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Wishing all of you treasured memories and a blessed Christmas as we rejoice in the Newborn King! Merry Christmas from all of us here at Wildflowers and Marbles to you!
December 23, 2009
Merry Christmas
December 18, 2009
Five Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas
Surely, you all are done with your Christmas shopping, right? No? I was standing in the kitchen today and looking around at a few objects and thinking, "These are among some of the most treasured and enjoyable gifts we've received." Curious?
Here you go...you still have time if you overnight with Amazon!
This is the solar powered rainbow maker. Have I gushed about this before? Surely I have! You all know how I feel about a kitchen drenched in rainbows on a wintry day! There's nothing more enchanting. The great thing about this rainbow maker is the little solar cell that powers the gears which turn the prism which means you have dancing rainbows all throughout your room. Hang it in any window that gets sun - it will surely cheer your wintry spaces!
This is a great book! String games comes with 3 lengths of strings which are quite delightfully durable and instructions for a variety of string shapes. Of the great string shapes you will find, Cats cradle and Jacobs ladder are among them. In addition, there are some exciting new string shapes to learn! This is great for the car or for rainy days! We've enjoyed this book and its accompanying strings for years now through multiple children, so it's definitely worth a mention!
The Bird Identiflyer is one of our favorite birding tools! We received this gift last year, in addition to several extra cards and it has become one of a few staples on the bird shelf! We have learned so much from it in such a short time. For example, we have identified the sharp shinned hawk, not by sight, but by learning it's unique call as we hear it in the wooded tree line behind our house. It is an exciting learning tool for any birder and aspiring naturalist!
How about a collection of Dover coloring books? These are just the most thrilling and wonderfully delicious coloring books we have ever encountered! Crisp images, historically and botanically correct, and heavy paper (as opposed to flimsy, gray-ish newsprint) all characterize these affordable coloring books. Every subject imaginable is portrayed and offered. You will find suitable offerings for every age and interest! Truly, these will be a delight if found under the tree!
No last minute list, nor any childhood list, would be complete without the addition of playsilks! We've enjoyed hours and hours of play with ours. No need to worry about small parts, or any parts, simply enjoy the simplicity of a colorful square of silk and the endless possiblities ones imagination can employ! If I had posted this with more time, I would have recommended instead the purchase of more inexpensive silks from Thai silks and a most doable tutorial done by a dear friend on dyeing silks at home. Still...if you're scrambling...a couple of the pre-dyed Sarah's Silks could be just the thing!
Well, even if you've already prepared for the upcoming gift-giving festivities and have wrapped tidy packages which are carefully hidden away, I had fun offering you a glimpse at some of our most enjoyed gifts of the past! I hope you're enjoying the gathering and creativity surrounding the traditions of gift-giving in your families!
December 15, 2009
The Picture Book Cart
I have a follow-up post for my dear friend, Gae, at Cherished Hearts at Home (if you haven't dropped by her inspiring blog - you should!). She asks:
We didn't make the picture book display cart. I looked and looked in thrift stores, and though I had always seen them when I wasn't looking...I couldn't find anything after hunting for over a year. So...we bought one (not from here - I found it much less somewhere else) with our homeschool budget one year. It was an investment, but I've greatly enjoyed the use of it! I like that it's solid birch. made in the USA. I wanted mobile. Most of these book carts are one-sided and I wanted to make use of every square inch of usable space on both sides of the cart. And, I wanted it to take a lot of lovin' and rollin' and stackin' and children. I'm not disappointed! This one book cart addresses all my needs very nicely!
It certainly COULD be built by a handy son!!! And, you may not have all the requirements I had, so you could modify as needed. For example, a sling book display cart would be so much simpler to make with dowels, canvas material and scrap wood sanded smooth. Anyway, I took some extra pictures of ours and some measurements for you in case you were inclined to make a request!
Side view above...detail of the side below...
The center of the cart was built first and then fastened to the two substantial birch sides with washers and screws.
Very heavy duty wheels! If you're building your own and making a mobile cart - don't skimp on these. This particular cart is quite heavy (60 pounds I believe), but very well balanced and these casters support the weight nicely.
Just wanted you to see the book display part of the shelves. There is 3/4" of room between the back part of each book display and the lip that holds the book in place. It's a nice amount of room. If you scroll up to the top picture you can see the Treasure Box books - I have 3 stacks of 7 books that fit within this little 3/4" trough.
I love this section above. It's 6 1/2" deep and provides a home for many of our St. Joseph board books. All my Tasha Tudor books are stored in this section as well. I use the display part of this section for favorite poetry books for my younger children. It makes a delightful display.
