Oct 20, 2011

Sewing & homeschooling

I did say I would share my latest upcycle projects. Every time I sew I love it even more! This is totally a God thing! I prayed for the skill of sewing and not only has He given me this skill - it is becoming a passion! And it is keeping me at home, which I love by the way. I love being home, keeping the home, I just love it! Thank You, Lord!

My 2nd Upcycle Project:
From sundress that Haley outgrew to a wrap around skirt with two button adjustments. She has plenty of room to grow into this skirt hence the blue paper clip :) Still needs a few more things done to it

I removed the bottom band from the original dress and turned it into the waist of the skirt. The tiered bottom was part of a slip from a hand-me down dress Haley never wore

The buttons are from the original dress. I kept the original button holes and sewed that band to the waist. I made two button adjustments, so she has room to fill in!

My newest Upcycle project:
A Strawberry Shortcake toddler apron made from upcycled material, including a vintage strawberry shortcake sheet. The Strawberry Shortcake character shown is Apple Dumpling.


Trying to stay as still as she possibly can so I could get a good picture with her wearing it 


 Homeschooling

Gavin is doing great with Adventures In Phonics and he now knows all of his short vowel sounds Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo, Uu. I added a few activities to supplement what he is learning such as:

- Mama will write a letter sound on the small chalk board, and Gavin (Haley joins in too) will say the sound and then copy that sound in his handwriting notebook. I like this because he also gets to see how to properly write a letter (top to bottom for example) and then he can do the same. 

- We've been using our Cuisinaire Rods to shape our letter sounds

 We've also been learning about leaves

We have been reading books about leaves and have taken walks along our road to collect different kinds
 
 Gavin's favorite leaf was the oak :) Haley ended up collecting more rocks than leaves lol! And that's okay! They loved telling Daddy about the veins in the leaves and what they do :) Both Gavin & Haley had fun tracing their leaves on paper


I found this fun craft that uses large craft sticks to create a simple puzzle. The kids loved this! Gavin ended up making several - I'll have to remember to pick up more craft sticks! 

We taped a few large craft sticks together and colored a picture on the opposite side. When you're done coloring you just remove the tape, mix up the sticks, and then put your puzzle back together! Hours of fun, kids loves it!


Gavin's Thomas the Tank Engine puzzle :)

Haley's puzzle :) It is "many different things" she says! lol

Mama's leaf puzzle


We all put together each other's puzzles :)

Next week the kids want to learn about pumpkins. I have a couple pumpkin books and we'll be stopping by the library for more too :) Better get to bed now. I just made a delicious cinnamon breakfast cake - can't wait to have some with a sweet cup of coffee in the morning :) Goodnight everyone!

3 comments:

  1. Looks amazing! All of it! I am praying about getting a sewing machine. We really don't have the money to spend right now (even on a used one), but I know that if it is something I should learn to do or will be able do then God will provide or show us how to get one. I am also praying for a passion for it because I hated it in high school. If you think about it will you please post a schedule of what you do on a day to day basis or weekly one? I am curious to see your routine. Also, what do you do for discipline, have you read any good books on this? Maybe some ideas for a future blog post ;) Have a great day tomorrow!

    Kristen

    ReplyDelete
  2. The craft stick puzzle is such a great idea! I will have to remember to get some too. I have the thinner ones, but looks like yours are thicker, right?

    The skirt it adorable, and the apron is too! Did you make her headband to match? Those headbands are so fun and super easy :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for your comments!

    Kristen - Homestead Blessings DVD series has a Sewing DVD that I have heard is AWESOME! I just ordered one for myself, and you can find them for a good deal on Amazon and Ebay. My first sewing project was a nine-patch pillow and it was very simple, and it got me excited about sewing. The tutorial is here:
    http://raisinghomemakers.com/2011/tutorial-how-to-make-a-nine-patch-pillow/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RaisingHomemakers+%28Raising+Homemakers%29

    I kept praying that God would give me a passion for sewing, and He did! I will pray for you!

    Also, yes, I definitely will get on that routine post! My days vary but for the most part I do have a routine for housekeeping tasks (cleaning, baking, etc) and since my kids are so young, homeschooling is new for me so I am just getting a hang of that. But I would be happy to post what a day typically looks like with everything together! Including some ME time, which is so important!

    Nicole - The headband is actually from Lindsey! I couldn't believe how nicely it matched the apron - meant to be lol! I would love to learn how to make the headbands. Do you know of any online tutorials? I could look it up but not sure what those headbands are called??

    ReplyDelete