An artful journey

For years my husband has been teasing me about this bag of "sticks" that we've been moving along with us for no other reason than I collected them on a trip to Homer, AK and I thought that they will be useful someday! Well, today is the day! lol





This large piece of driftwood (along with many others) was found on the spit in Homer, Alaska on a fishing trip we took with friends who were visiting from Montana. Little did we know at the time, but we were expecting J! I'm not sure what is was about that trip that made it so special...I didn't go fishing or do anything major but we were with friends and we were making memories... while the men were off fishing, the ladies and I went to art galleries and after the men returned with hundreds of lbs of halibut and a few salmon to make up for dinner, we headed to the spit...





I just remember taking lots of pictures of the details...like my husband's hands hold my stepson's tiny 5 year old hands while they fished (with no luck!) and the details of the rocks and the piles of drift wood that had spent so much time at sea but landed there on that spot for me to find and treasure! I had no idea at the time what I was going to use them for but they have come in handy a number of times and make our projects that much more special! That is why I was so excited to think of this...











What better way to use a treasured item than to make it useable and welcome the nature into our schoolroom in one more way!

The girls sat stringing beads and practicing their math (counting for R and adding for J)

...to make their own art display!

We simply attached hangers to the back of it, beaded fishing string onto painted wooden clothes pins and beaded on the galss beads!!! SOOO simple but the girls are so proud of what they "made"!

I love the way the room is FINALLY coming together and starting to feel more welcoming! Let the creative juices start flowing!

Wonder what she's working on? Check out The Letter Writing Revolution! Since our move J has been hard at work on letters to her friends in hopes of getting mail in return someday! *Hint hint* and has even picked up a few new penpals along the way! She is currently working on a detailed letter to one of those said penpals about what we've been doing in school and what she's learning about fall....Emails are great but letters are better!! Go check out the blog and grab a piece of paper and a pen...someone is anxiously awaiting mail too! :)