Free Fish Windsock Printable

The leaves are turning colors! The temperatures are finally headed toward a comfortable range! Could it be that we're returning to autumn!? SO excited!

As promised, I wanted to share with you this free printable for our fish windsocks. The breeze has been just right for these lately! After the little ones saw a few of these in shop windows, they started begging us to get one. But we decided to do one better and make them ourselves! They loved making their fish exactly how they wanted them and even deciding where they wanted all the fins on the sides. All through the day they report on how quickly their fish are “swimming” through the winds!

As for method, simply color in the print out as desired and tape strips of streamer (crepe) paper along the bottom of the uncolored side.  Roll so short ends are just overlapped and tape down.  With a scissors or hole puncher, make two small holes just above each the eyes though which to tie off a length (mine was about 18") of yarn or string.  Then you may choose to tape on extra fins on the sides as my little ones did. 

To open the template to print, click on the photo below:

As I've had so much interest in my other Sunday School printables (see Babel and Daniel), I just couldn't help but think that this could make such a great project for a class, sometime. Although I haven't used it yet, I feel like there are so many stories you could tie in with fish: Jonah, the feeding of the 5,000, fishers of men, creation, the symbol of the early church. We're starting up our regular classes after the summer break, and now I really want to find a way to tie these in! =)

 

 

Pirate Party

I'm sitting down now after everyone has fallen asleep and necessities completed for a moment of quiet.  Meanwhile, our neighbors twin boys seem to be having a graduation party into all hours of the night.  It makes me remember to appreciate this stage right now and all the beauty of it, while still being excited for their futures and the joy yet to come. 

Having your firstborn age half a decade will get you to thinking about these things I suppose!  My eldest is the most amazing, smart, gregarious, loving little boy I know and I just love how he's never met a stranger, only new friends.   He has a real heart for people and a matter-of-fact way of thinking that is so fun to see mature with him!  My miracle boy. 

Okay, enough mush, let's get to the party!  It's often been done before, but he picked such a fun theme this year: pirates!  I wanted to post this to share our joy of the day as well as our take on the pirate theme for any looking for inspiration. 

THE GAME:
Yes, there was only one, but it was kind of several mixed together.  Also, it was nearly a hundred degrees that day and no one wanted to do much more!  We went on a pirate challenge/treasure hunt.  Basically,  we had a bottle on the table with a call for pirates on it and instructions to follow the clues to several different destinations and complete the pirate tasks at each one so that they could prove their pirate-ness.  I tried to write them in rhyme (though it didn't always work) on coffee-aged paper with burned edges.  Their tasks included walking up a gang plank, tying figure eight knots (great guide for many knots from Survival Life), (foam) swordsmanship, (cardboard) anchor tossing, and sail hoisting!  Then the final station's clue came with a map of the property and an X marking the spot where they had to dig up the treasure chest (full of dollar store compasses, ocean stickers, necklaces, rings, doubloons, etc. in an old tool box). 

setting out to find the first clue

Reading the Rhyme

 

Tossing the Anchor (they had to work together each time and make sure one member of the crew had the other end of the rope "tied off to the ship")



Hoisting the sails

Divvying up the loot 

THE FOOD:
Shark Bait (Goldfish) and Cannon Balls (Malted Milk Balls)

Port Holes (the last one!)

Octopus Lagoon Veggie Tray (Now sinking and missing a few legs!  Just go for this example by Denna's Ideas)

Ropes and Gummy Sharks

Treasure map cake












THE DECOR:
We flipped over our fishing boat for seating and set out a basket of pirate dress-up items.  Behind the house I used pavers to mark out the outline of a ship deck and in the middle placed a weighted fence post.  To that I lashed a few branches to hold the sail to the mast.  And that was pretty much it.  Because of the heat we made sure to have the kiddie pool full and sprinkler going.  I love outdoor birthday parties!  I did print out some coloring sheets for the very little ones (but our crayons started to melt in the heat!), "What's Your Pirate Name" and a Mad-Lib type game for the adults.  Bonus: These cute invites! 

To all who came I want to say a huge thank you!  You made this party such a joy for him and he was nearly overwhelmed by the love shown him.  Seriously, the entire next day he was basically in a daze! 

One tuckered pirate

*Note: most of these photos were taken by my dear mother-in-law, Dena Kelm.

