Use Your Words - January 2015

Today’s post is a writing challenge. This is how it works: participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once and all the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, here’s a fun twist; no one who’s participating knows who got their words and in what direction the writer will take them. Until now.

Links to the other “Use Your Words” posts:

Baking In A Tornado

Stacy Sews and Schools

Spatulas on Parade

The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

Confessions of a Part-Time Working Mom

Juicebox Confession

Someone Else’s Genius

The Momisodes

Battered Hope

Eileen’s Perpetually Busy

Evil Joy Speaks        

My Words -  colder than ~ monkey balls ~ glittery ~ chocolate overload ~ best day ever ~ maniacal

Submitted by - Evil Joy Speaks

Here lately I've been doing free associations with my words. We've been having a blast with that. You just never know what anyone around here will say.... Seriously...

This time I decided to go WAY back... Way back to my blogging beginning. Back to when I rambled on and on and on.... 

You see when I first got my words, things were tumbling around in my head all crazy like they normally do and I thought to myself, why not! They can't possibly think you are any crazier than you really are! Go for it.

So here I am.... Rambling like a crazy person.

As I sit here typing I can't help but pat myself on the back for remembering to put 2015 on the post title! WOOO HOOO!!! 

And as I look at the title the word January pops out at me. Now, usually January is colder than monkey balls around here.

Wait... Monkey balls wouldn't really be cold would they? I mean, they are mammals... And even if monkey balls were cold how would I know??? I've never been close to a monkey.

Anyway, it really hasn't been that cold around here lately. Know what that means??? NO SNOW darn it!!! The only things that I have seen lately that even resemble snow are the glittery luminaries I made a couple of weeks ago! 
Darn it! I feel cheated!! I thought for sure we would get tons of snow this year!!! SIGH... The winter before last we were in the VERY deep south, almost in Florida!! Then last winter we were in Tennessee! We had a dusting! I thought for sure that since we were back in the mid-Atlantic we would get at least a few inches by now. 

As The Hubby and I have been out running around in the non-cold, non-snowy weather, we decided to try some new places out. There's this store that's supposed to be like a cheaper World Market. Umm, cheaper, yes. Like World Market?? Not so much. 

Anyway, The Hubby bought tons of chocolate from Serbia. I am in the middle of a chocolate overload here.... Not that that's a bad thing, mind you. I love me some chocolate. 
The Hubby does have a tendency to go overboard, though. He once burnt me out on doughnuts! I would never have thought such a thing was possible! He was putting away more than a dozen a day by HIMSELF!!!! 

Which brings me to another issue bouncing around in my brain. WHY can men (at least the ones in this house) eat and eat and eat and never gain an ounce??  SO NOT FAIR!!! I just look at The Hubby eating and I gain weight. GRRR!!!

Back to the running around... Today I had one of my best day(s) ever!!! We hit Hancock's and Joann's all in one day! I walked away laughing maniacal(ly) at all the fabric I managed to score for under $100!! You just can't beat some good coupons and teacher discounts!!! LOL

Speaking of all the fabric, I am so stoked!! I got some great pieces and I can't wait to share whatever it is that I will make with you. LOL

Some of the pieces I bought were kinda crazy and most definitely impulse buys. Not sure how I'm going to use super soft, red fur but I saw it in the remnants bin and just had to have it.

I did make sure that I bought some fabric for some upcoming projects. I found some great printed burlap for St. Patrick's Day and some really cute toile type cotton for Valentine's Day. 

Hope you enjoyed this edition of Use Your Words!!!

Don't forget to check out all the FABULOUS bloggers that are participating!!!! 

Blog with Friends - The Brr Brigade - DIY Creeper Hoodie

Welcome to another edition of Blog with Friends! This is the Brr Brigade!! 

For my part, I am going to show you how to make a Minecraft Creeper Hoodie! 

What I Used

2 Yards of Green Fleece
Scraps of Black Fleece
Freezer paper to trace pattern
Hoodie that fits Colin well (to trace a pattern)
Ruler
Marker


STEP 1

I drew out the squares after looking at a picture of the Creeper. I figured out how to make it all to scale. If the eyes are 2" then the top of the mouth is 2" wide at the top and so on. 
My cutting mat is drawn out in 1" squares.


STEP 2

Then I cut out the Creeper's face.


STEP 3

Next, I traced around one of Colin's hoodies to make my pattern.

When cutting, remember to cut the front, back and sleeves on the fold.
Also, remember to cut 4 pieces for the hood (NOT on the fold).


STEP 4

Pin the pieces of the Creeper's face to the front of the front piece. 

Next, zigzag stitch all around each piece. 


STEP 5

Now, pin the front piece to the back piece with right sides together.
Sew the shoulder seam. (I used a zigzag stitch.)


STEP 6

Now, pin your sleeves according to the picture.
The right side of the sleeve to the right side of the bodice. Line up the center of the sleeve with the shoulder seam.

Sew the sleeve into the bodice.

For me this is the absolute easiest way to put in a sleeve. The easing is so much... easier. ;)


STEP 7

Here's where I messed up the first time. LOL 
I sewed my side seam before putting in the cuff. SIGH... I had to take my BFF, the seam ripper, and rip my sleeve seam. 

