Buzzmills

Teacher gifts, handpainted and handmade...

We had our supplies for making end of the year gifts for Violet and Henry's preschool teacher for weeks, yet, for some reason, we waited until the night before the last day of school to actually make them!  Such is life, right? Henry painted a small glass vase using some silver paints that I had leftover from our New Year's Eve "bubble" dishes, along with acrylic paint markers that we used for these gardener gifts.  While Violet used the acrylic paint markers on a reusable ceramic coffee mug.  I taped around the top edge just as we did when painting coffee mugs for Christmas to ensure that there wouldn't be any paint near the drinking area.  I let the paint dry overnight and then placed both pieces in the oven the next morning and baked them at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
They turned out great, although the pictures, sadly, did not.  Unfortunately, I was rushed taking pictures and had only two minutes for picture taking before they needed to get wrapped. 

Anywho, we put some beautiful orange roses in Henry's vase...
And, for Violet's coffee mug, I stitched up a scrappy coffee cozy using this tutorial and the addition of wool felt for the lining...

And, last but not least, a new market bag... Because having her for three years as a teacher is a long time.  Because we really love her.  And, because, she was the first recipient of a market bag three years ago, the "prototype" as it were, and it seemed like she deserved a new one. 

I just treated myself to a new one this summer too!

Have a great day!

A Party at the Zoo shirt...and more early summer fun...

Wow, since the last day of school we've been busy! 

We started the summer off with new summer "do's"... Then we packed up some s'mores goodies and headed to a friend's house for some Father's Day backyard camping, just like we did last year.

These s'mores kits are fantastic!  I saw them on a bloggy friend of mine, Deborah's, blog she featured them in a backyard movie night party.  They really make the making of s'mores so much easier, especially when you are making with kids. 

I used whole chocolate bars and cut the bars in half with kitchen sheers to that they would a) fit in the berry box and b) already be open for quick chocolate access!
They were a huge success!  As were the s'mores themselves!
The next morning we awoke, from a pretty decent night's sleep, in our tent, packed up and then we headed to a birthday party at the zoo...
What a fun place to have a birthday party! 

We decided to make a shirt for the birthday boy, a shirt that mimicked his invitation...
I scanned the invitation into the computer, enlarged it and printed it. 
From that I cut out a freezer paper stencil to make the animals and bunting across the bottom of a store bought tee.
After the paint dried I added a little red balloon applique, with a stitched string... While I was in the midst of making this shirt it dawned on my that we should have purchased "A Sick Day for Amos McGee" to go along with it, but alas, that brilliant moment happened the day before the party and I had no luck finding the book locally, oh well. 

I love, love, love the way this shirt turned out! 
I really want to make another, or more...but alas, my freezer paper stencil, which took quite a long while to cut out, ripped many times while I was removing it, so I'll have to cut it out all over again if I do decide to make another.  But, I just might have to because this shirt makes me happy. And, yesterday's project was to reorganize Violet and Henry into the same bedroom.  We are having my sister stay with us for the summer, which means she gets Henry's room and that the kiddos get to share!  They are beyond thrilled with the whole situation! 

YAY!

It seems that so far our summer is off to a great start!

Compare and Contrast (round 3)...

Today is the end of preschool for Violet.  For the past three years she's had the same teacher at the same school.  Here she is on her first day of preschool three years ago and here she is today... It's hard to say too much or else, you know, I'll get all emotional...But man, she has grown!  In size, in courage, in strength, in knowledge, in humor and in so many other ways.  She is excited to move on to kindergarten, and thankfully, for me, Henry will still have two more years of preschool before he moves on. 

But today?  Today was the end of one little chapter in Violet's life. 

As I have done in the past, I had both Violet and Henry wear the same clothes on their last day as they did on their first day of school, although I could not, for the life of me, find the same pink shirt for Violet, oh well.  And so, bear with me while I take a little trip down memory lane... (PS.  in case you are curious, here are last year's post and the year before that.) Oh, Henry is oh so serious!  

I love to see how much they've grown in so many different ways!

And now we are off to enjoy the summer!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! 

