24 Days Of Simple Christmas Crafts

24 Simple Crafts

 that can be used for small Christmas gifts this season. 

Why 24 & not 25?  Because 3 across worked better for the size of my blog.  :-)
Almost all of these can be completed in an afternoon.

1 Tea Light Snowmen	2 Photo  Calendars	3 Dishcloths
4 Paint a travel Coffee Mug	5 Pajama Pants	6 Scarf
7 Candle Wraps	8 Heritage  Ornaments	9 Tea Lighted Felt snowman
10 Ruffle Scarves	11 Soap Dispenser	12 Memory Ornaments
Personalized Books	How To Make A Quick  Family Tree	Soap
16 The Perfect Baby Blanket	17 Reindeer on Chocolate Covered  Pretzel Rods	18 Salted Hot Caramel Hot Cocoa Mix
19	20	21
22	23	24

Tackle it Tuesday - Glove & Hat storage

The before pic on top is shameful.  I have no excuse.  Half of that mess is a pile of mending.  I tossed almost half of it, figuring if it was there all summer and not missed, we don't really need it.  The other half is puppy supplies. From the puppies we had here this spring.  What is supposed to be there in the summer are the pool towels, kayak bags and the middle assortment of bug sprays and sunscreens.

I spent some time looking for ideas to better organize our hats and gloves, but ended up, as seen on the bottom of the photo, with a basket of Miche covers, a stack of scarves, a crate of gloves and a stack of hats.  Simple, but I think it works for us.  Anyway, it's at least clean!  And it only took me a few minutes to fix this area.

Some of the ideas I found, but couldn't use in this space:

Shoe racks are the most popular solution, and probably what I would use if I had a door to hang one on. 

I love this sooooo much!  I do not have any wall space in my laundry room unfortunately.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/283445370270811027/

 http://indulgy.com/post/HGBcVcpal1/how-to-build-wall-mount-storage

These buckets are really cute, and would be simple to make.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/77968637270920133/

I found this on a google image search - you can buy racks like this, or maybe find something at the thrift store (a letter holder maybe?) that would work. But I know my kids would not take the time to put gloves back on here and we have so many gloves that it would take up too much space.  (We need work gloves, nice gloves, snow gloves..  x5 people)

This is such a pretty "after"!  She has before pics and her process on her site here:

http://www.casasugar.com/Photos-Organized-Coat-Closet-13602700

I LOVE that scarf storage!

Curtains from Shower Curtains

When redoing our daughters bedroom, we were having trouble finding reasonably priced curtains.  Even material to make curtains was pricey - so we started looking at sheets.  And while in the aisle at Dollar General looking at Sheets (nothing in a good pattern there) we turned and spotted a cloth shower curtain that was perfect.  

It's super quick and easy to cut the curtain in half and add a pocket rod and some hems...  Fast and easy and reasonably priced!

We took the closet doors down to have the carpet installed, and then our daughter decided she liked the closet better without the doors.  We went back to Dollar General and got yet another fabric shower curtain, and hung it on a shower curtain rod across the door. 

========================

https://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/p/diary-of-housewife.html

Heritage Ornaments

 24 Days Of Simple Christmas Projects

Day #8

Materials needed:
 - Family History (I like to do a photo on one side & a brief history or genealogy on the back)
 - Ceramic Ornaments
 - Modge Podge
 - Brush to Apply the Modge Podge

Genealogy is a passion of mine. While researching, I find all sorts of interesting little tidbits - like a distant relative that wrote a hymn, or our connection to a local landmark, or pictures of a flour mill once owned by relatives...  But these can be made with just a picture of your great grandmother, and a simple genealogy list on the back.  My goal is to make a new ornament each year for the family, to pass the history along from generation to generation.

  

The most time consuming part of making these is the sizing.  I found it easiest to guess at size, print, then keep adjusting my sizing until it fits the ornament.  With the square and rectangular ornaments, it is simple to measure and size the photo accordingly.  With the shapes, I ended up cutting text and piecing it on the ornament, then going into my document and changing the text to match up with what I had cut and pieced - then I reprinted.  

