The goose is getting fat...

Christmas is coming. Want to know how I know that? Because my kids are driving me absolutely bonkers. What is it about this time of year that makes them so rowdy? Could it be the lights, the candy, the impending desire for gifts gifts gifts, the parties, the cookies, the incessant songs? You're right. There was no need to ask in the first place.

Today I had a showdown at the OK Corral with no.2. That kid is insanely stubborn, and I picked the battle. Seriously child, do you think you are going to win? I am the one who gave you those stubborn genes and I have 31 years of practice using them. I won in the end.

Well, despite the occasional day of the yuckiest behaviour imaginable (the kind that makes me realize why some species eat their young), Christmas is still fun. Really fun. A holiday that without kids is pleasant, but nothing to really get amped about, is crazy fun with kids. You appreciate the whole season, not just the day, because there are endless possibilities of fun things to do and neat things to create. I love Advent. Always have. Growing up Catholic there was nothing better than the Sunday when the priest lit the pink candle on the Advent wreath- half way there, kind of like Catholic Christmas hump day! As a wee kid we never had commercial Advent calendars. Those came a bit later when I was 10 or 11... and the joy! Seriously, a 10 year old super excited about a shaped "chocolate" (and I use this term in the loosest sense... it is more a chocolate like confection, akin to, I don't know, Exlax)! But it upped the anticipation. And isn't it the anticipation that is half the fun? Later my mum made a quilted Christmas tree shaped Advent calendar with heart shaped pockets. We now have that and it is filled with Hershey's kisses, and the kids adore it.

This year I decided that I'd like to make another Advent calendar for the kids. Instead of it being chocolate oriented, I wanted it to be manipulative. My kids, Matteo in particular, love playing with felt stories and shapes. I've made a bunch for school.  Matteo's favourite outing is a trip to my school to keep me company while I work, where he happily plays (for hours on end) with these things. The kids love all the Christmas decorations and get so excited when they see them, but often they cannot touch these things as they are not intended to be put through the paces my boys would subject them to through play. So when I saw this, I knew it would be a hit in our house: http://www.solandrachel.com/2011/12/pinterest-christmas.html
I knew they'd love decorating their own christmas tree.

Then I saw this and loved it!
http://inchmark.squarespace.com/inchmark/category/advent-calendar

I loved how it combines felt play with an Advent calendar concept. But the trouble is that this thing is BIG. And at Christmas we have a ton of cute wallhangings that already occupy the walls. I thought that if I could make it smaller, and put magnet on the back, then maybe it could occupy the fridge (provided I could clear enough "foliage"- i.e. crayon and marker drawings on construction paper), and that way the kids could reach it and play with it too. In order to do this, I had to eliminate the pockets. Then how to distribute a decoration each day of Advent?





Then I saw this and loved the look of it (sigh. So many crafts, so little time):
http://www.canadianliving.com/crafts/other_crafts/diy_christmas_make_a_chic_advent_calendar.php

We all know I love a good bunting. And opening envelopes is a fun thing to do (how often do you get to open mail that isn't going to cost you money or try to sell you something?).

So the solution was to combine the ideas. Here's what I came up with. I made my own envelope bunting. There are 24 envelopes in total. In stead of using regular envelopes as they suggested in their directions, I made my own out of cardstock. Why? Well, I'm the queen of making things more complicated than necessary. That is a fact. But I also wanted to make sure that they last longer than one season. But other than that, I followed the directions completely as given.

Next I made a tree out of felt. I went looking for felt on the bolt for the backing and was rather dismayed with the lack of variety in colours that it comes in. Plus, they are all so solid and dull, no variation. I was hoping for something a little more natural looking. I decided that instead of using felt for the backing, I'd use cotton quilt batting. It worked brilliantly. It is actually better because you can iron it (felt isn't great for that purpose), and it is very light, which is a bonus given I wanted it to hang on the fridge by strips of magnet. I appliqued the tree on by sewing machine, but it could just as easily be done by using craft glue. Really, none of this requires a sewing machine. Next I cut out 24 ornaments that will be hung day by day on the tree. I hand sewed buttons on to the tree and under it (for the presents). I used a sewing machine to make button holes in the ornaments, but given felt does not fray, even that is not necessary- one could very easily simply snip a wee hole and that would do fine.  When I was finished I attached strips of magnet (peel and stick) to the entire length of the top and bottom of the hanging. Each piece will go in an envelope and piece by piece, the boys will be able to decorate their own tree. I'm pretty happy with the result. One note about the cotton, it does kind of warp, so the edge lines aren't straight, but it is good enough.

