DIY Alphabet Felt Board: Our "ABC Tree"

I've decided that I'm going to plunge ahead with an informal but oh-so-fun home preschool program with the girls. Homeschool seems like a really good fit for us right now.  I'm half scared to death (ohmygosh can I really handle being with them all. the. time... ?) and half excited out of my mind (the rush of teaching them to read myself! the fun projects! the opportunity for flexibility and experimentation and being 100% in charge of their moral development!)... but all that is a discussion for anther day...

Today's discussion is the newest piece of wall art that is hanging in our kitchen: The ABC Tree!  

Using the "suffer for 15 minutes a day" method of crafting, I made this super cute pinterest-worthy project and all the ideas came out of my very own brain!  WOO HOO for using my brain!  Anyways I wanted to create an opportunity for hands-on play with our letter and numbers.  And this is what I came up with!  

***HUGE DISCLAIMER***  This ain't no crafting blog, people.  If you're a professional crafty person then keep the giggles to a minimum okay?  I made quite a few mistakes but I wholeheartedly operate under the "better done than done perfect" approach when it comes to things like this.  The bottom line is that even though I wish it looked a little better, my kids love it.  And they saw me make it for them.  

Lily still tells me "deek you for making me dis Momma" :o)  Awwww...

Step 1:  I got a big board and drew a pretty swirly tree on it.  I found the image in a google search and just went from there.

Step 2:  I transferred the design to a sheer piece of paper so I could cut out the paper to trace the exact design onto the brown felt.  I found that chalk worked well for drawing on the darker colored felts... but I used sharpie most of the time.

Shout out to my Mom for sending me a glorious package from Hobby Lobby for all this stuff!  I dedicate our ABC Tree to her.  And Lily and Sam.  But I couldn't have done it without the felt and hot glue gun Mom sent!

Step 3:  I glued the blue felt onto the board for the sky.  I chose to wrap the felt around the board and also glued it to the back a little (to discourage tiny fingers from pulling at it too much.)

Step 4:  Then I glued the tree onto the sky.

You can see where this is one of my mistakes.  Hot glue isn't the best glue to use when you want something to lay flat and pretty.  But there was no going back once I got started so, next time I make an ABC Tree (ha. never) I'll research my glues better.  If you're crafty feel free to comment and tell us silly folks what's what here.  

Step 5:  I glued the grass onto the bottom of the board.  I used the same general idea as with the tree design... traced out a grass stencil on paper and then used that to trace the design onto the green felt.

Insert another mistake ;o) because for all that measuring I didn't ACTUALLY check the grass to make sure it was the right height before cutting it out.  But by that time I was obviously too lazy to redo it okay with just adding some extra green grass in a different color to hide the fact that the grass didn't come all the way up to the bottom of the tree!  Ha!

Step 6:  I cut out the green leaves!

Step 7:  Letters, baby!  I did an assortment of colors cause who doesn't love colors?  And I also added an extra Y and M so I can spell both "Lily" and "Sammy" at the same time.  And at the last minute I went crazy and did the numbers 1-10.  I know, I'm a wild woman with this crafting stuff!  Once you get rolling it's just so fun!  And a little zen, too.  Especially if I worked on it while the girls were asleep ;o)

Then came the big decision.  Do I hand stitch the letters onto the leaves like I did with the Christmas Tree?  Or do I hurry-scurry and just hot glue them so it's done sooner?

Step 8:  Letter attachment, the hand-stitched method.  What can I say?  Sometimes I am an over-achiever.  But doesn't it look so cute this way?  Much more decorative.  Plus I was able to work on it "on the go" (as in, while Jesse was driving us home from Switzerland) which I wouldn't have been able to do with the glue gun.

It definitely added A LOT of extra hours to the project but I'm happy with the result.  

Step 9:  Hang that sucker on the wall and start learning your letters, man!  I used some little hook things and wire that Kirsten helped me find at the German hardware store.  I hung it using K's smart framing method, too.  I needed it to be roughly accurate because if it was hung too high Lily wouldn't be able to reach the top.

Step 10:  Learn those letters!  And make a general mess of the leaves whenever you're not learning letters.  Uncle Floyd would walk by and say "oh, it's fall again!" and that's pretty accurate.  But I keep the "blowing leaves" from getting lost by insisting on a "tree leaves stay in the kitchen" rule.

Having it in the kitchen was intentional... they aren't usually allowed to play in the kitchen while Mommy's cooking.  But because it's a learning game and it's on the far side of the room away from the stove I figured it'd be nice to be able to talk letters with them while I work.

So we have informal lessons at this tree.  And I was super impressed the other day because Kirsten was visiting and Lily went over, grabbed the A, and proudly reported "A is for APPLE!... And ant!"  Atta girl!  She also loves to pick out the letters she knows for people's names.  She asks for new ones all the time..

"Mommy this is Aunt Bef-ing's letter!"
"This is yours letter!"
"What's Wreck it Ralph's letter?"
"Here Sammy, dis is yours letter!"
"Yook!  It's my name!"

