Simple Summer Schemes: Bubble Painting

Ready for a fun, simple activity?  Me too!

And really, this doesn't have to be confined to summertime, but something about bubbles makes me think of warm, sunny days.  Here we go!

You'll need:

Bubble solution

food coloring

bubble wands

bowls

paper

old sheets

 

1.  Pour a small amount of bubble solution into several bowls.  We used less than 1/4 cup, and it was just right to be deep enough for dipping. 

2.  Add 4 drops of food coloring to each bowl of bubble solution, and stir.  I thought 4 drops was overkill, but when we used less (like, 2 drops), it didn't show up brightly enough when the fun began.

3.  Cover your work area with an old sheet because colored bubbles are about to be scattered far and wide.  Unless you're a true summer-embracer and wish to head outdoors, which would be perfect, you'll want to protect the table or floor you're working on.  It was too windy for us this day, so...

4.  We stayed indoors to make our art.  Have your kids blow bubbles directly at a sheet of paper -- thicker is better because the solution gets rather drippy when little ones are involved. 

5.  But the drips add character to the splotches of circular, popped bubble imprints left behind.

6.  We had tons of fun with this super simple activity!  The girls laughed and squealed each time a bubble popped on their paper, and pretended they were famous artists with crazy, mixed-up paintbrushes.

7.  And the bubbles did fly -- part of the fun was watching the colored orbs float around the table and trying to aim them directly at the paper, which is easier done with gentle puffs of air.  (Something my three year old isn't really capable of, by the way...)

8.  Don't forget to wear splatter-proof clothing.  As for the splattered faces, there's just no covering up that kind of splashed-on color.  Thankfully, it washed off easily.

9.  But not before I seriously considered leaving the primary-colored freckles right where they lay.  Such cuteness that day -- both in speckled, happy, creative kids, and in their bubbled masterpieces.

What do you think?  Have you done bubble painting before?  Any tips?  And what do YOU have planned to keep the little ones busy this summer?

Simple Summer Schemes

This summer, my girls are enrolled in an 8-hour/week summer preschool program. I love the fun of summer preschool because it's usually all about water play and silliness, rather than full days of super-structured learning. I love that they still get to play with their friends into early July. And (be honest), I also love the few hours of writing (or reading, or cleaning, or shopping) time I'm allowed two mornings a week.

But still, that leaves us with lots of free time to wander aimlessly around the house and (now scorched and crunchy) backyard. Though it's hard for me to admit, I have trouble with that free time. I often forget that too much boredom (while sometimes good and constructive) can lead to irritation.

They fight. They melt-down. They whine. I whine.

So, I need plans. Nothing major, but something to do in our hours and hours filled with summer freedom. Something simple. Something to look forward to. Something to spur creativity and imagination, perhaps.

A few weeks ago, the girls and I sat down and made a list of our summer hopes. It's a super-simple, low-key list including things like Throw water balloons and Make our own rainbow and Dance in our bathing suits. Its purpose is just to spur us towards fun things on a daily basis, but I also threw in a handful of personal hopes along the something-to-look-forward-to lines: Visit family in Kansas; Stay in a hotel; Go to the lake.

However, our summer list doesn't include many specific project-type things. And since I'd like to have a couple of those activities planned each week, I need to step up my mom-game.

Therefore, I do hereby clang the gong to announce Simple Summer Schemes.

I have a few ideas up my cyber-sleeves, and hope they go over well so that I have actual ideas to share! So if you're like me and need something to keep your summer days filled with at least a bit of planned fun? Stick around this summer.  I'll share what I've got.

Up tomorrow is Bubble Painting. Be here or be....

Bored :)

Valentine's Day Heart Pillows

For a few weeks now, Mia has been asking to make heart pillows. I don't have any idea where this scheme originated, but she was so set on making it happen that I couldn't let Valentine's Day pass without at least trying to make them.


I got some felt squares from the craft store, traced big heart shapes onto them, and cut out the (not perfectly matched) pieces.

Then I used a big, fat needle to sew two hearts together with pink yarn. And I admit it: this was all done by yours truly. I tried to think of ways to incorporate Mia's help, but nothing seemed simple. Poking holes in the felt for her to lace the yarn through just didn't sound promising. Plus, I didn't think our hole-punch would work on felt, so I settled for Mia sitting right next to me, watching carefully.

Lauren was happy in her highchair for at least a few minutes working on a Valentine for Daddy. Or, should I say, centering her concentration on peeling the wrappings off her crayons while her princesses looked on approvingly.




Then I did find something Mia could help with on her craft: stuffing the mostly-sewn hearts with cotton balls.

Lauren was out of her chair by this time, and enjoying herself thoroughly.



