#130 Decorative Letters

The idea for this recycled (& use-it-up) craft project came from craft eNVy. So, you can read their blog to learn about how to make them, but when you see my supplies, it is pretty self explanatory.

There are several differences between my end product & the inspiration end product. Those are:

* I used stencils I already own (instead of using up printer paper & ink)

* I used fabric instead of paper, which is only because that is what I had

* I didn't add embelishments because this is for my little boy & any I would have had would be too girly

I spent no money at all on this project because I used a cardboard box & others items I already own.

I spent about 1.5 hours on this project and that included gathering supplies & all prep work.

#129 Grow Your Own Sprouts

We just finished another batch of sprouts. We grew some last year and found out it is super simple. Both last year & this year we grew sprouts as a part of a weekly preschool theme I do with my daughter. It is so nice to be able to grow some of my own food in MN in the middle of February. I bought my sprout seeds from the natural food store and it ends up costing me about 1/3 the cost of buying a container of sprouts. The only thing you need to do it plan ahead to get them growing. It took me about 8 days to grow my sprouts to this.

To learn to grow your own sprouts, check out this website. It has wonderful pictures & step-by-step instructions.

#128 Egg Carton Dinosaur & Snowman

They are pretty easy to figure out how to do if you just look at the picture (click on the picture to enlarge it). The stegosaurus is made of 2 toilet paper rolls & one half (plus one segment for the head) egg carton. The snowman is made out of 3 egg carton segments which she painted white.

#127 Turn Onesies in T-shirts

Both of my kids have long torsos and have a tendency to outgrow tops & one-piece outfits faster than the bottoms. I know I could buy some garment extenders, but I didn't want to pay $10 for three extenders and $6 for s/h. So, while I was making bows for my daughter I came up with the idea to cut off the bottoms and use fray check on the bottom to keep it from fraying. They are undershirts, so I am not concerned about an unfinished edge that is not going to be seen. What I was concerned about was having to buy MORE onesies, which are a must during this winter season. And when my daughter was an infant it took a lot of searching to find undershirts, as opposed to onesies. So, I am happy to save myself money by modifying & using things I already own.

#126 Egg Carton Valentine

This is the version that my daughter & I created based on the one from A Little Hut. It was a fun little craft with a dramatic statement and we were able to re-purpose an egg carton.

Free Classes for Members @ RBNC

Check out the free classes (plus some pay ones) at River Bend Nature Center in Faribault, MN. Our family loves RBNC and have done many classes and special events (speaking of which, today is Winterfest from 12-4 and I am looking forward to it!)

I wanted to point out the Going Green class and even though I am not a beginning at being green, there is always more to learn so I plan to bring my daughter to do this class with me as long as we remain available that day.

Other classes of interest to me include: Maple Syrup Open House, Preschool Nature Play, Recycled Paper Making, Night Hikes, Frog Chorus, Pancake Brunch, Going Green, Intro to Fly Casting (for the hubby), aand Orienteering (maybe).