And that, my friends, is the story of my ABC Tree!  AKA my secret way of teaching my girls the alphabet while they THINK they're just playing with a cool toy Momma made!

And so our homeschooling journey begins!

Busy Momma vs. Big Projects: the "Suffer for 15 Minutes" Rule

This is our new "ABC Tree" felt board.  I made it!  And I'm going to post about how I made it soon... but before I do I want to share a really awesome tip that I read in Gretchen Rubin's book Happier at Home:

When a project seems daunting or never quite gets started, try making yourself do it for 15 minutes each day. Only 15 minutes.  Anyone can do 15 minutes!

She applied this concept in her own busy life by forcing herself to spend 15 minutes a day making family albums until she was all caught up on her family photos.  It was something that was very important to her, but never quite got done... and once you get back-logged with something like that it's intimidating to get started.

Gretchen says, "I've been promising myself that I'd organize an album 'in my free time' but the fact is, I never have any free time.  I never wander aimlessly through the apartment, looking for something to do. But making the album was a priority for me, so I wrote it on my calendar like a visit to the pediatrician.  I would suffer for just fifteen minutes a day." 

So I applied this to my craft project, the ABC Tree.  I wanted to create a hands-on way for the girls to learn their letters, and the supplies had been sitting around for months.  I'm not specifically a crafty person, I mean, I love completing projects.  But I don't craft as a hobby.  So I found that getting started was really challenging.

Anyone, even the busiest Momma on the planet, can do something for 15 minutes a day.  I would write it on my to-do list, set the timer on my iPod, and literally only do 15 minutes of work on the project.  Sometimes, if I was enjoying it and wanted to keep going, I would.  Other times, I'd just pack everything away and move on with my day.

It might seem annoying to get everything out and have to put it away 15 minutes later, but I'm telling you, it works. Instead of feeling like I had to carve out a whole night of "crafting time", I just worked it into the day really quick.  It took about a month and a half to finish it, but I am so pleased with the results.  And I honestly don't know if I would have finished it had I not gotten started!  

So that's my tip!  Got a project you've had on the back burner forever?  Try to suffer for 15 minutes a day.  You'll be surprised how much you can do in fifteen minutes... and how many days of that before you're done!

I think I might channel my inner Gretchen and use this idea to do family photo albums, too!  We obviously have photos coming out our ears, and I usually decorate the walls with my pictures.  But I don't ever take them and put them into albums.  Digital photo books are easy and once I get started, no one can stop me muahahahaha.  Oh but before I do that I'm going to transcribe all my notes to the girls to a safe online storage.  I have been writing to them in their own individual journals since I found out I was pregnant with each... now I write down all their milestones and funny sayings, a "baby book" of sorts. I would be crushed if those precious memories to my girls were stolen, lost, or burned without a back up somewhere.

I just added "type for 15 minutes" to my to-do list today.  What are you going to do?

The Perfect Grandma-Gift for Mother's Day (or Any Day)

This simple artwork-craft is what I whipped up for Mom and Toni for Mother's Day.  

I used Megan's idea from the fall Pinterest Party... cutting out sections of your kids' artwork makes it much easier to display and save bits and pieces without have too much clutter around.  And I'm all about decreasing clutter.  Plus it created a compact version of each girl's work for the grandmas to enjoy.  

Since I generally save and date the mini-masterpieces, I had plenty for two 5x7's for each Grandma plus extra for myself for my end of the year collage project for our home.  Super easy and simple.  

And from what I hear, very meaningful to two special Moms in our lives.  

Happy Mother's Day again to Gigi and Gram!  

Homemade Christmas Ornaments

Lily and I had a lot of fun making "clay" Christmas ornaments this year.  We just finished up our last batch the other day and Jesse was like "how many ornaments are you going to make?" ;o)  But we're done now... the bottom branches of the tree are sagging because those are the only ones Lil likes to decorate.  And we have gobs to mail to family for next year.  Cause what grandparent doesn't want dorky ornaments all over the place?

We used this recipe from The Woodside Kitchen and I didn't need to tweak it very much.  I will say that you need to roll it thick to prevent curling.  And if you want vibrant colors, you need to use high quality gel food dyes.  

LJ really enjoyed being mostly in charge of the stirring process.  Once it cooks on the stove you let the dough cool for a bit, then roll it out and stamp out your ornaments.  I will recommend rolling it onto parchment paper or a silicone mat so you can leave the ornaments where they are and just peel away the extra dough.  I do this with my sugar cookies, too.  Much easier.

I really liked that the leftover dough could be stored in the fridge for later use.  So one day we did red, then green, then we used the leftovers from both to make multi-colored creations.  We stamped designs onto them, which was fun.  The recipe says you can also paint them... lots of interesting suggestions in the comments.  We used curling ribbon and twine to hang them on the tree.

They certainly aren't going to last forever or be family heirlooms... but they're a cute kiddie craft.  And they're super cheap so even if/when they break it's not going to make me cry or anything!  One batch alone gets you about 20 ornaments, depending on size.  And we did about three batches this season!

