Jell-O Suncatchers

Back before Easter, I was flipping through the newest issue of Family Fun Magazine and found this fun idea to make "plastic" sun catchers using gelatin and food coloring.  Fun, right?

I asked the kids if they wanted to try it out and they gave me kind of a hard time about it, but eventually gave in when I told them they could squirt in the food coloring.  Food coloring is fun!

So we gathered our materials:

• A box of unflavored gelatin
• Some food coloring
• Some glitter
• Some plastic plates
• Little bowls (make sure they are heatproof so they don't collapse when you add boiling water)
• Spoons for mixing
• And some boiling water (I was in charge of water).

First we put an envelope of the gelatin (which is icky smelling stuff) into each of our little glass bowls.

Then I carefully added 3 Tablespoons of boiling water to each.  The steam came leaping out of my Pyrex measuring cup at one point causing me to spill a full spoon of boiling water over my hand - ouch!  Be careful!

The kids diligently mixed until the gelatin dissolved in each bowl.  It got a bit lumpy here and there, but with more and more mixing, the lumps eventually went away.  I tried zapping one of the bowls in the microwave for a few seconds to see if that would help and - oh my - that was not a good idea.  There was a lot of frothing and bubbling.  Very frightening. I wouldn't recommend it.

Once we had the gelatin powder all dissolved the kids added a few drops of food coloring to each bowl and mixed that in well.  Somehow everyone ended up with very green hands.  Not sure whether that was an accident or intentional.

Then we poured each batch of colored gelatin onto an individual plastic plate.  I had these strangely shaped rimmed plates.  Bigger flatter ones would probably be easier to work with.  It was hard to peel the dried gelatin out of the corners of these.

Anyway, we spread the hot gelatin mixture out on the plates and then added a few drops of a contrasting color and swirled it around on a few.  We also dusted the surfaces with a little bit of glitter.

Then we waited overnight for the cooling, drying process to take place.

The next day I peeled the almost dry (it was still a little rubbery) result off of the plates and laid them out to dry the rest of the way.  You can see the swirls on the surface of the finished product and how they got a weird bendy, organic-type shape to them.  I think this was because of the weird plates.  If you had bigger ones and could just pop the dried disks off, I bet they would stay flat.

In the magazine, they said to cut the dried "plastic" into shapes.  But when I tried that with the blue one, it was too brittle and cracked all along the edges.  Maybe if I had tried when they weren't quite dry it would have worked better.  Or if I had a decent pair of scissors.  Or talent.  This picture is supposed to show the cracking.

I like the effect of the bendy circles anyway.  I think they have a blown art-glass sort of feel to them.  This one reminds me of the sun.

This was a fun project, but sort of dangerous and tedious for the kids.  They liked the coloring part, but the boiling water part was sort of nerve-wracking and the waiting-for-things-to-dry part wasn't fun at all.  But the final results were really cool.

Disco Easter Eggs

I found a great idea for Easter Eggs in a Family Circle Magazine that caught my eye last month.  They wrapped double-sided tape around the eggs and then rolled them in extra fine glitter.  So very cool. I ripped out the picture and saved it so we could try the technique out on our eggs this year. 

We have a traditional egg decorating party with our friends on Good Friday (that was today!) so earlier in the week we gathered our supplies. From the scrapbooking section of Michael's we picked up some glue dots and a roll of thin double stick tape.  Then from the craft section we got a fantastic collection of 16 (!) colors of glitter for under $4.  Yay!

This morning I boiled two dozen eggs.  I agree that that is WAY too many eggs for a family where only two people are willing to actually eat hard boiled eggs, but we have tried to split a dozen in previous years and the decorating is over in about 10 minutes.  So disappointing.

Our friends brought several other egg decorating kits and we all set to work.

The technique for the glitter eggs was, starting with either a naked egg or one that had been dyed and dried, to place the tape or sticky dots onto the egg and then to pour some of the glitter into a little bowl.  Then dipping the tape and/or our fingers into the glitter, we rubbed the glitter into the tape/dot until it was completely covered and shiny.  We used a soft, dry paintbrush to brush off the extra glitter.

Everyone really enjoyed this technique, although my kitchen looks very much like fairies have visited.  Very sparkly.

I am not sure what happens when you try to peel and eat the glitter eggs.  Seems like there might be some residue.  But I am hoping that a quick rinse will resolve that situation.

Sprout spend so much time and care on her eggs that she had only completed half of them by the time the other kids were done.  But she eventually finished them all and they are quite fabulous!  She made the polka dotted egg and the one that says "Happy Easter" at the top (bad picture, sorry).

Tater made this one that he called "Elvis".  I did the one with silver/blue/pink stripes. 

