angry chicken

maui, hawaii

We just got back from the greatest trip. We were on Maui for seven days and it was magical. We studied the history of the islands for about a month before we left, reading everything we could get our hands on and it really made the trip more meaningful for the girls. Especially the shave ice part of Hawaii. There was a whole lot of swimming, snorkeling, and boogie boarding—my back is so much better. The 5-hour airplane ride was ouchy, otherwise I was pretty much normal, which was such a relief. Pete was cracking me up on the plane ride home reading out loud his google search history based on totally random conversations while we were there:

Who was the Three's Company landlord?

Why are there metal bands on palm trees in Maui?

Can you take nail polish on an airplane?

How do you boogie board?

What was the plot of Bosom Buddies?

What do you put on chocolate macadamia nut pancakes?

why we keep phone books.

We use a lot of glue sticks in this house. And I'm all about scratch paper for gluing. I used to grab newspaper for this, but I usually ended up using whatever was handy and it was often a half-finished drawing. Then it would get glued on and people would get sad. Enter the phone book. I would have never thought to keep them, but they are perfect for using under enthusiastic gluestick application. When the gluing is done, you just turn the page and have a fresh new sheet to glue on! Brilliant!

I got this tip from my friend Carolyn long ago and it's been so handy. I need to remind my pack-rat daughter that it doesn't mean we need to forever keep all the phone books we get. 3 is plenty. There have been talks about gluing together the phone books to make a tower of phone books, which is intriguing, and may make us start keeping more.

new favorite comic

We picked up a few of these pet-manga books, Chi's Sweet Home, at the library and they quickly became very important in our house. All the girls love them. They are really sweet, with some wonderfully written cute/sad parts that make them all crazy. They reminded me of how I felt when I watched Snoopy Come Home, which made me explode with cute/sad emotions when I was about 8. I almost thought I would die.

In other news-

• I'm taking a break from the vest I am knitting to start a sweater for the middle child—a raglan sleeve, top-down. I used Raglanify (thanks Mariko) and it's going great so far.
• I plan to try Blue Star Dounts soon. I have heard mixed reviews, clearly I need to investigate.

 

shout out for interwoven classes!

I want to give a big plug for Lisa and Katrina's new online workshops they are teaching. I was thrilled to be able to contribute to Lisa's wonderful book, Knot, Thread, Stitch and she and I go way back in blog years. She was one of the first blog friends I ever made and is one of my favorite artists out there.

Please go to their site for even more info and read about all the perks you get for siging up—it's pretty amazing sounding.

I'm so excited for them. Lisa is providing a discount promo code in this post here on her blog.

Here's a description directly from the site— they describe it much better than I could do. (And all these photos are from interwoven also.)

“INTERWOVEN :: make : thread : craft : art” is a textile-based online course that will guide students in four techniques over four weeks :: February 4-March 1, 2013

Each week will focus on a different textile project:

week 1 :: crochet
week 2 :: soft sculpture
week 3 :: embroidery
week 4 :: mini quilt

Each week will have daily posts:

day 1 :: complete step-by-step tutorial to learn the technique
day 2 :: an inspirational post offering other artists/crafters using this technique in exciting ways
day 3 :: descriptions/photos of possibilities for altering this technique for future use
day 4 :: an exclusive interview with a professional artist using this technique in their work.
day 5 :: suggestions for further exploration including links to materials, tools, resources, and other studio tips.

The private website will be available all day, every day, from the first day of class on February 4 through April 30—this way you can enjoy the information at your own speed after the course has finished on March 1.

In addition to the private online course, participants will also have access to an INTEWOVEN Facebook page and a private Flickr group where they can post their own projects and receive weekly feedback from the instructors. [Everyone who posts will receive feedback from one of the instructors on at least one image that they present.]

The course is designed with the beginner crafter and the experienced artist in mind. It aims to offer everyone a supportive creative community, daily inspired prompts, thorough tutorials, personal feedback, insider tips for tools & resources, and inspiration to nail the basics AND take these projects to the next level.

paper folding and origami

We all watched a documentary about origami and paper folding called Between the Folds, last weekend and really enjoyed it. It had been in my Netflix queue forever. I love how many documentaries are available for instant viewing. This prompted a Sunday session of paper folding, and this flower was made along with many other flowers and some free-style paper hats, which were fabulous. Whenever we get an origami urge we turn to this book but after a few flowers, the kids like to make up their own folded shapes. This easy penguin is what they make most often, teaching it to every kid they know. This is a great one for the 5-year old.

I spent many many hours folding paper notes when I was little, I think I still have them in a shoe box. I never knew this great heart-shaped one however, (check this handy tutorial over at Camp Smartypants) which I plan to show the girls soon. It's perfect for Valentine's Day.

1812 dress

Delia got the newest American Girl, Caroline for her birthday a bit back, and that prompted us to learn about the war of 1812, which I don't think I ever learned about in school. We may have, but The Oregon Trail is what loomed very large in my schooling memory, especially before high school.

A Caroline-style dress was requested and made, right after the holidays and before the barfing virus took hold of our family. I finished stitching on the trim last weekend. I used a lovely rayon/cotton light lavender fabric I found at Mill Ends. Delia requested puffy long sleeves, like a dress shown on one of the books, but was flexible with the color, which was great.

I used McCalls M6141, the same pattern I used for Sadie's Dress when she was 8, which is medieval, but the lines were right and allowed me to sew the whole project without leaving the house, except for the trim selection, which warranted a special trip the the The Button Emporium and Ribbonery. Delia spotted the perfect embroidered ribbon for the bodice.

Caroline does some clever stitching in the first book, marking on a needlework map where enemies are and showing it to her Dad, who is a prisoner planning to escape. Needlework and intrigue has been coming up for us lately, there was needlework Morse code on a crinoline in a book we read when we were studying Florence Nightengale, The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline, which is a great series whose main character is a  brilliant runaway, inconitgio, and is the younger sister of Shelock Holmes. (We really like this series, but have had to skim ahead and/or be quick to edit out some more intense topics that come up in these books when reading aloud to all 3 girls.)

