Tissue Tassel Garland

My daughter's 6th birthday party was this past weekend and I'm excited to start sharing some of the deets with you. The first detail I wanted to share in a post all its own was the tissue tassel garland!

I've been dying to make one of these and the color scheme just seemed to fit so well. This is also something perfect for spring, Easter, or an "

April Showers

" baby shower theme! I love the pastel rainbow colors!.

Materials used

tissue paper in assorted colors

crafting thread

scissors

hot glue gun

Step One:

Fold your tissue paper in half twice.

Step Two:

Along the second fold cut tissue paper in half. Put one half aside. Fold the other piece of tissue in half length wise aka hot dog.

Step three:

Fold over a 1 inch flap. This is to help guide you when cutting so you don't cut too much.

Step Four:

Cut length wise starting at the folded corner. Cut about a 1/4 - 1/2 inch apart. Do not cut into the folded area.

Step Five:

Open up the folded tissue and cut on the folded edge from top to bottom to form two separate pieces of tissue.

Step Six:

Set one piece aside and unfold the other piece of tissue.

Step Seven:

Roll the tissue paper.

Step Eight:

GENTLY twist the tissue starting at the center and twisting an inch in each direction.

Step Nine:

Make a small loop and begin twisting the already rolled tissue paper together adding a dab of hot glue as you go. Add a dab of hot glue at the start of the loop, at the end, and throughout the twisting to ensure a secure set.

Step Ten:

complete the process with as many tissue tassels as you like. Once you have assembled the amount you desire, fluff them down so none of the tassels are curled up. String them on the crafting thread and hang in a fun place!

This is such an inexpensive and easy craft to add some fun and festive color to your season or occasion. I love the versatility with the colors and you can save the tassels and stitch it throughout the year.

It's that time of year for starting your seeds!

I have been crazy busy lately, thinking about girls scouts and meeting planning, new baby planning, that I almost forgot about a very exciting time of year.  What I really mean to talk about is garden planning!!!!!!

Can you tell how much I love to garden?

Really, it gets me so energized just thinking about this season. For me gardening is like an addiction. I would spend hours a week just watching my plants and fantasizing about the overfilled bowls of juicy cucumbers, strawberries and tomatoes.

The thing about having a garden, or a garden that grows produce, is that you need to plan ahead. Sometimes months ahead. For example, hot peppers needs to be started indoors 12-10 weeks ahead of time. So while all of you are only dreaming of the warm summer months and the ground has not quite unfroze from the winter, these babies need to start taking action.

Last year was my first year and I felt pretty successful considering I was a beginner. We had tons of cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes and assorted peppers. This year I really hope to expand and try out some new vegetables as well.

What I am continuing from last year
Red and Green Bell peppers
Mini yellow bell peppers
Jalapeno
Serrano
Cayenne
Santa Fe peppers
Cucumbers
Green beans
Carrots
Cherry tomato

What I will attempt to introduce this year
Leafy greens
Roma tomato
Strawberries
Watermelon
Herbs of all kinds
Squash
Zucchini

With these new additions I've had to come up with a better plan as to how I am going to lay this all out in my back yard. While I would love to have a full blown homestead, I also don't want the entire back yard to be garden boxes. Plus, the girls really need their play house this year :).

Space-saving garden ideas...
Grow tomato plants in containers-I plan on have three large containers, really they are decorative terracotta pots, that will sit on my deck and not only grow tomatoes for the family but act as landscaping and greenery for the deck! The deck gets the most sun so this concept will be ideal for saving yard space.

Trellis cucumbers on deck or an arbor-I plan on trellising my cucumbers this year on my back fence. This will provide some additional privacy and space saving by not having to trellis them in the middle of the yard.

Border the entire yard-I plan on mixing some beautiful flowers and produce along the border of the yard about two feet off of the fencing. I will add in some edible favorites to the mix as well. This will also compliment and aid in the pollination of the plants. Remember to use organic and safe fertilizers when you are planting edibles near flowers.

What are your gardening plans for this year?

