Snow in Texas

Texas weather has been a little crazy this winter. It was really cold early November and stayed fairly warm up until this last week. We have had freezing rain twice, snow twice, and cold temperatures everyday over the past five days. The snow stuck with this last cell that moved through on Friday so we have had some fun with the snow. Molly had a good time until she noticed the snow was all over Elf and her boots. 
We read some fun books about snow. Below are some of my favorites that we had. My daughter's favorite is Tacky the Penguin. She thinks that he is silly and spends the majority of the book laughing at him and all of his crazy antics. You also have her attention with anything that involves a snowman, but she usually will only want to read the pages that she can see the snowman...

Snowflake Painting

I wanted a simple winter craft that we could do yesterday while it was snowing so we decided to do a snowflake painting. From my perspective I do not know how successful this really turned out (the final product did not look like what I had envisioned), BUT if you ask Molly what she thought of the activity, she would tell you that it was fun. To get started I grabbed blue paint, paper for painting, a paint brush, a white crayon, and some sort of container to hold the paint (I used a cleaned out plastic fruit cup). 
Instructions:
1) I colored snowflakes on the paper with the white crayon. {The first time I tested it out I used a white pencil, but that did not work at all. Then I tried using a white crayon. It worked, but still was a little difficult to see. So I tried to make thick, bold lines when drawing the snowflakes and that worked best.}
2) I mixed washable paint with a splash of water. 
3) Give your kiddo a paintbrush and let them discover the snowflakes that are hiding!
Molly had the hang of it by the end of the activity. She knew that there were hidden snowflakes on the paper and she was trying to paint most of the page as opposed to just small lines of paint like at the beginning. Here is her finished masterpiece. 

Paint the Snow

I was really excited about this one. Molly loves painting and is not so sure about the snow so I thought maybe if we painted the snow she would be a little more fond of it. I used a mini muffin tray and filled each section with a different colored paint. I really like this Crayola Fingerpaint because it is washable and will come off everything. {Trust me, I know} 
Molly had a blast with this. She thought it was SO cool that she was painting the snow, but she still was not a huge fan of the actual snow itself. She would only paint from the sidewalk, but, hey, she still had a great time and at the end of the day that is all that really matters. 

Snow Ice Cream

We ended our fun morning of winter activities by making some snow ice cream. I looked at so many different recipes trying to find one that would work. My daughter has a milk protein intolerance so she cannot eat anything that has milk in. I ended up combining a few and came up with this.
This was fun because Molly could be a part of every single step. The finished product was legit and it was kind of cool eating it knowing that it was from snow from outside. Molly thought it was yummy too. She quickly finished off her bowl. 
I hope you enjoyed reading about the fun snow activities that we have been doing. 

Jennifer


My Favorite Clipart & Font

So I might have a slight  MAJOR obsession with cute clipart and font. This Teachers are Heroes Sale at TPT completely did me in. Without a doubt I spent way more than I made. Whoops. {It was such a good deal! I would be absolutely crazy to pass this up. Oh, I really NEED that. I could really make some cute things with that!} My husband just shakes his head...

It reminds me of this time when my husband and I were dating and living in Florida. One of my favorite stores was Loehmanns. You could get really high end stuff for cheap cheaper, but still a tad ridiculous. I found two Gucci sunglasses I could not live without. I sent pictures to my husband to see which ones he liked. He said he did not mind; either one would work. I took that as I should buy both because I should not pass up such a good deal. He was unimpressed. I guess I carried that same philosophy into the last two days for this sale. At least my clipart and font will, God willing, help me bring in some residual. My two pairs of Gucci did not. 

Anyhow, I digress.

I wanted to share some of my favorite clipart and fonts at the moment. There is so much available for purchase. I honestly find it somewhat very overwhelming. I feel like I have only reached the tip of the iceberg in discovering good cliparts and fonts, but the ones I do use and have, I LOVE. 