When you brush the modge podge on it will look like glue - very opaque.  Do not worry, it will dry clear.

These ceramic ornaments are around $1.50 this time of year, but after Christmas they are often on sale for 50 cents, or even 25 cents on clearance - I stock up for the following year when they are on sale!

The first year I did these, I did not think ahead well enough.  From now on I want to do 4 extras, one for each of our children, which I will pack away for them, and then give to them all at once when they have married and have their own trees.

To see more 

24 Days Of Simple Christmas Projects

http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2013/11/24-days-of-simple-christmas-crafts.html

10 most popular articles in Hobby Farm 2010

As part of my efforts to eliminate one of my blogs, I'm slowly moving all the most popular posts from there to here.  This is an OLD post, from a HobbyFarms Home email, that continues to receive a lot of hits 3 years later!

Discover the most popular articles, best tips and hot insider guides that kept animal owners and enthusiasts clicking for more on HobbyFarms.com in 2010.

1. Produce Bound Underground»
   Root cellars, the ancient technology that enables the long term storage of your farm’s bounty.
2. Hay and Feeding Advice for Livestock Owners»
   Hay is the mainstay diet for our livestock. Learn the intricacies of hay types, nutritional content and quality before purchasing your next load.
3. Making Your Own Hay»
   Learn about making your own hay. If you have access to a patch of hay land, the equipment and you'd like to produce the best possible forage for you pets and livestock, do-it-yourself haymaking can still spell dollars and sense.
4. Small-farm Tillage and No-till Equipment»
   When caring for a small farm, you don’t necessarily need large tractors or implements; smaller no-till and traditional tillage implements could be the best bet for your property.
5. Recipes for Animal Treats»
   Find recipes for animal treats from Hobby Farms and Hobby Farm Home food columns and more.
6. How Do I ... Build Raised Beds»
   Growing in raised beds has many advantages: It can be easier on aging backs and knees, and the soil conditions inside a raised bed can easily be kept optimal.
7. Mushroom Farming»
   The mushroom farming industry could use a few more good growers. Learn how to begin this crop on your farm.
8. Keep Your Garden Protected»
   Protect your garden using planting strategies, fences and even owls--help keep deer and other critters away.
9. A Custom-Made Root Cellar»
   Root cellars are as practical today as they were in the past. Learn how to build your own root cellar.
10. Gravel Pathways»
    Whether pathways on your farm are used for walkways between garden produce or for thoroughfares between barns and pastures, there’s a type of footing for every situation.

The Pros & Cons Of Connections Academy Cyber School

Switching From:

To:

(And the reasons I think we made a mistake in doing so)

It is week one.  I know I need to take a deep breath, and just go with it.  I know I expect a lot.  And I also know that I'm probably only really happy with straight homeschooling, where I can control, or eliminate, all of this busy work.  But we committed to Connections Academy, our tax dollars have been sent to support this school, and I feel the need to finish this year.  I am hopeful that it will improve.  If the curriculum does not improve, we will need to supplement a lot so that my kids do not fall behind where they should be academically, but that is not really a problem.  This is why I am so disappointed with our switch so far, on week one.

Why We Switched:

Last year the IA2p's in the self paced classes were over the top.  Long, difficult, and worth very few points. They were almost always unrelated to the curriculum, and took up way too much time.  Several people we knew were going with Connections Academy this year, so we decided to make the switch as well.  I expected it to be similar to PA Cyber, but with "portfolios" instead of IA2p's, and supposedly the portfolios are not mandatory.  (I've come to find that what is mandatory changes by teacher, class, and apparently hour in Connections.  My daughter did her first lesson in Physical Education yesterday, and started to track her exercises.  Later she took the live lesson, and was told that wasn't necessary.  So although the live lessons are also "not mandatory", if you miss them, you won't know what the teacher actually expects you to do.  AND most of the teachers are giving extra points for attending live lessons.)

We've avoided a lot of Virtual Classes at PaCyber because of the time commitment.  We like more flexibility in our schedules than Virtual Classes allow.  At this point, after realizing that we will waste far more time in live lessons than we ever would have in Virtual Classes, I'm really wishing we had just went with PACyber and went with more Virtual Classes, where the IA2p's are not required.


