Discovery Museum - Sunshine Kid's Blog Hop

I've found that one of the great things about living in California is all the fun places to visit and play!

Recently we took our Granddaughters to a great museum in Sacramento called the "Discovery Museum - Science and Space Center".

I wasn't sure at first if it would be "age appropriate" for our little one's (ages 2 and 5), 

but we were pleasantly surprised at the versatility and amount of exhibits!

Most of the activities could be easily enjoyed by a child or adult of any age.

The animal exhibits were really nice and geared so that even little ones could see and enjoy them.

I was very happy to see how interested our five year old Granddaughter (Little B) was in the more sophisticated displays, such as the mars soil, pine cones and bicycle gyro!

The museum has "rotating exhibits" and currently they have the "Space Quest" exhibit going on until January 2014.

I was not convinced that our "girls" were going to be interested in space stuff, but boy was I wrong!

They had a BLAST and our two year old Granddaughter is STILL talking about the robot "COSMOS" that she met there!

Here is a cute video of her and her sister having a "convo" with Cosmos!

Little "B" was really excited about the rocket ship play area and donned a space suit and played in the rocket ship with other kids that were there.

Another favorite for both kids was the "Cosmic Cafe" where kids can prepare play foods and serve them to Parents, Grandparents or each other!

They had a special show in the Planetarium for the younger kids, a movie of "Sid the Science Kid" which was perfect for Little B but a little tedious for the two-year old "C-Bear"!

We stopped for a short break and had a snack outside on the beautiful grounds of the museum and sat next to the duck pond.

My only regret is that I wish I had planned better and brought a more "healthy" snack for the little ones.

They had vending machines at the museum and we bought our snacks there.

To be honest, I did not think we'd be there long, as I mentioned before, we did not expect children as young as our grandkids to really enjoy the museum that much but I was really happy and very impressed with the whole program!

We had such a great time and our Granddaughters learned a lot and had fun doing it!

Here are some more photos from the fun activities the kids participated in while at the museum:
(You can click on this collage to make it bigger)

I would highly recommend this place to anyone in the area who is looking for a fun place to hang-out and learn with family and children, or to those traveling through Northern California who want to see the local sites!

We will definitely be visiting here again soon!

For more information on hours, pricing and upcoming exhibits see their website here.

Thank-you for sharing our adventure!

I am happy to be participating in a fun blog hop this week...

The Sunshine Kids California Blog Hop celebrates all that is wonderful about raising kids in the Golden State.

Link up your kid-centered posts about California: places to visit, books to read, crafts to create, recipes to try, and so on.

The blog hop will run from August 19 to September 2.

Thanks to Akane of Juggling With Kids for the beautiful photo!

You can also check out even more California posts on our collaborative Kid Friendly California Pinterest board!

 Be sure to check out our upcoming project, Exploring the California Missions!    
    

Participating Blogs:

Link up your kid-centered California posts below!

Craft Lightning - Recycled Book to Easel Calendar

Welcome to the summer edition of Craft Lightning - 15 minute Crafts!

I am so happy to be participating in this fun series with some of my blog friends...

 Angie at: The Country Chic Cottage  and Carolina at: 30 Minute Crafts!

I'm always racking my brain to find crafts that are fun, easy and cute...

but that don't take a lot of time to complete. 

When visiting my good friend Melissa recently,
I noticed that she had this really cute easel calendar displayed in her den.

Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was hand-crafted and made from an old book cover.

This was just the inspiration I needed for a "lightning craft"!

Hubby and I have been cruisin' the Yard and Estate Sales lately and I have a TON of old books that are just piling up and calling my name to be used in some way, so the timing was perfect!

I used an old children's book for my project

I found this vintage looking 2014 calendar printable at the Crafty Secrets Blog.

I have a TON of buttons that I have gathered from our weekend adventures also and it was fun to dig through them to find this old vintage one that just seemed to fit perfectly with the book cover!

How to steps:

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Photo of supplies and tools used for this project:

Supplies/Tool List:

Old/Vintage Children's Book
Mini Printable Calendar (2004) - I downloaded mine from: Crafty Secrets
Cork Board Material, 1/4" Thick (as an alternative, you can use foam core board)
23-24" of Ribbon, Red, Solid/Sheer Combo w/Irridescent thread, Nylon/Poly, 3/8", Offray #RN17991, #CA07795
Button, Vintage (From Stock on Hand)
Push Pins, White, 2 ea.
Pearl Stickers (Heads), 2 ea., Aqua from: Jolee's Bling, Multicolored Package, Pastel Pearl Borders #50-00200  (Jolee's/EK Success)
Knife/Box Cutter
Scissors
Scribe/Awl
Hammer
Center Punch
Ruler
Scissors
Cutting Mat
Cardboard Template (for drilling holes) (self-made)
Dremel Tool, w/small drillbit
Yarn Needle, Plastic, (Boye) Simplicity Creative Group
Fiskars Paper Trimmer
Aleene's Tacky Glue
E6000 Glue
Toothpick
Paper Weight

If you have a quick craft of your own that you'd like to share...hop on over to The Craft Lightning Linky Party now!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and viewing my project!

