Homemade Toys And Gifts

Homemade is big right now.
I can't imagine why. :)

Here are some ideas for homemade toys and gifts for children.


First, from TennZen, homemade marshmallow shooters.
These look really neat, we'll probably make a couple for our children.


Make Baby Stuff.com has several tutorials with patterns for sewing to woodworking and more.

Wooden toys:
Homemade Birdie Toy Tutorial

Wooden Puzzle Instructions

Doll Cradle Plans

Wooden Memory Tile Tutorial

Make Wooden Building Blocks

Sewn toys:
Doll Pattern & Instructions

Soft Blocks Sewing Tutorial

Felted Sweater Mouse Puppet

Waldorf Doll Instructions

Recycled toys:
Cardboard Playhouse Plans

Recycled Wallpaper Blocks

Even more toys:
Homemade Playdough

Kool-Aid Dyed Playsilks

Homemade Stickers


All Free Crafts has quite a few ideas for sewn, knitted and crocheted toys.

Teddy Wolf

Stuffed Hound Dog

Crocheted Frog

Amigurumi Bunny

Corker Knitting Spool


This next one is not a toy but a book on toy making for children, from Homeschool Freebie of the Day.

"Home-Made Toys for Girls And Boys" (available today only)


Finally, if you're like us and think children have too many toys, I have an idea for you.

You can buy plain canvas totebags, purses, and aprons from Hobby Lobby (or make your own, but last year I paid less than $2 for a pack of three).
Decorate with fabric paints; freehand, with stencils or rubber stamps.

I have also used acrylic craft paint in place of fabric paint, it just has to be heat-set with an iron before washing. Be sure it's dry (it takes about 24 hours), use low heat and don't put the iron directly on the fabric, copier paper works well.

You can also use this idea for your children to make "handprint" T-shirts, pot-holders, or aprons for their daddy or grandparents.
We made my husband a T-shirt one year with both our children's handprints on it and "We love our daddy" written in freehand.

Happy crafting. :)

Free Holiday Recipe E-Books

Good morning!

Here are some links to free holiday recipes e-books.

The first two, "Classic Christmas Cookies" and "Classic Christmas Candy and Fudge", are from Homeschool Freebie of the Day, and you can only get them today!

Next on the list is "Healthy Christmas Recipes Mini Ebook" from Free-EbooksOnline.com.

Would you like to have a cookie-exchange party but don't know how?
Partybluprints.com has a free e-book, "The Holiday Giving Party Cookie Exchange", with instructions, recipes and tips on how to host one.

And finally, another free e-book, "Recipes and Writing 2008", can be downloaded from Gregory A. Kompes.
This free e-book is full of holiday recipes, stories, essays, and poems from nine authors.

Happy cooking!

Free Gift-In-A-Jar E-book

Thanks for stopping by.
This link has been moved to Gift In A Jar Recipe Links at PawpawHollerHome.com.

Homeschool Freebies

Homeschool Freebie of the Day is back with a new freebie, "The Boston Tea Party" by Josephine Pollard & H. W. McVikar. This is an old time picture book, originally published in 1182, that tells the story of the Boston Tea Party, which occurred 235 years ago in December of 1773.
Don't forget, this is available today only.


CurrClick has a several new free products.
Dan's Doodles Coloring Book is a neat little collection of "doodle art" to color.
Apologia Physical Science 1st Edition Lapbook Journal FREE Module 1 is module 1 of "Exploring Creation With Physical Science" 1st Edition, by Dr. Jay Wile and Apologia Science. Designed for middle and High School students.
Velociraptor Worksheet is worksheet for use with the Velociraptor book by Elaine Landau. Also includes dinosaur links.
Check out the freebie page for more.


Get a free Christmas Theme Unit from SchoolExpress when you sign up for their newsletter. Free Thematic Unit eWorkbooks and Activity Fun eWorkbooks every month.

Free Craft Projects and Patterns

Good morning!
Have you been or are you going shopping today?

Not us!
I have never been shopping the day after Thanksgiving...unless it's for groceries.

We usually don't have the money to buy a lot of gifts for people so we make things.
In my experience people like homemade gifts better than something from the store, especially if it's from a child.

So, along those lines, here are some more links to free craft projects and patterns.

Ribbon-bound Journal

Papier Mache Spray Painted Paper Bowl a craft project for children

Free Craft Patterns and Projects on Ruby Glen almost 100 different projects

No-sew Fabric-covered Boxes Tutorial

Bernat Free Knitting and Crochet Patterns


Paper crafts:
Iris Folding

Origami Resource Center also has information on Iris Folding and Quilling

Quilling with Wit

Whimsiquills

Happy Thanksgiving Freebies

Here are a few more freebies for Thanksgiving!

