Holiday Crafts

Festive Patriotic Crafts
Show off your stars and stripes spirit with this easy crop of crafts

By Woman's Day Posted June 12, 2009 from WomansDay.com








Uncle Sam Vase
Celebrate the holiday in style with this festive flower vase.


Add some florals to your 4th of July holiday decor with this extra tall flower vase boasting America's famous stars and stripes!

Supplies

4" x 5 1/2" coffee can
5"-diam terra-cotta flowerpot and saucer
6 wooden stars (3 each 1" and 13/4" by Walnut Hollow)
1 1/2 yd 20-gauge florist’s wire
Acrylic paints for metal (Delta No Primer Metal Colors Red, White, Bright Blue)
Acrylic paints (Ceramcoat Medium Flesh, White, Persimmon, Bright Yellow, Black)
Fine sandpaper; 3/4"-wide masking tape
Clear finish
Glue gun; GOOP adhesive
1" stencil brush
Flat paintbrushes

Directions

1. SAND outside of can. Wash and dry. PAINT can white. Let dry. With tape mask 3/4"-wide vertical stripes spaced 3/4" apart. Paint stripes red, letting each coat dry.

2. PAINT saucer blue. Paint flowerpot flesh color with white rim. Let dry. With pot upside down, lightly outline face in pencil. Paint black-dot eyes. Paint round persimmon cheeks with stencil brush. When dry, paint white brows, mustache, eye highlights (with tip of handle) and pink mouth. Paint wooden stars yellow. Let paint dry.

3. GLUE saucer upside down to bottom of flowerpot (top of head) using Goop. Glue can right side up to saucer. Let dry.

4. APPLY 2 coats finish, letting each dry.

5. COIL wire around a pencil. Stretch to fit around can and form hooks at ends. Hot-glue stars to wire; hook wire around can.

Work At Home Moms Choices - Patrioctic Crafts, Holiday Crafts


Stars and Stripes Cap

Celebrate the holiday with this fun and easy craft decorationBy Woman's Day Posted June 12, 2009 from WomansDay.com Photo: © Woman's Day





Craft this stars and stripes cap to celebrate the coming holiday!

Supplies:

White cotton baseball cap
Large potato, washed and dried
Fabric paints (Delta Brush-On True Red, Dark Blue); 1/2"–1" flat paintbrush
Masking tape (optional); sharp knife
Paper towel; tracing paper

Directions:

1. THIN red paint with a few drops of water. Starting at center, outline with pencil (and tape if desired) red stripes 1" apart lengthwise on top of cap brim; paint. Let dry. Continue stripes on underside of brim. Let dry. Paint crown button red.

2. DRAW small blue stars

3. CUT potato in half. Draw star on flesh, then cut away surrounding potato at least 1/4" deep. Blot with paper towel.

4. BRUSH a thin, even coat of blue paint onto star stamp. With one hand inside cap, press stamp on outside and hand from inside to help paint adhere. Lift stamp. Repeat until crown is covered with stars. Touch up if needed. Let dry 24 hours. Set paint as directed on label.

Work At Home Moms Choices - Patrioctic Crafts, Holiday Crafts


Let Freedom Ring Towel
This star-spangled craft is simple enough for kids to make

Ring in the holiday with this fun and festive towel--perfect for the post-pool dip.



Supplies

Palm-size star stickers on self-stick paper
Sponge brush
Red fabric paint
Blue fabric paint
Plain white towel

Directions

1. CUT out palm-sized stars from self-stick paper and place all over a plain white towel.

2. NEXT, use a sponge brush to apply blue fabric paint to one of your child’s hands, and red paint to the other.

3. STAMP painted palms over self-stick stars, pressing down firmly to make handprints.

4. REPEATuntil all stars are covered, reapplying paint as needed.

5. DRY overnight, then peel off self-stick paper.

Work At Home Moms Choices - Patrioctic Crafts, Holiday Crafts

Leaf Bottles Bring The OutDoors In

Leaf Bottles
Turn nature into art


Materials:
Leaves
Newspaper
3M Super 77 spray adhesive
Glass bottles
Scissors
White tissue paper
1" foam brush
Mod Podge Decoupage Medium

Instructions:
1. Working in a well-ventilated area, place leaves on newspaper and apply spray adhesive to their backs. Lift leaves off newspaper. Position onto bottles and press into place with fingertips.

2. Cut tissue paper into small rectangles large enough to cover leaves. Apply a light coat of decoupage medium. Place coated side down over leaf on bottle. With fingertips, smooth out any wrinkles or air bubbles.

Kids Craft Ideas

Summer Crafts

Make Your Own Fern Stencil and Painting
Learn how to create beautiful nature-inspired artwork

By Woman's Day Staff Posted

March 16, 2009 from Woman's Day; April 14, 2009
Photo: © Dan Duchars

Bring the outdoors in with artwork inspired by nature. Follow these easy how-to steps for creating fern leaf paintings.


