The Quilt Process

Posted on 2020.05.22 by Amanda

Four or so years ago we found a quilt for my daughter at our church’s craft bazaar. My son asked for a special quilt too. Fabric was purchased and 7″ blocks were cut. A simple diagonal pattern was laid out, stacked into columns, and put in a bag.

More recently my son asked for a different layout. Then we were home, for an undetermined amount of time. We needed something to help us process and heal. My son needed something. I asked him if he still wanted a quilt and if he was ready to layout the quilt the way he wanted it. I’m so happy he still wanted a quilt. I’m super happy that he wanted to help with the design and that he still liked the fabric.

I offered a few suggestions, but tried to leave it be so it could be his design.

almost done laying out the squares — Getting close to the desired layout of 13×13 7″ squares.

It makes it extra special that it’s the way he wanted it. April 3rd the new kid approved layout was finished. The columns were stacked and ready for the sewing to start.

stack of quilting squares sorted into columns. — Stack of quilting squares ready to be sewn into columns.

It was about two weeks before sewing started. It was my job to sew the columns. I was partially waiting for the batting to arrive, a little procrastinating, and still really busy with life! It felt like we should have more time since we were at home with no where to go, but we were still busy.

A month after the squares were laid out the top was together! The backing only had to have it’s seam ripped out once. I forgot that folded directional fabric would need to be managed properly after it was cut in half! Putting everything together required moving furniture and cleaning the floor, so I could have a large enough space to put all the pieces together.

By the end of the day I had the binding together! I decided to stitch in the ditch in concentric squares. (Is that a thing? I know concentric circles is a thing.) It was painful to realize I hadn’t pinned quite enough after the first line of quilting. My seam ripper got quite a work out on May 2. Once I laid the quilt out flat and got enough pins, one per square, around and around, things went smoother. Getting to the center square was a challenge, but somehow it worked.

Sewing around the center square of the quilt.

I spent the next day working through all the concentric squares of quilting. The quilt was finished after a particularly difficult day. It was much needed and appreciated. One beautiful process completed.

Plaid Crafts Tryazon Party

Posted on 2019.06.10 by Amanda

Little’s birthday has come at a perfect time to align with another Tryazon party. This year, she decided to have a paint party so I applied to host the Tryazon Plaid Learn to Paint party. I was super excited when we were one of the 100 hosts selected. Of course, if you know Little, you know cats are her thing. So to celebrate the birthday girl we chose to do a mother daughter paint party. Guests could choose which design to paint or paint together! It worked out fabulously.

This month’s Let’s Paint Live video by Plaid was “Under the Sea.” A fun sea star design that uses float medium to keep the paint wet while you work. I didn’t realize that Plaid has a library of videos on their Facebook page to teach you how to paint! I also didn’t realize that my favorite paints were all Plaid paints; Folk Art, Delta, and Apple Barrel. Plaid has a ton of online painting resources; check it out!

The Tryazon Plaid Learn to Paint Party pack came with all the paints needed, a set of brushes for each person, and 12×12″ wooden panel to paint on. While reading through my host guide I came across a short line, “… remove the protective seal from the paint bottles, remove the adhesive label from each wood canvas, and take the brushes out of the package.” I had been so focused on the paint I hadn’t even thought about the wood panels. I got to work that night removing all the packaging from the materials.

Then I tried to peel a sticker off of one of the wooden panels. Now, those of you who know me know that I peel off all the stickers. But it’s not usually off of unfinished wooden surfaces. I was stumped. After shredding a sticker and pulling up wood particles, I called Plaid customer support. I had a pile of these to tackle and didn’t have time to waste trying to experiment. The first representative I spoke with said to use a blow dryer or iron them off with foil over the sticker. Since I don’t own a blow dryer I chose the iron route. True to the representative’s word the stickers came right up after ironing them. However they left a huge swath of adhesive residue. I called again and was forwarded to a voice mail box. I left a couple messages with Tim. I was also sending FB messages to Plaid Crafts and I got another name and number from the Plaid Crafts Facebook team. I finally connected with Darlane at Plaid. She suggested using alcohol and a plastic scrubbie to get the adhesive off. I didn’t have much luck with that. My husband broke out the acetone. That finally cut through the sticky, but it still took a lot of elbow grease to get my pile of adhesive up from the board.

I was at the end of my patience. If I had purchased these for my own personal use I would have returned the product or even thrown it in the garbage. I was sick of all the fussing. In desperation to be a good Tryazon host I put a thin coat of white Apple Barrel paint over the adhesive and waited anxiously for it to dry. It worked! I was so relieved. The adhesive rectangle could still be seen, but it was no longer tacky.