First I'd like to remind you that Homeschool Freebie of the Day has all their free resources from Nov 10th onward still available!
If you've missed any over the last couple weeks, here's you another chance. :)
If you've never been to Homeschool Freebie of the Day, I urge you to do so. There are a lot of Thanksgiving and Pigrims resources including; e-books, audios and even a cookbook!
They'll be back December 1st with new freebies for us.

While you're there, check out their new book "Bible Battles" on sale now for $15.95 plus $5 Priority Mail shipping. Books begin shipping the week of December 1st, guaranteed Christmas delivery!
Also includes 4 bonus mp3 audios and 8 bonus e-books.
Order now!


Lastly, I made some Thanksgiving "memories" pages for my children and thought I'd share them with everyone.
There are 2 pages total. The first one has a place for the date, guests and menu. The second page can be used for recording special memories of the day.
These can be used for notebooking, journaling and even scrapbooking.


Thanksgiving Memories.pdf


Happy Thanksgiving and have a blessed day. :)

Free Arts and Crafts Projects/Scrapbooking/Homemade Gifts

My momma is a crafter, you name it she's done it. She really loves rubber-stamping and even teaches classes on it in her home. You can see some of what she does on her blog Artistic Inkspirations.
Anyways, she has been cleaning out her e-mail and sent me some great arts and craft links, and I thought I'd share them with you all today.

Starting off the list, from the blog Semicolon, Monday’s List: 100+ Homemade Christmas Gifts for the Craft-Impaired. There are links to all kinds of how-to's for homemade gifts; cooking mixes, sewing projects, homemade books and notebooks, and toys are just a few examples.

Do you need a place to store all your ribbons?
Make a homemade ribbon dispenser box, from Instructables.
I need to make one of these!

Make a mini, "maze" scrapbook at Making-Mini-Scrapbooks.com.
This 3x3 book would also be great for lapbooking or notebooking.

Would you like to learn how to incorporate quilling into your scrapbook?
Check out Introduction to Quilling for Scrapbookers from About.com Scrapbooking.

Don't know how to do quilling?
Here are a couple links to get you started:
A Basic Introduction to Quilling
Quilling Lesson for Children

All kinds of homemade gifts including; gifts-in-a-jar, printable gifts, decorations and some simple sewing projects, can be found at Organized Christmas. Check out the organizing and planning tips, too.

There are more that I'll post later; computer is acting up. Time to re-boot. :)

Thanksgiving Freebies To Do With Your Children

A few more Thanksgiving freebies!

CurrClick has added "Thanksgiving Helper", by Living Books Curriculum, to their freebie page. Full of stories, copywork, poems and a picture study of "The First Thanksgiving" by famous historical painter J. L. G. Ferris, this would be wonderful to do with your children this week.

Here is a neat idea from Better Homes and Gardens.

Take a nature walk and create a wild turkey collage from your findings.

Last but not least, check out homeschoolingcoach.com for some fun Thanksgiving Day activities for your children.

Freebies- Homeschool/Homemaking/Holidays

Freebies, freebies and more freebies!

The Erskines, over at Homeschool Freebie of the Day, have extended the availability of all their freebies they've offered over the last two weeks. You can get them all through the end of next week! And anyone can use the resources the Erskines offer, not just homeschoolers. Some of their offerings have been cookbooks, classic books and old radio shows. And they're all free!

Do you need some organizing and planning help for the holidays?
Check out The Debt Diva for free downloads of a "Frugal and Festive Holiday Guide", budget planner, menu planner, holiday grocery list, shopping plan and gift tracker.
Thanks Clarky!

Joyous Home is on day nine of their 12 Days Of Freebies giveaway and today's download is "Christmas Cards from Home".
Don't forget, you can get this today only.

Do you like to quilt? Need a new quilt pattern?
Head over to Michael Miller Fabrics for oodles of free quilt patterns, I counted at least 40!

More free quilt patterns and other sewing projects, including aprons, handbags and a cute little bear, can be found at Windham Fabrics. Some great gift ideas here.

And finally, for the woodworker in your family, Free Woodworking Plans has a page full of links to free plans for wooden toys, wagons, doll cradles, games and many more.

Free Notebooking Pages

I find freebies all over the web and now I have some for you,

three sets of notebooking/journaling pages.

The first two files are a 6 page set of The Pilgrims notebooking pages, they are both the same design, except the second set is wide ruled.

The third file is a 4 page set of nature journaling/notebooking pages, wide rule with a fall leaf design.

ThePilgrims NBPages.pdf ThePilgrims NBPagesWide.pdf

NatureLeaves NBPagesWide.pdf

These are for free for your personal use only.

If you like these or have suggestions, please leave a comment or e-mail me.