World Thinking Day preparation - Mexico

I was super excited about this year's World Thinking Day festivities that our council had arranged. In preparation for World Thinking Day, I wanted the girls to really dive into the culture of the country we were hosting. The Girl Scout meeting prior to the event had a three station rotation where each girl contributed to our preparations.

Our Country

Mexico

Table Display

Station 1

Prior to the preparation meeting the girls were assigned a certain topic for Mexico. They had to do a little research and bring any artifacts to the meeting. Some girls researched games, food, music, cultural attire, arts and crafts, population and geographical statistics. This was a great opportunity for the girls to take accountability and ownership of their display.

At the meeting we created our display poster and glued on the pictures that the girls brought.

Recipe

The second station the girls got the opportunity to make a Mexican recipe. We made traditional guacamole.

Ingredients

1 Avocado

1/4 cup minced red onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 tablespoon minced jalapeno

1 cup diced tomato

half of a lime squeeze of juice

3 tablespoons of finely chopped cilantro

Mix all the ingredients together and enjoy with chips or on a taco!

Craft

If you notice in the table display picture, you can see the Mexican Sun craft the girls did as part of the last station. We used paper plates, paint, construction paper. They decorated their own versions of the sun art. It turned out great!

Here is a link to the Merry Mexican Suns the girls tried to recreate: 

here

For the girls hard work and preparation they were also able to earn the

Vi petal

badge by

Being A Sister To Every Girl Scout!

Did your troop or council do something special to celebrate World Thinking Day? Please leave a link in the comments so we can all share each others ideas!

Girl Scout Daisy Meeting: Sunny Petal Friendly and Helpful Badge

Here are the three activities our troop did to earn their Sunny Petal. Our meetings last an hour and with the traditional meeting set up (Opening, Business, Activity time, and Closing) you can easily fit these activities in.

Activity 1:

Read the Sunny story

and follow up with discussion questions found in the GS book.

You can also have the girls act out the story for more engagement.

Activity 2: Friendly Greetings!

Use flash cards with different greetings from all over the world. Teach each greeting to the girls and have them repeat back and guess which country or location.

Greetings that we used

Hello

Namaste

Jambo

Bon Jour

Hola

Ni Hao

Guten tag

Activity 3: Pine cone bird feeder project

Give each girl a pine cone and have then create their own bird feeders with peanut butter and bird seed!

*for those with peanut allergies have them use honey instead.

Supplies:

One pine cone for each girl

One spoon for each girl

One piece of yarn or heavy duty string for each girl about a foot long

Plate

Plastic baggies for the girls to take their project home

First, tie the string on to each pine cone. If you don't do this first, there will be a big ol mess later.

Use the spoon to coat each pine cone with a decent amount of peanut butter. Make sure to get between the crevices.

In a separate dish, roll the peanut butter coated pine cone in the bird seed. Be generous with the amount of bird seed you use. Set it aside to harden or place it right in the take home baggie.

Other ideas..

Volunteer at a retirement home or animal shelter.

Meet with another troop and do an activity so the girls have the opportunity to meet with girls they haven't met before and show their friendly side.

Kaper Charts!

This is a great opportunity to introduce kaper charts and have the girls take ownership and help out with each meeting.

Overall, the girls really LOVED the bird feeder activity. I have found with my rowdy troop of 12 girls, the more hands on activities the better!

Happy planning troop leaders!

Valentine Canvas Paintings

Who loves a girl's craft night? I do, I do!!! A couple weeks ago I indulged in a much needed crafting girl's night. I love doing crafts and it's much more fun when you are with someone. My friend

Denise

joined me in the fun! We went the Valentines decoration route for this craft evening.

Originally, I had much smaller canvases purchased for this project but my little girls were jealous and I didn't want them to feel left out.... or whining the whole evening. I already had these larger canvases stored in the closet, so I gave the girls the smaller ones and I opted for the larger.

These were both done with a free hand. Okay, maybe those diamonds were traced from a cut out but the chevron and heart were definitely free hand.  If you can notice the heart shape is slightly off and not centered... I'm my own critic.