My daughter had a whole plan written up for her birthday celebration. Along with calling for invitations, streamers, paint, brushes, canvases, aprons, food, pink lemon aid, and a number 8 candle, it included the design for the sweets. We had a great time making pretzel stick paint brushes to go with our M&M paints on the paint palette cupcakes.

She said we also needed a cat painting. Cats are her favorite thing. I searched the web for a cat painting tutorial and was delighted to run across Tracie Kiernan’s Step by Step painting of How to Paint a Cat and Moon. She has a great video posted that walks you through all the steps needed to create a super cute painting of a cat in a tree in front of a moon. My daughter loved it!

To help my guests get started, I drew the dividing grid on the wooden panels for them. Watching the live stream of the Under the Sea paint party on Thursday before our event helped me realize that I would also need a lot of paper towels for my guests to use. After previewing the videos I thought it would be nice for guests to have a painting steps at a glance. I created handouts for guests to help them see what was coming next. It also helped them choose which painting they would like to create at the party; sea star or cat.

My husband stepped up in the tech support department. I told him my ideas about having tablets out for guests to watch while painting or using laptops so we could hook up speakers or guests could use their phones and work at their own pace. While I was out hunting down a number 8 candle he really pulled out all the stops. We were painting outside and he informed me that non of our techie screens would show up well in the bright daylight. He moved our TV out under the patio and set it up for the guests to watch the Plaid Let’s Paint Live video! Wow. It was perfect! Everyone could really see and hear the video. Of course that left me talking the other half of the guests through the Cat painting; but it worked well.

Most of the moms and girls painted their own. Some painted the same design and some different. It was great to see all these mothers and daughters getting crafty together. I was amazed at the attention and detail the girls were putting into their paintings. This was one party that seemed like it was over too quickly. We were having a great time.

#LetsPaint

#PlaidCrafts

#tryazon

Snazaroo Tryazon Party!

Posted on 2018.06.04 by Amanda

My daughter loves having her face painted. She begs to have it done when she sees the artists out. She asks me to buy paint so we can do it at home. I’m overwhelmed by the thought of choosing a brush or sponge, mixing the paint to the right consistency, and then cleaning everything up. When the Snazaroo Paint a Smile for Summer Party was announced by Tryazon I applied right away. What a simple solution to enjoy some face painting fun! I had to try the Snazaroo Face Paint Pens.

I was super excited to be selected to host a Snazaroo Paint a Smile for summer party through Tryazon on June 2. I combined it with my daughter’s cat themed birthday celebration we were already planning. It was a perfect match up.

The party started off with a treasure hunt. I had written clues and puzzles that lead the kids around our yard. They got treasure of ears and tails on the way. I ordered the cute fuzzy cat ear headbands from Amazon. The tails were made from boas I had cut and name badge clips.

The final treasure was the Snazaroo Paint Pens. The kids were so excited. We twisted the paint up to the brush tipped pens and the fun began. The pens were so simple to use. The kids enjoyed painting hearts, stars, and other designs for their friends. Of course, noses and whiskers were painted too.

The gold and silver Snazaroo Face Paint Pens have a great shimmer almost glittery appearance to them when they dried.

I prepared snacks fit for all the cats in attendance. A trailmix of every kind of fish cracker plus Swedish fish, fresh fruits, and pawprint cupcakes.

I left the pens out for the whole party. As the kids played and snacked they kept adding to their body paint designs. One girl painted her whole arm mostly black. I’m pleased to report that it all washed off easily with soap and water!The adults even got in on the fun and let the kids paint their faces too. I have fairly sensitive skin and I did not react to this paint. Yay!
The kids were excited to each take home a Snazaroo Face Paint Pen of their own. What a great addition to a party.

Thank you Snazaroo and Tryazon!

Consignment Prep: Tagging

Posted on 2018.02.09 by Amanda

I signed up for my first C3 Children’s Consignment sale 6 years ago. I loved the idea that I could clean out stuff my kiddos were done with, make a little money, and support local charities with part of my profits!

I love shopping at the consignment sale too. I get great deals and I’m supporting the local charities and other families. One thing I don’t love, is when the tags have damaged items I’ve bought. In the last 6 years of buying and selling I’ve got a few tips to share about making sure your tags stay on your items and don’t damage them!

