Art Glass Tiles… – Craft Gossip

So I’ve got a bathroom remodel in progress. Pretty exciting stuff here in the old homestead. This project is long overdue and is my first adventure in creating art tiles. Most of the tub area will be done with white subway tiles but I fused some really lovely glass in greens and blues and dichroic glass too. I fused larger sized tiles about 8″x 8″ and then had them cut for me into 1″ x 1″, 1″ x 2″ and 2″ x2″ pieces. They were cut using a waterjet cutter, which uses water to cut perfect pieces. And they looked amazing. A waterjet cutter can cut pretty much any kind of material and in just about any shape. Super cool machine. All of the tiles were then fire polished to round up the edges. They look great.

To get them ready for installation I ordered some mesh from Maryland Mosaics and used silicone caulk/glue to glue the pieces to the mesh. This will make installation a lot easier. The tiles were layed out as I’d like to see them on the walls and the installer will then cut them in 6″ or so lengths to adhere them to the wall. I’ll post pictures of the finished tile job as soon as possible. It’s a very exciting project. Can’t wait for my sink to be installed, yes I made that too…

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Learning about Hanukkah is important for people of all faiths as a reminder that December isn’t just about Christmas and that their are many other important holidays that happen during this time. Hanukkah unit studies can give you ideas for incorporating the holiday into your holiday studies that happen in December, or to use at home for learning about people of different faiths.

Homeschool Superfreak has a lot of basic ideas for how to build a Hanukkah unit study, as well as FAQs about what Hanukkah is and why it is celebrated. This list is a good stargint point but doesn’t include all the details you’ll need. For example it says you can play the dreidel game but doesn’t explain how to do that or why it’s important. (If you need that information, this post from Mama Smiles is a good source.)

Teachers Pay Teachers has lots of great lesson plans and activities if you’re willing to pay a little bit to get some good content. Two I really like are this Hanukkah PowerPoint presentation from Shelia Melton, which provides a good overview of traditions, food and the history of Hanukkah; and a virtual field trip to Jerusalem from MagiCore, which includes lots of videos showing the city and activities like playing dreidel, drawing a menorah and making latkes. It’s a Google Drive folder and also includes writing activities and more for kids in second to fifth grade.

Kids Activities Blog has some simple printables with facts about Hanukkah and things kids can color in like a Star of David, sufganiyots (jelly doughnuts) and a menorah. These are great for learning the basics.

Homeschool Giveaways has a printable ebook about Hanukkah complete with questions kids can answer after they read. This would be a good one for older kids with good reading comprehension.

NurtureStore’s Hanukkah unit study includes a printable mini book, tons of crafts, as well as math and writing activities. I love the dominoes game that’s part of the unit.

And check out our previous posts for more Hanukkah crafts and learning activities!

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