Materials used:

Acrylic paint (Black, metallic gold and pink)

Pencil

Gold glitter

Rose pink glitter (this glitter was awesome)

Mod Podge

The

love

and the heart are coated in glitter. I first painted the lettering and the heart. Once it was dry, I went over it with the Mod Podge and sprinkled the glitter all over. It was messy! I softly jiggled the canvas around to make sure the glitter covered all the area and emptied out the excess glitter onto a piece of paper.

I really liked the way theses pieces looked on the fireplace mantel. I do think the smaller canvases would have worked a little better but it was worth it when the little ones were so excited to be participating in the crafts. Happy Valentines Day!

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Never Stop Praying

Do you ever just get that feeling in the pit of your stomach that the ball is about to drop? I do, a lot. Our family has had its share of stress. I can never just feel like things are right because at any time it can be taken away.

I get that feeling every year before Bella's cardiology visit. Each year I've been reassured that the world is functioning normal and it's just a symptom of my crazy anxiety.

This year it was not so reassuring. This visit, the annual visit is now increased to 6 months... that is never a good sign when the doctor wants to see you more often. I sat there listening to my husband's voice over the phone and the tears began to swell up. She wasn't doing so well anymore and the worst began to appear in my mind.

The loss of a child is the worst kind of loss out there and I can't begin to imagine the feeling. If this was only a fraction then it would probably kill me. Yes, I'm jumping to the extreme. Realization that this situation is getting worse, never to get better until a surgery, is frightening. The chest pains were not from a chest cold, they were a symptom of the worsening of her condition.

Sometimes you forget that you have a child with "special needs" like a heart condition. Sometimes you just think that they will grow up strong and healthy to an old age. You forget through all the normalcy and good times.

You take the normalcy for granted.

Sometimes I blame my lack of prayers in the past year and a half. There shouldn't be blame in this situation. I can't help but feel accountability. I forgot how life was precious and to ask for God's grace and healing. It's those little things we take for granted. We need to not only pray when we want or need but when we are grateful and fulfilled or when things are going just fine.

Girl Scout Daisy Petal: Considerate and Caring

I didn't think I would have a hard time trying to come up with ideas for this badge but as I began thinking, I came up with one idea initially. Luckily, this meeting was the next meeting after we had a wonderful guest speaker come it so I took the opportunity to have the girls write thank you notes.

Here are some great ideas of activities you can do for the Zinni petal

Write Thank you notes

Have you had someone visit the troop recently or joined up with another troop? This is a great opportunity to write thank you notes. Other suggestions are writing thank you notes to our military service men and women, someone special in each girls life that they want to appreciate, or notes to another girl in the troop.

You can also have each girl pick another girl in the troop to be sort of like a "secret Santa" and write a note about something nice the girl has done.

These are thank you letters from Kindergartners. It's so cute to see them begin and grow as writers!

Have the girls create a mural of the Daisy Flower Garden.

Have an assortment of crafting materials that the girls can pass around and share. You can set a timer and ever couple minutes the girls have to switch the materials they are using. Possible material suggestions are: crayons, colored pencils, watercolors, stock paper and scissors, markers, stickers...

Work on a service project

Have the girls create care packages for young girls in less fortunate areas. Check your council activities for service projects. Our council has several service projects from creating mini medical kits for the children in third world countries to chemo kits for children with cancer.

Making Girl Scout Swaps!

I was confused at first to what these are but after a little digging they are a very cute idea that the girls can share with one another in the troop or with another troop. There seems to be an endless search on Pinterest with swap ideas.

Act out the Flower Petal story

in the Girls Guide to Girl Scouting manual

You can print out color pictures of each flower and character from the story and glue them on popsicle sticks for the girls acting out the story. If you are really creative and crafty think about making hand puppets of the daisy flowers. You can use these over and over again to act out the stories. The girls are much more engaged with the story!

I hope this helps when planning out your Girl Scout meetings!