DAISY Chain Craft Fair!

Happy (belated) Easter friends!  I'm terribly sorry I've been a bit absent lately, but I've been thinking about catching up every day!  There has been a lot of behind-the-scenes type work going on around our house lately, and I'm so excited to share it with you!  As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm going to be setting up my first craft fair booth at DAISY Chain's 2nd Annual craft fair in just a couple weeks.  Today I want to give you an idea of what I've been working on for my little table! 

 

 

Art Print Cards!  From several of my larger pieces, miniaturized, folded, inscribable, and givable.

 

 

Baby and Toddler Skirts!  My daughter wants to wear a comfortable "dancing skirt" all the time and these are such a joy to make.  My fabrics and trimmings are often from my multigenerational stash (thanks Mom!) and vintage, upcycled sources, but always thoroughly cleaned beforehand, of course.  

Bandana Bibs!  Little ones can produce an illogical amount of drool, especially while teething, but they can sure look cute at the same time!  I love the look of these little bandana style drool bibs and tried to incorporate more absorbent fabrics into these.  I have both regular and slouchy (shown) styles.

 



I also have a variety of winter and summer bonnets, candles and magnets. There are also many more styles and designs of each, this is just to give you an idea  And who knows what else I might get a hankering to whip out before the big weekend! ;)

It was so hard to decide what to focus on, but this is the direction I've decided to take for my first show.  I'm a little giddy through all this prep, and I truly hope if you're able to make the trip that I'll see you there!  April 9-10 from 12:00 - 4:00 pm at 1244 Lawrence St. in Eugene.  Look for my sign (it will hopefully be slightly more embellished by then):

Trail Etiquette: Hiking with Children

Some of my happiest memories all through my life have been on a trail of one sort or another and I'm so thrilled to begin to share that with my children.  For many trails, there are outright laws that direct behavior while exploring, while there are some courtesies that can be applied to all.  Most of them are common sense or perhaps even regional, but I'd like to share my thoughts on trail etiquette, especially with children

Happy!  I will be so goofy for that grin!  Hiking at Chatanika, AK

1. Be friendly!  Greet those you pass!  This is how we used to pick out newbies or "city folk" growing up!  Haha!  (Sorry city folk, I know some of you can be outdoorsy, too! =)  Hiking can be hard.  Be nice.  And don't forget to warn of any dangers (wildlife, path degradation, etc.) ahead.  Or go the extra mile and say something encouraging!  On one of our last bigger hikes, my son was struck by how encouraged he was on our way up by one man who simply told us how much farther we had to go.  So he told every single person we passed on our way down about how far thy had left!  This might be excessive for an adult to do, but it's a nice thought!

I believe this was Fynn's first serious hike (3 mo.  6 miles to Kennecott Mines, AK)  Doesn't he look happy!? =)

2. Yielding the path.  I know the general rule is just for those going down hill to yield to those going uphill, but with very young hikers, we pretty much step aside for everyone.  It's okay to get passed.  We all get to where we're going at our own pace.

Nov 2015, McKenzie River, OR

3.  A group only goes as fast as their slowest hiker.  Basically, stay together.  Of course differing opinions on this, too, but isn't the point of going on a hike together to be together?  There's always a little straggling or speeding, but our general rule is to stay where we can all see each other.  And I find for us it works well to just let the kids pick the pace.  Yes, there's lots of stopping, but that's when I see the most learning happening.  It's not all about the destination. 


Studying a snail.  Sweet Creek Falls, 2015



4. Staying on the trail: most public parks employ this rule, but I would say the best excuse to break that would be to relieve oneself.  Lets face it, with little ones, potty breaks aren't always predictable and usually quite urgent.  Just remember to have them go at least several yards off the trail, 200 feet from water, and to bury anything solid (especially toilet paper!)

Kauai 2013

5. General public trail respect.  Pack your garbage out.  Don't vandalize.  Don't feed the wildlife nor try to get too close to them.  Don't pick the flora, the exception being an emergency.  Though I have also picked edible plants that were growing in abundance along the trail itself for grumpy hungry children.  But in these cases I follow the forager rules of only picking what you need and leaving more than enough for the continuing of the growth.  Interesting article on public land foraging regulations along the Pacific states (and BC) at Wild Harvests.