The Positives:

Connections has an awesome home page set up.  When I log in, I see a to do list, have access to my webmail, the kids grade books, the kids calendars, and see which assignments need to be submitted.  This is awesome.  I really, really like seeing the kids assignments each day, having them split into days, and knowing exactly what they have to complete.  (This schedule does not, unfortunately, include live lessons, and I cannot find a way to combine my students schedules to see them all on one page - but it's still a great concept)

It appears they have local field trips that may be fun & interesting.  There is one later this month on the Hiawatha in Williamsport. - Update - My daughter was really excited about the Poe field trip, for her English class.  We received the email about it and replied immediately, only to be told it was already full.  Students were allowed to bring their entire family, so just a couple of families attended, including small children, leaving no spots available for the students actually taking the class.  We had no luck attending any field trips the entire year - they were almost always full within minutes of being announced.

They offer sign language.  My daughter is really excited over this option!

The Negatives:

1. The Live Lessons are a mess.
     A.   In one, my son had 70 other students with him, in one class.  Seventy. They spent the entire class discussing iphones vs android.  A discussion we could have debated better at our own dining room table, and completely unrelated to anything in the curriculum.  The teacher was all over the place and obviously had no idea how to handle 70+ students in one class.  (I do not blame her. I can't imagine trying to do a live lesson with that many students chiming in)  There was a 4 page handout the kids were told to print before the class.  That was a complete waste of printer ink, and a waste of the teachers time to prepare.  
Update - to clarify from employee Mr Duran's reply to my post below, there were 70 children in one live lesson because it was two classes combined.  Yes, there are no more than 40 children in a class, but they can combine classes for live lessons.

     B.  Another live lesson had 4 teachers teaching in one room, at the same time.  There was so much background noise  that it was pretty near impossible to pay attention and follow along. (My daughter took a virtual Italian class, live from Italy, in PA Cyber that was much better quality.  From Italy.) Update - I'm sorry if this conflicts with Mr Duran's school logs, but I was here with my daughter when this occurred.  I can not speak for the schools logs, only for our experiences with the school. Geometry was the most confusing live lesson for her,as there were 4 different teachers who taught at different times (each live lesson she logged into may have a different teacher) - and they did not teach in the same methods, or with the same standards. 

    C. You do not receive a live lesson class schedule until school starts.  Allowing for no advance planning, we received notice as little as 2.5 hours before a class began.  I know they say that's ok because the classes "are not mandatory", but if the teachers are giving important information (like changes to course requirements, varying from the lessons the kids have done on their own - this happened for my daughter yesterday.) and awarding points for attendance, the least they can do is give us the schedule a week in advance.  Then to make it worse, there is no standard for how long the classes last, and some of the classes overlap, so it's not possible to be in all of them.  The one class, that we received an email for 2 hours before it occurred  said to watch a youtube video before attending.  That would have been fine if we had known earlier, but it wasn't possible to be in the two overlapping (one ran late) live sessions already on our sons schedule in that 2 hour period, AND watch a youtube video at the same time.  If he left the class that ran late before it was over, he would not have been awarded the points for attending, effectively wasting his last hour completely, since the class had no useful information.

     This can all be filed under "well, it's not mandatory", but I think the entire philosophy is flawed. And annoying.

2.  Communication Issues

    A.  In Pa Cyber, we had one IS (Instructional Support) for our family. He'd call once a week, address any issues, give me an overview of grades & progress..  Very organized. Before school began, for every issue I had to call Connections (We had a lot of issues in enrolling, I should have taken it as a warning sign) and specify which state we were from, then sit through a lot of waiting as I was transferred from one person to the next, often needing to repeat which state we were from, and which grade/s our student/s were in.  I imagine that now we can just call our homeroom teacher (or the additional "homeroom support" teacher - the purpose of whom is pretty vague) but we have no experience with this process yet.

