Fall Painting Crafts

I was so excited to stumble upon this post from Sugar Bee Crafts.  I was looking for a fun, fall craft to do that would use some colorful paint and the mason jars I had bought.  What better than to create a cute little mason jar luminary?

Adorable graphic from Sugar Bee Crafts

I will say, mine did not come out as cute as Sugar Bee Crafts.  I did not have time to find the perfect leaf decals so I said hmm... what could I use that would be convenient and not break the bank?  I headed over to Michael's Craft Store and got some leaf stickers - perfect!  I used the leftover stickers for my second grader's work (a win, win!)

 The supplies I needed:

1. acrylic paint

2. mason jars

3. paint brushes

4. water / plate to put paint on

5. leaf stickers (or decals) 

After they are dry and finished you will need:

6. small stones/rocks for inside the mason jar

7. tealight candle :)

  Recommendations:

1. Put on lots of paint coats, especially with lighter colors.

2. Let fully dry in between and try to be as smooth as possible with your brush strokes.  

3. After it is dry, pull off the stickers as gently as possible (The photo below shows them still drying)

4. Applying an acrylic sealer will help for the paint to stay and last a long time!

I also painted pumpkins with my sweet friend and her sweet mom.  It's so great living in the same house as one of your best friends - you get to do lots of crafts and fun things together!

We used acrylic paint on these ceramic pumpkins.  They were only $3 each at the Target Dollar Spot (gotta love it!) Below are the two pumpkins that I did.  One of them was for her new baby boy, Parker :) 

The bottom two pumpkins are her moms and Rachel's.  Can you tell Rachel is quite the artist?! xo

What fun crafts have you been doing this fall? 

Happy October :)

Get Crafty This Fall

Get Crafty This Fall - Five Creative Projects For Little Fingers  By: Eve Brooke

Fall can often be passed over in favor of spring or summer when it comes to people choosing their best time of year. Yet it can be a wonderful season, with the vibrant colors in the trees and an exciting chill in the air heralding the start of the build-up to Christmas. Such anticipation and colorful inspiration can offer the perfect chance to get the craft box out and to get creating - who knows, you and your children might even be able to make a start on those handmade Christmas gifts beloved of Grandmas and Aunties across the globe.

Here are five easy, cheap and fun seasonal craft projects to try out this Fall.

All the leaves are brown...

Despite the song title, this is certainly not the case. Fall leaves come in browns, reds, oranges, yellows, greens - the colors are bright and the shapes varied. Go for a family walk when the weather is dry and gather a bagful of fallen leaves of different shapes, colors and sizes.

Stick your (dry) leaves onto a sheet of paper or greetings card to make a pretty natural collage. Or paint them on the side where the veins stand out and press the painted side onto some paper to make a beautiful leaf print design. You could even draw eyes, arms, legs and a mouth to turn your prints into cute leaf people.

Fruits of your labor

Celebrate harvest festival by making your own bowl of fruit table decoration. This craft activity can be tailored to the age of the children involved. younger children can draw fruit, or stick cut-out pictures from a magazine onto another drawing of a basket, or even into a real one. You could help them make a 3D basket out of some stiff cardboard and tape or - if you are feeling ambitious, weave one using raffia or paper strips.

Older kids might like to try modelling fruit out of clay or making them out of old material, stuffing and a needle and thread. This would make a neat present for an older relative, or it could help remind children to eat more real-life fruit and vegetables, especially now, when so many delicious varieties are in season.

Papier mâché animals

A messy activity that is guaranteed to have eager participants. This craft is versatile, simple and best of all, makes great use of unwanted printed material that would otherwise end up in the trash. Blow a balloon up to the size you want your animal to be. Then, mix up some wallpaper paste, or make a glue out of flour and water. Make sure it is really gloopy and thick so that the paste will penetrate the paper and stick the layers together.

After that, tear up little pieces of paper - you can use old newspapers, unwanted magazines, or those really annoying leaflets you get in the mail every week. Stick the little pieces to the balloon using plenty of glue - add four or five layers. Leave the model to dry before painting and adding little ears, legs, whiskers etc. from items in your craft box.

Sowing a seed

Pumpkins conjure up images of Halloween and warning soups that are perfect for a Sunday night supper in Fall. Yet their seeds can also be an extremely useful addition to the crafters inventory. Dry the seeds, carefully pierce them with a needle and thread them onto a string for an unusual necklace or bracelet. Seal some in a plastic water bottle and decorate for a fun musical instrument.

Other ideas include drawing or making a tree shape out of paper, card or felt and using pumpkin seeds as the leaves, sticking them in an attractive pattern around the branches. Or draw a big outline of a pumpkin on some paper and stick the seeds inside the outline to create your very own pumpkin picture.

Scrapbook success

Help your children remember a wonderfully crafty Fall by helping them make a scrapbook all about the seasonal fun you have all had together. You could decorate the cover with dried leaves, small pieces of twig or moss, or you could use crayons or paint to draw some seasonal scenes. Perhaps you have some neat photos of the children enjoying running through the leaves, or exploring a colourful woodland.

Once you have designed your cover, turn your attention to the inside, where you can get really creative, designing pages about trips out, seasonal highlights, such as Harvest Festival or Hallowe'en. You could stick in any drawings the children have made, or take photos of any 3D crafts they have done.

