Wednesday, July 25, 2012

We Have A Climber!

Last night as we were sitting in the living room and Elle was playing, she decided to have a new adventure. Not exactly sure why or what she was thinking, but this is what came from it all!


 

The bookshelf! She climbs in and lays down. When we grabbed cameras Elle would try to get out really quick!


 

And again today she has done it a few times! Why! Why! Why!

This is just too funny! I want to tell her "no" but I just cant stop laughing. I will have to make sure I start telling her "no" from now on.


 

"Hi Momma! See what I'm doing!"

Silly baby!


 


 

Making Kid Friendly Jewelry

Let me start off by saying my daughter and my job are my inspiration for this project. I LOVE jewelry! Especially shiny jewelry, but with a small child and my job, sometimes it isn't always the best! I work in a classroom with k-2 children. I don't want expensive jewelry broken and sometimes children get a tad rough while looking at your jewelry by pulling on it. Well, these pendents I have been working on are LIGHT WEIGHT (as a lot of jewelry is too heavy), INEXPENSIVE, COLORFUL, AND FUN!

I started by cutting the sides out of a milk jug. Next, I drew some shapes on the plastic. I used circles just because I traced washers. Cut out the shapes you chose to draw. I drilled holes in each circle for the jump rings.


Then, I just applied mod podge and glued on fabric or paper. (I had cut a bunch of pictures and patterns out of magazines the past few months and made magnets the same way!)

Let the mod podge dry about 10 mins, and trim the edges. Now I do have to tell you. I forgot to drill holes for jump rings in a few of the pieces before I glued fabric. When I went back to drill the holes, The fabric twisted and came off. I had to re-glue and punch a hole with a nail in the fabric. I mod podged all of the circles again, and could drill through the pieces of shapes that I did with paper.

I found a couple of thick plastic pieces one day when Elle and I were out on a walk. I thought these would be kinda cool to make a pendent. People wear huge necklaces all the time and look great!
I spray painted one with a metallic paint.

 I chose this vintage looking paper for the other.

I traced the shape on a piece of red paper out of a magazine. Chopped out some sayings. I mod podged the shape, stuck the paper on, and let it dry. Next, I podged over the red paper and stuck down the words.  

And then podged over the words. I am looking for the right sparkling butterfly sticker and a lady bug to add to this side. I forgot to mention that I have been doing all the pieces double sided. Therefore, you get 2 in 1!

 This is about a 1.5x3 piece of wood I found on one of our walks. I also painted one side of this with the metallic paint. Then drilled the hole for a jump ring. I kinda liked this piece for something a bit natural.

 Here is one side of alot of the pieces I did. Some of the more squared up pieces are cut up gift cards.



A few close ups. I did not get all the bubbles out of this one because I drilled on one side and went to put pics on the opposite side. I did not think about where the plastic had pushed through from drilling. I should have sanded down the holes. (I love some Mercer Mayer!) I thought this one would be fun for work. Also these are very light weight so when Elle is a couple years older she will have necklaces also that she can wear.

Our class does a whole week of Dr. Seuss to celebrate his birthday!

This one is a bit big for me but will still be fun. This is about 3x4 maybe.

I can't wait to chop up more magazines! There are so many prints to use. Someones skirt and picture from flowers! Unlimited possibilities!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

New Sand Box

Today I finally got brave enough to let Elle play in her sand box. (okay so it's a PLASTIC SAND TUB! whatever) It's a great little box for a first time sander! (And it has a lock lid to keep out the critters!)

She wasn't sure at first, but then wanted to stand in it! Then sit in it!

We decided shoes were not necessary as long as we stay in the sand or on the mat. Besides Elle needed to feel the soft rainbow of sand on her little piggies!


The more we dug, the more colors we found! Green, pink, tan, and purple!
Crayola sand is sooo soft for baby. It's wonderful! We need a huge sandbox of this stuff for mom to get in too. Hey! I can pretend I'm on a luxurious sandy beach can't I!?!?!
Hey the Little People are disappearing! It must rainbow quicksand!

Hurry Elle Save them!


 We just needed to get a little closer to save them all!

This turned out to be a great experience! (Except for putting sandy hands in mom's hair. Oh well, I'll take it for a good first experience in the sand box!)
I am so glad she liked it! I think we might bury some treasure (toys) in the sand and have to dig them out! Maybe I enjoy this more than Elle. We will also be getting a small bowl of water to in one end to make a swimming pool for the people and animals! I got this off of Big Play in Small Spaces! It is such a great website. http://innerchildfun.com/2012/06/big-play-in-small-spaces.html

I am sure that my beach or swimming pool will not look near as cool as theirs. But I will make it better as Elle gets older and cares a little more! I am so excited! I hope she is more creative at playing than her brother! I can't wait to come up with more outdoor activities to do with her. (Besides chasing her.) I would love to build forts with Baily but he is just not too interested. Maybe this one will like Fairy houses. Or, maybe she will like garages for her cars or something! Who knows what she will be like in a couple of years!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Busy Bags Link

I have found one of the best sites for busy bags. This site has MANY ideas and links to other sites for busy bags! Very helpful. Although Elle is only 1, I will be making some to have ready for when she is just a tad bigger. Who knows, maybe I can find some for Baily also who is 10!
http://mysmallpotatoes.com/2012/07/21/a-busy-bag-round-up/
Anyone with ideas for a 10 year old boy PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!


