MPM: Taking a Break

For the month of December (even though I realize today is still November), I am taking a break from Mod Podge Mondays. That doesn't mean we won't be doing crafts around here, because when you set a precedent with a three-year-old, you have to darn well stick by it or there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Ha, I kid myself... he does those things when he can't have a certain snack or watch more TV. Crafting hasn't really reached that caliber of importance in his life, yet.)

The holidays really are a great time to get your craft on, but I just don't want to be tied to a certain day... just for a little while. I'm sure come January, I'll welcome the chance to get back into a routine again! Also, I want to blog about some other things that I've been mulling over. And maybe even do some crafting of my own. So, not a hiatus from blogging...or crafting... just changing things up a bit.

That being said, I have entertained the idea of starting a Mod Podge Mondays blog separate from this one. What do you think? Would you check that one, too? Or should I just leave everything here in one place to make it easier on me and you? Well, it's not too difficult to just throw another blog out there, in fact, I already did just to play around with the template and all. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think...

Pinterested? Not really...

I attended a scrapbook retreat several weeks ago, and this is what I overhead...

"Oh, I found this idea on Pinterest..."
"I tried this recipe from Pinterest..."
"Oh yeah, I read that on your Pinterest..."

And so on and so forth. Yes, Pinterest (a virtual pinboard for the stuff you like that you find online: recipes, crafts, home decor, travel, sayings, etc. which also offers a way to share them) seems to be all the rage these days, and several people assured me that it would be "right up my alley." So, of course, I took the plunge and honestly, it took me a while to get the hang of it. Now I seem to be doing alright with it, but I'm not completely sold and certainly not addicted like so many others have claimed.

First of all, I already operate on a system of collecting ideas from the internet... it's called bookmarks. I realize that no one else can see my bookmarks, so I agree that the "sharing" aspect of Pinterest is kinda neat, but...

Can't really post craft ideas there if I want to make them as a gift... can't really post party plans there if I want them to be a surprise to the party guests... can't really take credit for anything as my own idea if it's assumed to be found on Pinterest...

Hmm, maybe I just don't want to share? Or maybe I feel like I'm stealing others' ideas? I dunno, I can't quite pinpoint why Pinterest is not of particular interest to me.

It annoys me that the "pin it" button is extremely finicky.

It annoys me that they want access to all my facebook info, yet still allow strangers to follow me on Pinterest (which is NOT how I have facebook set up).

It also annoys me that I have to click a post at least three times to get to the original source. Seems almost quicker to do my own google search. I have found that searching Pinterest for specific ideas is helpful, but if I repin something, all of the sudden I become that pinner's new best friend. Ugh.

I dunno, maybe someone can enlighten me on the greatness of Pinterest. Meanwhile, I'll just pin away or pine away on why I don't like it but somehow should.

Redeemed

So it seems a lot of things just weren't going right for the crayon cakes and successful leaf rubbings, paintings, murals, or what have you... but we did put our leaves to good use.

Strung the rest of the leaves together with some raffia

The traditional goodie table is missing something!

We also did another craft on Monday I forgot to mention. We decorated wrapping paper for a birthday present. I only had Christmas paper on hand, and the gift was for my nephew, so we turned the paper over and went to work. Seth is doing pretty well with using markers...

I also think painter's tape is my new best friend... it is useful AND forgiving! Oh yeah, and it's BLUE! So, throw in some fun ribbon, and there you have it!

Also, since we are celebrating my nephew's birthday, I made him a special little dessert. His mom told me he liked boy things... like trains, castles, DIRT. For some reason, I picked up on that last one...

MPM: Leaves are falling... and failing!

Really, I think I do much better with crafts I come up with myself or things we do on a whim. There are a few problems I've found with following blogs like this:

1. I have something to compare our work to... and if it doesn't pass muster (in other words, look super duper amazing like theirs) then I get discouraged.
2. I tend to forget that the kid artists might be a little (or a lot) older than mine.
3. They may have tried a few different things and waited until the best turnout to post (or not, but I am telling myself this as comfort). Whereas I am flying by the seat of my pants here, and you are just along for the ride.
4. They have larger audiences who are gleaning ideas from them. Me? Well, I think I'm just keeping the grandparents and a few friends entertained right now. (I can aspire, though!)

So, let me tell you the major source of frustration. Troubleshooting! First of all, the crayon cakes (see previous post) are definitely easy to handle and could potentially work well for leaf rubbings. However, the wax or something like that rose to the top after they were cooked which created a clear layer of something that didn't produce color!

And the edges were kinda sharp, too... so that combined with the twigs and texture of the leaves plus a pretty thin paper meant we were tearing things up around here!

Seth kept saying his favorite word, "Uh-oh!"