I have a secret wish that I'll have two trees next year.  One big, to decorate as usual, and one little... to make the "kid tree"... strung with magical hand-crafted kid ornaments and popcorn garland.  We'll see if I actually do it.  But that's the dream!

I think this might be my last Christmas post... sniff sniff... How many more days till next Christmas???

Leah and I Caused the First Blizzard of 2012

For someone who has lived most of her life in upstate NY and then spent a winter on the Gulf Coast, I was very much looking forward to winter in Germany.  But last winter there was little to no snow!  It was extremely disappointing.

Until last week, this winter was still looking the same... dreary and cold but no snow.

So Leah was telling me about these great hot glue snowflakes she'd been making, and agreed to come over and give me a tutorial!  Aren't they adorable?  She had the idea a while ago and then found some other tips on Pinterest... and we added our own twist to them.  We were really pleased with the results...

First, you "draw" the snowflake onto parchment paper.  We started by drawing some designs onto paper and putting it under the parchment so we could have a template... but then we just got so dang creative that we didn't even need to use them!

As you're making your snowflake, attach a length of thread or string to one of the tips so that you can hang it later. When the snowflake is dry, use a spatula or turner to gently lift it from your parchment paper.  Wa-la!  Your blizzard is about to begin...

Then we got crazy with some holiday sparkle.  Leah taught me to make a simple modge podge from mixing equal parts elmer's glue and water.  (We used clear glue but I doubt it matters)  So we painted our snowflakes with modge podge and then I sprinkled coarse kosher salt on mine.  Leah wanted a more glittery feel, so she went with fine glitter dust.  But the possibilities are endless!

I was even thinking these would be a fun way to decorate for ANY party (think, Halloween spiders hanging from your ceiling or fun themed birthday decorations, like fish!) because you could just mix food coloring into sugar and modge podge a pretty color onto your decorations.  So easy-cheap-fun!

Then we hung them to dry for a bit before flipping them and glitterizing the other sides.

And THEN I hung them up all over my living room and kitchen!  I have about 15... some hang along the main windows and some hang above the kitchen counter.  Aren't they adorable?  

I will tell you this isn't exactly a fast project.  It's super cheap and super easy... but it takes a little while.  Then again, Leah and I were chatting up a storm while also taking care of our four children.  So maybe if you got together with some gals for "snowflake night" or did some in front of a movie after the kids were in bed it wouldn't take all day, like it did for us ;o)

But it was worth it.  I think they're charming.  And I think they're good luck.  Because the very next morning...

SNOW!!!

It wasn't an impressive amount by NY standards, but it was enough that I was able to oblige Lily's immediate requests to go play in "her" snow.  And she had fun... don't let that scowl tell you otherwise!

Self portrait... looking into the kitchen window.

So there you have it.  If you feel like you're dreaming of a white Christmas with no sign of snow on the horizon... try this magical hot glue snowflake trick!  Since we made them, it's snowed TWICE here.  So it must be like doing a rain dance or something.  It works, I swear.  

Unless you live in Mississippi.  Then you're out of luck my friend.  

Felt Christmas Tree

I'm about to unveil my favorite Pinterest project EVER.  The felt Christmas tree!  I've been waiting and planning and excited to make this ever since I saw it all over Pinterest last year.

I was so excited about it that I bought the felt in August.  But that has more to do with the fact that it was the only time all year I'd be near a Hobby Lobby.  I'm not that crazy of a do-it-way-ahead-of-time Momma.  Okay maybe a little.

So this is what it looks like when Mommy puts all the ornaments up.

And this is what it looks like most of the time.  I have watched Sam.  It's like she has a personal vendetta against the tree.  She walks by and it's like she thinks "Hey.  There are some ornaments left on that sucker.  I need to remedy this." And she'll just whoosh whoosh whoosh until they're all on the floor.  Then I guess she thinks "My work here is done" and off she hops to make a mess elsewhere.  But I have also heard her recently singing a two-year-old version of "Oh Christmas Tree" so I don't think she's quite a Scrooge.  

Lily actually does like the tree.  And plays with it appropriately.  She even likes to hang the lights in a row... and she calls it "making a light choo-choo train."

The hand stitching was a little obnoxious.  But I thought it would be more durable and much cuter than using a hot glue gun.  Which I don't even own anyways.  How did I accomplish all this sewing?  I melted my kids' brains with movies while I sat on the couch between them with my needle and thread.  It really only took me about a week of working on it in my down time.  A few Pixar movies.  A couple evenings while I listened to Christmas music.  It was worth every minute!

I'm envisioning this felt tree as something Lily and Sam look forward to playing with each year.  Making it was a little nostalgic for me because my Mom made us a felt advent calendar and it had little stockings with each of our names.  It's been hung on the wall at my parents' each year for as long as I can remember.  I love the idea that our little felt tree will be a part of the girls' Christmas memories for as far back as they can remember.  

Has anyone else done this super cute Pinterest project this year?  If you run out to Hobby Lobby now and you use a hot glue gun you could seriously have this project done in a night.  It's a delightful addition to your wall.  And also seems to direct little kid fingers away from Momma's Christmas tree!

Merry Christmas!