An idea of the depth of the book shelf on the lowest part of the main side of the cart. It is 14" deep and approximately 13 1/4" high.
One of the reasons I settled on this cart was that the maker didn't ignore the back side. We keep all of the Doodlebug's board books back here along with an assortment of tallish books up top. There's not a lot of room back here - the depth of this little shelf is really only 6 3/4", but it's quite useful!
Sure hope this helps, Gae! What a fun woodworking project for a son or husband!
I would love to know if you made your rolling picture book display. I love the shelves underneath. I am looking at having someone , ie a son make one for me. Are you able to give me a rough dimension etc.Happy to help!
Thank you for sharing this
We didn't make the picture book display cart. I looked and looked in thrift stores, and though I had always seen them when I wasn't looking...I couldn't find anything after hunting for over a year. So...we bought one (not from here - I found it much less somewhere else) with our homeschool budget one year. It was an investment, but I've greatly enjoyed the use of it! I like that it's solid birch. made in the USA. I wanted mobile. Most of these book carts are one-sided and I wanted to make use of every square inch of usable space on both sides of the cart. And, I wanted it to take a lot of lovin' and rollin' and stackin' and children. I'm not disappointed! This one book cart addresses all my needs very nicely!
It certainly COULD be built by a handy son!!! And, you may not have all the requirements I had, so you could modify as needed. For example, a sling book display cart would be so much simpler to make with dowels, canvas material and scrap wood sanded smooth. Anyway, I took some extra pictures of ours and some measurements for you in case you were inclined to make a request!
| Material: | Birch plywood |
| Casters: | 2" nylon twin-wheel casters |
| Width: | 36" |
| Depth of lower bookshelf: | 14" |
| Height: | 48" |
Side view above...detail of the side below...
The center of the cart was built first and then fastened to the two substantial birch sides with washers and screws.
Very heavy duty wheels! If you're building your own and making a mobile cart - don't skimp on these. This particular cart is quite heavy (60 pounds I believe), but very well balanced and these casters support the weight nicely.
Just wanted you to see the book display part of the shelves. There is 3/4" of room between the back part of each book display and the lip that holds the book in place. It's a nice amount of room. If you scroll up to the top picture you can see the Treasure Box books - I have 3 stacks of 7 books that fit within this little 3/4" trough.
I love this section above. It's 6 1/2" deep and provides a home for many of our St. Joseph board books. All my Tasha Tudor books are stored in this section as well. I use the display part of this section for favorite poetry books for my younger children. It makes a delightful display.
An idea of the depth of the book shelf on the lowest part of the main side of the cart. It is 14" deep and approximately 13 1/4" high.
One of the reasons I settled on this cart was that the maker didn't ignore the back side. We keep all of the Doodlebug's board books back here along with an assortment of tallish books up top. There's not a lot of room back here - the depth of this little shelf is really only 6 3/4", but it's quite useful!Sure hope this helps, Gae! What a fun woodworking project for a son or husband!
December 14, 2009
Wintry Themes and Tidying
As the kids enjoy an afternoon outside, I thought I'd take a little bit of time to tidy and freshen up the learning spaces. I try to do this monthly, but......well...you know, right? I tidy, but I don't really consider whether or not something is really working in that space, or what might need changing or rearranging. Generally, I only really *think* our spaces twice a year - before we start a new year, and at the mid-point, which is where you find us today. So I did a bit of arranging, and setting out new things (new things that already lived here...in another space - I didn't purchase anything for this), and tidying and freshening and thought I'd share with you. Interested?
The Nature Shelf
...got revamped. It was too busy over here, and I suppose my almost 2 year old is a factor. I loved the smallish organizer I had on the floor over here, and it was very helpful, but it kept inviting disaster, so...off it went (it's now the happy organizer of a certain someone's American Girl doll collection, so it's found another useful service in the house!)
For displaying our nature treasures I suspended a shallow basket I found at the thrift store from 2 cup hooks under our lowest shelf. It works nicely and the kids think it is a treasure spot, sort of tucked under the shelf. In here, we have added a few pretty Maple leaves (which I am too sentimental to part with yet - in spite of the fact that we are nigh into December), a four leaf clover we dried, 2 acorns, a beech seed, a pretty rock, and a little fairy. Now that our viral *ick* has passed, I do hope we can get out into nature a bit this week and collect some new treasures.
Aren't these adorable? Tiny baskets. They're really terribly useful, but I was tired of knocking them off the end of the shelf, so I hung them with cup hooks. Not remotely exciting really...except that I finally took the time to do it. And it makes me happy to see teeny-tiny little baskets hanging on the end of the shelf.