Thank you and enjoy. :)

Homemaking Freebies

It's time to cook!

Homeschool Freebie of the Day has a free holiday cookbook for us today, "Classic Thanksgiving Recipes: Over 200 Traditional Thanksgiving Dishes". This is in PDF format and available today only.
Note: Check back with them later today, they're supposed to post another freebie.

Joyous Home is in the middle of their 12 days of freebies and today's download is "Let's Make Old Fashioned Candy". This is also in PDF format and available today only.

Family Education has a free Holiday Cookie Book, in PDF format, full of simple and tasty cookie recipes.


Do you like to knit?
Knitting Daily has a free download, "A Little Something Special", five different knitting patterns for ornaments and a gift bag.


And for gardeners:
You can still get "Holiday Gifts & Decorating Ideas from the Crafter's Garden", by Mo Gilmer of Weekend Gardening on the DIY Network.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

Good Morning!

Today is the 145th anniversary of President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

Here are some free resources to learn more about this historic speech.

Lessons:

Absolute English has a short lesson on the Gettysburg Address for grades 9-12.

Drafting the Gettysburg Address, from Education World is another short lesson, for grades 6-12.

Audios:
Homeschool Freebie of the Day issued a challenge to their young readers to memorize the Gettysburg Address. Here are some of the entries.

At FreeAudio.org, you can download and listen to recordings of the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln's second Inaugural Address and Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863.

Neat website:

Gettysburg National Military Park's Civil War Page For Kids

Free Learning Resource- Biography/Book Contest/Audios/Lapbook

Here are some new homeschooling freebies for this week.

Download a biography about Good King Wenceslas from Knowledge Quest Maps. This sample biography is from their book, "What Really Happened During the Middle Ages", a collection of historical biographies for 8-14 year olds.
You might also like to visit their blog and enter the contest to win a free hard copy of "What Really Happened During the Middle Ages".

Homeschool Radio Shows has two audio programs for us this week, a Thanksgiving episode of "The Answer Man", and "Baby Snooks Thanksgiving". These are both episodes of two great old-time radio shows and will be available all week.

Attention Lapbookers!
CurrClick's new free product for this week is "The Girl in the Rag Coat Lapbook" by Hands of a Child, for grades K-3. Available all week, pdf format.

Free Classic E-books- Early American History

Here are four classic books about early American History.

Homeschool Freebie of the Day has another classic e-book download for us today.
Originally published in 1910, "Mary of Plymouth: A Story of the Pilgrim Settlement" by James Otis, is a story about the pilgrims and Plymouth Colony as told by a young pilgrim girl.
Available today only.

"The Founding of New England" by American writer and historian James Truslow Adams, was originally published in 1921 and won a Pulitzer Prize for History.

"Historic Deeds of Danger and Daring" by Herbert G. Smith, B. J. Fernie and R. S. Blair, tells the stories of Henry Hudson, Myles Standish, Daniel Boone and many more. This was originally published in 1906.

"The Women Who Came in the Mayflower" by Annie Russell Marble, is a memorial to the pilgrim women of Plymouth Colony and reveals glimpses of the communal life during 1621-1623.
This book was originally published in 1920.

Freebies-Bible Stories/Homemaking/Thanksgiving/Christmas/

New freebies for today.

First, from Homeschool Freebie of the Day, chapters from their upcoming book "Bible Battles", by Lettice Bell and Jessica Erskine. This exciting and faithfully told book re-tells the stories of great battles and wars described in the Old Testament and brings them to life for your children.
Also includes an interactive tool for scripture study.
Chapter sampler is in PDF format, available today only.
They are having a big “Publication Celebration” for this great new book on Thursday, November 20, with a slew of extra resources and goodies you won’t want to lose out on.
And don't forget, today is the deadline for your Gettysburg Address submissions, have them in by midnight tonight!

Next, from Joyous Home, a Thanksgiving and Christmas day celebration of free homemaking projects, twelve days of freebies! Downloads include sewing projects, holiday dinners, bread making, and much more. This started Friday and the downloads are available for one day only, so there are nine days left. Today's free download goes up at 11:30am.

The new free product from CurrClick is "Lines of Time for 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving". This is a fun, reading comprehension resource for the children's reader "'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving". PDF format, reader not included. Expires this week.
CurrClick has also added several new products to their freebie page, available anytime.

Here a couple classic books to download:
"Old Christmas: From the Sketch Book of Washington Irving" by Washington Irving and Randolph Caldecott, originally published in 1876

"Christmas Entertainments: Containing Fancy Drills, Acrostics, Motion Songs, Tableaux, Short Plays, Recitations in Costume, for Children of Five to Fifteen Years" by Alice Maude Kellogg, published in 1918

And finally, some holiday audios:
A reading of "The New-England Boy's Song About Thanksgiving Day", a poem by Lydia Maria Child

"A Christmas Carol - 1931- Dicken Radio Plays", old-time radio

"Abbott & Costello Christmas Program", old-time radio show

More Thanksgiving Freebies

More Thanksgiving resources!