What is making your Christmas merry and bright? Any fun crafts on your horizons? I just found a pattern (thanks pinterest!) for a felt pickle ornament for the tree. (Do any of you do the German tradition of hiding the pickle on the tree and trying to be the first one to spot it?) I was hoping that would be my afternoon project. Instead I am learning the fine art of plumbing... it is never good when you flush the toilet and water goes through the basement ceiling. I guess I'll save the fun stuff for another day. Here I go, off to put on my gumboots. My life is extremely glamorous.



Happy trails!

Pink Fairy Princesses: An unproductive soapbox rant that I needed to get off my chest.

This week I had the rare opportunity to look for a present for little girls. I am the mother of two boys. But I am the product of a female dominated home- my poor dad was outnumbered by women, me my mum and my sister. And girly girl I was. Dolls, Barbie, and My Little Pony. This summed up my childhood. When I was pregnant with my oldest, I remember thinking "What the heck will I do if it is a boy?". Most definitely the thought was well out of my range of experience. What's more I convinced myself I was having a girl. When he was born by emergency C Section, I remember lying on the table and asking Ethan "What is it?". He said "It's a boy!". To which I said, ready for it?... "Are you sure?". To which Ethan responded "Um, Em.... yeah. Pretty sure." Followed by words which are not for mixed company which rather bluntly stated supporting evidence of his diagnosis. In those early days I held the new little mouse and thought "What am I going to do with you?".

My eyes were opened to the joys of tractors, and farm animals, and trains, and cowboys. By the time the second boy came around, I was pretty confident in my ability to figure out what appeals to small boys. But I have to say, there is still something that I love about shopping for little girls. It is fun. And still appeals to the little girl in me. And it is so easy, if you are buying clothes. There are a myriad of adorable choices available.

When my boys were invited to a birthday party for two of their little friends (Matteo is friends with the older sister, Elio with the younger), I got excited about present buying. But kid parties are not really conducive to buying clothes. They are more conducive to toys or books or activities. So off I went to the toy store, and quickly realized I had no idea what little girls like. How weird? Things change quickly. I went to the Barbie aisle, thinking, right, a classic. But I have to say Barbie has "matured" in her old age. Um... should I buy the fashion doll that looks like a transvestite? Or should I go for the one that looks like a Dominatrix? Are the girls going to be acting out scenes from Connie and Carla or 50 Shades of Grey? Moving on. Next section: princesses and fairies. Right. Well yes. If you are beautiful and skinny maybe you too can marry a handsome prince with a full head of lustrous blond hair and wear fabulous dresses and do nothing but sing while bluebirds hang out your laundry. Hope you like pink. Right. Next section: baby dolls. Yes. A classic. But want one that does not require double A batteries or excrete mock body fluids? Hard to find.

I have to say though, sadly the options aren't much better for boys either. Once a boy hits a certain age, there isn't much to pick from unless you like Lego or Hot Wheels. I find myself trying to gently guide my boys away from super hero figures that have crazy nuts abs and very large weapons as they obliterate the enemy into world peace (???). Yuck. My kids like Batman, and I'm ok with them watching the old episodes of the Adam West series. Lots of campy superhero action without the gratuitous violence that seems to dominate the action figure aisle.

And all I can think is that we are losing our creativity. The toys seem so specific and explicit, or overly sexual or violent. They seem built to act our very specific scenes and do not leave much room for open ended play. Can't we just pretend that baby has a wet diaper? Is it really necessary that I feel actual water puddle on my feet to do so?

