A is for Apple Preschool Unit

One of my most favorite preschool units that I've ever done is A is for Apple. I've done it for a few years now, and have been able to tweak it here and there, and narrow it down to the activities that I really love. The kids always seem to have a good time with it too. I usually base my unit studies around a theme (such as apples) and have a story to go with. The story I picked to go with our apple unit was Johnny Appleseed A Poem by Reeve Lindbergh. The poem is cute, and rhymes, but what I really like are the pictures. They are fun, and have little animals all over the place that the kids love to look for while I'm reading.

 

Because I'm also home schooling a first grader and a kindergartener, my preschool time has to be severally limited to one activity a day. So we read the book and then do an activity and call it good. I gear the activities towards my preschooler, but the other two are allowed to participate if they want to, and they usually choose to.

 
The first day we made letter A apples out of cardstock. I had all the pieces cut out before hand, so all the kids had to do was glue it together. My goal this time around, is to make a picture of the letter every time we do one, and then hang them on the closet door as we go, so that the kids can see how their alphabet is progressing.

The second day we played a math game. Each player gets a placemat that has ten apples on it. Each apple has a number 1-10. In my hand I hold 10 apple shaped cards. The person who is it draws an apple card from me, then matches it to the number on their placemat. Once they match it correctly, they get to pick out the corresponding number of fishy crackers (or whatever treat you choose) and place them on the number card. Once all the cards run out, everyone gets to eat their crackers, and you shuffle the cards and start over. It's pretty simple, but my kids LOVED it.

Download the template here. You’ll want to print 2. One for the board, and one for the cards.

On the third day we made Wassail. We usually only make it at Halloween, but this apple unit gave me a good excuse. Here's the recipe:

Wassail
6 cups cranberry juice
24 cup apple cider (not juice, cider)
6-8 cinnamon sticks
1 Tbsp whole cloves

Pour cranberry juice into large pan. Pour in cider. Add in cinnamon sticks and cloves. (You can wrap them in a cheese cloth if you want, or just scoop them our with a slotted spoon at the end.) Bring everything to a boil. Simmer for 25-30 minutes. Serve. Store in a pitcher in refrigerator and reheat when needed.

On the fourth day we did apple lacing cards, which I made by drawing an apple onto a piece of card stock, coloring it, cutting it out, laminating it, and punching wholes around the edges. I used red yarn as the string. Super easy, very entertaining, and they'll be good for sticking in the diaper bag later, when we're at the doctor's office, or church.

For day five we made a paper plate apple art project by cutting off the sides of a paper plate and painting the top and bottom red, and drawing seeds in the middle. Use the sides you cut off to make the leaf and the stem, and either color or paint them green and brown. I did have my kids do the cutting on this part to help with the fine motor skills. It's not a very hard cut. Then, to throw a little science into the mix, we used my plate to label all the parts of the apple, stem, leaf, skin, flesh, core, and seeds. And briefly talked about how if you planted an apple seed, it would eventually grow into an apple tree.

Stay tuned for a B is for Boat themed unit.

 

An Obsession You’re Dyeing to Try

Meet my latest obsession:

 

RIT fabric dye, come to Mama! I’ve been having a blast with these little boxes lately. But first, some back story, so that when you decide I’m off my rocker, you’ll at least know why. ;)

 

A friend of mine recommended the book The Child Whisperer by Carol Tuttle to me. Basically, it’s a parenting book that categorizes children (and everything, really) into four Types, based on their personality, movement, facial features, etc., and then gives parenting ideas based on which Type your child falls under. It was a great book, I highly recommend it. But that’s not what this post is about.

 

Once I found out my children’s Types, I was really curious to know mine. So, I read another book by Carol Tuttle called It’s Just My Nature. Which was very helpful in figuring out myself. That book lead me to a third book by Carol called Dressing Your Truth, which is basically a fashion guide based on the Type system. I have loved this system, and for the first time in my life, feel like I have a clue about my own fashion. It’s been great. And for more information about the system, and a free 8-course video on it, look here.

 

And finally, on to the point of this post…now that I know what colors, textures, and styles I’m supposed to wear, it’s time to overhaul my wardrobe. I can’t afford to go out and spend a million dollars on clothes, so I experimented with the next best thing. Fabric dye.

