Thursday, May 11, 2017

A Wise Old Owl

Picture of an owl sitting on an oak tree limb with a moon and night sky behind him.
A Wise Old Owl
by Le Roy Newark

A wise old owl
Lived in an oak,
The more he saw
The less he spoke, 
The less he spoke
The more he heard;
Why can't we be
Like that old bird?

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Polish Gwaizdy Paper Templates

       Here are some paper stars from old Poland, these designs may be used for personal crafts. Visit few other web sites for now to see how they were cut. (links for folding below)









More Gwiazdy Paper Cutting:

Monday, May 1, 2017

Song to The Violet

SONG TO THE VIOLET
by James Russell Lowell

Violet! sweet violet!
Thine eyes are full of tears;
Are they wet
Even yet
With the thought of other years;
Or with gladness are they full,
For the night so beautiful,
And longing for those far-off spheres?

Loved one of my youth thou wast,
Of my merry youth,
And I see
Tearfully,
All the fair and sunny past,
All its openness and truth,
Ever fresh and green in thee
As the moss is in the sea.

Thy little heart, that hath, with love
Grown colored like the sky above,
On which thou lookest ever,
Can it know
All the woe
Of hope for what returneth never,
All the sorrow and the longing
to these hearts of ours belonging?

Out on it! no foolish pining
For the sky
Dims thine eye,
Or for the stars so calmly shinning;
Like thee, let this soul of mine
Take hue from that wherefor I long,
Self-stayed and high, serene and strong,
Not satisfied with hoping, but divine.

Violet! dear violet!
Thy blue eyes are only wet
With joy and love of Him who sent thee,
And for the fulfilling sense
Of that glad obedience
Which made thee all that nature meant thee!

On May Morning

On May Morning
by John Milton

Now the bright morning star, day's harbinger.
Comes dancing from the east, and leads with
her
The flowery May, who from her green lap
throws
The yellow cowslip, and the pale primrose.
Hail, bounteous May, that dost inspire
Mirth, and youth, and warm desire ;
"Woods and groves are of thy dressing,
Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing.
Thus we salute thee with our early song.
And welcome thee, and wish thee long.

The Coming of Spring

THE COMING OF SPRING.

THE birds are coming home soon;
I look for them every day;
I listen to catch the first wild strain,
"For they must be singing by May.

The bluebird, he'll come first, you know,
Like a violet that has taken wings;
And the red-breast trills while his nest he builds,
I can hum the song that he sings.

And the crocus and wind-flower are coming, too;
They're already upon the way;
When the sun warms the brown earth through and
through,
I shall look for them any day.

Then be patient, and wait a little, my dear;
"They're coming," the winds repeat;
"We're coming! we're coming!" I'm sure I hear,
From the grass blades that grow at my feet.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Thanksgiving Holiday Index

Sample artifacts from the Thanksgiving Index below.
       Thanksgiving Day in the United States is an annual festival of thanksgiving for the blessings of the closing year. It is fixed by proclamation of the President and the governors of states, and ranks as a legal holiday.
      The earliest harvest thanksgiving in America was kept by the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth in 1621, after the gathering of the first harvest, when Governor Bradley made provision for a  day of thanksgiving and prayer. This custom was repeated often during that and the ensuing century. Congress recommended days of thanksgiving annually during the Revolution, and in 1784 for the return of peace. President Madison issued a proclamation of the same import in 1815. Washington appointed a similar day in 1789, after the adoption of the Constitution, and in 1795 he appointed another day as Thanksgiving Day for the general benefits and welfare of the nation. Since 1863 every appointing the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day. 
Artifacts & Art for Enhancing Lesson Plans:
  1. Squanto, The Native American Hero of Thanksgiving
  2. Coloring Pages of Pilgrims
  3. Color a Chef Presenting The Thanksgiving Turkey!
  4. Rotating Library Selections for Thanksgiving in 2015
  5. Doodle a candy corn turkey, landscape, birds, butterflies etc...
  6. Craft a Goldfish Turkey Collage
  7. Craft a Pretzel Turkey Collage
  8. Thanksgiving from The American Sunday School Union
  9. Craft a Funny Gobbler From Paper Plates
  10. "When The Frost is On The Punkin"
  11. The Turkey's Lament by King Gobbler
  12. Widdy-Widdy-Wurky
  13. Scrumdiddlyumptious Apple and Quince Treats and Recipes!
  14. Thanksgiving Silhouette Puzzle
  15. Stuff The Turkey Puzzle
  16. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
  17. How To Make "Pumpkin Spice" or "Pumpkin Pie" Playdough
  18. How did the turkey reach safety?
  19. Picture Puzzle: find the pilgrim
  20. Giving Thanks at Thanksgiving: A Curious History
  21. Shape a pinch pot acorn
  22. Wad, Wrap and Tape A Fall Pumpkin Craft  
  23. Paper Cuts of Thanksgiving Turkeys
  24. Vintage Paper Cuts for Fall 
  25. Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving Stencils
  26. When Thanksgiving Comes... 
  27. Craft a moving squirrel cut out... 
  28. Boy Pilgrim Pattern for Thanksgiving  
  29. Thanksgiving by Anonymous

Monday, April 24, 2017

Break! Break! Break!

