Photo Capture of a Small Train Town

Having a love of all things vintage and crafty, we came across this cute little town, nestled in the shadow of a Mountain and I just had to take photos of it. With a population under 10,000 (2016), white fences with flower gardens galore and a Main Street with Cafes and local old time businesses, this town, less than and hour outside the metropolitan, had a perfect small town feel. Daily, trains run through it, blaring an announcement of their arrival, there are parks  in walking distance every block of the way and an old bridge which gets lit up the day after Thanksgiving. Quarterly, the city has a festival downtown filled with parades, daffodils, their famous rhubarb pie, Santa, crafts for kids and every boutique you can think of. The residents add to the ambiance of this town with their own charming homes. This is the kind of town, where you see "Yard Sale" and it's written on a chalkboard sign. The yards are filled with clocks and street lanterns, flowers and birdhouses, shuttered windows and garden gnomes. Here are a few pictures capturing some of the essence of this old train town. One of these days, I may get to include the festivals that fill the main street and the fields of berries that surround the town. For now, here are some shots from a few walks through town.

Some Shots off the Bridge

Blossoms & Front Yards

Every where you turn are gardens and blossoms galore. This town is well known for it's dogwood trees and blossoms

Among the flower gardens, you spy a piece of the patriotism that flows through this traditional town.

The residents of the town add to the charm you feel as you walk down the streets.

Main Street

..and of course, you can't fully experience the town with out slipping into a cafe and trying a piece of their raspberry-rhubarb pie.

HOME Decal, Flower Boxes and Signs

I designed this decal recently and I have fallen in love with it.  We've mostly used it for flower boxes but this last week I made it into a sign.

The inspiration for it was from a few different crafts I've done. I've been making a lot of these home tiles and love the substitute of Washington state for the O. I also really love this new font I got so I was hoping to combine the two and in such a way I could do it on the flower boxes.

It looked good but not completed. I had created this wheat wreath last Christmas for a wooden box. I had tried a few different borders with the HOME decal but this one had the 'farm house' feel I was going for and was simple but decorative.

I made the first box, which is approx 5x5" and sized the decal. I used Oracal 651 which should hold permanently to the stained box. Making one for myself helps so I can see how well it holds up.

Once I got going, it was easier to make more and I got a lot of positive feedback from them.

I have pictures where my "photo bomber" isn't so apparent but I love this one!

I was really hoping to make one for myself once things slowed down but we already have a lot of table decor so I decided to try the sign route. The sign is about 9x13". The wheat was MUCH easier to weed, making it even more desirable to make. I'm really happy with how it turned out. When I open my Etsy shop (plan is for this summer), I'm debating on selling just the decal in the two different sizes or selling the sign itself. I wonder what else I could make with the decal?

Zones of Regulation Supporting Materials

Link to Inside Out Pictures and Labels:
It sits next to our coin reward chart and our number corner charts.

Typically, my crafting happens around the house. However, over winter break, we tweaked something in my classroom that has really helped the emotional growth and regulation of my students as we've introduced the curriculum Zones of Regulation. Everything we've been able to utilize, I've been able to find free resources for online. Below, I've included the links for each one. The only thing that cost us money was the calming area, which my husband built for less than $40. Our PTA was so wonderful to donate the pillows, bean bags and times to go with it. A special thank you to those that are willing to share their resources for free!

One day, it will all be matchy-matchy but for now we are just getting started. 

We've been using picture schedules for years. This one has been my favorite. If you print them four to a page, they are perfect size for a clip board/binder schedule.

Link to Download for Picture Schedule

Each day as we introduced a different zone, we watched a 'attention getter' clip, modeled the behavior and then filled out a "The Way I'm Feeling" paper for the zone.

Link to the The Way I Feel Pictures

Link to Download for Calming Strategy Cards

On the fifth day, we talked about activities we can do to get back to the Green Zone. We laid it out like a game of Charades.

This is our new motto (and reminder) for the year.  Reinforcing positive behaviors to replace unwanted behaviors is a more powerful tool than using negative consequences to change behavior. We strive for the 6:1 (high fives, kind words, cheerleading smiles, thumbs up, class coins, PBIS tickets, anything!). We also strive to 'sit and engage', our own replacement behavior for 'stand and command', which can get tricky during unstructured group times.

As I find more materials, I'll try and add them to this post. On my Instagram account, I've also included a couple pictures of how we use our picture schedule in a variety of ways, @rainydaycraftess. One key thing we do each day is remind them that blue and red are not bad zones, it's just some of the things we do when we are in them and that is why we like to go back to green and then each day we go over each student's plan of how they will get back to green. Next, we hope to introduce a visual/tactile way for them to show the zone they are in. 

Good luck and feel free to ask any question! 

Weekend Crafting Retreat

Weekend Crafting Retreat

This weekend, I left my kiddos and my husband (for the first time ever) and went out to a lodge on a beautiful lake and spent the weekend crafting and visiting with old and new friends.

Our 'crafting' and 'quilting' space. Click to view larger.

I worked on three different things over the weekend. I offered a craft for scrabble tiles, worked on t-shirts and the majority of my time was spent on decorations for my kiddo's birthdays.

Scrabble Tiles

These our my customized scrabble tiles:

Link to more information if you'd like to order wood, kits or a completed set...

I sell them completed for $2 a tile but I also offer them in kits for $1 a tile. Most people did the "Home" version, with states like Washington, Utah, Michigan and Missouri. The one below was a lady who wanted "Ocean" to match a theme in her home.

Birthdays

The majority of my time was spent on crafts for my kid's birthdays. My son wanted a theme related to his favorite Netflix show. My daughter wanted Fairies. While crafting, I did a lot of little things, like home made wands and cupcake toppers, along with birthday invitations but I did some bigger crafts that my daughter can use as bedroom decor as well. These are pictured below.

I used a gold gift bag from the dollar store to make the circles. The other half of the bag I used to make golden fairy silhouettes for cupcake toppers.

It was fun coming home and seeing their faces as I pulled things out one-by-one for their parties. I don't know if I can do it every year but it certainly was fun for this year!

I purchased the fairies from the Silhouette Store.

T-Shirts

Lara Allsopps shared these first two files with me. Aren't they amazing? I did the upside down shirt for my husband. The weeding was tedious but it was worth it to see how pleased he was to have it. If we decide to dress down for Halloween this next year, I think these would be fun matching couple shirts to wear.

I also made another one of my tribal shirts to thank and surprise (haha hopefully she's not reading this before she gets it) my sister-in-law who lives in the tri-cities.

You know that thought, "If I could just craft for hours", well it was a dream come true. It was a lot of fun, I got a lot done. I strengthened friendships and made many new ones. It was so good being home with my family but I would be excited and up for another one next year!