Tag: arts and craps

recipes

Congestion Induced Craftiness

I’m back.

Sort of.

I mean, I’m pretty much recovered, but I feel like I’m playing catch up here. It’s not as though I just went MIA for a couple of days.  Really, there’s no rest to be had when there’s stuff to be done. And in our house, there is always stuff to be done.  There’s nothing funny about being sick, especially when you’re hacking and coughing and snotting all over the place, but I did have laugh-out-loud moment where I realized that I am truly no longer a kid who can curl up on the couch while my own mom brings me ginger ale and crackers (boo-hoo!). The other night,  I sneezed about half a dozen times in a row. When I looked in the tissue make sure the last of my brain cells weren’t in there, I saw green snot.

My first thought? “Oh, I really am sick.”  Typical mom response because as we moms know, if the nose runs clear, it’s all good.  Green snot means automatic day at home and possible trip to the doctor.  At least, that’s what it means when the bearer of the snot is of the toddler set. When you’re the responsible adult, you swig some ‘Tussin straight from the bottle and keep it moving. If I could roll around with an OJ IV drip, trust me, I would.

Thankfully, the girls and Craig have remained germ-free.  I even got a slight respite when I defrosted a chunk of leftover lasagna from the other week.  Oh! and my review of the lasagna!  It was really delicious. I was skeptical of using cream cheese instead of ricotta, but true to my finicky form, I decided if I halved the amount of cream cheese required and just added more mozzerala, it would be okay.  And it certainly was.  The spinach was a nice touch and even the girls liked it.  As a matter of fact, Coever liked the lasagna so much, she asked to have it for dinner two nights in a row. And get this. . .she ATE it.  I’m still reeling over that one. I think I have my dad to thank for that. He told her that the spinach was grass [insert marijuana joke here], freshly picked from outside.  She rolled that one around for about half a second before forking up spinach like she’d been doing it her whole life.  I wonder what other veggies I can “re-name” so that she’ll eat them.

These days, the girls have been all hopped up about Valentine’s Day.  Morgan’s class sent home a flyer instructing the parents to decorate a shoebox so that the children can bring it in for a Valentine’s exchange.  Seriously? What happened to the days of making a little construction paper envelope at school? Or how about the kid decorating their own box? This parental involvement is killing me softly, I tell you what.  I think the school decree to decorate the box was like a gauntlet thrown down. Either that or I am more feverish than I realize.   If I have to get out my crafty kit to decorate the box, then I’m about to wreck shop on the Valentine’s themselves.  No more pre-packaged, punch-out cards. I’m going full on craft-tastic.  I only have myself and Pinterest to blame thank.

In truth, this project is pretty simple.

Step 1.
Find a willing participant. Once I showed Morgan what I had in mind, she practically threw my camera at me and struck a pose.

Step 2.
Have your subject pose holding their arm outstretched, their hand in a fist.  We tried a couple different poses and decided to use these two.

Step 3.
Upload the photo to your editing software of choice and add your desired text.

Step 4.
Print out the images using 4×6 dimensions.

Step 5.
Punch a hole or make a small X above and below the fist so that the stick of the lollipop slides through the card.  I’d also put a piece of tape on the back so that the lollipop doesn’t slide out.

Forgive the quality of these images. I was trying to make dinner, take the picture, stop the girls from eating the lollipops, and bouncing from foot to foot because I needed to go to the bathroom, but of all the things going on, that one always takes last place.

I printed these out on regular paper, but I would advise using cardstock or photo paper.  The weight of that kind of paper is more durable and less likely to buckle under the weight of the lollipop.  I’m also considering uploading the prints to one of the many online photo websites (i.e. Snapfish, Shutterfly, Kodak Gallery) and letting them do the printing and cutting.

 And guess what? In 5 steps, I have justified spending countless hours on Pinterest finding things to demonstrate my prowess as a craft-master.  Everybody wins!  Now. . .off to the bathroom!

