Lasso The Moon

Potato-Stamped Wrapping Paper

We could not find any cool wrapping paper for Father's Day and Donnie's birthday earlier this month, so we decided to make our own.

Usually potato printing requires that you carve a shape into the flesh of the potato to create a stamp, but we did something way easier. 

First, gather some supplies.

We got a couple potatoes (and a carrot, not shown), some craft paint, a magic marker, and some large blank paper.  This paper had wrapped something breakable that I bought recently.  I always keep large blank paper if I can for projects like this one.

I noticed that the basic shape of these large potatoes sort of resembles the shape of a simple car.  When I halved the potato lengthwise, it made a car stamp, with no carving!

Dip into the paint and press firmly onto the paper.  Do what you can to get even paint coverage on your stamp, but don't worry too much about it.  These are supposed to be simple and childlike.

We made wheels for our cars by cutting off the end of a carrot and dipping it in black paint.

Give your paper plenty of time to dry (like a day) before wrapping your gift.  The paint tends to be a bit thick.

Tie with some colored string.

Since Donnie's birthday is always in the same week as Father's day, we made some for those gifts, too.

Rocket ships.  These look more complicated, but they really aren't.

Slice your potato so that it looks like a long oval:

Then, about 3/4 of the way down, slice off the end.

Then cut the end into two "fins".

Stamp the rocket "body" first, as many times as you want.

Then add the fins to the cut end, making sure that the bottom of the fins line up with the bottom of the rocket.

After this paper was dry, we got a little more creative and added smoke to the bottom, and windows for the astronauts to see out.

What other simple stamps can you make, just from slicing a potato?

 

 

 

 

Ladylike

Check out this ladylike carrot we found in the bag this week!

Ethan Says:

Ethan: Mom, sometimes I have to stay up all night because I can't sleep without a night-night song.

Me: I'm so sorry! What song do you like me to sing?

Ethan: Rockabye Baby.  The only thing I don't like about that song is that the babies die.

**

Me: Ethan, would you help me stir this pudding?

Ethan: Can we use the mixer?

Me: No, we're just going to use our arms.

Ethan: But then we'll get so messy!

Me: ... Oh, no...not just our arms.  We're going to use this wisk.

Ethan: Ooh, I want to help!

 

Make a Portrait Pillow from your Child's Drawing

We made this throw pillow for Emma's first grade teacher at the end of this school year.  We wanted something to help her remember Emma, and it just happened that Emma had written this adorable paragraph about her the week before school let out.  So I had her draw a simple portrait to go along with it, and then I made this pillow, complete with misspelled words, because they are precious.

You can refer to the pictures above for visual help, but if you have ever made anything with applique, this will be simple for you.

1. Select the drawing and writing sample you want to use.  Emma's portrait was a little small, so I enlarged it myself.  You could also use a copy machine for this.

2. Break down the drawing into simple shapes, and make a pattern for each one.  computer paper is fine for this. 

3. Cut out your pattern pieces and remember to label them.

4. Choose a piece of fabric for each pattern piece, and apply (with an iron) the back of the fabric with some fusible webbing.  Place the pattern pieces lightly onto the paper backing to make sure you have a large enough piece.  Place each pattern piece RIGHT SIDE DOWN onto the paper backing and trace around it with a pencil.  Label it with with your pencil if you need to and cut it out.

5. Arrange your pieces onto your pillow front.  My pillow fabric is a solid neutral, cut 17"x17", to fit a 16" pillow form.  Carefully remove the paper backing from each applique piece, making sure you are not also pulling off the adhesive webbing.  Arrange them all in place, adhesive side DOWN, and secure with the hot iron, according to directions.

6. I used a raw-edge applique method to sew down the pieces. Carefully sew a straight stitch around each applique piece.  I went around each one twice, to make it more secure AND to create a kid-drawing effect.  Pull the loosed threads to the back, tie off, and clip.

7. I wanted to include Emma's actual handwriting on the pillow, so I traced her schoolwork directly onto the pillow fabric using a water-soluble pen. 

8.  Embroider the letters with a single strand of cotton floss and a back stitch.

9.  The back is a simple envelope style. Cut two pieces of fabric 17"x20" and hem before constructing the pillow. 

10. If needed, use a damp cloth to wipe away stray marks from the soluble pen.  (Those are the water spots above.)

That's it!  I know there are several steps and techniques involved, but they are worth it to capture a precious stage in your child's life.  Who will you make one for?

Summer List 2012

I have been wanting to make a Summer List for several years, but somehow I never remembered to do it until the middle of July.  Not this year!  Inspired by Meg, who writes the "Whatever" blog, We made a list of all the things we wanted to do this summer.

The kids had a lot of fun thinking of activities to add to the list.  I wrote them out on our chalkboard easel, and for now it is sitting proudly in the corner of the kitchen.  I have a tendency to get the kids hyped up about something and then change my mind about how cool it was, while the kids are still excited about it.  Isn't that mean!? I hate that about myself.  So we are going to do our very best to see this list to the end of summer.  And if we have to leave it in the middle of the kitchen for the duration so I don't forget about it, so be it.

