“thought they looked cute 🌟”
Five classroom layout seating ideas that will transform your lessons today! These classroom seating options are perfect for any activity!
Thousands of teachers have used these tried and true GUARANTEED tups to stop students from blurting out. Chatty Class? YOU NEED TO READ THIS!
When you're feeling unorganized, overwhelmed or have to many thoughts floating around in your head, consider using a mind map.
How to Avoid the Summer Slide! Summer is right around the corner! We all LOVE our summer vacation, but not the "Summer Slide!" According to Oxford
It should come as no surprise that I like to end my days with something sweet. And this sweet thing usually goes through phases. Last month it was microwave mug cakes--scant spoonfuls of flour, sugar, and spice whisked with an egg and zapped just long enough to produce a tiny hot, spongy little cake. The weeks before that, I was into homemade dark chocolate bark studded with bits of cracked espresso beans. (Delicious, but an unwise evening snack as it usually left me up all night thinking up projects.) Now, with sunny warm days upon us, it's berries. Strawberries, in particular, washed in cold water and served alongside a bowl of tangy crème fraîche and crunchy, toasty coconut palm sugar. It's the sort of treat that seems and tastes gloriously indulgent, and yet is not something that would be out of place on the breakfast table. I rediscovered my love for creme friache just a few weeks ago when I attended a reception hosted by the folks at Vermont Creamery. For dessert, they served rich flourless chocolate cakes topped with a cloud of the silky sour cream, and I was blown away by how perfectly it worked to balance out the sweetness of the rich cake. The flavor, if you've never tried it, is a bit of a cross between mascarpone and sour cream. It's got the cultured tang you might know from yogurt or buttermilk, but there is also a very lovely sweetness like that you get from good heavy cream. And the texture is thick and a bit gooey, like marshmallow fluff. When my gifted container finished, I bought another and then a third, and then this weekend I was dismayed to find that the container was nearly empty yet again. I wanted to serve it along with dessert at the Mother's Day lunch I was preparing for my mom and mother-in-law, but I didn't have time to buy more. That's when I remembered a long ago article that mentioned how incredibly easy it is to make creme fraiche at home. I got online and found that it really was easy. As easy as whisking together good heavy cream and a few tablespoons of buttermilk or yogurt or even just some storebought creme fraiche. I happened to have a small unopened bottle of Ronnybrook cream (the best around here), so I poured it into a bowl and stirred in equal parts Greek yogurt and what was left of my Vermont Creamery container. I covered the bowl with a piece of the plastic (poking in a few holes to allow air to travel), and left it on top of the stove overnight. By Sunday morning, the bowl of cream had turned thick and silky. I was so excited that I brought it into the bedroom where Eugene was still sleeping. "Look at this! I made creme fraiche!" I exclaimed. "That's nice," he mumbled, then rolled over back to sleep. I left the room hugging my bowl then placed it in the fridge to chill and thicken a bit more. I served my homemade creme fraiche to the moms along with fresh strawberries, blackberries, and coconut palm sugar. They loved it. The bowl is nearly empty again, and I think I just may have to make another batch. This is definitely a dangerous skill to have acquired... **** Love Always Order Dessert? Let's connect! Follow me on Twitter or Pinterest, become a fan on Facebook, or sign up to receive my once-a-week e-mail updates. And if you ever need any entertaining or cooking advice, please don't hesitate to e-mail me. Thanks for reading! Homemade Creme Fraiche Recipe Ingredients 2 cups good quality heavy cream (not ultra-pasteurized) 1/3 cup buttermilk, yogurt, or creme fraiche (or a combination of these adding up to 1/3 cup) Directions Whisk the heavy cream and buttermilk together in a glass bowl. Cover with plastic wrap that's been poked several times to allow air to pass. (You can also use cheesecloth.) Leave at warm room temperature for 12 to 24 hours, or until the cream has thickened into the texture of loose whipped cream. Give it another stir, cover tightly with a new piece of plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator for at least 8 hours. It will thicken and set completely. You can now serve this with both sweet and savory dishes, or use for cooking. (Just as you would use sour cream or store-bought creme fraiche). You can also sweeten or flavor the creme fraiche after it's ready--some good additions are lemon or orange zest, vanilla beans, dried herbs, or sugar. Keeps well 1 week to 10 days when stored in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.
The Suzette Stitch is one of my favorite stitches! I thought I would share a photo tutorial on How to Crochet the Suzette Stitch. This stitch creates such a beautiful and sturdy fabric. It's a really easy stitch to get the hang of because there's just a ONE ROW REPEAT! So easy!
