And that makes me very sad.
I've been making stuff.. but describing crafts doesn't quite work for a blog post without a picture.
What I've made:
Another rabbit moon embroidery
Another pink jumper
New pajamas for Blackbird Jr
More progress on his christmas stocking (yes, the one I started in January 2007 and am about 1/8th done)
Pictures when I find the camera (please, please, my fingers are crossed for me) or when I suck it up and buy a new one. A cheap one this time, it may be the second one I've lost. Wah.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
SVH. Making you feel uglier than ever before.
Sweet Valley High is being rereleased for a new generation of girls to read and obsess over. Been there, done that. All SVH critique aside, here are the upcoming changes to the books:
The girls will drive a Jeep Wrangler instead of the fiat.
Liz will be the editor of the school's website (her character previously edited the school paper) and she will have an anonymous blog.
and..
the girls will now be "a perfect size 4", instead of having their "perfect size 6 figures".
Gah.
I think I will stick to reading The Dairi Burger, a blog devoted to rereading SVH with recaps that make me laugh outloud.
Excerpt:
Meanwhile Jessica finds out that local tv star Jeremy Frank (are there really local tv stars? Who actually watches public access?) has broken his leg so Jessica convinces Liz to volunteer to be a candy striper with her. Jess acts like an ass if front of Jeremy and keeps hurting him and spilling stuff on him. She even walks in on him naked. It’s crazy! I thought everyone in Sweet Valley had no genitals.
The girls will drive a Jeep Wrangler instead of the fiat.
Liz will be the editor of the school's website (her character previously edited the school paper) and she will have an anonymous blog.
and..
the girls will now be "a perfect size 4", instead of having their "perfect size 6 figures".
Gah.
I think I will stick to reading The Dairi Burger, a blog devoted to rereading SVH with recaps that make me laugh outloud.
Excerpt:
Meanwhile Jessica finds out that local tv star Jeremy Frank (are there really local tv stars? Who actually watches public access?) has broken his leg so Jessica convinces Liz to volunteer to be a candy striper with her. Jess acts like an ass if front of Jeremy and keeps hurting him and spilling stuff on him. She even walks in on him naked. It’s crazy! I thought everyone in Sweet Valley had no genitals.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Tiny Terrariums
Love this. From cottageliving.com.
A terrarium is simply a glass enclosure used for growing plants indoors. Swing by your local nursery on the way home and pick up a few small plants and supplies. This project can be done in an afternoon and is nearly maintenance free. Its habit of thriving on neglect makes a closed terrarium hard to kill and easy to love.
Instructions (including a list of "no fail" plants) can be found here.
A terrarium is simply a glass enclosure used for growing plants indoors. Swing by your local nursery on the way home and pick up a few small plants and supplies. This project can be done in an afternoon and is nearly maintenance free. Its habit of thriving on neglect makes a closed terrarium hard to kill and easy to love.
Instructions (including a list of "no fail" plants) can be found here.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Suprise! Cheap Easter Toys Exceed Lead Standard
Last year we thought we were being very clever parents and avoiding an over-candy trap by purchasing hollow little eggs that we could put one or two smarties in or a small toy car. Bah.
This article describes a small study done in a course with graduate students that found 13 out of 45 purchased easter toys had paint made with lead on them. The biggest lead hazards were found in Easter egg spinning tops, plastic Easter eggs that typically are filled at home with treats, bunny hair clips and chick-style sipper cups- in these products the lead exceeded the government standards in the US.
While the article mentions that the risk is small if a toy doesn't get chipped or is discarded before it deteriorates, they don't factor in kids like Blackbird Jr, who at almost 4 years old still randomly licks things or holds them in his mouth.
I guess I'm better off with a day of candy overload. Ha! I wrote "overlead" at first as a typo.
This article describes a small study done in a course with graduate students that found 13 out of 45 purchased easter toys had paint made with lead on them. The biggest lead hazards were found in Easter egg spinning tops, plastic Easter eggs that typically are filled at home with treats, bunny hair clips and chick-style sipper cups- in these products the lead exceeded the government standards in the US.
While the article mentions that the risk is small if a toy doesn't get chipped or is discarded before it deteriorates, they don't factor in kids like Blackbird Jr, who at almost 4 years old still randomly licks things or holds them in his mouth.
I guess I'm better off with a day of candy overload. Ha! I wrote "overlead" at first as a typo.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Salt Dough Beads
I was so bored today I made up this tutorial for salt dough beads. Yes, that bored. Is Spring here yet?
Start by making your salt dough. The recipe:
Salt Dough
1 cup very warm water
1/2 cup salt
1 cup flour
Heat your water- either run it really warm from the tap or use a kettle. You don't want it to be too hot (definitely not boiling), especially if you are making the recipe with kids. Add your half a cup of salt to the water and stir thorougly, getting as much salt dissolved into the water as you can. Then add 1 cup flour and stir. It will be goopy but firm up as the water is absorbed into the flour.
You should be able to knead it into a ball now.
If it's too sticky, roll in some more flour. If it's too dry and crumbly, add more water.
My dough says Hi.
You can pretty much make whatever you want with the dough. There are books on dough art at the EPL, from dollhouse furniture to big wall hangings. I am making you all big wall hangings for christmas with little figurines of your family on them, just so you know. Fine art.
There are lots of different ways to make beads but the basic way is to roll a ball and poke a hole in it. We used a knitting needle and an empty pen shuttle to make our holes. I also made some flat pendant-style beads that I poked 2 holes in the tops of to thread our string through. I also could have stuck a paperclip in there with one loop sticking out to string the thread through. Another form of bead I made was to wrap a long snake of yarn around the knitting needle like a coil.
