Pepper Scraps

A Craft a Day: L is for Lion

Haha the first time I posted this I forgot to change the intro. Oh well, that is how it goes sometimes. Zane loves lions, his lovey from when he was little was a lion named Judah. This week you can see my failed attempt at a bento gone bad, but also you can see my own craft I created to work with Zane with scissor skills.

If you are new to A Craft a Day

A Craft a Day gives you five activities that you can enjoy with your kids, one for each day of the week. Most of these activities work well for preschoolers, but you may be able to adapt them for your toddler.

You can learn more about the basics of a Craft a Day Here.

I will post the crafts on Saturdays so you can use the weekend to get any supplies that you may need. We are making our way through the alphabet this year so if you missed a letter you can find it here.

The Crafts:

Lion Bento Lunch Box – I made this and it turned out okay I will share the photo just so you can see one of my project fails. LOL This must have been done with cold mac n cheese.

Lion & Lamb Mask – This was great you got two L words in one! Plus this worked well for a bible theme also.
Macoroni Lion – We have actually never done a pasta project before and I thought this was a pretty cute one.
Crunchy Leaf Lion – Again a two L project here. I actually believe I have featured this project in the past. But what is great is you can find any image you want trace it with glue and add the crushed leaves. I wanted to use this lion picture and outline the main in glue. But we didn’t make it out to get leaves. Two outings outside, one Zarek fell off a wall and two Zane had an accident. I gave up.
Clothes Pin Lion – I created this craft after learning that clothes pins can help your preschooler with scissor skills. Zane and Zarek were both able to participate in this activity.

Supplies: cheese, carrot, celery, white cheese, macaroni, paper plate or card stock, elmer’s glue, black pen, google eyes, clothes pens, markers, collected leaves, glue, craft paper, paper plate, yarn, glue, craft paper

Are you Supermom?

Now I’m not supermom and I don’t expect you to be either. We don’t always get to each activity, sometimes life is just too busy. Hopefully you may try one or two of these activities with me and my kids! You don’t have to do every single one. You don’t have to be doing preschool with your child. I just hope to give you a resource for some great fun with your kids!

Be Featured

If you do any of these crafts and happen to take a picture or write a blog post about it please make sure and share your link in the comments. Also don’t forget to link the original crafter! I may feature you and your blog on the following weeks post!

Crafts

Clothes Pin Lion

I read that having your children work with clothes pins helps with their scissor skills and since that is one thing that I have been working with Zane on I decide to create this craft. Creating these lions was so easy even Zarek, at 2 1/2, could help us! Supplies: plate or card stock Elmer’s …

Bloggers you Should be Following: Darren Rowse

Darren Rowse

I stumbled upon Darren’s blog Problogger years ago and have had a subscription ever since. Problogger is a “Blog that helps bloggers to add income streams to their blogs.” Will you become a pro blogger by reading Darren’s writing? You will never know unless you try!

Some other great blogs that you can find Darren at are: Digital Photography School and TwiTip – Twitter Tips.

Darren is not only a blogger but has some great, great eBooks that I highly recommend reading if you are wanting to learn more about blogging. One of my favorites being 31 Days to Building a Better Blog.

I have had some great conversations with Darren on Twitter and Google+. Not only is he amazingly knowledgeable about blogging but about social media and marketing also!

Back in 2002 I stumbled upon an article about ‘Blogging’. I didn’t know it at the time but that moment changed my life. – About Problogger

Where to follow Darren

Now that you have learned a little about Darren from me please make sure and follow him and his blog and his other social networks.

What to expect next week?

I will be sharing a new blogger with your next week. But I would love your input in the comments. What bloggers do you look up to and subscribe to? Is there someone you would like me to feature?

Free Printables! Getting Healthy

How to get motivated with a 30 day challenge!

What keeps you motivated? How do you add a new habit to your life? Have you tried doing a 30 day challenge?