I have to say I gave up. I decided that kids learn and play best by doing something. With Christmas coming, what could be more fun than baking? Kids like to accomplish something, just like we do. So decided that matching aprons and their very own baking utensils, as well as a great first cook book with excellent photos was in order. Feeling rather proud of my idea, and re-energized for shopping I skipped off to the book store to find the perfect book. And there I was faced with a shelf full of cookbooks: the Princess cookbook, the fairy cookbook, the pink cookbook, the little girl's cookbook, the party girl's cookbook, the hungry girl's cookbook. By this point in time I felt like yelling at the shelf. WHAT THE HECK ARE WE DOING TO OUR KIDS???? What is the point of all this forced gender stereotyping? Does nobody else watch the food network? Does nobody else realize how hot and masculine Rocco Dispirito is? Or Jamie Oliver? Or how the cake boss is neither a pink princess or a little fairy? Do they not know that one of the things I most love about my husband is his willingness to don an apron and cook for our family (and not simply BBQ). What if I were buying this for my sons? Maybe they'd like to cook too! Don't get me wrong, I realize the gift was indeed for two wee girls, but I just couldn't bring myself to force pink princess fairies down their throats. I scoured the shelf for something else, and sure enough, next to the floor, sandwiched between "Pink Princess Cookbook" (seriously, I'm not making this up) and "Princess Party Cookbook", I found a lovely relatively gender neutral cookbook that has gorgeous pictures, clear directions and a bazillion fun baking recipes. Phoof! The poor unsuspecting woman working the children's section narrowly avoided an earful from me.

But really, girls will always pretend they are princesses. They will always love fairy wings. Boys will always love cars. They will always love superhero capes. And there is nothing wrong with that. Having watched two kids grow from birth you do realize how innate those interests are.  But I really think there is something wrong with not offering them a variety of things to aspire to. Not everything needs gender specificity.


Alright. Sorry you guys. I'll climb off my soapbox long enough to show you how this gift turned out. I'm pretty happy with the result. I used the same method as I did for Elio's Bob the Builder construction aprons. Indeed this is a gender neutral pattern, which can be made from fabric that you think would suit the wearer best. I did these fully reversible (pockets on both sides), and with an elasticized neck strap. That way it fits over the head but then doesn't hang too low to function well as an apron (in our house aprons get worn when one thinks a bib is in order but your too old child would be mortified at the thought). These are a 2 hour project- short and sweet. Hopefully they like them- Elio gave them his seal of approval ("Which one is mine?"... we still have some work to do. Apparently he thinks he gets presents on everyone's birthday).  In the photo I have one lying on its "front" and the other lying on its "back". They are identical aside from size.

Are you in the birthday party phase? Do your kids have better social lives than you do by a long shot? What are you giving as presents?


Happy weekend people- hope it is a good one!


Happy trails!

Pom-poms and Googly Eyes: A guide to appropriate usage.

Oh October where did you go? I swear, I only closed my eyes for a second and you disappeared into a cloud of conference planning, pumpkin patch field trips, work evaluations and trips to the airport. So much to do, so little time. The result, a shameful lack of productivity on my part. What had begun as an October full of possible Halloween crafts wound up as one sad little pumpkin picture and a Q-Tip skeleton. That's all. Wouldn't it be great to quit everyday life and just craft? Sigh.

Well, hello November! I love the start of a new month- full of possibilities and a relatively clean calendar. I love it also, because it leads into Christmas. And my favourite part of Christmas is the getting ready bit. You know- all the wrapping, and card writing (yes, I still do that- someone has to preserve the one time a year you get to find fun stuff in the mailbox rather than the usual stack of flyers and bills), baking (Laverne and Shirley, aka. my sister Renata and I, do it up big in a blaze of masochistic glory... really the one time a year we bake.), and the crafts!