This is Delia's cross-stitch she has been working on for about 9 months, off and on. It's her initials, which we will frame when she finishes her "M". The girls' work in cross-stitch runs hot and cold, almost identical to my cross-stitch work. When I pick mine up, they want to work on theirs, and then need help, which means that I can't really work on mine. Now I expect this, so it makes me much more patient. I know now I just need to try and work mine about double the amount, realizing I will only get about half done as I think. Or, I need to work on mine when I actually don't want to really work on it. A double fake-out.

And look! Just today Pete came home with these stamps from the post office! Oh happy theme coincidence! I love it when this happens.

playing wine glasses

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed playing wine glasses when I was little until we were studying Ben Franklin a bit back and learned about his Glass Armonica. His musical instrument is different, but uses the same idea. When I was little, I spent hours filling wine glasses with water and playing them, trying to get the pitches just right. I showed the girls how and we had a lot of fun. It's mesmerizing. There are some videos of the armonica being played in the link, it's pretty cool to see/hear one played.

It's been a long few weeks. We all got that nasty virus that's been going around. I'm going to spare you most of the horrible but comedic details involving barf, but I will say that a tulle canopy can hold a surprisingly large amount of vomit vertically, suspended in space, in a way that is both impressively disgusting and artistic.

Speaking of disturbing family art, I started and finished The Family Fang and really enjoyed it. I did wish for more character development of the parents. After I finished it, I had to research it right away, reading reviews and interviews with the author, because it was hard for me to accept it was over. Reading what an author says about writing can help me move on and get out of the story. I'm really interested in reading his short stories now.

 

winter solstice puppet show

A yearly tradition—puppets are from Owly Shadow Puppets

I like to stamp, too.

I was trying to save this brilliant gift for the girls for solstice, but it came out early. It's perfect for them to share—It's I Like To Stamp, which is a prompting-type art activity kit with sheets of half-drawn artwork, with a few words and ideas for completing with stamping, drawing and coloring. The sheets are loose and come in a lovely brown stiff folder, the whole presentation is very pleasing. It comes from the mighty creative genius, The Small Object. (Or, Aunt Sarah, as she is known in this house.)

It's really been a wonderful activity for them and for me. You can see what some of the sheets look like before they are stamped, drawn on, and loved, on her site. Any stamps work with these, but of course she has them, too, which we adore.

gift factory—hot cocoa mix in a jar

The girls wanted to make their own gifts for friends and family this year all by themselves, so we have been having little gift factory parties. I try to do this with just one child at a time, so they get some one-on-one time and we can more easily thwart disaster.

The middle child wanted to give "something in a jar" and she got hot cocoa mix last year that had both mini-chocolate chips and mini-marshmallows and hasn't stopped talking about it since, so the answer was obvious. She made a master batch of hot cocoa mix:

• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

scooped it into each jar, about half-full, and then topped it off with mini-chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. I tried to get her to add cinnamon or peppermint oil, but she is a purist. To make the actual hot cocoa, I think it's easier to add the whole amount in the jar to almost boiling milk and stir like crazy. The amount above makes 8 cups, but depending how big your jars are, it can vary. I think these jars would make 2 cups of hot cocoa, depending on how sweet you want it.

The circle punch I happen to have fit the lids perfect. Crafty-stars aligned.

I love making things in jars. For more inspiration/ideas I searched "in a jar" in pinterest. It's almost too much. Sometimes I don't even go to pinterest just because I feel too excited/overwhelmed. Like a cat with catnip, minus the napping schedule.

We are now approaching the time of year when I am making gifts I can't show lest I spoil the surprise, and when I am sewing costumes for the Nutcracker the girls are in, so I am fitting this in with everything else, which always seems ill-advised. This year it's a party girl dress. I have already told them it's not ours to keep, so I'm sure I will be sewing a keeper soon.

soul cakes ( sort of )

I made some Soul Cakes for All Souls' Day today. I love symbolic food in a big way and I am intrigued by the history of Soul Cakes. I grew up hearing the Peter Paul and Mary version of A' Soalin'. You can listen to it here—so beautiful, it gives me chills.

These Soul Cakes are not very authentic. They are spiced scones, shaped round, and instead of currants they have mini chocolate chips. This is because the children that live here who go souling like this flavor better. There are lot of recipes online.

About that song (From Wikpedia):

In 1963, the American folk group Peter, Paul and Mary recorded a version of this traditional song, titled "A' Soalin," whose verses include the following:

Soul, soul, a soul cake!
I pray thee, good missus, a soul cake!
One for Peter, two for Paul,
Three for Him what made us all!
Soul cake, soul cake, please good missus, a soul cake.
An apple, a pear, a plum, or a cherry, any good thing to make us all merry.
One for Peter, two for Paul, and three for Him who made us all.

I might be knitting a sweater

I think I might try to knit a sweater this winter. I am knitting yet another hat and after knitting quite a few accsssories last fall/winter, I think I am ready to try a longer project. We shall see. I spied this pattern, The Touluse Pullover, in the newest Knitscene (winter 2012) and I sure like the way it looks.

Not related-

I'm not sure how I found it, but so happy I did—Classics For Kids features various classic composers and their music. This week's program is Halloween-y (Greig!) we have already listened to it 3 times. There's some nice additional info on this site, too. That's an understatement. There a lot of clicking and listening— here. Very very cool.

wood shop

A toothpick holder and a card holder. Made by the middle child out of old wood blocks the kids don't really play with anymore. She re-discovered our hand drill—the best wood tool ever for kids, in my opinion.

Her uncle had given her (and her older sister) a complete tool box—with several kinds of tools and clamps, so we had everything we needed. Her sisters were gone so there was no rush and no distractions. She was worried about finding scrap wood and when I suggested we just use some toy wood blocks (already sanded and ready to go) she looked like she had won the lottery. We did use some scrap too, because it was more fun to cut with the hacksaw.

