DIY Projector Screen - tutorial

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged, and I apologize because I am crazy busy with work, college, and soccer practice/games. I recently decided I wanted to add a projector screen to the daycare but didn't want to spend a fortune so here is what I came up with. I spent $22 for the fabric, ribbon, and dowel rod, and I didn't get anything on sale, so this really could be a lot chaper. I bought one yard of white fabric (I don't even know what it was now, but I made sure it was thick enough), and one yard of a cute black, pink, and white rick rack fabric. I bought two rolls of black with white dot ribbon (because my fabric store never has any grosgrain prints by the yard!!!). If you were to buy by the yard, I would suggest about 7-8 yards, but you will have to measure your own. I doubled the size of the screen (so it goes down the front and back) and added 24 inches to that amount.

You can use any rolling shade pattern, but it's simple. You basically cut your fabric to the size needed. Sew right sides together around 3 sides leaving the top open. Turn. Sew about an inch or a little more on the bottom to form a casing (and you can leave that open or stitch closed once the dowel rod is inserted). I used a 1 inch dowel for weight. to attach it to the wall, hubby used a 1x2 and just stapled the fabric to the back, lifted it up to screw it into the wall and let it fall over the top of the wood. Make sure you place your ribbon before you do that, but it's very simple. Looks cute rolled up because the fabric shows!!! (I didn't have much room, so I put mine over my bulletin board). The kids are absolutely loving this!!! We have been using a circle time powerpoint presentation with all of our songs (good morning, weather, days of the week, months, etc.) and I try to create one or two extra for our theme each week. We are talking about picnics this week, so this is our watermelon seed counting presentation. Hope this inspires you to do something new :)

Fairytale Fun - Wednesday - Little Red Hen

We read the story of the Little Red Hen today. The kids enjoyed it. We made this red hen craft when we were done with the book. (Remember, I work with toddlers, and I let them do as much by themselves as possible.)

Supplies Needed:

Pattern pieces (right click on pattern pieces below and save to your computer. Open - print)

White cardstock or construction paper

Red, orange, yellow, and black paper scraps

Circle hole punch (optional)

Red crayons, markers or paint

Cut out your pieces as indicated and glue the head and wings to the body. Before gluing the other pieces, have your child(ren) color or paint the head, body, and wings red. Once dry (if using paint), glue the other pieces on. I didn't do a pattern piece for the wheat, but if you want, just add some little circles or torn pieces of yellow paper to represent the wheat that the red hen planted. As I went through the craft, we talked about the story. Thanks so much for reading. I hope you are enjoying the craft projects with your kids or group!