After the heart was stuffed to capacity, I finished sewing the edges and tucked the knotted ends of yarn up into the cotton. Mia was quite pleased with the result. And I was quite pleased too -- I think I spent about $5 total on the supplies. (Yes, that is a real, live bicycle in my KITCHEN. No, I don't want to talk about it.)

A successful craft with zero instructions. I amaze myself.



I don't care if the hearts were absolutely simple and fool-proof; I'm still proud.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

This past weekend, in preparation for building our veggie bed we had to make a trip to Lowe's. I love that place. It's full of ideas and inspiration...and expensive projects we'll probably never get around to doing, but still. The store is like a Candyland for homeowners.

If only I looked like I knew my way around the place. I had my handy-dandy list of supplies carefully denoted on a pretty piece of stationary. While Justin and Mia searched for a big cart in which to haul our lumber, I pushed Lauren in the stroller, trying to figure out what I needed to look for first. I must have had a bewildered glow about me, because a few kind souls asked if I needed some help.

Instead of correcting them that I needed more than just some help, I smiled and nodded. When a teenage lumber-yard associate asked exactly what I was looking for, I handed over my frilly list of items. He looked at me like I was on the short bus - but he was very helpful. How could I have been expected to find a 7/64 #8 counter sink bit all on my lonesome? I would have been flailing aimlessly in a sea of drill bits if not for his kindness.

By this time, Justin and Mia had located a cart, loaded up the 2 x 6's we needed, and joined us at the drill bits. As the young guy consulted with another associate about the best item according to my list, Mia slowly crept closer and closer to them. She had pulled out her best bashful expression, and I could tell she wanted nothing more than some attention from these manly young men. (On a side note, OH HOW SHE FLIRTS.)

When they were both too engrossed in their task to notice her, she quietly wrapped her little arms around the lumber guy's cargo short-ed legs and hugged him with all the adoration she could muster.

I talked her into removing herself, while the guys finally gave her what she wanted: smiles and laughter. She was in three-year-old heaven.

What a sight we must have made. Justin pushing the lumber while Mia yelled out that she wanted to be the line leader. Mia walking about 3 inches in front of the cart, looking over her shoulder to make sure we all stayed behind her. Me swiveling my head between the aisles and my pretty list to locate our next item. Lauren tossing her toys out of the stroller repeatedly. And the passel of lumber yard guys answering all our questions tirelessly.

I like to think we provided some comic relief in their otherwise hard-working and heavy-lifting day.

It was a great shopping trip.

All that was left was to actually use the supplies in order to build the veggie bed. But Pioneer Woman was right. It was pretty easy, even for a housewife like me.

I only had to get Justin one cold drink the whole time he was out there working. Piece'a cake.

How To Make A Birthday T-Shirt For A 1-Year Old

In 12 easy steps.

1. Fall in love with a fancy boutique t-shirt which has dozens of tiny fluffy flowers sewn on in the shape of a 1. Be unwilling to pay the outrageous asking price.

2. Search a craft store with your sister-in-law, searching for tiny fluffy flowers.

3. Weeks before said birthday, leaving plenty of time for completion, purchase flowers and a tiny pink shirt on which to sew them.

4. Procrastinate until 3 days before the birthday party. Begin in earnest.

5. Pencil-in a huge number 1 onto the shirt for an outline in which the flowers will be placed. Realize that the shape you have drawn resembles something that should never be on a baby's shirt. Or anybody else's shirt outside of a bachelorette party, for that matter. Re-draw the 1 into a perfectly innocent 1. Pull your head out of the gutter.

6. Start placing tiny fluffy flowers in the outlined number, and sew sew sew.

7. Stab yourself repeatedly with the evil pointed metal stick (aka: needle) and try not to bleed on the shirt.

8. When your husband comes home, peeks at your half-complete project, and asks why you're making a big number 2 on the baby's shirt, give him the stink-eye until he admits that it appears to be a 1 after all.

9. Stay up late, forsaking your internet and novel in order to finish attaching the tiny fluffy flowers.

10. Realizing that you'd rather sleep, vow to finish the shirt sometime before the party. Shush the little angel on your shoulder whispering some nonsense about procrastination, and give a high-five to the little devil on your opposite shoulder. He's the coolest.

11. The next day, admit that you may not finish the shirt. Think about ordering the boutique shirt after-all, but notice that there is not enough time left for shipping. Grudgingly pick up the needle and thread again. Curse the tiny-ness of the tiny fluffy flowers.

12. Finish the shirt with a day to spare. Hooray! Contemplate what effect the first birthday cake will have on the tiny fluffy flowers. Decide to cover the shirt with a bib, thereby rendering your hard work and stab wounds unnecessary.