Here is a pretty leaf painting which is lovely for autumn when painted in reds and oranges and great for spring when painted in shades of green. And it doesn’t use real leaves – it uses contact paper cut into leaf shapes.
This is actually an Autumn version of the Negative Space Painting that Ava did for Easter two years ago. This time, we made leaf shapes and used acrylic paint instead of watercolors. Afterward, we cut the paper into rectangles and glued it onto white, heavy paper to make attractive cards.
This painting project is great for kids of any age, because it looks cool when it’s done, and little ones get a great result just by spreading paint around. The more imperfect the painting job, the better the results, in my opinion. Heavy paper, paint, paintbrush, scissors and contact paper are all you need. Check out the steps on our post Negative Space Painting.
We go to the library every couple of weeks to attend storytime, and following the stories and songs, they have a craft for the preschoolers. Here is one such craft we did at the library – a window collage. Sandwiched between two sheets of contact paper are brightly colored feathers, paper, and “sequensy things”.
For the last several weeks, the Lord has almost overwhelmed me by blessing me with relationships with people who are strong in Him and who have been such an encouragment to me (usually without their knowing it). Isn’t the Lord good? I didn’t pray for these specific people to enter my life, and I couldn’t have come up with a plan to cross paths with them in my own knowledge or power. But God knows what we need and when we need it, and sometimes He chooses to bless His children just because He loves us. I am so glad that I KNOW Him and I am so strengthened by knowing these new friends who for the time being are walking beside me as we continue on this incredible journey of following the Lord. It’s lovely to have company on our Christian walk, isn’t it?
I hope that you, reader, can reflect on your own present relationship with the Lord and say that God is pouring Himself into you so that He is able to currently use you to bless and encourage others in your own life. If you are walking in step with Him and listening to the Holy Spirit, He may be using you in more ways than you realize.
Below is a song, I have been listening to over and over and would like to share with you…
Holy Spirit Have Your Way by Leeland
verse 1 Long after the tears fall, I’m still Your child I’ve put down my defenses and laid down my pride Love and forgiveness flow deep and wide So I’ll run to You, and surrender all
chorus As I lay down my life And pick up my cross What a joy it is to give my life away to You All that I need, all that I seek Is You here with me Holy Spirit have Your way in me
verse 2 In times of trouble, though trials may come The Rock of Ages is standing strong I’m fighting battles but the war is won So I’ll run to You, and surrender all
chorus As I lay down my life And pick up my cross What a joy it is to give my life away to You All that I need, all that I seek Is You here with me Holy Spirit have Your way in me
bridge More of You and less of me, God More of You and less of me, God More of You and less of me, God More of You overflowing!
chorus As I lay down my life And pick up my cross What a joy it is to give my life away to You All that I need, all that I seek Is You here with me Holy Spirit have Your way in me Holy Spirit have Your way in me
The idea of melting down broken crayons to create new crayons isn’t a new one! But it’s our first time trying it. When we break crayons, I toss them in a plastic sandwich bag until enough crayon bits have been collected that we can make new crayons.
We placed our bare, broken crayons in muffin cups and then placed them in a 275 degree oven for several minutes until they were melted. Then we took them out and let them cool. When they were completely cooled (you can also place them in the refrigerator), I slid a knife down the side and out they popped!
Now it’s time to color and experiment with the way the different colors go onto the paper. Pretty!
Here’s one way we have found to re-use an empty travel wipes case… I added some band-aids, neosporine, burn ointment, and cleansing cloths to create a great little first aid kit! It’s easy to toss in my bag, the back of the car, or the glove compartment, so we are always ready for those surprise boo-boos.
There are many other great ideas for reusing these containers! My friend, Magen, suggested creating an on-the-go Art Kit filled with construction paper, index cards, stickers, and a few crayons. And if you have a little one just loves pulling out wipes, turn this empty container into a Play Wipes Container by filling it with cut up scrap fabrics which can be pulled out to their heart’s content. Thank you to DisneyBaby.com for featuring this post.
If you have another idea, please add it to the comments below!
As a young adult, I heard sad and bitter stories surrounding the way some people were brought up in a Christian home. They would speak of how they felt like God and righteousness were pushed down their throat until, as a result, they became “turned off” to wanting to belong to Christ. I, too, had been brought up in a Christian home, but had only thankfulness and joy in my heart to associate with my upbringing. Even so, these accounts affected me and took their toll on my mind without me realizing it as I struggled with fears of raising my own children.
Do you have plastic Easter eggs around your house? If so, you can easily turn them into an uppercase-lowercase matching game for the letters of the alphabet! We used letter stickers, but it would have been so much easier if we just used a permanent marker! We put the letters on the “front” and the “back” of the egg, so it would be easier for her to find the letter on the egg without having to continue rolling and rotating them around.
All the eggs will store perfectly in a gallon-sized freezer bag. Dump them out, and let your child make the matches. When the eggs are completely matched, see if your child can lay them out in the order they appear in the alphabet. During the game, you can talk about the sound each letter makes.