Hope you'll come back soon!

This Project/Post is linked to the following sites/link parties:

New Simplicity Craft Pattern - #1602 Backpack and Giveaway!

*Please Note: In the interest of Disclosure and IAW FTC 16 CFR Part 255: I was given a complimentary copy of this pattern for review from Simplicity and the Pattern Designer.
The opinions expressed in this review and any further review or mention of this product are my own and have not been influenced by anyone or any compensation monetarily or otherwise.

Okay, now that THAT is out of the way...I am so totally excited to share with you all this awesome new craft pattern from Simplicity!

It's in Craft, Hobby and Sewing Stores now...as you can see, I spotted it at JoAnn's yesterday while shopping there!

This pattern is beyond adorable and I can't wait to try it out and make one of the back-packs for  my Granddaughter!

This pattern was designed by a sweet Blogger Friend of mine...Heather Valentine from "The Sewing Loft" and she is sponsoring a cool giveaway on her blog right now in celebration of the release of this new pattern.

You can enter this giveaway via the form below or by clicking the above photo and going to The Sewing Loft. 

Upcycled/Recycled Gift for Teacher Appreciation

I have been volunteering in my Granddaughter "B's" class this year and when it came time for teacher appreciation week I knew I wanted to do something for B's teacher.

I've really loved being in her class and watching how she interacts with the children and helps them learn and grow.

She is just plain amazing in my book!

I really thought it was awesome how she dressed like a Dalmatian on the 101 st day of school!

The kids REALLY loved that!

I asked "B" what kind of things did her teacher like and she told me "Coffee, Monkey's and US!" (meaning the whole kindergarten class.) That really made me smile!

I decided to go with the coffee theme for a gift since I already had something in mind that would fit perfectly with coffee.

A few months earlier I had made some Green Bean Casserole and was pleasantly surprised to find that French's had a new container for their French Fried Onions.

When I saw it, I immediately started thinking of all the cool things I could make with it later on.

I have a bit of a confession to make here...I am a recycle junkie!

(And I don't mean the environmental kind who loves to "turn in" all her recycles to the local county recycle program...) I keep all kinds of "crap" as DH would call it because I am CERTAIN something can be made from it later! LOL!

The problem is...most of the time...LATER never comes and I am over-run with all kinds of glass, plastic and cardboard containers.

(Yes...I would be a perfect candidate for that reality show "Hoarder's"...
My husband is constantly reminding me of this. He isn't amused!)

I had saved a couple of those cool containers and thought one of them would be PERFECT for this project.

I loved the way the lid snapped on securely and knew it would work good for coffee.

The smooth plastic surface would be easy to cover with fabric or scrapbooking paper.

I decided to go with fabric because I thought it would hold up better with repeated use.

I bought some little coffee packets at the dollar store to store inside the container, knowing that B's teacher would probably want to eventually replace it with her own brand/taste in coffee when it needed to be refilled.

I had some jewelry findings that I had purchased at an Estate Sale and found the perfect embellishment to add to the container along with some coordinating ribbon.

I added black felt to the top of the lid and to the bottom of the container using a pattern I made from tracing the lid and bottom.

You can do this yourself or I created a PDF version of my pattern that you can download here for free to save you some time.

I wanted to personalize the container a little more, so that it would somehow hold a memory for the teacher of my sweet Granddaughter, so I took her kindergarten school picture and cut it to fit in a round frame (old earring from the jewelry findings) and attached it to the outside lid of the box.

I also wanted to let Mrs. R know how special she was to me and B and what a good teacher she is, so I included a quote about teaching on the inside of the lid, so she would see it whenever she opened the container.

I found this cute graphic/quote at a great website called Bitsy Creations. They have some really cute designs and many of them are offered as free printables.

If you'd like to download this particular graphic/quote please go here for the link.

As a final touch I purchased a small coffee themed kitchen towel and a gift card to Starbucks for when Ms. R wanted coffee on the go!

Little B was pretty excited when I told her that I had made something special for her teacher and she couldn't wait to give it to her!

Supplies and Tools used for this project:

Supplies/Tools List:

Re-useable/Re-sealable Plastic Container
Fabric Strip - 14" x 14" (approx.)
Black Felt - 5"x3" (approx.) (2 pieces)
Pattern for Felt Pieces - 2 pcs. (Traced from top and bottom of container onto paper) Download Here.
Glue Dots - Glue Lines, 1"
Ribbon, Sheer Organdy, Black, 7/8" (Ribbon Trends)
Ribbon, Grosgrain, Black, 1/4" (Essentials)
Aleene's Tacky Glue
E6000 Glue
Jewelry Findings/Embellishments - (Not shown in photo above) I used an old round earring and a cabochon
Scissors
Jewelry Pliers
Popsicle Stick (for use spreading glue)
Straight Pins (to pin pattern to felt pieces)
Printed Quote/Poem for Inside of Lid - (The one shown above can be downloaded here)
Gift Card
Small food/candy items to fill container (in this case coffee packets)

Thanks for stopping by!