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IN: recipes ON: February 2, 2012 TAGS: , , , , , , , , , BY: Hilary
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Day 25: A Photo That Inspires You

Gah! I am still working on this 30 day project even though I am WELL beyond the 30 days.  Before I get much further, let me first say, no, this is not my bod, nor my necklace. However, I saw this picture on  Pinterest and was motivated, nay, inspired to get crafting. 
Maybe the reason why it’s taken so long to finish the last few entries of this 30 day project is that I really don’t care for the “assignments”.  Find a photo that inspires you. Find a photo of something that makes you smile.  It’s getting to ooey, gooey, Disney-fied for me.  I’m not saying that I’m wanting to post something that makes me nauseous, but how about “find a photo of your celebrity crush”.  Total no-brainer.  Well, maybe not seeing as I have several. But I digress.
So, like I said, I was on Pinterest, looking at pictures that make me yearn and burn: modern kitchens, vertigo-inducing high heels, DIY projects and scrumptious recipes to try.  While I’m still putting in work on the French and the photography, I’ve been wanting to do something else.  I’ve been wanting to make something.  
I had been reading this book, The Dive From Clausen’s Pier, and the protagonist sews.  She uses sewing as a coping mechanism for the stressors in her life.  The descriptions of her running her hands over bolts of fabric, of making something out of nothing, of closing her mouth around the bitter metal of pins — I just wanted to be there. I wanted to see my own hands cutting, threading, finishing.  I called my mom, a veteran quilter, and said, “I want to make a quilt.” My neighbor gave me a pattern to make blossom hair bows for the girls. I went to the Fabric Store, Morgan and Coever in tow.  The bolts of fabric came together with a satisfyingly muffled thunk as I sorted through them. It was a buffet of cottons, silks, poly-blends, and flannels.  There were prints and solids, muted hues and sharp brights. I wanted to open my purse and clothesline it all inside. 
I saw the tie-necklace on Pinterest and knew that was going to my next project. DH has a rack of ties he hardly ever wears and while I was tempted to just pilfer the ones that I liked, I waited and asked for a few of his cast-offs (talk about a great reason to buy him some better-looking ties.)  The instructions were easy, and soon I was pinning, threading, tacking and finishing.  The girls would see me with my needle and pins out, my pin cushion balanced on my knee while I sat stitching on the sofa, and would skip around the furniture calling me Betsy Ross.  Talk about an ego boost. 
My necklace is all but done. It just needs a good press. I’ve already got the outfit to wear it with picked out.  I’m tempted to just stitch it to the shirt, actually.  Maybe that’ll be my next project.  . .
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IN: ON: May 4, 2011 TAGS: , , BY: Hilary
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Feeling Crafty

When we first moved to Norfolk, I joined a stamp club with some of the moms from Morgan’s play group.  Once a month, we would get together with our craft supplies, rubber stamps, ink pads and assorted photos to try out new stamp techniques and tricks.  I can chart the improvement in my skill level by comparing Morgan’s first year scrapbook to Coever’s.  It’s amazing how some glue dots, a paper cutter and a rubber stamp can transform a page into something visually interesting.

The playgroup and the stamp group dissolved over time, but not before I had accumulated a rolling suitcase and several totes of stamping and scrapping gear.  There are times when I feel like making something — I know, me, who loathes arts and crafts — but the thought of hauling all of that stuff out is really unappealing.  Over the summer, I told myself I needed to get back into it, maybe even make my own Christmas cards this year.  I went onto eBay and order up some pre-folded card stock.  Once it arrived, I tucked it into my paper cache and promptly forgot about it.

The other day, I reached into my desk for a nice card to jot off a thank-you and came up empty-handed.  I checked in my pile of office supplies in the closet.  Nada.  In the back of my mind, I knew I had some blank cardstock, just waiting to be transformed into lovingly stamped assorted notecards.  The thought of stamping, gluing and running interference between the girls and my collection of craft scissors was a real turn off.  The note went unwritten.

