How to Paper Mache

AKA – titles still not getting any better

Yesterday I mentioned the paper mache lanterns I made for Annie’s Tangled-themed birthday party. Several people told me that they didn’t know how to paper mache, so I thought I’d post a quick tutorial. It is super-duper easy, cheap, and fun to do!

Decide on the shape you want. You can use a balloon to make a circle (or 3 balloons to make a Mickey Mouse head!). Since I wanted lanterns, I used an oatmeal container for my ‘mold’.

I started by taping a piece of parchment paper to the outside:

Next, you’ll make a mixture of flour, corn starch, and slightly warm water. Equal parts of the dry ingredients, and then slowly add enough water to make a thin gravy-like consistency.

For the lanterns, I used torn strips of white paper because I wanted them to be transparent. If you will be painting your creation, feel free to use newsprint.

Dip a strip of paper into the paste, and use your fingers to slide off the excess flour mixture.

Gently press the strip onto your mold

And then repeat, with a slight overlap of edges.

Once you have one solid layer, allow to dry. This can be done overnight, or if you’re in a hurry, with the aid of a hair dryer.

For my lanterns, I used only 2 layers. For a pinata, I’d recommend 3-5 layers, depending on how strong your little batters will be.

Once the first layer is dry, add your second layer. To make the Tangled lanterns pictured yesterday, I then pressed a layer of pale yellow tissue paper onto the damp outside of the mold.

And then gently slide off of the container

to finish drying while you work on the next one.

I used this same method to make the pinata, and then topped with a cone shape to resemble the tower.

Pardon my creative mess in the background.

And there you have it – easy-peasy paper mache!

I’m going to be using this same method to create larger-than-life gumdrops for Catie’s Candyland party in a few weeks. Stay tuned!

Tangled Birthday Party

AKA-When I take a blogging hiatus, my titles suffer.

I’ve been working like a maniac on an all-out birthday party extravaganza for Catie.

It’s a bit early.

Her birthday isn’t until June, but summer birthdays mean friends on vacation and busy summer schedules that make parties a bit challenging. Take it from an August baby – it stinks. So I promised Catie we’d celebrate in May, before school let out, so her friends could be there. But then my sister and my niece planned to come visit in April, and since we see them so very infrequently, she wanted them to be a part of the party. So yeah…we’re having a party 2 months before her actual birthday. But I’m requesting no presents, so it won’t look greedy, will it?

All of that led me to realize that I’d never posted about Annie’s birthday party, which was, um…6 weeks ago?

I suck.

Her theme was Tangled.

I thought I was soooooo clever when I came up with this invitation idea:

But then later I googled ideas for food and saw that someone else had a similar idea, and did it better. Drats.

The good news is that I was able to download her cute banner to print and hang at the party as well.

I also made those paper mache lanterns, which worked very well with the theme. {More on those tomorrow}

The kids could color

and paint salt dough ornaments.

I thought I was so clever, making little crowns and frogs to fit the theme.

Until after I finished making 40 of them and Annie pointed out to me that Pascal was a chameleon and not a frog.

Whoops.

That also affected my ‘flip the frog chameleon into the frying pan’ game.

My fabulous mother drew out this super cute poster – perfect for playing ‘Pin the nose on Flinn’

She also painted this fabulous tower – the kids could climb up in and get their picture taken as Rapunzel.

{huge hit!}

But most breathtaking of all was the cake. Ah, my mom creates the very best cakes! And this was no exception.

No detail was overlooked

check out this light fixture!

and even the inside was ornately decorated.

It was a cake truly fit for a princess.

And princess she was – my Annie shone.

Her one true love was there, and they danced.

She told me later that him being there made her day completely perfect.

Funny.

Her being here makes my life completely perfect.

I love this kid.

One of my favorite moments was the pinata.

Well, the pinata aftermath, actually.

The tower was busted and as the kids scurried to scoop up the candy, I hear Annie’s small voice, urgently telling the kids to take their bounty to the table so it can all be divided equally.

Methinks someone is a bit too high strung for pinatas.

She recovered nicely, though. And has only mentioned how stressful that was twice since the party.

Oy.

Happy IDA Day!

Love is in the air, right?

Blech.

I kinda hate Valentine’s Day.

The stuffed animals and chocolates and overpriced flowers and card aisles overflowing with pink hearts and mushy sentiments…make me throw up in my mouth a little.

