Fun with Perler Beads (crafting tips at the end!)

"If you continuously compete with others you become BITTER.
If you continuously compete with yourself you become BETTER."

This summer's family craft activity involved Perler Beads. Ever since I realized that cross-stitch patterns are ideal for fusible bead projects, I've been itching to create something. So I did. And the supplies that were left out for weeks (!) on the dining room table tempted my boys every time they walked by them, so they created some pieces, too. I'm a big fan of keeping art supplies on hand so that one can create the instant one has the whim to do so.

My "Bitter vs. Better" above was actually the second piece that I created. I honestly believed that my first attempt had satisfied my Perler Bead crafting urge, but then it occurred to me that I could do so much better. 

This is my first Perler Bead project of 2015.

“Love is a verb, not a noun. It is active. Love is not just feelings of passion and romance. It is behavior. ... The words “I love you” are not enough to make up for that. Don’t kid yourself that they are.” 
~Susan Forward

So many beads tediously placed! I truly thought I'd had enough fun! Nope. And if the supplies weren't all put away, I'd likely be busy on just one more piece because I've thought of a gift idea! But I shall refrain.

And, of course, the family that crafts together, stays together. Or something like that.

Oldest son's finished project.

Youngest son's finished project. He doesn't want it framed.

Some fusible bead crafting tips:

• DON'T iron the beads directly on the peg board. It will warp. Use the "masking tape method." 
• This tool works for large expanses of the same color (as was the case for my "Love is a verb" piece). This video explains how to use it. It's not complicated...
• This tool is a good scoop. But so is a teaspoon. And standard tweezers worked better for me.
• Minecraft, Google, and cross-stitch designs are excellent resources for pattern inspiration.
• Unless you really, really, REALLY enjoy sorting beads, don't buy a large mixed container of them. Individual bags of the exact colors that you need will get you creating much faster. TRUST ME ON THIS.

NOTE: I just created an affiliate account on Amazon. If you purchase items via the links I provided, then I get a few cents.

Year of the Rabbit

Images from this EXCELLENT Chinese New Year educational resource

I’ve volunteered to put together a small Chinese New Year’s activity for Cooper’s Kindergarten class. The key word in the preceding sentence is “small.” (Unlike Valentine’s Day last year in which I made these little trinkets. I LOVED that craft, but there’s no way I can do anything along those lines this year, what with a writing deadline that falls in the same Valentine’s Day timeframe.)

Even though we won’t be making any detailed crafts (again, thank goodness!), I’m still excited about the event. Following is a quick list of what I have planned and information about each item, including links to resources on the web, when applicable. Although it's not as detailed as I'd like it to be, perhaps this information will be helpful to someone sometime. If not for Chinese New Year (which is this Thursday, February 3^rd!), then perhaps as ideas for Easter activities.

Book - "My First Chinese New Year":

My First Chinese New Year follows a young girl and her family as they prepare for and celebrate Chinese New Year. 

Craft - Rabbit Tangrams: 

Tangram puzzles were invented in China! I was super-excited when I learned that. The image above is from the Family Fun web site which has a wealth of family crafting activities and instructions. I printed the templates on cardstock from the Family Fun web site (the template link is near the bottom of the instructions). The kids will cut them out and then glue their completed puzzles onto cardstock. Hmmmm. I just realized I used pastel colors because I was thinking of Easter. Gold, red, and black would have been better. Ah, well!

Gifts - Lucky money envelopes, rabbit and goldfish cheese crackers, scroll with each child's name in Chinese characters.

• Lucky Money Envelopes. I will make these using a Sizzix mini-envelope template and put a quarter in each one. I was originally going to copy this pdf (http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/red_envelope_template.PDF), but I need a quicker method this week. I’ll most definitely use it next year though.
• Rabbit & Goldfish cheese crackers. Annie’s organic cheese crackers are shaped as rabbits! I gasped when I passed them in Target’s crackers aisle. And then, of course, the standard goldfish crackers.
• Print of each child’s name in Chinese. This site has 6,000 names “translated” into Chinese so it’s an excellent resource. I used it a few years ago for my oldest son’s Kindergarten class. I copied and pasted the Chinese name into a Word document with the English version underneath. I roll each one up and hold it closed with red ribbon.