Did my blogger friend mention any of this? No... I guess her crayon cakes turned out perfect. Oh well, I do seem to have the gift of improvisation! That is the only way I can make crafts with preschoolers work... go with the flow, always have a back-up plan...or two...or three, and remember that sometimes the boys like to clean up as much as they like to craft! (Ian probably enjoyed mopping the floor afterward more than anything else.)

What's the name of the craft day? MOD PODGE! So, we made good use of our leaves bathed in a nice thick layer of glue! When all else fails, mod podge it! That might become my new motto!

Oh, and not all is lost with our crayon cakes. I cut off the weird layer and colored with them a bit to help round out the edges. We still have some leaves, so maybe we'll try again soon.

MPM: Crayon Cakes and Calphalon

Tomorrow's craft is another one I read about a while back and have been waiting until the right time to do it. I'll post about that tomorrow. But as with some (but not all) of our crafts, there was prep work involved. So while the boys played outside several days this week, I sat on the driveway and pealed off crayon wrappers, so we could make CRAYON CAKES! The how-to can be found here.

Naked and all broken up... bring on the heat!

Mmm, smell that fresh-baked crayon goo!

Finished crayon cakes after setting in the freezer

I won't be making muffins in that tin again, but it was already past its prime anyway. And in other related baking news... several of our pots and pans we received as wedding gifts have bit the dust. Basically, they are worn and the Teflon is scratching off. So, today John went and bought us a whole new set! We got a pretty good deal with a coupon, a sale, a "bonus buy," plus a gift card "cash back" reward. It's like Christmas up in here! (Actually, this might be my Christmas present, in fact.)

Lookin' good on my pot rack!

I've never had a stock pot before!

Blog Backlog Part II

So, if the word "blog" is a shortening of "web log," then could it be "klog" for a "back log"? So, then that would make this post a Blog Klog! That is also a Karen original. You get that one for free. Haha, I'm funny... clearly I have not had enough sleep this week.

Facebookers already know that on Daylight Savings Sunday we busted out with glow sticks inside balloons. I read about the idea here sometime this summer and have been waiting until it got dark early enough to let my boys try it before bedtime!



The next night (and a few nights after that) we just played with the light sticks. I am now a HUGE advocate of this cheap and easy version of FUN! We stored them in the freezer to prolong their life, and the four nights of play we got out of them was totally worth $3 for a pack of 12! (It's also a great way to wear the kids out for bed!)

So, I also got out my sorta-SLR camera and set it on a really slow shutter speed to catch some cool light effects. In this first one, John is making the swirls at the top, Ian is the red blob on the left, and Seth's rolling his sticks around on the couch on the right.

John=green, Ian=crazy, Seth=small

This one is my desktop pic right now.

John and Ian are throwing the sticks back and forth.

Blog Backlog

A while back we made Thanksgiving cards to send to the grands and greats. Now that they have all received them, I can share with the world wide web. Behold... Seth's foot and Ian's hand... and proof that we have two little turkeys running around here.

I also sent them some prints we had done at Target of the boys in their Halloween costumes. I just wanted something cheap and quick. (Oh, how I miss living closer to our family photographer!) We had a pretty good experience doing Christmas photos there last year, but I was disappointed with the photographer this time. She just wasn't very, hmm, entertaining? Patient? Creative? Yeah, all of those things you need to take good pics of kids. Oh well, you get what you paid for! And we got some funny shots for sure!

Oh my, he's so strong and handsome!

Super handsome, but super silly

My little radioactive spider...

Who insisted that he have his snack cup

This was actually one of my favorites.

This captures the brothers perfectly.

MPM: Handmade and Hand-Played

After I write this post, I am totally "pinning" this one because this idea is a Karen original. Oh yeah, baby! No googling on this one, no kid craft blog-rolling, no pining away on Pinterest... just me and my brain, my busy boy, a hodge podge of craft supplies, and of course, Mod Podge in the making!

OK, now that I am done tooting my own horn, let's get down to the real musical instrument featured here: handmade MARACAS! You see, John is currently in Brazil, and while that wasn't really the initial inspiration for this project, I was thrilled to read this on Wikipedia...

The word maraca is thought to have come from the Tupi language of Brazil...they are considered characteristic of the music of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, Jamaica and Brazil.

So, in a sense, this one's for you, John! But before we could get started, I felt like the boys needed an educational video on what maracas are and how they are played. While I prepared craft supplies, I pulled something up on YouTube for the boys to watch.

Supplies include: two toilet paper rolls, thin piece of cardboard, colored tissue paper, painters' tape (I grabbed this on a whim, and it turned out great. Plus, it's blue and doesn't look all, uh, tapey), Mod Podge (we make our own: glue plus a little bit of water to make a "paint" consistency), sponge brush, dry beans (or rice), and two plastic balls (of which we have plenty).

OK, fine, I did borrow this bit of information from back when we made rainsticks on how to make an endcap for your toilet paper tube. Basically trace a circle that is bigger than the end of the tube (I found a glass that worked nicely), then trace the tube's diameter on the inside. Cut little slits from the outside circle to the inside circle that you can fold up and then cap over the end of the tube. I started out using scrapbooking tape to secure it, but found painters tape to be the better option.