I had no idea what she was going to make and when she asked for toothpicks, I was intrigued. I have a feeling these will be made by the dozen as gifts this holiday season. Let's hear it for toolbox gifts and a afternoon with only one child—to really indulge what she is into and watch her go.

autumn camping

We just got back from camping. I love camping in the fall so much. We went back to Silver Falls, where we went last year, but this time we stayed in the cabins they have there and it was so fun. You still have to cook outside and the cabins have no bathrooms so it still feels a bit gritty and outdoorsy, but the cabins have heat and lights, making sleeping at night much more attainable. We also did some antiquing in the shops in Aurora on the way down.

September has been really nutty. I realize I have been gone more days than home this month. Things should be settling down now. I feel a knitting project coming on. And gingerbread baking.

bronze, zeppelins, and rubber bands

We love this card game I bought for our trip a few weeks back—Timeline. I picked it up in Portland at the excellent Cloud Cap Games shop in Sellwood. It's really simple and totally addictive. You have these wonderfully illustrated little cards each depicting an invention. On the back side is the date of the invention/discovery. You have to place the cards next to each other in historical order without looking at the date on the back, taking turns. Whoever runs out of cards first wins. It's brilliant!

The girls are pretty good at this, especially when we get to the 1700-1900s which is when they can reference all the American Girl historical characters and their stories. I couldn't believe how many they got right the first time we played it. We all love it and I am hooked. The cards from the 1800s are really splitting hairs so it gets pretty challenging, but it's all pretty quick to memorize, which makes it even cooler for learning. Talking about it all and debating where the cards could go is the best part. There are a lot of questions—the 2 minute explanation of Das Kapital we gave was pretty funny. Grammie is an ace, of course.

 Unrelated-

Chunky glittler nail polish is quite popular in this house but taking it off is a total drag, so I was quite excited to see this handy method (thanks for the tip, Egg!) using elmer's glue as a base coat for easy peel-off removal. I haven't tried it yet, but will soon. The 12 year-old in me is very excited to use elmer's glue on my nails for any reason.

central oregon

maid costume completed

I finished the maid costume a bit ago. Sadie loves it. I don't think I  will have to sew 2 more, the other girls are on to halloween requests, which are changing daily and seem to never invlove costumes we already have. They have asked Pete to dress-up as  "guitar-playing Abraham Lincoln" which should be interesting.

For this costume, I had a blast with my Downton Abbey research and used Simplicity 2843 for the dress, the apron pattern I designed. The dress is black cotton with a zip in the back and the apron is white muslin. It was easy to sew and I spent way too long fussing with the lace placement on the apron. I was definitely in my happy place working on this project.

The hair peice is a strip of white canvas with some sheer gathered ribbon and lace stitch on the top. I sewed on hair clips for an easy attachment.

I didn't realize until after I was done how useful this dress is for all kinds of costumes. All black with a bit of lace lends itself to so much—a mourning outfit, Victorian dress-up, an old-fashioned witch. It's such a great basic piece.

Once again, sewing with all black sure makes me realize I need to get some better lighting in my space.

Unrelated:

• I am reading Beautiful Ruins, by Jess Walter right now and am liking it a whole lot. I'm only about 1/4 in.
• I am eating a lot of figs in salads or for breakfast with yogurt. Pete says he likes his figs only in a Newton.
• I am getting ready to go to SF next week to do some video classes for Creativebug! I'm going to try and not swear or say "um. . ." too much.

a thrilling resource that is robbing me of sleep

I was looking for some millinery information and magically found the The Human Ecology Collection. They have digitized and made available vintage titles all about sewing, costuming, and millinery. Now I am excited, tired, and a little overwhelmed.

Here's some info about the sewing specific part of the collection and here's a list of books they have scanned completely.

Related:

The Rhinestone Gallery is up over at Tie One On and really worth checking out. Pretty amazing.

Unrelated:

I heard this interview on Q with Frank Partnoy about procrastination and why in many cases it can be a good thing. It's a theme that keeps coming up in my life. I always have been a pretty quick desicion maker and very quick to form an opinion—in the last few years this has really slowed down.

playing librarian

We were reading a used book at bit back and the girls asked me what the card in the back was for—it was from a school library, back when they used library cards. They have been playing librarian since they were little but always used a pretend scanner, 'cause, you know, that's what they use now. But the cards are so cool. And the official stamping of the cards is an activity that can't be beat.

Then I forgot about all this and went on with life. Later, in an art store, I saw a pack of blank library cards and pockets. I didn't buy them, but pointed them out to the girls. Again, we moved on. But then they asked about them later that day. And then again. By this time I also was getting excited about them, because they are exciting.

I'm going to have to design some, I thought. But laziness reminded me to check the internet first. There must be something available free online—and there was. A whole heck of a lot. So, I printed these out using a free template (thank you Creature Comforts) and now they are playing librarian and actually lending books to friends, and I am playing librarian, too and putting them in my craft, sewing, and cookbooks, which I do lend out occasionally. I know I could use bookplates, but then I couldn't play librarian. And collect overdue fees.

I love the internet.

summertime vanilla lemonade

The girls asked if they could make lemonade and I said yes. We hadn't before, which I realized was weird. We always have lemons. And sugar. And two of them like to drink it. It was really fun! It actually kept them busy for a long time. I let them cut the lemons (with a small serrated knife) and juice away. They made the simple syrup in the microwave and then we added about a tablespoon of homemade vanilla extract, which was soooooo good. We used this recipe and just added the vanilla to taste. It makes it taste like a cream soda. Outstanding.

Sadie asked if we could have a lemonade stand and I was smirking at what we'd put on our sign "artisanal hand-crafted organic lemonade with fair-trade Madagascar vanilla beans steeped for 6 months—locally made and brewed in Portland, OR." Portlandia skit fodder. I'd have to figure out a way to make it bike-powered. Maybe a lemonade stand by bike? On bikes we built ourselves.

We grew up making lemonade with a scoop of Country Time and water from the hose, right? And that's how you make a profit, baby!

maid costume research

Some formal maid costumes have been requested for some time now. I have started one and am facing the reality that I will have to make three. These images I printed from Downton Abbey have me a bit nutty, they are so lovely. This head piece is killing me. I am using Simplicity 2843 for the black maid dress. It's a simplified version of view B.

