Tile trivets

Assalm alykom:
Here is yet another tile project. When we moved into our present house, there where many left over tiles from remodeling that was done from the previous owners. Therefore, I am always looking for craft ideas to utilize what I have. This one can be a project for the child of any age.

Materials:
Tile of preferred size
Paint brushes
Glass paints that require baking in the oven

Directions:
Just make sure the tile is clean before painting. Make sure that the glass paints you use requires baking. This assures durability. I have put our trivets into the dishwasher many times and the paint is still there. If your child is young, give them examples and ideas to paint the trivet. Otherwise, this is going to be a 2 minute project. Once your done painting and baking, use everyday on your dining room table. The ones I have are a permanent fixture on my table. Here are some that we made: You can see with the last one made by my then three year old, that the trivets can be according to the age. For the smaller tiles, if you put a piece of felt on the bottom, they make great coasters. I hope you enjoy making these as much as we did!

Happiness

Assalam alykom:

Happiness: This happens as a
result of internal and external
needs being met.







We live in a world that is instant and on the go. We have instant messaging, instant check out at the store . ATM machines that give us instant money. We haveinstant coffee, soup,lemonade,tea ect. We as society at large are wealthier than those 50 years ago. There is more technology and more of a variety of things to buy. There are nicer cars, computers,clothes,houses...........the list can go on forever. However, are we happy as a society? Are we really enjoying our lives? If you were to look at the news, you may wonder about that. The drug companies are selling more antidepressants medicine than ever. The psychiatrists are also busy with counseling those who are sad and discouraged. Divorce rates and single parenting is at a all time high. However, there is hope in Islam for happiness.
I found this set of lessons very helpful in over coming sadness,frustrations, anger, and stress. It also taught me that part of my happiness is derived in pleasing Allah and accepting what He
decreed for me. I hope you will listen to these beneficial lessons.

Happiness (Radio Program) Buy the entire Series
1. Elements of Happiness 2. Faith-Based Happiness 3. Heart Drives	4. Trusting Allah 5. How to Trust Allah 6. Taming Your Sadness

Before and After

Assalm alykom:

I good place to get wooden things to paint is at garage sales or thrift stores. Many times you can find good quality sturdy pieces for very little money.

This first piece I found was only $1.50 at a thrift store. Since it was painted blue, I had to put several coats of Kilz primer over it to cover it up. Here is the before shot:
After applying several coats of primer, and then letting it dry, I just painted it white. Then I painted designs and the Arabic Alphabet and numbers. My girls love it when I put Arabic on their things because they feel it is specilized to them. Here is what it looked liked when I painted it all.

This next piece also only cost $1.50. It is a very handy shelf. I liked it because it is a large shelf and has knobs on it to hang things. I also had to apply several coats of kilz to paint it white. Here is how it looked before I painted it.

I painted it white after that and then painted the designs on it. Here is how it looked when I finished.

This last piece I found at a garage sale for $2. There was two of them and I got both of them. This was the best find because they where already primed. So, all I had to do was paint them. I painted the girls names on them in Arabic and they again really loved that. This one is a smaller shelf, but it also has the hooks for hanging all their little girl things.

Here is the close up picture with their names. So, next time you pass a yard sale in your neighborhood, do not pass it up you may find a useful item to paint!

clip boards

Assalm alykom:

In my homeschooling, I was always having trouble with pending papers. If I assigned a paper bin for each child the papers ended up lost in it all. I tried folders, but we would forget about what was in them. Therefore, I came up with these clipboards. We have the papers clipped to them so we can always see them. They also have their names in Arabic so it is personlized. I made little ones for my toddlers. They have pending scribbling that they need to continually work on. Also, they feel included in the program which is very important.















Materials needed:

*Ceramic Tile
*Glass Paints
*Acrylic Paints
*Strong Glue(I used hard as nails)
*Picture Hook
*Wooden laundry clips



Directions: Clean the tile. Paint your design on the tile. The glass paints that I use require a short time of baking in the oven. Once you do that the paints cannot be scatched off. While the tile is baking and cooling, use the acrylic paints to paint a design on the laundry clip. If you paint it a solid color and then want to paint a different color like I did, you must wait for the first color to dry a little or the colors will mix together. After your tile is completly cooled and you laundry clip is completely dry, you can glue the clip to the bottom. At this point I glue the picture hanger on to the back too. This will allow you to hang it on the wall, Wait 24 hours for the glue to dry before you hang it.

