This is Love

There's nothing that says, "I love you" like your name in chenille stems!

I'm one lucky mama!

Wishing you a Happy Valentines Day!

{Heart} Bookcase Garland

 I have a {little} thing for books.  I think they are so fun and I love to have my favorites up on the shelf.  They sit there and are like old friends--it makes me happy just to see them!

 

But I thought it was time to dress them up a {little}.

 

 

 These are just simple felt hearts stitched together.  

 

I used the pinking shears on some of them, for a {little} extra fun!

 

 

I tried them across the mantel too.  

But I love how they hang down on the shelf so much better.

 

It's fun to have this bookcase garland hang down and go across a shelf and then hang down the next shelf too. 

 

 

 

This bookcase garland is nothing fancy at all, but it fancies those books up just right ;) 

No-Sew Valentine Ruffle Pillow

 

If you are a regular reader, you know I'm a big fan of {little} projects because I can get them done.  And this no-sew ruffle pillow certainly qualifies!

I love making pillow covers because it's so fun to be able to switch over monthly decor in a snap.

So, I picked a fabric and wrapped it around my throw pillow to determine how much fabric I needed.  

It should overlap at least an inch in the middle on the back.

 Then I found the center of the front and started "drawing" my ruffled heart with this darling gingham ruffled trim from Hobby Lobby.  

I love it because it is ruffled down the center so both sides are ruffled!  I also love it because it was $1.50 for 3 yards and I didn't need nearly all of it.

I just pinned around the original size of the heart to make sure I liked the size and then used hot glue between the pins to hold it in place.

Then I took out the pins and glued under those spots too.

I used the pins to pin the next layer/section of the heart and repeated the hot glue and pinning until I made it to the middle.

It's a stretchy trim so be careful not to stretch as you go.     

 The heart is in the center of the fabric like this:

Now to turn it into a pillow cover you just fold back the 2 side edges to hem (either use hot glue or sew).

Then put the heart facing your pillow (inside out) and wrap it around to determine the size (like at the first) and then pin the overlap.

Remove the pillow. And then either hot glue the top and bottom edges or sew them since it's a nice straight line! :)

Then turn it right-side out and stuff your pillow inside!

 

Easy.  Done.
I told you it was a {little} project ;)  

Friday Favorites and Freebies: Living Well and Frugal Tips

I've bumped into some great blogs about living well and living within your means this past week.

 

I feel like I've been through a mini Earth Day week mixed with a financial boot camp at my house with these fantastic reads.  A fresh start is always nice!

Here are some of my favorites that I had to share:

A whole series of fantastic articles on careful living.  Loved these!

 

Save money and eat organically and sustainably?  Count me in!

Fun, Cheap, or Free is the idea here-with a how-to for tracking that budget, that's easy!

 

How to shop for 2 weeks at a time and spend less than $100/week on groceries! Great planning tips!

This girl has ideas for how to replace every plastic item you use with something not disposable.  We can all pick up a few tips here!

I love the ideas here about how to shop without bringing home so much waste.  Again, lots of ideas and we can all start somewhere.

Whew!  So many great things to learn.  

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

Valentine Math {part 2}

Our question today? Can candy make you smarter??
 
hmmm.  I know it's certainly motivating some math learning around here!

How much math fun can you have with a bag of chocolate kisses?

Here are a few {little} ideas we had fun with:

Division Practice Example: 24 kisses started in the heart. 

Then Jay separated them into 3 groups to see how many 24 divides into.

Greater/Less Than Game:  Of course we used the alligator mouth/heart again!

 

Estimating: 3 colors of kisses.  How many of each?

We always count in spanish too :)

 

Grouping (division/multiplication): How many groups of five?

Practice counting by 5's (sing to tune of 10 Little Indians)

Adding/Subtracting in groups of 5 (and 2)

 

Since these are our games from last year, I'm looking forward to playing more advanced math games this year.  

 

The kids are always moving forward in math and that keeps it exciting!

 

 

 

{Part 1} Valentine Math here!