I love doing this so much. Well, I love swing the first one, but the second and third versions get a bit tedious, especially when they are so similar. I will have to mix it up a bit. As much as maid costumes can vary, anyway. I try to get thrills where I can.

They want the 5-year old to be  "tweenie" and I was laughing that they even knew what that was, but they do, from a book about Victorian servants I got them a bit back. I had to look it up. They love every book in this series.The illustration style is not what they usually are into, but there is something about these books that they can't get enough of. Maybe because they are filled with very interesting and gruesome facts.

Florence

We had so much fun last month working on a Florence Nightingale theme. I think they were into it for about 6 weeks, or maybe longer. We read everything we could get our hands on from the children's/youth section at the library. I put everything on hold and it all comes in really fast. There is so much, both non-fiction and historical fiction about her, I was really surprised. One of my favorite parts about doing this kind of learning is that we are always discussing how the biographies differ—what is left out, or over-simplified or conflicting information. Florence had a pretty troubled relationship with her parents and sister and the pressure to marry and this was fascinating to learn about for all of us. As was the concept of nursing being an unfit profession for a lady at that time.

All three girls get into the themes in different ways, but they all were intrigued by the filth and horrible conditions of many hospitals at the time of the Crimean War. There was much discussion of rats, raw sewage, and hand washing.

We did a play at the end of this theme. Well, not really a play but, what do you call this—live role paying? Sadie appeared in costume as Florence Nightingale and explained all about her life and answered questions from the audience (which included her parents and Grammie) while her trained nurses administered medicines and treatments to their injured soldiers.

We made the costumes up super fast. I wanted to sew new costumes, of course, but I didn't want to lose the momentum we had going and it's pretty fun using what we have in creative ways. So they wore prairie dresses I had sewn them last year and added nurse caps. Florence wore a long skirt of mine pinned in back and a velvet blazer she had—it's all about the hair and lace cap with Florence anyway, and the lamp, which her dad made from paper about 2 minutes before the show.

Before the performance Sadie took notes and thought about what she would say about her life and I told her the types of questions we would ask. She was so great off-the-cuff and her ability to remember all the details about Florence's life was pretty impressive. Delia corrected her a few times, which was cool to.

It made me realize how much learning we do by talking. All day we talk about what we are learning, and discuss specific details of who we are learning about. They are really comfortable talking about the facts of history and also about how the people we learn about may have felt. We talk a lot about emotions and reenact a lot. It's pretty amazing to watch this kind of learning unfold.

hidden notes in public

We were at Ristretto Roasters (the NW location, which is in such a cool building) and were remarking on how cool it was that old library card catalogs were used for benches. "We should leave notes in these drawers," I said. And then I said, "Wait, this is Portland. I bet there are some in there."

And there was. And we added some, too.

Unrelated, we have a new apron theme. Thank you for your feedback.

the farmer's market

The two older girls and I got up early to get to the Beaverton Farmer's Market before it got too crowded. It was already crowded at 8:15! I gave them some spending money and they bought everything they wanted themselves. I am trying to remember to carry cash so they can do this, or remind them to take their own money. The scones were very popular. I didn't get a chance to sample the sauerkraut table, but I need to next time. I did get a huge bag of fava beans, which always makes me laugh because after we shell them and then blanch them, and shell them again, we have, like 10 beans, from a 1lb. bag. I love this salad with fava beans, but I'd love to just heat them in a little butter and salt and pepper and serve them with fish.

It has taken me a full week to feel normal after our trip. I just could not get enough sleep or push the clouds from my brain. I am helping with costumes for the girls' upcoming ballet production, and we have had violin recitals and more upcoming music recitals and dance rehearsals—it's all exciting and fun but it's making May and June seem a bit nutty. And I have a big birthday next week. 40. I have thoughts about this and then I forget them. And then have new ones.

I can't stop looking at Camilla's Drawers. (No, not her underwear.)

we are back from our trip

We just got back from a very special wedding in Georgia, and then a roadtrip through South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virgina—ending in Williamsburg and meeting Grammie there. It was amazing. There is so much to tell. And I will soon, especially about sewing the girls' dresses and seeing all the textiles there.

I am going to make a photo book of all this, including a bit of text documenting what we saw (armadillos and fireflies!) and listing all the various minor injuries. The girls have all helped take notes so we wouldn't forget. I would have never thought we'd go through so many band-aids. The kids were just wonderful. They are already 100% back in action. We adults are incredibly tired, but they seem to not notice the jet lag at all. I am spending Mother's Day outside trying not to do laundry all day. I also plan to eat the chocolate I received and read magazines.* I was almost in tears thinking we would come home to rain, but not so. The best weather in May ever! Vitamin D party!

*And I will also ship out all the orders tomorrow, thank you for your patience.

baking time & links

About once a week or so, I let the two big girls bake by themselves if I can keep the almost five year old preoccupied. I let them make whatever they want to and and decorate it however they want to. This is a very festive cake for no reason. They used this recipe I link to in this old post and mixed it all by hand (no butter, just oil for easy mixing) but only used half the batter to fit an 8" x 8" pan. I try to help, but not help, if you know what I mean. Which is getting easier and is great for them.

These vintage candle holders are so sweet and I love the way they actually didn't put the candles in them.

Unrelated-

• Here's a huge cat

• A pretty dress by Suno

• Forest animal stamps, over at Cutetape

 

 

 

learning about bridges

We were learning about bridges a bit back (Portland is a mecca for bridges) and made a truss style model, which we covered with paper and turned into a covered bridge. We used the directions from a project in Bridges: Amazing Structures to Design, Build & Test. I got smart and switched to a hot glue gun halfway though so the dry time was much quicker.

It's so cool when we drive across a bridge here and the girls know which one it is. I also bought and framed this amazing Portland Bridges poster which we all love.

Here's a really fun video to watch on making a Popsicle stick bridge and then a pretty thrilling contest at the end. There are quite a few rad videos here at WonderHowTo. (Warning, While very intriguing, not all of these topics are family friendly.)

