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July 12, 2013 by Krista

Weekend Wander #131

Welcome, my friends! Sorry for the nearly non-existent postings this week. This vacation has been more like a work-cation. But it’s been good work. If you hang out with me on Facebook, you heard about our service-oriented family reunion and there were some great suggestions how how to ease a sunburn… Thanks, friends!

My posting was minimal (at best), but I’ve been a pinning fool. My favorite, because sometimes I struggle:

My favorite link from last week:

Easy Apricot Bars

at Little Bitty Kitchen

Can you say YUM!

So, show me what you got! And GOOOO!

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.
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May 21, 2013 by Krista

DIY Pirate Treasure Map

Avast, ye mateys! Ahoy and welcome to the most fun map skills practice activity you will find! Whether you’re looking for an educational exercise for the kids, a fun activity to pass a warm afternoon or a creative project and a scavenger hunt, you’ll love making your own pirate treasure map!

WHY WOULD I MAKE A PIRATE TREASURE MAP?

I think a better question is why wouldn’t you map a pirate treasure map? But, in case you need a bit more convincing than that, let’s look at some of the cool things you can do with a DIY pirate map.

A DIY Pirate Treasure map is a great way to get creative, practice mapping skills, and it encourages STEAM thinking. It’s great for pretend play and it’s hands-on.

Need a little more information?

GET CREATIVE WITH A PIRATE MAP STEAM ACTIVITY

There is nothing quite so creative as designing your own space. From the ground up – whether it’s a whole planet or just a little part, crafting the environment requires creativity. It’s a great way to test the limits of how different landscapes and biomes interact with each other. Or to throw them out all together. Glaciers in the desert? Why not?

PRACTICE MAPPING SKILLS WITH A TREASURE MAP

Mapping skills are important. Sure, we’ve all got a GPS attached to our palms or the dashboard, but what if you didn’t? Batteries die, tools get lost, things happen. Could you read a map? These skills don’t just pop into existence when we need them. This is the perfect way to practice and have fun at the same time! The kids might not even realize they are learning!

The perfect way to practice map making and map reading skills is with a swashbuckling adventure!

MAKING YOUR PIRATE TREASURE MAP

Now that we’ve gone over the great reasons to make a pirate map, let get to it!

DIY Pirate Treasure Map Materials:
– Brown wrapping paper used for packaging and mailing. I got a whole roll at Dollar Tree. Brown paper bags or grocery sacks will also work, your map will just be smaller. You can use regular paper, construction paper or whatever else you think would make a cool map.
– Markers. I used regular old washable Crayola markers. But, you can get as creative as you’d like with the art supplies you want to offer.

HOW TO MAKE A TREASURE MAP:

Ok, now that we have the materials all gathered, let start this project already. Follow these steps and you’ll be swashbuckling before you know it.

DIY Pirate Map Directions:

1. Cut off a section of wrapping paper. It doesn’t have to be square, but that’s about the shape I went for. Keep in mind the size of your creators and make-believers. When I created ours, it was a little big for my 3 year old to handle himself, although the extra large size was pretty cool as far as WOW factor.

2. Draw and design your treasure map to your heart’s content. This was my favorite part. There is NO wrong way to do this. Add in whatever landmarks you want, where ever you want them. You might want to set some rules (no glaciers in the jungle, no cactus in the tundra) or you might want to just throw caution to the wind and see what gets created. Again, no wrong way.

3. Label your map and add any illustrations you want. Don’t forget the compass rose! This was the hardest part of the whole project. After “deadman”, “isla de muerta” and “treasure island” I ran out of pirate-y things to name all the landmarks. A quick Google search later and I had everything I needed. To help you get started, here’s some ideas:

Pirate Cove
Isla de Muerta (Island of the Dead in Spanish)
Cannon Ball Bay
Jewel Coast
Smuggler’s Isle
Deadman’s Caves
Shipwreck Sea
Hideaway Hills
Penny Point
Treasure Beach
Emerald Isle
Cross Bone Straight
Mermaid Lagoon (thanks, Peter Pan)
Mermaid Point
Black Rock Mountain
Rattlesnake River

GET READY TO PLAY WITH YOUR DIY TREASURE MAP

We had a whole Pirate Adventure Day after I made this map. My preschool aged kids LOVED it. We had a treasure hunt and pirate themed food and everything.

