Guest Post: READING CONFETTI ~ Paper Pumpkin

 I'm excited to have another guest host here on Come Together Kids.  After you read about this cute pumpkin craft she's sharing here today, you have to check out Lorie's blog.  She's only been blogging since August, but she has already shared tons of great ideas.  I love how she uses her love of books and her knowledge as a reading specialist to tie together great books with fun activities. Plus, her blog has several tabs with great tips for parents to use when reading with their children ~ so handy!

Hello!  I am so excited to be here!  A great big thank you to Laura for allowing me to do a guest post!  I'm Lorie from Reading Confetti and just recently started blogging.  I'm taking some time off from being a reading specialist and teacher to stay home with my 3 year old son and not-quite-2 year old daughter.  I've taught third through eighth grades and am now focusing my efforts on my preschoolers, so my blog is about making reading fun for kids of ALL ages. The project I'd like to share with you today is a paper pumpkin decoration.

To make your own, you'll need:

• orange and brown paper (Scrapbook paper would also be pretty!)
• a drinking straw, preferably orange  (You could also use string or ribbon knotted at each end, but the straw made it easier for my preschooler to participate.)
• green curling ribbon
• tape, scissors, paper punch

Cut strips from the orange paper and punch a hole in each end.  I didn't even measure the width - just tried to make them roughly the same size.  The important thing is to make sure they are the same length and the hole is approximately in the same spot on each.  This will keep your pumpkin from bulging in some spots.  I had to overlap two holes a little because my punch was slightly smaller than my straw.

Thread one end of each paper strip onto the straw.

Thread the other end onto the other end of the straw.  Add as many strips as you need to make your desired fullness.

Fold the bottom of your straw and secure it with some tape.

Tie a few lengths of green curling ribbon around the top and curl.  Leave two tails uncurled so you can tie them together and use them to hang your decoration.  Put a roll of brown paper around the top of the straw to make your stem.

That's it!  Cute and easy!

To go with our craft, we read The Runaway Pumpkin , an adorable story about a pumpkin that goes rolling down a hill, scattering farm animals along the way.

I hope you and your little (or big) readers have fun with this and I'd love for you to stop by Reading Confetti!

Thanks so much for sharing your cute paper pumpkins, Lorie!  I definitely plan on letting my kids make their own pumpkins with some of the tons of scrapbook paper that I have here at home.  I also love how you used the straw as the base.  I've seen it done with a brad before, but the straw makes it easy for even little ones to do this activity and it gives you the base for your stem ~ so smart!  

And readers, make sure you stop by Reading Confetti to check out all the other great ideas.  Lorie recently shared a fun post with all sorts of Book Inspired Halloween Costumes.that would be so cute for your little readers!

Guest Post: MESS FOR LESS ~ Watercolor Resist

I'm thrilled to have a guest host here today at Come Together Kids.  Because I didn't start this blog until my kids were a bit older, I haven't shared too many ideas geared more for the little ones.  It's not that I didn't do crafts and activities with my kids when they were younger, I was just way too exhausted and overwhelmed to even think about sharing them on a blog! 

Well, that's why I'm so excited to introduce you to Mess for Less.  Like me, Vicky has three children and likes to do inexpensive, yet fun, activities with her family.  However, she blogs about those fun activities while having three-year old TWINS and a toddler!  I know!  Amazing, isn't it?

Here she is with a fun craft that her three-year olds really enjoyed (and I know my "bigger" kids would love too!)

Hi Come Together Kids readers!  I am Vicky from Mess For Less, a blog of kids crafts and activities.  Laura asked if I would share a project with you all and I am so excited to be here!  I have 3 little ones (three year old twins and a twenty month old) and was a teacher before having kids.  I've been lucky to have had lots of great experiences while teaching, and I hope to use some of that inspiration to help my children grow and learn.  I am all about fun, hands-on activities that can be done on a budget.  Most of my projects can be done with items you already have at home.