Our Favorite Educational Apps {part 1}

My husband gave me an ipad for Mother's Day.  That's an over-the-top kind of gift at our house.  But as a mother, I can't think of many gifts that have helped at our house more than {this little} gadget! 

I don't think either of us knew how perfect this gift would be for a homeschooling mother expecting baby number 4, and now as a mother of a newborn!  

I know how useful it can be to have help sorting through all of the apps available, so I want to share some of our favorites with you!
 

Where available I will include links for android as well.
 

We originally thought about getting an ipad because we just have a laptop and in the evenings when the kids are finally in bed and my hubby and I both have our hands free we seemed to both need the computer at the same time.  The same thing would happen during the day when I needed to do something and I Jay needed to use it for school work.

I love the portability of the laptop.  I love being able to take it and edit photos or respond to email while I'm helping my kids practice the piano.   The idea of having so many apps to assist with learning and being able to use it on-the-go meant that it was the perfect meld for our homeschool family that really doesn't stay home everyday for school. 

But I couldn't stand the thought of having the kids carry the ipad around, knowing it could be dropped anytime.  So I added this cover to it:

  I love the Gumdrop Case (above) because it's not sleek.  The ipad alone is sleek and this cover changes that which is WHY it is perfect for kids.  This case makes the ipad easy to hold onto, it doesn't slide anywhere and it's heavy duty.  I don't think our ipad has ever been dropped (if it has the kids didn't tell me!) but either way, it has worked great and I love that the screen cover is so easy to wipe clean!  My {little} Ellie is 2 and I trust her with the ipad in this case.     Now onto some of our favorite apps!   There are plenty of games on our ipad, but most of them are educational.  I don't know if an app or "game" can ever replace a more "hands on" learning approach.  But using these apps in addition to our other learning work has been great and keeps the kids very excited about many subjects!   This list is certainly only a few of our favorites.  I will definitely need to do a part 2 or part 3 as well!  But this list includes our first favorites--and they were perfect for when this tired mommy needed a {little} snooze too :)    

  Word Bingo is perfect for reading practice and has many levels and games within it.  I use this with Kay for sight word practice.  It says a word and she looks for it and taps it when she finds it.  When she gets a row she gets a Bingo Bug.  It's a favorite for us.  It used to be free, but is now 99 cents. This game is also available on this website (for free!)    

  Junior Bingo is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.  Ellie is 2 and loves this one.  It says a letter, number, or shape and she looks for it and taps it when she finds it.  When she gets a row she gets a Bingo Bug. Also 99 cents.  

  Math Bingo is perfect for elementary math.  It has addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems.  Jay (6) and Kay (4) both love it.  You tap the answer to the equation and when there is a row you get a Bingo Bug.   Android App here.    

  Sprout's Doodledots was one of Ellie's first ipad apps.  It is perfect for toddlers.  It has settings for colors, shapes, numbers, and fruits and as you touch the one it asks for it creates a pictures--a dot-to-dot of sorts.    

 
Stack the Countries is one of Jay's favorites.  It's a great way to learn geography! Stack the Countries Lite     Stack the States is another long-standing favorite.   I've been amazed at how much fun they have answering geography questions with this app!

  Chirp! is the neatest app about birds all over the country--including where each species lives, what it's call is, and more.  A favorite, though only part of it is in game format.

  Presidents vs. Aliens (lite) is a game I thought was going to be way dumb.  But it's been great.  After the kids answer the questions about presidents they get to go after the aliens...dumb, but good!  Jay gets such a kick out of it ;)     I love seeing the kids curled up with a good book....

But I've been surprised at how much learning can happen in ways I never experienced as a kid.
    And I love it when they work together at it! 
 
I will also say that I have to really monitor the ipad/iphone use.  They would play all day so we have  a password on both and the kids know they can't even ask for a turn until their other responsibilities are done....which actually makes for some good motivation on some days!
I started on this post quite a few months ago and of course we've found more learning fun in the meantime....so look for {part 2} soon!