Today, day 2 of the great blizzard thaw, we aren’t up to much. The girls have a little friend over, DH is working on whatever DH is working on and I thought I would bang out that note once and for all.  Then I remembered, I still didn’t have any notes.  I started to clean up a bit in the kitchen and came across some of Morgan’s artwork.  Talk about an “aha!” moment.

Blank cardstock + homemade artwork+ glue dots = Assorted Notecards!

The hardest part was trying to decide which of her pictures I could sacrifice for my cause.  It turn out, you can get quite a card fronts out of one 8.5 X 11 drawing.  After my first few cards,  I started to get fancy and added a backing before mounting.  I threw in a few clever titles, Morgan’s name and the date. Ta-da!

How easy was that?  I could kick myself because throughout the year when I had to send notes in to school, I would just fold a piece of the girls’ scribbles in half and write my message on the clean side.  I think the cabin fever had slowed my brain function to an all time low.

Anyway, I got my thank you notes done and have few extra ones ready for when the need arises.  I may have to have Morgan create several series of cards. Maybe a 5 pack of her interpretation of storybook characters or a series of her own self-portraits.  I wonder how long it takes to get an Etsy shop set-up. . .

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IN: ON: December 29, 2010 TAGS: , , BY: Hilary
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DIY Advent Calendar

I really want an Advent Calendar for the girls.  I remember getting the cardboard calendar with the picture of the nativity on the front. Every day, I would pop open the appropriate door and fish out my little piece of chocolate.  Such a simple little activity, but it brought so much joy and just further fueled the anticipation of Christmas.

This is going to be Morgan’s 5th Christmas and I have yet to set up an Advent Calendar in the house.  Since they get their fair share of sugary snacks as it is, I’ve been leaning towards the kind of calendar that has pockets or little doors where I can slip small trinkets into or behind (yes, I ended on a preposition).

Once I’d made up my mind to make this the year of the Advent Calendar, I saw them everywhere.  Purchasing them became another story.

At first, I wanted the one from Pottery Barn Kids and would have been happy to take either the house or the hanging Christmas tree. I guess I was so busy researching Black Santa, I missed my chance because they were all sold out. 

A friend of mine suggested I check out Etsy.com because they always have really cool stuff.  I had heard quite a bit about Etsy, but hadn’t really sifted through it the way I should.  Ohhh, they have such wonderful stuff!  I really like this one:
Still, I didn’t order it. I kept putting it off and getting distracted with the myriad of other things I have going on in preparation for the holidays.  
Then, at 5:44 am, this morning, I got a phone call.  Schools are closed due to inclement weather. 
[insert your own expletive of your choosing here]
I was caught totally unprepared with no activities for us to do.  Before the wintry mix started falling, I phoned in an emergency playdate with a friend who was more than happy to come on by. Unfortunately, by the time she got here, the snow started coming down.  The girls had a good 15 minutes to hang out before their friend had to be bundled up and driven home.  I looked at the clock — 10:23.  It was going to be a long day.  
I wracked my brain for things the girls could do.  They played with their dolls, with their Doodle Pad, with their bead set.  It was only 10:45. We “wrapped” presents. Morgan chose an empty shoebox; Coever, an old coloring book.  I made them paper chain dolls to color.  Then, inspiration struck. 
We were going to make an Advent Calendar.  The first step was whether or not to do a cross off calendar or a stick on calendar.  The allure of using a tape runner or glue dots every day won out.  Coever’s teacher had been free-handing a picture of Santa the other day and I remembered the basic strokes to duplicate it on some butcher paper.    We cut out circles and Morgan numbered them with some help from me.  Coever handed me my tape runner and we started filling in Santa’s beard up through today’s date.  When we were done, we taped it to the back of the front door and voila!  Advent Calendar!  As much as I loathe arts & craps, in the end I always get some great art and happy girls. 