Your preschool might get distracted and start making some sort of track for racecars. That's ok.
Now you bake your uncooked beads in the oven. Set the temperature to about 250 C and cook until the edges start to brown. The time this takes can vary, depending how thick your creations are. Our beads took a couple hours. The things that look like squished salt dough poops are cars.
Now that they are cooked, I have set up some paints to paint them with.
Finished painting. I am going to coat these with an acrylic sealer tonight to keep the tempera paint from flaking off and tomorrow we will make some beautiful necklaces with them.
Start by making your salt dough. The recipe:
Salt Dough
1 cup very warm water
1/2 cup salt
1 cup flour
Heat your water- either run it really warm from the tap or use a kettle. You don't want it to be too hot (definitely not boiling), especially if you are making the recipe with kids. Add your half a cup of salt to the water and stir thorougly, getting as much salt dissolved into the water as you can. Then add 1 cup flour and stir. It will be goopy but firm up as the water is absorbed into the flour.
You should be able to knead it into a ball now.
If it's too sticky, roll in some more flour. If it's too dry and crumbly, add more water.
My dough says Hi.
You can pretty much make whatever you want with the dough. There are books on dough art at the EPL, from dollhouse furniture to big wall hangings. I am making you all big wall hangings for christmas with little figurines of your family on them, just so you know. Fine art.
There are lots of different ways to make beads but the basic way is to roll a ball and poke a hole in it. We used a knitting needle and an empty pen shuttle to make our holes. I also made some flat pendant-style beads that I poked 2 holes in the tops of to thread our string through. I also could have stuck a paperclip in there with one loop sticking out to string the thread through. Another form of bead I made was to wrap a long snake of yarn around the knitting needle like a coil.
Your preschool might get distracted and start making some sort of track for racecars. That's ok.
Now you bake your uncooked beads in the oven. Set the temperature to about 250 C and cook until the edges start to brown. The time this takes can vary, depending how thick your creations are. Our beads took a couple hours. The things that look like squished salt dough poops are cars.
Now that they are cooked, I have set up some paints to paint them with.
Finished painting. I am going to coat these with an acrylic sealer tonight to keep the tempera paint from flaking off and tomorrow we will make some beautiful necklaces with them.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Spring Fever Continues
It's -19 C out, but I just sewed this sweet jumper:
I love that it could be worn over a long sleeved onesie and jeans on a day like today or as a sundress with the diaper cover in the summer. Thanks for the idea for the diaper cover, m :)
I also made another chocolate swirl apron for the etsy store, this one is reversible.
It's way cuter in person, you'll just have to trust me on that one.
I read lots of books in February, hiding from the NEVER ENDING winter in literature. What I read:
The Glass Castle- Jeanette Walls
Fragile Things- Neil Gaiman (audiobook)
The Girls: A Novel- Lori Lansens
Brown Girl in the Ring- Nalo Hopkinson
Icy Sparks- Gwyn Hyman Rubio
Plain Janes- by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg (graphic novel)
American Born Chinese- Gene Luen Yang (graphic novel)
Book Thief- Markus Zusak
Anansi Boys- Neil Gaiman (audiobook)
Bitten- Kelley Armstrong
Stolen- Kelley Armstrong
A Year Without Made in China- Sarah Bongiorni
Of all those books, the best ones were The Glass Castle (a re-read for me), Fragile Things (could Gaiman be any more talented and brilliant?) and the graphic novel American Born Chinese. The Girls was interesting as well as it was written from the point of view of twins cojoined at their heads.
Right now I am reading Coyote Road: Trickster Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. It's a collection of tales (some stories, some poems) about trickster characters in all sorts of settings. Trickster is an archetype that is found all over the world in many different cultures. Trickster can be male or female, wise and foolish, good and bad, but always loving to create chaos and play tricks on people, spirits and animals.
I love that it could be worn over a long sleeved onesie and jeans on a day like today or as a sundress with the diaper cover in the summer. Thanks for the idea for the diaper cover, m :)
I also made another chocolate swirl apron for the etsy store, this one is reversible.
It's way cuter in person, you'll just have to trust me on that one.
I read lots of books in February, hiding from the NEVER ENDING winter in literature. What I read:
The Glass Castle- Jeanette Walls
Fragile Things- Neil Gaiman (audiobook)
The Girls: A Novel- Lori Lansens
Brown Girl in the Ring- Nalo Hopkinson
Icy Sparks- Gwyn Hyman Rubio
Plain Janes- by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg (graphic novel)
American Born Chinese- Gene Luen Yang (graphic novel)
Book Thief- Markus Zusak
Anansi Boys- Neil Gaiman (audiobook)
Bitten- Kelley Armstrong
Stolen- Kelley Armstrong
A Year Without Made in China- Sarah Bongiorni
Of all those books, the best ones were The Glass Castle (a re-read for me), Fragile Things (could Gaiman be any more talented and brilliant?) and the graphic novel American Born Chinese. The Girls was interesting as well as it was written from the point of view of twins cojoined at their heads.
Right now I am reading Coyote Road: Trickster Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. It's a collection of tales (some stories, some poems) about trickster characters in all sorts of settings. Trickster is an archetype that is found all over the world in many different cultures. Trickster can be male or female, wise and foolish, good and bad, but always loving to create chaos and play tricks on people, spirits and animals.
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