tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63524468109640294402024-02-18T20:29:26.098-06:00Sweetening the Small StuffWe're finding joy in all things delightful, delicious, and do-it-yourself. This is a blog full of crafts, recipes, and projects for adults and kids alike.Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.comBlogger165125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-7222731903757885662022-07-17T10:09:00.028-05:002022-07-19T20:59:10.955-05:00Texas Caviar: Delicious, Healthy Summer Salad<p> My husband is trying hard to be heart-healthy, so we have been modifying our meals to be much more plant based. I'm not a gourmet cook by any stretch, and I think I often under season our food. So trying to find yummy foods that avoid meat and dairy is daunting. And to be honest, I also want EASY. </p><p>As a result, I was so excited when I discovered this recipe. Oddly enough, I found it in a monthly magazine that we receive from the electric company that provides power to our rural property. </p><p>The salad lasts beautifully in the fridge for several days. In fact, it becomes even more flavorful as it marinates in the dressing. If I am serving it to a large group, I include the avocado. If we, just the two of us, eat it over a period of several days, I add the avocado as I serve it so that it doesn't turn brown and mushy. The recipe includes bacon, but I simply leave it out to make it vegan. This dish has become a menu staple; I make it almost every week.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjz3yoYoFj4aCzh5JuppJjuAq9QEvQYooJX3LmqaN2G3UjN2dNYt3OO4wi7m2jADn5pjLtDJ48Rn_QCPt1UFhOuOj6JZIFjJbrU2bBGFU18v4f0wykiBS74fajny8rxlHUlcfLQGT6LLfc4LBA8hJx-m7GsqCT4vMWELrzCJyjOf23J6CR7LCkx81op9w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1155" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjz3yoYoFj4aCzh5JuppJjuAq9QEvQYooJX3LmqaN2G3UjN2dNYt3OO4wi7m2jADn5pjLtDJ48Rn_QCPt1UFhOuOj6JZIFjJbrU2bBGFU18v4f0wykiBS74fajny8rxlHUlcfLQGT6LLfc4LBA8hJx-m7GsqCT4vMWELrzCJyjOf23J6CR7LCkx81op9w=w499-h373" width="499" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">RECIPE:</div><p></p><p>1 can (15 ounces) black eyed peas, rinsed and drained (I often use garbanzo beans or other white beans)</p><p>1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained</p><p>1 cup corn, canned or thawed from frozen (I don't want to waste any of the corn, so I use the entire can)</p><p>1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced</p><p>1/2 cup diced red onion (if I don't have red, I use white instead)</p><p>1 cup halved grape tomatoes</p><p>2 slices crisp-cooked bacon, chopped (optional)</p><p>1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro</p><p>1 avocado, diced</p><p><u>The dressing:</u></p><p>1/2 c olive oil</p><p>1/4 c red wine vinegar</p><p>1 tablespoon lime juice</p><p>1 teaspon sugar</p><p>1 teaspoon salt</p><p>1/2 teaspoon cummin</p><p>1/2 teaspoon pepper</p><p>Drain and rinse beans. Slice and seed red pepper. Peel and dice onion. Chop cilantro. Half tomatoes. Peel and dice avocado. Cook, drain, and chop bacon. Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Mix dressing and toss with the salad. Chill and serve.</p><p>Enjoy!</p><div class="noborderdv" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAXmKFombL_mTaK1ews_VDGuDcKVOIuqZDaP0g3V4yNcquHNFnw6pslAtm59X_XBSc-YEt94VeZMGQPrL5jlC6qfMp6bK_U5TUQYKg3f-XQEaRxWOnvYPu2A7Ha5bvKAoRwymLPbw1oHIrsM7LnH4pJUY0vAehg2-qZcIA3anZzEJ0CGsz4A35XV45Ng/s819/From%20Paint%20mom.