Hi friends! Today I have a really special (long) post for you! Today I want to share a quilt that took me two years and about 85 hours to complete - my Postage Stamp quilt! I got so many questions on Instagram every time I posted pictures of this project so I will try to cover all the FAQ's here. First, let me start at the beginning... THE INSPIRATION My grandmother passed away in October 2019. She was the one who taught me how to quilt and who my pattern company is named after. After she passed, my mom and aunt asked if I would finish a couple of the quilts she had been working on so we could give them to family members. This red, yellow, and green 9-Patch quilt one was one of them. I don't know the name of the pattern but I know it came from a magazine. I remember her working on this quilt over the years and I know each individual square finished at 3/4". Can you believe that!?! The quilt top was finished many years ago so I just got it longarm quilted (with a Baptist Fan pattern) and then I bound it by hand. The back was white with colorful buttons and the binding is black with red and yellow flowers on it, as you can see here. The backing fabric was hanging with the quilt top in her closet and I believe I picked out the binding fabric from her stash. This quilt went to my aunt Janet and her husband Dave. The other quilt I finished at that time (I have 2 more I still need to finish!) was this little baby quilt. I think the squares finished at 1-1/4". My aunt and I chose the back and binding fabrics from my grandmother's fabric stash and then I had it longarm quilted with the Interlocking Orange Peel panto by Karlee Porter. This quilt went to one of my cousins. So after finishing both of those quilts made by my grandmother, I was inspired. I never thought I would make a Postage Stamp quilt; too intense for me! But I got the itch around that time to make something with tiny squares and a little while later I made my first blocks. CUTTING I cut 1-1/2" squares that would finish at 1" each. I did not do all my cutting at once. I found that I liked to cut batches of squares, both bright and white, whenever I was running low or got tired of the ones I had in my pile. It was a nice way to break up all of the sewing. When I was actively working on my Postage Stamp quilt I would keep piles of squares by my machine so I could easily grab and sew. I didn't put too much thought into what fabric went where. I just tried to space out colors to create balance. When I needed a break from that project I simply put the squares in a ziplock bag. They didn't get wrinkly so it was easy to pick up where I left off the next time I was ready to work on my quilt. FABRIC I used lots of different whites, creams and low volumes for my "whites". If you look closely at some of the following pictures you'll be able to tell. From far away, everything reads as white but the quilt still has a really scrappy feel to it. Plus it was a great way to use up scraps! As far as the brights go, I used alll the colors. My only requirement was there had to be enough contrast between the brights and whites. There are several fabrics of my grandmother's in this quilt. Including a few squares that have remnants of her embroidery! Those are my favorite! ASSEMBLY There are several ways to assemble a Postage Stamp quilt. You can strip-piece units together. But since I used scraps for all of my pieces I cut squares and sewed them together one-by-one. I didn't mind; in fact I preferred to do it that way so it would be extra scrappy! But of course, you could strip piece if you wanted. For the most part, I chain-pieced rows together to make regular, small 9-Patches (above). I made some that had brights in the corners and some that had whites in the corners. This was such mindless sewing and I quite enjoyed it! Immediate satisfaction! Then I sewed nine of those 9-Patches together to make big 9-Patches that had 81 squares in each block. I figured out it took me about 45 minutes to make a block (maybe about an hour with cutting). Towards the end of this project, I switched from making small 9-Patches to just chain piecing squares together to make a row for the big 9-Patches. I started by sewing tons of pairs of bright and white squares together. When I got bored I separated the pairs and then sewed them together to make units of 4 squares each. Once I had all those sewn together I sewed 2 of those units together plus one extra square to make a row of 9 squares. PRESSING After I made each block row, I pressed the seam allowances toward the dark/bright fabrics. After I sewed the rows together, I pressed the seams open. I pressed everything as I went. It may seem daunting but I honestly got faster the more I did it. It really wasn't too bad. I definitely recommend pressing as you go and pressing the seams open will help your quilt lay nice and flat. Quick side note here: I never pin when I piece. If you're really accurate in your cutting and piecing all of your seam allowances should be able to nest together nicely. I'm sure that saved me a lot of time while making this quilt. I have some tips saved in my Instagram highlight bubbles on precision piecing and cutting. Check it out @gigis_thimble. As I worked on this project, I found it helpful to set little goals for myself. I started by making two blocks and kept trying to double the number of blocks I had until I finished. One month I challenged myself to make 100 little 9-Patches and towards the end of this project, I challenged myself to make 1 big 9-Patch a day until I was done making all of my blocks. I always tell myself, "A little progress every day adds up to big results!" and that is definitely the case with a Postage Stamp quilt! Because there are a gazillion seams in this quilt, it is heavier than normal. The seams can start to stretch apart because of the weight and become harder to match up. So I would recommend that you make two halves of your quilt; press the row seams and then sew the 2 halves together to complete your quilt. Here I am at the halfway point: And here is the finished quilt top. An exciting moment! FINISHING I bound the quilt in this red and white gingham fabric that I had in my stash. I also had this rainbow fabric in my stash that I had bought recently for another project (that didn't turn out how I wanted so I gave it away). The fabric is 55218-20 from the fabric line Shine On by Bonnie and Camille for Moda. I used it for the back of my quilt and I love it. My friend Jen Ostler quilted it with the Scribble Hearts panto. She always hides an object in her quilting for her clients to find so this time she did a rainbow. It took me forever to find but I think it's darling. It's much easier to find from the backside of the quilt than the front! One of my Instagram followers sent me a picture of her Postage Stamp quilt that had been quilted with the Scribble Hearts panto and I thought it was sweet and fun so I decided to do the same on mine. I love the quilting community where we can all inspire and learn from each other! I've been buying custom quilt labels from Ever Emblem for the last couple of years. I get the 2" cotton fold-over, sew-in labels and I've been really happy with them. They're really inexpensive and a quick way to label your quilt. Well that's it! I think I addressed all of the FAQ's! Please let me know if I missed anything. Just to recap here is a quick breakdown of all of the details... DETAILS Finished size of individual squares: 1". Finished quilt size: 72" x 90" Total number of big 9-Patch blocks: 80 Layout: 8 x 10 blocks Total number of 1" squares: 6,480 Start date: December 27, 2019 Finish date: November 3, 2021 Longarm quilter: Jen Ostler in Highland, UT (@drycreekquilter on Intstagram) Quilt panto: Scribble Hearts Hidden object in the quilting: rainbow Backing: Rainbow 55218-20 by Bonnie + Camille for Moda Approximate time to make this quilt: 85 hours Batting: 100% cotton Machine pieced Hand-bound 1/4" seams I hope you enjoyed this post! Like I said, please let me know if you have any questions. I'd love to know what you think about this project and whether or not YOU might make a Postage Stamp quilt someday! Happy quilting!
