It has been cold and rainy all day. So after we finished up our school activities we raided the craft cabinet for a project. This is what we came up with… a Felt Leaves Fall Garland.
What you need…
Various pieces of fall colored felt (craft felt is perfectly fine here – no need for wool)
Yarn
Yarn needle
Lots of beads with large holes
Leaf Pattern (get one from Wee Folk Art or collect leaves from your yard and trace)
(Embroidery floss or fabric paint if you would like to add the leaf vein details – after trying one, we decided to leave ours plain).
Cut out a bunch of felt leaves (we used 13).
Cut a long piece of yarn (3 to 4 yards) or for multiple family members cut out a yard of yarn each.
Poke the yarn needle through the top of a leaf about 1/2" from the edge and tie a large knot on one end.
String about 12" of beads and then add another felt leaf. Continue until you have strung all of your garland.
We each beaded a one yard section starting with a leaf and ending with a section of beads.
I took all the completed sections, tied them together, added the last leaf so both ends ended with a leaf, then trimmed the yarn to make our one long garland piece.
I think it adds a fun festive touch to our mantle.
Hehe, doesn’t everyone do school in Hogwarts robes?
Bug came up to me about a week ago, while I was in the middle of something else, with a little plastic plane in his hand and a sheet of paper… "Mom can you help me make it have that big flat piece so it will fly?"
HUH? "How do you want me to get the paper on… can you draw me a picture?" We have taken to making the boy draw diagrams of what he wants since he has very speficic ideas of how he wants something done (and tends to whine if it isn’t done to his satisfaction).
"Like this Mom."
Ahhh… I could now tell that he didn’t have a wing modification in mind… what he really wanted was a parachute.
"Hmmm…. I don’t think this paper is really going to work for a parachute." Silly, busy mom… I went back to what I was doing. I wish I could say I jump on every one of these projects… but sometimes laundry does need to get folded ya know.
It didn’t matter… he came back a few minutes later holding a plastic bag and a some thread.
"Ok Buddy… let’s see if this works."
Fairy was immediately in on the project too. We’ve made several of these little parachutes now and have tried different objects tied to the end. The little plastic cowboys the kids get as rewards from Tae Kwon Do have been deemed the best. But it was good for them to try the heavier stuff too.
Here is a quick run down if you would like to make one. What you need is a plastic shopping bag (although we have all those reusable bags we still seem to end up with a handful of these in the house), thread, tape and a light weight toy.
Cut the plastic bag into a 20" or so square.
Cut out 4 pieces of thread about 18" long. Using a small piece of tape, attach a thread to each corner.
Pull all the threads together in the center and tie your toy to the end.
After learning about the Wright Brothers’ Bicycle shop, we spent some time taking a long hard look at what goes into a bicycle. The kids noticed the obvious things first, wheels, seat, handle bars but after a while they got more detailed pointing out the petals, chains, gears, etc. We talked about what powers a bicycle and how the wheels turn. We talked about how you control the bike (direction, brakes) and why that was important. We also talked about the materials used to make a bicycle. The kids required little to no prompting on these observations. Bug was truly fascinated with the mechanics.
Life is what happens between Blog posts!
We’ve had a lot going on, which means I have lots of photos for blog posts but no time to write them. It is the blissful busy of a new fall schedule and I’ve ended up with a few bigger projects on my plate recently… but I couldn’t not post about my Pixie’s girl Birthday!!!
I can’t believe that my BABY is three. She had a joyful, special day.
By request… she wanted… PINK, PRINCESS CUPCAKES with HEART SPRINKLES. (We ate some very crunchy cupcakes 😉 ).
She spun and spun until she fell over in her new party dress Gammy made for her. I couldn’t get one of her standing still.
Thank you to all the out of towners who sent such lovely gifts. She was thrilled with everything!
"We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interest; to investigate whatever aroused curiosity. In a different kind of environment, our curiosity might have been nipped long before it could have borne fruit."
— Orville Wright
We built our own "bat" toy today… in other words a rubber band powered flying toy. We stumbled upon a kit at Cracker Barrel actually for just a couple dollars (similar to this one). It is fairly fragile and required glue after about 10 flights… but the general premise is fun. Bug can’t wait for it to dry to take it outside again.
UPDATE: It has withstood about 2 more hours of play this afternoon. Good intro to planes for a couple bucks.
After lunch we grabbed a quilt, our paper airplane book (Pocket Flyers) and our current read aloud (Thunder From the Sea) and headed outside to enjoy the afternoon sun.
The kids had a blast trying out the paper airplanes, suggesting modifications and seeing of course which one flew the furthest. They also determined that the playstructure was the best launching pad… especially for the helicopters.
Book List…
The Wright Brothers for Kids (WBFK)
Planes, Gliders, Helicopters and Other Flying Machines (PGH)
A Picture Book of Amelia Earhart
A Child’s Dictionary
At the farm the other day we got to meet Millie who was just 1 day old. So cute.
The kids also got to test out the kids’ field maze, which had been recently shaped. The kids’ maze is really just one long loop but they have fun running around in it. After the third time around I camped out by the entrance and just time how long it took them to get through it. I think Bug must have run the course at least 6 more times.
On our way out we ran across a fence covered in box elder bugs. There were thousands of them sunning themselves on all of the posts. The kids were fascinated.
Guess what? The Cider Mill is up and running. Woot! We haven’t had our first frost, which of course improves the cider a ton, but hot donuts and fresh cider are always a treat. AND our favorite mill in the area redid some of their playground equipment this year. The kids love the new additions including two huge tube slides and a corn box.
PS… check out Fairy’s new skirt. I was going through the corduroy scrap box working on some doll clothes for Christmas gifts when I came across this lovely rose piece that screamed Fairy. It was just big enough, with a ruffle added, to make a romantic fall skirt. It was a quick twenty minute project before we headed of to the mill… of course the dolls are still in need of new clothes… must not get distracted.