Here is a gallery of our other creations.  I highly recommend this technique as a new twist on egg decorating - it was really fun and so very sparkly!

Fun with Egg Cartons

Since we haven't done anything fun in a long time, I am digging back into old things I never managed to write about.

Which brings us to this guy.

Tater did this almost entirely on his own.  He found the idea in some book, I wish I could credit it properly, but it was months ago, so I have no idea where it came from.

He cut out a little cup from an egg carton.  Well, actually I did that part because he tried and it kept coming out the wrong shape and I was afraid he was going to start throwing things (like scissors) around the kitchen.  So I intervened.

I don't like it when people throw scissors.

Once we got the body to be the right shape, he used a permanent market to draw on the face and stripes.  We glued googly eyes on the face and cut another little piece of foam from the egg carton and glued it on for a tail. 

Voila - raccoon!

The book showed a cardboard-type egg carton, and that might work even better.  We had the foam kind and I wasn't going to buy some different kind of eggs just for the carton.  Stubborn, yes.

This could work for little cats, dogs, cows, pigs...really any animal if you embellish it properly.  Tater was really happy with the end result and proud of himself for doing it (almost) all by himself.

Where is the fun??

I have totally fallen off of my fun bandwagon, it is sad.  We have been busy keeping warm, cleaning up after our dog, going to basketball practice, writing reports about the rainforest and the Dewey Decimal system, and of course watching way too much TV.

We figured out how to get movies from Netflix on our XBox and the kids have been demanding regular movie nights.  First we watched Benji, then Bolt and just now Tater and his dad finished watching some Tom & Jerry.  Lots of animal flick action!

I am busy writing over here at 43 Resolutions...and I did post a fun video of my dogs being silly, so maybe that will distract you momentarily while I get my act together to post more fun stuff over here.  I haven't forgotten about you!  Really!

Tater has been working on these little pegboard "fuse bead" projects (pictured at the top there) like a maniac. We have had them for a few years, and now he is coordinated enough to do them himself.  When the kids were smaller they would make me sort the different colored beads out for them, which was a bit tedious for me, but made them feel all management-like.

If you do a Google search on "pegboard beads" or "fuse beads" you can find them, or they are available at any craft shop and even in the toy department at IKEA.  Here are a few Amazon links to get you started: Perler Fuse Beads, Perler Small Pegboards For Fuse Bead Activities, Perler Fuse Bead Bucket Activity Kit.

We discovered that it is most cost-effective to buy a big tub-o-beads and the basic pegboards and then go print designs from on-line.  Google "fuse bead designs" and you will find tons of them for FREE!!

Tater does these en masse and then makes me get out the iron and fuse them all together.  I think he does this just for the novelty of seeing me with an iron in my hand.

Very rare.  With an element of danger that is very exciting...will I set something on fire??

I haven't yet.  But every time there is a chance!


Never a dull moment!

Jingle Bell Wreath

I was trying to remember why I had jingle bells lying around, and then I realized that it was because we made this cute little wreath last year.

Jingle bells are crazy cheap at craft stores, I think a bag of them was about $2.  Or maybe I am deluding myself into thinking they are cheap.  I am still firmly convinced that greeting/birthday cards cost about $1.  I am always surprised that they are closer to $4.  For a card!!

Anyway, maybe jingle bells cost more than $2 a bag.  But they aren't very expensive.

We already had this and I thought, "How hard could it be to make that?"  And really, not hard at all.  Although ours isn't exactly the same.  This one is on wire, the one we made is on monofilament (fancy name for fishing line).

To make a little jingle bell wreath you need:

Jingle Bells - ours are all silver, but a mix of colors could be fun.

Monofilament - like heavy fishing line, you can find it in the beading section at a craft store.

Ribbon

1) Cut a piece of the "string" about a foot long.

2) String the bells on.  They will cluster up as you go.  You want them all packed together as tightly as possible.  We used about 26 bells.  But depending on the size of the bells and what you want to do, you could use more or less.  The kids love to do the stringing.

3) As you go, try circling the threaded bells into a wreath shape, when it holds the shape appropriately, stop stringing.  If you make it too big, it will be all floppy and unwreathlike.

4) Tie the string tightly.  Double knot.  Heck, triple knot.

5) Tie the ribbon in a nice bow (hardest part, I think).  I used the wire-edged ribbon, which is really pretty, but a PITA to tie.  You are probably better at it than I am.

6) You can either tie the ribbon right onto the little wreath, or use the "tails" from stringing the bells to tie the bow on.  Whatever works for you.  We used the tails.

7) Trim the ends of the string.

8) Hang up your cute little wreath.

