Paper Crafting - "Estimation Jars"

Estimation Jars

Decorated Estimation Jars

WHY I DID THIS:

I work with the Young Women at church and our group had just done the "Estimation Jars" activity for our church Harvest Festival.  As part of that, I got to help by decorating one jar and a couple of buckets.  Since I provided the buckets I got to take them home. :) [Yes, I actually had that many ice cream buckets around the house and in my garage. I love milk shakes and we tend to go through a LOT of vanilla ice cream - especially in the summer.  The buckets come in handy for so many things that I often keep a few around, but every now and then they all get recycled and we start over.]

My son's school was having a Halloween Party and I thought it would be fun to decorate the jars for the "Estimation Jar" activity AND, thanks to our activity, I had 5 beautifully decorated buckets ready to use!

See bottom of post for HOW-TO RUN AN "ESTIMATION JAR" ACTIVITY

WHAT I DID:

Sticking with the themes the girls and I came up with for the buckets, I came up with five more jars to match. (shown above)  Below are some pictures of the jars and their coordinating buckets.  I've added "How-To" pictures for a few pieces of the project.

Candy Corn Jar

Top and close up of Jar #1

Jar and bucket #1

Paper Crafted "Flowery Jar Topper" How-To:

"Flowery Jar Topper" Supplies

Flowery Topper

Use the Stampin'Up (R) punch shown to punch out 5 or more flowers of your desired color of paper. Use a bit of sponge dipped into black ink (or other color) and gently brush along the edges of each punched flower to tint. (I tinted both sides.) Fold the flower in half, then in half again three petals away from the first fold, forming an X. Flip the flower over and fold the section with four petals in half  two on each side of fold. as shown. There should now be three folds in the flower. Carefully fold it all together, folding along all folds at the same time as shown. Glue one flat side of the folded flower to the top of the jar with a glue dot.

Cute Cube Jar

Jar #2

Jar and bucket #2

"Paper Cube" Front

"Paper Cube" Back

"Paper Cube" How-To

To make this cube I used the Stampin'Up (R) punch that looks like a postage stamp, however, you could just use identically cut squares to do the same thing. Cut 6 squares and lightly tint the edges with black ink using the sponging technique.  Using an adhesive runner, apply a strip of adhesive across the back of each square of paper and carefully line each square up with the one next to it sticking them in place along a 1/2" strip of paper in the format shown. (NOTE: The 1/2" strip: Be sure to leave about 1/2" extra off one end of the 1/2" strip running along the 4 squares, and 1/2" extra on both ends along the 3 squares for finishing off the cube.)  Carefully fold the 1/2" strip of paper between each square, being sure to keep it straight.  Form the box with the four squares first, securing the tab in place with a glue dot. (A glue dot will hold better than the adhesive runner) Finish by securing the other two tabs in place with glue dots. The final tab is the most difficult. (HINT: You can use the flat side of a scissor blade to reach inside the cube to have something to press against to secure the tab.)

Star and Curly Ribbon Jar

Jar 3

Jar and bucket #3

Black and Yellow Flower Jar

Jar #4

Jar and bucket #4

Paper Crafted "Flat Flower Accent" How-To

Close up of flower

Close up of stem

To make this "Flat Flower Accent" I used a Stampin'Up (R) flower punch. For each flower: Punch 1 each of three different colors of paper. (I used black, white and yellow). With a black marker (I used a fat permanent marker) run a thin line around the edges of each petal for the top color.  With a thin black marker draw the accent line down the center of each petal. (HINT: If you curve the line just slightly, it gives the impression of the petal having some shape.)

Next, line all three punched flowers up in the order you want them stacked and punch a hole through the center with a tiny hole punch. From the back side of the stack, insert a pipe cleaner. Draw it back through the hole until there is only about 1/8' sticking through the front. Bend this little piece down across the front of the flower. Fan out the three paper flowers to fill it out as shown in the picture then bend the pipe cleaner sticking out the back down flat against the back of the flower. Once that is secure, bend the pipe cleaner on the back of the flower again about 1/8" from the hole to create the stem of the flower. Press the front and the back 1/8" pieces tightly together to hold flower in place. (may still shift a little - could use a spot of glue to secure in place before you flatten the pipe cleaner) 

Rainbow and Circles Jar

Jar #5

Jar and bucket #5

HOW-TO RUN AN "ESTIMATION JAR" ACTIVITY

This is not the end-all-be-all way to run an "Estimation Jar" activity, just one way I've found to successfully pull it off while attempting to keep the playing field even.

