Eight or Four? Who Cares!

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is how we don't have to save all the fun stuff for nights and weekends. Kids having a party? Throw it on a Friday morning!

My baby is turning (SOB) four this weekend. If you ask him, however, how old he is, he will answer eight. I'm not sure if he really thinks eight is great or if he likes the number.

I think it is the latter.

Either way, we keep birthdays pretty simple. I made these toppers at my mother in law's house over Christmas. This was actually one of the more time-consuming part of the birthday-- that's how low key we do it.

Place the toppers on a donut and VOILA! You've got yourself a little party.

Jar Lanterns

Not long after New Years, I received an email from my daughter's homeschool co-op. They were in desperate need of an extra class for the K-2 group and were willing to have someone teach underwater basket weaving if it meant giving a bunch of kids something to do.

Seeing that I just love to volunteer to do anything, of course, I said yes. But, instead of teaching anything academic...I chose CRAFTS! What could be better than that?

Thanks to my foray into the kinder craft classes, Thursdays are now extremely hectic for me. I rarely have enough time to get my son off to preschool before I run over to the church to set up the day's craft project.

I have to admit, my first day was a bit nerve-wracking. My husband was out of town and I was unsure of the group of kids I would end up with in the class.

Luckily, I ended up with five sweet little ones (my own little sweetie girl included) who enjoy doing anything that involves glue.

Here's what we did the first day: Baby food jar lanterns. I saw the original inspiration over at The Art Cart. I wanted to do that...except I couldn't find enough tall jars and the local Wal-Mart (where I made a desperate last minute run for supplies) didn't have puff paint.

But, it still worked well.

Here's what you do:

Get a bunch of baby food jars. It helps if you don't have to empty them all out into the sink, because, really, that's kind of gross. If you want to add fun to that task, try to convince your children to sample the goods. (I hope my kids are happy now that neither of them ever ate baby food!)

Tear up a bunch of different colored tissue paper. Darker colors work best.

Cover the jar with Modge Podge. Stick tissue paper on the MP. Try to smooth it down because it looks best when dried. You can cover it with another layer of MP just to make sure it is good and sticky.

Pull out sequins or "jewels" to decorate your jar. Attach with modge podge. Leave out to dry overnight and then use either a tealight or votive candle to keep things festive.