What a cut up!

One of the biggest boons to the creativity of our homeschooling has been getting the Sizzix Die cutting machine. While not cheap it was far less than some curriculum I have bought and I did get it for 50% off with a Michaels coupon from the weekly paper!.. I use the other weekly coupons and watch the sales to buy various dies since they go on sale at least 1x per month.

This month I picked up the little peek-a-boo booklet die and it's been great to use. In this example(from Sammy age 6 ) we used it to show all the types of Native American homes that we learned about this week. They are small but turn out of be just the right size for many small images and multi-stage process lessons ( stages of a frog.. egg.. tadpole.. etc)

If you have a die cutting machine give it a try!

In the mean time.........

Sorry folks, my Adobe program has gone AWOL so I am waiting for my husband to get back in town so I can convert the new pattern into PDF. In the mean time drop by my Domestic Anarchy site to find a cool project to hold lots and lots of books and tons of other stuff.

Coming soon....

Almost done with the first felt work pattern!... Be on the look out for Vintage Scissor Keeper pattern very soon! It will be available in printable PDF format. Felt courtesy of Wool felt Central

Welcoming a New Sponsor

Please join me in welcoming Wool Felt Central as my new sponsor for all my wool felt crafts. They carry 70 beautiful colors of wool blend felt that makes my heart dance in delight. Please check them out for all of your felt needs. Let them know that The Crafty Homeschoolers sent you!

Welcome Link Readers

Welcome to the readers of The Link homeschooling magazine! I am thrilled that you have stopped by. In the next week I am will be posting up a project that will be a perfect fit for most homeschool families so please check back.

In the mean time please leave a comment and let me know what sorts of projects you need help with and I will do my best to do whatever I can to help.

Colorful Easter Treat

With Easter just around the corner I have taken a firm but crafty pledge to makes sure that our family Easter is as Junk Free as possible. Now don't get me wrong.. I love Easter baskets and I am pretty sure I would wither up and die without at least a handful of Jordon Almonds.. but I have little need for more little bits of pastel plastic in the form of cheap toys, ticky tack little games or other such bits and bobs to be found in the next week under the sofa cushions.

But if one is going to cast aside the offerings of the "dollar store" to fill those baskets what does one do? For us it's going to be an arty holiday and one of the things I am going to be getting the kids are new colored pencils in an expanded range of colors. Quality colored pencils can make a big difference in the experience kids have when working with them. Bypass the children's art section and go straight to the quality supplies and pick from the selection over there. A good place to start would be with Prismacolor pencils. With their multiple different size packages and open stock status at most art shops they are a good way to step up into a better brand of pencil with a bit less sticker shock than other brands.