 

That sounds really final, doesn’t it? Haha! It is, but it’s also a lot easier than you might think. I started out really easy, by dirtying up some jeans.

What you’ll need

• a pair of jeans
• some thick rubber gloves
• 1/2 cup of salt
• something to stir with that you don’t care about,  I use the broken off end of a wooden broom handle
• a 5 gallon bucket that you don’t care about (you can get them from WalMart for like $5)
• RIT powder dye, in the colors  you want

Step 1

Boil 28 cups of water in a large pot on the stove.

Step 2

Pour boiling water into 5 gallon bucket. Take your bucket in the garage, or outside onto a surface you don’t care if it gets dye spilled on it, just in case. Put on your gloves. Add Salt. Add Dye. Stir well, and allow to sit until the dye has dissolved (about 5 minutes.)

 

Dye recipe for dirty jeans: 

1 pkg. Tan for dark jeans

1 – 2 tsp Golden Yellow

½ tsp Dark Brown

(use less Golden Yellow for lighter jeans)

Step 3

Get your jeans sopping wet in the sink.

 

Step 4

Put jeans into dye mixture, and stir with wooden stick for 15-30 minutes, depending on how dark you want the dye to set, You want the clothes to be moving pretty much the entire time they’re in the dye, so that they dye evenly.

Step 5

Wring out the clothing items. Then move them to a sink (stainless steel, the dye will stain a porcelain sink) and rinse with warm water. Then again with cold water, until the water runs clear. This will help the dye set.

Step 6

Wash clothing in washing machine on cold, with a 1/2 cup vinegar. Dry in the dryer, or hang to dry.

 

Ta-da! Dirty jeans.

Here’s what they look like on.

I’ve been pretty much dying clothes like crazy since I discovered this. Here a few other helpful tips.

Only dye white, or really light colors.

Natural fibers dye the best.

You can dispose of your dye water down a stainless steel sink, RIT brand is environmentally friendly.

The best place to order the colors you want is Amazon.

I’ve done a couple more color combos that I’ll share with you.

Bittersweet Recipe – comes out kind of a bright red color, it’s beautiful, but I didn’t take any pics, sorry!

1 pkg Golden Yellow.......1 Tbsp Scarlet

 

Peacock Blue Recipe – For this one I tried the liquid dye, so these amounts are for liquid, not powder. Same directions as above though. I also tried a grey sweater, it stayed gray but had a blue tint to it.

1/2 c. Royal Blue.......1 Tbsp. Kelly Green

 

Rust Recipe – This one has probably been my favorite so far.

1 pkg Tangerine..............1 Tbsp Cocoa Brown

 

Notice how much better this cardigan looks in rust.

 

For more recipes for over 500 colors, visit the RIT dye website and check out their formula guide. It’ll tell you the combos you need to create any color you can imagine.

 

Happy Dyeing!

 

Homemade laundry soap

Nicole again,

I was very skeptical at first about trying a “homemade laundry soap” I have read a lot about it and some people swear by them, but I really like my gain laundry soap that makes my laundry smell amazing. But as I was going through my linen closet organizing (getting rid of a ton of junk) I came across some ivory soap. Then that got me thinking hey I should try to make some laundry soap it would be free and I have all the stuff so  not too much harm would be done. So I gave it a try…..

Recipe:

• 1 Bar of ivory soap
• 1 Cup of Borax
• 1 Cup of Washing Soda
• 2 Gallons of water
• and a big container or two milk jugs like I used

I used this as a liquid since I'm not too fond of powder detergents,  you can shave the soap and mix it with the borax and washing soda and tada you have some laundry soap, but I like powder.

First you shave the ivory soap which can be a pain, or if you are feeling ambitious and your microwave isn’t silly like mine you can microwave it for 60 to 90 seconds and watch it explode, then after it cools break it into little tiny pieces. I had to strain my arm and shave it :( Anyways, after you have your soap in little pieces you are going to put it in a BIG pot, something that will fit the two gallons of water (if you dont have a big pot dont worry just make sure you have a big container like a bucket handy so you can add everything together). You will wan to add about 1/4 gallon of water to your soap and stir it till it dissolves, it should be on medium heat. Mine created a lot of suds which is ok.

