Teaching Aid - Food Pyramid for Kids

Today I was looking for a food pyramid for kids and found a cute teaching aid with printable worksheets. You can find it at MyPyramid.

Word Filled Wednesday

Luke 18:11-13
11"The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

12'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.'

13"But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!'

To understand the tax collector a little better, I added this from my study bible: The tax collector's humility is notable in everything about his posture and behavior. Here was a man who had been made to face the reality of his own sin, and his only response was abject humility and repentance. He contrasts with the Pharisee in virtually every detail. He had no hope but the mercy of God. This is the point to which the law aims to bring every sinner.

The purpose of Word filled Wednesday is to share God’s word (no famous quotes or other literature — only the beautiful word of our Father) through photo’s & a Bible verse!

Message Board

Serving trays serve as message boards with some chalkboard paint(I used Crayola brand), wire, 2 rivets, and 4 clear 3/8" vinyl bumpers for the back. When adding the rivets for the hanger, I also added a black washer to the front on one side so that I could add ribbon & chalk.
To personalize you can either paint or decal the edge. These make great gifts.
Serving trays can be purchased for change at thrift stores and yard sales. Certain steps of this project can be done with children as long as they are supervised.

Valentine Box

When my oldest was in Elementary School she had to make a box for her Valentine cards. I think I may have gotten this idea from a magazine.
We used a shoe box and cut a little hole at the top for her cards. We then covered it with yellow paper. The front is foamie decorated with markers. We added a grossgrain bow which was topped with a red foamie heart with my daughters name on it. For the back we cut out the shape of the tail and the legs, which cannot be seen, but this added a really cute touch to the project.

Word Filled Wednesday

This is my first Word Filled Wednesday :)
I chose 2 Corinthians 3:5 this week which says: "Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God..."
I read something amazing last night in a Nelson Bible and wanted to share it here:
One of the great tenets of Scripture is the claim that Jesus Christ is completely sufficient for all matters of life and godliness (2Pe1:3-4)! He is sufficient for creation (Col 1:16, 17), salvation (Heb 10:10-12), sanctification (Eph 5:26, 27), and glorification (Ro 8:30). So pure is He that there is no blemish, stain, spot of sin, defilement, lying, deception, corruption, error, or imperfection (1Pe 1:18-20).

Clothespin Dolls

My 7 year old and I made these Brownie Girls Scouts for her troop last night. I had her help me paint and to cut out the skirts. The pattern for the skirt and arms is from a Martha Stewart show a few years ago. If that link does not work, you may be able to visit her website and search "clothespin dolls".
The faces and bodies were painted first with acrylic paints. When dry we added the arms and clothing with a hot glue gun, but something like Twice As Tacky would probably work fine too. I plan on adding a little round beanie hat and a eye hook on top for hanging on a tree.

Peanut Lover's Blondies

Preheat Oven 350
Ingredients:
· 1 stick (1/2 c) butter
· ¾ c packed brown sugar
· 1 large egg
· 1 t vanilla extract
· 1 c plus 2 T all-purpose flour
· 1 t baking powder
· ¼ c plus 2 T chopped unsalted peanuts
· ¼ c plus 2 T peanut butter chips
· 16 mini Reese’s peanut butter cups
Directions:
HEAT oven. Line an 8-in square baking pan with foil. Coat with nonstick spray.

MELT butter in medium saucepan. Stir in br sugar & stir 1 min or until mixture bubbles. Remove from heat; let cool 20 min or until luke warm. Stir in egg and vanilla, then flour and baking powder until blended. Stir in 1/4c each of nuts & chips. Distribute the 16 mini cups over top, then press gently until level with top of batter. Sprinkle with remaining 2 T each of the nuts & chips.

SPREAD in prepared pan. Bake 23 to 25 min until a wooden pick inserted in center of batter comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

LIFT foil by ends onto cutting board. Cut into 16 squares.

Crayon Box Saver

How many times does the box from crayons get too weak to hold crayons. It happens a lot here and the crayons end up in the big tub with the broken ones. I really love the size of the crayon box because it perfectly fits all the crayons from the box. It's not too small and not too big. My daughters desk is not very big, so I came up with an idea.
I thought I'd try something different, than handing her a pencil box when her box deteriorated. In August when I bought a 16 cent box of crayons, I thought I'd reinforce it with packing tape. It held up well and lasted longer than the crayons. This week we had several crayons break so I was going to give her another box. But, first I reinforced this one too. I could have used the other one, but then I wouldn't have pictures for here. :)

Tape top & bottom first. First I took about a 4" piece of tape for the top of the box. The box top is much smaller (2.75" x 1"). I cut the tape so that it would lay flat when I folded it over. The picture didn't come out well for this step because the tape is clear. After taping the top and bottom of box, I then took a 9" piece of tape and went around the front, sides, and back of the tape. I had the overlapping part in the back so that the front would look nicer. Because my tape is only 2" wide I had to use two 9" pieces of tape.Mark a line with a ruler & sharpie, then cut with a sharp utility knife. Do not cut back side. After taping it I cut it like a flip top box of crayons. I realized after I cut it that I should have used a ruler and sharpie.
Add a button with quilt/button thread (or 1/8" ribbon) & an upholstery needle. Leave ends long for easy tying. Place small piece of tape over ends. The button and string makes it look cute and keeps the crayons inside the box.
Tie some thread at the top with at least a 8" tail to wrap around button. To start with my string was probably 12" long. It's not easy getting inside the box, so I wanted plenty of room to tie the ends off. I added another button as can be seen in first picture at top. I thought it looked better that way. With 2 buttons you'll need an 8" tail of thread, not a 5" one. It would look like an inner office folder if you also add a circle of cardstock a little bigger than the button and use red thread. Maybe next time I will try it that way.

Christmas Chickadee

Christmas Chickadee

from Klazane's blog
Finished! This is the Black-Capped Chickadee I worked on last night and most of today. :) You can't see it in the picture, but he has a lovely notched tail and little brown french knot eyes. I found the basic pattern here, but I changed it to make it...well, a chickadee. I changed the head shape and the beak, added wings, and, of course, those beautiful chickadee markings! I love those little birds. :) It's a Christmas present for a friend, but I almost want to keep it. :P One down, many more to go. I think I'll do something a little simpler for the rest of my gifts...

Snowy Morning

We just love waking up to a snow-covered lawn. :)

(Unfortunately, it all melted...again!)

From Klazane: Here's a sneak peek at a work in progress that will hopefully be completed and posted in its entirety tomorrow on my blog. :D