family + crafty things…creepy, crawly birthday

One of our highlights of 2011 was D's birthday party. He's not a birthday party kind of guy. I find this extremely ironic since I love to put on a good party. Anyhow, he initiated the idea of an all boys party which included his classmates and other friends outside of school. 

Since our place is small for a group that size, I had to find a alternate location or park. Unable to reserve a park spot and nervous about the possibility of rain, we ended up booking the party room at Paxton Gate Kids in the Mission. In the end we combined Paxton Gate's beetle pinning activity with a reptile show presented by Owen, owner of the East Bay Vivarium. 

Having a party offsite had it's benefits, but it meant I had to keep things simple and transportable. Decorations were minimal, huge black balloons with silhouettes of insects and reptiles. 

Dirt parfaits were the dessert treat served with a bottle of bug juice to wash it down. I used Smitten Kitchen's vanilla pudding recipe [easy and tasty!] layered with Oreo cookies that have been refrigerated and zapped in a food processor. Goody bags were sewn and stenciled by yours truly. Each bag had a composition notebook with custom cover and back I printed and spray mounted, a bug jar with custom label and fact sheet, a pencil and sharpener, and gummy worms. Bug Crunch was the snack and I used this recipe as my guide, substituting chocolate covered raisins and cranberries for all the candy.

It was so much fun, I want to do the same for my birthday. Of course I'll have to substitue the bug juice for booze.

Enjoy 

F&N

OTHER THOUGHTS

Paxton Gate Kids did a terrific job hosting our party and engaging the boys. They were extremely helpful before the party assiting me with balloons and setting out all the food and goodie bags. A big thumbs-up for the crew and the store.

Owen is AMAZING! He is so informative, witty, and entertaining. The love and respect he has for his animals is inspiring. If you live in the Bay Area, and are looking for a different type of entertainment, give him a call. Better yet, head over to Berkley to check out his store.

For those of you worried about the beetles, they were already expired. The "pinning" consisted of rehydrating the insects in hot water so that the legs and antennae become pliable. The boys used tweezers to pull and arrange the legs then used pins to keep them in place. The pins actually don't go through the insect, they criscross each other over the legs and antennae to keep them in place while they dry. It's a really fun activity. If you're interested you can get some home kits from here.

family…easter wrap-up

We made it through the much anticipated Easter Sunday. The rain did disappoint us as our egg hunt had to be moved indoors, and our picnic brunch was cancelled. Nevertheless, we had a good time.

The boys wore their ties [made with purl patterns] with great pride which made me so very happy to see. 

 I'm extremely happy with the fabric "basket". It was filled with all things Japanese. 

 

I hope your Easter was fun…and dry!

F&N

crafty things…a book bag

It was time for a new book bag for D. His previous was so dirty and tattered, and I had a need to "make" something.  

I FINALLY used the wax paper stenciling technique, and I love it! I'm extremely pleased with the results. The handles were made from an old belt of D's cut in half which provided the perfect length handles and a ring to clip his water bottle or various Star Wars key chains. 

While I did consider buying a back pack for him, I still think he is too small. The packs that do fit his body really don't hold his library books and other school papers, and he still doesn't have patience to actually unzip the pack. He likes to just dump everything in the bag and run. 

Frankly, this might be the last book bag for him. Sniff, sniff. He's taking control of his wardrobe, and I'm sure the desire for the Spider Man backpack will be to strong to deny. 

Happy Crafting,

F&N

small stuff…an art space

D is growing in all ways, and his art space needs to grow too. He outgrew his old table and chair, and his supplies and scraps were overtaking our craft room. So we dropped some cash, made a few upgrades and additions, and now we're all happy.

His old set-up in his old room.

His new set-up in our new craft room.

Close-up of desk and taborets.

