…is:

world peace

a billion dollars

a trip around the world

perfect hair at all times

my own space shuttle

But I’ll settle for a hot bubble bath. Oh, and maybe some time to read a good book.

To celebrate this day of love I thought I would share one of my favorite songs that talks about the Greatest Love.

I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way He loves…

Instead of offering you some of my own tutorials I thought I’d share some of the Valentine’s Day crafty goodness out there. There’s a ton of clever Valentine’s Day craft ideas and fun to be had!

I am in love with these minimalist fabric and paper cards here.

Cute fabric postcard that is mailable here and here!

Awesome fabric postcards I love here.

Alternatives to traditional cards:

• tags
• felted tic tac toe game
• see-through valentine candy favors
• paper heart hanging candy containers
• Valentine crown
• Tussie Mussie
• Garland, garland and more garland goodness
• Felt cookies
• Wreath
• Felt Suckers
• Crayon hearts

With the holidays fast approaching and a sluggish economy, you may be looking for create gift ideas that are easy on your pocketbook. Blank books are great gifts for children, even those who don’t usually enjoy books or even read yet. With a little imagination you can take a blank book and make it a one-of-a-kind gift the child in your life will treasure.

• Make it into an alphabet book they can fill with words and pictures for each letter.
• Cut and paste random pictures and phrases as journal prompts.
• Add pictures of things the child loves.
• Draw in random frames for them to add their own custom art work.
• Add pictures. The child can make up a story to go with the pictures.
• Make a picture book that has no words. Let the pre-reader make up a new story each time.
• Make a drawing book that has only half of each picture. The little artist can fill in the other half.
• Add random affirmations or compliments. As they fill up the book they will come across your kind words.
• Include some “Poetry Recipes,” simple poetry ideas (like haiku or cinquains) they can practice in their book.
• Sprinkle “story starters” throughout the book for budding authors.
• Include pictures of family and friends.
• Call it something special, like a Dream Catcher or Idea Machine. Not everyone likes to journal but everyone likes to capture their ideas at one time or another.
• Add inspirational quotes or stories to feed their passion in a subject.
• Add library pockets with tags, envelopes, fold some pages and add other scrapbook paper goodies they can manipulate.
• Add words at random they can add to their writing vocabulary.
• Ask them questions about themselves on a few pages and let them talk about themselves.
• Draw some random shapes and let them doodle them into their own creations.
• Make your own dot-to-dots or coloring pages by tracing family’s or pets’ faces.
• Give it to them to start a back and forth journal with a parent. Sometimes children will write things that can be hard to say out loud and it can be a great communication tool.

Make sure to include colored pencils and an eraser so they can create to their heart’s desire. My next book arts post will give you some ideas on making books from scratch for children.

image courtesy jonathangarcia

First day of school is an exciting day for any kid who’s heading off to school in a building. New supplies, new clothes–it’s all so fresh and brimming with potential. There’s not reason home educators can’t make the day one to remember. Even if you educate your children year round, chances are there is a date on the calendar that you can point to as the start of the next school year. Here are some things I’ve done to mark the occasion with style.

• I make a special breakfast. My children love crepes so that’s usually the choice.
• There’s a new outfit. It’s fun to have something new to wear, even though we don’t invest in a whole wardrobe at one time.
• When it’s school time there’s fun music playing. I make it a big deal that it’s time for the new school year.
• I wrap all their new school supplies in wrapping paper so it looks like Christmas. After they open them they put their supplies where  they go. I love to start the year with new crayons, pencils and glue sticks. It makes it seem new and special.
• We take pictures of them all together and alone.
• We allow them to bring a friend to school–dolls, etc. Usually we don’t want these distractions, but the first day is special, after all.
• We don’t do a lot of schooly things on this day. We set up our notebooks, talk a bit about expectations for the new year and talk about how they want to grow in learning.
• We have started making time capsule books (will offer directions in the next post). In a few years we will also be able to open one each year. Right now we are only making them. They are so excited! You can make a time capsule from an oatmeal box or shoebox.

School days are fun. It’s one of the only “jobs’ you’ll ever have that has a start and a finish each year, that has such satisfation and a way to start fresh on a regular basis. I hope you’ll make the first day special and convey to your children the idea that learning is important and worthy of celebration.