Before I start tagging, I make sure to have these supplies ready:

string
hole punch
safety pins or tagging gun
packing tape
washi tape or blue painters tape
plastic sacks, I use zip lock and bread bag style
scissors

Books

The book section often makes me want to cry. I love books. I always want more books. However, when they’re taped round with packing tape I start having a panic attack. Last year I saw some awesome ways to bundle up and tag books without the drama of packing tape!

String: My favorite go to. It has me humming that song from the sound of music. Punch two holes in your tag and slide it on the string before you knot it up. Add a bow for fun, not function.
Plastic bags: bag your books and tape to the plastic, not the books.
Washi tape: Tape your tags on with washi tape. This removable tape will not damage the book when the tag is removed.
Blue painters tape: I’ve not tried this, but the logic is sound. This tape is much easier to remove than packing tape.

Clothing

Somewhere along the line it was decided that when you put clothing on a hanger for a consignment sale, the hook of the hanger goes left when the front of the garment is facing you. It helps to have all clothing going the same direction. It helps with how you place your tags so they are visible if everyone is doing it the same way.

At the C3 sale, they received so many customer complaints about purchasing items with holes from tagging guns, clothing found with holes from tagging guns will be returned to the seller and may be debited from the sellers total sales. If you have a tagging gun, please be extra thoughtful about where you place the tag; even if you have one with a ‘small’ needle.

If there’s a practical tag already on the clothing, use it! I’ve brought home more items that had me asking “Why?!” than I’d care to admit. Why would you add a hole to a perfectly good article of clothing when another option is right there? Please, put your tags on tags when available.

Sometimes it’s not so straight forward. Those tag-less shirts are everywhere. Baby onesies, sleepers, and overalls have hard to reach or tags in impractical places for adding a consignment sale tag.

Onesies & shirts usually have a seam right near the neck that the store uses to put their tags on. Add your tag to the same spot. If there’s not a seam near the neck, look around the front of the collar. If you can’t find a good place to stick the needle of your gun, use a safety pin.

Rompers and poloshirts have great seams to stick tags into.

Sleepers usually have all the seams surged down or finished so they are hard to get your tagging gun around. Fortunately if there’s a snap at the top, there’s a reinforcement strip that we can add a tag to!

The manufacture’s tag in overalls is usually right behind the front of the bib, which is a terrible place to put a tag for a consignment sale. Bring out the hole punch an string and tie your tag to the hardware for the straps.

What about outfits with accessories, or brand new items still in the bag? One outfit had a pair of matching tights. I stuck them in a bag, shoved the bag through the hanger hook, and taped the bag to the hanger. this one didn’t have a great spot for a tag either, so I tied a tag through the button hole.

I can’t possibly list all scenarios here, but my point is please take a moment to be thoughtful about where you are placing your tags so they do not damage the fabulous items you are trying to sell!

Scotch™ Thermal Laminator Chatterbox

Posted on 2017.09.06 by Amanda

scotch laminator box and laminated projects in front

Laminating bookmarks and worksheets for after school practice.

I was super surprised and excited to be chosen to receive a Scotch™ Thermal Laminator Chatterbox from House Party. I still have my trusty old Aurora laminator from over 10 years ago that I used while running an evening kids program. I was curious to see how the Scotch Laminator stacked up.

The Scotch Thermal Laminator TL902 warmed up faster than my Aurora. It has a rear loading tray, and a profile similar to an old bubble jet printer. I suppose this lends itself to fitting in on a desk top well. But I don’t have a work desk, so the rear loading took a bit for me to get use to. One page bent as it was going in even though I loaded the sealed end of the lamination pocket first. I had another page go in crooked even with the page guides, but it turned out alright.

The Scotch Thermal Laminator TL902 has buttons so you can select 3mm or 5mm depending on the thickness of your project you are laminating. However only the laminating pocket thickness was shown on one of the 3 packages I bought to use. It defaulted to 3mm. I didn’t change the setting and it worked well for the plain paper I was laminating, as well as the slightly thicker bookmarks I ran through.

Laminated morning and evening checklists

I printed the kids new morning and evening schedules for this school year and laminated them. I’m still considering how best to include an expo marker so they can check the boxes. I’m also considering the clean up involved with having a dry erase item hung on the wall. Maybe those large check boxes will just be for looks.

I had lots of generic 3mm lamination pockets from 10 years ago. I tried them in the Scotch Laminator. They worked well. That’s nice because I already have a bunch of those, and buying the Lamination pockets can get spendy. Thankfully the chat pack included coupons for Scotch pouches.

