Today is Mother's Day in the United States. Yesterday Hazel spent the morning making her gifts for her grandmothers and one for me. I bought some canvas bags and she was able to paint them for each person. She also jumped at every chance to make a card for me. She did one at Paper Source, our public library, and Lakeshore Learning. She also made her ice cream cone about me at school and a few cards and a book on her own!
Mother's Day Gifts & Heat Embossing Tutorial -- Crafty Weekends Link Party
Today is Mother's Day in the United States. Yesterday Hazel spent the morning making her gifts for her grandmothers and one for me. I bought some canvas bags and she was able to paint them for each person. She also jumped at every chance to make a card for me. She did one at Paper Source, our public library, and Lakeshore Learning. She also made her ice cream cone about me at school and a few cards and a book on her own!
Peaceable Kingdom Valentines from Mindware
Can you believe Valentine's Day is next week? It is coming fast. Are you ready? Hazel always wants Valentines with little gifts but the school asks for non-candy Valentines. Do you have this issue? Well I turned to Mindware this year for some fun Valentines. We picked out three different ones to review and share with you from their new ones this year. Hazel loved the Scented Eraser Valentines and thought they would be perfect for her classmates.
Wedding Season
Did you know the most popular time to get engaged is the month of December? So if it seems like many friends are posting that they became engaged over the holidays, it is probably true. At work the push is on for everyone to be trained to take custom print orders. I am almost through my training and I thought I would share with you some things I learned as well as my own DIY invitation. I was very much a DIY bride and our wedding was pretty casual so we were not worried about the formal standards. Now I am finding out there are many out there. Shutterfly now offers wedding invitations which use to be called Wedding Papers Divas. I am no longer an affiliate with them. Since my links and many of the pictures I shared previously are no longer available I am updating this and sharing about Greetings Island.
Flower Print Cards -- Fun & Easy Nature Craft
Today I am going to share a fun and easy nature craft. Last year or two I saw a post about hammering pansy flowers and getting a print on fabric. I have no idea whose post I saw. I believe it was on Facebook, but that is about all I can remember. It is a craft you can do with kids, but it involves hammering so watch little fingers! I wanted to try the craft on paper since if I used fabric, I would want to be able to wash it and assumed the print would wash out. I pulled out some blank foldover cards and picked some pansies. I pulled out the hammer and worked in my husband's workroom. My first try did not go as planned. I just put the flowers on the card and began hammering.
Princess Party Food & Free Printable Signs
My Superhero Princess |
Today I am going to share our Royal Menu with you. (Well besides the cakes since I shared them yesterday--well I'll share some pictures and then you can check out how to make them and recipes, etc. in yesterday's post.)
We also bought some cold cut platters and roll platters to make the party a bit easier for me. Of course we have lots left over so we will be eating sandwiches for quite awhile. As for the rest of our food and beverages we did a princess theme. And I made signs to go along with them and shared information about the princess and/or princess story. All the information came from wikipedia unless otherwise stated on the cards. And yes, I saved the signs as pdf's so I could share them with you. I made them on Print Shop as quarter fold cards, so the real-life princesses' information was continued on the inside of the card.
Front of Beverage Cards |
Back of Beverage Cards |
Then we had Princess Letizia's Chips and Salsa and crackers with three types of cheese (and yes, I picked the cheese by where there are princesses). We had Princess Mafalda of Savoy's Toscano Cheese, Princess Diana's Cheddar Cheese (I used Diana since Kate is not officially a princess), and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands Gouda Cheese.
Then to go with the sandwiches we had Princess and the Pea's Vegetable Soup (vegetarian). I based the soup from a recipe from one of my mother's cookbooks by Jane Brody. I'm pretty sure it is Jane Brody's Good Food Cook Book. My mother has had it forever and always uses it. The recipe was simple and I did it in my slow cooker. I just chopped some onions and celery. Added some Italian seasoning and vegetable broth. A can of diced tomatoes and then lots of frozen vegetables. I included frozen diced potatoes in case there were any vegetarians. I wanted it to be filling. Plus of course I made sure to include some peas. Then I poured more broth on and added some ground pepper a small amount of salt (since I use low sodium everything). Everyone who tried it loved it and raved about it.