We reused the IKEA legs from his old table [NOTE: I cut these with a hacksaw to standard height for a child's table] and replaced the yellow egg table with stainless steel one, again from IKEA. [NOTE AGAIN: I did not pay the web price in-store. I got lucky and only payed $60…I think.] I'm sure you all recognize the shell chair from Modernica and the Bisley taborets. 

I'm a big fan of the shell chairs. First, they are practically indestructible. Second, they are both kid and adult comfy. Even with the low base, it's quite comfortable for an adult to sit and lounge in. In fact, we swapped out the rocker base on an arm shell chair in our living room with the low rod base so D had some lounge furniture of his own.

The magnetic blackboard is an old steel top from a worktable painted with chalkboard paint.

The pen cubbies are Ikea kitchen storage items. TIP: if you use these, adding an adhesive felt "dot" to the back at the bottom will protect your walls!

While it might seem like a steep price to pay for an upgrade, we believe, like most of you I'm sure, that children deserve good design too. The advantage of each of these pieces is that they will grow with D and be useful for Doc and I when D is out on his own. The table top will eventually need new legs again, and we'll have to switch out the base on the chair for proper desk chair, but I think we're good for the next few years.

Best of all, the three of us can fit into one room comfortably and craft away.

Thanks for stopping by!

F&N

object love…PlayShapes

I spotted these in the fall/winter issue New York Times Style magazine. These wood blocks are wonderful and a refreshing departure from unit blocks. Don't get me wrong, unit blocks are still the toy of choice in our house, but PlayShapes are, as the name says, playful. 

Some of my favorite configurations by the creators and designers of PlayShapes, MillerGoodman.

Make sure to visit their  Flickr group for more amazing ensembles.

I cannot wait to get these under the tree for D!

Happy Building,

F&N

family + tasty things…a "day of rest" cake

Shortly before summer vacation began, D had a day off from school. It was called "a day of rest".  Of course, I turned to baking as an activity the two of us could do to start our day, and after a very short discussion, D made up his mind he wanted a chocolate cake. The first recipe that came to mind was Nigella's honey chocolate cake…it's very easy, moist and tasty. 

Now that D expresses his thoughts and ideas clearly, baking together is not as easy as it once was. As we gathered our ingredients and tools, D began improvising, "let's use a square pan instead of a round pan! Let's make cupcakes! Let's add dried cranberries!" I somehow managed to keep him on track or rather distract him while I quickly measured, mixed and poured. Here is what the kitchen looked like by the time the cake batter made it to the oven!

The recipe calls for a honey glaze/icing which I usually skip because the cake is tasty without it, and, mostly, I'm too lazy to make it. D was insistent on having the icing. In my haste, I forgot to sift the powdered sugar…very bad! 

Doesn't it look awful! It's pimply and cracked! Appearance aside, it tasted delicious as usual. Now, we call this our "day of rest" cake, even though there was nothing restful about making it.

Cheers,

F&N

more kite stuff

Kites have been a hot topic around here since our beach day. Did you know kites were invented in China? Well, that seems to be a popular theory. Based on my reading, the general consensus is the kite has been around for approximately 2,000 years. Did you also know there is a National Kite month?

Coincidentally, D pulled this book from our borrowed library books which are way, way, way, waaaay overdue! I had completely forgotten about it. We love all these books about the Kang boys and how their mischievous adventures result in a famous invention. What I like best are the author's note and project at the end of each book. 

The book reminded me of a great kite shop in Chinatown, and shortly after, we found ourselves here. 

I wished I had done more research as there is quite a variety of kites for various wind conditions. With some assistance, we chose some fine beginner kites! I'm fairly certain there will be a kite project occurring here during the summer. 

Some resources:

20 Kids • 20 Kites • 20 Minutes 

Sun Kite

Happy Flying!

F&N

small stuff…hypotrochoid art set

Lately, D and I have been changing up the bedtime routine. Instead of book time, we do drawing time. I like to pull out this hypotrochoid art set and a sheet of bristol board so D and I crank something out in silence, side by side before we say good night.

