truthfully tracelaine

My friend Miranda is a new 2nd grade teacher this year.  She really wanted to do exciting things for her kids and part of that plan, was to make a neat little reading corner for them to "explore" their books.  She had had me work on projects for her before, so she knew we could brainstorm and come up with a really creative and fun idea.  She sent me a few pictures, and gave me some ideas about the colors and icons in her classroom.  Together we decided that a tall post with direction signs leading the kids to places they might read about, was just the right fit.  This is my spin on our idea. It occurred to me, that some of you might be able to use this in classrooms of your own or maybe switch it up a little and create a reading nook for your kids at home.  To create this little gem, I had to go out to the wood working shop and enlisted a little help from my husband.  Here is how we put it together. Gather your supplies. 1/2" Plywood.  (I ...

Oh my goodness gang, I have been away too long!!  I pulled up my blog, because I knew it had been awhile since I posted, but it has been since February... FEBRUARY!!   I am truly sorry to leave you all hanging, but I can explain (a.k.a the excuses).  A lot of things have happened over the last few months.     There were some birthdays along the way. Allison turned 17.  She is gluten free, so we had root beer floats instead of birthday cake.   Hannah turned 14.  Over the last 19 years I have made several birthday cakes every year.  During that time at least 5 of my kids have turned 14.  However, when I pulled out the candles to put on her cake, there was no number 4.  So...we improvised.  Thank goodness for her wicked since of humor.   And Hayden turned 12.  My baby isn't a baby any more.  He is turning into quite the neat little gentleman.  And he loves angel food cake (wh...

Have you ever wanted to get your child's teacher a unique gift to show them how much you appreciate what they do, but just couldn't find the right thing?  I have looked through all of the cute little quotes attached to candy or coffee mugs and while I liked them, I still didn't want to give my child's teacher something that they could receive from every other thankful mama in the classroom.  So, I put on my thinking cap and tried to come up with something.  Something that they could use all year long as well as incorporate their style in the classroom.  I remembered my daughter telling me a story about one teacher who had the kids carry a hockey stick with them in the halls.  While his goal was to embarrass the child who might not have been completely honest about the reasons to leave class, I understood that there was a need for it too.  Those kids who had to carry that hockey stick, legitimately had to be somewhere else, and I guarantee that teacher a...

This project is for the birds!!   Just kidding, I have actually had a really great time creating these Christmas bird ornaments.      Recently, I had a great response to a post I had shared on Facebook about my latest crafts.  From that Facebook share I got a few orders and my first order was for Christmas bird ornaments.  I am loving that I get to create these cute little things.   Partly, because it is exciting to find out that someone is interested enough in my creativity to place an order.  But even more importantly, I was able to spend some quality time with my family, getting the order put together.   See, the birds were a hit, but I had only made about ten for the booth.  A friend of mine saw them and thought they would be perfect for her staff at Christmas.  She needed 25, so the "special order" got underway.  After a quick shopping trip, for scrapbook paper, trinkets and do-dads, we called in rei...