Dollar Crafts - Valentine's Heart Wreath

It's been a while since I posted a Dollar Craft.  Sidney got a bunch of paint for Christmas so it seems like all we've been doing lately is painting.

Valentine's Day is coming up fast and the girls keep asking if we are going to decorate the house.  I don't know about you but after Christmas I find it hard to motivate myself to decorate for Valentine's Day and Easter.  The good thing is that the kids do expect much! 

I showed them an example of this Valentine's Heart Wreath that I found on Pinterest and they were excited to make one to hang in their rooms.  I'm glad they went for it because I had all the supplies we needed at home!  Here's what we used:

white card stock for the wreath (or a paper plate will do)

red, pink and Valentine-patterned paper to make hearts

red ribbon to hang wreath

glue stick & scissors

To cut out the hearts, I folded a piece of paper and cut out a half-heart shape.  Ava is good enough at cutting now that she was able to help cut out hearts too!

We taped a red ribbon to the back of the wreath and here's how they turned out.  So cute!

DIY Valentines for Kids

Another snow day.  Part of me was glad that I got to sleep in a bit, but the other part of me wondered what the heck am I going to do with the girls all day.  I'm so glad that I had already bought all of the supplies for the girls' Valentines last week. It was the perfect activity to keep us busy on a cold, snowy day.

I found this idea on Club Chica Circle.  Click here for the free template for the rectangular card.  She also has a free template if you have a circular scalloped craft punch.  I printed out the card templates on red printer paper.

I liked the rectangular template because it left room for the girls to sign their names.  Sidney is still learning to write her name so I signed her name. 

I found the pencils and pencil grips at Deals (i.e.; dollar store) and I found the pencil toppers at Michaels.  This was a very easy and inexpensive DIY Valentine project!  The girls were able to help with all of it with the exception of using the paper cutter to cut out the cards. Love it!!  Thanks Pauline!

Click here to see our homemade cards from 2013 and 2012!

Daisy Scouts Meeting - Purple Petal

This post is for all the moms out there who are scrambling to throw together a Daisy Scout meeting!  And for any fans of Bucket Fillers!

Ava joined Daisy Scouts this year.  It's not a very large group - only 9 girls - and none of the moms wanted to be a troop leader.  So rather than not forming a group, we all agreed to lead a couple of meetings.  Oh and I, as the token accountant of the group, got roped into being the Treasurer.

Anyway, it was my turn to lead the meeting this week.  I scoured Pinterest to try to come up with an easy and inexpensive idea.  Click here to link to my newly created Girl Scout Pinterest board.  I finally decided to go with the Purple Petal from Gloria the Morning Glory who teaches us to "Respect Myself and Others".  Here is what I did with the girls:

FIRST we did our Kaper Chart and recited the Girl Scout Promise.  Our troop doesn't have a fancy Kaper Chart so I just wrote down the girls' names and their jobs on a dry erase board.  If you want to make a Kaper Chart to use at your meetings, click here for some ideas.

SECOND, while the girls had their snacks, we talked about the petal that they'd be earning and I read the book "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" by Carol McCloud.

Have you heard of Bucket Fillers?  Bucket filling is using actions or words to show someone kindness and respect, as opposed to Bucket Dipping which is saying or doing something unkind to another person.  This concept is being incorporated in classrooms across the country, seemingly in response to the bullying epidemic.

After reading the book, we talked about what it means to respect ourselves and respect others.  Here are some good example handouts:

Click here to access the RESPECT poster above.

Click here to access the RESPECT poster above.

THIRD we did our craft.  Each girl got (1) a small bucket, (2) a purple name tag that they can decorate with their name and some stickers, (3) a piece of purple ribbon to tie the name tag to the bucket and (4) 10 "drops in the bucket" to sign and distribute.  

Name tag and ribbon

"Drops in the bucket"

On each piece of colored paper (above) is a water drop with a compliment, such as "You have a nice smile." Because they're in Kindergarten and still learning to read, I also inserted a picture that describes the compliment (such as a smiley face).  On the back of the piece of paper I've written "From:" and the girls can write their names.

If you would like to purchase PDF copies of the "drops" files for $4 you can pay my PayPal account and I'll email them to you.

Click this link: www.paypal.me/CReeves/4

Be sure to leave your email address and the files you're requesting in the comments too!  My turnaround time is 1-2 days :)

Once the girls had their buckets, name tags and "drops in the bucket" ready to go, they walked around and "filled each others buckets" by selecting a compliment to place in their friends' buckets.  Afterwards, they got to look through the "drops in their buckets" that they received and read the compliments from their friends.  We talked about how when you fill someone else's bucket, it makes you feel good and you end up filling your own bucket as well!