I’m not down on love; quite the contrary. I love love. I love people who are in love.

I don’t love that people will express that love today by giving their significant other a 4-foot teddy bear.

Throw up. Mouth.

Seriously, anything done today has very little meaning. The other 364 days a year? Go to town. Love it up. Because if you bring your lady flowers on June 14th, it’s clearly because you love her and wanted to brighten her day. Four months earlier? You’re a sucker willing to pay inflated prices because Hallmark guilted you into it.

All of the jewelry and chocolate and lingerie commercials? Throw. Up.

I not-so-affectionately refer to this as IDA day – Insincere Displays of Affection.

My plans include shipping the weekend orders (shameless plug), shuttling to not one but two different Girl Scout meetings (and picking up cookies!), and hopefully squeezing in time to straighten up my studio. If I’m really efficient I’ll pull off a trip to the grocery, too.

Romance out the wazoo over here, let me tell you.

The one part of the holiday that I do enjoy is the kid stuff. The cutesy homemade cards, the decorated boxes for the school exchange, the sweet treats baked for friends. That I can do, so do it I did.

Super cute, right?

And more than that, these suckers taught me a life lesson. A friend gave me the recipe and I was so excited to make these…until I saw that 2 months later, the recipe was also printed in Family Fun magazine. I immediately felt deflated, like my cool treat was reduced to ‘Oh yeah, I saw that in Family Fun too.’

Bakingcandycanesuckersforyourownglorymuch?

{hanging head in shame}

In case you don’t get Family Fun and you’re still dazzled and want to make your own, read on.

You’ll need some miniature candy canes and lollipop sticks to start out with

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and lay out your suckers on a greased cookie sheet.

Be sure to use your oldest, most stained, super worn baking sheet, especially if you plan to take pictures to share with the world. That makes you look klassy.

Pop into the oven for 2 minutes – watch the clock very closely because they will melt and be ugly very soon after that 2 minute mark. Remove and quickly pinch the candy cane ends onto the lollipop sticks. They will be warm and soft, but won’t burn your fingers. Unless you’re a wimp.

Your frames should look like this:

Again, in order to keep up that klassy appearance, be sure to snap your pictures in front of liquor bottles, particularly when you are showcasing kids projects. That’s awesome.

{Responsible Parenting Note – My kids weren’t drinking. This was a Christmas gift and I used it in that nasty honey-lemon-whiskey concoction that aided my pneumonia recovery. 3 weeks prior to this. I’m just too lazy to hide the evidence. And also the bottles are FULL.}

Now you’re going to need some white chocolate and perhaps a few sprinkles.

You can melt the chocolate in a pastry bag and pipe it into the suckers, but I’m not too handy with an icing bag. I opted for a simple dish and spoon.

And then I spooned it into the suckers whilst they lay on waxed paper.

At this point you could call it a day and go for the less-is-more look

but around these parts, we like excessive embellishment.

They’ll only need to cool off for 5-10 minutes before they will be ready to wrap.

And if you’re like me, you’ll then wish you had made them sooner, since they make a nice little IDA Day decoration for the counter.

Enjoy your day peeps!

Sewing up a storm

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m struggling to post here. Not for lack of fodder – I’ve got loads of things I’d love to tell you about. It’s lack of time that gets me. Always.

I’m solidly in white rabbit mode, busy with Christmas gift making. You know, the stuff that I do every year up until 3pm on Christmas Eve, and swear I will do differently the next year, and then never do?  That.

We made card stock ‘stockings’ with candy canes and an invite to join us at church on Christmas Eve, and hung them on all the doorknobs in our neighborhood.

I’ve been making crayon rolls for the girls’ classmates at school:

and peppermint sucker covers for the Girl Scout troops:

I’ve made 3 baby dolls:

1 1/2 doll quilts:

And endless doll clothes.

There have been baby presents like burp cloths and pillows:

and of course some very special Christmas jammies.

I’ve made ‘something specials’ for the Angel Tree child, the mailman, the pastor, the significant others.

I’ve done potholders and placemats for my mother-in-law.

I’ve even got something on its way to Finland! {Arriving late, natch}

And what I just finished? The best gift of them all.

This is for my very dear Granny Goose-in-law. Her husband died 20+ years ago and she misses him terribly, so I used old pictures of them – printed on fabric, and sewn with love into a quilt for her. This is the present I am most excited to give this year, and I can’t wait for her to open it.