Strawberry picking, and making...

Violet and Henry have fond memories of our blackberry and peach picking adventure last year and talk about it often.  So, when I mentioned strawberry picking to them recently they didn't even blink an eye before they were ready to jump in the car and go.  Of course, we didn't have a chance to jump in the car just then.  In fact, something kept coming up and it seemed like we might miss strawberry picking this year after all...

But then, over the weekend we found one small time frame where we might be able to squeeze in some berry picking.  We hopped in the car and were off... The sun came out just as we arrived, it was hot, but we were quick. 

Violet was a fantastic picker!

And, as usual, Henry was a fantastic eater and much less interested in the actual picking. 

We picked nearly 12 pounds of strawberries!

We gave some away to neighbors, but that still left us with many many many strawberries to deal with.  So, yesterday I tried my hand at strawberry jam and canning for the first time. 
We made strawberry ice cream. 
And, some of my favorite strawberry pie. 
We've still got a few left in the fridge and some frozen as well.  I'd say we will be enjoying the "fruits" of our labor for a while now (sorry had to say it!). 

Well, at least until it's blackberry picking time!

Have a great day.

Shrinky Dinks for Dad...

Okay, so Father's Day is only a few days away.  Either you are still trying to settle into your summer routine, or you are in midst of end of the school year chaos.  It's possible that, although we do love and appreciate all of those papas out there, we haven't given Father's Day gifts much thought...yet!

Well, I've got some fun and fast shrinky dink projects that will save the day! I have such fond memories of shrinky dinks.  I remember making them with my sister when I was little.  I remember making a very special Valentine's day heart that I gave to my husband before we were married.  And, years later, then talking him into sitting down to make a dozen or more shrinky dink star ornaments for family Christmas gifts.

There really is something to the magic of shrinky dinks!  The decorating of flimsy paper which then becomes hard plastic...super cool, it always makes me smile.

Okay, wanna make some?  I know you do, it will bring back all sorts of childhood memories, and your kids are going to love it too!

Supplies needed:  shrinky dinks, permanent markers, hole punch, split rings, scissors, ruler

First, measure and cut strips from your shrinky dink paper. I cut my strips 2 1/2" x 11" for the key chains and 3" x 11" for the money clip.  I'm not sure the extra 1/2" makes that much of a difference, but I liked the larger size for the money clip and the key chain a bit smaller.  Plus, with those sizes you can get two key chains and one money clip from a single piece of paper.

After your strips are cut, fold in half gently and punch a hole. I used larger shaped hole punches to ensure enough space for the split ring, also, they are more decorative. Trim and round the corners. And now, the fun part, decorate! This may take a while...it's fun! Once you are satisfied with your drawings... It's time to stick them in the oven (follow package instructions) and watch them shrink a dink! After they've done all of their shrinky pull out of the oven and work FAST!  This next part is parent only, because you really need to move quickly (seconds) and the shrikny dinks are quite warm!  Flip your shrinky dink off of your cookie sheet decorated side down. For the key chain, place a spoon over top to help form a "loop" and quickly pull one side up over the spoon, line up holes and hold in place while the shrinky dink cools.
For the money clip place a pencil in the middle and a small square of paper on one side.  Fold your shrinky dink up and over a pencil quickly, line up edges and press down firmly sandwiching the paper square in between.  Make sure that most of the shrinky dink is pressed firmly toward the other side, except where the pencil is to ensure that money will be held snuggly. And there you have it, key chains...

And money clips...

Perfect for keeping your bills tucked safely in your pocket...
Dad will surely love these!  But, wait they don't have to be just for Dad...what about teachers, or moms or grads, or just for yourself?  I'm thinking that I might "steal" one of these money clips to use this summer in the pool bag, perfect! 

I'm also thinking that there will be quite a bit more shrinky dinking (yes, I turned that into a verb) around here this summer!! 

Apparently, I'm full of gift ideas that kids can make for Dad (or teachers or moms or grads) don't miss two more of my projects over on Inner Child Giving, here's a little peek... Have fun and enjoy!  I know we did!