Happy Thanksgiving

(Grace's leaf girl creation using our pressed leaves from Michigan, inspired by (this) book.)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Pomander Balls

Grace's teacher is a bit apposed to the traditional classroom parties during the holidays. Instead she prefers to complete a craft with the children which she believes will leave them with fond memories and perhaps a desire to develop new traditions within their own family. So yesterday, in celebration of Thanksgiving, the children (and myself included) made pomander balls.




The required supplies were minimal (an orange, toothpick, cloves, spices and ribbon) but the end result was truly beautiful. Making pomander balls was certainly a more enriching experience than a party could have ever been. Go ahead and make one for yourself, I think you'll agree too!

Thanksgiving Cookies

When Grace arrived home from school this afternoon we immediately headed into the kitchen to make Thanksgiving cookies. Since we hadn't done any crafting or baking for the holiday, I thought sugar cookies would be a good place to start.


Grace came up with a novel idea - making turkey cookies from her hand print. She created a template of her hands using drawing paper. Then (with assistance) she placed the template on the dough and traced around it with a knife. Once the cookies were baked and cooled she decorated them.


She gobbled one up as her after dinner treat. So not only were they cute, but they were tasty too - you can't beat that!

Acorn People

Sorry for the lack of posting around here, but I've been up to my elbows in acorns. The acorn people have officially been made and each one has found itself a new home. Since they sold out so fast, I'm now receiving orders to make more.


And here I leave you with a picture of Grace, which was taken during one of our acorn collecting adventures......


Have a great day!

Plants for Sale

Upon entering Grace's classroom this morning the teacher handed me three plastic shopping bags filled with bare-root plants. This is yet another component of the infamous "Unless Project".

When Grace arrived home from school we potted each of the eighteen plants and gave them a thorough watering. (Oh I neglected to mention that Sophie "helped" out too by rooting around the plastic bags and ingesting several mouthfuls of potting soil.) So now we're keeping our fingers crossed that we can keep these beautiful plants alive until they can be sold.




Would anyone like to purchase an aloe or snake plant? We assure you that it's for a great cause!

Foraging

During my latest brainstorming session I came up with the idea of making little acorn people for the "Unless Project". Since the goal of this project is to sell items made from natural materials, the acorn boys and girls fit the bill.

After receiving the teacher's approval, Grace set out into the backyard foraging for acorns. She was quite determined to find every brown acorn (most remain green) within reach on the tree, since they're "the ripest and most beautiful".




Now that our basket is brimming with acorns, the construction phase can begin - bring on the power tools and hot glue gun!

Unless Project

Grace's class has begun a new endeavor called the Unless Project. What's the Unless Project you ask... well it's community service project that was inspired by Dr. Seuss's book, "The Lorax". The teacher hopes it will increase environmental awareness and in turn have the children respect the gifts that nature gives to them. A quote from the book sums it up, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not!".

This afternoon Grace and I began the first phase of the project by making "Unless Necklaces". (You may remember my post about the mulch with the naturally occurring hole, well now that mulch is being put to good use.) She was quite eager to lend a hand and in no time we made twenty five necklaces together - she strung the beads and I tied the knots.




All of the money raised, (from selling necklaces to plants), will benefit the abandoned animals in our community. The teacher's goal for this year is $1,200 - perhaps I better get back to making necklaces!