The Chat Pack also included a second Scotch Thermal Laminator TL902 to give away to an educator! I’m having a hard time deciding who to gift with this fun package. I know so many educators. I do know of a newer teacher who may not have acquired such a handy tool yet. It might head that way!

Thank you Scotch, House Party, and Chatterbox for the great Chat Pack. I love laminating and am still hunting for more projects. 🙂 I’m thinking laminating pressed flowers is up next!

Ozobot Evo Tryazon Party

Posted on 2017.03.22 by Amanda

My little was super excited to help unpack the Ozobots when they arrived.

Last year when I asked my kids what they wanted to do over the summer I was expecting some of their answers like swimming and playing at the park, but I was not expecting my son to say ‘robotics’. I was caught off guard and not sure what to do. Thankfully our local library is amazing and we signed up for Scratch programing and robotics summer classes. Then one of my friends also mentioned Ozobot to me. It took a couple posts on the web for me to realize Ozobot might be the perfect little robot for my son who was interested in robotics. I really wanted to see this cubic inch robot in action. Last year I applied to host a Tryazon back to school Ozobot party, but wasn’t picked. We hung out at the Barnes and Noble Maker event for almost two hours hoping to see Ozobot, but it wasn’t brought out for show while we were there. I liked the Ozobot and Tryazon Facebook pages. I talked with other friends who wondered what this little bot might be like. Then at the end of January, Tryazon announced an Ozobot Evo party opportunity. I was super excited to enter for a chance to host an Ozobot party. I marked the day party hosts were being selected on my calendar. I constantly refreshed my email account that day and might have exclaimed out loud when my email arrived saying I was chosen to host an Ozobot Evo party!

Applying 1/4″ colored dot stickers to the masking tape track.

I searched the web to see what other people had tried with Ozobot. I really liked the Techagekids post about LEGO meets Ozobot. Their tape track and LEGO buildings for Ozobot were so cool! I had a 2×3′ white board in the garage that I could use for an Ozobot track. I searched on Amazon and found 1/4″ black masking tape I used to make the path. I also found 1/4″ colored dot stickers by Avery to use for Ozobot color codes. My kids stuck codes where ever they wanted to on the track layout.

I taped a large chunk of white roll paper to the floor. We colored large dots to play OzoLaunch on the paper and several black dots for calibrating. I set out Ozobot markers and Crayola markers so the kids could experiment drawing their own paths for Ozobot to follow. I had extra sheets of white paper for kids who wanted to work on their own piece of paper too. The colored dot stickers came in handy for kids who had drawn their track and wanted to add codes after the fact.

My kids both have old phones they are allowed to use. We loaded the Ozobot Evo app onto them so we could use the remote control feature, play OzoLaunch, and run OzoBlockly programs.

I even cut out a bunch of Ozobot ‘hats’ for kids to decorate if they wanted to. Several kids were into this, but most of them were keen on all the other activities. I had a roll of raffle tickets the kids wrote their names on to be entered for a chance to win their own Ozobot. I got to give away 2 Ozobots and keep one for my kiddos!

24 kids and 10 adults stopped by to meet Ozobot. This group photo captured the high point in attendance.

I had so many kids and friends I wanted to invite to check out Ozobot. I ended up having an open house, drop by when you can, style party from 12:30-4:00. It worked well. We had a steady stream of kids and parents stop by. Everyone got to spend a good amount of hands on time with an Ozobot. The only down side was after the first hour and half or so the bots needed to charge! The second half of the party I had two Ozobots running while one charged and we rotated out as we could.

I enjoyed getting to try the Ozobot Evo and showing it to as many people as we could. The bot’s expressive noises are cute. The kids enjoyed drawing their own tracks for Ozobot and watching the bot follow their designs. Sometimes the Ozobots get confused when there are several on and being remote controlled. You can end up with one device controlling all three.

It took one of the kids to figure out how to get OzoBlockly to work with Evo. You have to switch the toggle in the upper left from Bit to Evo. I was so excited to get started, I didn’t read the online start up screen completely. The kids enjoyed coming up with their own commands for Ozobot Evo to follow. They even liked sending “boop beep boop” messages in OzoChat.

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Minion Valentines

Posted on 2017.02.03 by Amanda

While I don’t especial love V-day, I do love crafting. V-day is an excellent excuse to craft. Last year we came up with a super cute valentine idea for my son to take to his classmates.