I also used to like the craft fairs. But this year is different. Today my aunt, my sis and I ventured to a local craft fair that I always go to. As I walked around I felt like I was in the movie Groundhog Day. You know, with Bill Murray? The one where each scene is more or less a repeat of the last, as he lives the day over and over again. As I looked at the tables, there was the SAME OLD stuff. Nothing new. Nothing terribly creative. My sister and I walked up and down the aisles realizing just how many crafts we've done over the years with our mum, and how little is new on the craft fair circuit. That's not to say there was nothing of interest there. I'm always in love with wood turning and pottery- as I could never do those things myself. And I'm also in love with the one gem of a knitter who produces beautiful sweaters and kids items that are artfully done with creativity and attention to detail. This year it was a lovely elderly European lady who did gorgeous sweaters and mittens. She'd even made sure she kept up with the times and had a selection of "texting mittens" (mittens with a tipless thumb and no fingers so you can still work your texting magic while staying warm. Funny that those looked more Dickensian than modern. But her stuff was beautiful. But in between was row upon row of run of the mill, outdated but likely fashionable once in the 80's  crafts. Many created out of pre-purchased pom poms and googly eyes. I'm not paying for anything made out of pre-purchased pom-poms.  I'll spare you the unedited soap-box style rant that I subject poor Renata and Auntie Cathy to in the car (it was far from being appropriate for mixed company), and I'll give you the Reader's Digest version. Pom-poms and googly eyes on a craft made by a child 10 years or younger- brilliant. Pom-poms and googly eyes on a craft made for purchase by a self-respecting adult- lacking in artistic merit. Basically I decided that I'm going to go on a craft fair hiatus.



So, what to do when frustrated by pop-pom googly eye crafts? Go home and pull out the pom-poms and googly eyes. Cut me some slack, this craft was to be done by children- 5 and under to be specific, so don't go accusing me of hypocrisy. Rewind to last year. The boys and I tried out a project that I found in Family Fun magazine. My favourite. Those Disney-owned geniuses transformed plastic bottles into adorable little snowmen with decoupage glue and tissue paper. Check out the original project here: http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/the-a-bottle-able-snowmen-1030092/. My issue with this was that we don't use anything in plastic bottles. So we used glass jars instead and they turned out super cute.
The beauty about these is that a monkey can make them. Perfect. Because I've got two of those! Little hands can easily take a make up sponge and smear Mod Podge on the glass, and smooth down a piece of tissue on top. With a bit of guidance they can make sure there are no holes and spaces too. It is easy enough for them to place on the eyes, and cover the lids for the hats. But this project is not without its flaws. First of all, battery powered anything is a pain the butt. Battery powered tea lights are no exception. They are more or less bits of useless junk. But if you want a hat, there is not enough air for a real candle. So you deal with dollar store junk breaking every year. Meh. It's all in the name of crafts. The other part that is a pain to do, is the nose. It isn't that easy to fashion a carrot (3D) out of tissue paper. If I were to do these ones again I would use Fimo or even Play dough for the nose. But all in all, a good project for wee hands- they really can accomplish a lot of the steps on this one.

This year I came across snowmen made from milk jugs on Pinterest. Adorable and easy peasy lemon squeezy for wee ones. Here's what they look like:
http://www.freefunchristmas.com/handmade-christmas-gifts/snowman-milk-jugs/. Nosey butt-in-ski that I am, I couldn't leave well enough alone. First of all, I didn't like having to use Christmas lights in them due to the plastic factor again. Second of all, I tried to peel the labels off of milk jugs for an easy Halloween project this year- the verdict: an hour and a half of my life I'll never get back. Besides, albeit cute, these suckers don't require much doing, and the doing that they do require (cutting of shapes), my three year old couldn't do successfully. So we decided to take this style of snowman head, and last year's fun craft which both boys thought was a good time, and we melded the two. Here's what we did:
Materials:

• Mod Podge or any other decoupage medium (actually, 50% white glue and 50% water does the trick fine if you don't want to buy the other)
• Sponge make-up wedges
• Glass jar (we used Salsa jars)
• gulp.... Pom-poms (2 inch ones any colour)
• double gulp... googly eyes
• Orange and black felt
• White glue
• Glue gun
• Metallic pipe cleaner
• Tea light

First, cut circles or squares (about 1 inch) from white tissue paper. Working in small sections, spread decoupage glue on the jar and cover with tissue paper shapes being sure not to leave gaps. Spread more decoupage glue on top of the tissue to seal. Continue until the jar is covered all the way around and let dry. Next cut a carrot nose out of felt, and 5 small circles (rocks) to form the snowman's mouth. Glue on the face using white glue. Next, the grown-up in the operation should use a glue gun to attach a pipe cleaner ear-muff strap (I twisted together 2 pipe cleaners for ours). Finally, using the glue gun once more, fix on the pop-poms to cover the ends of the pipe cleaners. Here's what they look like:

Ok. Granted. They do involve googly eyes and pom-poms. But they produced two very happy little boys. And the best part, no lid- they can use real tea-lights. You can tell from the photos how much better the real thing looks. My intent this year was to make the same project, but orange for Halloween. Certainly these could easily be made jack-o-lanterns instead. But we'll see next year how keen we are to repeat the same sort of thing.