    B. In connections we have one homeroom teacher for each student. (And an additional "homeschool support teacher - which as I mentioned, is undefined in purpose, but I assume is in case we cannot reach the homeroom teacher)  Apparently we need to talk to the homeroom teacher on the phone each week.  When I missed the call, they called my husband.  At work.  We returned this obviously important phone call, for her to ask such imperative questions as "What do you like to do in your spare time?" and "What was your biggest challenge in school last year?"  Keep in mind that this is a sophomore receiving this call, not an elementary student. We have to talk to each teacher each week - either in a live lesson (which are not mandatory) or by phone. This takes up so much time, and is inefficient.  A lot of my  issues with Connections involve this busy work to make it look like we are in school a much longer time than we  actually spend learning.  I'm not a fan of busy work - we can learn more by reading, or experimenting, or even just watching MythBusters for an hour than we can in 3 hours of making phone calls, sitting through live lessons that are off topic or chaotic, and answering emails.

    C.  I received 24 emails on the first day.  Many with attachments that also needed to be downloaded and read.  Of those emails, only one teacher thought to include his class/grade in his signature line.  For the original introduction emails all the teachers explained who they were and what they taught, and apparently it was important for us to take notes, because their follow up emails (almost all of them changed live session times at least once that first day) they felt no need to remind us who they were.   Every email my kids receive is cc'd to me.  It's easier for them to figure out which teacher is which, but if you are going to cc the emails to the parents, many of whom I am sure have more than one student, the signature lines should include what class/grade you are referring to.    (The second day I received 16 more emails.  Most of this could have been avoided by having a live lesson schedule in place, on the calendars, a week in advance.)  

    D. The honor code specifies that books can not be used for tests and quizzes.  One teacher (I'm not specifying - because I believe the teacher is right in their reasoning & do not want them to be in trouble) just specifically told the students to ignore that and use the book.  Sign the Honor Code repeatedly, then be told, specifically, to violate it.  (Again, only those who attended the non mandatory live lesson would know this...)  The Honor Code should be rewritten to allow teachers to overrule that and allow for some open book testing when the teachers decide it is best.

3. The Curriculum
    A.  It's week one, so I'm hoping it improves, but I have heard, repeatedly, from my kids "We learned this in 3rd/5th grade.",  I have one sophomore and one junior.  Our neighbors son is also in Connections for the first year, he's in 8th grade, and doing work he did in 5th grade in our local public school.  Update - a few of the gems "taught" to my honors student 11th grader included that "many rental cars come equipped with gps" and "Electric comes from power lines".  I wish I had kept notes on some of the others.  The one great thing this school did accomplish was that our year spent in it made it abundantly clear to my husband that I could not possibly teach our children less by homeschooling them.  He always worried that if I homeschooled them they would not learn enough. That concern was completely eliminated by one year with Connections curriculum.

    B. The lessons spend a lot of time on one area, then the quiz is on something that wasn't even covered in the lesson.  (to be fair, we saw this a lot in PACyber too)

    C. The lessons tell you to do things, but if you login for a live lesson, the teacher may tell you not to do those things.  Example - log your physical activity.  My daughter created a log, filled it in with what she had done so far this week, then went to a live session and was told they didn't need to do that.  I'm not a fan of wasting time.  Either it needs to be done, or it doesn't - please figure it out and make it clear.  

    D. Although not specifically a curriculum issue, this best fits here.  I'm required to log in each day and submit my kids assignments. The ones that they have already submitted.  I can review the lessons, but not see their answers.  I can mark a lesson "not complete", but that does not allow them to redo the quiz, so it's rather pointless.  Lessons are not submitted until I login and mark each one as submitted.  In grade school I can see this as a viable option, but for high school work, it appears to be another pointless time waster.  Then in addition to all of this, I need to log how many hours of school work we did each day.  EACH day. In Pa Cyber all the kids had to do was login, and it recorded their attendance.  In Connections, we spend hours in live lessons, on the phone, answering emails, and submitting work - and yet I still need to tell them we were in school that day.  

Salt Dough Handprint Santa Ornament

My neice just mentioned loving oil based sharpies for her craft projects - if they work on salt dough, they might be easier to decorate with than paint?