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IN: ON: December 16, 2010 TAGS: , , , BY: Hilary
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Art Show

This afternoon, Morgan asked me for some construction paper and some stickers so that she could play “art show” with Coever. I doled out some paper, handed her the community box of crayons and came up short on some stickers.  I remembered we had some leftover Halloween foam stickers in the arts and crafts box.  Sure enough, there was a baggie filled with black cats, skulls, Frankensteins and the like.  I figured that the art show was going to consist of creepy houses with darkened windows, floating ghosts and graveyards.

This is what I got instead.

Talk about thinking outside the box. 
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IN: ON: December 10, 2010 TAGS: BY: Hilary
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Arts and Craps

Let me just set the record straight. I don’t do arts and crafts, despite what the Scholastic website would have you believe. You all know how I’ve suffered for my art in the past. I thought that with the girls going to school, I might be able to get off the hook with having to drag out the box of glue sticks, pipe cleaner’s, finger paints and googly eyes. Yeah, so much for that.
On Friday at school, Co was sent home with a large construction paper turkey feather Accompanying instructions said to ask your child what she is thankful for and provide a pictorial display as well. I figured this would be a good activity for me and the girls on Saturday afternoon.
Mo, Co, and I sat around the table, crayons and paper in reach and got down to business. I asked Co what she was thankful for and she said “My mommy and my daddy and my Morgan and my me and my mommy and my daddy and my Morgan and my me and. . .”
Mo said, “Um. . .turkey, green beans, rice, carrots, lettuce, potatoes, and walnuts.” All of this from the child that only eats Chinese chicken and broccoli and chicken nuggets?
We select some pictures for Co to glue onto her feather and Mo is busy working away on cutting out pictures from a magazine.
So far, so good, but by now I should be able to recognize the calm before the storm. In a matter of minutes, the grabby-hands come out. Snatching of colored pencils begins, pencil shavings are dumped on the floor, a glue stick is being used as chapstick (though in hindsight that probably wasn’t a bad idea). Co is using rubber stamps and the stamp pad to decorate her face. Mo is yelling out orders to me on how to clothe her paperdolls.
“I want tights!”
“I want shoes!”
“I want different shoes!”
“The dress needs peplums!” (What is this? Project Runway?)
“This isn’t how Daddy does it!”
And wham-o! Mo is dissolving into a toddler sized puddle of snot and tears. She’s upset because Co won’t share the scissors. She’s upset because she can’t find a black crayon. She’s upset because she needs a new brown paper bag with which to make a paper doll because there’s the faintest trace of yellow crayon on the bag she has. She’s upset because Mommy has no idea how make ballerina princess paper dolls like Daddy. She’s upset because the moon is not in the seventh house and Jupiter is misaligned with Mars.
Her eyes fill with tears the way a glass fills with water. When she closes her eyes and opens her mouth to cry, those tears ping out of her face with surprising velocity.
I implore her to calm down. I beg her to stop crying. I tell her that I can’t help her when she’s so upset. My Greek chorus of one (a.k.a Co), says, “I’m calm down. I’m not crying. I’m not upset” which is like squeezing a can of lighter fluid onto a bonfire. Thanks, Co.
My patience for this entire project evaporated the minute I brought that construction paper turkey feather home on Friday so you can imagine the Herculean strength it is taking me to keep it together. I reach back into my Mommy arsenal desperately groping for some type of something to diffuse the situation. Hugs! Of course!
“Mo, come get a hug!”
She hiccups herself over to my lap and wipes her nose ofn my shirt. I wrap my arms around her, pushing scraps of paper off to the side, opting to forgo chastising Co as she rouges her cheeks with an inked-up rubber stamp — it’s non-toxic and I’ve got Lever 2000. When we’ve cooled our jets for a while, I ask Mo if she’s alright and she mumbles something into my chest.
“What was that, sweetheart?”
She lifts her head, her eyes round and glassy, and she says, “My dress needs puffy sleeves, too.”
Right, of course it does.

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IN: ON: November 7, 2009 TAGS: , , , , BY: Hilary
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