Knitting In The North

Soapy Goodness

The kiddies & I decided to spend an afternoon this past week trying out a melt & pour soap kit we picked up at a garage sale a little while back.  The whole process couldn't be simpler, and was a great activity choice, as it was fun whether you were 4, 7, 11, or 32.

I cut up a big chunk of glycerin, meltable soap and put it in a pot.

Once it was liquid, we added about a half dozen drops of scented oil, and a few chunks of soap dye.

The kids each chose a couple of molds, and I poured the pretty smelling green liquid in.  They pressed some dried flowers into the back of a couple, for a "fancy" effect.

A short play-time later, the soap was ready to come out of it's mold, and we all admired our pretty handiwork.

 

One of these days, I plan to make some soap the longer way, but for now, this was unanimously a satisfying way to spend a quiet afternoon!

Button, Button, Who's Got The Button?

 

What to do on a rainy, cool morning with six kids wandering around?  Sort buttons, of course!  It's amazing, really, how dumping a jar of assorted buttons out on the dining room table will draw them all in like a magnet. 

Taking my button jumble from the various jars and containers, and turning it into this nicely organized collection kept everyone busy for a good hour - even Liam (who obviously only got to check out the few giant buttons lying around - no matter how hard he tried!).  The rest of the time, he made messes elsewhere, trying out his new sweater:

 

Now that appropriate buttons have been found, I just need a quiet evening to sew them on, and you can get a better look at the finished product.  Finishing the knitting on this, though, made it legal for me to cast on my own fall sweater - always a thrilling enterprise! 

Feeling Friendly

Katie has discovered the joy of friendship bracelets.  It was one of the things on our summer list, that I knew she would love.  She was a bit intimidated, though, until we came across a little instruction book at the thrift store.  Yesterday, Katie sat down and figured it out, and now we're all sporting them!  I remember how much I enjoyed making these when I was her age, and I get a kick out of the look of concentration on her face.

 

The other day, I came across a post at Perfect Sentiment, outlining their Family Rules.  She made up a great little PDF, and framed each rule.  It looks great - I think I'm going to do a set of these, and put them where we can all see them.  If you're interested, do go check them out.  Everyone needs a little reminder at times, right?  Even me! 

 

A Way to Say "Thank You"

With the end of our school year, came the need to express our gratitude to the three teachers in our lives right now.  I had seen, last fall, a blog post all about notebook makeovers, and thought perhaps this was something all three of the big kids could manage, with supervision.

  

We started with a trip to the dollar store, where we found plain composition notebooks, scrapbook paper, plus assorted glue, ribbon, pens and pencils.  We cut the paper to size, and glued two overlapping pieces to the notebooks' covers.  The white glue did not hold well, so I ran out for some Modge Podge - this seemed to do the trick.  After the paper was dry, we applied ribbon around to tie the book closed, and added a couple of pens.  If we make these again, we will definitely use card stock to cover the books rather than paper, and a stronger glue for the ribbon.  Still, it was a fun project; the kids enjoyed the craft, and the gifts seemed to be much appreciated.

 

On the first page of the notebook, the child giving the gift wrote a note to the teacher, thanking them for the past year - it seemed to be a bit hit!