My son was so excited about these “One in a Minion” valentines, that he helped build all of them! We used black washi tape, glue dots, googly eyes, mini posties, and string to tie on the tags I printed. We split each mini postie pad in two. I cut strips of washi tape while my son placed them. Then he used glue dots to stick on the eyes and a sharpie to draw smiles and hair.

I have to fess up though, this year we are sending classic purchased valentines to school. As much as I think I should be crafting something, it is a relief to know that I don’t have to worry about it this year.

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Kid sized tote bag

Posted on 2016.09.19 by Amanda

happy campers

My daughter requested a bag to carry her bible to church in. My son said he would like one too. It was a request I could not deny and have joyfully worked on since the middle of summer. The first thing my daughter and I wanted to do was to go shopping for fabric. After getting the look from my husband we started at home. We found lots of super fun fabric in my stash! I piled all the fabric on the back of my computer chair where it sat for the rest of the summer while I tried to find a pattern I wanted to use. I found all sorts of patterns for bags online that I pinned for reference. None were exactly what I was looking for; this satchel tutorial came really close. I wanted to make a bag with a gusset. I wanted the back and top flap of the bag to be all one piece. I wanted to create a lined bag with places for pens and scissors. I didn’t want to use hardware for the strap. I feel like that makes straps too fussy for a kid’s bag. I didn’t find one fit all pattern, so I dreamed one up. I spent the better part of a month ruminating on the project to work out what I would do. Once school started I had time to make some progress.

Most bags benefit from some sort of lining to help give the bag structure. I chose not to use any. I used bottom weight cotton. I figured since I included exterior pockets, that would give the bag extra stability. As I made them, the satchels are pretty floppy but it suits them. The lining fabric was lightweight cotton. Everything was washed before I started. For the strap padding I used some felt by the yard that I had on hand. I used a 0.5″ seam allowance.

Cut out these pieces of fabric
All the pieces laid out around my original pattern.

4×26″ – outer bottom gusset
10×17″ – outer back & flap
10×8″ – outer front
10×7″ – outer front pocket
10×8″ – outer back pocket
4×26″ – inner gusset
10×8″ – inner front
10×17″ – inner back & flap
? – inner pen pocket
6×38″ – strap
2.5×38″ – strap padding
or
5.25×35″ – strap
2.125×35″ – strap padding
The strap size will depend on where you want the bag to hang on your kiddo. For reference, I listed a longer & smaller shorter option.
Sew the inner pocket to the inner front.
Inside out view of the bag lining and pen pockets.

I picked a random scrap of fabric for the pocket. I put the right sides together and stitched around, leaving a spot to turn it right side out. After pressing the piece to lay flat, I used a pen, pencil, and other items to help determine where I wanted to stitch. This part was really random. I didn’t take measurements. I used fun scraps that the kids liked which were too small to use anywhere else on the bag. I recommend testing the pens & pencils you’re likely to use with the bag. The inner pockets on my second bag were placed a little too high.
Put the strap together
Pressing the strap fabric around the strap padding.

Press the strap in half lengthwise with the wrong sides together. Lay the strap padding against the crease. Fold one side snugly over the padding about 0.5″ and press. Fold the other side under and press about 0.5 under. The two folded edges should line up. Stitch along the edge. Then add and extra 3 lengths of stitching for support.

Showing the stitching down the length of the strap.
Hem the tops side of the outer pockets.
turn under, turn again, press, and then stitch

Outer pocket turned and stitched & basted to outer front.
Baste (long running stitch) the bottom of the outer side pockets to their respective sides. These pieces will be right to wrong sides together, so both right sides end up facing you.
Put right sides together for the inner bag
Pin in place (see picture in step 7 for reference) and stitch 0.5″ from the edge. I started by basting everything in place with a long stitch at about a 1/4″ seam allowance. Stitching the corners can be frustrating. The picture shows what mine looked like as I was working. They don’t end up square, but have a rather fun rouche to them.

Sewing the corners. You can also see the line of basting stitches on the left.
Put right sides together for the outer bag
Pinning the gusset to the side.

Same steps as above, but with the outer pieces.
Put it all together
Putting the right sides of the bags together.

With the outer bag inside out, lay the strap in the bottom making sure it’s laying flat and not twisted. Turn the inner bag inside out and slide it inside the outer bag.

stitch from one red pin on the flap all the way around to the other red pin.

Pin around the pieces taking care to match up the corners. Stitch 0.5″ from the edge leaving the end of the flap mostly open so you can turn the bag right side out.
Clip corners
corners that need to be clipped, clip both sides.