I was going to make Rapunzel's Chicken and Broccoli Braid, but ran out of time. We will have to have it another time since I have the ingredients to make two of them. I was going to use this recipe at Taste of Home.
So that is our princess themed royal party menu. What do you think? We had fun and have plenty of delicious leftovers. Unfortunately, my father got a cold (either from me or my nephew at Christmas) and they will not be visiting for Hazel's actual birthday, so we are going to have to eat the leftovers ourselves. Hopefully he will get better soon.
Learning some Japanese -- Book Reviews
As I explained last Monday, we have begun to explore Japan with some fun books from Tuttle Publishing. They sent us some beautiful books and a set of flashcards. Today we are going to look at the ones that help teach a little of the Japanese language. Last week I reviewed My First Book of Japanese Words: An ABC Rhyming Book by Michelle Haney Brown. This book starts to introduce a small amount about the language and really helps teach something about the culture in Japan.
This week I am going to begin with Japanese For Kids Flash Cards by Timothy G. Stout.
In this box of flash cards, you get 64 double-sided flash cards, an audio CD, a wall chart and a learning guide. Each flash card has the Japanese word written in Japanese and then the pronunciation of the Japanese word (called Komaji) and a picture of what the word means on one side. On the other side is a table with the Japanese, Komaji and English then two sentences in all three as well as a black and white copy of the picture. The 64 cards are separated into word groups: Family, Colors, Numbers, Clothes, Animals, Food, Body Parts, and My Day. The learning guide suggests working with only one group at a time to make it more manageable.
The audio CD begins with sixteen basic words and sayings that do not lend to pictures (for examples: yes, no, hello, goodbye) which are spoken slowly in Japanese and then at a regular speed and then in English and then has four songs in Japanese. Then it goes through each flash card saying the word in Japanese slowly, then at regular speed, then in English, then reading the sentences on the back side of the card in Japanese and English. I love that Hazel gets to hear the word how it is suppose to be pronounced and not just my interpretation of it. The learning guide also has games and activities to try in Japanese to help learn some of the words in a different way and the words to the four songs in Japanese and English. We decided to focus on numbers for awhile because the next book started with numbers as well.
Did you know there are three different writing systems in Japanese? There is Kanji which is the writing system that came to Japan from China in the 6th century; Hiragana is a script women in Japan developed 1,000 years ago; and Katakana is the set of characters to represent foreign words and names. Kanji has 2,500 different characters to know. Japanese children learn these starting in elementary school and continue through high school. Hiragana has 46 different characters and sounds. Japanese children learn all of the Hiragana characters in first grade. Katakana has 46 characters to match the 46 sounds of spoken Japanese and all are learned in first grade. Japanese children also learn Romaji which is the 26 letters of the English alphabet. (Source: All About Japan: Stories, Songs, Crafts and More by Williamare Moore--a review of this one coming soon!)
Our second book for today is My First Japanese Kanji Book: Learning Kanji the fun and easy way! by Anna Sato and Eriko Sato. This book helps children learn how to write Kanji. Usually Kanji is learned after Hiragana and Katakana are already mastered. We however began with it. This book has 36 lessons. Each lesson includes a poem in Japanese and English and then lessons on some of the words from the poem. The first lesson teaches you to write the words for one, two and three.
Each character has a certain order to how it is to be written and it is said that teachers can tell when you do not do it in the correct order. Hazel and I began trying some out first with just regular colored pencils and I realized we were not getting the thickness of the lines correctly so I pulled out some calligraphy pens. Hazel loved this activity!! She wanted to do some more while I started making dinner.
Hazel's Kanji Trials |
This book comes with an MP3 Audio CD. Each lesson is on the CD with the poem read in Japanese and English. Again I love that Hazel gets to hear the correct pronunciation. (Spoken languages have never been my strong point even if I was in Honors Spanish classes throughout middle and high schools.) I also showed her how to listen to the poems on her own if she wants to try some while I am busy. This really excited her. She actually asked if we could try some lessons every day.
