Movie Date: Kit Kitteredge-An American Girl

Leah and Uncle Carson outside the movie theater

On Saturday we went to see Kit Kitteredge-An American Girl. It takes place in the 1930's during the Great Depression and it was an adorable movie! I think that even Uncle Carson enjoyed it a bit.

I was so inspired by the dresses the little girls wore in the movie. I am a true fan of much of the 1930's dress and hat styles, especially for little girls so after the movie, I went home and drafted up a dress pattern for Leah (using several patterns as guides) similar to a dress Kit wore in the movie and I am very pleased with the results:) They just don't make patterns like that anymore . . . I went and picked up some cute fabric today and I should be done with the first dress tomorrow.

Busy Planning, Planning, Planning . . . .

I have been busy planning for many things these last few weeks.

Leah's Birthday

Leah's birthday is on Friday and I still need to finalize plans for it. She will be very excited when she opens her present though! Leah loves horses and I found a horse tire swing. Unfortunately, it will arrive a couple of days after her birthday, but she says that she is okay with that but she can't wait to find out what it is. She should have hours of fun with this:)

Here is the horse pendant necklace and two bracelets that I made for Leah's birthday.

Planning for the 2008-2009 School Year

I am in the process of finishing up plans for Leah and Mason's schooling for this next year. I find it a bit more challenging each year as Mason gets older and wants more and more of my attention. I'll hit the planning full force in August.

American Girls Club-Fall 2008

I have also been planning for the next semester of the American Girls Club. I feel very grateful and relieved to have a friend who is willing to help me again with this. It is so much fun, but does require a lot of work and time to plan. The girls will be reading the "Kirsten" books this time and will be learning about the pioneers in the 1850's. (I'll post details on our homeschool blog). I am excited for it:)

SUPER SATURDAY

Super Saturday is also around the corner and I stayed up late last night looking for ideas on the internet. Here are the ideas that I found. If things go as planned, we will finally have an Enrichment Leader called before Super Saturday! I am so excited about that. Here are some ideas:

SOME FUN IDEAS from simplycreativecrafts.blogspot.com that you can order as kits:

Photo Blocks

Ribbon 8x10 Frame

Magnet Board

New version of a family home evening board with picture magnets

Magnetic Recipe Card holder

HOLIDAY DECORATIONS

Pumpkins
(made from a 4x4)

Snowman Set
I don't have a picture for these but they are so cute! They are a set of three snowmen (big, medium and small) made from a 2 x 4. They are painted white and sanded. Their faces are painted and they wear a fleece hat (glued) and scarf. (They can also me made as a miniature model with a 2 x 2). This is a simple and fun winter decoration.

IDEAS FOR KIDS

Crayon Roll

Hooded Towels
Hair Clips (Bows and Curly Q's)

Flowered Headbands


Jeweled Headbands

Crayon Nibbles
(A great way to recycle old broken crayons to make fun and new big ones:)

Beaded Headbands

Picture Puzzle Blocks
This would be fun for kids, or anyone. I know Mason would love it if it had pictures of cars or dozers on it . . .


CRAFTS FOR AROUND THE HOUSE

Grocery Bag Dispenser
I have been meaning to make one of these for a long time now. We have bags piled up in the pantry.

Quick and Easy Aprons

50 free apron patterns

(This site has really cute ones for little girls as well)

http://tipnut.com/free-apron-patterns-tutorials/

Easy Apron made from a napkin

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmz5VvyEPA5OGdkqeMvZoJonL8cXa91yLyB_OU6ytfvXhxlNK6_4GH7C0wIGVopuiiEu7lW2fHG4PHhNDF3U6gPrFM6VN8HercwTJRdfx3ZZ3mjEPYpk4qUY7Wdi6v_CJ-zCqXKeCTIFo_/s1600/IMG_7460_edited-1.jpg

Scripture Toes and Bags

(Follow link to great free patterns)

Photo Wreath

So, those are some ideas I came up with. It will be fun to see what everyone on the Enrichment Committee comes up with as well. This should be a lot of fun:)

Wonderful websites for Super Saturday craft ideas:

http://tipjunkie.blogspot.com
(This website is so wonderful and is loaded with a million really neat and crafty ideas. You have got to check out this site!)
http://simplycreativecrafts.blogspot.com/2008/03/frames_10.html
(You can order really cute Super Saturday craft kits at a reasonable price from this website.)
http://adventureswiththeprovosts.blogspot.com/search/label/crafts
(This website has lots of cute craft ideas.)

New Crafts

Jeweled Headbands

(This one matches Leah's Easter dress)

These are the first two jeweled headbands that I have made for Leah. They are really beautiful on and Leah says that they are really comfortable to wear. (They're fun to make too!)

Korkers

I always wondered how these were made! I am learning how to make a few different kinds of boutique bows and I am surprised at how simple they are to put together. It is going to be a lot of fun making bows to match Leah's clothes! (And much less expensive than buying them in the store.)

Click on the links below to learn how to make different types of bows:

The Ribbon Retreat
(This site also has great deals on purchasing ribbon!)

Girly Things

My New Love

This is my new panini maker and grill. I picked it up at Costco this week because I needed something new to cook with. I love it! I use it to grill meat and quesadillas, but my favorite is panini sandwiches. This is the recipe for my favorite sandwich:

Ingredients:
1 can chicken
sliced swiss cheese
sliced tomato
mayonnaise
whole wheat bread

Directions:
Drain canned chicken, add 2T of mayo and mix in a bowl. Place 1 slice of bread in the hot panini maker and add the ingredients in this order: 1 slice of swiss, some of the chicken mixture, a slice or two of tomato, 1 slice of swiss and bread. Grill on medium. Yum!

A Fun Thing to Try-Pin Curls!

Leah got her hair trimmed this week and the lady who cuts her hair told me how to do pin curls. They turned out cute for church today! Here's how to do it: Buy some hair pins and spray gel at a beauty supply place. After a bath, towel dry the hair, put on a movie on start pinning (It takes a little while to do)! All you do is part the hair where you would usually part it and then take small sections, spray them with spray gel, roll them from tip to root with your fingers and pin them flat on the head with the flat part of the pin toward the scalp. Wear them to bed, take them out in the morning and separate them a bit. The curls are so cute and they stay all day long!

Heritage Makers Website

I found this website today and I think it is such a neat idea!

http://www.heritagemakers.com