For a TON of Chinese New Year for Kids information and resources visit http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/chinese_new_year.htm. I love, love, love that site. Wish I had time to explore it in more detail.

p.s. We are enjoying lovely Spring-like weather today. I’m having a very. difficult . time. concentrating on work. Which is perhaps why this blog entry came into being. Procrastination and all that…

"One hand old"

My baby boy is "one hand old" (Cooper's words) today! Words can't begin to express the pride and joy and love in my heart for my boys.

Sad, Sadder, Saddest

Sad: The Godiva Strawberry Truffle cost $2.00.  
Sadder: Cooper grabbed it and popped it in his mouth before we could stop him.  
Saddest: The look of horrified disgust on Cooper's face as he ran to spit it out.

A life lesson

For a 4 year old.
Yesterday Cooper learned that forcing farts has its risks...

Valentine's Day Goody Bags

This year I volunteered to supply the goody bags for my youngest’s pre-school Valentine’s party. A top priority was to not fill the bags with plastic junk that would be looked at for a second and then tossed in a landfill. Since bookmarks are small, useful, and can be designed for any holiday I chose a reading theme.

Each goody bag would be filled with:

•     A card
•     A bookmark
•     A full-sized Kit Kat candy bar (because of its red packaging)
•     2 pieces of Valentine’s Day taffy (to share with siblings. and because I love taffy)

First the bookmarks. I originally intended to create a cardboard bookmark. Well, I’d like to THINK that was my original intention. Because that would have been the wiser (and cheaper option), but I ended up making ribbon bookmarks. After scouring the web, I found instructions for creating them here and here. (I'm so glad that I found ImogensGarden's blog because that's where I learned to look for "ribbon clamps." Using the right words can save so much time when explaining to a sales person what one is looking for.)

This project could have cost a lot more than it did but I made several trips to Michaels with coupons in hand. I also found that the wedding craft section of that store is a great alternative for charms. If I’d chosen them from the jewelry section, it could have cost as much as $5.00 for 5 items. As it was, the wedding section had a packet of FIFTY (50!) heart charms for $4.99…that combined with a 40% discount made them very inexpensive.

I also returned to the wedding section for a package of 50 mini tulle bags to put each bookmark in. I then secured a bag inside each recipient’s Valentine’s Day card.

But I didn’t make 50 bookmarks. Oh, no. I didn’t have THAT much time on my hands. Besides which, each ribbon clamp package was only available in packs of 5 complete sets of varying sizes. Rather annoying. So as I was using coupons very actively, I only managed to get 5 packs…for 25 bookmarks. (It was annoying at the time, but in retrospect I am relieved that I was unable to find large packs of ribbon clamps. Because then I'd have had to make 50 bookmarks.)

Fortunately, though, the bookmarks were really quick to make. The most time consuming part was gathering the supplies. I applied the clamps and then focused on adding the beads. We were able to get them done in an hour or so. (I doubt it took much longer than that as I distinctly remember my sons patiently hovering around us as we worked…and it was getting to be dinner time…and they SO wouldn’t have let us work peacefully if their stomaches were growling…which means I was multi-tasking…but, regardless, it was a peaceful evening.)

I didn’t take any pictures of the bookmarks in progress, but I’m not going to reinvent the wheel with instructions for creating them. The earlier links to Imogen’s Garden and Michaels lead to great instructions for creating ribboned bookmarks of your own.

Now the cards. Creating the cards and the goody bags was the most time consuming part of the project. I scoured (again) the Web for reading-related Valentine’s text but not finding any I attempted to create my own. The final product was corny and not worthy of the beautiful bookmarks. After another I attempt, I found the PERFECT text. It was written by a librarian, her site gave permission for it’s re-use, and I want to credit her, but I can’t find the site now. (So Dear Librarian, or Friend-of-Dear-Librarian, if you should stumble across this blog, please send me a link to your site and I’ll add the info!)

If I’d known the cards would take me ALL day Saturday to create, I might not have done as much Xacto cutting and punching as I did.

Here’s the work table:
(Do you see the penguin waving at you? And the Lightning Thief Guide Book? --- Why, yes, we DID brave the crushing crowds last Saturday to meet some of the movie cast members!)

Here’s the incomplete supply list:
The supply list picture is missing: heart punch, hole punch, beading tools, Kit Kat bar, taffy, paper bag …umm, I’m sure there’s other stuff. But it’ll give a general idea as to what I used.

And the final product:

The inside of the card has a small tulle bag holding a bookmark with “Happy Valentine’s Day” stamped beneath it. On the back of the card is a small picture of smiling cherubs that were also individually punched out and then glued on. (I'm kind of glad I forgot pictures of the inside and back of the card because this blog entry would be unforgiveably long. Well. It's in that category already, I suppose.)