My Kanji Trials |
I have to say all three of these products are a wonderful introduction to the Japanese language. Each provides a different way of learning a bit about the culture and all are of the highest quality and are beautiful.
For more books and activities to learn about Japan check out:
- Exploring Japan with books and more
- Sora and the Cloud
- Origami Butterflies
- Asian Kites
- Asian Pacific Island Heritage Month Blog Hop
- Asian-Pacific Island Book Round-Up
- Multicultural Christmas Books
- Play! Book Review
- Happy New Year Around the World
- My Multicultural Pinterest Board
- All About Indonesia
- Asian Kites
- Mei-Mei's Lucky Birthday Noodles
- Mulan and My First Book of Chinese Words
Vacation Week Crafts - a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party
This past week was Hazel's spring break. We have had quite the week and a half. The last week of school included Hazel's class's Easter play and my parents came to see her and celebrate Easter with us early. Then my sister came to go to the Museum of Fine Arts on Saturday with us. Then we celebrated with my mother-in-law on Easter Sunday. On Monday we headed to the American Girl Doll Store Boston (which is not in Boston). Hazel had saved almost enough to buy herself a doll. We loaned her the last $30 since we were going. My plan had been to take her so she could really decide which doll she wanted. Seeing the dolls in person helped her really decide which were her top picks. Some that had been top picks fell off the list in person. After a bit of thought she decided on Kit Kitteredge. She LOVES the books about Kit, so I thought this was a wonderful choice.
Lovepop's Mother's Day Giveaway -- Make sure you enter!!
Spring holidays are upon us. That means it is time to think about gifts and cards!! Do you look for the right card for each person? Are you looking for that special one that they will keep forever? Lovepop can help!! You may have heard of Lovepop on Shark Tank in 2015!
Post Card Swap Map
Once we have all fifty post cards we will hang this up in our craft room. When Hazel is a bit older we can use it to learn about where the states are and a little bit about each one. I have to say I love this post card swap idea!! I may have to try something like this. Would you be interested?
Paper Wildflowers -- Crafty Sundays
Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Today I am going to share one of the craft books I am saying is Earth Day related. Now paper crafts in general aren't usually Earth Day crafts unless they are recycled crafts. However today's crafts are making paper wildflowers. My hope is when people see how beautiful the paper wildflowers are they will plant more wildflowers or at least let them grow when they pop up. Many of these wildflowers will attract pollinators to your yard. Plus if they are natural for your area they will help all the wildlife. So now I share A Beginner's Guide to Paper Wildflowers by Emiko Yamamoto.
A Beginner's Guide to Modern Calligraphy and Brush Pen Lettering -- a Crafty Sundays Review
Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Happy First Sunday of Summer!! As a teacher and a mom, I love summer!! It means more time doing things I love and more time with family!! With my teaching schedule this past year I feel like I really earned my summer vacation. I need time to recharge and get ready for next year. One thing I always try to do when I'm stressed out is craft. My mind needs it!! I am always amazed by the people who have beautiful penmanship. You know the ones that make beautiful words with what looks like little effort. When I was young, I took classes on calligraphy and discovered if I take my time and put effort in and I can write in calligraphy pretty well. But it always takes time. These days there are more modern writing and fonts and I always love trying them but usually without much success. Today I am going to share a book with you that helps train you to write in those modern fonts and use a brush pen. The book is A Beginner's Guide to Modern Calligraphy and Brush Pen Lettering by Maki Shimano.
Valentine's Day Traditions Around the World
We are getting ready to celebrate Valentine's Day here in America. It is a day where lovers exchange cards and gifts--often flowers and candy. Families often exchange cards as well and kids exchange cards at school. But how is Valentine's Day celebrated in other countries? Here are a few different traditions.
