Homemade Gifts: Embroidered Hand Towels

Every year I try to come up with a fun, homemade gift for the boys to make that we can mail out to family in the midwest. This year I decided to dust off an oldie but goodie and teach the boys a family tradition. The boys' great-grandma used to give everyone embroidered gifts including blankets and hand towels that she made well into her 90s. When I saw an embroidery project in a kids craft book at the library I though, what a fun idea for the boys to make for their grandparents, aunts and uncles! It is sure to bring a tears to an eye or two on Christmas morning.

We started by having Nigel draw the pictures because he is a little young to get into the sewing part and he is really into drawing right now. Xaviar and Basil both drew a picture or two each and both of them helped with the embroidery. I showed them a simple backstitch and off they went! Here is Basil hard at work:


Basil is a natural (of course) and loved doing it. His stitches are beautiful. Here are his masterpieces:


Nigel drew the bowl of goulash for grandma and Basil stitched it.



The other grandma gets a frog that Nigel drew and Basil stitched.


Basil drew the hearts and stitched this one for one of their aunts.

Xaviar was a little less patient with the embroidery and his stitches kept getting longer and longer over time. Here are the two he drew and stitched:



And the one that Nigel drew and Xaviar stitched for an uncle:


While we were working on this project we found a box of hand towels great grandma had embroidered. She did this one in her 90s! Look at the dainty stitches!! How amazing:




Now, all we have to do is mail them off and hope none of the grandparents, aunts or uncles will read this post before Christmas ;)

Quick and Easy Holiday Project when Subbing

I found myself subbing in an amazing first grade classroom last week when an opportunity for an impromptu art project arose. One of the books we were reading mentioned wreaths and described how to make a wreath from paper plates and tissue paper. The kids asked if we could make the project and I said, "Sure!"

While they were at recess I found some small paper plates in the art supply room along with a bunch of crepe paper:

I cut the paper into squares about 1 square inch each. I went with red, white and green this time because the holiday season is coming up and it just so happens that two kids were of Italian heritage and two were of Mexican heritage. We discussed how these colors are the colors of those countries flags. I also made a cut line on the paper plates with a yellow highlighter and cut an X in the middle of each plate as a place for the students to start their scissors:






When the students returned I showed them the project and how to wrap the paper around a pencil before sticking it into the glue (poured onto a lid). I reminded them that they do not need much glue and too much glue would make the colors from the crepe paper run.






Then they began while I did a read aloud that was in the lesson plan for that time. They loved working on their projects while listening to me read! Here is my work in progress:


And their finished products:


We discussed how you can make the wreath look like a green wreath with berries, make a pattern, or or just mix all the colors up!  They had so much fun and the classroom teacher was impressed. I love this one that a student made:


Her father is from Italy and she made the Italian flag :)

Quick and easy project and all the supplies are light-weight enough for me to carry to school!!

Back in Business!

Hi All!

After a LONG hiatus I am dusting off the ol' blog. Over the last three years we moved (a block) and I transitioned into substitute teaching (which I will be posting a ton about) and the little guys grew (lots of middle school themed posts to look forward to) and joined myriad new sports and extra-curricular activities (guess who is now a THEATER MOM!!!!!). Ok, ok, enough with the parenthesis.

In addition to these fabulous new activities I have dusted off my crochet hooks and invested in a small fortunes worth of yarn. Scarves, hats, flowers, blankets, etc. now adorn our apartment. The two little guys even requested crazy thick scarves that they wear with shorts and t-shirts in our "winter" weather here. Side note - I have turned into a California freeze baby but these guys seem to be immune to any feelings of cold whatsoever.

Ironically, the longer we live here the less we partake in unique San Francisco activities and the more we are busy with homework, babysitting, sports, afterschool activities, and mundane responsibilities. One reason I am revitalizing this blog is to regain the sense of adventure I first brought with me when I moved here. So, 'Tis The Season and all and in the spirit of Christmas I will be adding a post a day between now and the big day.

So happy to be back!