arts and crafts | The Angel Forever

Category Archives arts and crafts

Crayola Crayon Crazy

Posted on October 26, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

I have an admission, I love Crayola crayons. Back to school used to be my favorite time of year. Walking down craft aisles and into stores with boxes and boxes of beautiful new crayons. Even though I am an adult, I still love drawing, coloring, and doodling with crayons. If there was more time in the day, I would have mandated coloring therapy with the kids. It’s fun, something we can all do, and a way to be creative.

Times have changed. Back to school is not the only time of year to get fun new crayons. Earlier this week I was shopping at Target. When I went down the craft aisle, a new display of Crayola Crayons caught my eyes. They were shiny, different, and intriguing. Check some of them out here:

Aren’t they pretty? Since I was in a hurry, I took a few photos to research them when I got back home. There are 12 different flavors, -er I mean types of the Crayola PYO Crayon 8ct that are only available at Target stores. They include:

Born to Rock – Pirate’s Treasure – Over the Rainbow – Metallic Magic – Dinosaur Roar – Mermaid Shimmer – Pink Princess – Cupcake My Day – Neon Dreams – Gliteratti – Rocker Girl – Sports Fan

Although I wanted to buy all of them, I decided to wait. I am going to take the boys back to let them pick out their own choices. If you are interested, you can see them on the Target website here. Crayola did not ask me to post this, I am just a big fan and thought they were fun for kids of all ages.

So my question to you this week:

Which pack of Crayola PYO crayons would you pick first and what would you color with them?

FYI – Three book giveaways are currently going on that would make great gifts. Linnea in Monet’s Garden (ends 10/30), some classic stories from Silver Penny Stories (ends 10/27), and a Spooktacular Book Prize Pack (ends 11/1). Another fun picture book coming on Tuesday Tales.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #226

Categories:
Aloha Friday arts and crafts me moments photos shopping

Celebrating Sukkot

Posted on October 2, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Many people do not realize that the holiday season continues for Jewish people beyond Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We are actually celebrating Sukkot right now. In the past, I have shared photos from our Sukkot celebrations, including those from JSL’s nursery school last year.

While we do not have our own sukkah, the boys helped to make decorations for the one at Hebrew School. We also hope to bring them to visit the one at our synagogue. While I am off sharing traditions with my family, I thought I would include a new Sukkot video from the Fountainheads.

The song is a beautiful parody of a popular song that teaches people about the holiday and was filmed in Israel. Enjoy and happy holidays to all that celebrate

Categories:
arts and crafts holidays jsl looking back Music photos video

Rosh Hashanah Art and The Kissing Hand

Posted on September 15, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear JSL,

The Kissing Hand project still seems to be working. After your first full week of kindergarten, things seem to be getting better. You still do not want to let go of my hand in the morning. By Friday, you were no longer crying when I left. Now, I just have to hope that will continue after four days off for Rosh Hashanah.

Last Sunday, you had your first official day of Hebrew School. It was a bitter sweet moment for me. You and I always had fun on Sunday mornings when NHL went off. Now it is your turn to join this tradition and learn about our Jewish faith, along with Hebrew.

When it was time to go to class on Sunday, you did not want to let me go. You did not really know anyone in your class. You were in a new location and the teacher was not who we had thought it would be. Still, I reminded you about The Kissing Hand. Then when I saw the aid in the hall later on, I told her to remind you that we had “powered up” when I left and it would help you out. Much to my surprise, this showed up on your Rosh Hashanah project.

You did all of the fantastic apple prints, but you asked someone to help you make a kissing hand. In addition to this, they helped to draw little JSL. It was the sweetest thing to see, it make me smile. I truly hope that this will be the start of many amazing and wonderful years ahead of you in school and learning about our faith.

Love,

Categories:
arts and crafts books Dear Kid Saturday holidays jsl milestone photos school

Ninth Birthday Wishes for my Big Kid

Posted on August 17, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL,

Nine years ago seems like such a long time, but it really does feel like you were just born. Thanks to you coming into the world, my life became even better than I imagined.

Your sweet little face melted my heart. That day I understood what everyone said about being willing to fight to the end for your child. There is nothing in this world that I wouldn’t do to help you to be happy and make your dreams come true. This year, you have taught me so much about so many things. You will have to trust me that one day you will understand this more.

Now, let’s continue with our tradition of looking back at the last year. Your eighth year was filled with a lot of things and I want to highlight some of them here.