Uh... this is what happens when you spill your Mod Podge.

So the next step is to tear the tissue paper into little pieces and Mod Podge it onto your tube. Because maracas should most definitely be colorful and festive.

Expedite the drying time... because kids are impatient!

Once the tissue paper is dry, put beans inside the tubes. We filled ours about halfway full. Then pop one of those plastic balls (think ball pit ball... or you know, whatever you have that will fit) on the end, and secure it with the painters tape. Then let your little musical prodigy have at 'em! Throw in some Samba music, and maybe we'll feel just a little bit closer to Daddy in Brazil.

The artsy shot... you know, for Pinterest.

Yes, obviously the mechanism for our maracas works differently than the real ones, but guess what? It makes noise... and he made it... and therefore, he loves it. Last but not least, a video... I'm a little hesitant to post it for its incriminating content, but oh well.

11-11-11

If you've been following my blog for a while, you know that I like numbers and themes. I mean I only blogged about it here and here and here, and that was just in the past year. So when I woke up this morning, the idea hit me to make a big deal out of this special day... I mean, it won't happen again for another 100 years, so surely a celebration is in order, right? So, this is what we did...

Ian helped me make 11 blueberry muffins for breakfast.

The boys decorated a banner together

We each wore 11 articles of clothing.

Our 11-11-11 banner... let the celebration begin!

Scavenger hunt to find 11 balls and cars

We watched the 11th episode of Backyardigans.

Pacifier and bear count for Seth's 11.

Dance party at 11:11 a.m. on 11-11-11

11 pieces of pizza for lunch that we shared with friends

Playing with dinner (only on special occasion)

Special post-dinner treat: M&M cookie bars!

For our dance party, I chose the only playlist in my iTunes library that had 11 songs: Big Daddy Weave. The boys also had 11 M&Ms each for an afternoon snacks. I called a few different places in town looking for a Row Eleven Pinot Noir to share with John tonight... to no avail. However, we might watch Ocean's Eleven after the boys go to bed. And yes, there are 11 photos posted above. There is definitely a method to my madness... but I do realize it is madness all the same.

Happy 11-11-11 Day!

Another Post on Homework

So, my boys come home from Mother's Day Out with homework, and today I will be attending their first "school presentation" for Veteran's Day. Oh, so that's why Ian keeps singing what he calls "The Nationaler Anthem." He also mumbles through the Pledge of Allegiance, so this should be interesting. I guess I'm catching small glimpses of what life with kids in school will be like. And truthfully, how can any child survive school without parental involvement and support, I wonder?

Well, I recently took parental involvement to a whole new level. Ian's class has "Mr. Bear," who is a worn, but loveable little teddy bear who comes home with a different kid each weekend, and you're supposed to document all the stuff you do with Mr. Bear while he's visiting. When I first heard of the idea, I was intrigued... I mean, we love to DO stuff, we take lots of pictures of our activities, and I would welcome any excuse to "document" these things (hence the blog). But then I realized how much we would have planned over Halloween weekend... oh, Mr. Bear would have SO much fun with us.

Ian's teacher said, "Well, I've never had a parent actually petition for Mr. Bear," in response to my subtle request for him that particular weekend. I had actually considered bribing her... teachers like apples, right?

So, Mr. Bear tagged along with all our fun events. For the first day or so, Ian insisted that Mr. Bear shadow his every move. (He even offered explanations for things Mr. Bear couldn't do... like use the potty. I can't quote him, though... it's probably not blog-appropriate.) Ian was insistent that Mr. Bear sleep with him, and he enjoyed cuddling up with our stuffed friend to watch cartoons. Then mama had to get to work on the "documentation." I had this hair-brained idea to make our "story" flow like a comic book. I even fought with Photoshop on converting photos to look more like illustrations. Hopefully you can click on these pics below to see them full screen... yes, I am crazy. But it sure was fun!

MPM: Teamwork on Homework

Homework for preschoolers? Well, it's a good thing I like to do crafty activities with my kids, then! Last week, Seth brought home a sheet that he was supposed to fill with things he is thankful for. Ian brought home a turkey outline that we could decorate with "any medium we want." So, it was Monday, and we went to work!

Ian makes stickers with the Xyron

Seth put on these stickers of his favorite things.

I love Ian's concentration here.

My FAVORITE, the boys working together!

Savor this moment, because...

Whoops! Ian spills the beans, and Seth eats the glue!

Happy Turkey Day!

I am pretty tickled that my boys worked together on their crafts homework. And even though beans ended up EVERYWHERE, Ian was good about helping to clean them up. And Seth really did put his own stickers on, but while sitting in my lap and needing a little prodding every now and then... hence no pictures of that. Well, another successful Mod Podge Monday, I would say!