Maybe try this one out yourself with your own little monkeys... what will yours look like? I'm curious!
Happy trails!

The problem with opposable thumbs...

Halloween is coming. We are total Halloweiners in this house. Funny that we are actually, as growing up I didn't come from a house full of Halloween enthusiasts. Don't get me wrong, we got dressed up and went trick or treating, but it wasn't a big thing.

However, certainly one of my best memories with my dad as a kid had to do with the hours we'd spend in the basement (relegated there because pumpkin carving always seemed to coincide with my mum's turn to host her ladies group at our house, upstairs was off limits to men and anyone under 5 feet) carving pumpkins. Usually they were home grown. Sometimes he'd carve our initials on them when they were babies, and they'd scar over in the growing process. Once a family friend gave us a pumpkin that easily had to have weighed 50 lbs and was ENORMOUS. My dad was very creative and we'd use cookie cutters to make eyes and nose holes, then we'd nail the cut outs on to the side of the pumpkin as ears. One particular set of pumpkins we did, one for me one for my sister, stands out in my memory as one was fat the other, tall and skinny. I remember them coming out looking like Ernie and Bert.

As an adult, although I'm loathe to dress up myself, I love this time of year because my kids get SO excited. I've always made their costumes, and we've decorated the house. My hubby also loves Halloween, and unlike me he likes to dress up. We've had fun with it over the years. So Halloween crafts are a no brainer.

Again, as all crafts in this house, they have to be quick and cheap and easy. Here's what we've done so far.

Good ol' Pinterest... I found this brilliant idea:
http://littlewondersdays.blogspot.ca/2011/08/back-to-school-fall-friday-fun.html
Shaving cream and acrylic paint? And a squeegee?? What could be more fun. The kids were easy able to swirl the paint, help lay in the shapes, and help squeegee it off. All you do is spread shaving cream on a shallow pan (we used a cookie sheet), squirt paint on top, and give it a swirl. Lay your paper shapes down and let them sit a couple seconds. Pull them out straight up out of the paint, and let them sit a couple more minutes, squeegee them off and you're done!
We made leaves for thanksgiving and it was so fun, that we decided to Halloween it too:

Cool right? Tips: 1) We found we could only use one area of paint/cream for about 2 shapes before it was best to lay the shapes elsewhere on the pan. 2) Squeegeeing is best done in one swift motion- you get the cleanest marbling that way. 3) Also, use unscented shaving cream or your house (I speak from experience) will smell like old man cologne for days. 

Today Elio, who entertained himself for a good 2 solid hours while I caught up with a dear friend, needed a project. We attempted knuckle painting, another idea from Pinterest. The link appears not to be working right now or I'd send you there. Basically you have the child make a fist, and paint the section of finger between the first and second knuckles orange. Stamp it down, and that becomes your pumpkin. Next you need a stem and leaves. For this I thought, awesome, pinky finger print stem, and index finger leaves. Easy right? Here's the problem... it never occurred to me that it would be difficult for a three year old to get the digits working independently enough to be able to print a pinky finger or index finger. The problem with opposable thumbs is that we don't figure them out for the first several years of our lives. When one finger is extended, they are all extended. He's not able to move fingers independently in a coordinated way. Knowing really nothing about the development of motor skills, I'm not sure when this will get easier. For now, it took us surprisingly long to get those silly prints done well. But it turned out cute. Elmer's glue and popsicle sticks made a fine gate, and we sang Raffi's 5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate while we worked. Fun stuff!

I've got one more idea for Halloween luminaries out of glass jars, but that will have to wait until after next week (darn those other commitments that interfere with crafting!). 

For now I leave you with a look at Halloween at our house... happy haunted trails!

Matteo's 1st costume, and still, my favourite that I've made. 