The nature display right now, and probably for a little while is *Winter Birds*. This is one of our absolute favorite things to do during winter - observing our winter birds. We have Meadowlarks that over-winter here, as well as two Northern Yellow Shafted Flickers which are stunning to watch. In addition, most of our regulars stick around. There is something so delightful about stepping into the kitchen in the mornings and peeking out to see who is visiting for a bit of seed. And, when those temps drop, we nature walk from the windows! I will tell you that my husband does spoil the birds - terribly! (which I pretend not to care about...but of course, I'm happy that he does cater to our feathered friends!)
Picture Book Cart and Art Center...
Someone asked me recently in a comment if we still used our picture book cart...YES! We do and we love it. This is where it is usually parked now that the Doodlebug no longer consumes books for breakfast. In fact, she's quite smitten with the printed word and LOVES to bring me books to read! I can roll it into the living room, but lately it stays right here and we enjoy it! I always keep my seasonal books open to an inspiring monthly page - our favorite is Tasha Tudor's A Time to Keep.
Above our picture book cart, you can see our map and my woeful attempt to find some place for hanging my dry erase board. It's not terribly useful here, not to mention the fact that it's blocking my map, but I was desperate to have it back in here...and it is better than not having it! It is sometimes a real challenge to have a lack of wall space. I'm still thinking on a creative solution to this one! Let me know if you have any ideas! I'm all ears!
I confess, I did think this clever - the coat hook on the wall holding a basket of our favorite Folkmanis Puppets. Fun to look at...and makes me smile!
My desk...
...nothing really new or even exciting here, but that sunshine is so low in the December sky that it spills right in here and onto my desk and cheers the whole room up! I just couldn't resist the sharing of it.
Kinder Themes for Winter...
...are really quite simple. Our Advent books are in the other room where we read in the evening, so in here you'll see a simple theme of Gingerbread Men for now. This has been fun reading time! On the wall, I hung some library pockets of our Pink Series phonics work with double sided tape. It's simple, and we enjoy it this way. Peanut enjoys making "gingerbread men" using homemade play dough or Mary's Softdough at times.
The Doodlebug's Spaces...
...are really becoming quite important to her, so I'm putting a lot of time and thought into her little spaces lately. She's really starting to enjoy building and connecting and working with her little hands.
Above my map cabinet (in the picture above - it is bottom right) I had Rob install a new set of shelves a month or so ago. This is where my dry erase board **was**. I needed some project shelves and these do work nicely. We call these our *rainy day* shelves and they are quite functional. I keep educational DVD's here, history coloring books (of which we have several) and maps, K'Nex (used in engineering and building projects), and a small variety of handwork toys available for the inevitable announcement of, "I'm bored!" It's a good and useful collection...but it was the last remaining wall space. :( I did make use of the ends of the shelves by gluing small strips of cork board onto the ends of the shelves. That's fun and useful!
Doodlebug's shelves...on the left are some issues of Babybug magazine which I picked up used from various sources - one was a dear mother who was so kind and just charged me shipping to get the little books to me because she was making room on her shelves and no longer needed them. Thank you! Doodlebug is really quite taken with these little half-book-half-magazines so they have a special place on the shelf. She loves puzzles and is quite interested in wooden blocks so there are a variety of those available, but what she loves most are...
...wooden blocks to string! You can find these all over. We've had ours for years - they were a gift from my mom to Sweet Pea when she was little and all the kids have loved them. It makes me smile to see the Doodlebug sit with them and work the little shoelace into the bead carefully and clap and smile when she strings a bead.
Liturgical Wall Calendar...
Many of you asked about this item when you saw it hanging in my detailed post on the Learning Spaces from the beginning of the year. I really wanted to include more detailed pictures so you could see how simple it would be to make one of these for your own family. A few years ago, a dear friend's daughter made this for us as a sewing project. She offered these projects to families as a way of earning money and I thought it was a perfect idea!
The entire calendar is about 30" x 16". A good sturdy cotton fabric would work nicely - you'll need two pieces of fabric about 30 1/4" x 16 1/4".
Work with the pocket side of the project first. In looking at it, I think she probably first made the cards which are all printed on card stock and used them as a template for her pockets. I was thinking of revamping my cards a bit, but right now I have cards for...
...Liturgical Season
...Natural Season
...Months of the year
...Days of the month
...Year
...The liturgical theme of the month
...Short Prayers and Verses
She simply sewed the bottom of the pocket row onto the fabric, folded the pocket flap up and sewed vertical lines making the pockets the appropriate size for the cards. Once four rows of pockets were sewn on, she placed right sides of the large 30" x 16" fabric rectangles together, carefully sewing around the edges and catching all the edges of the pockets in the process.