I finished it at 4:46 this morning, so you can imagine how tired I am right now. With 1 1/2 doll quilts still to be done today.

<sigh>

I’ve really enjoyed sitting down with a cup of coffee and mentally connecting with you again, dear readers, even if only for a moment. I will back again soon. Promise.

I just have to dig myself out first.

{Yes, it really is that bad.}

Halloween fun!

I really love Halloween.

It’s sort of an odd fit, given that I’m a Christian and the holiday is a little, um, less-than-Christian.  But who really thinks about the meaning of Halloween?  (If you do, now would be an excellent time to not point that out to me.)

For me it’s all about the costumes.  And the candy. And yes, even the decor, though I do abstain from witches and devils and the like.

I revel in the creative, fantastical nature of the day.  In years past we have always done family themed costumes – last year we were all Superheroes, for example.  But I started to feel that this was stifling the girls’ creativity.  When they asked to do Toy Story this year I had to put my foot down.  It’s such a cop-out!  Grab some commercial movie and store-bought costumes?  Please!  We can do better than that!

Longing for the Halloweens of my youth, I wanted the girls to be more unique.  I took them to the fabric store individually and let them choose their costume.  They pored through the pattern books until they found that perfect, just-right costume idea, and then we chose the fabric to make their choices come to life.

Many dollars and many hours later, here is what we ended up with.

Annie chose Laura Ingalls (Little House on the Prairie):

(I realize now that I didn’t take any pictures of her by her herself. Whoops! So here she is with her friend Tramell – ie, the boy she plans to marry.)

Catie opted for Little Red Riding Hood – a pattern that (sadly) I had to modify quite a bit to remove the slutty factor.  It’s bad enough that teenage girls dress this way – do we really have to encourage Kindergartners to do it as well? Prostitots.

Sorry – got sidetracked. The picture:

And Lilly picked a period dress – very Martha Washington.  I was at a loss to explain why she might want to be Martha Washington, but I was happy to oblige.

It wasn’t until the dress was done and she was slipping on her fourth pettiskirt (to make it extra full) that I realized my mistake.  “I Lificity!” she exclaimed.  ‘A-ha!’ I thought.

For the rest of you that are still lost, that’s Lilly-speak for Felicity, the American Girl doll.

And the whole crew, heading out to Trunk-and-Treat.

And now we need a new home for the 15 pounds of candy they collected.  They never eat it all!  I’m sure we’re not the only ones who throw away Halloween candy a year later.

Oh – and the boo! Can’t forget the boo!  Our neighborhood was late going this year, but the week before Halloween we were all out in full force.  I love Booing!

And finally, I have to brag on my girls.  Their school did a storybook pumpkin contest and Annie got Honorable Mention for her Magic School Bus:

And Catie won the ‘Most Original’ category!

And now I am thankful that this is all past us and I can relax start working on Christmas presents.

The fun never ends.

Makeover Monday: You Can Make This

It’s that time of year!  Actually, for me it’s a little late.  I’m normally done with my Christmas shopping by this time, but I’m running behind this year and I’m only partway there.

Today I am starting on the first of many sewing projects which will become Christmas presents.  I like to give handmade gifts.  Do you?  Would you like to start?

Starting this week and running for the next several, I am going to be featuring projects from the website You Can Make This, owned by my friend Kim.  I knew her before she hit the big time and I couldn’t be happier about all of her success.  This website has patterns and tutorials for making hundreds of different projects, from Digital Scrapbooking to Jewelry Making, Sewing to Woodworking, Printable Paper Crafts to Painting.  There is a section of patterns designed specifically for kids to do (what a great present for Grandma that would be!), and even a large group of free downloads!

Who doesn’t love free?

So check out the website, explore some of the great designs, and pick out a project for you (or your kids!) to do today!  To make the deal even sweeter, YCMT is offering my readers a coupon for 15% off ALL orders placed from now through November 18, 2010.  Just enter code

BlogThisFall

at checkout to receive your discount!

And be sure to come back in the weeks to come for more great ideas from YCMT.  I will be making several projects from the website for Christmas gifts, and I will be featuring them on the blog every week.  I will also be giving away a very valuable prize package (over $100!) that you can use to create your own handmade Christmas gifts.  No experience necessary!