Crocheting

Assalm alykom:

After my now ten year old son was born, I learned to crochet. This was before the popularity of the internet. I just went to the library and checked out all the "how to" books about it and got started. It was very simple for me and I find it a very relaxing craft. I have crocheted up to this point alot of things, blankets from yarn to lace made from thread. I even recently started the hobby of beading and even crocheted a nice bracelet from wire and beads. With children, and little spans of a large mount of time, I like to stick with small projects. I recently checked this book out of my local library. It has a lot of nice small projects that are just right for me. One of the projects was a little purse made from scraps of yarn. It was a great project because I could finish it in about an hour and a half. With three daughters, I had to make three purses. Here they are.








My girls really love them. They are so easy and quick that they would be great for gifts as well. If you do not know how to crochet, you can do like me and head to the library. However, there is so much on the internet to help you. Here is a nice link to help you get started.

If you liked this project and would like more ideas like it, please join my yahoo group here:

Painting Wooden Crafts

Assalam alykom:

My children go to the workshop each month at Home Depot. They so far have made many nice things. This is a free workshop on the first Saturday of each month. I have listed it on my blog before and you can read more about it here. One thing that the workshop provides is a nice wooden project to paint when you get home. The last workshop was a nice wooden tool box. It is a great piece for holding books, toys or whatever.


This one I painted for my son.









This one my eight year old daughter painted








And, this one my four year old daughter painted.









This one I painted for my girls. In Arabic, it says,"our books" on one side. The other side says, "we love to read."





Here is a list of materials:

*Wooden object (The craft stores have many unfinished wooden pieces. You can pick small pieces such as birdhouses and small boxes for around 1 dollar)
*Paint brushes different sizes
*Kilz water base primer
*Variety of colored Acrylic paints
Directions:
Depending on the piece, you may have to use a little of sand paper to smooth it. Apply 1 coat of Kilz to your piece. Let it dry and then apply another coat. This allows you to paint colors or even white paint onto your wooden piece. If you apply the paint directly, it will absorb into the wood. After the Kilz is completely dry, start painting your designs with the acrylic paint. Let them dry for at least 24 hours before you start using them. Enjoy!

So, what does a homeschooling mother do over the summer?

Assalam alykom:

Since I am in K12, I have the summer off from school. That means time for me to do all the things that I say I never have time for because I am homeschooling.




After the school is finished for us,
we take a family vacation.
The passed two years we have
gone to Gatlinburg ,Tennessee. We rent a cabin and stay in the mountains. Here is a view from our cabin. The kids really enjoy it. There is the Smokey Mountain National Forest. You can spend days there just walking through the trails and endless waterfalls.


Here is one of the water falls that we saw.

After vacation, the next thing that I do is clean out our study room. I throw out all the old papers,broken crayons,dried up markers without lids and reorganize the room. The next thing I do is began to organize my house and do the deep cleaning. During the school year, there is really only time for surface cleaning. The last thing that I do is try to find time for myself. I love doing crafts. I usually take the summer as an opportunity to do my craft projects. I hope to be posting them over the summer. Many of them are kids crafts. As far as the studies for my children, they work in more detail with my husband on their Quran, Arabic, History and Islamic Studies. I am having them work on their multiplication tables. There is not much time to work on these during the school year. I am also having them write letters to a pen pal. I think this is good to keep up their writing skills. In Shallah, I will be posting my crafts soon. So, keep checking back.

Highlights Magazine for children

Assalm alykom:

As a child, I use to get the subscription for this magazine and I loved it. Now as a Muslim, I tend to be selective about what my children read. Sometimes getting these magazines you have to edit alot of what you do not approve. Therefore I tend to stay away from magazine subscriptions. I remember with this magazine, my favorite thing was their hidden pictures. When I came across their website, I found you can print these out from the website. From my previous posts, you know my family loves the I Spy books. These hidden pictures are very similar to the I Spy. You can find them here in the Parents' Corner. There are some stories, crafts and of course the hidden pictures. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.