I like to put these on doorknobs so they jingle when you open the door.

Next up - I am going to figure out how to make one of these.  I have no clue where to start, but I love the "grape-iness" of the way they are clustered up.

But right now, I have to go get gift tags, deliver a cello to school, and go for a LONG walk to unload some of the cookies that have jumped, unsolicited, into my mouth in the last few days.

Jingle on, my friends!  (Like "Rock On"...but jingly...)

Glitter and Glue Ornaments

This is a quick and easy project from one of the Kid Concoction Books. I don't know which one because Tater found it in the book, described what he was going to do, and then did it. I got the supplies out for him and provided encouragement, but besides that I was hands off on this one.

First I need to mention that I clearly need some photography training because it is far beyond me to share with you how pretty and sparkly these are on the tree. My attempt over there is flat and lame. So noted for my developing resolution list.

Materials: Sheet of Wax Paper, White Glue (Elmer's), Glitter, Ribbon

1) Lay the sheet of wax paper out on a cookie sheet or a piece of cardboard (so you can move it later to let it dry).

2) Draw shapes on the wax paper with the glue. Use a decent thickness of glue so that the end result is a sturdy-ish ornament (you are going to peel it off of the wax paper).

Tater made a diamond, a little triangle, a Christmas Tree and a star (the tree is in that pile of glitter).

3) Cover the glue with a thick coating of glitter.

4) Let dry overnight.

5) The next day, peel the glitter shapes off of the wax paper and flip them over.

6) Retrace the shape with glue and cover the other side with glitter.

7) Let dry again overnight.

8) Loop a ribbon through for hanging.

Voila!

Ten???

My baby girl turned 10 today.

I know this sort of by definition means she isn't my baby girl.
And yet, she is.

I am having trouble getting my head around the facts that:
a) My child is 10.
b) I have been a parent for 10 years.

I still remember being amazed that they would let us leave the hospital with her. And wondering what the heck we were supposed to do with her once we got her home.

She was very round. And very cute, I thought.

In honor of this auspicious occasion, I thought I would share with you some of the many sides of my Sprout.

She can be very weird.

She is musically talented.

Sometimes she can be a little bit stubborn and grumpy.

She is becoming a fan of fashion. She comes up with some unique statement looks.


She loves to have fun.

She is a superhero in many ways. Super smart. Super funny. Super cute.
Sometimes super gross.

She likes sports. I think mostly because she can share it with her dad. And I will have no idea what they are talking about.
She is a good sport. Going along with most of my ridiculous ideas.

She adores her brother, even though she'd deny it.

She's a ham.

Overall, an excellent all around package of kid, if I do say so myself. Not that I had any control over the situation. She is who she is and she isn't changing that for anyone. Not even me. And I think that is very cool.

I know 10 isn't really all that grown up. There are plenty of milestones to come.

But I realized that we are more than halfway through the time she will live with us (!) She does have a signed contract from her parents that says she will always have a room in our home.

Although that room may be full of my shoes.

But she could borrow them. Maybe.

This is all assuming we survive tomorrow night. The first slumber party.

Help.
I don't think 10 years of parenthood has prepared me for this moment.

More Halloween Ideas

My friend Jen, who is one of the Funnest Mommies around, sent me some pictures of Halloween crafts that she has done with her kids and I just had to share them with you.

First up are these super-cute Sesame street pumpkins. How awesome are the Elmo and Grover-o-lanterns? And the Mr. Potato Head totally rocks, too!

She made them with fake craft pumpkins so they can be used over and over and she suggested using battery operated tea lights to light them up.

She even sent me this link to a site with other Sesame Street themed pumpkins. So fun!

My kids would have LOVED these back with "Melmo" was their favorite character EVER.

Then we have this completely awesome pumpkin patch cake. She got the idea from Family Fun Magazine (always great), but I think her execution gets bonus points.

I wish I had a picture of the graveyard cake I made a few years ago for Sprout's birthday. I might have to recreate it. Similar idea with a chocolate-frosted sheet cake sprinkled with chocolate cookie crumbs for "dirt". Instead of the pumpkins (which are SO cute) I used Vienna Finger Cookies and frosted them with white icing to make the gravestones. I put them across the cake and put one letter on each stone to spell out "Happy B'day". I think there were also some gummy worms sprinkled around. I was quite proud of it.

Anyway - I was sharing Jen's stuff...so the other thing she sent me was these little craft-y pumpkins made with rolls of toilet paper wrapped in fabric. So clever. Another Family Fun idea involving very few "ingredients" and a great end product!

Thanks to Jen for sharing all these great ideas!!
Yay - my first contributor!!

