there is no room in our house for anything else. It's certainly not a "regulation" foosball table, but it'll work.

Wordless Wednesday...sisters

Play Kitchen

Last summer I made the second coming of our cardboard play kitchen that was left behind in St. Croix when we moved. I really liked the cardboard kitchen, but I wanted something sturdier that would last for the next few years. Wooden kitchens in the store are ridiculously expensive and I have been continually inspired by all of the great DIY kitchens like this one over at Kristen Can (and these, oh and this one)! I've been sort of on a hunt for the right piece of furniture (preferable discarded or really cheap second hand) to recon, but haven't been able to find anything. So, yesterday we went out for our first round of yard sale hopping for the season and happened upon a guy selling some old furniture. So I bought this nightstand for $5.


The big girls helped me prime and paint all of the pieces. The nightstand had a drawer that I removed and used the front panel from a different drawer to make the oven door. I had some hinges left over from the cedar chest project back in the fall. The kitchen fixture was part of the cardboard kitchen. It's made from wooden blocks from the kids' block bin, spray painted silver.


I painted the wooden knobs for the stove and Mod Podged the temperature dial onto the back splash. The sink is a plastic bowl that we already had. The last little touch that I really like is the ceramic tiles along the back splash and the shelves. I think it turned out pretty nice.

(gotta love the crazy hair and the galaxy PJ's)

So with a weekend's worth of worth, the little girls have a sturdy wooden kitchen that should last them until they get sick of playing with it. It was a really cheap project in the end. Here are the materials and price breakdown:

nightstand: $5
shelf: $5
wooden knobs: $1.97 (for a package of two. I used two packages)
sandpaper: $2.97
ceramic tiles: $.99 for 8 at Goodwill
blue/green baskets; $1 for 2 at the Dollar Store (my favorite place!)
blocks: FREE
bowl: FREE
paint: FREE
TOTAL: about $19

Oh and I made these cute little salt and pepper shakers from two wooden blocks. I painted them blue with black trim, used my favorite letter stamps for the "S" and the "P" and hot glued a large button to the top of each one. They are my favorite part of the whole project!

Opening Exhibit

So, I don't think I've ever actually posted about my art. The art that is my profession....hmph. Well, anyway, tonight was the opening reception for the exhibit that I am currently in. The opening turned out nice. There was a good crowd and I made some connections and met a some good people. Here's some pictures of the kids and some of my art.

Wordless Wednesday...Gardening 101