An Advent Table to Help Focus Us on Christ This Season
Every Christmas I see all the commercialism around. I mean Hallmark begins putting out ornaments in July. It is a bit crazy. I always like to create ways to keep our focus on the religious side of the holiday. After all we are celebrating the coming of Jesus, our Savior. Over the years we have gathered some great resources. One of our favorites are the four family storybooks for Advent we have reviewed (Jotham, Tabitha, Bartholomew and Ishtar). Each of these stories tell the nativity story from kids point of view. One is a shepherd and another is the son of one of the magi and so forth. The stories intertwine with each other and make the Advent stories quite an adventure. Hazel loves to reread them each year.
Beyond the Tiger Mom -- Book Review with Math Lessons & Free Printables
As a parent I want to make the best choices for Hazel and I am sure you feel the same way about your own children. With all the mixed messages out there it can be hard. There are the studies that say our children need more free play time and then there are the messages that our kids need to be doing academics more. I had a conversation with a fellow parent of one of the boys in Hazel's class that expressed concern about the school not stressing the academics enough. I was a little shocked because in my opinion it was stressing them too much at such a young age. But this mom has five children with the boy in Hazel's class being the youngest and she told me her older children (who started at a different Christian school that has since closed) had a better foundation in math than our kids are getting. She even talked about the Asian families in Singapore and having to compete with them. It does make one wonder what is being done differently in Singapore, Asia and in Asian American families that often put their kids in the top positions in math and science classes.
Cheap Doll Finds -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party
I have not done a cheap doll find post in awhile, but I decided it was time. One of my favorite places to look is Oriental Trading. They have so much for parties and crafts and if you are creative you can find some great items that work for dolls. I always start by searching "miniature" or "mini". I will admit Hazel and I have been checking things out for awhile since she is planning on having an American Girl themed birthday party this year. It was going to be a Beforever themed party until she got Saige as a hand-me-down. For the birthday party we knew we wanted to get the Mini Neon Tote Bags, so we will start with these. Hazel set up the scene as her dolls having a slumber party. The tote bags work for the girls to bring her things for the night. At Hazel's party they will be for the dolls to bring home their favors (and we are planning on getting the matching Neon Tote Bags for the girls).
Easter and Spring Match Games & More!
Halloween Cards/Gifts for our Family
Baking Cup Flowers with Treats |
Our First One Where We Experimented |
Our Last One--Hazel did the pom poms |
Typical Hazel One |
We also added stickers to our ghost cards.
Now I need to work on our costumes and pull out our Halloween decorations and we will be all set!
WordWorld: Kooky Spooky Halloween DVD Review and Giveaway
I am so excited to share this DVD with you today. Now before I share it I want to make sure you know a couple of things:
- I really do not like the scary part of Halloween. I like taking Hazel trick-or-treating, and seeing the young children in their cute costumes.
- Hazel is scared easily and does not like the scary parts of Halloween.
- Hazel is learning to read and sound out words at school this year.
If you know nothing about WordWorld, the animal characters and many of the objects and scenery are made out of the word of what it is. As you can see on the cover, the pumpkins have the word "pumpkin" on them. The characters can make anything as long as they have the letters for it. In one of the two stories on this DVD, Sheep made her costume elements by pulling out the letters to spell "dust", "crown" and "wings". Once the letters were put together to spell the word, they magically became the object. As she spelled out the word and the magic was happening, she sounded out each word as well.
Character Flash Cards Source: NCircle Entertainment |
In the other story after some of the characters heard a ghost story and were scared to walk home, but got over the fear by being told ghosts do not exist, Pig sleep walks with a sheet over him. He is looking for B's so he can make his goody bags for Halloween. He has all the -ag he needs, but is out of B's. The viewer gets to watch as he removes the B from words like "ball" and "bike" and when the B is taken the objects become just letters. The other animals are awakened and frightened to see a ghost and are wondering why the ghost is taking the B's. In the end it has a very happy ending.
More Flash Cards Source: NCircle Entertainment |
Memory Game Cards Source: NCircle Entertainment |
Virtual Book Club for Kids: In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming
Today we are going to share our April book for Virtual Book Club for Kids. This month's author is Denise Fleming. We had not read many Denise Fleming books previously, but found them to be fun. Her books have few words but beautiful pictures. She has a wonderful website full of activities to go with her books.