FOURTH I taught the girls the song "Encourage One Another".

FIFTH we played a variation of Simon Says that highlights the girls' similarities and differences.  The only rule is that you respond to the commands that are true for yourself.  I also told the girls to watch carefully as they play the game because at the end, we would each tell one new thing they learned about another person during the game.  To play, I gave directions such as:
- Simon says "Everyone with brown eyes, stand up."
- Simon says "Everyone who has a dog as a pet, put your right hand on your head."
- Simon says "Everyone whose favorite sport is soccer, stand on one foot."
- Simon says "Everyone who has a sister touch your knee."
- Simon says "Everyone who is left-handed jump 3 times."

SIXTH I brought some coloring pages and activity sheets that the girls worked on while they waited for their parent to pick them up.  I also printed out a Purple Petal Certificate for each of the girls.

The girls seemed to have a great time and the time flew by.  Hope this helps you with your next Daisy meeting!

PS - Click here to see what we did for the Orange Petal!

Birthday Fail

It was a bit of a snowmageddon in St. Louis this past Sunday.  Some places had over 12 inches dumped on them in just one day.  I had been stuck in the house for days and was willing to do anything to get some peace and quiet.  ANYTHING.  Even shovel the driveway. My dad pointed out that I never shoveled the driveway as a kid, and possibly never in my life (I have 3 older brothers so why should I??!!).  

It took me 2 hours.  The temperature was around 14 degrees and the wind was blowing around 20 mph.  But I was super bundled.  My three layers of pants gave everyone a good laugh.  Thankfully there are no pictures for proof!

I should mention that I have exercised for a total of 6 hours over the past 5 years.  So when I woke up this morning I found myself to be nearly immobile.  Of course all my kids are home because school is called off and Tim has gone back to work so this poses a bit of a problem for me.  From my bed, I told Ava to open the pantry door and "have at it".

My current state also comes at an inopportune time for Tim - we are celebrating his 36th birthday tonight!  I have done nothing to prepare and now I'm incapable of doing much of anything.

I drug my body down to the basement and searched through the "Birthday Stuff" box.  I found this:

Here's what we came up with:

Pathetic.

I also found these candles:

See how it makes a 36?  No one has turned 6 yet, so we don't have that number candle.  We also don't have any treats that I can shove these candles in so I think I'll make him a peanut butter sandwich and stuff them on top.

I'm going to have the girls make some cards - as a parent, you can't really scoff at homemade cards right?

Poor guy.  Tim is such a great dad and husband and deserves better.  I hope that getting out of shoveling the driveway was a good enough gift for him :/

Happy 36th babe!

Rainbow Loom

I took a blogging break over the holidays to hang out with my family but I'm finally starting to get back into my routine.  It was a fun and crazy Christmas with three little ones under the age of 5!  Santa sure had his work cut out for him this year.  Ava and Sidney asked for "real witches" for Christmas (or as Sidney said it "weal witches"!).  They are still having Halloween withdrawal.  I wasn't sure what Santa would come up with but I knew he'd better pull through!  Here's what the girls found on Christmas morning...

 Witch costumes, a cauldron and potions!  Oh my!

 According to Ava and Sidney, the green potion turns you into a frog and the pink potion turns you back!   The pom pom balls make it look like a bubbly potion!

To top it off, the girls got to make actual potions.  This was the coolest part - we made potions all morning!  But I refuse to post pictures because Tim and I are in them in our PJs with bed head!  Sorry!

The girls also got a Rainbow Loom.

It all began when a friend of Ava's from school gave her a Rainbow Loom bracelet...and then Sidney lost it.  You haven't seen tears until you see one sister lose another sister's prized possession.  It was a good excuse for me to head over to Micheal's to buy our very own Rainbow Loom and see what all the fuss is about.

I have only made the fishtail bracelet but I can see how it can become addicting.  

Ava wanted a dog collar for her puppy.  She and Sidney are obsessed with all puppy related things ever since they discovered Paw Patrol!

Now I'm looking up YouTube videos to figure out how to make the more complex bracelets. Click here to access the Rainbow Loom YouTube channel for instructional videos. I think I'll try adding charms (or maybe a dog tag!) to my next bracelet/dog collar.

I hope you all had a very Happy New Year!