And be sure to click the button below and sign up for the newsletter, too!  You’ll get $75 worth of free patterns and ebooks, perfect for getting started!

*So that I don’t get hauled off to FTC prison, I must tell you that the opinions posted on this website are all 100% my own.  I receive no financial compensation for stating these honest opinions.  I will be given a pattern to facilitate my review.  It’s not valuable enough for me to lie to you.  Trust me, if I endorse it, it’s because I mean it.  It takes more than an ebook to buy me.

Makeover Monday: Veggie Tales Nursery

I apologize to everyone I’ve neglected in the past 8 days.  I’m sorry for not meeting up with you (Jen), returning your phone calls (Darcie and Chrissy), and ignoring your emails and IMs (too many to mention).

You see, this past week, I spent an estimated 48 hours painting our church’s toddler room.  And as crazy as that number might sound, it gets even crazier when you hear that I didn’t do it alone.  My friend Rachel spent that much time -or more-, and Jennifer spent 20+ hours there as well.

What in the world took you so long?

I’m glad you asked.  This super cuteness is what took so long:

Once again, I’m totally lame and I forgot to take ‘before’ pictures.  But the walls were a very pale, very boring, aqua-gray color that had been the same for possibly a decade.  I think the new room is much more inviting!

After we got the main wall colors on, the long-suffering Jennifer used to the projector to trace out all of the characters.  On Friday (our last day) she traced the letters, then spent her entire day putting six (six!) coats of yellow paint on them.  Bless her incredibly patient heart!

Six coats!

Rachel and I hopped back and forth working on the assorted Veggies:

And finally, around 2 am on Saturday morning, we cleaned up our mess and called it done.

The one thing I forgot to take pictures of is the rocking chairs – I made new slipcovers for them out of Veggie Tales fabric and they look super cute (if I do say so myself).

We’re also going to paint some furring strips and clothespins and make Ana’s Clip Art Rails from Knock-Off Wood. {Love her, y’all!}  Those will go at either end of the room, beside the French Peas on one end

and between Junior Asparagus, Laura Carrot

and Jimmy Gourd on the other side of the room.

Won’t they be perfect for displaying the kids’ artwork?  And we’ll paint them the same shade, so they’ll blend seamlessly into the bright blue skies.

I am really, really happy with the way this project turned out, and I am very thankful for good friends who suckered me into it made it super fun to do.  It was a long week, but a good one!

The next dilemma?  Just through the dutch door

is the nursery where babies stay, and it’s looking pretty sorry next to the newly decorated room.  We’re thinking maybe Noah’s Ark…

Makeover Monday – Homemade Laundry Detergent

So as you now know, I got a new washer and dryer.  This prompted me to beautify my ugly laundry room, and by beautify I mean de-clutter the shelves.

See that green tub up there?  That’s one of my new favorite things.  It’s from the Dollar Tree (because I’m cheap frugal like that) and it makes me happy every time I see it.

Let me start by saying that I am not a ‘green’ person by any means, and I am not a crazy couponer.  I’m pretty middle of the road, but trying to do much better these days to stretch our pennies.  And in that vein, this idea was born.  I’m trying very hard to makeover everyday money-suckers that I don’t usually even stop to consider, and laundry detergent definitely fits that bill.

I’ve been using my homemade detergent for about 3 months now and I love it!  It smells great and it works just as well as the store-bought kind.

If you’d like to try to make your own laundry detergent, here’s my recipe.

Washing Soda and Borax can both be found in the laundry detergent aisle, usually with the stain treatments, and they are very inexpensive.  I also use a bar of Ivory soap, some oxygen cleaner, baking soda, a grater, a container, and a tablespoon.

Grate the bar of soap into your container:

Because I’m me, I bought a grater (also at Dollar Tree) that I use only for this purpose.  I know in my head that a dishwasher could clean it, but honestly I could never again grate cheese on a grater that was used for soap.  I’m weird like that.

For every one bar of soap, add 1 cup of Borax, 1 cup of Washing Soda, 1/2 cup Baking Soda, and 1/4 cup Oxygen cleaner (if desired).  Then I just stir until well combined.  I’ve read that others mix in their blender, but again, I’m me.  I just can’t do that.  Besides, the girls love to make this themselves, so who am I to deny them that pleasure?