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Baby Rag Quilt

I have been wanting to make one of these rag quilts now for over a year. This past week my brother and sister-in-law had their first child and I knew exactly what I wanted to make for them! It feels great to dust off the old sewing machine again.

I went to two different stores to find just the right fabric for this project. I shopped at Hobby Lobby for the cute pink and grey chevron and damask patterns. I found the pink embossed star fabric(used for the backing) and the grey and white polka dot fabric at Joann's.

Choose color coordinating fabrics that are soft and fluffy!

Baby Rag Quilt

What you will need...

1/2 yard of 5 different coordinating patterns

1 1/2 yards of backing fabric

1 1/2 yards of fleece

Fabric scissors

White thread

Not used but extremely helpful

I wish I would have used these!!!

Rotary cutter

self healing cutting mat

1)

 Cut your squares for the quilt in the different coordinating patterns. I would recommend for a baby blanket cutting the squares a 10"x10" or a 8"x8". The baby blanket will be a 6 square by 6 square quilt, totaling 36 squares. You will need about 8 squares each in the different coordinating fabrics. There will be some squares left over but this gives you some options on the overall layout and design. I cut the coordinating fabric squares first.

2)

Once all the coordinating fabric squares were cut out, I matched up the fleece and the backing fabric on top of each other. Then, I pinned the already cut squares on top like the picture below. You will want your quilting squares to match up exactly, which is why I choose to cut them out directly from the already cut squares. This will allow them to match up perfectly!

3) 

After all your squares are cut, you should have 36 pinned squares, 3 layers each. So, you will have your coordinating fabric on top, fleece in the middle, and your backing on the bottom. Make sure your backing is facing out ward when they are stacked. You will then cross stitch each square with a big X from corner to corner. This process takes some time.

4)

Once you have your 36 cross stitched squares, you can start to layout the squares in an aesthetically pleasing pattern. I had a lot of grey so I wanted to make sure that the predominately grey squares were not right next to each other. I laid them out every other.

5)

 Once you have the layout of the blanket, start with rows. Pin together each square in one row and sew the sides together with a 3/4" seam allowance. In the picture below I have finished three of the six rows.

6)

When you have finished sewing your 6 rows, pin each row together to start assembling the quilt. Use the same 3/4" seam, having the sides fold forward with all of the layers.

7)

 Once all the rows are sown together, stitch around the outside of the entire quilt enclosing all 4 sides. Use the 3/4" seam. 

8)

Now it's time to clip your excess seam to make that rag quilt effect. I would recommend using a microtip fabric scissor. Make sure you don't cut your stitching! This process also took some time. Over the course of a couple days and downtime I was able to complete the clipping.

9)

 Wash your quilt on a short delicate cycle. Dry your quilt on a regular cycle. The drying will help fray your clippings and make it look super cute!

What I like about the rag quilt is that it's forgiving of tiny mistakes that would be very evident on a regular quilt. Since I'm no quilting expert this was extremely helpful. I am planning on making a much bigger one for my girls beds! 

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Graduation Day!

After three years of family, home buying, child birth and mommying two kids, I have finally finished my Bachelor's degree! Perhaps the true joy has not quite been felt as this whole thing seems hazy and unreal. When you are used to a way of life for so long it's often something that sticks with you for awhile. The pseudo stress I now feel has slightly come to reality as my weekends are more for enjoyment and relaxation then writing papers.

Being an adult student has taught me so much. It's shown my persistence and resilience for the sake of my future and my family. I often hear about parents or the non-traditional student wishing to go back to school and better themselves. Usually, what immediately follows are the excuses as to why they can't make that happen.

Time.

Kids.

I like my lifestyle.

Work.

Buying a house.

Vacation.

These are all reasons why a person convinces themselves that now is not the right time. Maybe next semester or next year... but that quickly approaches and there are new, if not the same, obstacles placed in one's way that yet again prevents then from just taking the first step.

