Blog Swap.....St. Patrick's Day Ideas

{St. Patrick's Day Stackers}

Hi, I'm Kathy from Dandelions and Dust Bunnies.  I'm the mother of two boys that keep me hopping and are always on the go.


I also have a wonderful husband that tolerates all my projects and messes that are always ongoing. (This picture is a little outdated, but you get the idea.)


When I'm not at home with my boys, I work part time as a legal assistant. I also love to do crafts and other projects around the house - thus the beginning of my blog. I love to share crafts, thrift store find makeovers, recipes, organization and decor projects.


Many of you have probably seen those adorable vinyl stackers for various holidays. So today I'm going to share my St. Patrick's Day stackers I made. Start off with a 2x2. I cut mine into 4, 6, 8 and 10 inch pieces.







I painted mine black with some craft paint and then sanded down the edges.





I ordered some vinyl from Utah Vinyl and then attached it to some scrapbook paper.





used Mod Podge to attach it to the wood and then added another coat over the top.





Now you have some adorable St. Patrick's Day Decor. The possibilities are endless.

Thanks Nikki for letting me visit today.

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Thanks so much for sharing, Kathy!  Here are some of her other amazing St. Patrick's Day crafts!

{Shamrock Specimen Art}

{St. Patty's Day Frame}

{"Recycled" St. Patrick's Day Sign}

Kathy does fun and easy crafts over at her blog Dandelions and Dustbunnies......if you have a chance go take a look.  She also shows us how to display the crafts that she makes!!

Alot of Kathy's crafts include vinyl from Jill at Utah Vinyl......next week, I will have my FIRST GIVEAWAY and it will be some of Jill's vinyl!  Keep watching!

Update:  If you'd like to purchase the vinyl for the St. Patrick's Day Stackers, it's only $5.00 plus shipping.  You can contact Jill to order HERE.

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Homeschooling: School Choices

{What are my options?}

Well.....I am nervous about writing this post...very nervous because it seems like there is always tension and conflict when it comes to" school choice".....

Over the past few weeks, our newspaper has been running a lot of articles about charter schools....particularly online cyber charter schools....

There's a lot of conflict associated with them because cyber schools pull funding away from public school systems.....the articles keep criticizing the cyber schools for taking budgeted money away from public school students.....but no one yet has taken the time to ask the question "WHY are so many students flooding away from the public school system into these cyber schools?"

My children are and have been cyber school students....(my older boys are not for the time being but we may return for middle school)....we get a free computer....free printer.....free curriculum....and some other wonderful "perks".....(I know that probably makes some mad already!)

So why did we "run away" from our local district?

We live close to our district line....truthfully, we live closer to our neighboring district elementary school than our own.....a few years ago, that neighboring district was scoring about 20% higher on our state standardized test than our home district....20% is ALOT!  Our district was seeing math and reading scores in the low 60%'s.......we were the third lowest scoring district in the county....


So what does that mean for the student who is excelling.....a lot of trips to the library!  Our older son would quickly finish his work and then make 5-10 trips to the library per day to read books....As we compared the academic progress of our boys with kids in comparable grades in other districts, we saw that our boys were lagging behind and we were very concerned....but bring them home again?


We had tried homeschooling....and I failed!

It was when I had a 1st grader, a K-4 and a 15 month old daughter.  During the 2 months that I lasted homeschooling she "washed" her Barbie's hair in the toilet, "painted" herself and the wall with lipstick (while wearing a pair of my underwear around her neck!) and painted her toes red on my white carpet...and that was in ONE day!!!  (And I am a strict mom!)

So what do you do when you don't have the financial stability to afford private school and your district is lagging academically.....

........one option is an online cyber charter school.

An online charter school has a certified elementary school teacher assisting you, grading your child's work and a rigorous curriculum that your child can follow at his OWN pace!  That means that if your child is moving quickly through their work they can move to the next grade and they do not have to wait for other students to catch up with them.....it also means that the struggling student can take time and actually learn the material and not have to move on with the rest of the class "just because"!


When I first started cyber school, the hardest part about it was that we didn't fit with any community.  True homeschoolers didn't want us because we were still "tied" to the public school system......public school parents were annoyed because we were funneling money and "homeschooling."

It was a very lonely first year having both boys home....until I got involved into a co-op....met the most amazing women....and found friends and a home..... filled with support!

