Month: December 2014

December 31, 2014

Noon Art Plans

In November, I went to visit my daughter at the University of Illinois.  She took me to a fabulous museum that had a special exhibit on Guatemalan weavers and weaving.  The textiles that these people produce are simply astounding and amazing!!  I could have stayed there the whole day just looking around.

Cup weaving

Cup weaving

There was a station set up for kids to do fun weaving on a styrofoam cup – my daughter and I just had to take part in it as well!  This was such a fun and easy craft to make.  I think the kids at our local elementary school will love to make these and since I run the noon art program there I am planning to make this our next project.

Small balls of yarn.

Small balls of yarn.

There is quite a bit of prep for this activity and the first step is to roll small balls of yarn for the kids to work with.  We have about 25 minutes for the activity and approximately 150-175 students stop by to take part in noon art.  I have learned over the years that preparation is the key to success in meeting the needs of noon art!!  I will update as soon as we have this activity to show you what the students came up with!

December 29, 2014

Belgium Waffles

I found a Belgium waffle maker at Costco a little while back and finally decided to make them.

The batter.

The batter.

I used the waffle batter recipe on the outside of the Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake Mix bag.  It worked really well with the new waffle maker.

Other necessary supplies.

Other necessary supplies.

These are some of the other ingredients that we chose to add to our waffles.

First waffles

First waffles

It was hard to keep these on the plate…

Yummy!

Yummy!

because as soon as I assembled them…

Thanks Mom!

Thanks Mom!

They were devoured!!  These have become a weekend favorite for the family!

December 27, 2014

Southern Fried Corn

My new recipe success is “Southern Fried Corn” from this recipe.

Southern Fried Corn.

Southern Fried Corn.

I decided to try this out on a whim and boy was it a HUGE success.  All the kids and my husband LOVE it!  Six ears of corn is not enough for this ravenous family so I have to use nine!  And still most times there are not leftovers!

December 21, 2014

More Perler Bead Art

The perler bead craze is still going strong over here!

16 years old and still enjoying the perler beads!

16 years old and still enjoying the perler beads!

All the kids from big to small have picked up this fun art form again.

Deer.

Deer.

Huge Wolf!

Huge Wolf!

This was by far the most complicated one completed so far.  “E” decided to make a wolf and after searching and finding many graphs on-line, she chose this one.  It took her a couple of hours, but I think the final result was worth it!!

Bunny

Bunny

Reindeer.

Reindeer.

Christmas Tree.

Christmas Tree.

Another deer?!

Another deer?!

As you can see, we are not stopping anytime soon!  Another trip to Michaels is in store for me … we are running low on beads!

December 20, 2014

I am so ANGRY!!!

I finally found a few moments to warp my 4-shaft table loom.  For me this is not an easy thing to do.  I don’t have a lot of free time and when I find some, I am usually not at home.  I am usually sitting at a soccer game or waiting for one of my children at their music lessons.

In the last week I found some time to measure warp and to get it onto the loom. I was so happy!! I had plans to make some more dishtowels (I LOVE handmade dishtowels) and it has been so long since I have woven on this loom. I was really looking forward to starting a new 4-shaft weaving project.

And then THIS happened…(insert “doom” music)…

Eaten warp threads.

Eaten warp threads.

Our evil little cat ate my warp threads!!!

ARRRGH!!

ARRRGH!!

Can you believe it?!!  None of this is salvageable!  What a complete waste of supplies and time.

Just another view of broken threads.

Just another view of broken threads.

Good thing our kitty is cute!

December 18, 2014

Puzzle!

Lately our family has been enjoying putting together a puzzle!  I set up one of our folding tables and put out a new puzzle.

Tiger Puzzle

Tiger Puzzle

In no time at all we were all standing around the table placing pieces and laughing.  It was such a great family moment.

Ta Da!!

Ta Da!!

Then we were done!!!  I can’t wait to put out the next one!

December 17, 2014

Sashay Scarf Ta Da!

I started this scarf a little bit ago and first blogged about it here.  I have been working on it a little bit at a time with the intention of finishing it before my daughter came home for Thanksgiving.  All the crocheting was done, but I still had all those pesky ends to weave in.

Lots of ends.

Lots of ends.

Diligently, a little at a time, the ends were woven in and the scarf was finished.

One of the granny squares and a few stripes.

One of the granny squares and a few stripes.

I really loved the way this came together.  The combination of the granny squares and the stripes that connected two sets of granny squares was just the right amount of change needed to keep this project interesting to me.  I can totally see myself making another one of these at some point.

Wrapped up all nice and warm!

Wrapped up all nice and warm!

Once I gave it to her, she didn’t take it off!

Scarf at breakfast.

Scarf at breakfast.

It came out with us to breakfast…

Scarf at a concert.

Scarf at a concert.

It came with us to her brother’s orchestra concert.  And it was worn on the plane home.  I’m so thrilled that she loves the finished scarf!!  I’m sad she went back to college, but I don’t have long to wait to see her again – she comes home for Christmas break soon!!

December 15, 2014

Cello Recitals

Two of my kids play the cello.  Recently we had their recital (thankfully they both have the same teacher!), one of them was super nervous and the other one was fine.  I love going to these recitals.  It is really fun to hear their music in a different setting and inspirational for them to hear others playing.

French Braid.

French Braid.

At the last minute, my daughter decided she wanted her hair braided.  We stood out front of where her recital would take place and braided her hair.  Not the best, but she was happy.

9yo son.

9yo son.

My shy 9 year old son went first as he is the youngest and newest student for this teacher.  He did a great job.  I think he is comfortable because he can hide behind the music stand and his cello!

13 year old.

13 year old.

My 13 year old daughter played later in the line up – she was extremely nervous but played fine anyway.  Some of the musicians we heard were fantastic!  All the kids work so hard and it truly shows at this time of the year.

December 13, 2014

Perler Beads

When my kids were younger, perler beads were all the craze.  They did them for hours and hours and our poor iron was in constant use.  As the kids got older and had more homework and other activities, perler beads fell to the wayside.  Well, I was reading this post the other day and decided to bring them out.

Perler Beads on Pinterest.

Perler Beads on Pinterest.

I also did a quick search on Pinterest (courtesy of Lucy at attic24) and found no end to the ideas there.IMG_3439

I am almost ashamed to admit that I was the one interested in these little beads of color to begin with – no children were sitting with me when I started.IMG_3435

Once they saw what I was working on they all came over to join in and help out.  Then they moved on to their own creations.IMG_3443

E decided on a flower.IMG_3440

Another child joined us.  As you can see, we were eating breakfast while we were working on our perler bead creations.  Arts and crafts happen early, early in our home :o)

Some 3-D art was born.

Some 3-D art was born.

More 3-D art.

More 3-D art.

IMG_3441Note the little beads on the bottom of the house.  This is how they make the 3-D art – they leave out beads on a mat of ironed perler beads, and add “pegs” to the bottom of the piece that they want to stand up.  Pretty clever if I do say so myself!

Candles.

Candles.

Someone has a birthday coming up!