Yeehaw!

My dear sister insisted that if
 Matteo was a cowboy, Elio ought to be a cow.
Luckily my mum had the patience for this one.
I couldn't bring myself to put the energy into
sewing a costume for a 4 month old baby. 

Indiana Jones- he really didn't know who
he was, but knew he had a great hat!

Pumpkin- sewn suit, knitted hat. Easy peasy. 

Srgt. Pepper. My mum, who incidentally hates  Halloween, sewed this for Ethan. He grew the moustache all summer.   By far, the coolest costume in the world. 

My little Billy goat gruff... Matteo wore this first,
but Elio rocked it. 

A knight in shining armour- awesome
hand-me-down from a very cool cousin!

Who ya gonna call? We made the proton pack from a cookie sheet
 and plastic containers, some modge podge and screws. 

Ethan made these for me... I LOVE them. Yes, we are that house.

Hippie Genetics

My parents were (and are hippies). Ok. Those of you who know them would argue this to be far from true. And I see your point. There is no Woodstock attending, Birkenstocks wearing, long hair and daisies or tie dye. There is a lot of smartly tailored clothing, strong family values, hard working mentality. None of these things scream hippy- I know that. And in all honesty, the grow lights in the basement of my parent's house are to grow... are you ready for this... geraniums. Shocking. You'd think with that green thumb of his and those grow lights he could come up with a more lucrative crop. Nope. Geraniums.

But I'm telling you, my parents were crunchy granola before being organic or environmentally aware was trendy. I was lucky enough to grow up with a father who was more or less a subsistence farmer. Our house was on a quarter acre and my dad's garden was, and is, enormous. Everything we ate from spring (radicchio was always up first) to winter (squash and potatoes keep well in a cold room) came from my dad's organic garden. And while he was busy pulling weeds and planting things, my mum was in the kitchen cooking them, and preserving them for the winter. She still bakes her own bread (12 loaves at a time), and cans tomatoes, peaches, pears and cherries. There is of course lots of pasta sauce and grilled eggplant (what is an Italian without those things?), and tons of delicious baking. I would be willing to bet that my parents make less waste than 95% of the population. Almost nothing goes in the garbage. My mother is a militant recycler (Lord have mercy on your soul should you forget to put a toilet paper roll in the recycling and... gulp... throw it in the garbage. She's sort of the female equivalent of Ed Begley Jr. Although, to be fair, the toaster does not require a half hour of pedalling on a bicycle to operate). My dad has the biggest compost heap which totally eliminates the need for fertilizer. They built their own house with the help of my beloved and very missed Nonno Giovanni. They are very kind to the planet, they are very organic, they are indeed hippies. Just without the clothes. It is so cool.

No doubt this is where my love for gardening and cooking and sewing comes from. Living in the city, an enormous garden isn't possible- I do what I can with the space and time I have. And my mum is in my brain every time I use a paper towel instead of a rag. "Why waste Emmanuella?". Good question. Keeps me thinking all the time.

I think the hippy fashion sensibility skipped a generation and landed on me. I love me my Birkenstocks. LOVE them. And here's another thing I love- tie dye. Not to wear, so much as to do. It is such fun- I love a project with that kind of instant gratification.  There is something so terribly exciting about pulling a waded mass of elastics out of dye, removing the ties and seeing what you ended up with. Such fun. I've tie dyed all kinds of things over the years: socks, underwear, sheets. My friend Lisa and I had a full out tie dye party in university (oh the hysterical pictures I have somewhere of her modelling her projects). But my favourite projects have been for my boys at Halloween. This was an idea I first saw in Family Fun Magazine. I loved it so much I made countless of these things- for friends, and at least on a year for my boys.

Cute right? The circles were created by elastic bands, and I used el-cheapo shirts and Tintex dye. The facial features are done with fabric paint, and the leaf and stem I improvised with appliqued fabric. One thing I did find with these is that the fabric paint sticks to itself with the heat of the dryer, so better to let them dry on a rack.

I finally reached saturation with this project. Seriously, how many of these things can one justify making before being admitted for analysis? It's overkill. Plus, I got a fancy schmancy front loading washing machine. I can't bring myself to put fabric dye in the cycle.