I was able to juggle a newborn, raising two kids, working full time, multiple vacations, home buying, moving twice, and a social life all while my hubby was doing the same thing. If I can do it then you can do it.

It's a wonderful feeling having gone through all that we have and coming out on the other side achieving my goals! Did I mention I graduated Cum Laude? Don't give up on your dreams and goals not matter how far away they might seem!

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Girl Scout Daisy Planning: Money Counts Leaf and a Hair Clip Craft!

Since they're in school enough hours out of the day, the last thing I wanted is a Math lesson. I wanted to make sure this was a fun meeting and the girls were engaged. Financial literacy is very important and an essential part of Girl Scouts and the Cookie Product sale.

You can find large cardboard cut outs of all the coins and dollar bills at the Dollar store. I would go through a brief explanation of each and pair it up with the real coin or dollar. The large cut outs help for better viewing but girls also like to see and feel the real thing. I also set aside a bag of 100 pennies and showed the girls what a dollar can equal in pennies. This helps them visualize and compare. You can do this with the other coins or dollars, too. For example, hold up 4 quarters and compare it to a dollar bill. We also talked about how much our cookie boxes cost and what the troop profit was from each box.

Once we explained the different kinds of money and compared and contrasted, we talked about the difference between what costs money and what doesn't. We had each girl come up with one way they can have fun with or without money.

Here are some examples....

Costs money:

Going to the movies

Going to a theme park

Free:

Playing a board game at home with your family

Playing with a friend in your yard

Going to the park

Renting a book from the library.

*another idea is to cut out pictures of things that cost money and things that don't. Use a large poster board and draw a line down the middle. Have one side represent things that cost money and the other side represent free. Have the girls glue the pictures to the right section.

*If the girls are doing a personal scrapbook you can use the above idea in a smaller version and they can glue the pictures right into their scrapbooks.

Now starts the fun!!!

We had a guest speaker,

Designs by Denise

, come and speak with the girls. She is an entrepreneur and has her own handmade hair bow business. Guest speakers are great because the girls have a natural interest in something unfamiliar.

She talked about what an entrepreneur is and why keeping track of her money was so important. She discussed profit and how much materials cost. She had a display of the bows she had made and explained where and how she sells them.

This was a great introduction to ownership and business skills for the girls as we are upon the Cookie Product season.

The girls were very engaged as it was a new face and they could relate to the pretty hair bows. Our speaker lead us into our final activity. I like to close each meeting with some kind of fun craft!

Activity: The girls made their own hair clips!

Materials:

for 10 girls

3 Ashland daisy flowers from Michael's in blue

(each flower will give you 4 large flower pieces)

3 Ashland daisy flowers in white

10 hair clips

felt

Gem for the center about 1 inch

*use a coupon and look for sales on the florals. I got mine for 50% off!

(I believe the whole thing came out to $1.40 per girl)

I first cut the felt pieces ahead of time. I separated everything into each individual flower clip bag so the girls had all their materials in one place.

Cut a 1 inch circle out of felt for the backing of the flower.

Cut a 1 inch long by 1/4 inch wide piece of felt to glue on the inside of the clip so the girls hair doesn't get caught.

You can let the girls choose the order of the two different color flowers. This allows them to make it their own. Although, it does look best with the blue behind the white :).

We used a hot glue gun. BE CAREFUL with this and only let adults handle the glue guns.

Glue a couple of dots on the center of the bottom (blue) flower. Have the girl place the top (white) flower on top and line it up. 

Glue a couple of dots on the center of the top (white) flower and let the girls place the gem in the center on the top.

Glue the circle felt on the back of the flower 

Glue the other piece of felt on the inside of the top part of the clip. (adults)

Glue the flower on to the clip. (adults should do this)

They were so excited to do this and it was a great round up of the entire meeting. As we were assembling the hair clips we talked about the materials and the individual cost of each. I held up the equivalent in our cardboard money so the girls could see.

They really loooooved this idea and I even saw the girls wearing their clips to school the next day!! Probably their favorite craft so far and we were able to tie in something fun with the Money Counts badge!

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