Rebekah's First Sewing Machine Lesson

A few days ago I gave Rebekah her first sewing machine lesson.  She really wanted to use some felt that she got for Christmas, and she saw an older girl hand sewing a simple purse a while ago.  So, she asked if we could make a purse out of her felt.  Permission granted.  I tried to have her hand sew it at first, but it was difficult, so we went to the machine.  I showed her how it worked, then had her push the foot petal while I helped her hold it in the right position.  She was so excited to be able to use the machine!!!  Now Caleb is begging too!  We just folded a piece of felt in half, sewed two sides of it, and then sewed on a ribbon handle.  Simple and quick, a perfect first project.  She still needs to learn a lot about the sewing machine to be able to use it herself, but I think I'll enjoy that teaching time!

Embellishing a Plain Girl's Dress

In order to get Rebekah dresses that are long enough, sometimes we buy larger sizes (this is 1 size too big).  In this case, the neck line was too low for her, so I added some blue fabric.

Then I added a blue flower with button on the bottom to make it a bit more fun.  I love these knit dresses, they are so comfy and great for playing in!

Lace on the Bottom of Jean Skirt

I found this skirt at a garage sale for $1!  It was just a little bit on the short side, so I added this lace trim.  It really dresses it up nicely.  I think I paid $0.75 for the trim at a thrift store, and I used an old linen shirt for the fabric under the lace.  Total cost = $1.75

Flower Pot Wreath

This is what I gave my mom for Mother's Day this year.  I think it turned out really cute, although I wish I would have used blue instead of purple, since I just noticed my mom had a few things painted blue in her yard!

I found the idea on joann.com.  I had a hard time finding all the supplies, maybe because I didn't go to JoAnn's!  Walmart didn't have any clay pots at all, I ended up finding them at the Dollar Tree, which only had one size.  I bought a metal wire wreath and moss at Walmart, as well as the paint.  I already had the wire on hand.  My kids helped me paint the pots, and then we sprayed them with varnish.  I wired (had to paint the wire too) and hot glued the pots to the wreath.  Then I hot glued the moss to the wire wreath that was exposed, which made a huge difference!  That's it!  It took longer to paint the pots than expected, but that was probably due to my helpers...  Below is a pic of the back.

Flower Birthday Cake

Another birthday cake for my niece.  I hope she loves it!

Days 146 - 160 Finished with MFW First Grade!

We are officially done with school for this year!  This picture was on our last day.  We've had a great year, and now we're looking forward to a great summer!  We finished so early because we started the beginning of August, and then didn't take off as many days as I expected.  I found it was much easier to keep the kids in the routine of school instead of taking lots of days off!  We'll still be working on math facts and reading books over the summer, as well as working in our garden and doing some nature studies.

Below are Caleb's last two bible notebook pages.  Sometimes I copy the picture in the bible reader and he colors it and glues it into his notebook.  He doesn't like to draw very much...

Our last science experiment was to grow carrot and beet leaves.  They are actually growing!

And this is our soil separation!

And here is a garden made from pattern blocks.  Joshua really wanted to grab them!

To celebrate the end of the year, we took the kids to Walmart and let them pick out a toy with their chore money.  Caleb picked a Lego set and Rebekah picked a pony that came in a shiny purse.  We had a fun year, and now I'll be ordering MFW Adventures in US History for next year, and also redoing Kindergarten for Rebekah!  She is already starting to sound out letters and reading a few simple words!  I have been so blessed to be able to teach my children at home!

Antique Sewing Machine

My husband's grandmother gave this sewing machine to him (I think it was more for me!).  It's a Domestic Rotary and is electric, and it works!  It doesn't have a foot petal, you can see a lever on the bottom of the cabinet, you push it to the right with your knee instead of pushing a foot petal.  It's really neat!  I figured out where the bobbin goes, and I attempted to thread it, but I must have done something wrong because I can't get it to work.  Any advice?  I'm trying to download a manual, but it's been loading since this morning.  Rebekah was really excited though, she wants it to be her sewing machine since I already have one... we'll see...