I wanted to make sure we followed a specific route on our Pirate Treasure Hunt, so “shark-infested waters” blocked one way and “sea monsters” blocked another. There was soo much on this map, we didn’t get to see them all on our treasure hunt, but it was fun for the kids to pretend with later.

Don’t be afraid to hand over the markers and paper! This is a great activity for older kids to do and then let them play with their creations.

This would also be a lot of fun for a birthday party!

December 8, 2011 by Krista

Weekend Wander #59

Ugh… so, I just realized at like 6pm that this week’s party was early, not late. Which means I spent all day thinking today was Friday. This pregnancy brain is killing me. Gah! Ten more weeks, only ten more weeks. Except then the new-mommy, zombie brain will set in. Gah-Rate.

Ok, features from last week:

The most viewed link was cleaning between your oven doors over at Racks & Mooby:

Threading My Way has a great way to upcycle your wedding dress:

What a great way to display all those Holiday cards over at Here Comes the Sun:

The Crafty Conundrum has a great must-try recipe!

Ok, grab a featured button if you want one, ladies. Thanks for linking up everyone! And now, welcome to the party… sorry, I started it without you. I blame the baby.

Link ’em up!

1. No Commercial Site.

2. Family Friendly Link Only, Please.

3. Mingle!

August 10, 2011 by Krista

DIY Personalized Clock

So, if you’ve been around here much you’ve probably realized that I’m short on space and that because of such I like gifts and decor that don’t have to come down or be put away once the holiday passes. So, this is more of a decor idea than a gift idea, but it’s one you can leave up all year long. And, double bonus, it’s easy to change when you want something new. What is it you ask? Well, it’s a personalized clock! Woot woot, right? Ha, yeah, especially when I tell you it cost me about $2. And I entered a giveaway for a similar (albeit, much nicer) clock and thought about getting one for my parents for Christmas, till I saw the price tag. I scratched that right off my “to-buy” list. $68 for a clock? Not on my budget. Ok, enough of the running of the mouth, uh… fingers?

Here’s the How:

1) Buy a clock. The quality and size is totally up to you. However, if you want to be able to print your photo at home, keep it small. You can always get larger prints from a photo center though, so don’t let size limit you. I bought mine at IKEA for a buck.

2) Do any adjustments to the photo you want to. I lowered the opacity so it wasn’t so vibrant a photo. Get it printed or print it on your home printer

3) Decide where you want to place the photo. I popped the plastic cover off and used that to help me place my photo.

4) Trace around the plastic cover. Cut just inside the line to allow for fit. It’s better to cut big and need to trim than to cut too small. Also, look at the center of the clock. What does the spindle mechanism look like? Are you going to have to cut around it? I did. Mark it on your photo if so.

5) If you have a clock like I did where the spindle mechanism doesn’t remove you will have to cut a slit in your photo to place it under the hands. If the spindle does remove, then by all means, do that instead. It will result in a much cleaner finished product. Choose a less important part of the photo and make a clean cut all the way to the center. You will probably also need to cut out a small circle for the spindle mechanism. Exacto knifes are great for this, but make sure they have a sharp blade and use firm pressure so you don’t just score your photo instead of cutting all the way through it.

6) Position the picture under the arms. Do this carefully. When you have it in place, use a few dots of tacky glue to hold it still. Note: Make sure the photo is lined up with the numbers on the clock. Top of the photo should be at the top of the clock.

7) I then marked the placement of the numbers on the clock so I could accurately place them on the cover. I just popped the cover back on and wrote on the cover with a dry erase marker. This is where you could easily customize to your own taste. No numbers, roman numerals, numeric, spell a word, whatever your little heart desires.

8) I applied my numbers to the cover. I used self-adhesive vinyl. The good thing about this is that if I want to change it, it’s as easy as peeling the vinyl off and sticking new stuff on. Can’t ask for easier.

9) I also added a personalized name to the clock, just to make it a little more special.

It was a cheap project, and the results aren’t quite Pottery Barn quality, but sheesh… it’s just going in our bathroom!

If you are need vinyl numbers or lettering, let me know. I can hook you up. I’m awesome at custom Etsy orders. A variety of fonts and colors available.

July 22, 2011 by Krista