angry chicken

homemade scratch board

I mentioned a bit back we had a lot of fun making our own scratch board using this tutorial by Sea Lemon. We painted on bristol, with tempera. The black seemed to work better than other colors for scratching through. Overall it was a big success.

We are continuing to love Art Assignment, and were very interested in The Case For Andy Warhol, who the girls' have studied quite a bit. They have always been drawn to his soup cans and we always have lively discussions about what art is when talking about Andy. We like to just call him Andy.

Portlanders! This video, Yesterday's Tomorrow—A Portland Journey is amazing. It uses historical photos over recent ones which allow you to see historical Portland then and now. Hard to explain, but really cool!

taco birthday party

Lydia turned 8 this week and wanted a taco themed birthday party. This was a pretty great idea. There were taco cookies (shown here, thank you Grammie) and a taco shaped pinata, and a taco bar. I had forgotten that years ago she had a hamburger party and we also made cookies for that. So funny! Lydia has yet to celebrate the joy of fish tacos, so I didn't push her in that direction.

Here's a link on how to make these, they are adorable and so easy, reports Grammie, except the sour cream decoration. That is actually the creme filling from the cookie— she said is super hard to pipe. But they look great and were devoured, and any food made to look like other food is a win in my book.

ice box cake in a jar

I was reading about icebox cakes a bit back and got inspired to try some mini ones. They are quick and easy, the only thing is, you need a good 12 hours of wait time before you can eat them. So we made these right before bed. It couldn't get any easier than this and the flavors are perfect.

We squirted a bit of whipped cream first, then added two broken cookies (these Lattemiele Slightly Sweet Milk & Honey Cookies are by far the best I have tried for this type of dessert) and then blueberries. Then repeated the whole thing again. Done.

After 10 hours or so the cookies turn into a soft cake, but the appearance is much different. It's not nearly so pretty, it looks like there is barely any whipped cream in there, but it tastes delicious. I think for a party I'd add a little fresh whipped cream right before I served it. I tried it again with graham crackers and it was not nearly as good.

Unrelated:

Greensleeves is on its 7th reader! I love the idea of this book traveling around to different readers, who are leaving their thoughts in a little book tucked with it. It's so cool! I have heard Greensleeves is back in print, which is wonderful, but I will always love my copy that is traveling around to different readers. I keep going back to the comments of that secret book post, which is when I first heard of it. I think it's one of my favorite posts ever, becasue of you guys.

covering an unattractive light pendant

I have been meaning to replace this light pendent in our entry since we moved in 6 years ago but, never got around to it. After a recent trip to Cargo, which is always a source of such inspiration to me, I felt like I had to deal with it. Right now.

I didn't have to buy any supplies for this—I just had the right things squirreled away. The big hoops (A 14" and one even bigger one, I think) I had from a fairy tent idea I never ended up making. All the fabric, yarn, and streamers I already had, and the pom poms I had made over the holidays. The happy moment came when I was trying to figure out an easiest way to attach the two hoops to each other and then to the fixture—pipe cleaners. I had a pack of neon colors. Happy happy. I few days had to go by before I stopped thinking a friendly jellyfish was saying hello every time I walked into the house, but now I am used to it. Tallish people are just going to have to duck a little.

It felt so good to make this! I have been sewing and doing needlework, so working big and more sculptural was a nice change. Now I want to paint this area in a bight happy color.

Related to crafts: The girls had a good time making their own scratch board this week. The Sea Lemon tutorial is great.

graphic novels we are reading

Nimona, by Noelle Stevenson

 

Roller Girl, by Victoria Jamieson

We are enjoying both of these graphic novels so much. Here's an interview with Nimona author, Noelle Stevenson on NPR, and also a review of the book.  We saw this at Powell's and snatched it up immediately.

Roller Girl we have had for a few months and keep going back to. It's laugh-out-loud funny and takes place in Portland, with many recognizable places and references, which is really fun. There's a podcast interview with Victoria Jamieson (who is also an in-real-life roller derby skater) and a review of the book over on Geek Dad, and again, we bought ours at Powell's books.

