Writings on the Wall

Yesterday morning Hendrix woke up and said, “I have a great idea! Let’s wrap ourselves in paper and put paper all over the walls then we can draw on ourselves and everything!”

I wasn’t so sure about the “body wraps.” I envisioned myself imprisoned in a stiff sheet of butcher paper roasting over an indoor campfire, makered-up from head to toe while my kids marched around me sporting loin cloths and tribal body paint. The paper on the wall however, that I was willing to attempt.

So right after breakfast we got out a brown roll of paper and colored chalk to create an imaginary city.

My favorite part is the plethora of fruit falling from the tree in a perfect row (click on photo to enlarge) and the scribbly clouds, I wish they were real

P.S. Since taking these pics, I have made it a goal to have the kids (and myself) dressed before noon.

Snow Globing!

For our last group make project we made snow globes.

Here’s how we did it (notice ingredients in bold text):

First we wanted to attach our miniatures to the lid of the baby jar. (Miniature trees and snowmen came from the craft store). Rather than gluing the objects directly to the lid, we glued them to a stack of 4 poker chips which I had pre-glued to the lid beforehand (after I had lightly sanded the lid). Our baby jars had a pattern in the glass on one end of the jar which would have distorted our winter scene so having the poker chips as leverage solved that problem.

We used hot glue to attach our objects to the poker chips but I think I would recommend using a waterproof sealant if you want to keep the globe as a real keepsake. The only downside to using glue like this is you might have to wait an hour or two before the next step whereas hot glue dries in seconds.

We set our lid aside while we added distilled water to our baby jar. We filled the jars as much as possible while still allowing the objects to fit inside with no water spilling over. Just before attaching our lid—objects affixed—we added a few pinches of chunky glitter and a drop or two of glycerin. The chunky glitter is easier to see than fine glitter and it is heavy enough to fall to the bottom. The glycerin slows down the speed of the falling glitter (I found this in the supermarket pharmacy by the way). We were careful not to add too much glycerin to avoid clumping up the glitter.

Lastly, we ran a ring of hot glue around the inside of our pre-assembled lid and then screwed it on tightly.

A great project for a last group make if you ask me. Thank you again to all my lovely make supporters! *tear* You guys are the best! I’d love it if you come back to visit the blog periodically as we share our at-home making adventures.

Happy making.

p.s. please excuss my lack of photo documentation!

Snowy Days Ahead

Hi friends, I hope you all had a great holiday and that you are enjoying the New Year so far!

For the January Make I thought we'd celebrate the season by making our own mini snow globes. The fee for this Make will provide your child with all the supplies necessary but if you'd like your scene to contain something other than a snow covered tree and snowman figure OR if you'd like a globe larger than that of a baby jar sized container then feel free to bring your own plastic miniature trinkets and/or larger jar to assemble.
LET'S MEET: In the church primary room on Friday the 22nd of January at 10am
FEES SHMEES: $2 cash per child/per snow globe

RSVP: On or before the night of Wednesday, January 20th. To do this, leave a comment under this post or send me an email (see sidebar). This will ensure their will be enough supplies for everyone attending.

ALSO: This months Make will complete a years worth of Make activities and it will actually be the very last Make! I am so grateful to everyone who has participated and supported the Make group whether it has been through attending the group or simply taking an interest to the things that have been posted here. I will continue to use this blog to share some of the activities and projects my kids and I are doing in our home as well as some other goodies. And, as always, feel free to submit your own kiddie projects or parental goodies, I'd be more than happy to post all about it or provide a link to your blog regarding the details.

Well that about covers it...Happy Making!

(image credit)