Hope these ideas have given you some food for thought - have fun with your your Fall creations!

Breast Cancer Awareness, Projects, and Teachers Notebook

Hi all! Hope you are enjoying your weeks.. It is only Tuesday, but it'll be Friday before you know it! I have lots to do this weekend (including working!) and a Breast Cancer Walk that is held in Albany, NY every year.  My boyfriend's aunt is a breast cancer survivor, so I wouldn't miss it since she is family to me :) My dear childhood friend Ashley also suffered from cancer when she was so young.. I cannot even imagine, but I must say, they are both fighters!

 

My class made beautiful Character portraits and summaries today that I just had to share them with you.  They each got to pick a character from a story they like, and sketch and tell me a little about the character they chose.  I just found a random character sketch online, added lined paper, and voila! Masterpieces :)

 

 I took a picture of the characters before I hung them up, and after I hung them up :) They were just too cute nad my kiddos worked so hard on them!

 Tell me that doesn't look EXACTLY like Greg Heffley?! ;)

One of my favorites, Geronimo Stilton! (I helped him with the nose!) Love it!

SALE ALERT!!! I found a huge sale at CVS this past weekend.. all of their dollar bin back to school supplies were 75 percent off... 25 cents each!! These are a couple things I got! Make sure to check out your local CVS too!

I bought this for pretty inexpensive at Scholastic because I thought this could be a great addition to my library for my students.  They were so moved and interested in the tragedies of 9/11 that I want to make sure I give them as much literature as I can that interests them.  I will be reading this soon to make sure it is appropriate for my kids first, but let me know if you have purchased this book or have read it your kiddos?

 

I know it is only the middle of October, but my paychecks and money have been making me think about Christmas already.  I am the type of person that tries to save every penny I can to afford wonderful Christmas presents for my family, friends, and of course, my guy.  Our 3 year Anniversary is November 7th, and my 27th birthday is November 10th.  That is A LOT in one week ;) I love that because I was born the day before the wonderful holiday of Veteran's Day, I receive a 3 day weekend this year!! (Normally, it's just a day off!) As I grow on tremendously on Teachers Pay Teachers, I don't want you to forget about Teacher's Notebook either!

I am going to be having a HUGE sale on Teacher's Notebook very soon, and ALL my earnings are going towards Christmas Presents for the people I love most in the world (and of course my students!) Teacher's Notebook is fabulous because it gives 100 PERCENT of the earnings to Teachers!! How incredibly generous of them!! [And also my prices are normally a bit lower on TN since I earn 100%] I will most likely be having a big sale on TPT too and love my quarterly earnings ridiculous amounts, but if you buy from my Teacher's Notebook shop, I will be able to use the money right away for gifts... I thank YOU all for giving me smiles and wonderful feedback to my shops.. it really makes a difference in my life and being able to spend money on myself sometimes, so THANK YOU SO MUCH.

 

If you missed my giveaway on facebook a week or two ago, I am giving away my Fourth Grade Common Core Unit on Teacher's Notebook now until the 21st... please check it out HERE.. 2 lucky winners!

 

AMAZING GIVEAWAYS!!!

 

Second Grade Smartypants reached 350 Followers!! What a Milestone! Check out their giveaway HERE! :)

 

Shout out to my girl at Fourth Grade Lemonade!! She has reached a wonderful 100 followers and is also having an amazing giveaway right now! Please head over and check it out by clicking HERE - I am giving away one of my units too!!! ;)

 

 

 

Experimenting with jello

So, I have come to the conclusion with such a small, sweet class, I can do a lot of hands-on activities and fun projects with them.  Last night, I made up an Animal Cell Jello Project (I saw a picture of this on Pinterest and had to experiment and come up with a lesson for it!) My kids LOVED it.. they not only understand what cells are now, but they remember most of the parts of the cell and why they are important.  Click HERE to see it on TPT and download it for free!!

 The only thing I would change about the experiment (as noted in the download) is that I would need to add the candy a little earlier than I did before the jello hardens.. I thought an hour it would be fine, but by that time the jello was already set and when I placed the candy inside it broke the mold :( Oh well, next time!!

Here's a random picture of my hammy hamster, Pancake.. his cheeks are full of fruits and treats :) I love him...

Please please please spread the word about my blog.. I am so ready for this giveaway and I have THREE equal prizes with TWELVE bloggers/teachers/fabulous people that are contributing!!! All I need is 12 more followers!! :) Thank you in advance!!

Cauldron Bubbles

We had a Science Fair a little while back, and my experiment was called Cauldron Bubbles - it was basically reviewing the relationship between oil and water (how it does not mix), and what other elements will have a bubble reaction to the oil and water.  Since oil is less dense than water, it floats to the top.  When you add fun things like salt, sand, and sugar, it mixes with the oil and sinks to the bottom because it becomes more dense than the water.  After it dissolves it floats back up, giving it a lava lamp effect with adding some food coloring.  The students loved it and it is a very easy experiment to do in your classroom (or at home with your kids!)

Check out the website here :)

I hate blocking out the faces, but of course it is needed for the safety of my kiddos and families :) The template that I used for younger kiddos to fill out is the picture below.. for my age group (2nd and 3rd graders) I had the same template, except I had them write out their prediction rather than circling it (too easy)! Let me know if you have any questions!

Everyone have a wonderful weekend!!