The project I am going to share with you is one I re-purposed from my teaching days called "Watercolor Tape Resist".  Years ago, when I did this project with elementary-aged kids, I used blue painter's tape.  I would recommend this to you.  I didn't have any blue painters tape the day I wanted to do this, so I improvised and used masking tape.  I figured maybe it would stick a little more but it wouldn't be too bad.  It stuck a lot!  But it wasn't too bad.  If you plan on using these as art, you would want to use the painter's tape for sure.  But for my purposes, the masking tape worked, though it tore the top layer off of some of the paper. Supplies you will need:  white paper (I just used copy paper), tape, watercolor paints, brush and water.  Before the activity, you will want to use your tape to make whatever shapes or designs you wish on the paper.  I started out with a triangle and square and then moved on to some lines, and  finally my favorite, the checkerboard pattern.  Don't worry about being too exact with any of these.  The end result will be cool no matter how straight the lines or perfect the shape.  I promise! 

I gave the kids the taped paper and some watercolors and encouraged them to to paint over the tape.  I tried to explain that when the paint dried we would peel the tape off and see the design underneath, but I am not sure if the girls got that at all.  They just had fun in the whole process of painting on the tape.   A little background for Come Together Kids readers: my twins are total opposites.  "A" is the more of a follow the rules type  while "B" is a free spirit who likes to do her own thing.  As an example,  here is "A" carefully painting over her shapes.  

"B" had lots of fun painting her shapes.  So much fun that she did not want to stop after she was done.  All you can do with "B" is try and encourage her.  If she senses that you do not want her to do something then she will dig in her heels and do it more.  Can any of you relate?  Anyway, I normally never want to shut down my kid's creativity, but "B" kept on painting the same spot on the paper over and over again and I knew that soon a hole would form in the paper.  I asked her if she wanted to paint a new paper but she was adamant and kept working on her shapes. 

If I have learned anything in my three years as "B's" mom it's that sometimes it's better to let her do her own thing in her own time.  After a little longer, she was done painting her shapes.  Here are the results, holes and all. 

I love how you can see the girls' different approaches to art (and possibly life!) in their work.  As they painted their tape lines, you can see that "A" was careful to paint her entire paper while "B" was just interested in painting right over the tape.  

"A" working on her checkerboard pattern. 

I just love the finished "tape resist" artwork!  I mentioned earlier that it was tricky to get the regular masking tape off in spots and I would use painter's tape in the future.  You can't see it in the photos, but in a couple of spots a layer of paper was taken off with the tape.  But you live and learn right? I am going to have so much fun with this in the future.  Think of this project as a jumping off point.  There are so many possibilities about what you can do with this technique.  You can change it up in many ways depending on the age of the child.  I have seen people do their child's name in tape so when they peeled it off they had a pretty name painting.  You can do various shapes, letters, numbers, and patterns depending on what you are teaching and learning.  Experiment! You are only limited by your imagination.  And your lack of painter's tape.  

If you have liked what you've read here, I hope you will come visit us at Mess For Less for more ideas.  We are really friendly and we don't bite.  We'll, OK, my twenty month old sometimes bites.  But only if you try and take her toys away from her.  You wouldn't do that would you? 

Thanks, so much for sharing this fun activity, Vicky!  I'm inspired to do something similar with my kids soon.

And definitely go check out Mess for Less!  Here are just a few of the other cool activities her girls have done...

Fruit Loop Towers

Foam Window Clings

Bubble Wrap Prints

Guest Host and a Great Cause - Ladybird Ln.

I am so glad to be able to welcome Carlee from Ladybird Ln. here to Come Together Kids.  She has a fantastic blog filled not only with great ideas and projects, but also a monthly focus on a charity cause.  For the month of June, her theme is pillows and she has a fantastic charity to go with it.  Take it away, Carlee...

I am so excited to be here at Come Together Kids... My name is Carlee, and I have a little blog with my sister Alyssa called Ladybird Ln. Today, I am going to talk about a FUN blog contest, for charity I am having on my blog in June, Pillow Fight--For a Cause!

