Ikea Love!!!

I love.love.love Ikea.

 I actually have a long standing affection for Scandinavian design. A major part of my portfolio work in college was influenced by Marimekko. I am not interested in experiencing their cold winters but I love all the white with pops of color and how clean and crisp and well designed everything is. And if you don't know Ikea- the prices are so amazing.

Reasonable with a capital "R."

So I went to Ikea today and it makes me :) 

 On a good traffic day in Atlanta I can be there in under 30 minutes. Which is good because then I can spend hours wandering around. And that is a testimony to Ikea because I am not.not a shopper. At all.

A red and white polka dot lap desk. Super cute and an awesome pillow. On a wonderful slipcovered couch which is less than $400.00! See what I mean?

Another great pillow. Their textiles are fabulous. This design also came in black and white, which is my weakness. It looks like a doodle from my notebook. It's what I do when I should be listening in meetings :) However, the photo of the black and white pillow makes your eyes do funny things. Ikea lighting is not the best for photo ops.

I want to marry these grayish wicker trunks.

And anything. Anything at all with lettering, monograms ( this is the South, after all), fonts, typography is fabulous in my opinion. So this bedding gets a gold star in my book. I'm way past nurseries and kiddie rooms but this bedding would be over the top for that.

In love with the gray check chair.

Bathroom sink love. And the price! Have you priced sinks lately? Especially the cool sit on the top kind?? They are crazy expensive.

They have frame heaven downstairs. Every size, shape and color. These are cuties and such possibilities for a gallery wall.

And guess who was there having a delicious meatball lunch???

What else are you going to do after the holiday rush??? He's probably trying to get the elves organized. Ikea has the best organizational stuff around. I think there are Ikeas closer to the North Pole but then maybe Santa just wants to go South after the holidays. I know I do!

Not a "crafty" post, I'm afraid...

Not a "crafty" post but there is some art at the end....
A couple of years ago, before the big earthquake, I traveled to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with Crawford Hitt of Edu-Pack (http://www.edu-pack.org/)
While we were there a small earthquake occurred. It was an indicator of a greater earthquake that would occur on this day in 2010.
We met the warmest people and spent time with the most precious children.

 A group of schoolchildren in their finest ( and in some cases, only) clothes. They sang songs for us and recited lessons. It is mostly an oral school experience because they do not have any paper, pencils, or crayons. ( Quite frankly, the crayons might just melt. It was 105 degrees!)

Scenes from the streets of Port-au-Prince. These are pre- earthquake, if you can believe it. Top right is a 'house" with many people living in it. Bottom left is "beachfront" property in Cite de Soleil, which the UN claims to be the poorest place in the world.

The Haitians create beautiful art from found items ( right up my alley!) with little hope of selling any of it  (unless I'm in town!!!)

We went to church with thousands of Haitians. For two hours. Notice the fan is not on. They were saving the electricity to run the fan when it got really hot. I guess that means, like, 120 degrees???!!!?

 

And now, after the earthquake and living in tent and tarp cities.

 I know there are hungry, thirsty people everywhere but on this day I want to remember my friends in Haiti and share their precious, smiling faces with you...

Dollar bottles of bubbles... it's the little things ...

PS. This is what happened to all of College Girls Beanie Babies.

 (Thank you, CG. Some of these children have never owned a toy!)

 and....

...thank you American Airlines for not charging for the extra bags and the 80 lbs. of Beanies, teaching supplies, craft materials and bubbles that we hauled on your airplane!!!!

Love Bugs!!

Here's a quick little project from a previous Valentine's Day - a Love Bug!! And it's practically free. You probably have this stuff on hand. I have used this project many times for large groups because it's inexpensive, allows for a lot of creativity, and if you pre-paint the sticks, doesn't need much drying time.
It's made from a paintstick. I get mine from Sherwin Williams. They are so nice to donate to the "cause." Some places charge :(

This guy was painted red and then given personality with peel and stick fun foam, wiggle eyes, pipe cleaners and some window screen wire that I saved when a big section of our screen porch had wind damage. Best bug wings around. Just get creative and decorate your paintstick. We also added a sticker that says "Love One Another." You could print a sticker with any Valentine greeting you want.

Love Bugs like friends so when we studied the "Bee- attitudes" we created bees using the same supplies. Just change up the colors a bit and you have a bee instead of a love bug!

Another cute Love Bug can be created from a General Foods/Maxwell House International Coffee can. This one goes back to when they were metal ( much better for crafting) and could be spray painted to prep them for the class. They are plastic now so wrapping them with contact or scrapbook paper works better than paint. This Ladybug or Love Bug has a round fun foam face and big wiggle eyes.

Her wings are cut from recycled milk jugs. Another good found material for wings!

This is another cute bug from an International Coffee can. A cool green grasshopper. He has bottle cap and button eyes and a mouth drawn with a Sharpie.