This post/project is linked-up to the following sites/link parties:

Spicy Southern Collard Greens

Welcome to day 5 of the Shrimp N' Grits: A Southern Style Blog Hop!

From June 17 - 30, bloggers are invited to link up their family-friendly posts about life in the South: recipes, crafts, kids' activities, and more!

So grab a big bowl of shrimp n' grits, a tall glass of iced tea, and sit back on your porch swing, because we are getting ready for some down home fun!

For those of you who know me...you won't be surprised that I LOVE Southern Style Food, so being a co-host of the Shrimp N' Grits Blog Hop is right up my alley!

Even though I wasn't born in the South...my sweet Mama and her parents were, so I had an upbringing rooted deep in those traditions...especially when it came to food.

I remember visiting my Grandmother in Tennesee and watching her pick the food right from her Garden and cook it up fresh!

The smells in her home were heavenly and the atmosphere so loving and inviting!

What I wouldn't give to spend another day with her...she passed away in 2008 leaving a huge hole in my heart, but I am blessed that she was my Grandmother and am thankful for the great memories she left me with.

When my Grandmother served a meal, it was not your typical 3 course meal...it was more like everything but the kitchen sink!

I swear I don't know how she did it...I have trouble just getting one or two items on the table and her table was always filled to the brim with delicious, mouth-watering food.

One of my favorite things she made was Greens...turnip greens or collard greens...didn't matter...they both tasted great!

I live in California now and "Greens" here means green salad, so it's a bit hard to find greens at the local supermarket.

Recently I did find a discount grocer that carries the Cut-n-Clean Bagged Greens and I was pretty excited about that!

I never did get an official "recipe" from my Grandmother on how to make greens, but I remember she put bacon or ham in them, so I just tried my best to duplicate what I remember her doing.

My greens turned out pretty good, though I won't claim them to be as good as hers were!

Here is my recipe:

Spicy Southern Collard Greens

1 pkg. (or 1 lb.) of Collard Greens

4 cups of water (to just cover the greens in pot)

1 tsp. of Sea Salt

1 Stick of Butter or Margarine

1 Lg. Cube of Chicken Bouillon (not shown in photo above...I forgot to include it!)

2 tsp. crushed garlic

1 tsp. ground red (cayenne) pepper

5-6 pcs. Of Bacon (cut in half)

Cover Greens in large cooking pot with water.

Add the salt.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to med low.

Add butter, chicken bouillon, garlic, red pepper & bacon

Return to a boil then reduce heat to low.

Simmer until tender, usually an hour to an hour and a half.

(I usually cook them for 3-4 hours as I like the flavors to really soak into the greens.  Just be sure to keep it on low and check often)

I like to serve them up with a tasty batch of skillet cornbread…another Southern Favorite!

I don't think I have to tell ya...but this recipe ain't "low-cal" if ya know what I mean!

You can make it lower calorie though...by using Olive Oil instead of butter or margarine and leaving out the bacon.

You can also leave out the salt and the bouillon for a low sodium diet...but let's be real here...if you want that true Southern taste...you need all that stuff that ain't no good fer ya!

(Oh...and I might add that my dear Granny lived to be 90...and she ate this stuff everyday!)

So take that for what it's worth...I'm no doctor and certainly wouldn't recommend eating this way all the time, but golly it sure tastes good to have a little bacon fat every now and then!

I will be linking-up my recipe to the hop and we'd love it if you link-up your Southern project, recipe or craft too! (See the inlinkz widget below)

Thanks so much for stopping by and relaxing on the porch awhile!

The Shrimp N' Grits Blog Hop is brought to you by:

All Done Monkey

Frogs & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails

Discovering the World Through My Son's Eyes

With our wonderful co-hosts:

Play Create Explore

Simple. Home. Blessings.

JDaniel4's Mom

Caution! Twins at Play!

Creative Cynchronicity

Stuff-n-Such By Lisa

HomeMadeville

 

Shrimp & Grits Blog Hop

So happy to be co-hosting the Shrimp N' Grits Blog hop!

Welcome to the Shrimp N' Grits: A Southern Style Blog Hop! From June 17 - 30, bloggers are invited to link up their family-friendly posts about life in the South: recipes, crafts, kids' activities, and more! So grab a big bowl of shrimp n' grits, a tall glass of iced tea, and sit back on your porch swing, because we are getting ready for some down home fun!

The Shrimp N' Grits Blog Hop is brought to you by:

All Done Monkey

Frogs & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails

Discovering the World Through My Son's Eyes

With our wonderful co-hosts:

Play Create Explore

Simple. Home. Blessings.

JDaniel4's Mom

Caution! Twins at Play!

Creative Cynchronicity

Stuff-n-Such By Lisa

HomeMadeville