Hundreds of 30 day challenges exist, from fitness to photography. This says something about human beings doesn’t it? We love challenges! We love trying something new! We need repetition to build good habits!

My First 30 Day Challenge

My first 30 day challenge for myself was to do 30 straight days of exercise. I missed one day but allowed myself to have one day to make it up by doing two exercise sessions. I think that is part of making it through a challenge to not become discouraged when you miss a day. Just keep going.

By the end of the challenge I was finding myself wanting to get out and exercising. Which I have never had this urge in my life. Somehow my body had learned through the 30 days that exercise was good.

How did I do it?

I created a little sheet to mark off each day on my challenge. I made it fun and pretty. And I have it available for you to print off too. I wrote down what my challenge was (exercise) and wrote down my reward: Bundle Monster Nail Art Stamping Plates (affiliate link).

Each day I crossed off a mark and watched as I got closer and closer to my goal. It was fun and exciting to see my progress!

What’s My Next Challenge

Drinking 8 glasses of water every day for 30 days.

I have found that behind exercise and food, water is one of the biggest things that makes a difference in my weight loss. So for my next challenge I’m going to try and drink the recommended 64 ounces of water every day for 30 days.

Challenge Ideas

Drink Water
Exercise
No chocolate
No candy
No snacks after 7pm
Take a walk every evening
Blog everyday
Comment on 5 blogs everyday
Write for 30 minutes everyday
Take a photo a day
Learn a new word everyday
Hug your child everyday
Read your bible daily
No TV
One good deed a day
Clean your house
Cook at home every night
and more…

Now it’s your Turn!

One of the best things you can do when you are doing a 30 day challenge is to find support! Find someone to keep you accountable!

I’m now asking you to join me in a 30 day challenge of your own. Your challenge doesn’t have to be water or even fitness related. You could pick any of the challenges above or just make one that is your own.

If you are interested in joining in on this challenge then comment and tell me about the challenge you are going to do. If I have a few people interested we can talk about how to keep each other accountable and how to keep in touch (twitter, email, facebook, etc).

And to help you with your challenge here is your FREE printable 30 Day Challenge chart!

Android Family Fitness Getting Healthy Menu Planning

5 Healthy Android Apps

This is going to be one of my favorite android app posts. Getting healthy has been something I have been working very hard with this year and these apps have been some of the best tools I have had! I’m going to share with you some fitness apps, some food apps, and even an iPhone …

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Project 52: Social Good Day 2011

I know you might be thinking, this isn’t Monday so why Project 52? Today is Social Good Day 2011, “Can social media be used to make the world a better place?” I won’t be able to make it to a meetup, but I wanted to use this event to encourage you, my reader to consider how you can use social media to make a difference.

Are you wondering how social media, supporting a cause and Project 52 connect? Project 52 is all about photography and self portraits. But what is the best self portrait then sharing something you are passionate about supporting?

What cause do you support? What cause breaks your heart and you want to support?

Great Example: Teresa Berg Photography

Teresa is a great example of how you can use your skills to help others. She was passionate about saving dogs from being euthanized. She saw how she could use her skills in photography could save these dogs!

Find your Passion

Find your passion and find how you can use your skills to help your cause. Are you a blogger? Write about the cause you are passionate about. Do you know social media? Share, tweet, and more all about the cause you want others to know about. Are you a photographer that loves animals? Take Teresa’s class to learn how to photograph animals for a local animal rescue.

My Current Cause: Direct Relief

My Current Cause: Girls Matter

On any given day, over 200,000 children inside the United States are at high risk for sexual exploitation, including prostitution, pornography, and stripping. Ninety percent of these children are American citizens. A child’s average age of entry into the U.S. sex industry is 12, with children as young as 10 being not uncommon.

–OATH (Oregonians Against Trafficked Humans)

This is the challenge find your passion & use your skills to help the cause!

Do you have a cause that you are passionate about? What do you do to support your cause?