Before sewing a seam across the top, she made 3 loops holding D rings for hanging the calendar, making sure to stitch across these as she went.
She left a small opening at the bottom to turn the project back to the right side, hand stitched the opening and pressed. Load with cards and you're done! I hung mine with 3-M removable hooks and they've supported the calendar very nicely over the years.
Well, it sure has been enjoyable tidying the learning spaces this afternoon! We're done with formal lessons as of last week, and I just feel such a relief to have the spaces in here all freshened up for the remainder of Advent and awaiting our return in the new year. If you've made it to the mid-way mark of your school year, why not consider a day to freshen the shelves up a bit and consider your spaces? If you've got too much out and it's distracting, put some items away and simplify. If the children are bored, see what you've got on other shelves and in closets that might be languishing that you could add to your learning spaces!
Happy third week of Advent to all of you! I'm off to enjoy a cup of tea after an afternoon well spent! Hope you're all enjoying a lovely Advent so far!
The Nature Shelf
...got revamped. It was too busy over here, and I suppose my almost 2 year old is a factor. I loved the smallish organizer I had on the floor over here, and it was very helpful, but it kept inviting disaster, so...off it went (it's now the happy organizer of a certain someone's American Girl doll collection, so it's found another useful service in the house!)
For displaying our nature treasures I suspended a shallow basket I found at the thrift store from 2 cup hooks under our lowest shelf. It works nicely and the kids think it is a treasure spot, sort of tucked under the shelf. In here, we have added a few pretty Maple leaves (which I am too sentimental to part with yet - in spite of the fact that we are nigh into December), a four leaf clover we dried, 2 acorns, a beech seed, a pretty rock, and a little fairy. Now that our viral *ick* has passed, I do hope we can get out into nature a bit this week and collect some new treasures.
Aren't these adorable? Tiny baskets. They're really terribly useful, but I was tired of knocking them off the end of the shelf, so I hung them with cup hooks. Not remotely exciting really...except that I finally took the time to do it. And it makes me happy to see teeny-tiny little baskets hanging on the end of the shelf.
The nature display right now, and probably for a little while is *Winter Birds*. This is one of our absolute favorite things to do during winter - observing our winter birds. We have Meadowlarks that over-winter here, as well as two Northern Yellow Shafted Flickers which are stunning to watch. In addition, most of our regulars stick around. There is something so delightful about stepping into the kitchen in the mornings and peeking out to see who is visiting for a bit of seed. And, when those temps drop, we nature walk from the windows! I will tell you that my husband does spoil the birds - terribly! (which I pretend not to care about...but of course, I'm happy that he does cater to our feathered friends!)
Picture Book Cart and Art Center...
Someone asked me recently in a comment if we still used our picture book cart...YES! We do and we love it. This is where it is usually parked now that the Doodlebug no longer consumes books for breakfast. In fact, she's quite smitten with the printed word and LOVES to bring me books to read! I can roll it into the living room, but lately it stays right here and we enjoy it! I always keep my seasonal books open to an inspiring monthly page - our favorite is Tasha Tudor's A Time to Keep.
Above our picture book cart, you can see our map and my woeful attempt to find some place for hanging my dry erase board. It's not terribly useful here, not to mention the fact that it's blocking my map, but I was desperate to have it back in here...and it is better than not having it! It is sometimes a real challenge to have a lack of wall space. I'm still thinking on a creative solution to this one! Let me know if you have any ideas! I'm all ears!
I confess, I did think this clever - the coat hook on the wall holding a basket of our favorite Folkmanis Puppets. Fun to look at...and makes me smile!
My desk...
...nothing really new or even exciting here, but that sunshine is so low in the December sky that it spills right in here and onto my desk and cheers the whole room up! I just couldn't resist the sharing of it.Kinder Themes for Winter...
...are really quite simple. Our Advent books are in the other room where we read in the evening, so in here you'll see a simple theme of Gingerbread Men for now. This has been fun reading time! On the wall, I hung some library pockets of our Pink Series phonics work with double sided tape. It's simple, and we enjoy it this way. Peanut enjoys making "gingerbread men" using homemade play dough or Mary's Softdough at times.
The Doodlebug's Spaces...
...are really becoming quite important to her, so I'm putting a lot of time and thought into her little spaces lately. She's really starting to enjoy building and connecting and working with her little hands.