Supplies
Newspaper
Stretched Canvas
Clear Acetate, large enough to cover the canvas
Several sheets of plain paper, large enough to cover the canvas
Pencil
Black Sharpie Marker
X-acto Knife with a new, sharp blade
3M Spray Mount Artist's Adhesive
Protective backing (Either a self-healing board or a piece of wood)
Stencil Paint
Stencil Brush
Paper Plate
Masking Tape

Instructions
1. Set up a work area on a flat surface and cover it with newspaper.
2. Using a pencil, practice drawing a fern on a piece of plain paper.
3. When satisfied with the drawing, tape the clear acetate on top. Then, trace the fern drawing on to the acetate with your Sharpie.
4. Tape this new drawing to your protective surface, and carefully cut the fern shape out using an X-acto knife.
5. In a well-ventilated room (or outside), spray the back of your stencil with spray adhesive. Make sure to hold the can 10-12 inches away from the surface, or else it will get too wet.
6. Allow the adhesive to dry for a few minutes, then, carefully place it on the blank canvas.
7. Pour some stencil paint on your paper plate.
8. Working from the inside out, use a tapping motion to paint on the first coat.
9. Let dry for a half hour, then, add a second coat.
10. Allow the paint to fully dry. Then, carefully remove the stencil to reveal your fern painting.

Work At Home Moms Choices Kids Crafts and Summer Crafts

Tough Love

Tough Love and the Strength to Do it

Author: Marcia Chumbley

Tough love and the strength to do it can be hard. As a parent or grandparent raising teens today, it can be difficult to know when to hold on tightly and when to let go and allow them to make their own mistakes. Tough love has been a hot topic in the media lately – the idea of loving your children, but allowing them to make their mistakes and learn from them, without bailing them out or saving them from the consequences. The idea behind this is that saving your teenager from the consequences of his or her actions only encourages further bad behavior in the future.



Tough love is not a path for everyone. It requires strength and determination on the part of the caregiver – a commitment on the part of all parties involved that the teen will have to deal with the consequences of their behavior. That means that if he gets arrested, he may have to spend a night in jail. If she gets pregnant, she’ll have to learn how to be a mom and go to school at the same time. You will have to stand by and watch as your child struggles to learn new skills. It truly is a lesson from the school of hard knocks, but for some individuals, tough love is the only way to learn.


As a caregiver or parent, you can provide advice, encouragement, and support while loving your teen through their poor choices – tough love is not about abandonment. It is, however, about not giving in, and not bailing them out. They have made their choices in life, and now they are dealing with their actions. Tough love is not an easy path for the caregiver or the teen, and is often chosen as a last resort, after many other possibilities have been tried and failed. You must be strong, and stand your ground.


If your teen is involved in drugs or alcohol, this path may be especially difficult. You will have to refrain from giving them money, as it may be used to buy drugs. Tough love is often harder on the caregiver than it is on the child, as they are constantly put on the spot. You will constantly be the “bad guy”, and have to refuse your child’s demands.


Most importantly, tough love is a learning experience. After teens or young adults have failed to learn through instruction, praise, reinforcement, or punishment while growing up, tough love allows them to learn from the most difficult instructor – life itself. Allowing your children or grandchildren to make their own choices and then requiring them to stick with those choices will make them strong, independent people. It will also test your strength, patience, and endurance. They don’t call it “tough” love for nothing! It’s emotionally demanding, and incredibly difficult for all parties involved. However, if this is the path you’ve chosen, stick with it! The rewards will be well worth the investment, in the end.

About the Author:

Marcia Chumbley is a work at home mom and grandmother in Minnesota. She is the owner of a Christian Work From Home Moms and Grandparents web site at http://www.faithfulgrannies.com and Work At Home Moms and Divas Online http://www.workathomedivasonline.com. Bringing generations of Christian Work From Home Moms, Grandmothers, Parents, Boomers and Families together while providing FREE Advertising Networking and Resources, while balancing the work at home experience.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Tough Love and the Strength to Do it

Tough Love

Tough Love and the Strength to Do it

Author: Marcia Chumbley

Tough love and the strength to do it can be hard. As a parent or grandparent raising teens today, it can be difficult to know when to hold on tightly and when to let go and allow them to make their own mistakes. Tough love has been a hot topic in the media lately – the idea of loving your children, but allowing them to make their mistakes and learn from them, without bailing them out or saving them from the consequences. The idea behind this is that saving your teenager from the consequences of his or her actions only encourages further bad behavior in the future.


Tough love is not a path for everyone. It requires strength and determination on the part of the caregiver – a commitment on the part of all parties involved that the teen will have to deal with the consequences of their behavior. That means that if he gets arrested, he may have to spend a night in jail. If she gets pregnant, she’ll have to learn how to be a mom and go to school at the same time. You will have to stand by and watch as your child struggles to learn new skills. It truly is a lesson from the school of hard knocks, but for some individuals, tough love is the only way to learn.