And his grasshopper legs are made from fun foam "Z's" - you never use all the "Z's" that come in bags of pre-cut letters. Or if you don't have extra "Z's" hanging around this is a great chance for the kiddos to get some cutting practice in!

Snowman in a Baggie!

I love "baggie" projects - so easy and, again, practically free! For this one all you need is a baggie, peel and stick fun foam scraps in black, regular fun foam scraps in orange, silver glitter if you have it and some shaving cream. A Dollar Store can of shaving cream is enough for a whole class.

Cut 2 large  (about quarter sized) circles and 5 smaller circles from the black peel and stick foam. These do not need to be uniform or perfect circles. No tracing needed. They are "lumps of coal" for the snowman's face so any lumpy shape works. Makes this project easy for all ages.

Stick the circles to the outside of the baggie in the shape of a snowman's face.

 Leave room for the nose.

Add a generous sprinkle of glitter into the baggie. This is optional.

Put the orange triangle nose (cut from regular fun foam- not peel and stick) inside the baggie.

Add a generous squirt of shaving cream and seal the baggie zipper. Fold over and tape closed for added security.

Then you just squish that baggie around and try to line up the nose in the right place on the snowman's face!  

What a great manipulative toy! All ages love this.** It's great for a rainy, dreary day when you can't go outside. It helps with the wiggles to keep those little hands busy. You can squish and wiggle that snowman all afternoon.

** When I go to training events I often let the teachers who are attending make one of these and they LOVE them. They have a blast. If I have teen helpers at church when I do this project, they all want to make one too!! You can't go wrong with this snowman project and it costs pennies!!

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Can you have too many Snowmen???

Not really! And certainly not if they are cute and easy to make from free materials!!

Here's a Snow Guy who has been hanging around a long time! In fact, he's a little crumpled because he travels with me when I go to conferences and teacher trainings but he's still fun!

He's a 'freebie', too. You've got most of this "stuff' hanging around. I used 2 sizes of white paper plates, scraps of fabric, recycled supposedly "disposable" forks, wiggle eyes, scrap fabric, fun foam, etc. Whatever you have hanging around - just throw it on a table and see what the kiddos create. Theirs are always so much better anyway :)

I punched holes in the top and bottoms of the paper plates and strung them together with strips of fabric or yarn so he twirls a little bit. The hat is a black plastic container from Chic-Fil-A. Salad and brownies come in the same type container - here's hoping I had the healthy choice!!

 

Give him a cute, happy face.

Glue on some forks or twigs for arms - or maybe popsicle sticks. Whatever you have on hand.

Scrap fabric was all we needed for a long, long scarf.

We glued on buttons on the middle circle. ( You can talk about big and little circles, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, middle, etc. along with snowman stories, recycling or Winter facts - versatile craft in the classroom setting!)

And the best part of this guy?? The bottom circle is a "snowglobe"! I cut out the center of the plate to make a big opening. Then put some glitter and fun foam snowflakes in a baggie. Add a couple of good squirts of clear hand sanitizer and seal it up.

It's hard to see in this picture but you just tape the baggie to the back of your circle and you have a squishy, sparkly snowglobe for your snowman. Nice sensory touch and the sanitizer makes it fun to squish the snowflakes around and it doesn't leak out. If it does then just "wash your hands" and it's all good!!

Snowman Puppet

You need 3 white, recycled bottle caps in varying sizes.

(Great sorting lesson, big to little, etc.)

Draw dots for the eyes and mouth.
Add a little tiny sliver of peel and stick fun foam for the carrot nose.

Give the other two bottle caps some dots for buttons.

Then glue them to a jumbo craft stick or a strip of stiff cardboard to make a stick puppet.

Add a scrap of fabric for a cozy scarf and you are ready for a show!

Our favorite? Make 10 of these and the class can take turns getting behind a table and singing," one little, two little, three little snowmen"... all the way to 10!! Parents love this :)

** If you use bigger lids off of  jars or cans instead of  bottle caps then the puppet can be glued to a paintstick and you can have a "really big show!"

Easy, Peasy Snowmen

This guy is easy, peasy and basically free!
Take a plain white paper plate - the cheaper and thinner, the better.

Fold in half.

Tear a scrap of fabric into a one or two inch wide strip. Any fabric will do. I usually do lots of black and white or bright colors on our snow projects in January so they don't look too Christmas-y. Tie it around the fold.

Make a knot and you have a cozy scarf.

Punch a hole in the center of both layers of the plate and tie together with some ribbon.

Add some rosy cheeks with pink chalk and make a carrot nose. I used a scrap of peel and stick fun foam because I had it but you could sponge paint it, use magic marker or construction paper. Whatever you have on hand.

Then, the eyes... maybe wiggle eyes...

... or buttons...

... or recycled bottle caps... ( or paint or magic marker or fun foam... you get it!)

Whatever you choose, he will be super cute.

You can stop there or if you are in the classroom setting you can have children write snow facts on the back or words that rhyme with the word snow or something to tie in with your snow unit!!


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