FONT

Font is easy. Kimberly Geswein is an absolute genius. You honestly do not need to look any further for fonts. Just go to her website and buy her 'All Fonts Lifetime Licence.' Her lifetime liscene is $249, but it is $249 well spent. You definitely will not regret it. She has so many fonts. I do not think that there is one I do not like. I am currently obsessed with KG Miss Kindergarten, KG Lego House, KG Be Still and Know, and KG Skinny Latte. Here is her font catalog so you can see what she has. 

CLIPART
1) Pink Cat Studio (TPT Store) - Pink Cat Studio produces some really cute clipart. Her stuff does not cover as many themes and occasions as the ones to follow, but the stuff she does make is AMAZING! My favorite things from her come from her ELA clipart. 
2) Creative Clips (TPT Store) - Krista Wallden is kind of a one stop shop. She has clipart, digital papers, borders, and fonts. has all kinds of fun clipart. If you have not heard of her name, I am betting that you have at least seen her stuff somewhere on some product floating around the internet. Her stuff is EVERYWHERE and you can see why. Her clipart is full of bold colors that stand out. All of her products are fun and wildly engaging.
3) Whimsy Clips (TPT Store) - Laura Strickland is incredibly talented. Her clipart is just precious. Lots of colors and cute little faces with squeezable cheeks. Her products definitely do not disappoint! Her kid clipart is currently my favorite overall. In my opinion, her stuff is the most realistic of the bunch and there is something I really like about that. Those sweet faces get me every time, but honestly everything she does is so good. 
4) Whimsy Workshop Teaching (TPT Store) - She has an extensive list of clipart with something that will fit exactly what you are looking for. I particularly love her animals. They are precious and she has SO many of them. 
5) Graphics From the Pond (TPT Store) - Graphics from the Pond is also a one stop shop. She has clipart, digital papers, borders, and fonts. Everything is in bright, fun colors. There is something kind of magical about her clipart. No doubt, kids will love it. 



Which clipart and fonts do you enjoy using? 

Jennifer




Ice, Target, Fresh Air…and a TPT sale tomorrow!

It has been cold here in Texas lately. I understand that it is still winter, but we have been wildly spoiled with beautiful, warm weather the past several months. Now that winter has decided to come back, it makes it a little hard to fully accept. Snow is one thing, but just ice is another. The forecasters are saying we might get some snow in the morning. That would be SO nice. I can handle snow. Molly is at the perfect age where she would love to play in the snow. 

With the cold and icy weather, the girls and I have not been outside of the house since Saturday and I was going a bit stir crazy by the end of the day today. I need some fresh air…and more wine. I ran out of my favorite utility wine, Red Diamond, last night. Once the girls were asleep, I snuck out to get some fresh air and have a few minutes without any sort of responsibility. Where did I go, you ask? I went where every mom goes when they have an hour to themselves, TARGET (cue the angels singing from heaven). I love Target. Pretty much everything about it makes me happy, especially when I go without kids. I can be as slow and take as long as I would like and finish a hot tea before it goes cold. It was amazing(!) and so very much needed. I grabbed a few odds and ends from the Dollar Spot (watch for that in an upcoming post) and just slowly walked around looking at stuff. Target is good for the soul. I ended my “me time” at Albertsons to get my wine and then the movie theater to get some popcorn for my nice late night snack as I sit here and write to you.


Tomorrow, February 26th is the Teachers are Heroes sale on Teachers Pay Teachers. My store, A Dab of Glue Will Do, will have EVERYTHING up to 28% off! Yes, you heard my right. 28% off. That is pretty awesome, if you ask me. My shopping cart is full up on cute clipart ready to purchase tomorrow during nap time. What are you planning on buying?


Happy Shopping!!!

Why Hello There!

So here it is...my first blog post.  My dream in doing this is to share my creations to teachers and parents around the world wanting to educate all of their little learners. In addition to blogging about various things I create I will throw in some posts about classroom organization, my family life, food, and other random tidbits. Here goes nothing. Thanks for sharing this journey with me and I hope you find something that inspires you along the way.

Jennifer