Do you have any fun ideas to share?? Send your ideas to me at kjbassick (at) hotmail (dot) com and I'd be happy to post them!

Beady's

With school back in full swing, our chances to do craft projects and things are quite limited. Yet, Tater frequently looks at me and says "I want to do a craft."

Sometimes he does this at 8AM and I hand him the remote and tell him to go watch some Spongebob. Crafts in the early morning are not my thing.

But when it is a reasonable time, and the homework is done, and we have a few minutes to kill, it is nice to have some small projects on hand. This is why I scout the $1 bins at AC Moore and Michael's and stock up on little paint sets and foam stickers and these little "Beady's" projects.

I see them all the time at the stores, and yet strangely can't seem to find them on-line. The world is making no sense. Anyway, I guess you have to haul yourselves to the actual physical store (gasp) if you want to do these.

Basically, these are bead-stringing. But there are two strings and you cross them back and forth to make the rows. The diagrams that come with the kits are pretty easy to follow and the kids are now able to pretty much do them themselves.

We made some a couple of years ago and with guidance, they kids were able to stack the beads onto the one string and then I would do the crossing over parts and make sure everything was nice and tight. They still need a little help with the trickier parts (legs, ears).

Most recently, each child made a lizard, a mouse, and Sprout did a cat while Tater did a snake. I was remiss in my photo-taking responsibilities and only got a picture of the final product of the snake. Bad Mommy.

Tater has a couple of these hanging on his backpack. Sprout might have one, too. We also use them as keychains for our spare keys. It is unlikely that someone is going to lose a key with a beaded lizard on it. Like a bathroom pass in elementary school, but beadier.

They burned through my entire stash of these - a marathon beadfest. So I guess it is time to go revisit the $1 bins.

Maybe next time I will save one for myself - they are fun and it is hard for me to stand around and watch. My inner control freak wants to get in there and interfere. She misses little kids who need help and she can get a little grabby, so it's best to give her her own project.

Plus, you can never have too many keychain animals. Right?

Spooky Window Treatments

How fun is this?

We were at home yesterday. An in-service day...following a day off for Yom Kippur = desperate for things to do!

Even though it is not yet October, we decided that it would be a good idea to get started on Halloween decorations.

Yet again we started with an idea from Family Fun Magazine. They suggest doing this with cardboard. I thought poster board would be infinitely easier.

We carefully measured our upstairs windows. This is unlike me. I usually eyeball it and wing it. And then regret it and rig it. This time I was smart and patient and measured. And promptly left the paper with the measurements at home. Oops.

Luckily my intermittent dyslexia (which kicks in when I am attempting to tell someone my phone number and I blank...) didn't strike and I was able to remember that the windows were each 33" X 64".

We went to Target and found black poster board for $0.69 per sheet (which rang up as only $0.57 each...ka-ching!) Each sheet was 28" x 22" so I figured we could stack 3 together with a slight overlap and end up in the 28" X 64" range.

Aren't you glad I am sharing the specific numbers since your windows will totally be a completely different size? I just want to show off how good I am at math. Impressed?

We laid the sheets out and taped them together with packing tape. Then the kids each drew Jack-o-Lantern-ish faces on the boards. Sprouts window has a seam down the middle, so she did it as one big face. Tater was doing two separate windows.

Then we (I) cut out the holes. I did offer to let them cut. They didn't want to. Really.

Is it some measure of progress on the Zen-Mommy front that I didn't yell at Sprout about sitting on the table until after I took her picture?

After we (I) cut out the faces, the kids took white tissue paper and taped it over the holes. They each did a "Dracula" face and used red tissue on the "blood".

Tater felt the need to use the longest pieces of tape he could possible tear off.

I wasn't all that zen about that.


After all of the holes were covered with paper, the faces were ready to hang up.

How happy is this kid?

We used masking tape to stick the finished faces into the windows. Of course, since I didn't actually measure the sheets as we taped them together, the first three were a few inches too long. But we rigged it to fit. Improvisation is our friend.

Sprout's window. Now her room is like a cave. No light is getting in there. She can peek out through the eye holes if she wants a glimpse of the outside world.

Tater decorated our guest room (his room is in the back). He is sad that he can't look at the faces all the time.

I suggested he could sleep in the guest room, but he was freaked out by the double bed. And the fact that we call the room "Grandma's Room". Like she might sneak in at any moment. Scaaaaarrrryyyyy!!

Now we are all set for Halloween. Although I think that the kids are on a roll now and will want to keep going. Tater had some interesting ideas last year. I wonder what he'll come up with as the month rolls along.

This was a fun, easy project that took up a decent chunk of time. And the final results are, I think, "spooktacular"!