If you'd like to make your own list for the summer, go for it!  Especially if you are not a quitter like me.  I made a board of other summer lists on pinterest to inspire, but some of my best ideas came from asking the kids what they wanted to do.  We also wrote down lots of items that we do on a regular basis, so we'll be able to cross plenty of them off.  Fill up your chalkboard, poster, or paper, and start checking those boxes!  If you find one that inspires you, link to it in the comments.  Link to your own, too!

A Novice's Guide to Throwing a Block Party

Since we moved to this neighborhood, almost three years ago, we have wanted to throw a block party.  We wanted a way to meet our neighbors, grow a little community, and share some good food.  Talking about it to some of my friends and family, it seems that there are many people who would like to do something like this, but just don't know where to start or how to get it organized.  Last week, for Memorial Day, we finally did it.  Maybe our experience can help you do the same.

I have no idea the "right way" to throw a block party, but I learned a few things that might come in handy for you.

1. Enlist a "partner in crime". Obviously, this can be your spouse, or an older child, but I found it very helpful to have someone outside my home, who also lives on the street, to help plan and prepare for the event.  I have a neighbor who was absolutely sent from the Lord to be my friend on this block.  Remember that post about sharing your lasagna? That's the day I met Malika, and our friendship has been in fast-forward ever since.  It was great to have her, because then I had someone to help me pick a date.  That's the next step.

2. Pick a date.  Make fliers.  Even though Memorial day was only about 10 days away when we picked it, we felt like it was the right time.  Both of us have husbands in church ministry, so making the party on a non-weekend day was a big bonus.  I designed the fliers, emailed them to Malika, and she emailed them to FedEx Office to be printed on pretty, glossy flier paper.

I used a pinterest board to help me design the invites.  I plagiarized heavily from this one:

Source: theladybeard.tumblr.com via Anna on Pinterest

 

Here is mine:

You do not have to go overboard on this.  I handwritten black-and-white copied flier would probably be just as effective.  I used a free drawing program (open office) and some free download-able fonts I found on-line.  We printed two to a page to save on printing.

3.Walk the fliers around as a family.  I didn't know this was a good idea until we did it.  Our two families went door to door inviting each household to our event.  The fliers were just a bonus.  We had no idea the impact this would make.  I truly believe that it made a huge difference to how many people showed up on the day of the party.  Some of our neighbors were so excited to meet us, that they walked us through their backyards (gorgeous!!), and one even took us in for a full tour of her home!  This was wonderful, because when the day of the party came along, we felt like we already knew a few of the guests.

4.Use what you have. We planned our whole party around the huge blow-up water slide that my mother-in-law brought over to our house last summer. I remember looking at that giant thing (it takes up a lot of space, even when deflated) and thinking, Are you kidding me?! We have a tiny house and no storage space! What are we going to do with that? But the answer was clear this weekend: ministry. Other resources that we already had were tables, folding chairs, my neighbor's speaker system for music, and some streamers left over from Esther's birthday party.  We wanted to be careful how much we spent, because there was no guarantee that ANYONE would show up at all.

5. Plan for food. There are 24 houses on our block. But that has nothing to do with how many people might show up for a party.  Rule #1: Do not rely on RSVPs.  No one does that.  My shot-in-the-dark plan was for 64 people.  That's because frozen burger patties come in boxes of 32.  We bought:

2 boxes burger patties

8 bags buns

2 giant cans baked beans (1 was plenty)

5 bags chips

1 watermelon

5 boxes cookies

1 box flavor-ice popsicles

and also: american cheese, ketchup, mustard, pickles, onion, lettuce, tomato, 4 boxes canned soda, 1 pack bottled water, 2 kinds of salad dressing. AND plates, cups, cutlery, napkins, name tags, ice, and probably a couple other items I'm forgetting.

We also borrowed a couple of big drink dispensers and filled them with sweet tea and lemonade.  It was really hot, and I wanted to be sure we had more cold drink options that we'd ever need.  We ended up having 44 people, from 10 houses on our block. The amount of food was perfect, since some of the teenage boys went back for seconds and thirds!

6. Hope for the best.  Knock on doors during the party if you have to.  Have fun. Enjoy the people who are there, and don't worry about who didn't come until next time.

7. Get ideas from your neighbors about what to do next.  We asked each household to fill out a simple form with basic information for an emergency contact list.  At the bottom, we had them check some ideas for future events.

(Malika designed this one.  It's great, isn't it!)

Through the info sheet, we found out that our next event will probably be a neighborhood yard sale, and that almost everyone is interested in a neighborhood Bible study!  That was a bit of a pleasant surprise.

8. Just do it.  Do not kill yourself planning or second-guessing.  Jesus commanded that we love our neighbors, and this is a great way to start--in our actual neighborhoods, with people who are different, strange, lonely, nice or mean, beautiful or unlovely, and possibly life-long friends who "get you".  Show them some love in a big way, and ask for nothing in return.  That's how you share Jesus to your neighbors.  BE Jesus to them. We did not do this perfectly, but that wasn't the point.  Some things are important enough to do them imperfectly.  And let God's perfection fill in the cracks.

^{Matt 25:35} "For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;" --Jesus

”Imagine what our real neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person." --Fred Rogers