Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Hurry!


I found some beautiful pink and red and even white leaves the other day on the sidewalk from a neighbor's pretty red- leaved fall bushes. I think in the shadier spots the leaves go pink to even creamy white. I grabbed an empty cup from my van that previously held paper trash and used it to gather as many as I could, then brought them home and found a big book to press them in. I hope to be able to put them on some cardstock, maybe some craft paper, and make names with them, then find an inexpensive frame to put them in.

Recently I printed some names off of my computer for a small group of girls and had them glue some old fall hued lilac bush leaves I'd pressed last year, around their names, then we used contact paper to cover them. The paper was brown and their names in dark brown, almost black, and all of the leaves were deep purply browns and golden yellows. I think they turned out nice book marks.

So before the leaves all leave, try to find some to press and maybe you can make some Christmas presents with them for your besties or your favorite Aunt (like Suzanne). Maybe even your family's last name with leaves surrounding it in a frame would make a nice addition to your Thanksgiving decorations.

I will have to take some pictures when I get going on my craft and show you how they turn out. They need to dry first. They were pretty papery, but still soft, when they had fallen, so it might not take long. And with all of the beautiful leaves this year, I have a lot to play with. I have many from my maple trees in my front yard as well. Right now I am afraid to look out the window and see the state of my lawn because after raking all of them in a great big pile yesterday with my kids (then playing in them :) the wind was fierce last night! The good new is though, I have a great tip for the leaf clean up we discovered yesterday that my 10 yr. old daughter thought was great, as it is her job to rake and bag the leaves : Instead of using a rake, use a push broom and push it across your lawn for a quick pile. You might have to get the strays with a rake, but it saves your back a lot of ache not twisting, and it is so much faster. Our front yard was almost completey covered from our 3 big maples, but we had it piled up in no time.

If any of you make something with your leaves you'd like to share, or have another idea to make something with them, please share them with us!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Free Science Music

Did you like the Glorious Dawn movie? If so, you can download the music (MP3) for free for two science related songs ("A Glorious Dawn" and "We Are All Connected") at Symphony of Science.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Halloween Cupcakes

Here's a sweet project full of Halloween spirit!
Supplies
Cupcakes
Frosting
M&Ms
Good & Plentys
Jelly Beans
Chocolate kisses

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Cornell Bird Contest: Deadline October 31

Jeanne spotted a cool contest about birds: "Go outside and take a photo, do a painting, write a story or poem, or even shoot a video showing crows, pigeons, starlings, an owl or any kind of bird doing something strange to you." Get the rest of the details about this contest and the prizes from the flyer (PDF) or the website.

Apple Pie and the Universe

I'm a fan of the sky and stars. When I was in high school I got to go to space camp "Sky Lab" and guess what? That same astronomy teacher "Mr. Barenka" went to Em's elementary school to teach about space!

The following movie shows an American astronomer, a professor, Carl Sagan, who made science easy to understand on a PBS show called "Cosmos." You'll also see a little bit of Stephen Hawking, a professor of physics in England. So, if you're wondering about what apple pie has to do with the universe, check out the movie.
Looking for a journal entry idea? List your favorite pie(s). Pretend you're a food critic and write what you like about your favorite pie. (Have you seen Ratatouille? There's a good example of a food critic in that movie!) Here are some other questions you might want to write about: Have you ever helped bake a pie? Does your family bake them at home or do you buy them at the store? If you buy, them, from where? Do you get the small Hostess pies in your lunch for school?