The end result:

So easy peasy, it’s cheap, and it works.  In fact, it works really, really well.  And it only takes 2 Tablespoons per load, so it’s very economical.  And yes, I can now attest to it being just fine for front-loaders.  I actually researched this and I found several people online saying they’d been using it for a long time (1+ years) in their front-loaders and all was well, so I felt comfortable in proceeding.

Previously I was buying Arm & Hammer powdered detergent because it was the cheapest brand that I felt still did a good cleaning job.  Comparing the cost, the Arm & Hammer is about 26 cents per load, whereas my homemade batch costs just a penny per load.  I know those pennies don’t sound like much, but to live out my own little version of a Wal-Mart commercial, if your family switched to my detergent that would save you $250 (or more) per year.  I saw someone on my Facebook feed stating that it was great to make a 5-month supply of laundry detergent for $2, and I’d have to agree.

So you’re doing something green, saving some money, and giving your kids a fun project all at the same time.  Now kick back with a cup of coffee and put those little ones to work!

Oh, and the vinegar in that top picture?  My new fabric softener.  It works, no it does not make you smell like vinegar, and it also repels lice - a serious plus for any mom of school-age children who lives in fear of that dreaded note from the school nurse.

Happy laundering!

Paper Love

Wednesday brought us snow day #2 this week, and we put it to good use making homemade Valentines.

Catie’s preschool class even got to decorate a box to collect their cards in, which delighted me to no end.  I felt very nostalgic for my own childhood whilst helping her pick out just the right frills.  I always loved decorating that box, and was so disappointed that Annie didn’t get to do that last year (or this year, either, for that matter). 

Catie opted for pink-on-pink paisley fabric, red ric rack, white fluffy lace, seed pearls, and red ribbon roses.  And her name written in red glitter.  It’s girly fabulous, which suits my little fashionista to a T.

For the cards, we went completely old school as well.  Interestingly enough, the throwback cards are a financial setback, since even though I bought the paper doilies at the dollar store, these cards cost me about 5 times as much as just buying the pre-made ones would.  But ours are cuter.  And certainly more unique, since no one seems to make homemade Valentines anymore.  Such a pity.

Annie was methodical

Catie was creative

and Lilly had a wardrobe malfunction

She also thoroughly impresed me.  While Annie and Catie were writing their names on the back of their cards, Lilly decided to make her own mark on hers – in the form of tracing her little handprints, all by her OWN self.

It was an extremely messy project

but the end result was well worth it.

Another fun project we did was the heart flower suckers from last month’s Family Fun.  (Love that magazine!)

These were super easy and a big hit with the kids (and teachers!) that we gave them to.  Thumbs up!

Mess and all, it was another great snow day.

Very Fun Indeed

If you’re one of my 6 loyal followers you might have clicked on the yummy treats link yesterday.  In which case, you might have seen a website called Making Things Fun.  This blog is the brainchild of my soon-to-be-7-year-old.

It is completely her baby.  She has learned how to click all the right links, answer her emails, and even tweet about her new posts.  She’s worked really hard on her posts, too - since she isn’t a great typist, it takes her forever to get one done.  Occasionally she’ll let me help with something mudane like a hyperlink, but for the most part she wants to do it all herself.  And I love her determination.

She has a couple dozen idea posts saved up in drafts, and every day she writes down a new one.  I’m not sure how this project will pan out, but I admit to having the occasional fantasy that this is the beginning of her child-prodigy entreprenurial career.  She is destined for greatness in one way or another – maybe this is it.

Regardless, I think it’s a worthwhile endeavor.  She’s practicing her writing, spelling, and grammar.  She’s expanding her computer skills and becoming a better typist.  And she’s making her little 6-year-old dream come true. 

She came up with the name herself (and the domain was available – score!).  She sifted through hundreds of templates until she found the perfect design.  And she’s seeing her world in a whole new way.

Instead of just doing her chores, she’s looking for a way to make them fun so she can write about it.  Instead of flying through a craft on her way to the the next activity, she’s slowing down to take pictures of each step.  Instead of going through life on autopilot, she’s pausing to take note of the details.

We all need to appreciate the details.

So check out Making Things Fun when you get a minute.  Follow her on Twitter, too – @MakingThingsFun  And drop her an email or leave a comment if you can - she loves that.  She responds to everyone!  And if you have a family-friendly blog and you’d like to join her blogroll, let her know that too.  We’d be happy to add your button to her sidebar.