Valentine's Project



After 1st Trial

After 2nd Trial

When I saw the sharpie and mug decorating idea on pinterest I was very excited! We have 3 sets of Corelle dishes with plain green mugs. Since we're not coffee drinkers that's 12 mugs that never really get used. Why not have some fun? I looked into the craft a little more before trying it but we still had a little trial and error ourselves.  I read on one blog that it's best to use super cheap mugs from Walmart because the sharpie bonds with the cheaper glaze. But for me the point was to craft by using up stuff around the house. I dug out some Bic permanent markers I got as a student teaching gift - I never found a use for them in the classroom. First graders with permanent marker? Yikes! Matt and I got to decorating. Since it was Valentine's Day we decorated mugs for each other. We let them sit for a day before baking them in the oven. I read many ideas about different temperatures and amounts of time. Many say 350 for 20 or 30 minutes. Another person said 425 for 30 minutes. Well, I was concerned that with the Corelle mugs the marker would have a hard time bonding with the glaze. I thought we'd try 475 for 45 minutes? Why not! I put the mugs in the oven and set it to 475, when the oven was preheated I set the timer for 45 minutes. When the timer went off I turned off the oven and left the mugs in the oven until they cooled. The colors black and pink had faded some after the first run, but the red was fine. The blogs I read had said that the Sharpies faded for them but not the Bic.  I'm not sure if the fading was because I used a higher temperature, I left them in longer or because the markers had been sitting in an unopened package for 4 years.  I do know that the marker could not be scrubbed from the mug. Success! We reapplied the marker a second time, followed the same process as before and now have beautifully done personalized mugs!

The Maiden Voyage

 We broke out the KitchenAid mixer for the first time. I had to be sure that the first recipe used would not be lacking in chocolate!

I got this recipe while watching the Food Network at my dad's house. The Pioneer woman came on and I thought WOW! I'd love to be her with the beautiful house and awesome kitchen! I don't think I'd survive in the middle of nowhere though. After growing up as a suburb girl it would to be hard to live more than 30 minutes away from Target or the fabric store. Well anyways . . . we tried this recipe for Valentine's
day and it was AMAZING!

 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/big-chocolate-birthday-cake-recipe/index.html

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, my first graders were pumped up about Valentine's Day! The other day I asked them why we celebrate Valentine's Day in 1st grade. (I love asking 6 and 7 year-olds questions like this, you never know what you will get!) One student said, "We celebrate Valentine's Day because we love each other like friends and we want to show other people by giving them nice cards."


Surprisingly enough the kids were most excited about how some had small eyes and some had big ones.

Good thing I have pinterest to help me out with creative ideas for my students. Check out these super cute robots I made. I had them sitting on the counter when the student's walked in the classroom. They immediately had 20 questions about them. Are those for us? When do we get to pick one? Are they robots? Do we get to eat them? Can I take mine home? Etc. Etc.

I got a lot of sweet gifts, cards and even beautiful flowers from my students. I love to see their faces when they walk into the classroom with a gift for me. Most of them look like they are receiving a gift themselves.

 

 

 

Cheap Crafting

My father and mother-in-law in Juneau, Alaska

I love canvas artwork but it is really expensive. Although this doesn't have the same texture to the photo it's kind of the same idea. I mod podged this photo onto a 5x7 canvas but it was a 4x6 photo so it didn't reach the edges. I added twine to the outside to fill in the blank space.

Better Late Than Never

Matthew's StarWars Ornament

Heather's Polar Express Ornament

I love the Christmas season. Although it's a little past Christmas I never posted my pictures. It's always a busy time of year but very enjoyable. We spent a lot of time with family and friends, Matthew survived an extremely high fever and other flu-like symptoms and we accomplished many things around the house.



Enjoying a beautiful
snowfall on our rose bushes



A craft project I did with the cousins



My uncle's "exchange gift"
We roll the dice and do the whole stealing
thing. What he didn't know was that my
aunt would end up picking this as her
gift. He tried buying it off people to keep
it from her to add a little drama
to the event. I love my family!

She's excited because the filter is much
more expensive than the $15-20 gift we
were supposed to bring. I guess you know
you're an adult when . . . you're excited
for a refrigerator filter as a Christmas gift.

 
 Gift opening at my mom's house . . .

Well if this isn't entertaining . . .

Matthew got a Chewbaca hat from my brother and little light sabers with M&M's in them from my mom in his stocking.  Mix that with Steve's new kinect and you've got yourself some entertainment.





 With Matthew's family . . .

aww . . . cute

Surprise! We got them the whole set!



Even the puppies are excited about the new pot

I love surprising Heidi. Her face is so great!

 
 Life with cousins . . .



Family Christmas at our house!

My cousins LOVE wizard



My youngest cousin
21 years between me (the oldest) and him
This little guy melts my heart. He's so cute!