Pop bottle dolls, angels, santas, and witches. Marker pots, wreaths, photo albums. When my kids were young, I loved to dabble in crafts. These pictures show a witch and some angels made from soda or pop bottles. I added some sand in the bottom of each bottle, placed a dowel into the sand that protruded upward out of the mouth of the bottle enough to add a styrofoam ball and voila! there was the skeleton to dress up in some holiday manner or fashion. My friends Mary L. and Kathy and I would sell our crafts here and there for a little extra "fun money." We usually used much of the money to buy more raffia paper, styrofoam, and supplies to continue crafting! It was something we did while our kids were in Mothers' Day Out. When the kids saw what we were doing, we could easily ask for their assistance cutting paper or gathering sticks.
"Kindness is the greatest floss..." from The Razor's Edge
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Crafty Are We?
Pop bottle dolls, angels, santas, and witches. Marker pots, wreaths, photo albums. When my kids were young, I loved to dabble in crafts. These pictures show a witch and some angels made from soda or pop bottles. I added some sand in the bottom of each bottle, placed a dowel into the sand that protruded upward out of the mouth of the bottle enough to add a styrofoam ball and voila! there was the skeleton to dress up in some holiday manner or fashion. My friends Mary L. and Kathy and I would sell our crafts here and there for a little extra "fun money." We usually used much of the money to buy more raffia paper, styrofoam, and supplies to continue crafting! It was something we did while our kids were in Mothers' Day Out. When the kids saw what we were doing, we could easily ask for their assistance cutting paper or gathering sticks.
On the Positive...
Marc and Angel Hack Life
Practical Tips for Productive Living
AUGUST 30TH, 2011 @ 12:00 AM BY: MARC
12 Things Happy People Do Differently
by Jacob Sokol of Sensophy
“I’d always believed that a life of quality, enjoyment, and wisdom were my human birthright and would be automatically bestowed upon me as time passed. I never suspected that I would have to learn how to live - that there were specific disciplines and ways of seeing the world I had to master before I could awaken to a simple, happy, uncomplicated life.”
-Dan Millman
Studies conducted by positivity psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky point to 12 things happy people do differently to increase their levels of happiness. These are things that we can start doing today to feel the effects of more happiness in our lives. (Check out her book The How of Happiness.)
I want to honor and discuss each of these 12 points, because no matter what part of life’s path we’re currently traveling on, these ‘happiness habits’ will always be applicable.
- Express gratitude. – When you appreciate what you have, what you have appreciates in value. Kinda cool right? So basically, being grateful for the goodness that is already evident in your life will bring you a deeper sense of happiness. And that’s without having to go out and buy anything. It makes sense. We’re gonna have a hard time ever being happy if we aren’t thankful for what we already have.
- Cultivate optimism. – Winners have the ability to manufacture their own optimism. No matter what the situation, the successful diva is the chick who will always find a way to put an optimistic spin on it. She knows failure only as an opportunity to grow and learn a new lesson from life. People who think optimistically see the world as a place packed with endless opportunities, especially in trying times.
- Avoid over-thinking and social comparison. – Comparing yourself to someone else can be poisonous. If we’re somehow ‘better’ than the person that we’re comparing ourselves to, it gives us an unhealthy sense of superiority. Our ego inflates – KABOOM – our inner Kanye West comes out! If we’re ‘worse’ than the person that we’re comparing ourselves to, we usually discredit the hard work that we’ve done and dismiss all the progress that we’ve made. What I’ve found is that the majority of the time this type of social comparison doesn’t stem from a healthy place. If you feel called to compare yourself to something, compare yourself to an older version of yourself.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Political Pitter Patter...
Friday, November 25, 2011
Storiez
and good friend Pete. In his sagging pocket is a pack of Marlboros, and behind him, his custom van sports a mystical painting with a dragon on it and it seems to me a skull appeared somewhere on it as well. The two of them had just arrived in Austin for a visit when I snapped this shot.
Living the Vida Verde
de-clutter the house. It's hard though, for someone who clings to things sentimentally and categorizes things as useful season by season. A spare environment used to signal sadness in my brain--going without--because I've accumulated things, LOTS of things to keep around me at all times. I now want to keep things simple and easy to organize.
This,however, is not an easy task. One day I bag and label donations; the next day, I am pulling things out and finding a reason or person to keep it for! My goal is to have pared things down as much as possible by the end of December....Will I be able to make this deadline? I'll keep you posted...
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Readerz Edge
Favorite Sites for Educators
11. When it comes to DISCIPLINE and the unbelievable effects of compassion on kids in schools, you need to sit back and read this article from top to bottom: Lincoln High School in Walla Walla, WA, tries new approach to school discipline — suspensions drop 8
http://tryingoutweb24ed.blogspot.com.br/2012/04/may-1st-blog-carnival.html