After the soap is all dissolved take the pot off the heat and add the borax and washing soda, add about half a gallon of water (make it hot tap water). Stir till it all dissolves. If you have a big pot then just add the rest of the water, if not then get a bucket or a plastic container something that will hold all two gallons of water. You will want to add the rest of the water and let it sit over night.

The next morning it will be the weirdest thing you have ever seen. No there is not a jelly fish in your newly made laundry soap,. just the reaction of all the ingredients. You can mix it with a spoon and put it in the container and your done. Or if you are like me and a little perfectionist, and you dont jelly fish washing your clothing, you can blend it in a food processor then add it to the container of your choice.

Before each load you will want to give it a good shake or stir (milk jugs or juice containers are the best you can put the lid on and shake it) then add 1/3 cup to each load.

Review: I like it, but it doesn't have a scent to it really after the clothing is dried. Also it makes clothing a little static, but a dryer sheet can fix both of those problems. I just add one or two depending on the load amount. Also I added vinegar as my rinse agent and it seemed to do really good at making the clothing really soft.

Another thing you can add those little purex crystals, or bounce crystals to the washer and that would make them smell nice.

**If you want to use Zote or Fels-Naptha laundry soap you will want to use only HALF a bar, you can also you homemade soap.

 

homemade dishwashing powder

Nicole here, I’ve been on a make your own stuff kick lately and thought this week I would share some recipes that I have tried and liked. Give them a shot you might even like them and never buy store bought stuff anymore, or you can experiment like me and decide yeah I like my gain soap.

Dishwasher Detergent Recipe

• 1 cup borax
• 1 cup washing soda
• 1/2 cup Lemi Shine (Citric Acid)
• 1/2 cup kosher salt (for scrubbing action)

You will want to mix all the ingredients and put them in an air tight container, it will be a hard as a rock if moisture gets to it. Then I have a special plastic tablespoon that I use just for my powder. I leave mine under the kitchen sink and grab it when I start a load of dishes. Each batch yields 24 ounces of detergent. It costs around .06 cents per load which is amazing compared to store bought stuff.

Use 1 Tbsp per load (you can use a heaping tablespoon if you feel the need, but we do not).

I found all the ingredients at my local Winco. The lemi shine is in the dish wash aisle and the others are by the laundry soap aisle.

Another thing I have seen but haven’t tried is adding two to three packs of lemon koolaid (yes you can use the cheap off brand). Apparently it adds a nice scent and the lemon acts as a added cleaner and antibacterial.

Rinse Aid: I use vinegar  in my rinse agent compartment. It doesnt leave a weird smell, and it actually works really good for hard water spots.

Next post will be laundry soap, which i was very skeptical of…..

Heart Trees

 

Today I thought we’d try to liven things up a bit at our house with a Valentine’s Day art project. Heart trees. They looked so cute and unassuming on Pinterest, but they turned out to be a lot more involved than I’d originally thought. Does this ever happen to you? You get smack in the middle of an activity with your kids before you realize that you bit off a little more than you bargained for. Haha! Oh well, pressing forward…

 

The hand print tree-trunk part went fine. We’ve done that before.

 

 

But making the hearts got tricky. I thought the boys (ages 6 and 4) would be able to do the hearts by themselves, but since the paper strips were pretty small, it took a lot more coordination, and I ended up making most of the hearts (my 6 year old did some, but lost interest after about 8 hearts) and just having the kids glue them on. First, you have to do kind of a funky, twisty thing with the paper to get the staple in the right place.

Then you have to squish the bottom of the heart into a point.

 

Once you have a bunch of hearts, you can glue them into place fairly easily. And the trees do turn out super cute when they’re finished. Maybe a good solution would be to just have longer paper strips (and therefore bigger hearts), and that way the kids could do it all on their own. Either way, we finished the project. It took longer than I wanted it to, but it was still festive and fun. And now we have some great Valentines décor hanging up for all to see.

My February “Mantle”

 

Okay, so I really don’t have a “mantle.” But we will just call it that! Haha! It is actually the top part of our gorgeous entertainment center. It was part of the house when we bought it last year. Sorry for the photo, it was getting dark!