You Can Do It - Geocaching Challenge Cache

GC408QX YOU CAN DO IT! CHALLENGE CACHE

The only time we have found 6 types of caches in one day is in Boonsboro MD, during geowoodstock.  But I think this can easily be done in State College Pa...  I'm working on a plan.  I should also check to see if this can be done easily closer to where the final is located - near Duryea, PA 

You must first complete the challenge portion of this cache by finding SIX cache types in ONE DAY anywhere in Pennsylvania! The thirteen acceptable cache types are:

1. Traditional Cache
2. Multi-Cache (Offset Cache)
3. Mystery or Puzzle Caches
4. Letterbox Hybrid
5. EarthCache
6. Virtual Cache
7. Webcam Cache
8. Wherigo™ Cache
9. Event Cache
10. Mega-Event Cache
11. Cache In Trash Out Event
12. GPS Adventures Maze Exhibit
13. Project A.P.E. Cache

W..W...W... Wednesday (Books!)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

 

I tried reading A Hundred Summers, but got bored.. I haven't given up, yet, but for now I moved on to The House At Riverton, which seems a little more interesting.

From Goodreads:

The House At Riverton

Summer 1924
On the eve of a glittering society party, by the lake of a grand English country house, a young poet takes his life. The only witnesses, sisters Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, will never speak to each other again.
Winter 1999
Grace Bradley, ninety-eight, one-time housemaid of Riverton Manor, is visited by a young director making a film about the poet's suicide. Ghosts awaken and old memories - long consigned to the dark reaches of Grace's mind - begin to sneak back through the cracks. A shocking secret threatens to emerge, something history has forgotten but Grace never could.

Set as the war-shattered Edwardian summer surrenders to the decadent twenties, The House at Riverton is a thrilling mystery and a compelling love story.

A Hundred Summers

Memorial Day, 1938: New York socialite Lily Dane has just returned with her family to the idyllic oceanfront community of Seaview, Rhode Island, expecting another placid summer season among the familiar traditions and friendships that sustained her after heartbreak. 

That is, until Greenwalds decide to take up residence in Seaview.

Nick and Budgie Greenwald are an unwelcome specter from Lily’s past: her former best friend and her former fiancé, now recently married—an event that set off a wildfire of gossip among the elite of Seaview, who have summered together for generations. Budgie’s arrival to restore her family’s old house puts her once more in the center of the community’s social scene, and she insinuates herself back into Lily's friendship with an overpowering talent for seduction...and an alluring acquaintance from their college days, Yankees pitcher Graham Pendleton. But the ties that bind Lily to Nick are too strong and intricate to ignore, and the two are drawn back into long-buried dreams, despite their uneasy secrets and many emotional obligations. 

Under the scorching summer sun, the unexpected truth of Budgie and Nick’s marriage bubbles to the surface, and as a cataclysmic hurricane barrels unseen up the Atlantic and into New England, Lily and Nick must confront an emotional cyclone of their own, which will change their worlds forever.

• What did you recently finish reading?

I finished all of the Royal Spy series by Rhys Bowen. 

Light, fun, slightly historical, cozy mysteries

Next in the series due out in August.

My Summer Reading Recommendations are here:

http://fieldsofhether.blogspot.com/2013/06/summer-reading-recommendations.html

• What do you think you’ll read next?

"Time is one of our most precious resources. Each day ourcalendars are packed with appointments and entertainments. To makeends meet, we cut corners, swapping substance for speed. At the endof the day, our busyness has produced very little fruit, and we areleft feeling more frustrated and exhausted than the day before.

The way we spend our time says a lot about what we value. Whatdoes your schedule say about the things that are most important toyou? Is busyness a buffer to keep you from hearing God?

It is in times of rest that we are able to quiet ourselves andlisten for God's voice to teach and lead us in life-giving truth.The purpose of this book is to help you understand more about Godand His design for your schedule and your life. His plans for youdo not include utter exhaustion and a frazzled spirit. God haspeace, rest, and a purpose in mind for you, no matter what yourpresent circumstances may be. Each chapter includes "Time Out"questions for group discussion or personal use"