Valdez, AK 2011

And here's my rule that I've pretty much tossed out the window: be quiet.  Maybe it isn't perfectly courteous, but I have children.  They're outside and excited and wild adventurers.  They're not going to be quiet.  I know people go hiking to get away from the noise, and to them I do apologize.  I know it's going to scare off the wild life.  But right now, they are the wild life!  I can't tell them to use their inside voices.  Right now, being quiet outside is only for hunting. 

Darlingtonia Wayside with my parents, 2015

As you've probably already gathered, I can be a bit of a rule breaker at times, and I feel like so many of the "rules" are situational and dependent on the time and the trail.  Just some things to think about, though.  There are lots of great trail etiquette posts out there like this from Melissa Farage  and another from North Cascade Hiker.  Happy hiking!

Silver Falls, 2015

Babel's Tower: free pop-up coloring page printable

These last couple months have been such a joy!  I've been assisting a friend get a Sunday School program started for our growing church plant and we've decided to read through "The Jesus Storybook Bible" by Sally Lloyd-Jones through Zonder.  Since we are still a small group, the age range is fairly wide: from three to ten.  Finding projects to go along with the story has been a little trial and error, and a little bit of making projects up as I go!

That's why I wanted to share this free printable I made up with you.  I found the basic idea from "Hands On Bible Teacher", but was unable to locate any similar printable, so I sketched one out quickly and thought there may be someone else out there who could use the template

The basic idea is that you color it in, then cut along the top and bottom of each level.  Then, fold the stone layers forward and the rest backward to make the building stand out.  I think this would work well for a pop-up book, too, if you'd be so inclined!  Click on image below to open full sized.

To finish off the time after story, prayer, and this pop-up page, I brought in all our foam blocks and the kids broke off into teams.  The team to build the tallest tower in a set amount of time won! 

It seemed a good time was had by all and my son was even able to re-teach me what he had learned that morning, so  we're going to call it a win! =)  I hope someone else out there can put these ideas to use again, somewhere! And I would love to hear how it works for you!

Tea for Two: A Party in Blue

Tea for Two

We are already a full week into the new year!  And we’ve only had one official day of any sort of book learning as far as preschool is concerned.  But we’ve gone on several outings where they’ve learned by experiencing first hand!  That’s always my favorite, anyway!

One month ago my daughter turned two!  I love seeing her little personality and preferences come out!  I get to know who she is more every day!  I wanted to share with you about her tea party for anyone else who might like the ideas, but everyone was very much is the Christmas swing of things afterward that I decided to hold out until now.  One of the things our little lady loves (and often demands) is tea!  Though I let her have a sip or two of my Irish Breakfast Tea at times, she has a box of mint tea and berry tea of her own that she savors.  So naturally a “Tea for Two” party suited her to a “tea” =)

I scoured the thrift stores for old tea cups and saucers for a couple months.  I love how they’re all unique and some of them are quite old and lovely!  Most of them I was able to pick up for a dollar a piece.  It’s possible I was a little crazy offering real china to six children under the age of 5, but they all did great with a little parental assistance!

Blue is this little wildling’s signature color, so I worked it in as much as possible: blue and white balloons everywhere, blue tablecloth with lace overlay, chair cover, her clothes, and cakes and candies.  I made a three tiered serving tray out of plastic ware from the dollar store and used doilies, paper plates, and napkins from there as well. 

 Her little birthday crown is simply made from a length of lace and homemade mod podge (Online instructions here)

As for the food, we had cucumber (delicious recipe here) and tuna sandwiches, tomato ricotta mini quiche, apple rose tarts, and pirouette biscuits.  I attempted to make petit fours for her cake.  Basically I made a white cake from this  amazing recipe, cut tiny squares, doubled with a blueberry filling in the middle.  Then I covered with fondant and painted tiny pictures of her favorite things (horses, mountains, and flowers) in blue tinted sweetened condensed milk.  I really love how they turned out! 

We had a couple activities including the Tea Bag Toss(throwing tea bags through a giant tea cup)! I also sketched out a tea set outline for the children to design their own china pattern.  If you’d like to use this, the blank template is printable here! 

She ended up having the most wonderful time and continues to talk about it almost daily!  It may not have been perfect, but it was inexpensive and memorable and I’m quite certain our little lady felt like a princess for the day!