Home school: Rainbow fun

For part of home school a few weeks ago we had some fun with color and light. My 2 oldest are 6 and 4 so we tend to keep things hands on and fairly simple. First I gave the kids food coloring in red, yellow, and blue, to add to 3 cups of water.  I asked them to make the other colors of the rainbow by mixing the colors they had. They had fun figuring out what combinations make what color. The purple would have looked better but it got some extra colors in it. :) (This part of the lesson was a huge hit because I usually never let the kids pour water back and fourth between glasses.)  Next we put the cups in rainbow order and learned about why the rainbow is always in the same order. Then we painted watercolor paintings of rainbows using only the primary colors. We made sure to overlap the paint to create all the colors in the rainbow. ( I forgot to photograph the paintings but they were lovely, and super fun to make! )

The second part of the lesson was making rainbows with light instead of food coloring and paint. We used a plastic Christmas tree ornament to catch the suns rays, I was prepared for disappointment but I was surprised at how well the plastic "crystal" worked. We taped the ornament onto a dark blue paper and then onto the wall right next to a shadow so the rainbow would be easier to see. They were so bright! We were all amazed at the beauty of the rainbows. :)

Fashion friday: Ruche

For five years now Trent and I have been longing for a larger piece of land to spread our wings and have enough room for animals. Room enough to easily fit a good size art studio. (Or two.) ;) Living off the grid is a dream of ours. These images from the Ruche fall 2010 look book illustrate well the lifestyle we want, clothes included! :) All you need is a hansom guy painting in the back, a few kids helping garden or playing in the mud, chickens running around, and a few baby goats and it would be even more perfect!

Thrifty Thursday : typewriter, tablecloth, crochet baby blanket, and vintge fabrics

 

I have a serious addiction to thrift stores.  My home is filled with thrift-ed finds. The mirror, metal tray, antique book, glass bottles, and wrought iron candle sconces, were all thrift-ed at different times throughout the past six years. (I am currently hunting for the perfect entry table. This stand in particle board shelf isn't doing the trick for me.) My most recent purchases are probably some of my most favorite though.  Just last week I found the Tiffany blue typewriter. I have another typewriter (beige) that looks really similar that is also thrift-ed. they will look great together. I also found this hand embroidered table cloth.

   The other thing I found was this hand crocheted baby blanket with cross stitched animals.  I love this blanket the most I think. I love to sit and stare at it while I'm nursing the baby. I am so inspired by the combination of crochet and cross stitch. I now have crochet/cross stitch ideas added to my ever accumulating list of craft projects.

The top photo of fabrics is my collection of vintage sheets. A collection of three! Ha ha! :) I hope to create a collection as awesome as Rachel's someday. The purple gingham is not sheets just a piece of fabric, also thrift-ed. In the second picture of fabrics you see my collection of non thrift-ed gingham. It is already outdated since just last night at Joe-Ann's I found some tiny mint colored gingham and a medium turquoise ,and a black gingham. I have plans for using these in kids clothes and quilting. I am looking for some giant orange gingham ever since I saw this. The last photo is a close up of the hand embroidered tablecloth. Isn't it lovely? :) Thanks for stopping by and thanks for all the crochet gnome hat love! You're all so awesome! What are you thrift-ing these days? :)