Alex Rider Books

"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind.  Some come from ahead and some come from behind.  But I've bought a big bat.  I'm already you see.  Now my troubles are going to have trouble with me!"-Dr. Seuss

My little cousin T. enjoys the Alex Rider series.  These books are about a teenager who is a spy.  I can see how the teenage boy would find these books interesting.  I might even find them interesting.  We will see if I pick one up some time. I do enjoy a good spy movie, so I am sure a spy book would be even better.  

My love a spy gear is shown by the fact that I made two crafts for this book. The first craft I made was a spy tunes CD with unknown tunes on the tracks.  To find out what the tunes are you need to use a red decoder, or just the red side of 3-D glasses.  I found a pattern here of how to do it: http://strumpetscrumpets.blogspot.com/2011/05/secret-agent-birthday-tunes.html
On mine, however, I used a regular CD case and added will self-destruct after message onto the cover.  (Can you tell I watched a lot of the Inspector Gadget cartoons as a youth?).  Songs included themes from spy movies and shows, spy vs spy, and fun tunes about spies.

The second craft I made from this spy themed book was some TNT.  It does come in handy for spies, and a good spy needs to practice defusing a bomb every once in awhile.  This was really simple and looks kind of fun!

Materials:
3 Toilet Paper Tubes
Red and Black Construction Paper
3 Different Colored Pipe Cleaners
Scissors
Glue
Pencil

Directions:
1. Cut out red construction paper so that it will wrap around the tubes and glue the paper to the toilet paper tubes.  
2. Trace around the top of the tubes with a pencil onto red construction paper.  Cut out circle and glue to the top and bottoms of tubes.
3. Glue the three toilet paper tubes together, once they are all covered in the construction paper, in a pyramid formation.
4. Cut out two long strips of black construction paper.  Wrap them around the tube and glue them on to form the "bundling cable".
5. Glue the 3 different pipe cleaners onto the tubes to create "bomb wires".  I used hot glue for this part. (Mostly because I am not very patient).

I'm thinking a spy party might be in order.  James Bond movies and some reading of Alex Rider maybe?


In other news Beautiful Creatures got here today!  Yay! Nothing like new book scent.

Hatchet Inspired Bracelet

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It's not." -Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

When I asked my brother what his favorite children's book was he said either Hatchet or Oh the Places You Will Go.   I personally only remember him reading sports chapter books, but I am probably an unreliable resource since my nose was buried in my own books.  Hatchet seems to be a favorite among pre-teen males.  It looks at survival and the human condition.  Survival bracelets are very popular right now and seemed appropriate when talking about this book.

I made mine from watching this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw-BKZbtOD4

I have been making friendship bracelets for years, so trading up to making one of these was really easy.  As the daughter of a former boy scout leader I have the mantra "Be Prepared" constantly ringing through my ears.  Now at least I can look fashionable as I head that advice.

(I bought my cord from Walmart and used a tiny carabiner as the clasp).

Snowflake Bentley

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."-Dr. Seuss

I asked around to find out what my families favorite books from childhood are/were.  My little cousin J. told me that his favorite book currently is Snowflake Bentley.  This book is about the guy who studied snowflakes and found out each one is unique.  Check out http://snowflakebentley.com/ to learn more about him.  I decided to make my own unique snowflake in celebration of this book for J.  

I followed directions from http://www.reesedixon.com/2008/12/quilled-snowflake-ornament.html.  I added silver glitter and messed up around some parts.  I need to continue to work on it to get it perfect.

Book Smart Bookmarks

"So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads." - Dr. Seuss

Books are precious.  Dog tagging the corners is a major no-no, but even regular bookmarks can take their toll on the spine of books.  These book marks don't harm the spine of the book.  I love that! Plus really simple to make with all age groups.

Materials:
Old Envelope
Marker
Sticker
Scissors

Directions:
Cut the corner off the envelope.
Decorate the corner of the envelope with sticker(s) or marker.
Tuck over the corner of the book page you are on!

Sweet Book Treats

"The more that you read, the more things you will know.  The more that you learn, the more places you will go." - Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

What's sweeter than reading?  Reading with some candy!  Chocolate books and gummy "book" worms are delicious and help to reinforce the joy of reading.

Book Worms

Materials:
Gummy Worms
Printed Messages
Plastic Sandwich Bags

Directions:
Put gummy worms in plastic bags and attach message. 
Enjoy

Chocolate Books:

Materials:

Mini Chocolate Bars

Construction Paper

Printed Messages

Black Permanent Marker

Tape

Directions:

1. Print off messages cut out the messages a little bit bigger than the chocolate bar.

2. Cut out construction paper rectangles a little bigger than the chocolate bar.

3. Draw a "book spine" on the construction paper.  Write book on one side of the "book" cover.

4. On the opposite side of the construction paper tape the chocolate down.

5. Fold the printed message in half

6. Tape the message over the chocolate

7. Enjoy!

Getting Ready To Read Across America

Read Across America Day is March 1st!  In preparation for this event, my crafting has been inspired by children's books.  

I-Spy books are very popular because they work on both reading skills and problem solving skills.  Also, they are just plain fun!  I-Spy tubes are becoming more popular where a person can look for items in a tube by rolling it around.  I created a real simple one that is fun and can entertain for hours (if your have the patience for it).

Materials:

• Plastic Soda Bottle
• Odds and Ends from around the house
• Rice
• Hot Glue Gun with Glue Sticks

Directions:

1. Put the Odd and Ends into the bottle, writing down what each one was if you want a list of items for people to search for.

2. Add rice into the bottle filling almost to the top.

3. Glue Soda Bottle cap onto the bottle.  Little hands like to unscrew lids and I can just imagine rice everywhere.

Simple, and leads to hours of searching.  The list of my items is listed in the picture below.  Just use whatever is laying around the house.  Buttons, pennies, noddles... whatever is on hand.  Have fun and keep on reading!

List of what is in the I-Spy tube

Richard Parker?

All I could think of when I saw this video on I Can Has Cheezburger was "Is that Richard Parker (Life of Pi)?"

Even better, the Tiger's name is Enzo (Like the dog who was the main character of the Art of Racing in the Rain).  Yeah.  I think we would be best friends if I knew him in real life! It combines two of the book club approved readings!  Awesome!


I can't wait for Beautiful Creatures to get here.  I need to see my world view through another lens.