Illuminated Glass Block

A few weeks ago I was looking on Pinterest for some Harry Potter stuff and this came up.  The blog is called The Ninja Herself.

I immediately pinned it and made a note of the supplies in my phone.  A few days later I was at Hobby Lobby and was picking up some stuff for cupcakes.  Miss V and I had some time so we wandered the store.  I spotted the blocks.  They do come in different sizes so take that into consideration.  I picked up the following supplies;

8x8 Glass Block
Stand
Light

I also picked up a sheet of translucent scrapbook paper that had a white colored swirl through it.

So I printed out the saying I wanted.  Which is one of my favorite quotes from Albus Dumbledore.

“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remembers to turn on the light.  I can't find the image that I went by.  It must be on my other computer.  Anyway, I took out my Cricut and booted up my laptop.

I also cut down the scrapbook paper to about 7.5 x 7.5 since there is a tiny lip around the edge of the block.

In Cricut Craft Room I typed the saying using different fonts and stretched some of the words to make them taller.  I kept all this in mind and made the saying into a 7x7 inch square.  I cut the saying out in vinyl and transferred it to the scrapbook paper.

My original idea was that I didn't want to affix it permanently to the glass block with Mod Podge.  I thought I would like to swap out the front decoration.  So I ended up using mini glue dots and affixing it that way.

I do have to say this is by far the coolest Pinterest idea that I ever created. (craftwise anyway)

It came out so great that I don't think I am going to remove it.  I guess I better stock up on glass blocks when they are on sale at Hobby Lobby (like this week) :)

Love ROCKS, Bubble Magnets

I am working on making samples for our VBS Program, Blast to the Past.  This is one of the projects that we will be doing in Mission Quest Cave.

I found a great tutorial on Craft Supplies for Less.

You will need domed, flat backed glass Cabochon beads, Diamond Glaze, E6000 Adhesive, round magnets, pictures, scrapbook paper, stickers.  I do have to say I had a very hard time finding the Diamond Glaze.  I finally just bought it on Amazon.

I ordered my glass beads on Amazon since I didn't need to many right now.

Rockin Beads Brand, 48 Clear Glass Dome Tile Cabochon Clear 25mm 1 Inch Non-calibrated Round

40 CleverDelights Square Glass Tiles - 1 Inch - Clear Tiles - Glass Cabochons - For Photo Pendants Mosaics Trays - 1" 25mm Tiles - 4mm Thick

Since my beads were 1 inch, I used a 1 inch circle punch and cut out some pretty scrapbook paper and some plain paper.  I added some stickers and left some plain.

I also found two old pictures of my son and punched them out. I also used a cute picture of Miss V and punched that out.

Once all your paper backing is decorated, use a small amount of Diamond Glaze right on the picture/paper then gently place the bead on top.  Now....warning the Diamond Glaze says not to shake it will cause bubbles.  I didn't shake my bottle, but had to deal with bubbles.  It is suggested that you run the tip of the bottle through the bubble.  That didn't work for me so I used a pin.

When dry use a bit of the E6000 adhesive and dab it on the magnet.  Place the bead, flat side down right onto the adhesive.  Let dry....

Good thing I made the samples...I have learned that the picture I used of Miss V was printed on my inkjet years ago and the Diamond Glaze totally distorted it after a few minutes. The pictures of my son that were printed at Walgreens/CVS/Ritz Camera came out perfect.  The scrapbook paper ones look fabulous too!

Oh and I used some pretty glass beads to make some more.  I have a very big and heavy bin of glass beads thanks to Father Cal and Miss Sandy at church.

One other think I have learned is, watch out for the magnet strength!  Wowzers, I bought the ones at Hobby Lobby and they are STRONG!!!!

So what I have come up with is that the kids will get to decorate some paper ones and if they want they can pick out some glass baubles too.  Since the Diamond Glaze is tricky and I am not comfortable with kids using the E6000, I think it will be best if the kids put their items in a ziplock with their name and after VBS is done for the morning a few of us will stay after get some pizza or lunch and assemble the kids magnets and send them home the next day.

Simple three strand yarn Friendship Bracelet

Since I am still worried about my younger groups or children that have motor skill issues, I have a couple skeins of yarn.

Supplies:
3 colors of yarn, cut to 40 inches
tape or clip boards

Fold the yarn in half and make a loop like in the Fishtail bracelets.  Separate the strands into like colors.  I used white, yellow and purple.  So both strands of the same color are together.  Then clip the loop to the clipboard.  You will need a little bit of tension for this one.

Bring the left hand strand over the middle strand to the center.

Then bring the right hand strand over the new middle strand to the center.  Repeat until you get your desired length.  Make a simple knot at the end.  I then made two sections of yarn and braided them and knotted them at the end so they can be tied together at the top loop.