A covered bridge tour would be fun to do this summer, there are a quite a few of them in Oregon and maybe we could combine some camping.

I've received a few homeschooling e-mails lately, mostly asking what curriculum we use. I answer this very breify in my FAQ, but we don't use a formal curriculum. We use a ton of resources: supplies, books, workbooks, the world, people, all that—but I didn't pay for a formal curriculum to cover grade 3, for example. 

Here's a great interview (thanks Carolyn!) that provides a personal example of unschooling. It's wonderfully titled, Meet Kate Fridkis, Who Skipped K-12 and Is Neither Weird nor Homeless. It is so cool to hear about homeschooling from the child's perspective (who is now 28).

making soy candles

We had so much fun making soy candles. I found all the supplies locally at Portland Homestead Supply Co. in Sellwood. I was so happy to finally make it over there. They have supplies for all kinds of things. I actually sort of yelled, "oh my god, you have bulk shea butter!" but then tried to compose myself. I will be back. They also had a wonderful and huge selection of Weck jars, which are very close to my heart, so that was thrilling. Online, Candle Science has soy candle supplies and a wonderful learning section with very helpful tutorials.

These were so easy, the only thing I would do different is add twice as much essential oil. These Weck jars held about 1 cup of melted wax, and to that we added 20 drops of oil, which didn't seem like quite enough.

Onto hand dipped candles now.

the dining room table

We have a beautiful dining room table, a teak Danish piece with a hidden leaf which we have out all the time, so it's huge. For about 3 years now it's been our family craft table. I cover it with oil cloth and never really see the top unless we have family over for brunch, or I am replacing the oil cloth. At first I sort of cringed when we would craft on this amazing piece of furniture, but now I'm used to it. It means our dining room is a craft palace, complete with a sweet little chandelier we installed 2 years ago, thinking we would be able to use the dining room as, you know, a dining room—but it hasn't really ever turned out that way. This formal dining table is our home base for so much of our daily activity, cleaning it is near impossible. It's more like sorting stacks. Stacks upon stacks.

For meal time we all crowd around a very small table in the kitchen. A table that belonged to my husband's family, the table that was in their kitchen, not their formal dining room table. We have had it forever, in all of our apartments and then after we were married, and we always laughed at how his family of four squeezed around this small table for dinner every night. This was back when there were just two of us. Now we squeeze around it for every meal, but instead of 4, as it was in his family, it's 5 of us. We always meant to get a larger kitchen table to eat around, but it's such a workhorse and has lasted so long, and now we are used to it. Plus, it fits in the kitchen perfectly.

homeschooling science fair 2012

We sure had a blast at the 3rd annual homeschooling science fair last week. This was our second year and the first year for Lydia, who loved it. My friend Marcela has organized this 3 years in a row (she has great photos on her blog) and I am so grateful—it's so much fun and such a great way for the kids, parents, friends, and family to come together and see these little scientists at work. Sadie did research on minerals and gemstones, Delia documented an experiment measuring viscosity, and Lydia explained some color theory.

I know Marcela does a lot of work to get it together, but it feels pretty seamless. She's got a perfect program, I think, to making it work out and creating an extra special event with no chaos. There were no rules here—the kids could do any kind of experiment, any age could participate, and two kids could share a board if they like, or do more than one project, whatever works for the kids. Here's some more details if you all would like to try something like this:

• Marcella found a space for free, kindly donated. We needed to bring our own tables for our boards. A folding card table and chair work fine for displaying our boards.

• The time for was 6:30-8pm on a weeknight night. This was great, it allowed many more friends and family to come after work and didn't cut into weekends. It was a potluck too, so dinner was available. Early set up was at 6 and clean up ended at 8:30pm. Super easy.

• The format was, come set up the boards and experiments (if any), and then she asked all the kids to hang out by their projects to answer questions while friends and family looked around. Then, after 30 minutes, all the kids could circulate and ask each other about their projects.

• There were blank comment sheets at each table, so the kids could take home feedback about their experiments.

• At the end every participant got called up to receive a certificate of recognition with their name on it along with a big round of applause.

I think she sends out an e-mail around 3-4 months before, just giving an idea of when it will happen and to get a sense of how many families are interested. This also gives plenty of time for experiments. She has a list of homeschooling families she sent an e-mail out to and then we checked in, volunteered to bring food and help set up and clean up, and helped our kids work on their projects. The experiments were so imaginative and fun to learn about. 'd say the ages this year were about 4-13 years old.

Thanks Marcela!

fabric coil baskets

We are finishing a theme right now of Marie Antoinette and basket making. The Marie Antoinette theme has been so much fun. Ridiculously fun. Some surprise books that have really captivated us from the library were, The Revealing Story of Underwear, Fabulous Story of Fashion, and Big Wig: A Little History of Hair. There were many other books we loved specifically about Marie Antoinette, but these were great tangents.

And baskets. And basket making. And the history of baskets, which haven't changed a whole lot, which is really thrilling. We have a few unfinished baskets still to be completed, using reeds and all that from this kit we bought. It's definitely better for the older girls—not for the four year old. This one using magazines/paper is more her speed.

I had been wanting to try fabric coil baskets, and also a braided coil rug, for a bit now. We tried these shown here and it was pretty fun. These, I have to admit (sheepishly) are made using a glue gun. I have mixed feelings about this. I feel icky about the glue/plastic being combined with fabric. They are also not so strong, more for decoration. The plus was the speed with which we could put them together, but it was burn-y and made the craft less hands-on than I intended. 

Next time, a needle and thread will be used, even if attention spans are wandering. These were made from 1" fabric strips wrapped around about 6 yards of 1/4" cotton cording (this amount made 2 small baskets) and then glue dots from a hot glue gun were used as needed. There is so much online about how to make these, with several different techniques, including one all by sewing machine, which would be all me doing the sewing, but I am itching to try it. I got kind of weird researching baskets. I think I spent more time researching than making. I hope to add a few more basket crafts to our activities before we move on.

Unrelated, I am honored to be in such good company over on the 2012 Babble's Top 50 Mom Craft Blogs List. Woot! Check out the whole list here.