Every month on our blog, we feature a charity, service organization, etc... and a project we crafters/bloggers can unite in to help with that cause!

This month I am featuring a project very near and dear to my heart. I have a great friend, Malynn, who is 14 years old, and has undergone some tough TOUGH medical stuff recently. She has been in and out of the hospital for the past 6 months. One might expect after all the medical problems she has endured she would be bitter and resolved. But not Malynn, she is amazing in so many ways. Instead of focusing on her issues she wants to help others. Malynn is an incredible seamstress, at the age of 14 she far surpasses my sewing ability!  Just look at one of her latest purses..

Yup, she is amazing!  She has made it a goal to donate 100 bright cheerful pillow cases to Primary Childrens Medical Center, to brighten up the patients rooms!  When she was in the hospital it was so comforting to have her own pillow.

I decided I wanted to help her out with this great cause.... and what better way than a

PILLOW FIGHT!  It is called Pillow Fight--For a Cause! Essentially this is a pillow contest where you can enter your homemade ruffly throw pillows, your sweet decorative pillows, your fleece flower pillows (!!!), your bedazzled pillowcases... pretty much anything pillow related, that you have made. THE CLINCHER IS, in order to enter this contest you must donate a pillowcase, one pillowcase per entry! A bright, cheery, fun pillow case! You can either send it to me, and I will let Malynn donate it, or you can donate it to a local hospital, womens shelter, etc. You just have to let me know that you donated one!

We have some FABULOUS prizes for this contest. HUNDREDS of dollars worth of prizes!  We will have guest judges narrow down the pillow field to ten, and then open it up to voting. The top three pillows will receive some amazing prizes. Sponsors for this event include... Kati Cupcake, Cap Creations, Sew Obsessed, Vinylize It, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Naptime Crafters... And Malynn and I are even going to throw in some prizes. We will also have one random prize for anyone who links up--sound terrific, I think so!  For more information click HERE!

So are you in? What is that you say, you don't know how to make a pillowcase? Well, let me show you! Creating a pillow case is simple, fast, and fun. It is a great beginner project, for any age.  This would be a great project to teach your child how to sew! It took me less than an hour to complete this pillow case, and that was taking pictures as well!

Basic Pillow Case

Cutting List:
Main Body Fabric: 3/4 yard fabric {or 27 inches by Width of Fabric (WOF)}
Band Fabric: 1/4 yard fabric {or 9 inches by WOF}
Trim Fabric: (Optional): 1 strip, 2 inches by WOF

Instructions:

All seams are 1/4 inch, unless otherwise noted.

With wrong sides together, fold the band fabric in half lengthwise and press. Do the same with your trim fabric.

Baste together the folded trim piece to the folded band fabric. 1/8 inches from the raw edges along the length of the strips.

Basting, simply means create a long running stitch, so that the two pieces stay together. Don't worry if they do not line up perfectly at the ends, we will fix it later on!

Pin the band/trim to the right side of the pillowcase panel along the long edge, raw edges together, with trim sandwiched in the middle.

Sew together. Zig zag, serge, or overlock raw edges together (To help prevent fraying).

Trim up the uneven layers of your pillow. I used a rotary cuttery, ruler, and mat. But you could just use scissors!

Your pillow case should look like this now!

Fold the pillowcase right sides together. Pin together, making sure to match the band seam line. Sew a strait seam along raw edges. Zig zag, serge, or overlock raw edges.

Turn right side out; Press! You are finished Easy Peasy right! Below is some pillow case inspiration, all of these pillow cases are ones that I made, or that were given to me. Pillowcases make great gifts!

I tried to make this tutorial as strait forward as possible, but you can email me with any questions!

Please come join the Pillow Fight, on our blog! You can link up your pillow creations
June 15-22!