As I read the newspaper articles I realize that it's easy to point a finger and judge and critize and decide what's "best".....but for us, it's personal....it's wanting the very best for the children that God has entrusted us with....and for now that's a mixture of homeschooling and charter schooling.....we may change our mind down that road...

but for now.....we do.......what we think.......is best........for her....

....and yes, she made the shirt herself.....she wants to be a "crafter" and scientist when she grows up!

If you live in Pennsylvania, there are SO many cyber charter schools....here are a few:

The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School

PAVCS

Commonwealth Connections

If you live another state, I would encourage you to look at the K-12 Schools.  Here is a MAP LINK that shows you if your state is participating for free online education.

The biggest thing to remember about your child's education is that there are A LOT of options these days and what is right for one child doesn't always "fit" another!

Linking up with:

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Coming in March....

 

{Exciting changes are coming...}

I'm really excited about what March is going to bring!

Giveaways......link parties......my new button and banner....and spring!!

So stay tuned and start thinking of some springy ideas!

Also....I'd love if you would become a follower!

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Twine balls

 

{Easy homemade twine balls}

Originally, I tried making these at Christmas....and they failed....miserably!  I had pile of limpy, mushy string......so when I saw that my friend Alison made some over at Stuff and Nonsense, I thought that I might try it again.......because my Goodwill Fruitstand was now sitting empty!

So I gathered my materials....

First, blow up your balloons.....now as simple as this seems, let me just share a piece of advice....you probably want to measure the size of your balloon at this point in your container....I made mine WAY too big....grr!

I tied my string around the knot of the balloon to keep the string from coming undone and unravelling while I wrapped....

You can paint a little bit of mod podge on the bottom of the balloon as well to keep the string in place....

Wrap your string in whatever design around your balloon.....

Now if I were doing this again, I might paint the string with mod podge before I wrap it around the balloon....

Do you see all the glue in-between the strings???



Well, it dries there....I'm still picking it out!  Let them dry over night.

......I know....I still need to pick out more glue.......



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Lost Library Book

{Not another lost library book....}

Lost things drive me crazy......especially library books.  I guess it's because there's just this honor system of lending....they lend me free books and I return them....unharmed and on-time.

So....when I checked my online account the other night and asked my son to go get a book that was due and we couldn't find it....I started to feel a little crazy!  The lost book was one from The Lightening Thief series and hardback....meaning about a $30 book!

You see.....this isn't this first time.....or the second time.....or even the THIRD time that we have lost a library book.  (And for a person who is a little compulsive about order.....that's HARD to admit!)

Do you know how hard it is to walk into the library once again....hanging my head in shame and admit......"I've lost another library book...."  At some point I just expect the librarian to not even say a word and just point to the door.......

So...are you understanding the tight-in-the-chest-anxious-because-I-have-to-walk-in-there-again feeling?

Well, I did my search....under coaches, pillows.....looking on desks and in piles of stuff.....NO WHERE is the book.  It's now 11:15 pm and I just want to go to bed and not have the weight of this library book hanging over me.....

As I got  into bed and my husband and I prayed about the day and various things, I just shared with him my silly request of praying for the lost library book.  He knows me well and didn't even hestitate to say, "Let's pray about it right now!"

After we prayed we were about to go to sleep, but the heat vent was rattling and driving me crazy, so I got up to step on it to make it stop rattling.  As I walked over, I passed a stack of books on my husband's shelf.....and caught a glimpse of the words Lancaster County Library System.....Yippee!!!  The lost book!! 

(I know it's a blurry pic, but it TOTALLY represents how I felt!! )

Somehow, it got mixed in with my husband's books!!  (which are plentiful!!)  I jumped around the bedroom and ran down the hall to tell the boys.....who were still awake...grrr!  But they were so excited, too!

The Bible talks about finding lost things.....in Luke 15 there's a whole series about "lost" things.....The passage talks about a lost sheep and the longest story is about a lost son.  This part tells about a lost coin....

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp,

sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she finds it,

she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have

found my lost coin.’  In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence

 of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

You felt my excitement over finding the library book......do you realize that God feels more excitement over finding a lost YOU??  In each of the stories, something valuable is lost....and it's searched for until it's found.

The third story of something lost is pretty familiar....a younger son asks for his share of inheritance before the father dies....rather bold.  He then goes out and spends it all.....on prostitutes, gambling, wild living...

Eventually, the younger son returns home....humbled and ashamed, ready to beg to be a servant on his father's estate, not realizing that the whole time, his Father has been looking for him....waiting for his one day return.