Rulers & Rebels

We love this book. When we decide on a new theme to study, it often starts with a biography we can look up and then grows from there. This book, Lives of Extraordinary Women: Rulers, Rebels (and What the Neighbors Thought) is a source we return to often. We use all the books in this series, actually.

A few in here are new to me as well, which is wonderful.

Not the typical list you might expect.

The illustrations are clever because they show little bits and pieces of details in the text. And the writing is good—not just the typical facts but some dirt too, which makes them so much more interesting to read. I read these biographies out loud, usually during lunch when they are quiet (sort of) and all in one place sitting down. Captive, one might say. It works pretty darn well.

Unrelated-

Thank for you apron submissions for Tie One On—they aren't due until tomorrow and I will get the new gallery up this weekend. So you have an extra day or two anyway. They look amazing!

they wanted to learn about fruit

We were studying Einstein and fruit last month. For themes we tend to gravitate toward people and their historical context and then a non-human item, often unrelated, but sometimes not. There was Sacagawea and bridges a few months back and then Einstein and fruit and now we are on to Darwin and butterflies. They chose these themes and the mash-up is pretty funny. I often give a list of suggestions for the people (usually because I have a good biography stashed) and then the other topic gets announced. Or more often yelled with vigor.

So, after reading books about fruit trees, pollination, and all that, we all went to our nearby Asian market and picked out fruits, most of which were new to us. I wrote these all down and have the list somewhere. I was so happy I could do a quick search on everything we bought and see how to peel, cut, and eat it, because I had no clue for much of it and some of the skins and bits are not edible and will cause hives, or something else unpleasant.

The girls loved doing this. We had a big fruit tasting event, tried everything, they cut into them, smelled them, drew pictures of them and of course tasted them (they all did, even my most reluctant new foods eater, you know, in the name of science) and then we voted on the favorites. I took every last bit left over and saved it it the freezer for smoothies. This last shot is of the $10 dragon fruit. I am tempted to do this with veggies. And then fancy cheese.

 

a new favorite—Oddfellow's Orphanage

We were so excited to buy our copy of Oddfellow's Orphanage, by our very own Miss Emily Martin last week! The girls were entranced. It's so lovely.

 The artwork is interspersed between the text in soft pencil. The book itself is so pretty, the cream paper with the brown text is understated and such a special detail.

 And the girls love the chracters and their stories—especially Ollie, the onion-headed boy. And Delia, of course. And the cheese sandwich eating sea monster. And baby bear.

 And Sadie took it up to her bunk and read it all night with her flashlight. Bravo, Emily!

kirsten dress for sadie & a play

Last spring Sadie asked for a Kirsten dress. She got Kirsten when she turned 4 and she's always been her favorite. I had just made some dresses that were for Little House play and living history visits and was a little burnt out on bonnets and aprons but we at least bought the fabric. She had such a good time going to Fabric Depot with me and choosing the closest match to all the fabrics. Then I pre-washed it all and put it away for about 9 months. Oops. We were on to other things and other projects.

We have put on quite a few plays from the American Girl books and I recently bought a used Kirsten's Theater Kit. Kirsten has been retired for a few years now, so finding her items can be a bit tricky, but her Theater Kit is pretty easy to find. The theater kits for all the dolls are plays adapted from the books and this one is no exception. It's not the story I would have chosen, but the girls loved it, so there you go.

We have read and re-read all the historical characters' books, have most of the dolls, and get pretty into the whole historical American Girl thing for learning history along with learning about a whole lot of other things. It was time to put on the Kirsten play last week, so the dress, apron, and bonnet were sewn! I sort of used a pattern here. For the bonnet and the sleeves of the dress I used Simplicity 2843. For the dress shape and apron I used a basic pattern I drafted a few years ago that I use for almost all their costumes.

The other sisters/actors were outfitted with the aforementioned Little House style dresses. It was a blast. Popcorn was served and the neighbors were invited and participated with aplomb in a gripping death scene from cholera!

This is really the best. Making costumes and putting on plays. During the play the 4-year old kept yelling the whole time (in her stage whisper) and the cats were after the props. I really couldn't ask for more.

 

paper craft fun times & random bits

 

A few kids' birthdays ago I printed these out and gave them away as party favors. I printed several different kinds—some of old cars and paper dolls. They all came from the agence eureka's paper craft set over here on flickr. I have linked to them before, and I just can't stop because they have provided us years worth of paper fun.

During a recent playdate there was a natural break and I took out the ones from the party that were never used and they were such a huge hit. I found them by accident, squirrelled away in a drawer. We use scotch tape for making all of these.

This one kills me and was the one my middle child went for. And it is so her.

Some random items-

• We just finished up a search and rescue dog theme, which culminated in us going to the Rose City Dog show last weekend which was crazy fun. We are now on to a double theme of Einstein and Fruit. We have been doing more double themes lately. The last one was Sacagawea and Bridges. I love the mash up of these themes and it works out really well with the multiple interests and makes for a pretty funny library run.

• Is anyone using a good "learn to type" program for their kids? I'm thinking on the computer. Sadie is typing like crazy with her electric typewriter and I'm guessing she would dig a lesson/program but have done no research. It's on my list.

• There is a new apron theme posted over at Tie One On.

• I made a lovely ginger pear sweet potato soup very similar to this. I didn't use the crystalized or powdered ginger, just fresh. In my bowl at the table I added chipotle powder for heat. The kids are coming around. One likes it! The adults love it.

 

 

 

 

 

edible vocabulary

 

I saw these cookie cutters and added them to my Pinterest board (titled Happiness) last spring. I bought the set at Williams Sonoma and promptly tucked the whole kit away and forgot I had it. But then, I remembered! Just last week! So we made some cookies. Everyone got to pick a vocabulary word. These were just everyday fun cookies, not for a birthday or holiday. Just 'cause.

Names were used as well.

How was I supposed to not be immature with these? There are so many things we could have written. We did a really good job controlling ourselves. These are very different cookies than what I would have made before having kids.

