Making Art With Trash

     Do you recycle? Friday morning is the day of the week that the big green trash truck comes on our street to collect newspapers, plastic and cardboard. Last year I had to stomp everything down because all we were given was a small green plastic bin. Two burly young men wearing bright orange sweatshirts would toss our leftovers into the truck. Things have changed and our trash goes into a big plastic container with a lid where it's then picked up by a metal claw that lowers and scoops the container up and into the air and then sets it down again. It's fun to watch but not as fun as making art with throw away objects!

                                             Heart on Glass:
    If you like to paint like we like to paint, your pallet is probably caked on with blobs of paint on top of blobs of paint, hardened but easy to peel off when you run warm water over them. Put them on a paper towel to dry overnight. I glued them in the shape of a heart on velvet paper but you can use construction paper. With cuticle scissors, I cut out shapes to imply wind and movement and then used chalk to highlight
the shapes. It was then glued to a piece of glass from a thrift store and a resin pour was added for the final touch.

   
   
   

The Art Museum

   Today was Kaitlyn's first trip to an art museum. She went once with grandma and mom but it happened to be closed that day so they played on the lawn instead. There were big stairs and elevators to explore. Paintings and funny clay things, she even saw a mummy! It was an unexpected trip but she loved it just the same. Mom and Aunt Hannah loved it too especially that it was all free. They plan to go again very soon!
                                            "Reflection is often the prelude to wisdom"

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to you! What is your story? Will you remember? This is the day someone in the world cried and kissed happiness on your cheeks. The day several storytellers decided to retell your special day year
after year. Happy Birthday to you! Create your story. Please don't forget. Someone in the world holds you dear in their heart. You are loved. Happy Birthday to you!

Making Halloween with Play Dough

Mr. Tall and Lean

likes wearing his black hat

while harvesting orange pumpkins

for eery Halloween.

Beware! O tiny micies,

his stomach isn't fat.

He'll nibble on your friend

until his teeth are clean.

All the while enjoying

their squeaky little scream.

 Making Halloween is fun but you will need a good clay recipe. The cat and mice were made out of Sculpey that can be purchased at a hobby store and then baked in an oven. Unfortunately, it's hard for small hands to work with because of the stiffness. So here is a great play dough recipe that needs to be airdryed before your creations can be painted.

                                         Easy Play Dough Recipe

   2 cups plain/all purpose flour                  1 cup of salt

   1 cup of cold water                                1 tablespoon vegetable oil or baby oil

 Drop ingredients into a plastic bag and seal. Knead together inside the bag, dump out and have fun!

Dressing Up

  "Fashion can be bought. Style one must possess." Edna Woolman Chase

  Dressing up is a ladylike thing to do. Gentlemen should, but often complain. There are skinny foxes to be worn around the neck with matching gloves and velvet hats. One can never have too many necklaces especially the ones found from old lady's estate sales! If she has compacts with mirrors, they must be purchased for proper lipstick application. Shoes that are too big will work as long as they are pointy toed, jewelled and of many colors. Have fun with feathers!

  Steamer trunks and old suitcases work perfectly for the well groomed as well as cardboard boxes turned sideways. Some ladies are sensitive to the smells of old things which is why painting the inside of trunks can hide their past. Add fragrant cotton balls that have been sprayed with scented oils.

 Remember, everyone of refined taste must always possess good manners, therefore taking turns in playful conversations must be enforced. It is never in bad taste to overdress! Act always as though the Queen herself should arrive to play.

Tooth Fairy Boxes


 "If you see the magic in a fairy tale, you can face the future." Danielle Steel

Nobody knows for sure why fairies love baby teeth.Storytellers claim the teeth are used to help build magical villages but I say they hold the sounds of laughter. Perhaps they're kept in jars with lids that save all of baby's first words in the tooth. Whatever the story, a visit from a tooth fairy is very special. They only visit at night when dreams are placed on pillows so if you have a child with a wiggly tooth, better hurry, it's tooth fairy box making time!
 Since fairies love nature, they're appreciative of leaves, flowers, any small stones, bark and bits of chocolate. My friends and I used cardboard rolls from spools of ribbons. Glue any kind of torn bits of paper to cover the cardboard. Small pressed flowers were then glued over the paper. If you don't have any, you can microwave leaves for 35 - 60 seconds in between newspaper or use an iron to dry the leaves. Fairies love Mother Earth and will consider a larger coin for those who use recycled objects such as lids, cans or soap boxes for tooth trades.Lids may be optional because fairies are tiny winged creatures that can't lift heavy things but we used the tops of recycled frozen orange juice can lids. Paint the tops with acrylic paint, glue more flowers on top. You can hot glue a small bead or crystal on top to make opening the box easier.
 We used old candles and melted them in a potpourri burner while an adult spooned the melted wax over the box to seal the pressed leaves and flowers. You can sprinkle glitter on the box before the wax dries, make sure to do this to the lids as well. Happy tooth fairy box day!
  "To all night fairies that fly at night, take my baby tooth out of sight. This box for you to keep, is even trade for wishes in my sleep." Sandy J.