Summertime

So I blinked and now it's summer. I didn't mean to abandon this space. But as I am sure most of you can relate, my real life has a tendency to take priority over my virtual life. I hope to post some of the portraits that I've taken in the past few months, but today I am in full summertime mode.

Last Friday was the last day of school. Monday morning at about 11am my son came in the house and announced that he and his friends were bored. Nothing to do. So they figured that I needed to take them someplace fun. Well, I am sure you can imagine what my reaction was. Now something else you should know is that there are about 15 kids who live and play on our street. So there is no lack of activity. But since it's summer there aren't any planned activities. 

About noon the next day I gathered everyone on the front lawn. I sent my husband to get Little Caesar's pizza and then I sent the kids to their houses to get a book they could read. When they returned I had put some blankets down on the grass and we all ate some pizza. After that I set a timer and everyone read their books for 20 minutes. 

We decided to make it a daily practice. On Wednesday we had a few more kids come. And inspiration struck that day. 

So have any of you heard about Instagram? The day Instagram came to Android was one of the happiest days of my life. Okay, so that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I do love this simple picture sharing app! If are on Instragram you can follow me @wendyrueter. 

Thursday was the day that Instagram and our street book club collided. We made bookmarks after lunch but before our reading time. 

I must have printed about 60 little photos which made 30 bookmarks. By the end of the afternoon all of them had been used. The kids loved them!

What you need to make one bookmark:

2 - 1.5" prints of your Instagram photos or any photos 

1 - 1.5"x3" strip of white card stock

2 - 3/4" or 1" square pieces of adhesive backed magnet sheet (Magnet Sheet)

Double stick adhesive

Assembly is very easy. Score the white card stock at 1.5" and adhere each photo to the same side of the card stock. If you want a bookmark that goes over the top of the page of your book make sure that the top of your photo is lined up with the middle score line on your card stock. That means that one photo will be right side up and the other will be upside down when the bookmark is laying flat. If you want a bookmark that goes on the side of your page position the photos so that when looking at them they are both right side up. All of the ones pictured here are oriented to go on the top of the page. 

Take 2 squares of magnet sheet. Peel the tape off of one of them to expose the adhesive. Flip your card stock to the inside and stick the magnet down. Place the other magnet square on top of the one that is stuck down. Magnets are funny creatures. They have to be put together the right way otherwise they will repel each other. So make sure that they are attracting each other (if not twist them until they are). In other words when you let go of the top magnet it should stay, and you're good to go. If the top magnet falls away you need to try again. Once you know that the magnets are set do not take the top one off, but carefully peel away the tape to expose the adhesive. Close the card stock to attach the magnet to the right spot. Then you can place it on a page in your book!

I am on the lookout for more fun, easy, inexpensive crafts to do with kids. If you have any ideas please share!