After your birthday, you were supposed to head to spend time with Bubbe and Grandpa while Daddy and I went to Disney World for our anniversary. Instead, our plans changed thanks to your first experience with a hurricane heading up to our parts. We also spent the end of the month enjoying time relaxing before you went back to school. (August 2011)

The start of third grade was your first full year in the new school. You were excited to see how this would be and I loved that you were so enthusiastic. We also took advantage of the warmer fall weather and went to Hoffman’s Playland one last time before it closed down for the season. (September 2011)

Halloween may not have been the biggest item in October. That was the month that you started to play band. With the help of your amazing band teacher, you selected percussions and before we knew it you loved practicing and showing us all that you had learned. (October 2011)

A lot of November was spent with family. Bubbe and Grandpa came to visit and we did fun items with them. Cousin A’s Aufruf also took up a weekend with extended family from Papa’s side. Then we had a quiet Thanksgiving with Nana and Papa. It was a great month with many memories. (November 2011)

Muppets and Smurfs were part of our world for much of the month with the movies, fun items, and Build-A-Bear. We also spent time getting ready for Chanukah. Thanks to a new drawing book, we figured out that you were a fan of creating character sketches like they do at Disney Hollywood Studios. (December 2011)

The new year and winter brought cold weather, but hardly any snow. Thanks to this, we spent a lot of time inside reading, playing games, doing homework, and getting used to the bunk beds that arrived for the start of 2012. (January 2012)

As the winter continued on, we had a trip to Disney World to look forward to. You were studying up and working on your Mickey drawings when there was some time over winter break. (February 2012)

Headaches were the key to us solving a problem. The spring meant you were ready for your first pair of glasses. It was fun watching you pick them out and realizing how much you looked like a young Harry Potter. Perhaps that is even more fitting given our summer theme. (March 2012)

Matzah, Seders, and Passover preparations filled the time as we got ready to go to Walt Disney World. You conquered multiple fears while in Orlando which included riding your first upside down roller coaster. (April 2012)

Once we were back from Disney World, you settled back into school. A highlight of your time was a day away with Nana and Papa. You went to Howe Caverns and went zip lining with Papa. I wish I had been there to see your face, but the photos are priceless. (May 2012)

As the school year was winding down, we were keeping busy with other enrichment activities. You love science and seeing how things work. The CMOST museum was a great place for you to explore a lot of different items. (June 2012)

The summer was filled with activities at the library, crafting, and Harry Potter. You started reading the book and your love for the young wizard grew even more. We also spent a the 4th of July mini-golfing with Nana and Papa. Then, you and Daddy went back with me there when JSL spent the day with Nana and Papa. It was fun watching you play in a location that I had gone to as a child. (July 2012)

Now it is your birthday month again and I am trying to figure out where the time has gone. You have grown up so much and are such an amazing kid. You amaze me with all that you have learned, created, and dreamed.

I hope that you know how very proud I am of you and how much I love you. You are such a sweet boy that adores helping others that you love. I have a really good feeling that the upcoming year is going to be a stupendous one in fourth grade and beyond. Less stress, more smiles, and lots of watching you spread your wings and become more of the person that you are meant to be.

Love,

Past B-day posts to NHL:

Categories:
arts and crafts birthday Disney fun looking back milestone nhl parenting photos school travel vacation

Making Dream Pillows

Posted on August 9, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

It is no surprise that I love our library. I write about them, the amazing librarians, and the programs they schedule often. Last year, I fell in love with one particular day when the Tang Museum came to make Story Towers inspired by the artwork of Josh Dorman. This year, I knew that we HAD to head to the afternoon when Tang was again reaching out to the local libraries to do projects.

They started off talking to the kids about three dimensional art and what it means. Then they showed a poster of one of Oliver Herring’s sculptures. What I didn’t realize until I went to their website at home is that the Me US Them, Queen Size Bed with Coat is huge. I knew they said it would take up the space the kids were sitting in. It is actually a sculpture made of Knit silver Mylar and 12 x 57 x 88 inches. As a knitter, I am intrigued to learn more about this type of sculpture. They showed this to the kids and asked them what they saw. Many mentioned a pillow, shining objects, and more. Then they saw another piece before it was time to learn about their projects.

Since the theme of New York State Libraries summer program is Dream Big READ, the Tang Museum decided to make Dream Pillows. As you can see above, the supplies needed were on the table for the kids. Foam pieces, scissors, bubble wrap, double sided tape, and their imagination. The only additional item needed was some colored tape to make a frame around their art when the top layer of bubble wrap was added. Before the kids were sent to the table to be creative, they were shown a few examples. Here are two that I took photos of to share.

As soon as NHL and JSL sat down, they seemed to have an idea and got started. While I was chatting with a friend who came in to surprise me, the women from the Tang Museum helped the boys to find items that they needed (thank you). By the time I arrived, they were already taking shape.

NHL decided to make a scene from Back to the Future (he’s been watching those with TechyDad lately). JSL opted to make a fun robot. Here are the boys holding their finished dream pillows.

Thank you again to our wonderful library and the Tang Museum for bringing more art education into the lives of children in our community. My boys have been asking to visit the museum soon and I hope to be able to do that. I would love to know, have your children done craft projects while learning about a new artist or style of art work? Art mixed with education is a powerful tool and I would love to know. Please share in the comments below.