 

I LOVE Valentine’s day. But I don’t usually go all out and decorate for it like I do for Christmas. But I wanted a little something. Here is a better look at it:

 

I think it turned out so very cute! Let me break down from left to right what I did to put together this little Valentine’s vignette. First, I wanted some kind of white flower. Because it’s still winter, I didn’t want to go all out for colorful pink or red flowers. You might be thinking, “Why didn’t you go for roses?” Well, I didn’t want it to be too “cliché Valentine’s décor.” I stopped in at my local Dollar Tree and snagged these little white berry things. I have a lovely white teapot set and I borrowed the sugar bowl for the berries to rest in. I also wanted some kind of weather book to go with the décor. I didn’t have any and I wasn’t in the mood to run to my second hand store. So I found some old college books from my hubbies first year in school and ripped off the covers. I know! Shame on me! But here’s the deal: We have tried to sell them back three times. So I didn’t feel bad using them for decoration. Some of the pages were too perfect and too white. I didn’t have any stain on me so I SUPER improvised! I used Vanilla Extract and dry Hot Chocolate mix (yes, you read that right!). I smudged the vanilla over the bindings and pages and then rubbed the dry cocoa into it. Perfect weathered look! I tied them together with some girly baker’s twine. Perfect!

 

Onto the logs with the flowery “things.” Have you ever see “The Lorax?” Well, I decided that these ruffle things look like the Truffula trees from that movie (kinda). But, like I said before, I wanted to do something different from the normal flower thing. I had Styrofoam balls and hand and some lovely left over red fabric. I ripped the fabric into strips, sewed the largest stitch on my sewing machine down the middle, and gathered the stitch by hand. Then I hot glued the fabric to the balls. Easy peasy! To keep them on the logs, (which my husband cut for me), I drove a tooth pick in and then attached the Styrofoam ball to it. Done!

 

 

Next is my very favorite part! The middle log with the heart carved into it. I attempted to carve a heart by myself with a kitchen knife. Ya….. dumb, I know. When my husband got home from work, I wanted to throw the stupid thing through the window! I only managed to carve a FAINT line of a heart. I asked if he would be willing to help. He went to the garage and I went to the kitchen to eat chocolate.

Anyway, He came back with this spectacular carved heart! I couldn’t believe it! So much more than I expected! The next day, he picked up an inexpensive wood burning kit from Wal-Mart and I burned our initials into it. We also lined the heard with the burning tool to make it pop a bit more! Don’t you love it?!

 

The last thing on the right is another white dish with a candle in it. I wanted to “fluff” it up, so I added some coffee filters around it. I did stick some Chinese Cherry blossoms (fake) around the right side to give it a little extra oomph. Then sprinkled the front with some left over berried and WALAH! I think it turned out so cute!

Do you decorate for Valentine’s Day? I’d love to hear from you and see emails. Thanks so much!

 

Guest Post from “Amber May Be…”

Hey Everyone! We would like to introduce you to Amber from Amber May Be….  Her blog is so incredibly cute, full of tons of fun stuff! Hop over and check her out! Today, she is guest posting, sharing an adorable mail organizer she made!

 

DIY Mail Organizer

I don’t know about you, but for me one of the hardest parts about keeping our home organized is taking care of the paper war. At my house that means mail. I wasn’t motivated to organize my mail into a cluttered drawer so I made this cute organizer to help out. I was inspired by a pin that I can’t find for the life of me, but please note that somewhere out there is a creative person with a cute mail organizer that looks a lot like this one ;).

This is a super simple craft. All you need is an old picture frame, some clothespins, scrapbook paper, Elmer's glue, embroidery floss and push pins.

Here are the steps:

1. Push 3 push pins into one side of your frame and two into the other as shown. Stagger the push pins and leave a little space between the head of the pin and the frame, you don’t want them flush with the wood/plastic.

2. Tie the end of your embroidery floss around the top right push pins and then lead across the front of the frame to the top left pin, wrap around, and lead it to the middle right pin where you once again wrap it around the pin, continue this in a zig-zag pattern across the frame until you have reached the last pin, finish it by tying the floss in a simple knot.

3. Now cut your cute paper to the size of your clothespins and glue them on. Let them dry and hang the clothespins on the embroidery floss. If you want you can write on your clothespins or even print onto the paper different categories. I have in, out, and bills on mine.

There you have it! Super simple J Oh, and for a bonus tip, you see all those empty envelopes? Those are the envelopes sent to us by credit card companies and other spammy places. I keep them so I don’t have to purchase envelopes, I might as well get some use out of annoying junk mail.

Thanks and happy mail organizing!

- Amber