D still needs some practice to master the gears. He works hard to go around and around and around trying to keep the gears interlocked. I can see it's a fine line between being challenged and being frustrated. And this is when I have to admit to myself that I'm a "pusher"; I push things on D that I want or like.

In the meantime, while he learns to master the gears, I will be sneaking it out of his room and reliving moments from my childhood.  

Check out this amazing Spirograph collection. 

Enjoy,

F&N

giving back + small stuff…big kid coupons

The blogging world has a whole lot of information and ideas to share. Personally, I've taken a lot, and I've been thinking of ways to give back more frequently. So I've decided each time I use a "freebie" from my favorite bloggers, I will post a freebie of my own.

Freebie #1…Bid Kid Coupons

Perhaps, sharing these coupons airs more of our family's dirty laundry, but friends have responded positively to them and confess to implementing a similar system. We started using these about a year ago when D's sense of entitlement was at an all time high, and his family contribution was at an all time low! Immediate course correction was needed. I tried the responsibility charts, sticker charts, discussions…everything. As a last ditch effort, I made the "Big Boy" coupons. Success! 

I'm not sure why he responded to these. Maybe the size was smaller and less intimidating than a big chart, or perhaps he likes to punch the stars at the bottom. 

For each "responsibility" D completes, he gets to punch a star. He's a big-time negotiator. So, we negotiate how many stars he gets for particular achievements, but the REALLY big negotiations occur when he's accumulated a few coupons. He mostly cashes in his coupons for small toys, such as Hot Wheels or Legos, or an activity/outing involving a treat, like a trip to the Ferry Building for gelato or the Japanese Tea Gardens for cookies and green tea.

Does it sound like bribery? Maybe, but the results have been positive. Using this system over the last year, I have noticed D will fulfill most of  his responsibilities without asking for a punch; it's second nature. Now, that he's mastered the basics, we've moved on to bigger tasks [and bigger negotiations] such as washing dishes and vacuuming.

I've included two downloadable pdfs, Big Boy Coupons & Big Girl Coupons. My apologies if the color schemes are too gender biased, it was not my intention, I just liked the palette.  I hope some of you will get some productive use out of these!

Enjoy, 

F&N

ps - Freebie #1 is for Katie's quilt tutorial!

 

small stuff…heath in the house

I'm a big fan of the Heath Ceramics. I always have been. It's hard not to be growing up in the Bay Area. After all these years, my dream of dining with Heathware every night has not been realized, but I am enjoying immense vicarious pleasure as I watch D dine with this lovely and sweet set from Heath Ceramic.

Small stuff…art explosion

While we like to foster creativity and expression for D and provide access to many art supplies and tools…

this is unacceptable! I try to ignore the growing mounds on his table and "gently persuade" him to clean up after he's finished, but it's no use. You see, he's never finished! As he so rationally explains to me, "I'm just taking a break, I need to leave EVERYTHING where it is so I can finish LATER."

I understand his arguement, completely. I leave projects in progress out as well, except I have a more Gerhard Richter approach…

and D is more like Calder…

which is fine, assuming you have a giant studio that is self-contained with a door. Since all of us tend to spend time in D's room, the Calderesque model won't work. Husband and I much prefer an organized environment to a chaotic one. 

I know it might seem unfair or that I'm stifling creativity, but an organized room and work area is how it's going to be. I don't confuse organized with "inaccessible". In fact, we make every effort to provide D with a sense of ownership over his own room, which includes tidying up. 

So, to keep the peace [and organization], I purchased a Bisley cabinet from the Container Store. I don't know why we took so long to get these for his room. We have several of these in our office, and I specify them frequently for our clients. Sometimes the solution is right in front of you!

It's all worked out. He's said to me, "Mom, I just love this new thing! I can find my stickers now! And I can take it with me to college!" [ College?]

Thanks for stopping in,

F&N [an imminent empty nester!]