I cut my cuff at 5" x 10". Fold in half and press.

Pin the rough edges of the cuff to the rough edges of the sleeve. Zigzag stitch in place while gently pulling on the cuff (not the sleeve part). This will give the end of the sleeve a nice shape.

Pin up the side and sew the side seam all the way to the end of the cuff. (Once again, I used a zigzag stitch.)


STEP 8

The hood is where I messed up again. At first it was just 2 pieces sewn together and attached. It looks SO MUCH better with 4 pieces sewn into 2 hoods and attached. LOL

Here, take 2 hood pieces and sew the top and back.
Do the same with your other 2 hood pieces.


STEP 9

Now, pin the 2 hood pieces with right sides together. 
DO NOT sew the bottom edges together! ;)


STEP 10

Pin the bottom of the hood to the neck line, with right sides together.

Sew the seam. 

You can see in the pic that I just had a 1 layer hood at that point. I ended up going back with my BFF, the seam ripper, and ripping the hood out. 


STEP 11

Last step!!!

To finished out the bottom I cut a strip of fleece 5" by 40". 
Fold it over and press. Pin the rough edges to the bottom of the hoodie. Sew the seam! 

I have a happy little boy! :D Score for mom!! 


Now, don't forget to check out all the AMAZING projects and posts for this month's Blog with Friends!!!!




Karen from Baking in a Tornado has some YUMMY Spiked Raspberry Cocoa with Orange Whipped Cream, a winter recipe for a hot drink to keep you warm.




Robin from Someone Else's Genius will show you how to make these beautiful DIY Charmed Globe Necklaces.

 Eileen at Eileen's Perpetually Busy is sharing her pattern for the CUTEST Minion Hat!!!

Lydia from Cluttered Genius is showing us how essential oils can help Boost Your Mood this winter!

Now, head on over to The Momisodes!! Sarah has Story Time!!! 




HAVE FUN with all the awesome projects this month!! ;)

An InLinkz Link-up

January Homeschool Themes and Resources

We are just getting started back to schooling after the holidays. I usually give the kids (and myself) 3 weeks off at Christmas. Such a nice gift. LOL
I think we might start with some of the themes that would be great for January!! Of course, some of them we've done already. 

Weather Activities

Weather Activities 2

Weather Resources

Squirrel Unit Study Resources Squirrel Appreciation Day is this month!

Polar Bear Resources

How about some countries that get a lot of winter weather??

Canada Country Study Resources

Russia Country Study Resources

Russia Resources (Small)

Here are a few more that are NOT from posts I've done before.

Ellis Island Day was on the 1st. It's not too late to do an Ellis Island Virtual Field Trip!

Here's a place to get you started on MLK Jr Day!

Montessori inspired Arctic and Antarctic Unit

Elizabeth I was crowned this month, why not start a study on the Tudors?


Here are some links for winter crafts and activities -

DLTK-Kids

Activity Village

All Kids Network

                       HAVE FUN LEARNING!!!!!

Secret Subject Swap - January 2015

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This week, 14 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts.


Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

                           

Baking In A Tornado

Spatulas on Parade

Stacy Sews and Schools

The Bergham’s Life Chronicles

Dinosaur Superhero Mommy

Confessions of a Part-Time Working Mom

Juicebox Confession

Someone Else’s Genius

The Momisodes

Climaxed

Sparkly Poetic Weirdo

Cluttered Genius

Southern Belle Charm

Evil Joy Speaks

Your “Secret Subject” is:

You're given the option to take a pill that will allow you to tell anyone in your life, past or present, exactly what you think or feel about them. The catch is you will have absolutely no filter. Once the pill is taken you won't be able to pick and choose what you say. It will all come out, bad or good, and you won't stop until the truth is out in its entirety. Do you take the pill? Why or why not? If so, who do you choose? What are some things you would say?

It was submitted by: Climaxed

WOW!What a great prompt!!!! I would like to say that I thought about it for a while before writing but I didn't. My instinct is to say NO! I absolutely would NOT take that pill. 

Now, that's not to say that I don't know a few people that I COULD use it on. That's not the case AT ALL. I can think of 3 people right off the top of me head. LOL 

I am a fairly passive person. Even when pushed, even when I lose my temper, I try very hard to never say anything hurtful, whether I believe someone deserves it or not. I just can't bring myself to be deliberately hurtful. 

You see, words DO hurt. They cut very deeply. I don't want to be responsible for someone else's pain. No thank you. I have had enough of that done TO me, I don't want to be the cause of it. No matter what. I just can't justify that. 

You can't take something back once it's out there. No amount of apologizing can take the sting out of mean, hurtful words. They will always be there in the person's mind. 

Of course, the other side to the question says it can be good things. Well, I like to think that I already tell people the good things. I try to make sure that everyone I love knows that I love them. I've lost too many people that I love to do it any other way. We are never guaranteed tomorrow. Say what you need to say today, at least the good stuff. 

I hope that I build people up. I think we need more of that in the world. I hope that if someone comes to me that I would be able to tell them good things. That I would be a positive influence and not a negative one. 