Thursday, July 19, 2012

Visitor's Center

Today the kids and I went on a little country cruise to see a goat tower over by Findlay. I got a pic but not a great one.

Then a nice little country cruise back to Shelbyville to the Visitor's Center. We had never been there, sooo I thought we better check it out. (Especially since it was over 100 outside!)
There is a little model of a hut in the Visitor's Center. When you go in it, a voice starts telling you information and there's animal noises that begin.

Elle was not fond of this hut or the noises!

We read about some famous people to the area.

Anthony Thornton was a Representative from Illinois; born near Paris, Bourbon County, Ky., November 9, 1814; attended the common schools and Centre College, Danville, Ky.; was graduated from Miami University, Ohio, in 1834; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Shelbyville, Ill., in 1836; major of militia during the war with Mexico; delegate to the State constitutional conventions in 1847 and 1862; member of the State house of representatives in 1850; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-ninth Congress (March 4, 1865-March 3, 1867); was not a candidate for renomination in 1866; resumed the practice of law; justice of the supreme court of Illinois from 1870 to 1873, when he resigned; president of the State bar association for four terms; chairman of the State board of arbitration 1895-1897; died in Shelbyville, Shelby County, Ill., on September 10, 1904; interment in Glenwood Cemetery.

There is a large stone marker outside the house in Shelbyville where Josephine Cochrane lived and invented this machine.


Robert Root (1864-1937) is best known for his 1918 painting of the Lincoln-Douglas debate held in Charleston, Illinois, in 1858. This painting is in the Governor's Office in Springfield. A large-scale color reproduction is exhibited at the new Lincoln-Douglas Debate Museum in Charleston. Root studied at the Cooper Union Art School, New York City, Washington University School of Fine Arts in St. Louis, and the Academé Julien in Paris, France. In the early 1890s he returned to live in Shelbyville.
DETAILS OF ROBERT ROOT'S LIFE AND HIS OBITUARY ARE HERE
Root made his living primarily from portraits, like that of Eastern Illinois University's first president, Livingston C. Lord, on view in Eastern Illinois University's Old Main. Two portraits are included in the Tarble exhibition. But he was also an Impressionist style landscape painter.. In the 1920's Root joined Coles County's Paul Sargent as the two non-Indiana members of the Brown County Artists Association.
SEE ROOT PAINTINGS & SCULPTURE HERE

Other examples of Root's work are classic style relief sculptures in the Chautauqua building in the Shelbyville park (Pictures coming soon)
A bust of the artist rests in the Shelbyville Public Library (picture also coming soon)
Eastern Illinois University Tarble Arts Center has a collection of Robert Root Paintings
Examples of Root art include: The Debate painting at Springfield, Shelbyville, Bas-Relief Sculptures in the Chautauqua at Shelbyville, and EIU paintings. Root paintings are in many homes and places in the United States, and the importance of this 19th Century Impressionist style painter is growing. (this information was taken off of http://www.alincolnlearning.us/Shelbyartist.html )

There is a great spot to sit and rest. Beautiful background for taking a nice picture.


We found a very furry rug. Elle loved to crawl on it. I believe it was a bison maybe. None of the animals that were stuffed had tags to tell what exactly what they were so a couple we may have to guess on.

Come on Elle! Crawl through the tree trunk.

Woo Wee Elle found the light at the end of the trunk! Well, okay she found the brother!

Another little fun thing for the kids to do. On the sides of this tree trunk are panels to lift for information.

This stump has holes in the sides and different things for the kids to take out and touch, hold, observe.

Watch out he will swoop down and get us. Haha.. not really.

We got to see some very beautifully done antler carvings. It was amazing to see what people can carve and paint out antlers!

Another smaller eagle and an elephant head.

There were alot of these carvings.

All carved out of antlers and painted.

More stuffed animals were on adventures around the room!

Abadger,


Look daddy we found a coon!

Flying squirrel I think. He was a cute little feller!

This little fawn was soo tiny. Hello mister squirrel!

Honk Honk to you too friend.

Hoo Hoo!


A friendly river otter just hanging out.

A couple of quacks hanging out here!

This is quite a catch!

This is a snapping turtle. He kept turning his head to look at us.

A corn snake. I didn't want to even take a picture of this one. There was also a black rat snake in another window but he was hiding in his rock house so I thought we would leave him be. One snake picture was more than plenty!

 2 cute little box turtles just swimming around.

Some fish. I love to look at fish.

And this was the whole wall with all the snakes, turtles and fish.

There were some arrow heads and spears shown.


Chautauqua (play /ʃəˈtɔːkwə/ shə-TAW-kwə) was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day.[1] Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as saying that Chautauqua is "the most American thing in America."[2] H.L. Mencken used the word "chautauqua" (lower case) to refer more generally to a herd of clumsy writers: "When they essay to be jocose, the result is usually simply an elephantine whimsicality, by the chautauqua out of the Atlantic Monthly." [Vintage Mencken, p.96, ed. Alistair Cooke, 1955]

 More informaiton on the Shelbyville and Lithia Springs Chautauquas.

  Hope this guys not looking at any of us!

 This is the view out back of the Visitor's Center. It was beautiful but extremely hot!~ There is a railing all of the way around and a gorgeous view of the lake.



Baily checking out the view finder.


A beautiful place for a picnic or a partay! some picnic tables, a fire pit and a GORGEOUS VIEW!!!
It was a short trip but well worth it.