As a caregiver or parent, you can provide advice, encouragement, and support while loving your teen through their poor choices – tough love is not about abandonment. It is, however, about not giving in, and not bailing them out. They have made their choices in life, and now they are dealing with their actions. Tough love is not an easy path for the caregiver or the teen, and is often chosen as a last resort, after many other possibilities have been tried and failed. You must be strong, and stand your ground.


If your teen is involved in drugs or alcohol, this path may be especially difficult. You will have to refrain from giving them money, as it may be used to buy drugs. Tough love is often harder on the caregiver than it is on the child, as they are constantly put on the spot. You will constantly be the “bad guy”, and have to refuse your child’s demands.


Most importantly, tough love is a learning experience. After teens or young adults have failed to learn through instruction, praise, reinforcement, or punishment while growing up, tough love allows them to learn from the most difficult instructor – life itself. Allowing your children or grandchildren to make their own choices and then requiring them to stick with those choices will make them strong, independent people. It will also test your strength, patience, and endurance. They don’t call it “tough” love for nothing! It’s emotionally demanding, and incredibly difficult for all parties involved. However, if this is the path you’ve chosen, stick with it! The rewards will be well worth the investment, in the end.

About the Author:

Marcia Chumbley is a work at home mom and grandmother in Minnesota. She is the owner of a Christian Work From Home Moms and Grandparents web site at http://www.faithfulgrannies.com and Work At Home Moms and Divas Online http://www.workathomedivasonline.com. Bringing generations of Christian Work From Home Moms, Grandmothers, Parents, Boomers and Families together while providing FREE Advertising Networking and Resources, while balancing the work at home experience.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Tough Love and the Strength to Do it

What Cancer Cannot Do

Cancer is so limited . . .
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot invade the soul.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the Spirit.
It cannot lessen the power of the resurrection.

Work At Home Moms Choicecs WAHM Choices

Resession More Moms Go Back To School

Recession Inspiring More Mothers to Go Back to School


– Earning a degree has long been a dream of many working mothers. While it might seem the recession would put that dream even further out of reach for most, many working and single mothers are actually drawing inspiration from the economy to pursue their dream of getting a higher education.



“We are seeing an increase in the number of women returning to school,” says Adena E. Johnston, campus dean of DeVry University’s Philadelphia campus. “Degree completion programs are very popular for those who have not finished their education, but we’re also seeing more questions about the bachelor’s programs with an entrepreneurship specialty. Women seem to want to learn more about starting their own businesses or having more flexibility and control over their movement in and out of the workforce.”



There’s no arguing that an advanced degree can help mothers improve their employment situation, judging by Bureau of Labor Statistics.  The higher an individual’s level of education, the less likely she or he is to be unemployed, according to the bureau. The unemployment rate in 2007 (the latest year for which data is available) for women 25 and older lacking a high school diploma was 8.2 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau. For those with a bachelor’s degree or higher, the unemployment rate drops to about 2 percent.



Many working mothers, it seems, now perceive a return to school as not just a dream but a necessity. In an increasingly competitive job market, they recognize they can no longer afford to remain in low-paying jobs, or to be the only competitors in the field without a degree.



“In 1968, my father advised me I didn’t need a college education. He said all I needed was to get married and take up homemaking,” says Chris Dulaigh-Bates, a 56-year-old medical transcriptionist and mother of two. “I have worked out of my home for the last 17 years, but over the course of the last five years, technology and world trade have eroded away the job security I once enjoyed.”



“My future needs a new ending,” she says. “I’m going to school to help rewrite the ending to my story.”



Dulaigh-Bates is a DeVry University student who was awarded a full-ride scholarship in 2008 through a special “Project Working Mom” scholarship program for working mothers who wanted to return to school through an online program.  For many working mothers, the online nature of the scholarship means they will be able to better fit their education into their busy lives, which already revolve around their children, family and jobs.



The flexibility of online learning may be contributing to the growing interest among mothers to return to pursuing higher education, Johnston points out. The ability to fit online class schedules into already busy lives means many mothers will be able to better balance work, family and educational obligations.



“Online education is the best route for me because sometimes my children with disabilities or special conditions require extensive involvement,” says Sandy Decker, a home daycare provider who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in accounting from DeVry University. “This ability to attend school online will prove critical to my success as a student and allow me the flexibility I need as a mother.”



Johnston says schools are seeing an increase in the number of women seeking information, scholarships and degrees in areas deemed recession-proof, like accounting. “Accounting concentrations for undergrad and graduate students are popular as more and more want to be able to have portable skills,” she says.



“Working mothers looking to earn a degree should begin to identify their transferable skills, or those skills they bring with them as older adults who have significant life experience,” Johnston advises. “These students are usually motivated and just need encouragement as they move forward with their education.”



To learn more about DeVry University and its online degree programs that can help mothers achieve their educational goals while still fulfilling personal and work obligations, visit www.DeVry.edu.



Courtesy of ARAcontent

Challange For This Weekend

WAHMChoices Have a great weekend. Make it memorable to someone & make a difference in someones life. I Challange Everyone to a Ramdon Act of Kindness!