Jungle Party Class Reward

I am finally updating with a few pictures from my Kinders' fabulous Jungle Party.  It was a blast.

Here's some pics of the decorations I hung...

Pin the tail on the elephant game, vines, sun and clouds on the ceiling.

Trees and bushes.

More trees and bushes

Waterfall

Here are some pics of the party.

Snacks: Goldfish, Peanuts, & Bananas

Getting ready for the puppet shows.

"The End"

Watching The Jungle Book (cleverly using masks as snack plates).

DIY Message Board

Introducing the inaugural craft of the monthly(hopefully) Ladies Craft & Wine Night.  I found the inspiration original message board here.  With Valentine's day around the corner, I thought this would be a very cute gift to make and give.  Not all my friends are in a relationship so it was nice that this craft was versatile enough to make in a non-lovey dovey way. :)  The girls did such a great job letting their creative juices flow!

Supplies and Materials for this craft:
8x10 frame
scrapbook paper
felt
hot glue
scissors

Each lady was to bring their own 8x10 frame and then I provided the rest.  First they each choose one or more scrapbook pieces of paper and cut them to size.  I laid out a couple different versions of sayings to print on the scrapbook paper and the girls got creative with it.  You'll see in the pictures below that not all say, "I love you because...".  Yay for crafty friends!

After the message was printed on the chosen paper and put in the frame, the girls got a quick tutorial from yours truly on how to make felt rosettes.  I learned how from this tutorial. Some of the girls experimented with making ribbon rosettes, I still have not mastered that skill...but I will!

Here are some of the finished products:

 

 

 

Sorry some of them are sideways/upside-down - the uploader is giving me grief, but you get the point with a little head tilt ;)

DIY Wine Glass Charms

My "Ladies Craft & Wine Night" necessitated this DIY project.  I kinda wanted to do something cute to help the ladies differentiate between each others' wine glasses.  I had previously seen wine glass charms in stores and figured they'd be easy enough to attempt on my own.  I went on an internet search and surprisingly didn't find much.  I was hoping for some tutorials or cute ideas for inspiration - nada mucho.  So I attempted it and here they are...

I was able to raid my craft supplies and find a bunch of semi-coordinating beads.  I went to Michael's and purchased the earring wires you see in the picture above.  The pack came with 60 earring wires and was only about $1.50 after using a weekly Michael's coupon 40%.  I made various patterns with the beads so that each wine charm would be different and laid them out.  I strung the beads on the earring wire, then all I had to do was bend the earring wire end 90 degrees (*used a jewelry tool) so that the beads wouldn't fall off and voila!!! So easy!

Finished set, aren't they purdy?

Put them in a jewelry box...

and put a little sign next to them.

Crochet a Chunky Scarf

I really like to crochet when I have some free time.  A perfect time to do it is on road trips or plane rides.  I can really zone out and before I know it the time has passed and my project is finished.

I recently asked a favor of a friend and promised a special surprise in return.  After some time spent in Hobby Lobby in the yarn isle, we ended up deciding on a thick yarn in an eggplant color.  I went searching for patterns that go well with the specific weight of yarn and found a really pretty one.  As a matter of fact when I was done crocheting it, I didn't want to give it up.  Luckily, it was easy and quick enough to work up that I can make one for myself in the near future.

Here are some pics. What do you think?

If you think you might want to give it a try, you can get the scarf pattern from the lion brand website directly.  It is considered an "easy" pattern, a little confusing at first, but if you just go with it, it begins to make more sense.  Even if you're a beginner, I think you'd be able to make this with little or no trouble.  Good luck!

Jungle Party

My kinders recently filled the class reward jar with pebbles which means, I owe them a party!  We brainstormed ideas and somehow narrowed it down to five top choices.  Among the top competitors: ice cream party, dance party, dress-up party, and I forget what else.  The kiddos were so excited when Jungle Party won....  Now since it is my job to put on this party I needed to ask...What IS a jungle party?  What do we need to do to prepare?  This is what they came up with...

I love the food choices - "What monkeys, tigers, and elephants eat."

So, I made their little wishes come true.  The party is tomorrow and we have been prepping little things since last week.  Here's a few photos of the process

Cutting out room decorations 

Prepping puppets...

Happy little Kinders with their snakes

Making jungle masks: tiger, monkey, elephant.

The kids have been so stoked all week.  Tomorrow is the party, I figured I would try to wow 'em when they walked into the classroom in the morning.  I stayed after school to decorate the room, it looks so awesome...I'll post pictures of the party later.

Coffee Cup Coozie

Personally Made Coffee Coozie by Me

It started as a hunt for fun little gifts that I could make my friends and family members for Christmas.  After several engaging hours on pinterest.com, I found a couple different crochet patterns for coffee coozies (and a slew of other things).  Well, pretty much everyone I know loves coffee so how could I go wrong with giving handmade coffee coozies?

I didn't finalize my decision until a trip to Walmart for other Christmas craft supplies (see snowman craft below) had me in the fabric and yarn section.  This beautiful teal yarn caught my eye and it was settled!

It was so easy to make, you should try it too! This cool blog is where I got the pattern from: Hip Chicks Craft Too Blogspot

The Walmart trip was originally intended to buy materials for this cutsie craft :)  It's a great classroom christmas craft for the older kids.

Sock Snowman - Love this Christmas craft!

Will I Use This Thing?

Inaguaral post...woohoo!  I hope that I actually use this blog - unlike the long forgotten xanga blog I had in college.  I'm thinking I will use this to post about the crafty things I do, fun things I create for my students, and useful ways I organize.  Who knows, maybe there will be more.  I've been inspired by all the creative teacher blogs out there and want in!  Here it goes...