January 12:: Give

Jaunary 10:: Make

we went to the cabin...

This is where we go...

It's easy to find your way, with all the signs...

Even though the weather is fantastic, there is bound to be one stormy day, so a crafty day is planned...

When the kids look that cute, you know the grandparents will want to be crafty too...

Tie dyed t-shirts for everyone was super fun.  I got in trouble just today because the girls' tie-dyed t-shirts were in the wash.  The day we made these, it was so stormy and awesome (Andy and I really enjoy a good thunderstorm, we just don't get many of those in the Pacific Northwest).  

Making and playing



Our second night camping was a little more slow and calm than the first night.  On our first night, we set up camp and whisked through dinner so that we could head to the beach to watch the sunset - it was pretty awesome.  I think I am really attached to getting sunsets out of our camping trips because it is something that is generally missed on a daytrip.  We are usually close to home by the time the sun is ready to slip below the horizon.  But a camping trip affords us the luxury of witnessing a fantastic sunset once in a while - and no late night rush for home.
So with this slow and quiet night at camp I made the girls a little treat.  I cut strips of fabric from one of Andy's old t-shirts and crocheted them with a single chain (all I can do) and slipped a glow in the dark pony bead on, between each chain stitch.  The girls loved the nightlight (but they also love their glowsticks - oh yes, that is now a tradition).  After they went to bed, I made them each one more bracelet but this time I used UV beads.  These beads were clear when I gave the bracelets to the girls, but they quickly changed to nice bright colors in the warm sun.  The girls really love these.  Now they want to make new ones with red and blue beads for the parade on Monday.
On our last day at the coast, we stopped off at this cute little beach (which I am pretty certain is freshwater) to play and have lunch before we headed for home.  Seals were playing in the water once in a while, tons of them were "sunning" on some land across the way and the girls really enjoyed this stop. 

making things

These are supposed to dry up and become yarn bowls in a day or so.  We blew up a few balloons, dipped strips of yarn into some mod podge (have to buy a bigger container of that stuff next time), and swirled the yarn around the balloons.  I hope the girls get good results as they had so much fun with the gooey mess (they had to swirl the yarn in the mod podge with their own fingers, as momma was grossed out enough making my own).  This was a really quick and simple project that wasn't really that messy (except for all of the dried glue that we peeled off our fingers).

Rubberstamp portrait

Emma's class made a print using their original drawing that they transfered to stamp rubber and carved. This inspired me a bit - and reminded me of 5th grade art class when we carved King Tut heads onto wood blocks and made prints. I loved that project. So, I decided to buy the cheapest set of tools and a couple pieces of stamp rubber to try this at home. One of my favorite blog reads just posted some rubber stamping projects and I was reminded of the self-portrait stamp they had done last year. A perfect project for us! Emma was happy to draw a little self portrait for me.

Once I had the picture, I turned it face down onto the rubber and rubbed the back of it with the pencil.  This nicely transfered the design, which I then carved with my super cheapo tools.  I used some stinky E3000 to adhere the stamp to an empty thread spool and now Emma has her very own, super cool stamp that she can use to personalize almost anything.  I just love it.  Thanks for the idea, Maya Made.

Science and snowflakes

Had I thought this through a little more, I would have had a copy of the book "Snowflake Bentley" on hand.  We would have read this book first, then proceeded to make our snowflakes.  But I didn't.  It doesn't matter, the project was simple enough that we can surely repeat it in the future (with book included) and the results alone were worth the small effort.

We used pipe cleaners that were cut into three pieces and then twisted together to form snowflake shapes (or in Sophie's case, a bug).  Then I boiled some water and made the solution of 3T borax per cup of boiling water.  Stir together to dissolve the borax then suspend the pipecleaner snowflake in the solution using string and a pencil or popcicle stick.  The pipecleaner and solution needs to be left undisturbed for 24 hours - then voila!  It's the coolest thing.  Basically, hot water holds more borax than cold water.  So, as the water cools, the excess borax is released and attaches itself to a rough surface (the pipecleaner) in the form of crystals.  This info was hard to find (why it happens), so I really needed to note it here for future reference.  Anyhow, we love this project.  Oh, the blue one was made using a blue pipecleaner, but you can also use food coloring the solution for a cool effect.

Pumpkin Carving

Until tonight, I had never actually carved a pumpkin or been involved in a pumpkin carving event. We had picked some pumpkins last weekend on our trip to Kruger's Pumpkin patch in Sauvie's Island. The girls were very interested in carving them and with a quiet day today - we decided to carve our pumpkins instead of doing the dishes (smart, right?).
Emma and Sophie drew out their designs on paper first, then copied that over to their pumpkin. I got the honor of designing the third pumpkin. The best part is that Andy got to use the jig saw and seemed to be having a great time doing so. So, we "let" him do all of the carving once the designs were in place. The pumpkin with the happy face and googly eyes is mine.
Then, we used this lovely recipe from Martha Stewart to roast up some tasty pumpkin seeds. So good.

