15 Different Ways to Decorate a Pot

For Herbology this week at Hogwarts Summer School, the assignment is to decorate a pot and plant something in it.

Here are 15 different ways you could decorate your pot.

 Don't you love this footprint butterfly? 

 Stripes are so easy and fun. Just mask off a section or two with painter's tape. Then spray the rest with a can of spray paint. 

These geometric shapes or dots could be made with stencils or stickers

 Wrap your pot with pencils

Or with twigs

 Paint it with chalkboard paint. 

 This mosaic pot is made with broken plates. 

This one is made with tile grout spread all over the pot and then covered in tiny treasures- buttons, keys, locks, and gems-- then the grout is allowed to dry. 

 How fun are these photo planters! 

You could always paint a pot like a Ninja Turtle. 

 Cover a pot with gems...

 Or pour on some paint.

 These dots are stamped on this pot. 

Add some lace....

   

or some rick rack!

Or what if you didn't use a pot at all? Here are 7 fun alternatives!

 Rubber Boots

 Old Shoes

 

Or old Crocs!

 Bags or Purses

Tin Cans

Watering Can

Toy Dump Truck 

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Crazy for Chocolate!

Chocolate Mud Cake

This week's assignment for Potions in the Hogwarts Summer Fun Challenge is to make something with chocolate. One easy way to do this activity is to make a yummy variation of hot chocolate by adding in some of your own original mix-ins. What happens when you add cinnamon bears to Hot Cocoa? Do you want to try? How about Reeses Peanut Butter Cups? Or Maple Syrup? If hot cocoa isn't your thing, (it is summer BTW!) then try it cold.

If you want to get really magical in the kitchen, try some of the other recipes listed below. The next six pictures of chocolate heaven came from Spoonful's compilation of 38 chocolate treats. You can find the recipes here.

 Cherry Chocolate Mice

Chocolate Lave Cakes

 Chocolate Mint Brownies

 Mint Chocolate Bark

Chocolate Fondu

Brownie Pizza

You could also try making your own CANDY BAR. Find lots of great candy bar recipes here. 

How about mixing chocolate with other foods you wouldn't think of? Like this Potato Chip Fudge!

 Or this Ritz Cracker Candy? 

Check out this list of seriously weird foods covered in chocolate! 

How about a chocolate covered pickle? Or a Slim Jim Beef Stick? There are even chocolate covered jalepeno peppers!

Anyone dare give that a try? 

Of course, you could be really daring and cover bugs in chocolate! 

How about coming up with a chocolate potion of your own? 

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{DIY} Creating with Cardboard

Turn this boring oatmeal canister into a Pull Open Piñata!

Take turns pulling the strings. Only one opens the flap and sends the candy flying! 

It is Week 1 at Hogwarts Summer School! Even if you did not sign up for our awesome free program this year, you can still participate in some of the classes and activities.

Here is the activity list for Week 1. It includes activities you can do for each of the Hogwarts Classes.
All this week we will be posting fun things you can do to complete your class assignments. Today is Transfiguration. Transfiguration is the magical class where you take one thing and turn it into something else. This week for Transfiguration you need to turn cardboard into something new and amazing. Check out the ideas below. Try one of these or think of your own transfiguration for a piece of boring cardboard. It really is magic!

Rocket Ship

Musketeer Swords

Doll Bed

Traffic Light for your Bikes

Here are some more ideas to get your creative juices flowing! 

Tow Mater out of a Tissue Box

Monster Boxes

Cute Cardboard Houses

Dinosaur Feet

Box Tower for Rapunzel

If you are a member of the Hogwarts Challenge, print out your weekly list and check off the things that you complete this week.

On Monday June 16th, report your scores at hogwartssummerfunchallenge@gmail.com.

We will tally up the scores and report the winner in the race for the House Cup on the blog on Tuesday June 17th. Remember that everyone who completes 3 activities a week/24 in all will receive a Hogwarts Summer School Completion Certificate. Everyone who completes 6 a week/48 in all will receive a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. And the student in each house who completes the most activities will receive a handmade wizard wand.
Good Luck!
School has never been this much fun!


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I am Malala

Last week I shared my favorite read aloud of this past school year-- Wonder by R.J. Palaccio. Today I would like to share my second favorite read aloud from this past school year. The book was I am Malala. This is the autobiography of Malala Yousafzai, the 16 year old girl who stood up for girl's education and was shot by the Taliban.

When I decided to tackle this challenging non-fiction title with my 5th and 6th grade students I was worried it would be beyond their ability to understand or appreciate. Boy, was I ever wrong! Not only did they get it but reading this book became a life-changing experience for all of us.

Malala has become a personal hero to all of the girls in my class. No one can read this book without gaining a profound appreciation for the rights of eduction that we take for granted every day. I promise if you read this book yourself and/or read it with your kids, you will never see your life or school the same way again.

Malala is an engaging storyteller and each chapter in the book prompted so much dialogue and conversation. It is a violent story but it told in such a way that it is appropriate for 10 and 11 year olds. If you want to prevent summer brain drain, put this on your reading list for the summer.

I showed my students this amazing video of Malala's UN Speech.

We loved this interview with Malala by Diane Sawyer.

Here is Malala's father as he speaks about her on the TED Stage.

I love Malala and her cause. I am praying with the rest of the world for the safe return of the kidnapped Nigerian school girls. Only through education can we hope to change our world for the better.

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Spy Camp

For all of you local readers, Tiff and I are doing another Wonder Kids Summer Camp this summer. Our theme is SPY CAMP!

I am so excited about all the things we have planned. From dusting for fingerprints...

to cracking secret codes....

to solving mysteries....

This camp is going to be so much fun! Email us if you have kids ages 4 to 14 that are interested in attending.

The dates are July 14th to July 18th.
The time is 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
The cost is $60 for the week.
The location is American Fork, Utah.

We promise the case of summer boredom will be solved!

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Graduation Quilts

Graduation and Quilts just seem to go together in our house. I wanted to share some of the cute quilts we have given and received over the years for graduation.

Natalie's Young Women's group tied this beautiful quilt for her in American Fork colors.

Melissa was leaving for college in Southern Virginia after her graduation hence the Americana themed quilt.

Shannon chose her own color scheme for this graduation quilt. We gave her a ring of color swatches and asked her to choose 5. I think this quilt turned out beautifully, don't you?

Natalie's quilt is embroidered with hearts so she knows how much we love her.

Shannon made this quilt with all of her t-shirts from high school.

Natalie made this quilt with all of her jeans worn out in high school!

My brother and his wife made this adorable "graduation" quilt for me. I am the oldest in my family with five brothers. I started a tradition where I would make a story quilt like this for each of my brothers as they graduated from high school. I would design each quilt block to tell the story of all the things they were involved in during high school. There were squares for football, ski team, diving etc. Everyone got a quilt but me. So many, many, many years later, my brother Aaron set out to rectify this terrible injustice! He made this graduation quilt to exemplify everything my husband and I had done in our lives. I cried when I opened up this quilt. I couldn't believe all the work involved. Thanks AJ and Andrea. I still love it!

I know this post doesn't exactly fit our quick, cheap, and easy theme but I am surprised by how many quilts have been made around here by so many people who hate to sew!! Good thing we have our great friend Joelle and our awesome Mom and Grandma to help out.



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