And—they were delicious! The recipe that comes with them is perfect. They need to to be chilled twice, and I wouldn't skip this step. I use meringue powder thinned with water to paint on the cookie where I wanted the glitter. Worked like a charm.

 

last-minute schmatta

I knit this in record time. It's that kind of last-minute knitting project and I am in love with it. It's a free pattern, Schmatta, by Kay Gardiner of Mason-Dixon Knitting fame. I entered very little information about it on my Ralvery page because I stole the lovely bulky wool yarn and 13 needles from my eldest daughter's stash. She was working on a doll scarf and the minute she was done, I jumped on it. We traded yarn. She got a skein from that unfinished sweater yarn of mine.

The unexpected bonus from fitting small knitting projects into my life is the girls are knitting now too. Both the 9 and 7 year old. They learned last year, but it was short lived. They learned again about a month ago and took off. They make "thingies" and "blobs" and we bind off when they look interesting (or they are sick of them) and fashion them into doll clothes, scarfs, or kerchiefs, which are great with unplanned increases. They don't work with patterns, just go for it and we increase and decrease as needed. It's pretty awesome. I love teaching them and am so happy they are content with not using patterns right now, but just learning how to make shapes and deciding what to do as they go. We have the most chic doll shawls to show for it. I need to gather these up and show them.

 

 

mail in a can

The girls have been quite into the mail for a few years now. It's such a great way for them to learn to write and spell. Who doesn't love mail? I'm keeping track of more ideas for mail fun. They sent their last pen-pal letters rolled up in these cans along with some buttons, fabric, and bits. We stuck the stamps and mailing label directly on the cans and they got to their destination just fine. I have no clue where I got these cans. I know I bought them in Seattle, like, 10 years ago. It was one of those supplies I was saving, and then I realized it was time to use them. Who needs to save little cans for over 10 years?

Unrelated-

• We are loving the free printable paper dolls over at Inside a Black Apple. They are charming, thank you, Emily!

• This list of the most unhappy commenters on NPR made me laugh hard. And the the comments on the list were even more amazing. (via martha)

• This tiny felted bird by Got Crow creations (on etsy) is making me cry a little bit.

 

fortune coins

I challenged myself last week to put together a craft project for 6 girls for my 7 year-old's b-day party using materials only from my artroom. I realize this room is already like a craft store in many ways, so it wasn't too challenging, just a matter of finding everything I have squirreled away. I hide a lot from the small people for gifts/surprises, but then of course, I can't find these items later. Or worse, forget I have them—like the 6 lockets, 8 key chains, 3 packs of shrinky-dink film, and unused rubber stamps I found all when I was looking around for the 6 packs of wooden coins I had bought about 2 years ago for another project.

I had a 1" paper punch on hand, the wood coins were 1 1/2", which was handy, because it meant the kids didn't have to worry about gluing the papers on perfectly. We came up with some fortunes ahead of time, I printed these out, then when the guests came they got to choose a little bag (sewn ahead of time), the fortunes they wanted, and decorative paper to punch and glue on the backs. My original fortunes were much more out there, but that was shot down. Then everyone got a glue stick and there was no problem sharing the one punch between the 6 kids. It worked out great. A little easier than the sketchbook project from the month before.

When they were finished, they used these two ways—either pulling them out of the bag direct, or laying them all out, face down, and turning one over. That's why it's a good idea to have all the back papers identical within each set. I'm sure I got the wood coins and punch at Jo-ann's or Michaels. Now that I am all out of coins, I might have to make a seasonal order over at Casey's, the mecca of woodcraft shapes and fun. That site makes me so happy. I get so many ideas clicking around over there.

 

autumnal activity

After the weird non-summer we had, I'm not quite ready for fall, but here it is. And I can't complain after a fun day out at Oregon Heritage Farms and their yearly apple fest. Part of me still craves sun, even though I have never been a sun person. Good thing I am a soup person. And a sweater person.

• I have found a pattern to sew for the 1940s dress (see last post). I have it cut out in the most lovely black lightweight wool. Excitement!

• The new Tie One On theme is set and the gallery is up for the last theme, Aprons on Screen. There are some really wonderful submissions, thank you!

• I made and have been using (on myself and the girls) dry shampoo. It's awesome. I will post more about this this, but I can't tell you how handy it is to have. You gotta to try making some! We scented ours grapefruit and it's just wonderful. I didn't use the oatmeal becasue I was too lazy to grind it up, fyi.

apple cake a bit lighter

This apple cake was made a few weeks ago (half was frozen and was just now eaten) and it was delicious. Perfect for teatime and for breakfast. It's not too sweet and lovely with powdered sugar, but my favorite is with the Lavender-Fleurde Sel Caramel Sauce which I try to always have on hand because I am sort of addicted to it.

The cake recipe is derived from this recipe over at Martha's site, but I've changed it so much that I am typing it again. It has less fat, less sugar, fewer apples, and different flours than the original.

• 3/4 cups apple sauce
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice mix
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine vegetable oil, applesauce, sugar, and eggs. Mix in dry ingredients and then add apples and vanilla. Pour batter into a greased and floured 12-cup Bundt pan, and start checking for doneness after 1 hour.

Unrelated-

• We have officially started Birthday Party season here. Sadie just turned 9 and has a remote control tarantula and a whoppee cushion to prove it. (Thank you Uncle Adam.)

• And Pete and I saw 50/50 last night. It was so good. And I cried. I laughed too, but bring your Kleenex.

 

some books about WWII plus one unrelated

Here's a stack from earlier this summer. I found that it's easiest for me to just photograph the spines rather then write all the titles down that we have liked. I am so visual, I can remember what the books were about much better from seeing the spines rather than from reading the titles on paper. After we return them to the library, we buy a few favorites for each topic we cover. I can find almost all of these books used, so we can keep revisiting these topics as they come up, which seems to be all the time. It's so fun to see what they keep pulling out: books about the Titanic and anything related to Charles Dickens and maids/servants are extremely popular.