This version took me maybe 5 minutes tops!  I definitely think my younger kids could do this pretty easily.  Plus they could have time left over to make more for their family and friends.

Fishtail Friendship Bracelets

Part of our VBS Program, Blast to the Past is to make friendship bracelets.  I must have missed how to make them when I was a kid.  I took out a couple books from the library.  Reading through them actually made my  heart race.  The kids have approximately 20 - 25 minutes per class and these look so complicated.   Plus our age range is from kids going into Kindergarten through 8th grade.  There is no way a little 5 year old would be able to understand how to make these kinds of knots and patterns.

I have seriously been stressing about this for weeks!  I have been searching high and low on Pinterest when finally a Fishtail style came up.  I have been bringing my bag of yarn, embroidery floss, tools, measuring tape, clipboard to so many places so I could force myself to do them.

Well finally Wednesday I brought it to church since Miss V has tutoring and we didn't have Alpha.  So while she was in the classroom, I pulled up the pin and combined it with some stuff from one of the books.

Supplies needed:

5+ different colors of embroidery floss (cut to 40 inches)

scissors

tape or binder clip (something to hold it in place while you work on it)

Fold the group of floss in half and make a loop at the top.

Then sort out the colors dividing them into two sides.

So each side had two strands of yellow, two strands of purple and one strand of white.

Attach the loop under the metal part of the clipboard, or you may tape it to a table.  I used my clipboard.

Start with the far left strand and cross over one strand to the right side.  Then take the far right strand and and cross it over to the left side.

Keep going until you reach your desired length.  What I noticed was that it was a bit loose, so every few times, I would take the left side strands and pull them a bit tighter and do the same with the right side.

Then make a knot at the end. I then just braided the end and you can knot the end to the loop.

It was hard getting a close up, the lighting wherever I went just wouldn't work.  These just happen to be Miss V's school colors.

I finished that one in about 35 minutes and decided to make one with the VBS colors.

The second one went much faster and I love all the bright colors.  I also knotted it at the end and separated the strands into two and braided them and made small knots at the end so you can easily knot them through the loop.

Survival Kit for First Responders

Here is one of the projects for Mission Quest Cave.  This is part of our VBS called Blast to the Past.  I found the idea on Pinterest, but it was just for police.  So I tweaked it a bit to include all first responders ie:  Fire Department, Sheriff's Department and Police.

The kids will be able to decorate brown paper bags with stickers then add the "supplies" listed above and attach this little poem.

How easy and cute is that?  I will start asking around to local friends if they personally know someone from each department that would like to come collect these at our daily closing.  Then they can hand them out at their stations.

Bow Ties are Cool!

Miss V is a Whovian!  For Christmas she got lots of new Doctor Who things including Tardis lights.  I had no idea how we were going to hang them.  We tried command hooks but the walls are textured and they popped off.  Monkey hooks don't work well on our exterior walls.  So finally I thought of just a simple curtain rod.  The only problem, it just didn't look "finished".

Then I had a brilliant idea to finish the edges with red bow ties and luckily enough I had purchased a while ago a remnant at Hobby Lobby .  I found a great no sew tutorial on Pinterest (The link is now gone)....

They came out cute and Miss V loves them!

Bible Blast to the Past Vacation Bible School

It is January so that means it is time to start planning Vacation Bible School.  This year (again) we are using Standard Publishing's kit.  The theme is Bible Blast to the Past.

One of my favorite things to do is make samples of the crafts or mission projects.

The first one I tried was the Burning Bush Collage.

Supplies:
Tissue Paper in black, red, orange and yellow
Plastic cup
Mod Podge and a bit of water
Paint Brushes
Little battery operated tea light from the dollar store

It came out really cute, but I think I would make the black look more like branches.  Using water to thin the Mod Podge helped it dry really quick.

Tote Bag for my Cricut Accessories

Last time I blogged, I talked about needed/wanting a bag for my Cricut accessories.  Well thanks to Pinterest I found a free tutorial on Simplicity.

So last weekend I was at Hobby Lobby and found the perfect fabric and trim.  I couldn't find the webbing for the handle there.  I did find it at Joanns this week.

Here is what I did.  The directions can be found in the link above.

  I did deviate from the Simplicity directions and went by my Urban Handbag.

 All done, but I am going to get a piece of corrugated plastic to put at the bottom so it is firm.

Lots of room for mats, cartridge binder, tool kit, paper and rolls of contact paper.

And I think it goes very well with my Cricut Shoulder bag.

Cricut Shoulder Bag

Since I bought my Cricut Expression 2 last year, I never found a good way to travel with it.  I am so afraid that I am going to drop it.  I also have the original Cricut that fits perfectly in a reusable shopping bag with my tools and mats.