Both these books feature girl protagonists that are real, funny, strong, and flawed. They learn from experience — sometimes. Sometimes things are just hard for them and they don't really learn. It's pretty great. All 3 of my girls love both books, (ages 8-12) Content wise, it's really a personal thing—you know your kids and what they might like and what you are comfortable with them reading. I always recommend pre-reading or at least skimming first.

needlework projects

This is the cross-stitch I finished last weekend. I have a lot of frames laying around, so framing is always easy and exciting to do. I usually have a piece framed and on the wall within an hour of finishing it. So satisfying! Our needlework wall is getting very full, which is also exciting. This is a Stacy Nash pattern, I link to her site in this post.

I was motivated to finish this sampler because Sadie and I went to our local needlework shop, Acorn and Threads, and picked out a new project. This one, by The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery is insanely cute and we will be working on it together. Sadie has done quite a few kits on her own, enough to have a sense that this will take forever, so she suggested we work on it together, which I thought was genius. She loves pulling the threads from the little drawers. She also loves organizing—she's taken all my charts and has put them all in a spreadsheet, with titles, and if they are kitted, started, etc. and then all the patterns are in plastic sleeves in a binder. She also has done this (with categories and dividers) with all my knitting patterns. It's amazing. I can just dump a pile in her lap and I get a beautiful notebook back with a complete index. Last summer she reorganized all my craft books by subject with dividers on the shelf. I'm not sure how this will translate into her future profession, but she gets deep satisfaction from this type of organization and her attention to detail is outstanding.

Related to making and goodness in life:

I finally got to meet one of my oldest blogging friends, Amanda Soule, in person this week and it was so wonderful to actually see her, hug her, and talk for hours. We started our blogs the same month (how long ago? 10 years? Amazing!!) wrote books at the same time, had babies, and shared a whole lot of ups and downs—all while corresponding over the years, but never actually met. Hooray for In Real Life! We had deep conversations about so much stuff, but when I walked her to her car one of the last things we blurted out between farewell hugs was:

Amy: "Do you use a stick-blender when you make soap?"

Amanda: "I can't believe you aren't rug hooking!"

yes I do.

We didn't get any donuts last week, on National Donut day. It was too hot. I can eat a few donut holes in warm weather, but not a real donut. This bag came from a previous visit to one of our favorite donuts shops in Portland, Sesame Donuts. I love this bag.

There has been a craft compilation around here, which is wonderful. I sewed a new blouse and finished a cross stitch I had been working on for a year. I will show both soon.

My back is doing a 100-times better.  I wasn't sure if it was going to get better or worse, and am so happy I stayed down, relaxed, and didn't push it. Doing too much is what has made it worse in the past. I keep referencing this book, 8 Steps to Pain Free Back, which has helped me before and was so valuable to read again. I'm back on the elliptical trainer now, pain free, but am holding off on Barre3 for another few days.

Unrelated to all this-

One of my favorite things is to come up with absurd apps with Pete and the girls. Right now, I am working on a "where did I put my coffee?" app. It would ask questions, most of which are unrelated to actually finding the coffee cup that I have lost in the house. It's more like a conversation, which might or might not help me remember where I put my coffee. It ends suggesting I pour another cup and not worry about it. We never actually create theses apps (yet) just talk about them a whole lot. They are little art/science/life projects, in digital form. I found this video 30 weird apps made by Mental Floss and was SO EXCITED by the craziness of these apps. My favorite, hands down, is the one where you just press a button for as long as you can.

happy cookie

In May, Sadie and I saw the Italian Style exhibit at the Portland Art Museum (it has since ended) and afterwards we went to the Behind the Museum Cafe, where they serve Japanese food and treats, including a tea service. This was my cookie. It's a lovely spot and I want to go back.

I really like going to the art museum with one one child at a time, if possible. They all focus on different pieces and I love letting them decide exactly what to look at. Because they all are home together, all day, they really have mastered the art of patience and compromise, which is great, but I love it when they can have an experience solo.

related to art:

We watched this video yesterday, The Reinvention of Normal (via swiss miss) and we all loved it so much, it's been on heavy rotation all day. I don't really want to describe it—it's better if you just are surprised. It's about 7 minutes.