But the surprise book of the summer that we LOVE is Great Big Book of Children's Games: Over 450 Indoor & Outdoor Games for Kids . I checked out a few other similar titles from the library and this one was the one we decided to buy. It's so great—a ton of games perfect for road trips, restaurants and rainy days stuck inside the house. It's got a bit of everything. And it's pretty cool watching the girls teach these games to their friends.

it was hot that day

These were taken at The Oregon Garden a few weeks ago. Silverton is a cute little place to have lunch and do some antique shopping after visiting the garden.

• I am listening to the newest Blind Pilot, via streaming from NPR because the album isn't for sale yet. I will miss their upcoming Portland show, which is a bummer.

• I am looking at this dress for inspiration. I'm not sure about the gathering in the front, but the idea of a plaid dress is exciting.

• I just watched this, 200 hundred things I learned from the internet (not for kids. really not for kids.) and I laughed. And then was bored. And then laughed. And then was confused. And then after about 8 minutes or so—was completely exhausted, but was still laughing. Is The End near? Possibly.

games of the more portable variety

Last year, after reading Molly's post about summer games, (she has a handy PDF here) we put together this box. It sits on a shelf in our living room and is used often, but even better, it's thrown in the car and used for all our road trips, vacations, etc. We all love playing these games—having ones that work for multiple ages is key. The fabric pouch contains Uno, which usually gets stashed into my bag, so it's pretty much always with us. It was pretty fun playing on top of sleeping bags in the tent with a flashlight a few weeks ago.

While playing these games I love seeing how the girls' personalities come out and how they manage the different components. We don't have an iphone, or a smart phone even, which is a deliberate choice. Don't get me wrong, I love technology. I just can't be trusted with one, it would not be good for me. But I do have cards in my purse and small sketchbooks and pens at all times. I really cherish the interaction of playing games with them and not seeing them looking at a little hand held screen. So, our favorites right now (of the small portable variety, not bigger board games, which should be a different post) are:

• Blink
• Sorry Revenge
• Toss Up
• Uno
• Pictureka
• Travel Yatzee

These are all really easy to find. I would love to get started on some role playing games, but these are quick, easy to travel with, and fun to play with everyone. We also love Bananagrams but I'm a bit paranoid about losing squares, so they stay at home.

I'd love to know what your favorite family games are that are easily transportable. We also have been playing word games more (like 20 questions, etc.) but that's also another post. Playing 20 questions with a 4 year old gets pretty surreal.

 

 

camping at silver falls state park

Camping was a blast. We had great weather, laughing fits, went swimming, saw waterfalls, roasted hot dogs, went on a hike, visited the nearby Oregon Gardens (photos of this soon) and then, on the way home, consumed pigs n' blankets. I didn't make them at the campsite. I did however, suggest we warm our cinnamon rolls in a pot, which made for an interesting clean-up.

Now we are resting from our vacation. And doing about 10 loads of laundry.

summer type stuff

This was at the berry farm a few weeks ago.

Despite the ongoing low temperatures here we are off doing a lot of summer stuff in the next few weeks— hopefully outside. Camping, fairs, swimming, and some road trips. I have started  sewing a fall coat already for the middle child, but when I realized it actually might get worn this week I stopped because it depressed me too much.

I don't have a ton to report right now. I have some half started sewing projects, we are getting ready for 2 fall birthdays, I am 99% ready to sell some Facial Oils/Hair Oils and I am VERY excited to be doing this, and at this moment I am trying to decide what trashy books and magazines to take on our camping trip. Decisions!

Nice Stuff-

• I sure do love these wooden gift tags. There's a lot of loveliness in this shop, which is new to me—Felt & Wire.

• I adore this Mums Wreath Kit from Paper Source (via Lisa Solomon)

dot, dot, dot,

With the-not-so-summery weather, we stayed in and did some art projects from the fablous book, Discovering Great Artists, that I have written about here. This time we looked at Seurat (I printed two examples of his work for us to study and talk about) and learned about Pointillism. This now has me wanting to watch Sunday in the Park with George, which I haven't seen in about 20 years.

Unrelated: So many new issues of incredibly cool online magazines are out! I am a little late seeing some of these, but the nice thing is they don't sell out. Some are free (with ads) some charge (and are ad free)

• Action Pack (issue 5, a craft magazine for kids)
• Nuno Magazine (issue 4, this issue blew my mind with it's visual coolness)
• Small Magazine (issue 18)
• Matchbook Magazine (issue 7)

 

da Vinci Days—Corvallis, OR

Bugs, rocks, robotics, explosions, juggling, hoops, bubbles, stilts, a little bit of rain, and a whole lot of fun at da Vinci Days.

low-fi recording (a story with sound effects)

Using this little tape recorder has been the favorite activity for a few weeks now, ever since we made a short radio show. Pete got this in college, I think. I'm not even sure. We still have a box of tapes and the girls got busy right away.

We got the idea to do a radio show from this book, World War II Days: Discover the Past with Exciting Projects, Games, Activities, and Recipes , by David King. There are several books in this series and we really like them.

There are so many books and resources we have been using for the WW II theme we are working on, I have been snapping photos of book covers as a quick way to keep track. I will try to list some favorites at some point. This topic is huge and can also be sad and depressing so we mix it up with fun stuff—like learning the jitterbug, listening to big band, planting a victory garden, and learning about radio shows from the 1940s and making your own show, like we did here, with the emphasis on sound effects. There are a ton of amazing shows and music from Old Radio World that we listen to—it's an amazing resource. We laugh hard at The Baby Snooks Show (but you might want to listen first before the kids do). The Benny Goodman show is great to teach swing dancing to.

We wrote a quick script, the oldest child was a natural at the telling. The middle child was the sound maker, and was all business, and the wee one got her one scream in, although not without some micro-managing  from the oldest sister. There were bowls filled with water, empty cups, rulers, metal cans and all sorts of random items all spread out. It was so fun and reminded me so much of recording when I was little.

Now they keep the recorder in their top bunk, or hide with it under the bed, whispering secrets and singing softly into and playing it back. It's so sweet.

Here's one of the shows we did. (Here's the direct YouTube link if the video below is busted.)