Break! Break! Break!

Break, Break, Break,
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.

O, well for the fisherman's boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O, well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay!

And the stately ships go on,
To their haven under the hill;
But O for the touch of a vanished hand,
And the sound of a voice that it still!

Break, Break, Break,
At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.

By Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

Song for All Seas, All Ships

Song for All Seas, All Ships

TO-DAY a rude brief recitative,   
Of ships sailing the Seas, each with its special flag or ship-signal;   
Of unnamed heroes in the ships, Of waves spreading and spreading, far as the eye can reach;   
Of dashing spray, and the winds piping and blowing;   
And out of these a chant, for the sailors of all nations,            
Fitful, like a surge.   
 
Of Sea-Captains young or old, and the Mates - and of all intrepid Sailors;   
Of the few, very choice, taciturn, whom fate can never surprise, nor death dismay,   
Pick'd sparingly, without noise, by thee, old Ocean - chosen by thee,   
Thou Sea, that pickest and cullest the race, in Time, and unitest Nations!     
Suckled by thee, old husky Nurse - embodying thee!   
Indomitable, untamed as thee.   
 
(Ever the heroes, on water or on land, by ones or twos appearing,   
Ever the stock preserv'd, and never lost, though rare - enough for seed preserv'd.)   
 

Flaunt out O Sea, your separate flags of nations!     
Flaunt out, visible as ever, the various ship-signals!   
But do you reserve especially for yourself, and for the soul of man, one flag above all the rest,   
A spiritual woven Signal, for all nations, emblem of man elate above death,   
Token of all brave captains, and all intrepid sailors and mates,   
And all that went down doing their duty;     
Reminiscent of them - twined from all intrepid captains, young or old;   
A pennant universal, subtly waving, all time, o'er all brave sailors,   
All seas, all ships.

by Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Alphabet Index

Sneek-a-peek at artifacts and art exercises under this ABC resource.
       Alphabet, al fa bet, (from Alpha and Beta, the first two letters of the Greek alphabet), the series of characters used in writing a language, and intended to represent the sounds of which it consists. The English alphabet, like all those of modern Europe except the Russian, is derived directly from the Latin, the Latin from the ancient Greek and that from the Phoenician, which again is believed to have had its origin in the Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Alphabet Artifacts & Art for Enhancing Lesson Plans:
  1. Hieroglyphics or Picture Writing
  2. "Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom" in My Classroom
  3. Create a Manuscript to Cursive Chart
  4. Restored Antique Alphabet Prints
  5. Illuminate Your Initial
  6. Alien Name Cursive Exercise
  7. What's In a Name?
  8. The Alphabet 100 Ways
  9. A Terrible Horrible Cursive Exercise
More Links to The Alphabet:
Index page last updated  April 26 , 2017

    Mrs Bee Explains

    Mrs Bee Explains.

    Said Mrs. Wasp to Mrs Bee,
    "Will you a favor do me?
    There's something I can't understand--
    Please ma'am, explain it to me;
    Why do men build for you a house
    And coax you to go in it,
    While me--your cousin--they'll not let
    Stay near them for a minute?

    I have a sting, I do confess,
    And should not like to lose it,
    But so have you, and when you're vexed
    I'm sure you use it!"
    "Well," said the bee, "to you, no doubt,
    It does seem rather funny;
    But people soon forget the stings 
    Of those who give them honey!"

    Time lapse bees hatch.

    Monday, January 9, 2017

    Arranging flowers paper cut

       A Japanese lady arranges flowers inside of a vase in this paper cut.

    I've restored paper doll of silent film star Sidney Drew

    If the whole is mounted on light cardboard before the figures are cut out,
     the different parts will last longer and the tabs will not tear so easily
     Color if desired, then cut dotted lines in hats and slip over the head.
     Fold base on dotted line to make figure stand.
          Mr. & Mrs. Sidney Drew were an American comedy team on stage and screen. The team initially consisted of Sidney Drew (August 28, 1863 – April 9, 1919) and his first wife Gladys Rankin (October 8, 1870 – January 9, 1914). After Gladys died in 1914, Sidney Drew married Lucile McVey (1890–1925), and the two performed as Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew. Read more...