I am trying to spread the word about this contest, I would love to donate 100 pillow cases! I can not imagine what it would be like to have a child in the hospital for extended periods of time.  I hope these pillowcases can be a comfort, and reminder of home! Please put a button on your blog, or contact me, I would love to come to your place and guest post about it!

<a href="http://www.ladybirdln.com/2011/05/pillow-fight-for-causepart-1.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Ladybird Ln" src="http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n514/LadybirdLN/Pillowfight.jpg" /></a>

Thank you so much Laura for letting me crash your fabulous blog today!!

Thank you, Carlee, it was my pleasure! I wish you tons of success in reaching your goal of 100 pillow cases!! 

Guest Host: Rachel from Sun Scholars

I am so thrilled to be doing a blog swap today with the talented Rachel, from Sun Scholars.  

Check out her adorable idea for an End-of-the-Year teacher's gift!

(and then swing by her blog to see MY POST for a

sneaky, yet fun, way to practice Math over the Summer!)

Hi!  I'm Rachel.

I LOVE M&M's, singing along with the radio, dancing in my living room, sewing, sleeping in, filling out paperwork, bringing chaos into calm, and looking at the brighter side of life.

I think I have fooled many people into thinking that I'm a SuperMom.

I assure you, I am not.

I'm just like many of you, trying to juggle my passions with my responsibilities.  I just have to have an organized home to not feel like life is caving in on me!

I don't watch TV.  I don't read many books.  I don't eat fast food.

I do craft.  I do cook.  I do shuttle kids all over town.  I do blog!

I am responsible for these three crazy little people....

As a mom, my world revolves around these three kids, and the things that I do are reflections of that.  My love for craftiness and teaching inspired my blog Sun Scholars.  When I created Sun Scholars, my goal was to provide a resource for other moms who, like me, wanted to provide the best for their kids.  For me, education and fun is what 'the best' is all about.  I hope you stop by and find something that inspires you!

Some of my blog favorites...

        

And now for my latest project!

A Notebook Bag for Teacher

My children and I made these as part of our teacher gifts this year.  Inside, we will include the Summer Checklists they created and a little package of goodies.  I am thrilled with how these turned out!

My inspiration...

The Paper Bag by The Crafty CPA

Ok... I LOVE this bag...  I just needed to simplify this a bit.

For one... I didn't have the time.  Two... I wanted the kids to play a part in creating it.

The best part is, I made these for less than $4 a piece!

Supplies:

-  Canvas Bag, white (I found this 3 pack at JoAnn's for $9.99 and used a 50% off coupon)

-  Sharpies in Blue & Red, fine tipped

-  Needle & Embroidery Floss, #414 (OR... you could use a grey Sharpie)

-  Pencil

-  Ruler

Directions:
1)  Use a ruler to make lines about 1/2" apart with the blue Sharpie.  I started my lines 3" from the top of the bag. 

2)  Using your red Sharpie, draw a line down the length of your bag, as you see me measuring in the photo below, about 3" from the left of your bag.

And this is what you'll have...

3)   I found that the lid of the Sharpie was the perfect size for the notepaper "holes".  You can use this as a stamp by coloring the edge with a washable marker, place your "hole" and go over it with a grey sharpie if you wish.  I did this with one bag (as you'll notice in the main photo) but decided not to with the others.

 

4)  Using a pencil, I had my children write their teacher's name in large lettering. 

 

My 3 year old struggles with writing names still, so I asked her to draw a picture of her teachers instead.

I thought these turned out SO adorable!

5)  How crafty are you?  I chose to embroider my children's pencil lines to finish these off nicely.  If this is not your thing, you could go over your child's pencil lines with a grey Sharpie, or let them write or draw with the Sharpie in the first place.  (I would recommend the pencil first... just to be on the safe side.)

**  I'd also recommend tossing these in the dryer to heat set them.  That way if they ever need to be washed, your lines will stay in tact.

 And here is an up close shot of a finished bag.   Totally adorable, right?

What teacher wouldn't love that?!