I didn’t think of this at first and almost cried when I turned the bag right side out and it was wonky between the bag and the flap. You also need to clip the corners on the end of the flap so it lays flat.
Turn & Top-stitch
Turn the bag right side out. Stuff the lining where it should be. Press along the seam you made in step 8 so it lays flat. Take care on the end of the flap to turn under your raw edges and press. Top-stitch as close to the edge as possible.

Inside view of finished bag

Finished bag and proud new owner.

I’m still thinking about adding extra stitches where the strap goes into the bag. At this point though, the girl has run off with hers. I may never get to touch it again!

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Pillow Cases

Posted on 2016.07.22 by Amanda

You can never have enough pillow cases. They are fast to make and a fun way to change up a bedroom for a kiddo or yourself! I made some pillow cases to match a quilt the sewing ladies at my church are making for a gift. While I was working my daughter spied some fabric in my stash that she was keen on having be hers. I find this hilarious because when I purchased the fabric she claimed she did not like it. It’s amazing what 2 years of cold storage can do for the popularity of items in my strong willed child’s eyes.

crude sketch of measurements.

Since I’ll need to do this again, I want to get my thoughts down where I could find them easily. I started by measuring a pillow case I had in the closet. If I were sewing it all on my regular machine I’d add 0.5″ for the inseam, or another 0.25″ to what I’ve outlined to the right. Since I bought a serger from one of the sewing ladies and I only need to leave 0.25″ for it’s stitch.

For the main body of the pillowcase I used a piece of fabric that was 40 3/4″ by 26″.

The cuff of the case was 40 3/4″ by 8.5″. I also used a bit of flat lace that was 40 3/4″ long.

I started by turning the right sides of the larger piece together so it made a 26×20 3/8″ rectangle. I serged down one short side and then the longer one of the rectangle so a short side was left open.

showing the wrong side of the cuff with the lace basted on and then stitched in a loop.

The cuff pinned onto the case.

I basted the lace onto the right side of the cuff fabric. I only wanted 1/8 of the lace under the 0.25″ seam, so I basted it on 1/8″ from the edge, with the fancy side pointing towards the majority of the fabric.

After basting on the lace, fold the fabric, right sides together so your piece is now 8.5″ x 20 3/8″. Sew the fabric along the 8.5″ side. Press the seam to the side.

Fold the loop of cuff fabric right sides out so now it is 4.25″ x 20 3/8″ with the lace on the inside of the loop. Iron it flat.

Turn the case right side out.

Put the cuff loop around the outside of the case. The lace should be next to the right side of the case fabric. Line up all the raw edges and seams. Pin them to keep them together properly. Stitch it up!

Finish up the case by ironing it. Press all the seams away from the cuff and toward the case. Adding a top stitch here would look nice too, but my machine is destined for maintenance and not stitching nicely. 🙁

Ta da! Well done. Everyone is happy. The Girl loves her Pink Princess Toile pillow case.

CP50525 Princess Toile, C Disney for Springs Creative Products Group, LLC.2014

Little enjoying her new pillow case.

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One million dollars!

Posted on 2014.05.19 by Amanda

Muah ah ha!

Well, not really, but I couldn’t resist. Actually, I’m talking about A Million Dots by Andrew Clements. As we were wandering through the books at our local library, my Little grabbed this off the shelf. I’m glad she did. We sat down to read it and I was surprised how entertaining looking at a million dots could be.

Clements starts by showing what 10, 100, 500, and 1000 dots looks like. Then he tells you to get ready to look at 1,000,000 dots. I loved the extra information and illustrations of how big a number is.

Each page is filled with dots! There is a neat image to go with the dots and on each page there is a featured dot. It’s a seek and find to locate the circled dot. When you find it, the number is listed on the page along with a description to to help you imagine how big that number is.

200000 dots page My kids favorite part was finding each circled dot. I’m pretty sure they weren’t listening very closely as I was reading “two hundred thousand pennies would fill twenty-two one-gallon milk jugs.” I don’t mind though. I think A Million Dots is a great way to expose kids to large numbers, how to say them, and keep me entertained too. We’ll check this one out again.

Webness

the goodness of the web

The Quilt Process

Plaid Crafts Tryazon Party

Snazaroo Tryazon Party!

Consignment Prep: Tagging

Books

Clothing

Scotch™ Thermal Laminator Chatterbox

Ozobot Evo Tryazon Party

Minion Valentines

Kid sized tote bag

Pillow Cases

One million dollars!