Above my map cabinet (in the picture above - it is bottom right) I had Rob install a new set of shelves a month or so ago. This is where my dry erase board **was**. I needed some project shelves and these do work nicely. We call these our *rainy day* shelves and they are quite functional. I keep educational DVD's here, history coloring books (of which we have several) and maps, K'Nex (used in engineering and building projects), and a small variety of handwork toys available for the inevitable announcement of, "I'm bored!" It's a good and useful collection...but it was the last remaining wall space. :( I did make use of the ends of the shelves by gluing small strips of cork board onto the ends of the shelves. That's fun and useful!
Doodlebug's shelves...on the left are some issues of Babybug magazine which I picked up used from various sources - one was a dear mother who was so kind and just charged me shipping to get the little books to me because she was making room on her shelves and no longer needed them. Thank you! Doodlebug is really quite taken with these little half-book-half-magazines so they have a special place on the shelf. She loves puzzles and is quite interested in wooden blocks so there are a variety of those available, but what she loves most are...
...wooden blocks to string! You can find these all over. We've had ours for years - they were a gift from my mom to Sweet Pea when she was little and all the kids have loved them. It makes me smile to see the Doodlebug sit with them and work the little shoelace into the bead carefully and clap and smile when she strings a bead.
Liturgical Wall Calendar...
Many of you asked about this item when you saw it hanging in my detailed post on the Learning Spaces from the beginning of the year. I really wanted to include more detailed pictures so you could see how simple it would be to make one of these for your own family. A few years ago, a dear friend's daughter made this for us as a sewing project. She offered these projects to families as a way of earning money and I thought it was a perfect idea!
The entire calendar is about 30" x 16". A good sturdy cotton fabric would work nicely - you'll need two pieces of fabric about 30 1/4" x 16 1/4".
Work with the pocket side of the project first. In looking at it, I think she probably first made the cards which are all printed on card stock and used them as a template for her pockets. I was thinking of revamping my cards a bit, but right now I have cards for...
...Liturgical Season
...Natural Season
...Months of the year
...Days of the month
...Year
...The liturgical theme of the month
January - The Most Holy Name of Jesus...Various Feast Days
February - The Passion of Our Lord
March - St. Joseph
April - The Holy Eucharist
May - Our Lady
June - The Sacred Heart of Jesus
July - The Most Precious Blood
August - The Immaculate Heart of Mary
September - Our Lady of Sorrows
October - The Holy Rosary
November - The Holy Souls in Purgatory
December - The Divine Intimacy
...Short Prayers and Verses
She simply sewed the bottom of the pocket row onto the fabric, folded the pocket flap up and sewed vertical lines making the pockets the appropriate size for the cards. Once four rows of pockets were sewn on, she placed right sides of the large 30" x 16" fabric rectangles together, carefully sewing around the edges and catching all the edges of the pockets in the process.
Before sewing a seam across the top, she made 3 loops holding D rings for hanging the calendar, making sure to stitch across these as she went.
She left a small opening at the bottom to turn the project back to the right side, hand stitched the opening and pressed. Load with cards and you're done! I hung mine with 3-M removable hooks and they've supported the calendar very nicely over the years.
Well, it sure has been enjoyable tidying the learning spaces this afternoon! We're done with formal lessons as of last week, and I just feel such a relief to have the spaces in here all freshened up for the remainder of Advent and awaiting our return in the new year. If you've made it to the mid-way mark of your school year, why not consider a day to freshen the shelves up a bit and consider your spaces? If you've got too much out and it's distracting, put some items away and simplify. If the children are bored, see what you've got on other shelves and in closets that might be languishing that you could add to your learning spaces!
Happy third week of Advent to all of you! I'm off to enjoy a cup of tea after an afternoon well spent! Hope you're all enjoying a lovely Advent so far!
December 1, 2009
A Blessed First Sunday of Advent
I hung our Advent wreath this year (inspiration here and here). I had plans to try to use evergreen and make our own, but the pace of life on that first Sunday of Advent and the week before didn't allow me to prepare as I had wanted. I decided to hang our old Advent wreath even if the bottom of it was less than pretty. I used velvet ribbons to hang it, and I think it is absolutely lovely. We all enjoy seeing it hang over the table, and it's beautiful when lit with its soft light. I purchased beeswax Advent candles this year from Honeycomb Hollow Candles. Their colors are exactly what I wanted - a deep, rich eggplant purple, and a true rose. I wasn't sure if I was going to leave it up, so I left the ends of the ribbon long. I should trim those since we like it so much.
I pray that you are all enjoying a very blessed First week of Advent as we prepare our hearts for HIM!
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