But the hamster is always running. Three thing happened today. 1) I was feeling Halloweeny 2) I came across a new kind of fabric dye that isn't used in a washing machine and 3) I got an idea other than a pumpkin. !!!! Wheeee! Tie dye it is. I ran to Walmart for T-shirts.

Here's what you need for this year's version:

• black fabric dye (I used Dylon)
• back and white fabric paint
• elastics
• 100% cotton shirts
• black acrylic paint
• Gemtac glue
• google eyes

1. Using elastic bands, tightly tie up the shirts to create the shapes. Figure out where you'd like the targets and place the elastics accordingly.

 2. Prepare the dye as directed on the package. Submerge and stir as directed also. Rinse out in cold water. I like to throw mine in the washer with vinegar to help the colour set. Tumble dry and iron. And no, that is not my type A talking (well, not only my type A talking), but you want the shirt nice and flat for painting.

 3. Lay the shirts out flat, and put several layers of newspaper, or cardboard inside so the paint does not seep through.

4. Draw on your arachnid friend. I used acrylic paint for the body (Brain wave! Does not stick to itself like fabric paint, and does not wash out). Fabric paint pens were used for the legs, mouth and eyebrows.  Use the Gemtac to adhere the googly eyes. Let dry. The glue bottle says it is washable after 24 hrs. We'll see if it survives the wash. I have my doubts. May need to come up with a plan B.






Ta-Dah!!! The 2012 edition of the tie-dyed Halloween shirt. I love them, and I suspect the boys will too

Ok. Go on. Listen to Bob Dylan (the answers are indeed blowing in the wind), put on your Birkenstocks, rub patchouli on something, burn some incense and tie dye something! You won't be sorry you did!

Happy Trails! And Peace Out. 

Crafty keeners

My kids like to craft. A dream come true right? Well, theoretically. In theory, I love this. But in reality, I  (big confession coming), don't really like crafting with my kids. Here's how it usually goes:
Me:  "Hey guys we're going to make a craft!"
The Dynamic Duo: "YAY!!!"
Me: "Come sit down at the table.... no, don't touch the paint quite yet Boy Wonder..."
Boy Wonder: "How come?"
Me: "Because I have to explain what we need to do with it first"
Batman: "Can I use brown? Please?"
Boy Wonder: "How come?"
Me: "Because if I don't, you won't know what to do. Let's put on our paint shirts"
Boy Wonder: "How come?"
Batman: "But mum, I want a brown paint shirt"
Me: "Well, Batman I have red or black shirts, and Boy Wonder, because otherwise you'll ruin your clothes"
Boy Wonder: "How come?".
This conversation takes about 3 seconds. It is like being stoned to death with pickles. Not painful, but absolutely persistent, and completely aggravating. And that is before the project begins.

Suffice it to say any project I do with them needs to meet the following requirements:
1) It has to be easy enough for my 3 year old Boy Wonder to attempt, and my 5 year old to pretty much manage on his own entirely
2) It must not require any significant exactitude.
3) It must be easily accomplished in about 30 minutes or less.

When I saw something similar on Pinterest (and my oh my how I love Pinterest), I loved the idea right away. It works for any season. The Pinterest craft was sponge painting on an art canvas, on top of a masking taped snowflake shape. I will be repeating this craft during winter time. But for now, I adapted it to our current season.




First I found a maple leaf clip art graphic and cut it out of a cereal box.

We taped it to the art canvas and then...

 Using acrylic paint and a kitchen sponge, went bananas painting. We used red, orange, yellow and green.

Some of us were more methodical than others. It is amazing how different two different litters from the same sow can be....

Voila! Hung in a place of honour immediately visible when you enter the house. 

In the end, I've decided that I do like crafting with my kids. It is fun to create things, and watch them work. As long as you can fend off the pickles...

Happy trails!

School. Literally.

It is Sept 1st. Can you believe that?? Sept. 1st! Good grief. I'm not going to go on and on for this one. I just wanted to post some pics of my classroom. Mainly so I can pin my own bulletin board ideas for later use- heavens knows I don't remember things most of the time.
I spent two full days getting myself organized for next week. Here's what was accomplished.