A new routine at the Hay Farm...and a project!

We've been super busy here at the Hay Farm! After eight years of homeschooling, hubby and I decided to send our kids to the local public schools this year. It's been stressful, but already rewarding.

My youngest, a 5th grader, comes home every day with tales of a new friend, a story about how her math teacher likes to play 80's music in class, and what she devoured for lunch. To say she's having no problem adjusting is an understatement! She's thriving!

Our middle child, a boy, is a little more reserved about the whole thing. Being a 6th grader and in public school for the first time ever is a lot for him to deal with. He's slower to make friends, although he has made a couple. His schedule is hectic (9 classes!) and he's constantly worrying that he's forgetting something important. I can't wait to meet his teachers with the hope of letting them in on a few things that I think will help this new adventure be smooth sailing. Our son, in some ways, is not your typical 11-year old boy.

The oldest, in 8th grade, has obviously been homeschooled the longest. But of the three, she's the one I worry about the least. She's sensible and practical. So far for her, school is a place to learn...not just a social activity in and of itself. The relationships she cultivates will probably be ones that last a lifetime, both with her peers and her teachers.

So what am I going to do with myself after having a child or children with me almost constantly for the last 13 years? I haven't exactly figured that out yet...but I've got some ideas. There are always projects around the house that need to be done. Some that have needed doing for years and others that haven't even been thought up yet. This week I kept up with all the laundry and dishes for the first time in...well, ever. I also did a little sewing. But I'm not going to make this time all about me. I hope to use it to cultivate my own relationships, both with my peers and my children's teachers and peers. I plan on visiting the schools a lot...finding out what opportunities are available for involved parents. And eating lunch with my kids, of course. As long as that doesn't embarrass them too much. LOL

I started and finished one small project this past week. I knew I needed a place to keep up with our new schedules, permission slips, lunch menus, etc. So I "stole" the bulletin board out of the old schoolroom and hung it on the door that goes into the garage. I got this great idea from Amy at Cartwheels In My Mind. Just like Amy, I painted the cork to match the walls in the laundry room. I added some cute tacks and embellishments and voila! Our new control central!










What kinds of organizational tips do you utilize to get back in the swing of school?

Home Ec Lesson #5

Today I went back a couple of lessons so I could make this very cool supplies roll up. I was waiting on the oilcloth for the outside to come in from Etsy.



I think I'll put my crochet stuff in it eventually, but it also works for sewing supplies.

Home Ec Lesson #6

I realize I skipped a couple of lessons, but I'm waiting on some fabric for #5 and #4 is some bunting and I might go back and do it later, but I'm not really interested in it right now.

The Ironing Board Cover

This will take some finesse to get it perfectly fitted on the board. I'll go back and work on it later. I was just too excited to wait to take the pictures! LOL

UPDATE: Here's a new pic where I've put the clips underneath and re-ironed it. Looks better!

Home Ec Lesson #3

Reusable Grocery/Book Bag

Home Ec Lesson #2

Gift Bag:

Home Ec Lesson #1

Today marks the first day I've had my sewing machine out in probably a year or more. I have a love/hate relationship with sewing. I love the finished products. I'm not a bad seamstress and when my kids were little I made them lots of cute clothes. But it makes my back and neck hurt...and all that ironing! Sheesh! That's my least favorite household chore as it is.

But a couple weeks ago I came across an opportunity to take an online sewing class. It's self paced and has lots of really cool projects like an apron, a duvet cover, curtains, a laptop case...26 of them all together. So I decided to haul out the ol' machine and give it a go.

The class started today with napkins. Two kinds...a single layer and a double layer. For the single layer I made a couple of denim napkins with some remnants I had on hand. Cute, but nothing special. However, for the double layer I decided to actually do something cool. I went to Hobby Lobby with no idea what I wanted them to look like. I picked up several bolts of fabric, but nothing seemed to really thrill me. So I stepped outside my normal "everything must be perfectly pre-coordinated for me to think it goes together" mindset and just bought two fabrics I liked and sewed them together.

