Summer Surprise Bags!

  Aloha and long time no see. {As we say here in Hawaii:)} I miss my blog! I have been busily sewing every day for the last month and a half. I just haven't done any blog projects. With the fourth of July coming up I am planning a few fun items to create.

 Every day that I have been sewing, I have had to come up with simple ideas to keep my kids busy. I recently started a Summer Surprise bag. Each brown bag is labeled with a day of the week. In each bag there are different activities for that individual day. For instance, Monday: Uno cards, beads and string for jewelry making, and sign language alphabet flashcards. Tuesday: Sheets of craft foam, pipe cleaners, and cutouts for name signs. Go fish cards and card stock labels with words like Chair, Door, and Family Room. You get the idea. I kept the bags simple so that they wouldn't want one bag over the other. This way they have no idea what is in the surprise bag. It's been well received. With the daily Summer Surprise they also break up the day by outside play, boardgames, reading, imaginative play and either time on the Wii or an afternoon movie and popcorn. 

  To break up our sewing week we often head out to the library, park or of course the beach. My older boys have been really helpful. Taking on chores and even spending time with their little sisters. Teaching them to draw, review math or new skills on the Wii. Somehow we have had a nice summer, thus far, of people learning how to get along and help each other out around here. Yesterday, everyone helped to prepare dinner. It was nice. The talking, laughing and just enjoying each others company.
  Well, I'm off to sew once again. Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to check out some of my past ideas for Summer fun. 

 Aloha!

~Christie

Preschool: Halloween Flashcards

Yeah, I guess you'd have to say 

that I am a big fan of the "cutesy" Halloween. 

Love the colors...so much fun. 

I put some Halloween themed flashcards 

and worksheet together for the preschooler. 

She is eager to read and loves the holiday themes. 

I thought I'd share them with you.

 Halloween Flashcards

 Word Match

~~ ~Christie

Ocean Sensory Bin

It's no secret that I absolutely love the ocean.

How could you not possibly just admire it?

With school starting and preparing for a preschool curriculum,

I decided to put together an ocean sensory bin. 

I used lentils for the floor and 

seashore items that we had previously collected.

I think it will be successful because 

my 4 year old caught me putting it together

and wouldn't stop following me around to 

see what that bin was all about. 

Curiosity fuels learning.

Obviously these items may be used for 

discussion, exploration, and 

discovery of what ocean life is all about.

~Christie

Rice Art

 Today was definitely an art project kind 

of day.

I found some old long grain rice and divided it up into pie pans. 

I added food coloring and stirred it up. It turned out beautifully. I especially like how the colors of the rice appear variegated. 

I let each kid draw out their 

picture in crayon first on card stock.

Then with a cotton swab 

they applied the glue. 

Then it was just a matter of

sprinkling on the colored rice.

 They really liked creating their pictures.

A rainbow of colors was the best way to go.

The older kids got more detailed.

And...nobody fought. It was nice.

It turned out fabulous!

Surprisingly... everyone helped clean up.

The ABC's of Fishing

The iconic

fishing game. 

Played everywhere and altered for many different purposes.

I just had to put my take on this

whimsical wonder.  

I figured that I really need an activity this summer to inspire reading and letter recognition. 

I decided to make an alphabet of colorful fish. 

This would definetly reinforce letter recognition

as well as letter sounds. 

"What letter did you get?

Flip it over and let's sound out the name of the fish. 

K for King fish." 

*Players take turns fishing and naming their catch. 

*You could also make a second set of fish names and 

put them into a basket. 

Players could draw a fish name and try to catch that fish. 

*You could also roll a die and have 

the player catch that number of fish. 

This would be more challenging. 

More fish...more letters and words to read. 

My kids loved it.

  How did I do it?  

I made 3 fishing poles out of wooden dowels. 

I wound colorful yarn around the base of the pole then loosely wound it up to the top and glued the yarn in place. 

I then knotted the end of the yarn twice loosely 

and hot glued it to a ball magnet. 

This made it look like a bobber. 

  For the fish I printed out capital letters 

of the alphabet on colorful paper. 

I then printed out the names of the fish on white cardstock and cut out the shape and glued them together.

For durability I laminated each fish with 

contact laminate paper. 

I used a circular paper clip as the fish eye. 

This was my magnetic catch.

 Here is the list of fish names I used alphabetically. 

Angel fish

Bass

Catfish

Damselfish

Elephant fish

Frogfish

Goldfish

Halibut

Ice fish

Jaw fish

Kingfish

 Lionfish

Marlin

Noodle fish

Oarfish

Puffer fish

Quill fish

Ribbonfish

Sardine

Tuna

Unicorn fish

Viper fish

Wrasse

X-ray tetra

Yellow tang

Zebra fish

Hope you catch lots of fish this summer!

Toddler Art Smock

 My new find. 

One-Yard Wonders, written by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins,

has 101 sewing projects all using 

one yard of fabric each. 

Sew exciting!

What I love about it: Making use of 1 yard of fabric, practical projects, 

nice and neat and oh so sweet! I am hoping to be able to sew as many of these projects as possible this year. 

First project: Toddler Art Smock.

It was quite easy to sew. The pattern pieces are included in the book. Once cut out, the directions are fairly easy to follow. It has a large pocket along the bottom of the smock with many individual pockets sewn within for paintbrushes and stuff.

I made my own bias tape using 2 inch fabric strips in which I folded in half, pressed, then opened it and folded the sides to the folded center, pressed, then folded in half once again and whala. Did that make sense?

I am glad I decided to make my own bias tape because 

I love how the printed floral pink makes the color pop.

There are two side panels and a tie in the back.

I think it turned out really cute. 

Kinda of a vintage feel to it with the fabric choice.

Little girl loved it and plans to paint a lot!