I would like to take this moment to tell all the wonderful ladies that participate in all of the Friday challenges and the Blog with Friends challenges, exactly what I think.

I feel so privileged to be a part of all this with you. You are all amazing, wonderful, thoughtful, beautiful people. I count you all among my friends. Thank you all so much for letting me know you and for letting me be a part of all this with you. 

DIY Jar Luminaries

SIGH... I really should have borrowed Deanna's game for this shot. (We got her an awesome Nikon for Christmas.) My stupid old iPhone stinks!!!!
ANYWAY, I have been wanting to try this out for a very long time. It was super fast and super easy. I did both in 15 mins. LOL 

This is what I used - 

2 left over sauce jars
1 bag of epsom salts
Regular school glue
Foam brush
2 bags of clear plastic gems from the Dollar Tree
1 pack of 2 fake tea lights from the Dollar Tree
1 thing of silver glitter washi tape
2 plastic white trees that came off of our Christmas crackers
Something to dump the epsom salts in

HOW TO:

Add a little water to your glue.

Take the foam brush and add the glue to the sides of the jars. I found that dabbing worked better than brushing.

Roll the jars in the epsom salts. I poured some out into the green tray.

Add the washi tape to the top of the jars.

Dumb the clear plastic gems inside.

Add the fake tea lights. 

Glue the little plastic trees on the rim.

Voila! All done!!! 

All in all, these cost me about $6 to make. You just can't beat that. I had everything sitting around the house except for the washi tape, fake tea lights and plastic gems. 

I then made a table runner out of opaque fabric with little flecks of silver on it. Looks a little bit like snow and ice. PERFECT for your winter home decor!!! 

SIGH.... I really need a real camera. I wonder if Deanna would notice if hers went missing?????


HAVE FUN CRAFTING!!! And if you have any snow, send it my way, please!!! ;)

Homeschool Online for Free

The other day I noticed that I have been a little lax in posting homeschooling ideas. YILES!!! Sorry about that!!! Our homeschool year has NOT gone as planned. AT ALL!!! 
Anyway, I started going over the posts that I've done in the past and realized that a very important one was missing!!!! 
Now that each child has their own laptop, I plan on implementing a lot of the sites that I have used here and there in the past. With that in mind, I thought I should share them all with you! 

This post will be strictly for sites that your child can use for learning. 

ABCYa - This site is for K-5. It has games for learning in all the major subject areas. Cailey and Colin love playing on ABC Ya!


DIY.org - On this site your children can earn virtual skill badges for learning different things. Sort of like online scouts. We haven't done anything with this site yet but it looks SOOOOO COOL!!!!! 


Kidport - This site has online quizzes for K-8 in all the main subjects.


Sheppard's Software - Games, games and more games!! LOVE this site!! Once again all the main subjects are covered.


Neo K12 - This site is full of videos and games! So much fun!!!


Cookie - This site is for the younger kids, Pre K - 2. It has a lot of games and videos.


Learning Games for Kids - This site has games for all the major subjects plus more! They even have several typing games!!!


We Give Books - Love this site SO much!!! Free kids books (popular ones!!) up to level 4!!! They change the books out often so you never know what they might have now!! :D 


PBS Kids Lab - Games and videos for kids ages 3-8.


LDS Homeschooling in CA - This site has a very long list of virtual field trips!!


Watch Know Learn - Tons and tons and TONS of videos in just about any subject you can think of and for all ages and levels.


Gamequarium - This site has links to games and videos in all the major subject areas. However, the links do take you off site.


Fact Monster - This site is full of info. It also has games and videos. Your child has to be able to read to get the most out of it.


Study Ladder - We only use the free version of this site. You can set up lessons for each of your children. There are games and videos for all the main subject areas. 


E-Learning for Kids - Online lessons (games and videos) for all the main subjects for just about all levels.


Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool - This site has EVERYTHING. And I do mean EVERYTHING. Not only that but it breaks it all down into daily lessons for K-12. 


Khan Academy - They now have math for lower levels!! YAY!! Khan Academy keeps me sane when it comes to teaching higher math. LOL They also have science, art and humanities, and economics and finance. 

Of course, there's always YouTube with things like Crash Course, SciShow , Veritasium, Education, etc. and iHomeschool Network has a list of homeschoolers on YouTube.


There are also sites that are subject specific but there would be too many to list! Hopefully there are enough sites listed here to help you break the monotony and relieve some stress!! I am all about keeping homeschooling as stress free and fun as possible!!!


HAVE FUN HOMESCHOOLING!!!!!!

Our December in Review

It's been soooooo long since I post a week in review.... The last one was at the beginning of December! YILES!!!! We have just been so super busy!! So busy that I have even forgotten to take pictures!! GASP!!!!! That's a big blogging no-no!!! 
But I did manage to get a few. ;)

We did a few crafts.

Some of them with friends.

We got ready for Santa.

I made our Christmas stockings. (I also made one to sell.)

We opened presents!!!! (And then they played on the laptops, well, ever since.....)

And one of the cats is still try to fit in tiny places. 

Our December was crazy busy!!! I hope yours was WONDERFUL!!!!!!