The Sewing Machine LIVES!

picklewart.blogspot.com

Well, you coop a person up long enough on a snow-laden hill and something highly unlikely is bound to happen. For me, it was sewing... sewing... yep, I said it, sewing. I finally got my mother's old 1960's New Home sewing machine to come alive.
I'm no seamstress... not even a little... but I've managed to sew a pillow case... an OVERLAPPING flaps pillow case. I know, I know. Some of you are gasping and shrieking at the thought, but it's true.
Grace picked out some fabric that she really liked at Hobby Lobby, and so it happened. Yep. The real deal. Me, a sewing machine, a couple of ugly words, and a pillow case.
Grace is quite proud of her new pillow case.

Next, a pillowcase dress! (oh mercy.)

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Wooden Spoon and Fork

picklewart.blogspot.com

I found this old beat up giant wooden spoon and fork at a garage sale last year for $2. I knew then that I wanted them up on my kitchen wall... but they needed something more than just their current discolored beaten wooden look. So, I finally got around to digging out some black paint I had - about 4 years old might I add! (LOTS of stirring and shaking). I gave them a wipe down and started painting. When dried, I thought they looked great but maybe a little too "polished" for my country kitchen full of barn wood pieces and chicken paraphernalia so I distressed them a bit with a fine-grit sandpaper.

Now, I think they're PERFECT for my wall!

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Puffy Paint

picklewart.blogspot.com

My friend Marlana over at A Peek Into Our Nest mentioned making puffy paint the other day. It sounded fun AND easy, so we decided to give it a try... and I'm glad we did. The kids loved it!

All you need is some plain white school glue and some plain white shaving cream. Mix equal parts of each.

You'll have a thick gloopy (is that a word?) goo to use. Go start creating!

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I've been workin' on the railroad...

picklewart.blogspot.com

Well, I've been workin' on our first lapbook that is... on trains. Grace has a true adoration of all things train which is perfect since my dad worked on the railroad for many many years. I grew up in the train yards of Frisco and later Burlington Northern, and I too have quite an affinity for all things train. So, NATURALLY, a train lapbook for our first lapbook experience was a given!

I would like to thank my friends Heather (we're hoping to convince Heather to blog again - she has FABULOUS ideas for preschooling!) and Kara (Kara's blog is active and full of info for Christian mothers!) for introducing me to the lapbook idea and for inspiring me to make one (at least one - it's frighteningly close to scrapbooking you know!).

Our Train lapbook elements came from this link at the site Preschool Homeshare. This has been a really great site in helping us with our preschooling this year. Although I have chosen not to homeschool, I do plan to supplement our children's schooling with activities at home, and this resource I believe will be quite valuable!

We also used a couple of other resources for our Train theme this week... we found a video of a scale train and a video with the Peanut Butter train song as well as a cute video of a child-sized train with kids singing Little Red Caboose. Grace has LOVED singing these songs!

Below is my video of our first EVER lapbook!!!!

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Grace's Snowflakes

picklewart.blogspot.com
Today's preschool time turned into a weather forecast! Grace made some beautiful snowflakes. But I warn you other Mm's of preschoolers... this was a little tough for my 3 yr old. By the time we'd folded the paper several times, it was getting a bit thick and hard to cut. She did some cutting but it turned into her "designing" the snowflakes and telling me where to make the cuts!

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