I really like the way they turned out.

What about you? Do you like to sew?

Jessica Sprague: Computer Tricks for Cards Lesson 4

Pop up Card!! This was so easy to make and the pop up is such a great surprise for the recipient!

Jessica Sprague: Computer Tricks for Cards Lesson 3

Today's (actually, yesterday's) lesson used a digital template that you could customize and print out to make a foldable card. Then all that was left was adding any embellishments. The template said "thank you" but I changed it to "happy birthday" since we have lots of friends and family with birthdays in the near future (a couple of them today!).

I could get addicted to this card making stuff. :-)

(Sorry for the blur....it's in focus in real life. LOL)

Jessica Sprague: Computer Tricks for Cards Lesson 2

Yesterday Maddy and I started a free online class making hybrid cards. That is, cards that use both digital and traditional scrapbooking elements. Yesterday's assignment was simply a couple of print and fold cards. We could have added anything we wished, but just left them plain.

But today we got to print out the design of a card and assemble it ourselves with different scrapbooking materials. We had a lot of fun and I love how they turned out...but even better was the couple of quiet hours spent with just Maddy and me working on something together.

Maddy's card

My card

Happy Tuesday!

Graduation Cap Cups from Bakerella

A very sweet friend of ours is graduating from high school today.  We've been invited to join a celebratory dinner with her family and other friends after the commencement. My girls and I made her some graduation cap cups from Bakerella's sight to bring to the dinner. We had tons of fun making them and honestly, the girls did almost everything themselves. I arranged some of them in a vase for decoration and the extras are in some plain floral foam. That surplus can be used to replace the ones in the "bouquet" as people take them.

I can't wait for her to see them!

Project: Homemade Gifts

One thing I would like to do in 2010 is to make more homemade gifts. Not to pat myself on the back, but I'm a pretty good baker, can crochet, and, when the mood strikes...can bang out a darn good craft.

Now with all that said, I must add that most of time I'm lazy. I'd rather just run out and grab something for gifts, but I'm going to try to turn that around this year.

I got off to a pretty good start! Some of my bestest, favoritest people went to California for the entire two weeks of winter break. Since I didn't think to stow myself away in one of their suitcases until it was too late, I set to work making them things to show them how much I missed them. And hopefully, now that they've seen some of my talents, they won't ever want to go back to California...or anywhere outside of my little radius.

Everything I gave them was handmade by me, usually with help from one of my kiddos. The first thing I set to work on was a cookie mix in a jar. I, unfortunately, cannot find the pictures I took of this. I'm sure I didn't forget to take them in my excitement. That would just never happen.

I give all the credit for both the recipe and the idea to Bakerella. If you've never visited her website you need to do that...SOON.

Photo Credit: Bakerella

My cookies had regular colored M & Ms and so I called them "cowboy" cookies. I used blue bandana fabric and twine to tie it on. Here's the link to Bakerella's page: Mix Things Up.

My next gift was also a creation from Bakerella. These things have become very popular so I decided it was time to try my hand at them.

That's right! Cake Balls! These were actually very easy and fun to make. A little time consuming...but worth it!

To wrap up those beauties, no ordinary box or bag would do. I set out to make a gift box worthy of  them. I searched google and saw lots and lots of neat boxes. But I finally settled on this one from Project Girl. She has so many great crafts and projects to make. I can't wait to go back and try out some more.

She used a Cricut cutter to make here templates. I had to download the PDF and cut it out by hand, but it was still easy. The other thing I did differently was to put my template on cardstock, then glue scrapbooking paper on with some adhesive spray. Her boxes are just adorable, and probably neater than mine. But mine didn't turn out too shabby.

Everything was a huge hit and I think I probably had as much fun making everything as the recipients did eating them!

So, dear readers, what do you plan on crafting this yeat?

For Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Here you go Sandra! That was easy and fun!