Macrame Basic Knot Video Tutorial

Here is a video tutorial for the macrame basic knot that is used to make the macrame beaded bracelet in the Hearts and Trees Fall 2008 Kit. (Thanks to my mom for making the video for us!)



I would love to see any bracelets you complete using this tutorial. Feel free to email me photos or leave links in the comments section. Thanks!

Fall Picture Study With Warm Colors

Here is an easy picture study you can do focusing on the painting The Mulberry Tree by Van Gogh and discussing warm colors. First you can start with a discussion with your children about warm colors using the facts below. Encourage them to look for warm colors around them (there are lots of places we can find warm colors during the fall season). Then you can help them find the warm colors in the art print in the post. I have also included a few follow up activities that you can complete if you wish.

Here are some facts and questions about warm colors:

• Warm colors usually remind us of fire or the sun.
• What colors are fire and the sun?
• Red, orange and yellow are warm colors.
• Can you find any warm colors around your house?
• Where do we see warm colors in nature?

What warm colors can we see in Van Gogh’s painting Mulberry Tree?

Some other questions you could ask about this painting:

• What sort of brushstrokes did Van Gogh use?
• Does this painting look like a real tree to you? Why or why not?
• What time of year do you think it is in this painting?
• Do you like this painting? Why or why not?
• What would you do if you were in this painting?

Here are some activities you can do using your knowledge of warm colors:

• Draw a fall picture using only warm colors on a separate sheet of paper.
• Find all of the warm color crayons in your box.
• Go on a warm color nature walk- look for warm colors wherever you go.

***If you are interested in adding more art, nature study and handicrafts to your homeschool, be sure to check out the Hearts and Trees Fall 2008 Kit- in all there are 7 notebooking pages, an art print with corresponding drawing project, 2 handicraft projects and 1 crafty art project included in this kit!

A few fun art ideas

So every time I have come across a fun art project on the Internet the past few months I have bookmarked it. I am getting quite a collection, so today I thought I would share a few with you. The last two are perfect for the new season- autumn.

*Glue and Pastel Landscape: Using black construction paper, school glue and pastels (or she says you can use chalk) you make a sort of stained glass looking piece of art. I love working on black paper anyway with pastels, but this looks especially fun.

*Watercolor Crayon Resist Leaf: This is an interesting take on a crayon resist using corregated cardboard to make an interesting texture.

*Contour Fall Leaves: I love the energy of this project.

I hope you have fun with these projects. Feel free to leave any links to completed projects or links to your favorite art ideas in the comments section. Look for more art ideas here in the future!

Coming Soon.... Hearts and Trees Fall 2008 Kit

This is just to let you all know that I will be beginning a two week pre-ordering period for my Fall 2008 Kit on September 18, 2008. I am really excited about this kit. It is going to include a great embroidery handicraft, an exciting watercoloring with tissue paper craft, a Cezanne art print and many other ideas and projects to help you add more art, nature study and handicrafts to your homeschool.

Be sure to check back here often for updates, or SUBSCRIBE to my blog so that you will be sure to know as soon as I am accepting orders.

I still have a few summer kits available, so if you are interested in purchasing one (or two or three), you might want to do so now, because once I begin selling fall kits they will no longer be offered.

The Habit of Imagining

Imagination doesn't come down from above fully developed, and plant itself into a mature mind like a man moving into an empty house. Like any other function of the mind, it starts as the merest seed of a power. It grows according to what nourishment it gets. Childhood, the age of wonder and faith, is its window of opportunity to grow. Children should know the delight of living in faraway lands, of being someone else living in a different time, a wonderful double life.

Charlotte Mason in Modern English Page 153

How can we introduce our children to faraway lands and people from different times, to those ideas that can encourage the habit of imagining? One way to do this is through art. Art can help your history lessons come to life, and give children a starting place for their own imaginations.

For example, if you and your children are studying ancient Japan, you can encourage your children's imagination by first of all sharing descriptions of what it would have been like to live in and experience that time and culture. Then you could share artwork depicting what that time was like. Ask them to describe to you what they see. What is happening? What would they do if they were in the painting? Encourage them to put themselves in the painting-- in the time and place you are studying.

Use art to encourage the habit of imagining.

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By encouraging the habit of imagining in your children, you will help them to learn and remember lessons. History can come to life if you encourage your children to put themselves in the places you are reading about in your history lessons and imagine what they would hear, smell, taste and feel if they were there. You can use art as a stepping stone to help your children begin to "see" what ancient cultures and peoples were like. If you let them explore these places in their mind, they are far more likely to remember the lessons you are attempting to share with them about those places and people.

Watercolor Techniques #7 Texture with Table Salt

Today's video watercolor technique is another interesting texture. This one is made with watercolors and salt. As you can see in the above photo, sprinkling table salt on wet watercolor makes a strange grainy texture. So get out your watercolors and try this with your children. I am sure you will all have a blast.

For tutorial #7 you will need:

• Watercolor paper
• Watercolors (tube or cake)
• Assorted brushes
• Cup of water
• Table salt

(If you are reading this via a feed you will most likely need to click through to the post to watch the video.)