Not only is the Father waiting for the son, but when he sees him, he runs......now in our 2011 American viewpoint, it's not odd to see a Dad run, but you need to think Middle Eastern man running....hmmm, don't see many of them doing that....it's just not proper or acceptable.

But the Father is so excited.....overjoyed.....thrilled to see his son return, he doesn't care what is proper.

In the same way....God waits for all of us to come back to Him.....He is anxious about our return and overjoyed when we do......no matter where we've been or what we've done!

I forget so easily......I was so passionate about finding the library book and wanted to tell everyone.....am I as passionate about telling people how much the Father is searching for lost "things" and how overjoyed He is when they are found?

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Aching for Spring...

 

{The birds are returning....}

Are you aching for spring??  March is finally here and I heard birds singing!

I recently discovered a VERY fun blog called Smilemonsters.....isn't her button so cute! 

 

I was browsing her blow when I found THESE!

(The photos on her blog are A-Mazing!)

Her name is Jo and she has an amazing tutorial on how to make these homemade bird treats!



Maybe feeding the birds will bring spring sooner!  My daughter is also trying to bring the birds back.....

Do you see those nests??  I'll give you a hint....they weren't made by birds!

She had a very busy afternoon!

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View from a room....

{My view from the kitchen...}

So the problem with my kitchen is that you can see the entire first floor from it....here is one angle of the view....I'm standing right in front of my Craig's List table that I turned from this...

....into this....



I LOVE her!  (I call it a her...she's too pretty to be a he!)  To see how I did it....with SPRAYPAINT.....you can go HERE for the complete tutorial!

The hallway color matches the family room but has fake wainscoting......my first ever blog post....

The color in our "music" room is going to be changing.....I plan to do some board and batten in there and maybe even French doors!  Stay tuned!!

I may even (GULP!) try and paint our.....piano.......YIKES!!  I'm seeing her in a glossy black or chic white....

I've gotten enough affirmation that I can go green in the kitchen.....and I think that I just might try it!......The white beadboard backsplash is still "iffy"......I'd love it, but I'm not sure if it would break the color of the walls and cabinets apart too much.....

I'd like to try and actually put together a mood board to do this project....too many times I don't have a complete picture of a project before I start and then I end up slapping it together.....(honestly...I'm just entirely TOO impatient!! )

If any of you have done a mood board, would you let me know and include a link in the comments section.  Once I learn how to do one, I'll share with you how to put one together!

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Loving your ideas!

Wow!  I am just loving all of your ideas!! 

I tried running past my hubby tonight painting the cabinets white......but it didn't work!  Oh well......my vision is redoing them with white beadboard on the sides and in the panels....*sigh!*  Something like this from Blissfully Domestic.....

Truthfully, I'd probably get about halfway through painting them and go crazy with the amount of work it would be......

Tomorrow I'll post some more pictures.....the larger dilemma with our home is that it has an open floor plan and it's not a huge house.......so you can see everyroom on the first floor from the kitchen....meaning...it all has to coordinate.

That rules out lime green!  (Well, that and the fact that my hubby would pass out on the FLOOR if he came home to lime green!)

I am leaning towards a beadboard backsplash......have any of you used beadboard wallpaper yet??  I'm dying to try it!

Check out what Rhoda at Southern Hospitality did with it......and yes, people, that's wallpaper!!

It would be so much easier (and cheaper!) to work with than the real thing!  But the question is......can you have a white backsplash with orang-y cabinets?? 

Thanks for your ideas!  I'm loving them!  I'll keep you updated on my progress!

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Help Wanted....

{Need.....color......suggestions!}

There are moments when I ask myself......what was I thinking???  And recently, I've been looking at my kitchen and thinking...TOO much orange!!!  Did I really want my walls to match my cabinets?

And since hubby says that painting the cabinets are completely out-of-the question....(for now!).......it looks like I need to change my wall color......AGAIN.....

I say again, because this will be the 4th time in 6  years that I've painted our kitchen!!  My son told me he is really worried that I am making our kitchen smaller with every coat of paint I put on....and he's being serious!

So....that's where I'm asking for suggestions from YOU!!  What do you think? What color could I paint my kitchen??  Here's what I've already done....

puke colored yellow.......lasted about 1 year
boring drab tan.......lasted maybe 3
a little too bold "terra cotta" because that sounds better than anything in the orangy family....2 years

I'm thinking of a light green, but I remember someone telling me that you never do green in a kitchen...is that true???

I can't go blue because it would look really weird next to my living room......so you see my dilemma.....I'm out of colors!!

So please......HELP!!

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