First, from Homeschool Freebie of the Day, The Path of Praise. This is a wonderful audio "history” of the celebration of Thanksgiving, first broadcast on the old radio show, “Cavalcade of America”, in 1951. This is available today only.
Thank you Erskines. :)

From Amy, at Living Locurto, a planner and food labels.
Thank you Amy. :)

Free worksheets from LearningPage.com

And, from Scienceclassroom.com, a whole page of Thanksgiving Links.

Also see my previous posts:

Free Educational Resources For Thanksgiving

Free Educational Resources-Pilgrim Stories Part 3/Pilgrim Audio/Thanksgiving

Free Educational Resources-Pilgrim Stories Part 2/E-books/Great Sites

Free Educational Resources-Pilgrims

Free Educational Resources For Thanksgiving

Homeschool Freebie of the Day has an e-book version of "An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving" by Louisa May Alcott, author of "Little Women".

Get this freebie today only.

Google Book Search has an e-book version of "Thanksgiving: Its Origin, Celebration and Significance as Related in Prose and Verse" by Robert Haven Schauffler, originally published in 1907. Robert Haven Schauffler was an Austrian-American musician, author and poet, he edited numerous collections of prose and verse dedicated to American holidays.

Southern Belle over at Homeschooling 4 Free has an excellent list of Thanksgiving resources, including lapbooks, mini-books, printables and many more. Check it out!

Free Educational Resources-Pilgrim Stories Part 3/Pilgrim Audio/Thanksgiving

Pilgrim Stories III: Little Pilgrims & The Red Men is the conclusion of Homeschool Freebie of the Day's three part series of the story of the Pilgrims. In part three, learn how Pilgrim children got along with their Native American neighbors through tales of danger, adventure and friendship!

Included in part three is a Teacher’s Guide to learning more about the Pilgrims through play-acting and other activities.

This and parts one and two of "Pilgrim Stories" will be available through the end of this week.


Also from the Erskines, at Living Books for the Ears, "You Are There: The Sailing Of The Pilgrims". This is a classic radio show that originally aired on December 21, 1947.
Excellent history resource for your Pilgrim studies!



Some Thanksgiving freebies:

Thanksgiving Prayers
Thanksgiving Poems
Thanksgiving Paper Dolls
Pilgrim Paper Doll
Pilgrim "Friends"
Thanksgiving Activities-Pilgrim Themed


Last but not least, here are a couple of funny old-time radio shows about Thanksgiving.

Best of Old Time Radio presents Burns and Allen in Landing of the Indians at Plymouth- George Burns and Gracie Allen
Father Knows Best Thanksgiving- Family show that aired in the 1940's, then became a television show.

Free Educational Resources-Pilgrim Stories Part 2/E-books/Great Sites

Don't forget to get part two of "Pilgrim Stories" from Homeschool Freebie of the Day. This second part tells about the Pilgrims' arrival in the New World and the dangers they faced, the making of new friends and the first Thanksgiving.
This freebie will be available through the end of the week.

I found a couple more e-books about the Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony.

From the Internet Archive, "Little Pilgrims at Plymouth", a classic children's book by Frances A Humphrey, published in the late 1800's.

From Google Book Search, "The Pilgrims in Their Three Homes; England, Holland and America", by William Elliot Griffis, a classic book on the history of the Pilgrims, published in 1898.


And here are some more good websites:

Mayflower Steps-photos and history of Plymouth, past and present
The Avalon Project-Colonial Charters, Grants and Related Documents
The Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony: A in-depth study guide, some lesson plans are included.

Free Educational Resources-Pilgrims

First, from Homeschool Freebie of the Day, the first of a three part serialization of the classic children's book "Pilgrim Stories", by Margaret Pumphrey. Part is entitled "Pilgrim Stories, Book I: From Old Homes to New", and introduces us to the pilgrims and the beginnings of their great journey.
This freebie will be available throught the end of the week.

Next, from Google Book Search, "Mary of Plymouth: A Story of the Pilgrim Settlement" by James Otis, published in 1910. Written from a child's point of view, this classic children's book tells about the joys and hardships the Pilgrims faced the first ten years in the New World.

Who were the first settlers in America?
Here is a database of Pilgrim ship lists from the early 1600's, over 7100 families and 250 ships.

And finally a couple of educational websites about the Mayflower and Plymouth, Mass.
Plymouth: Its History and People
Sail1620