"America, Land That We Love"

So, I started this project when I was an exchange student in 1995. One of my exchange student friends was kind enough to share the pattern with me. The stitching kept me busy while I sat through some classes where I had absolutely no idea what was going on because of the language and knowledge barriers. The pattern calls for a square to be stitched for each of the fifty states, and when I found it in my cross stitch box, I had only completed it through Illinois with a start on both Indiana and Iowa. Somewhere along the line, my pattern disappeared, and although I attempted to find a copy a few times throughout the years, I was unsuccessful. Then, shortly before our Christmas vacation, I hopped on the internet to try just one more time to try to track it down!

And TA DA! I found it! It apparently was given away for free from Jean Farrish Heart and Home! Unfortunately, the website is no longer in existence. But thanks to the web archiving sites, I was able to retrieve the information I needed to finish my project!

I made copies of the pattern, and packed the unfinished project and grabbed the floss from my caddy.....

I'm not completely finished, but I'm getting there:

15-16 years later, perhaps I'll finally be able to finish this one! I noticed that I'm missing quite a few colors in my floss caddy, so I'll have to pick those up when I get home. (That's why you see a lot of unfinished squares....) At the very least, it is progress and it feels good to be stitching again :).

A Few Ideas With Marker Caps (As Promised)

Yesterday, I hope I convinced you not to throw away your markers that "don't work." Today, I will share with you a few ideas for what to do with all of the caps. The possibilities are nearly endless, but here are a few of our recent creations: 1) A Leprechaun/Fairy Ladder/Rope Ladder: 2) #1 if not permanently secured can also double as a rope bridge: 3) #1/#2 can also be made into a train track for your homemade trains :). (No photo available) 4) You can use them as beads for a necklace: 5) You could make them into a wind chime. (No photo available). 6. You can use them as small manipulatives to count, sort, and make patterns with. (No photo available). 7) You could use them as playing pieces in your own homemade board game. (No photo available). 8) You could put them on a wire and glue them in place to make a twirling whirly-gig. 9) You could top them with a lid from a milk jug to make tiny tables or toadstools. 10) You could make them...

Our DIY Light Tables

There has been a lot of buzz about light tables over at Teach Preschool on Facebook . Deborah has collected some great ideas for light table play and has been experimenting with making her own table over on the Teach Preschool blog. I thought I would share with you our two light tables and how we made them. This first table is one that we put together with some scrap wood pieces, an old plexi-glass door from an entertainment center, and a couple of aquarium lights. Total Cost = $0. (We had everything on hand.) The table needs a little bit of tweaking. (It is on my to do list). Basically, we made a frame of wood around the plexi-glass and placed the lights under it. Our DIY skills in putting this together were far from expert, so the frame has a couple of gaps (and the reused wood is warped). We plan to try a new frame and use some caulk to seal any gaps. We also plan to attach the lights to the side of the frame instead of just placing them on the f...

"The Markers Don't Work!"

How may times have you heard, "Ms. (fill your name in here), this marker doesn't work!" I know I hear it all the time. Sometimes it is because our little friends forget to replace the caps, and sometimes the markers have just been "all used up!" What do you do with all those markers that just don't work? Please don't tell me that you throw them out, try this instead: First, sort your markers out. Put the caps in one container ( save those too, I'll show you what you can do with them in tomorrow's post) and the markers in another. I have a box for the markers that "don't work" for the children to place them into every time they run across one. You can also have the children help you test the markers periodically to sort out the ones that need to be removed from the "working set." When it comes time to use "the markers that don't work," we use a small sponge paint roller to roll water onto our card...

Ms. Amy's Blog @Child Central Station

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