RULES:

1. One guess per jar per person (hand stamped at each jar)

2. Write your name and guess on the paper and put it in the slot in the bucket

3. The closest guess -higher or lower- wins. WINNER TAKES THE JAR HOME!!

Materials:

-Cut up pieces of paper - about 1"x2" works great (large enough for a person to write their name and guess on but not too big)

-A pen for each jar's station

-A small stamp and ink pad for each jar's station (When a guess is made, stamp the back of the guesser's hand.)

Have fun!!

-Jill

"This Week's Menu" - (Keeping Me Organized)

"This Week's Menu" -for on the Fridge

(details below)

WHY I DID THIS:

BOTTOM LINE: Consistently having an organized dinner plan is a weakness I desire to turn into a strength.

I sincerely dislike having to decide what's for dinner every day.  Trying to come up with something at the last minute that sounds good never works out very well and makes me dread the hours approaching the dinner hour.

BACKGROUND: OUT OF SIGHT - OUT OF MIND (at least for me):

I had tried a variety of things to decrease my afternoon stress over dinner but had not been very successful in following through for any length of time.  They all seemed to have the same problem;"Out of sight, out of mind," which didn't work for me.  I decided I needed to have the dinner plan "in my face" first thing in the morning so I would know my plan and do something about it. Maybe then my afternoons just before the dinner hour might be less stressful.

THE PLAN:

First, I created a Dinner Calendar on my phone.  I set the time for "dinner" for just after I normally wake up in the morning - without a reminder.  (I could only imagine how much more I would dislike dinner time if a reminder of it woke me up every morning.)  However, because it was the first thing on my calendar every day, it showed up on my phone at bed time and I saw it as I was plugging my phone in to recharge for the night. The first time I saw it I thought, "I'm heading to bed and I have to think about tomorrow's dinner!!"  I'll admit, I was annoyed.  But, I have found that it has actually worked out well for me.  It is a reminder of what I need to do the next day to prepare (like get out the frozen chicken breasts to defrost) without having to drop everything right then and there in order to accommodate the dinner plan.  Instead, I could plan how to prepare for dinner on my time schedule.

Just having a reminder on my phone was helpful but it wasn't quite enough.  I like things digital, but am finding I still like to see some things in print, like my dinner calendar.  So, I thought maybe having something on my freezer door might help keep me on task and if it were something I enjoyed looking at that would be even better.  I searched Pinterest for some ideas of what others had done and found many fabulous ideas.  In the end, I used a combination of ideas to make it work for me.  (See pictures and details below.)

HELPFUL HINTS:
RULE THE DINNER - DON'T LET IT RULE YOU!

1. Set a time to make the weekly plan - put it on the calendar - follow through and make the plan.

2. Know what is on your calendar for the week and plan your meals accordingly.

3. Set a day and time to do your grocery shopping - then do it.

4. Leftovers not eaten before the next shopping trip should be disposed of or possibly frozen for another time.  This is another area where I struggle, but I'm going to take it one thing at a time.
Suggestion: If possible, clean out the fridge the night before garbage day.

WHAT I CREATED: (Materials: paper, permanent adhesive, sticky strip and magnets; Tools: ruler, Stampin' Up Paper Punches - 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/5" flower punch, paper cutter or scissors)

THIS WEEK'S MENU

Magnet for each day of the week.

The cards are 4"x4" square (black card stock), 2.5" square (white standard printer paper).

THIS WEEK'S MENU BOXES

UNUSED and USED Boxes.  My goal is to have enough meal ideas for an entire month (or more). 

I have one that says, "OUT" and one that says, "LEFTOVERS".  Both stay in the UNUSED box if not on the fridge.  Three magnets on the back of each box seems to be strong enough to keep them on the fridge without a problem even if they are full.

TEMPLATE for the Card Box

The entire template fits perfectly on an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper.

Fold the tall piece with the "mistake" line on it toward the inside of the box.

FINAL STEP:

I haven't done the final step on my menu cards yet, but here is my thought.  Ideally, on the back of each meal card would be the recipe, or at least the ingredients needed for the dish.  Reasoning: Once you pick your menu for the week, your grocery list would practically be made for you.  You'd just have to write it down or type it in.  The idea of not having to think about what I need for each meal every time I make it appeals to me.  I am hoping that a little extra effort up front will help save me time and keep things simple in the long run.

SO FAR, SO GOOD:

I've been giving this plan a try (minus the ingredients on the back) for more than a month.  I'm spending less time stressing about dinner, and less money and time at the grocery store.  I'd say...so far, so good.  We'll see how long I can keep it up.

-Jill