If I were making the card for grown-ups rather than four year olds, I would have used better quality paper for the text (I just used plain old typing paper). And, yes, I know the clamp on that ribbon on the left is too large. I doubt the four-year olds will notice. And, actually, there are a LOT of non-crafty grown-ups who wouldn’t notice as well. (But, of course, if I’d noticed the size discrepancy before production time arrived, I would have chosen another ribbon. Because I’m a perfectionist. Even when it nearly kills me.)

The delivery method:
I love lunch bags. I truly do. They are my preferred method of gift packaging. There’s so much that can be done with them AND they’re bio-degradable!

And that’s that for the goody bags. The party is this Friday. I also volunteered to supply decorations for the class so I’m making a felt heart banner. (Of the style that is sweeping the blogosphere this season. I’ll post pictures of it this weekend. I hope. Good intentions and all that…)

Cousin sleepover

Two of our nephews spent last Friday night with us. I didn't have anything crafty planned or a specific outing...just pizza and a movie and then bedtime. It was the first time we've had them over---which as they're 6 and 9 years old seems rather shameful. But times change...we used to see them a LOT more than we do now so sleepovers were never a thought. I'm actively working on changing that, though. The 9 year old and Oldest are so sweet together that it warms the cockles of my heart watching their interchanges. The 6 year old is two years older than Youngest so they don't have that much in common, but as a group they get along very well.

As supported by this, unstaged, picture.

My oldest nephew is playing his DSi while the others watch. (Hmmm. Have we come full circle in terms of electronic screens? Small to extra-large back to small...)

I absolutely love having relatives over and making memories with them. We'll be seeing them again tomorrow as we head over to Marietta Square for its 33rd annual Harvest Square Arts and Crafts Festival. There'll be arts and crafts (duh), scarecrow contest entries, a kids' costume contest, a pet costume contest. We're not prepared to participate in the kids' costume contest, but this family will be represented next year.

Budding artist

Here's a drawing that my four year old did last week.

It's of him at the park. On the right, he drew a kid on a slide. He told his dad that it was the same kid and the reason he drew more than one is because he wanted to show the motion of the boy going down the slide.

His dad, a graphic designer and illustrator, can barely contain his pride. Mom, of course, is very proud as well.

Makin' whoopee

I can only imagine how many returns I would get on a Google search of the term "making whoopee." In my case, I didn't actually make any whoopee...pie, that is. Although it is most definitely on my list of to-do's; I even  have a recipe lined up to try. But last Sunday was not the day for that attempt. Instead, we enjoyed the pre-made version from Trader Joes.

The pies were my family's weekly extra-special treat. I recently realized that the boys were getting used to dessert after dinner. The habit just kind of snuck up on us. Granted, they generally got fruit juice-based popsicles, but it still isn't a good habit to have. So we rather abruptly discontinued their daily after-dinner-sweet-treat routine but appeased them with the offer of something extra-special on Sundays. It's a lovely compromise because now I can make a weekly treat without feeling bad about adding to their sugar intake. Once a week is okay with me! (Daily, not so much.) And, suprisingly, they're actually quite content to wait until Sunday.

After a day filled with activities (church, pet adoption visit, grocery store, picnic, park) we returned home and just lounged. Well. The kids did. When I  strolled into our backyard this is what I saw.

Two pairs of feet in our new hammock.

Oldest Son was playing his DS while Youngest Son looked on. They have their moments, but in general they play together so well. Their personalities complement each other. Amazing. They are ever so lucky.

Dollywood and fingersnapping

Why is it easier for me to record thoughts here than on paper? One would think I could more quickly find the time to pull out a pen and paper...

Last week (July 19 - 24) we took an official family vacation and went to Pigeon Forge, TN and Black Mountain, NC. Originally, I was just organizing a hotel sleepover for Mason's birthday present (as he requested). Then plans grew from there. It turned out to be an absolutely wonderful experience---lunch in Murphy (NC), Fontana Dam, Cades Cove, Inn at Christmas Place, Dollywood (and the Kratt brothers!), Biltmore and property, Black Mountain.

And with so many hours on the road, Youngest Son practiced and practiced...until he learned how to snap his fingers. He was very, very, very proud of his accomplishment that week!

Baby arms

Our youngest is sleeping in baby arms position. Does anyone else know what that means or is it just me? He's four years old now and I cherish any remaining signs of the baby he once was.