PS - since we are talking about Halloween (sort of) - Sophie's costume was completely finished and then a snaffoo happened to her antenae so I need to fix that. Emma's gown needs a good shortening and hemming and she still needs a torch. I am also about 1/3 of the way finished on her crown.

Scratch foam Printmaking

Last night Sophie fell to sleep while waiting on dinner. So, while she napped we all ate our dinner and then Emma and I did some printmaking using scratch foam. She did a great job (I love her dolphin). We worked on these until 9:30pm, and it was after 10pm when she finally went to bed.
Emma made the dolphin, the pattern, and the one with my name on it. I was making one with her name because I wanted to show her how the print would be reversed, but she didn't want to wait to make one with my name and so she learned this bit about printmaking the hard way. But, she moved on, and I love my name backwards, she did such a nice job.
Sophie slept right through the whole thing, so we will make more of these with her soon. The flower was my simple example for teaching Emma how it works. I also made the bird and the Emma print.

Last days

Emma has officially graduated from Kindergarten. She seemed fine at first, and with a big outing to Ben & Jerry's followed by the bookstore right after school there wasn't really time to get upset. We went with a few of her friends, and followed all of that with dinner out since Andy would be at a business dinner and we were in the celebrating mode anyway.

At bedtime, things changed and Emma spent about an hour crying. When she finally settled long enough to tell us, we discovered that she was upset that she wouldn't get to see her teacher anymore. So sweet. She's doing much better today.

These pictures are from Field Day which was the next to last day of school. Both of my girls (yes both, Sophie is an honorary kindergartner) got face paintings (not long ago, Sophie would never go for this) and seemed to have a really good time. The t-shirt that Emma is wearing is the final product of my time in her class this year. The kids put foam stickers on their white shirts to spell out their names and some decorative shapes as well. Then on Monday, during the class party they took turns spray painting their t-shirts. We used dyna-flow dyes, diluted in water in a spray bottle. The kids used a bit of red, then orange, then yellow all over. On Tuesday, they peeled off the stickers to reveal their final shirts and wore them to Field Day (they were the easiest class to spot). It was loads of fun and the kids were so excited about their shirts. The total cost for everything (including t-shirts, stickers, dyes, and spray bottles) was just under $5 per kid.

So, I think Emma is going to have a really good summer. She is worried about becoming a first grader, but I think a week from now it will be out of her mind and she will be soaking up some sunshine (hopefully) and having a great time. She is going with her sister to art camp for a week in July and shortly thereafter, she is going to get some swim lessons from her kindergarten teacher (she doesn't know just yet). And, at the end of August, we are going to camp in a yert on the coast for two nights (first ever camping for the girls). So come on summer, we are ready for you.

Painting with Bubbles (a catch-up post)

...don't these look like the most fabulous drinks...?

This activity happened last week, and I forgot to blog about it.

We (meaning the girls and I, this is definitely not an Andy activity) painted with bubbles. We practiced on some art paper first, then we worked on some blank note cards.

The mixture is made from equal parts water, tempera paint, and dish soap. Stir really well, then use a straw to blow bubbles. Big bubbles, overflowing the rim of the cup. Lastly, place the paper or notecard on top of the bubbles then turn over to see your result. Fabulous!

I really think the blowing bubbles and making them go over the sides of the cup was the most exciting, but the resulting work of art is pretty cool too. The girls loved it all.

There, that's better.

Leave it to Andy. I brought home Emma's frog picture, scanned it to share on the blog, bought a frame and trimmed it to fit. Andy came home, looked at it and said: "Wouldn't you want to print that professionally so that it looks nice and isn't all wrinkled?" Yeah, I would. It is coming in the mail today, but I can share the digital image here. I really love her art. I can't wait to show you her self portrait. Soon.

Bleeding Tissue Paper

This is one of my favorite projects to do with the girls.

First, they draw a picture in pencil. Then they trace the picture with an extra fine point sharpie, in black. Then, the fun. They take a paint brush and brush the paper with water and then apply pieces of colored tissue paper all over the page. Allow to dry for a bit, remove the tissue paper and voila!!! But, it has to be bleeding tissue paper.

This is one of Emma's originals.

Emma makes art.

This is by far my favorite thing that Emma has done this year. I just love this frog. I have been waiting for it to come home so that I can frame it and hang it somewhere - maybe her room, maybe the playroom. Isn't it adorable?
PS - this is all the scanner would hold, there is a bit cut off the one side.

He can get crafty too!

Look at what Andy did! He pretty much turned into a giant kid with this homework assignment from work. He was asked to create a trophy for the winner of a contest that I don't know anything about. But, it had to do with brackets, therefore his trophy was designed mainly using brackets. But, here is the deal. He used a scrap of cherry wood for the base, created a plexiglass platform, printed a label, and I am pretty sure he polished it too. Maybe not, but it looks rather nice if you ask me. Emma, Sophie and I all got to have a little input on the final product. Once again, I am so proud of Andy and his many talents!