As parents, as I think even more as homeschooling families, we accumulate a plethora of art projects. And after a while you start to wonder what to do with it all. You don’t feel right tossing it but you certainly don’t want piles of artsy goodness all over the house.

photo courtesy the_toe_stubber

My friend Renae had a post the other day about saving art work and of course a quandary like that just gets my mind going. I have to write a post when I started a mental list of some potential ideas for you to consider. Keep in mind these are the keepers, the best stuff. You don’t have to keep it all, just keep the stuff worth saving and happily toss the rest when the kids aren’t looking.

• Laminate them. Punch holes in the corners and connect them with jump rings to make a curtain of art for a wall or a room divider or to cover a window.
• Laminate them to use as placemats.
• scan for use as a screensaver.
• Use them as wallpaper. Arrange them corner to corner like bricks and attach to the wall with sticky tack. When you want to change it up, just pull them down.
• Mount a piece on heavy cardboard with glue and cut into puzzle pieces. before you cut, make sure to scan it to make putting the puzzle back together a lot easier. Mail it to a relative or friend.
• Make a scrapbook. Google that if you need to know.
• Affix a weighted string to the ceiling and hang art on the string with clips or two magnets stuck together.
• Mail them to your relatives.
• Cut them up for collage or other projects.
• Recycle them. Use a different medium to add to it, trade pictures with siblings and add to the picture.
• Enter them in a contest.
• Use them as story book illustrations.
• Scan them and make T-shirts.
• Use them as story prompts.
• Trade art with another family. Take turns guessing the subject of the piece.
• Hold an art show. Display your art all over the house and invite friends and family. Serve simple snacks and have a short discussion on art appreciation or how to study a painting.
• Scan and print on fabric for use as pillows, quilt squares, tote bags or clothing.
• For 3-D things, take pictures of them. And for smaller things a high shelf or curio cabinet can be a nice place to showcase the best of the best.

Do you have any idea how much God loves you? He is crazy about you. You are always on His mind. He wrote you a valentine–His Word. God is for you. He is in love with you as His child. Drink it in

For this Valentine’s Day I thought I would offer you a little printable reminder of God’s love. Do you know all the things God’s love does for you? This list comes two on a page so you can print out a few and put them all over: the fridge, the mirror, your Bible. You may even want to mail one to a friend.

What God’s Love Does for Me

Happy Valentine’s Day!

For my mom’s Mother’s Day gift this year I went the handmade route. I made her a cute little hanging plaque with a poem I wrote just for her. Unfortunately I forgot to scan it before I gave it (sorry!). In case you don’t know, a cinquain is a 5 line poem that goes like this:

one word (noun)
two adjectives about the noun
three verbs about the noun
a four-word phrase about the noun
another word for the noun

Mine went like this:

To all my online and IRL friends

Merry Christmas!

Have a wonderful Christmas and a very very happy New year! I pray your home will be filled with love and laughter and the Spirit of Christmas. May your new year be filled with God’s abundant blessings and the joy of serving the living God.

If you know me at all, you know I love the Christmas season. There’s nothing like it. I love the music, the gift of Christ, the decorations, the food, the family traditions, all of it. It’s great stuff.

Since we have school all year long we can take time to stop and smell the roses evergreen. We usually follow a loose plan for the month of December which includes the following, in no particular order:

• Advent inductive study 
• decorating the house
• cooking
• crafts/art
• games
• shopping
• making gifts for family and friends
• going to parties
• participating in our church’s children’s Christmas production
• Decorating our Jesse Tree

The list is big but I set aside one day each week of December for an activity. For example, Mondays are craft day, Tuesdays are for special games, Fridays are for baking, etc. This gives us a good variety and the kids know what they can look forward to. It also helps us to pace ourselves so we don’t get overly busy.

Also we have started reading Lynne Cheney’s book about Washington on Christmas Eve as a new tradition. It’s good to teach our children to be mindful of the sacrifices made for our liberty.

The pace is relaxed and we do a sort of unschooling thing because we are always learning, just not is a formal way. I also have tons of printables, Christmas-themed books and more for those bored moments and read-alouds. We can snuggle and talk about the true meaning of Christmas as we enjoy the tree, Christmas music and some hot cocoa. Hurry up December!