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Kid’s Drawing Exercise: Light And Shadow
Doing crafts with kids is one of the best things a parent can do. Crafting builds motor skills, confidence and hopefully creativity, depending on whether kids are asked to come up with their own ideas (always the best) or not. Beyond crafting is the idea of helping kids (and maybe yourself as well?) gain drawing and painting skills, certainly highly recommended if your child loves to draw and/or obviously has some talent whether full blown or a bit obscurred. One can craft for years and never learn how to draw, as the two are really quite separate. My ten year old son has started taking drawing and painting lessons from…
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Note To Self: Passover Needs For 2017
Above: Some migrating heron spotted on a little trip we took to the foothills of Mt. Meron during Passover If there is one thing I've learned over the years regarding the great Passover kitchen change-over, is that having everything you need already on hand is certainly preferable to having to rush out and buy items that are missing. Plus, with this in mind one can pick up necessary items during the year when you spot them on sale, or see something particularly cute that you really don't need but that you could use for Passover! That said, I'm using this little space on my blog to make a list for…
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Container Gardening: Bougainvilleas With A View!
If you have a container garden and live anywhere where you see Bougainvilleas growing (sorry New Yorkers, not you, but Californians yes!) then you absolutely must add this gorgeous plant to your garden! Bougainvillieas do well in containers, not nearly as well as in the ground of course, but well enough to give you gorgeous blooms that you see here, all summer long. And another tip that is good to know, if you live in a zone that gets frost and an occassional snow (like where I live) there are some strains of Bougainvillea that are hardier than others. Namely the color you see here is the one that is…
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A Lovely Wall Top Container Garden With Wow Factor!
Aren't these petunias spilling over this window box just gorgeous? There is nothing quite as lovely as beautiful flowers spilling out of window box type containers, and this little wall top container garden always looks amazing, so I just had to share it with you once again. Of course the location on the balcony of an old stone home is stunning in itself, but truthfully a great little container garden full of a variety of plants and flowers looks amazing anywhere. So don't be tempted to say "my house will never look like that!" And just by the way, yesterday I spotted the secret to this little garden's success: a…
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Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!
Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! Thanks so much for joining me here at this international linky party made possible by all the wonderful contributors from around the world. Last week's party was packed with fabulous ideas, and while I just couldn't share them all, I have rounded up a bunch of really inspiring ones. So take a look, choose something to actually make and get off the computer! Speaking of gettting off the computer, that is exactly what I'm going to do right now, so happy crafting! Decoupaged map placemats from pillar box blue, and a burlap bowl from tea and a sewing machine. Quilted tassel bookmarks from busy…
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Painting And Drawing On Hand Built Slab Pottery
Note: This piece is actually bright red, not terra cotta as it is showing up on my blog for some unknown reason! My twelve year old son and I are spending one evening a week together at a local pottery studio, and having a wonderful time! There is no wheel, so we are forced to hone our slab building skills, which is actually a really great way to make a very wide variety of items, even for the novice potter (like me). If you are not familiar with slab building, it simply means constructing items from pieces one cuts from a slab, a piece of clay rolled out to the…