This may not be such an amazing idea, but it makes our pancake breakfasts so much easier that I wanted to share what we do. In addition to our normal-sized pancakes, I also make some tiny pancakes for Landon, so he can just pick them up with his fingers and eat away. I sprinkle them with powdered sugar, so there isn’t any syrup to make things sticky.
Note on Freezing Pancakes: I have just recently started making a few extra pancakes and freezing them for later, and it has really been nice on those mornings when everyone wants pancakes but I don’t want to bother making them. Here is how I do it…
Make the extra pancakes and place them in a single layer in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Place pancakes in a large freezer bag with pieces of parchment paper between them (to keep them from sticking together).
To reheat, place set of pancakes on a plate in the microwave and heat for 1 minute on 1/2 power (5). Then flip them each over and heat again for 1 minute on 1/2 power (5).
While family was visiting for Ava’s birthday, we pulled out our roll of brown packaging/craft paper and laid it out on the table along with our crayons and colored pencils. Then everyone (even Landon) took a seat and began drawing/coloring a picture. After a few minutes had passed, we all got up and shifted to the next chair over. Then for the next few minutes we added to the picture in front of us. On the activity went until we made it around the table and back to our original seat. It was a fun and calming activity for everyone. Plus, some surprising artistic talent emerged (go, Dad 🙂 and there was a fair bit of artistic humor involved, as well!
If you don’t have a roll of brown paper, you could also use the back of some wrapping paper. Or you could simply give everyone their own piece of white 8.5″ x 11″ paper for their drawing and when time is up, simply pass your paper to the next person!
This activity really was fun for all of us and great for when we were ready to sit for a while but still interact.
I have been so hungry for God. I have felt empty. So, naturally, I’ve been asking God to feed my spirit and revive me. I’ve been wanting Him to take me to a deeper place with Him. It should come as no surprise that He answered my prayer. He has been feeding me Holy Spirit given spiritual food that I have never had before, and it is SSSOOO good. It’s so good, that I have been wanting to post about it for a week, but I can’t find a way to articulate just what I feel, just what I want to share, just how He is changing me.
So for now, I would like to share with you a small “lesson” which I learned at church on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Better understanding these parts of His name, have really opened up the Scriptures to me and caused me to more fully appreciate their usage in the Bible. If you are a Christian, your mind and spirit already have a grasp on the full meaning of “the Lord Jesus Christ”, so what I am about to share won’t surprise you, but I think pin-pointing the powerful meaning behind each part of His name is very worth knowing and paying attention to as you read the Bible. After all, there is power in His name!
First read this verse – Ephesians 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”
Now, let’s unlock the meanings of the words and begin to wrap our minds around the powerful truth that is being expressed in this verse.
The name “Lord” expresses His position, and it means “supreme”.
The name “Jesus” expresses His person, and it is “Yeshua” in Hebrew.
The name “Christ” expresses His purpose, and it is that of “Messiah”.
Now re-read Ephesians 1:3! “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”
Did you ponder it? My thoughts as I read it, go something like this….
Wow! The Lord Jesus Christ is in the supreme position (read Ephesians 1:20,21). “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” is in a position of power and authority that is even beyond explanation! Praise be to Him!
There is no doubt that the Lord (supreme), the Christ (Messiah) was the person of Jesus (Yeshua). Jesus is the only way! And no other man or prophet is He – only Jesus!
We can never forget that Christ took upon His sinless self, the sins of the world, and He made a way for me to know Him through His blood shed upon the cross! It is because of salvation through Christ that Eph. 1:3 applies directly to ME!
I have been blessed in the heavenly realms (that’s another post!!!) with every spiritual blessing in Christ. WOW!!! God’s Word says it!
Now, read Ephesians 1:3 again, and read it out loud this time! “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”
If this is as exciting to you as it is to me, keep watching for how Jesus’ name is used in other verses. Here are some familiar passages to get you started….
Ephesians 1:17
Ephesians 2:4-7
Ephesians 5:1,2
Ephesians 6:10
Philippians 4:4-7
1 Timothy 2:5
2 Timothy 1:1,2
1 John 2:1
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“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on eath and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” -Philippians 2:8-11
Sometimes you don’t need craft supplies. You just need imagination… a few dress up clothes… and a good friend never hurts anything, either.
Have no fear! Super Ava and her side-kick Sofia are coming to the rescue!
Ava and her friend Sofia having lots of fun in the Land of Make-believe!
Cowboy Landon staying hydrated!
As I prepared to post these photos, I realized how many much-funnier photos I have of Ava and Landon dressed up. I mean REALLY funny, but those pictures are all on my phone, which is not so high-tech, so I’m sorry you don’t get to see the really good ones! But I guess my children will one day be thankful that I didn’t post them. 🙂
Send your dear family members off to school, work, or the park with a lunch that will make them smile when they open their lunch sack. White labels are perfect for quickly sticking to plastic bags. Write a message or Bible verse, draw a picture, or cut the labels to make shapes.
Eyes were drawn on the label with a permanent marker and then cut out. The nose and mouth were drawn directly onto the bag.
