Paper Bag Animal Puppets

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Here’s a big thank you and a shout out to Kimberley Morris for allowing me to use her animal face templates as the inspiration for these fun  Animal Puppets. These animal puppets are a great addition to any bedtime story.  You and your child can make up stories for hours and these puppets can be the stars!

 

 

 

They are made using punches and dies.  If you don’t want to use them as puppets, you can put them inside shadow boxes and hang them on your child’s bedroom wall.  I used tiny lunch bags so the puppets are the perfect size for tiny hands. The three-dimensional eyes can really help a child’s imagination run wild! Be sure to visit Kimberley’s blog, “Procrastistamper!”  (Great name, huh?!)

 

Make a Camp Kit

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This is another fun and easy project to make with your kids.  All I did was cover a photo storage box with decorative paper, decorated the lid, and filled the box with some camping gear. This kit makes a fun addition to a backyard campout.

On the inside of the box lid, I used four thin strips of paper to make a tic-tac-toe grid.  I found the cute glow-in-the-dark bugs for fifty cents.  Aren’t they the perfect game pieces? 

I found the blanket for a dollar, and I covered a mini notebook so it would match and the kids can use it to keep score. 

What’s the best part?  The Smores kit!!!!!  Who wouldn’t love making this and camping under the stars one hot summer or on a cool fall night?

Give a Scrapbook as a Parting Gift

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My girls were lucky enough to attend BAK Middle School of the Arts.  Tonight is going to be very sad for us because it will be our very last band concert.  Adrienne attended the school for three years.  When Adrienne moved on to high school, Erica began her middle school years at BAK, and now her three years are coming to an end next week. 

Both girls attended the band program at the school.  Let me just say that they both began playing instruments in elementary school so that they would be able to attend BAK; they didn’t attend BAK because they played instruments.  Make sense?  Luckily for us, they both love, love, love their instruments, but in the beginning, their instrument-playing was just a means to an end.

So, the question was, what in the world do we give their band teacher?  The guy who has everything?  And by having everything I mean not only does he have a job that he loves, but he also has a wife that he adores and two little girls who make his eyes twinkle at the mention of their names.

I decided to make him an accordion scrapbook.  It’s a great way to include some memorable photos without going overboard with a full-blown scrapbook.  I actually purchased an accordion scrapbook that was already made, and I added some decorative paper to the cover to make the book look masculine.  (I would normally make my own, but I ran out of time.  Imagine that!)  So, add to my “to do” list a tutorial on how to make an accordion scrapbook.

Here is the final result.  Enjoy!  I’m off to buy out the supply of tissues from the grocery store.  After tonight’s concert, I have a feeling I’m going to need them! 

Lost

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No, this post isn’t about how Adrienne “lost” her car keys. (That will come later!)  It’s a post about the series finale of the television show “Lost.” 

I was reading a couple of online explanations about the show, and I think what some guy named Erik had to say HERE sums it up the best.  (Spoiler Alert)

*****

“EVERYTHING that happened on the island/off the island…seasons 1-6…truly happened! …The flash sideways from this season is the place between their afterlife. They did not die in the original 815 crash. They did not die from the jughead explosion. Whenever they died, they died. They weren’t all ‘waiting’ for others to die either. As Christian explained, there is no ‘here’. There is no ‘time’. It’s just happening. Some could have died 5 years earlier, some 50 years later. That doesn’t matter. It’s where they all meet when they did die. Like Hurley and Ben who protected the island. They died much later, but are in the same ‘time’ as everyone in the afterlife.

We all assumed they were meeting their Constants to mesh the two realities. But they were actually meeting their Constants in order to realize and ‘let go’ and move on. If they were ready. Some were ready, others weren’t. Penny was in the church also because Desmond was her Constant.
There are plenty of answers in all of Lost, it’s just not all spelled out for you. I feel completely satisfied by the show and the ending.
The island is in place to keep evil or ‘hell’ from unleashing upon earth. Jacob brought candidates for thousands of years to the island to replace him. Since MIB couldn’t kill them, he pitted them against each other…to kill themselves. Using the inherent ‘evil’ of man to destroy the chances of a candidate taking his place. So now the island survived..everyone dies when it is there time…and they move on. They find the happiest time in their lives as they were all ‘lost’ and troubled. Now they found love and joy and move on to the afterworld.

*****

Erik, whoever you are, thanks for putting my exact thoughts into words.  Phew.

Can’t Leave a Good Cover Blank

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My husband travels quite a bit with his job.  Every once in awhile he has to attend conferences.  We love when he returns home from a conference because he comes home with lots of goodies for us.  He brings us  promotional gadgets from different companies, like pens, notebooks, Band-Aids, combs, shoe polish, tooth brushes, etc. 
A couple of months ago he brought home this lovely gem:  a blank notebook complete with a pen.   When I saw the blank cover, I couldn’t wait to haul out the Mod Podge and paper and go to town!  I think this whole thing took me two minutes (literally) to make.

 

If you ever find yourself in this situation, just grab some scraps of decorative paper and have at it!

Is there a medication for when a person sees a blank canvas and breaks out in hives?  😉