How I participated in Emma's school's auction

First of all, I spent the last week of school before spring break doing art projects with Emma's class every day. That was a lot of fun. We spent some time learning about Wassily Kandinsky on Monday and then went straight to work. The final auction item came from the work created on the first day. The other stuff was good too, but this one was my favorite. The kids listened to Tchaikovsky while coloring circles with oil pastels. They got the fun part. Then, it was my turn. I scanned each piece of artwork, created a photoshop file of all of the images as one, and then turned it into a poster intended to replicate the look of a real poster you might purchase from the museum. It was framed and sent to auction. Two lovely moms fought (through silent bids) over it. I love that. The winner received a "Certificate of Authenticity" to ensure that she got her $$$ worth - it had a copy of the artwork, a description of how the art was created, and every student signed it.

I love my time in Emma's class. It has been a lot of fun being able to be there, help out, meet her classmates, get to know her teacher, and get to know the school and other teachers. I really loved how much the teacher loves this project (we gave her a copy for her room) and there were a lot of people commenting on how wonderful it turned out. So glad I could offer something a little different this year.

Spoon Puppets, and a little show

We have two extra girls living under our roof right now. It's just for four days, but that is enough to require some extra efforts in the entertainment department - for when the "extended playdate" atmosphere begins to dwindle.

Our first project was to make Monkey Bread. I made the dough while the girls played, then the four of them made the balls, dipped them in butter, rolled them in sugar and cinnamon and tossed them into the Bundt pan. That was yesterday, and we served up the bread, bacon and fresh fruit for breakfast this morning. Delicious.

We took the girls for a walk in the woods. On the way, we found a snake (the girls all touched it), a ton of slugs and admired the flowers.

Then, the girls and I made spoon puppets. The spoon puppets are made using cheap (Made in China, sorry about that) wooden spoons. Draw the face on the back side of the spoon, add some hair and fabric and presto. I also bought a cheap tension rod and made a curtain using some fabric I bought a long time ago and never used (I will call this recycling). This is then placed in the entryway of the playroom. It works beautifully. The girls wrote scripts, practiced their lines, and put on two puppet shows for us. Then Andy and I put on a show, starring Jo-Sephonie and Rudolpho and the girls laughed hysterically!

Today, the girls got to make special birthday cards for their mom (her birthday is next week) and then we all headed outside. They have asked for another walk in the woods today, so I imagine that is soon to come. Hope your weekend is going well too!

Some notes:

Recently;
-the girls made a leprechaun trap and went out back to try to catch one (inspired by Mrs. Coats' reading of "The Leprechaun Trap").
-Sophie has asked about her ability to be a mom someday, but then informed me that she would instead like to grow up to be a Tinkerbell. She has since asked about how to become a Tinkerbell almost daily. I have no idea how she should go about this.
-Emma has had an icky asthma week-and-a-half, went on prednisone for the first time and is now taking antibiotics as well.
-I spent a fun week in Emma's classroom working on art projects each day. I love the results, but more than that - I really love the excitement and energy from the kids. Sophie played the part of kindergartner all week too.
-Andy built a second garden box yesterday, we cleaned up the strawberry patch, covered the raspberries to protect them from the deer (who also ate some of my tulips) and then headed to a friend's house for dinner. The girls went to bed at about 11pm last night - a first.
-Easter is coming up and I am working on the ingredients for a true mama-style Easter basket. Currently, there is a book for each girl and I am about halfway through sewing up a set of spring pajamams for the girls. I have one other thing in mind, but only if it manages to go on super sale. Otherwise, a few eggs and we're done.
-last weekend, we planted lettuce, carrots, and spinach. On Thursday, I planted sweet pea, morning glory, and snap peas around the trellis.
-today is going to be gorgeous, and we have no plan other than playing outside all day. I suppose at some point I will need to go to the grocery store, run a load of laundry, and come inside to feed the girls. But, otherwise we will spend our day outside.
-to be planted today - garlic, asparagus crowns, mammoth sunflowers, and bush beans.

How we pass the time...

...when the sister gets sick too.

Emma has been having some issues with asthma this week, capped off with a hurting tummy and some vomiting this morning. So, instead of school we stayed right here for some r&r. You can only watch so much opb tv and eventually tire of reading book after book. So, arts and crafts it is. We made these beautiful tissue paper flowers using the instructions found in Green Crafts for Children. The instructions can be found all over the internet as well, but we had this on hand. The best part is that I could actually take a picture using day light. We are still weeks away from spring and warmer days and extra daylight, but I'm thrilled for these little teaser days for now.

hard to catch...

...looking at the camera, and looking happy. So - I couldn't let it just go by without posting when it does happen. She was doing her creative little art thing, of course she was happy.