Feel free to share any projects you and your children complete using this watercolor technique. I love seeing what you all have done.

Watercolor Techniques #6 Texture with Rubbing Alcohol

Today's video watercolor technique is a very fun and interesting experiement with watercolor and rubbing alcohol. As you can see in the above photo, dripping rubbing alcohol on wet watercolor makes a strange bubble-like texture. I am sure you and your children will have lots of fun with this.

For tutorial #6 you will need:
Watercolor paper
Watercolors (tube or cake)
Assorted brushes
Cup of water
Rubbing alcohol
Cotton swab

(If you are reading this via a feed you will most likely need to click through to the post to watch the video.)

Feel free to share any projects you and your children complete using this watercolor technique. I love seeing what you all have done.

Watercolor Techniques #5 Loaded Brush Smooshes

Wow! I am sorry it has taken me so long to post the next watercolor tutorial. I have been seeing quite a few families that have been using my tutorials and I am loving the results. If you want to share your projects with us, feel free to leave links in the comments or email me a photo to put in my sidebar.

This video tutorial is for what I am calling "Loaded Brush Smooshes." This is a type of brush stroke that can be used for making flower petals and whatever else you can think of. (If you are reading this via a feed you will most likely need to click through to the post to watch the video.)

For tutorial #5 you will need:
Watercolor paper
Watercolors (tube or cake)
Assorted brushes (a medium sized one will work best)
Cup of water

Hearts and Trees Summer Kit Order Now!!

(This post will stay on top.)

As of July 31, 2oo8 I still have quite a few kits left, but

be sure to purchase yours soon. Supplies are limited!

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Introducing the Hearts and Trees Summer Kit

I am now accepting orders for the Hearts and Trees Summer Kit!

Each kit includes the instructions and materials to complete easy and fun handicraft, art and nature study projects with a minimum of effort. (Please note that you will need to provide common art supplies such as paper, stapler, watercolors, markers, colored pencils, etc.)

This kit includes a wonderful garden nature study lapbook. Included in the lapbook is a 12 page cardstock nature journal bound with comb binding, 3 sunflower seeds, a sunflower observations section to record what you see as your seeds grow, a place to put a pressed flower, a nature poem, a 3x5inch Monet art print and a section about the parts of a flower and plant.

A worksheet to accompany the Monet print as well as an art element worksheet focusing on overlapping and depth is also included.

The materials are provided to make an amazing watercolor collage for the front of your lapbook.
This kit includes a sewing project: a drawstring treasure pouch. The fabric, ribbon needle, thread, pins, and instructions are included. (Please note the fabric for the drawstring pouch will not be the butterfly fabric shown above, but will be either a blue bee or a blue bandanna print.)

All of the materials and instructions are provided to make a cardboard flower press and then a bookmark using your pressed flowers.

A laminated 3x5inch nature study card focusing on things found in the garden is also included in the Hearts and Trees summer kit.

Complete Contents List:

1. Colored file folder for the lapbook
2. Garden nature study lapbook pages
3. 12 page cardstock nature journal with comb binding
4. 3x5inch art print: Claude Monet The Artist's Garden at Vetheuil
5. Watercolor paper for watercolor collage on front of lapbook
6. Sunflower seeds for sunflower observations
7. Cardboard and rubber bands for flower press
8. Cardstock and contact paper for pressed flower bookmark
9. Fabric and ribbon for drawstring treasure bag
10. Notions for sewing the treasure bag (needle, thread, pins and safety pin)
11. Instructions for the drawstring treasure bag
12. Instructions the flower press and pressed flower bookmark

These kits were gathered with children ages 6-12 in mind. Parents may need to help their students, especially younger children, with some aspects of this kit.

To purchase a kit you will just need to make a PayPal payment to my account. You can do that using the "Pay Now" buttons in my sidebar. Just be sure to use the button for the right number of kits you would like to purchase.

The cost per kit is $11.95 plus shipping. Shipping for one kit will be $2.75 First Class. Shipping for two kits will be $5.00 Priority. Shipping for three kits will be $7.50 Priority. For information about purchasing more than three kits, please email me for shipping information. Shipping prices are for the US and Canada. (For information about shipping outside of the US and Canada, please email me.)

Please note that the price per kit has remained the same. The cost of shipping has increased partly because this kits weighs slightly more than past kits and because of the increase of USPS shipping prices.

Kits will ship within the next two to three days after payment is received.

If you are interested in purchasing any of the PDFs I am currently selling (they are in my sidebar) and you wish to make a combined payment for multiple items, feel free to email me for a total.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at amandachristina@yahoo.com.

A Summer Ice Cream Project

When I worked at an elementary school, the children *loved* this project. I guess anything that involves ice cream they would probably have loved. Making ice cream is surprisingly easy and this project makes it so much fun, because everyone is involved: Ice Cream in a Baggie. And for me at least, there aren't too many things better than homemade ice cream in the summertime.

You could add chocolate syrup or mini choclolate chips or crushed up oreos once your ice cream has thickened. The possibilities are really endless! Is this a project you think your kids would enjoy? Feel free to leave me a comment letting me know what you think.