So after VBS I started looking online for a bag.  I found a bag from Cricut on so many sites.  But the reviews were a bit scary.  Like these from various sites:

Doesn't work good for larger crickets 
Doesn't fit right for the cricket expressions if it unzipped from side instead of front it would have been better.. Takes 10 min to figure out how to get it in the bag

This Cricut bag is well made and great for protecting a small/original Cricut machine from dust. In my opinion, however, if travelling outside your home, you'd have to be careful not to drop the bag because it isn't cushioned very well.  As far as fitting the Cricut Expression, despite the zippered extensions, it is "one wrestling match" to get the machine into the bag.  Think it's tough getting the Expression into the bag? Try getting it out.  The zippered opening seemed too small. Overall the fit is a pressed fit. It took 2 of us to handle the removal of the machine from the bag; one to get the Cricut Expression out and the other to prevent dropping it. ProvoCraft needs to come up with something better for the Cricut Expression. I'd be happy to have a cover or a bag just to keep the machine dust free. For the crafters that work with their Cricuts away from home, they'd no doubt want a cushioned bag

Cricut Shoulder Bag
This item was purchased for the Cricut Expressions machind and althought it can zipper open to expand to take the larger one, it really does not work well for putting the unit in and out or giving the larger Expressions the support and protection it needs. More of an after thought than really a design for the Expressions Machine.

Well finally after seeing negative comment after negative comment (all recent), I spotted one that said there was a hidden zipper on the end.

I decided to go for it and bought it on eBay.  Look it fits!  It was so easy to get in and out.  It might have been helpful  if the zipper was a different color besides black.

 Power Cord and USB cord is stored in the front pocket.

 It zipped up just fine.

 

Now I am on the hut for a cute polka dot fabric and I will make a tote bag that can hold the mats and my little tool kit.

So the moral of this entry....stick with your gut feeling and not all reviews are correct.

A photo tour of Jungle Safari, Where Kids Explore the Nature of God

I am normally better at taking pictures of all the sites, but somehow forgot this year.  Anyway here are some fun pictures of setting up for Jungle Safari.

Monday was supply moving day and starting on vines and leaves.  My husband brought a bunch of stuff on Sunday.  This is what was left for me to bring.

ACK!  I think we will work on Slug A Bug S.W.A.M.P on Tuesday morning!

Here is the Jungle Hallway to Slug A Bug S.W.A.M.P and Zipline Bible Time.  We made long vines from dollar store brown craft paper and stapled on green leaves.  We used a few different styles and colors of leaves.  You can find the template at Weelife.  I also cut down dollar store green plastic table cloths and hung them over the lights.

Next we are arriving at Slug A Bug S.W.A.M.P.  Miss V and her friend S.R decorated the door and created the tree inside.

 Some of the crafts were a little to hard for my Bouncy Beetles (Kindergarten-1st grade) so I found this mural at S&S Worldwide.  I also realized last year that cheap plastic flower pots make the best thing to hold markers, colored pencils, and fabric markers in.  They also can be used year after year.

Again we put paper vines and leaves everywhere!

 I also printed out what craft will be made on each day.  I get so excited when supplies are sorted.

While setting up, Gemini called and said our shirts were ready (a couple days early) so Miss V and I ran out to pick them up.

 A first peek at the shirts.

After Slug A Bug S.W.A.M.P was done, we cleaned out Zipline Bible Time and moved everything to the library to work for the rest of the week.

Next up theme signs

Base Camp is set up and ready for the Explorers to pick up their T-shirts and drop off their cell phones.

Next up pictures of Jaguar Junction.

I forgot to take good pictures of the ceiling, I found a mottled green and white gossamer and covered the lights.  We also wrapped the concrete pillars in brown paper and made them into trees.  At the very top I used foam pipe insulation and had green crepe paper hanging down to look like the tree top.  When the AC would turn on the crepe paper would gently move around.  It was really cute!

Sadly I didn't get to many pictures of Lizards Leap's decorations.  I took lots of busy children.

We went really simple with Toucan Jam and used the ancient pillars and jungle vines.  I have learned that it is better if we remove a few sections of chairs so that the kids can get up and dance and not fall over the chairs.

This is the Rainforest Learning Wall

I tried something new this year.  I put a table in Toucan Jam and had a bucket for each group.  This was a great way to keep track of the name tags and any notes or projects that needed to home.  This ended up working really well and will definitely do it again next year.

Finally for Jungle Safari, I use that opportunity to give back to a local charity.  Pregnancy Solutions is a charity that is very close to my heart.  This year we collected just under 50 packages of diapers, 19 packages of wipes, a whole box of shampoo, lotions, baby wash, a box of food and other feeding supplies and a hamper FULL of clothing.

Some of my Mighty Monkey's loaded up my car.