Make the kids scream with this spooky self-portrait inspired by Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’. This Halloween art project The Scream Painting for kids i
This is - hands down - my most favorite writing project that I've ever done with my firsties. They did such an amazing job and I am so proud of how far they have come this year. We read "The Best Part of Me" by Wendy Ewald and then created our own bubble maps to organize our thoughts. I
Today we have found 6 Matariki star crafts. Matariki also called the Pleiades is a group of stars that signals the Māori New Year which is commonly celebrated in New Zealand. The group of stars rises in New Zealand's midwinter, normally during June or early July. In recent years Matariki has become a way to celebrate
Makkelijk recept voor de allerlekkerste romige aardappelsalade met augurk, ei en bacon. Heerlijk als bijgerecht!
Because it's nothing to be ashamed of.
24 different uses for shredded paper ensures your private information doesn't end up in the wrong hands and gives you creative ways to recycle scrap paper.
A fun spring craft to make with the kids! Using tissue paper and black construction paper, this butterfly looks like it's made from stained glass.
Learn how to set up and shoot an In The Box Photo with this step by step guide - these in the box photos are perfect to use for families, children, school photos and much more!
No more excuses! Starting a journal with your preschooler is easy and helps develop early writing and fine motor skills.
So, yesterday I showed you how I got my angle studies kicked off with my students–how I solidified understanding of “right angle”. We had lots left to accomplish–so I’ll try to share some of the different lessons and activities we did over the next days! Tip 1: If you can get your hands on thin […]
Educators, need ideas to set up your indoor learning environments for children? Find all the inspiration you need in this blog post!
Recognizing the work efforts of employees is important to keeping them happy and motivated. A message of appreciation is a great way to do so. Here are a few ideas of what you can say.
I was grew up in Los Angeles, not too far from what was once Immaculate Heart College (IHC). Perhaps one of the biggest legacies of IHC is Sister Mary Corita, better known to many as Corita Kent, artist-activist and chairperson of the IHC art department from 1951-1968. Do you know about Corita Kent? In her own […]
Learning about the personality types of people you work with (or socialize with or live with) can help with productive communication and a general better understanding of those who surround you. Also, for some people, it can help them get in touch with their own feelings, thoughts and the reasons behind some of their own actions.
Build social responsibility and encourage good behavior by creating a classroom contract. Helpful anchor chart idea and FREE printable included!
This activity is heavily scaffolded for beginners. Students orally create the word bank and sentences, but I write the words and sentences on the board using
What is a spiritual relationship? Have you ever felt an undeniable magnetic pull toward a person? This happens when you have a spiritual connection with someone.
Three ways to teach your children how to have self-control over their thoughts and Scriptural truth on what we should be dwelling on or thinking about, both as children and adults!
Black cats are thought to bring bad luck—but we think they’re absolutely adorable, ultra pettable, and cuddletastic. Not to mention utterly magnificent and, really, just tinier versions of noble panthers. That’s why Bored Panda compiled this mega-awesome super-duper massively-fluffy list of the cutest and funniest pictures of black cats.
Do you look on Pinterest for Anchor Chart ideas and give up at the thought that your Anchor Chart could never look that amazing? It actually doesn’t have to be that difficult to make an amazi…
Dealing with intrusive thoughts can be a challenging thing to do, but if you know where they are coming from and why, you will be able to fight them better.
My brother is a pro gardener, and many moons ago, he shared how he professionally edged flower beds. I decided to implement his method into my own garden, and b…
Many of you must be looking for Christmas gift ideas right now, so I thought it was the perfect time to share a pattern with you all! You might have seen these knitted hearts before. My pattern fir…