Mosaic Yoshi

Thanks to my cooperating teacher and her creative projects working with these itty bitty mosaics tiles with cd cases. I was able to create my own mosaic. Boyfriend really likes the 8-bit characters from the originals Mario games. So, I made him a mosaic Yoshi. He LOVES it. I didn't use a cd case for mine, so I need to go find a frame for it.

Mini Pies (Updated)

I have been in a dehydrating fruit mania.. bananas, 6 different kinds of apples, watermelon, strawberries. Currently in the dehydrator: Golden Delicious Apples, Bananas, and Pinneapple.

Currently in the oven: Minni Apple Pies!

I found the recipe here while I was stumbling. The recipe didn't really blow my mind. I would suggest possibly using your own apple pie recipe. The recipe calls for making 6 pies in your cupcake pan. I have one for 12 cupcakes and I was able to make 5. So, you may have to alter the recipe a bit. I also used golden delicious apples instead. I think this would be fun to try with different fillings. :)

I tried this again today with a new recipe I got from a friend of mine for the filling.  This made 6 mini pies.

Crust:
2 Cups Flour
12 Tbsp Softened Salted Butter
4 Tbsp Cold Water

Mix together flour and butter until you have small chunks. Add water and mix together into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap for 20-30 minutes.

Filling:
4 Cups Granny Smith Apples (sliced thin)
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
2 Tbsp  Flour  (or 1/8 cup)
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice 


Mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and lemon juice. Peel apples and slice thin (I used a mandolin). Then mix together. 

Grease a muffin pan, I used baking spray. Use rolling pin to roll out crust on a lightly floured surface. I used a bowl to cut around the shape. Take your crust and place it in the muffin pan. Score the bottom of the crust. Then place your apple filling mixture inside, make sure it is heaping the apples cook down alot. Then use the same bowl to cut another circle out of the crust for the top. Pinch the bottom layer and top layer of crust together and then score the top. 


Placed it in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. I found out that I had to take them out of the pan right away and cool on a plate, otherwise the mini pie will crumble in the pan after it has cooled. If you run into this problem, stick the pan back in the oven for a few minutes to let them heat up again. 

Serve with vanilla ice cream. Delicious!

Hand-made Thank-You's

I had my graduation party this past weekend and I decided to make my own Thank-You's instead of buying them. A friend of mine gave me some odds and ends including some really cool scrapbook booking paper that helped me make these cards.

Supplies I used:
Cardstock (Multicolor, mine even have a bit of texture to it)
Scrapbook paper
Glue / Tape
Ruler
Scissors
Envelopes
"Thank You" Stamp & Ink
Cheep white paper for the inside

I basically cut down the cardstock to size to fit the envelope, folded it in half. Cut the scrapbook paper to fit and leave a boarder around the outside. Used more cardstock with enough room to just use the stamp. I used some left over scraps from the card to make a boarder around the "Thank You". On the inside, I used some cheap construction paper from a pack I got at target to have a place to write on the inside. 

I then signed the back with my logo. I created this logo a few years ago for a graphic design class. We drew an animal from a hat and then we had to use that animal to create a logo using our initials or our name. I drew an elephant and my initials are A.N.

Dale Chihuly Sculpture

With the criteria of teaching the 2nd graders the difference between Geometric and Organic Shapes, we made a sculpture in the likeness of Dale Chihuly, with recycled plastic bottles. 

Day 1:

Talked about the differences between Geometric and Organic Shapes, then designed our pop bottles using shapes and patterns.

Day 2:

Talked about the artist, Dale Chihuly and his method of glass blowing. Then the students each painted one bottle. 

Day 3:

The students cut their bottles into a spiral shape (leaving the cap on, to help me hot glue them together on a paper towel tube), then made eye-patches to help remind them of the artist's name. 

Here's the video!

Oh, hey there Chameleon... I didn't see you.

With all of the excitement of the baby chicks hatching ("Peep! Peep! Peep!", says all of my kindergarteners) and graduation.. we have been talking about chameleons and how they change colors!

Day 1: Talked about patterns, then we painted two sheets of paper with a target pattern.

Day 2: Watched a video about Eric Carle's book "The Mixed-up Chameleon"; folded one of our papers in half and used a tracer to trace and cut out our Chameleons. Then we opened them up and glued them standing up on our other painted paper to blend in.

 

Day 3: I had my little artists fill out a worksheet for me. I probably would change some things about it, now having done it with 2 classes. But, the students aren't the only ones that are learning. :) At the bottom, I had them draw their own mixed-up chameleon. SUPER cute and creative. 

My worksheet:

The beautiful mixed-up chameleons!