Wacky Hairstyle Collage: A Read, Discuss, Do! Activity (and a GIVEAWAY)

Read, Discuss, Do! is a social media campaign that aims to give parents and educators quick and simple ideas to enhance story time. You can read a little bit about that campaign by clicking this link. I've decided to make Read, Discuss, Do! a regular feature on my blog in order to share activity ideas that are slightly more complicated than what I usually post to Twitter and Facebook. That starts today with a craft idea inspired by Susanna Leonard Hill's new board book, WHEN YOUR LLAMA NEEDS A HAIRCUT!

READ: WHEN YOUR LLAMA NEEDS A HAIRCUT by Susanna Leonard Hill

DISCUSS: Have you ever had a haircut you didn't like? How do you feel about getting your hair cut or styled? Why?

DO: Create a wacky hairstyle collage like the one picture below.

You will need:

• a printed photograph (or one cut from a magazine)
• glue
• scissors
• construction paper or card stock
• collage items such as yarn, fabric scraps, washi tape, torn paper--whatever you have lying around!
• pencil (optional)
• crayons or markers (optional)

Directions:

Gather your supplies. Cut around the photo of the person so that only the head and shoulders are showing. Glue it onto a sheet of paper, leaving plenty of space above it for the hair collage.

Note: I used a glue stick for the photo and white glue for the yarn and fabric.

Imagine what you want the finished hairstyle to look like, then design it using your chosen collage pieces. If it helps, draw your design with pencil before filling it in. In the sample pictured, I cut out a photo of my husband (he gave me permission to share it with you), then used yarn for the hair, a fabric strip for the bow, and washi tape along the hairline. Be as creative and wacky as possible!

Having trouble thinking of an idea? Use the images from WHEN YOUR LLAMA NEEDS A HAIRCUT for inspiration!

Have fun! And be sure to put your collages up where people can see them. The one of my husband is on the refrigerator!

Now about the GIVEAWAY!

Susanna Leonard Hill is offering a copy of WHEN YOUR LLAMA NEEDS A HAIRCUT to one lucky winner. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post sharing a BAD HAIRCUT story. If you don't have a bad haircut story, anything negative relating to hair will do.

One entry per person please. You must be at least 18 years old to enter.

A winner will be drawn on Saturday, February 3, 2018.


UPDATE: A winner has been announced. Congratulations to Hachen Learning!

I Didn't Give Up. Neither Should You.

I received my first rejection letter in September of 2002 (that's it on the left).

About thirteen years later my first book was published.

There's a lot hiding in the blank space between those two sentences. A lot of learning and growing, hope and frustration, failures and successes. More failures than successes, to be honest.

There were more than a few moments during that time that I felt like giving up, but I didn't. I kept writing, kept submitting, kept trusting that God hadn't given me this passion for nothing.

Many of you may be in that space right now, wondering if it is worth continuing. I'm here to tell you that it is worth it. If you have a talent for writing, it will grow. And if you have a passion for what you're doing, you won't let something as simple as failure stop you.

If something is worth doing, it's worth the struggle it takes to get it done.

So don't quit.

Instead, take every rejection as a challenge, and every submission as an opportunity to present your best self. But stay humble. Connect with other writers, published and not. Learn. Grow. Improve.

Eventually, you'll get there.

My Goals for 2018

This past year has been a productive year for me as a writer. I wrote and/or revised several picture books, revised my middle grade verse novel, wrote 50,000 words during National Novel Writing Month, got two book deals, and received my first ever royalty check!

It was also a good year for me personally. I read a lot of great books, celebrated my oldest child's graduation from college, stayed healthy, made new friends, got to visit with old friends, became more organized and less stressed, and just enjoyed life overall.

I'm hoping that the New Year will be as blessed as its predecessor, and to help it along I've made a little list of goals for 2018:

• Write and polish at least three new picture books.
• Revise the middle grade fantasy novel I wrote during NaNoWriMo.
• Read at least 200 books, including at least 50 novels.
• Blog twice a month.
• Grow my newsletter.
• Sell another manuscript.
• Write more poetry.
• Spend more time in my art journal.
• Visit some place new this summer.
• Volunteer more.
• Read through the whole Bible.

I think that's a good, attainable mix. And with this blog post, it's off to a good start!

What about you? What are some of your goals for 2018?