Dash and I decided with St. Patrick's Day coming up, 

that we would try to catch a Leprechaun!

I loved watching him use his imagination, and items around the house, to create the perfect Leprechaun trap! 

The rainbow, green decorations, and gold pieces were the bait.

The paper over the box was flimsy so when that Leprechaun climbed up the ladder and stepped onto the paper, he'd slip into the box and be trapped!

But, those little Leprechauns are sneaky!

He got away!

But, he left Dash a note explaining how we managed to not get caught AND he was so impressed with Dash's creative trap that he hid eight pieces of (chocolate) gold around the house.  The only clue was that they were hidden around his favorite color.

Dash loved searching all the green items in our house until he found them!

I think we started another holiday tradition. 

 I wonder if next year I'll have to constantly answer the question,  

"Are Leprechauns real?" 

 as I did this year?  

I think the idea of one sneaking into our house at night freaked Dash out but each time I reminded him that it was pretend and we were just being silly, 

he got totally into it!

 Me lad had a good ole' time with this St. Patty's tradition!

Holiday Crafts

I've been getting my craft on...

Dash's kindergarten had a Thanksgiving Feast.

I had signed up to bring the plastic silverware.

I wanted to present them in a cute way.

So, I got some empty Kleenex boxes,

and had Dash help me paint them with some paint we had.

I had remembered seeing on Pinterest somewhere 
turkeys made with fake flowers.

I knew I had some fake flowers in my craft bin, 
so I decided to give it a try!

I added some foam pieces for the body and face.

 Gobble, Gobble!

They turned out pretty cute!

  (Especially, since they were so easy!)

I liked the fake flower turkeys so much, I decided to use them for some baskets I was making for Dash's teacher and aide.

 (I blurred out her name for her privacy)

I'm the room mom and had asked the parents to have their kids bring pictures and notes of thanks for their teachers. 
 I wanted a cute basket to collect the notes in.

I hit the dollar store for baskets and some fake leaves 
to hot glue on the sides.

I used these little woodsies I had leftover from my 
'Jesse Tree' crafts for the letters.

Dash stamped them with a brownish-orange ink pad,

 and I glued on cut out letters.

They turned out to be perfect for collecting homemade notes and drawings from the kids!

I also attempted to make the brownies 
I signed up to bring into pilgrim hats.
(Another thing I saw somewhere on Pinterest!)

In addition to Thanksgiving, we have a couple 
more parties on the horizon.

Coming up is Dash's teacher's aide's birthday.


 
I'm collecting gift cards from all the parents to give her but,
once again, wanted a cute way to present them.

So, I bought a clay flower pot.

I painted it and modpodged scrapbook paper and pictures of the kids in Dash's class.

Then, I used a sharpee to make it look like a ruler across the top.

Bought a fern and placed a cute little sign inside

I'm planning on using floral wire to hang 
all the gift cards from the fern!

I also made her this clipbaord

It was simple.  I just bought a clipboard at Michaels.

Removed the clip portion with a screwdriver.

Mod-podged scrapbook paper and her name on it.

Then, I glued on some decorative stickers 
that I had from my teaching days.

Dash's aide is truly FABULOUS! 
 I hope she enjoys the gifts!

There is also another party coming up.  
We're having a 'Happy Birthday, Jesus!' party. 

Being that I need to be there all day to setup and prepare, 
I always sign up to bring something simple.

Yep, I'm bringing the plastic silverware again!

Needed another decorative holder.

Dash painted the kleenex box,

and then he made this cute little wreath 
using these beads and a pipe cleaner,

and I hot glued it on.

Simple!

Something about the holidays makes me want to craft!

Fill a Bucket

Have you seen this book?

Or, this one?

They are really cute!

They talk about being "Bucket Fillers."

"Bucket Fillers" are those who are loving and kind to others.

The books also talk about being "Bucket Dippers."

"Bucket Dippers" are those who are rude or even bully others.

I have seen both these books on lots of teacher's websites.

I've loved seeing multiple creative ideas for implementing
bucket-filling in the classroom and at schools!

But, just by reading it to Dash,

I have noticed a change in his vocabulary.


He'll say things like,

"Mommy, Carter filled my bucket today!  
He let me get in front of him in line."

OR

"Mommy, I filled Lilly's bucket today!  
She was out sick for two days and I told her 
I was glad she was back."

We've started, daily, talking about whether certain things
we do and say fill people's buckets,

OR

dip into their buckets.


Anyway, I totally recommend both books!

The first one,

is a good overall explanation of bucket-filling and bucket-dipping.
Very clear and easy for kids to understand.

The second one,

is a story of a boy's day and we get to see
how his bucket fills when good things happen,

and spills out when people say or do hurtful things to him.

Both books are great choices if you are looking for some good
picture books to help reiterate being kind to others.


I love when I discover a gem of a book to read to my little gem!

...so I wanted to pass my recommendation on to
fellow friends in the blog-osphere!


And, P.S.  

don't forget to fill someone's bucket today!