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="819" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAXmKFombL_mTaK1ews_VDGuDcKVOIuqZDaP0g3V4yNcquHNFnw6pslAtm59X_XBSc-YEt94VeZMGQPrL5jlC6qfMp6bK_U5TUQYKg3f-XQEaRxWOnvYPu2A7Ha5bvKAoRwymLPbw1oHIrsM7LnH4pJUY0vAehg2-qZcIA3anZzEJ0CGsz4A35XV45Ng/w200-h113/From%20Paint%20mom.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Marilyn Jensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803629129887374043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-24768534795426417302022-04-29T19:39:00.002-05:002022-04-29T19:39:19.098-05:00Belly of the Dragon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCs8ToFHwQ_lTtbx8pDRNzxrQLXf7uBTOXDpqpIpHLPLWoxH8s0SK3VbpEJ6G6dmqvOiuUjah49EM2D2bSWB8Veu_PJBilyiOhGmQm2G1IqMvmU-omxceUjeC2WB4Hbs66TrDRob0Hwa9aVINpRQGiLJpsrhKW0Dp6rObT558rtNge2bAV6azsDD3Djg/s4032/PXL_20220422_190618207.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCs8ToFHwQ_lTtbx8pDRNzxrQLXf7uBTOXDpqpIpHLPLWoxH8s0SK3VbpEJ6G6dmqvOiuUjah49EM2D2bSWB8Veu_PJBilyiOhGmQm2G1IqMvmU-omxceUjeC2WB4Hbs66TrDRob0Hwa9aVINpRQGiLJpsrhKW0Dp6rObT558rtNge2bAV6azsDD3Djg/w480-h640/PXL_20220422_190618207.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Isn't the name of this hike enough to pique your interest? All the credit for this gem of a hike goes to my friend Roni who, upon hearing we were heading to Zion National Park over spring break, suggested we tack on this small hike as well. It's just outside Kanab, UT, a quick 14 mile drive away from the East Entrance to Zion.</p><p>We still have a 2-year-old in tow, so short and interesting hikes are our go-tos (no Angel's Landing for us this year). Belly of the Dragon fits the bill perfectly; it's a brief hike through a man-made tunnel under highway 89 for water drainage. People grumble online about the "man-made" aspect, and yes, it would be rad if it was an actual lava tube or whatever would create this curious cave naturally. Still, our three boys enjoyed the fascinating scramble through the waving rocks (and so did I).</p><p>Happily for us, Google maps did a great job navigating to the dirt access road off the highway and parking area near the entrance. There is a bit of a ledge to lower yourself (or your kids) down to reach the cave entrance. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CIkDWJfxGv_Ik51MFTTG70UzImZIeSKv8Nqfkx3koRvhPNJH6xP2DX1ngtXQfARBAF7J2iHJtje3s0e_ObnJCXHDdvkBICHAQcw3xnIkyJQ8G82dZZyGSeGlPPDEZmJsONX1nbbI4UIH7NB-Ktlvn6N8lZfUpS2ZnHtMGEvUJkQKqUOc_qNYKx65OQ/s4032/PXL_20220422_185220207.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CIkDWJfxGv_Ik51MFTTG70UzImZIeSKv8Nqfkx3koRvhPNJH6xP2DX1ngtXQfARBAF7J2iHJtje3s0e_ObnJCXHDdvkBICHAQcw3xnIkyJQ8G82dZZyGSeGlPPDEZmJsONX1nbbI4UIH7NB-Ktlvn6N8lZfUpS2ZnHtMGEvUJkQKqUOc_qNYKx65OQ/w480-h640/PXL_20220422_185220207.MP.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>But the ledge is the hardest part, and now you're free to enter the dragon! The cave is short enough that we could see the light at the far end, but we ended up using our phones' flashlights for some extra visibility (and got comments from all our fellow hikers about how great our kids' light-up shoes were in the cavern).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOSEOeNcMsX_MDpUZkC94R1FR6UTIJXUXBHAptqYun7PlTS_1fqw-pfUmdVA7JNfamkAoqsqEtgCc4FpCyZf2OZUK8JqMn6hL1kaCx5vM0niflYSid1p7wlXKD0t-MsqjNtGHUP1ZGzbNaLuLsYgMqSamCzSYkXfwoZz0SI_8G7TywwEhMKAmh7hkLfw/s4032/PXL_20220422_185736874.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOSEOeNcMsX_MDpUZkC94R1FR6UTIJXUXBHAptqYun7PlTS_1fqw-pfUmdVA7JNfamkAoqsqEtgCc4FpCyZf2OZUK8JqMn6hL1kaCx5vM0niflYSid1p7wlXKD0t-MsqjNtGHUP1ZGzbNaLuLsYgMqSamCzSYkXfwoZz0SI_8G7TywwEhMKAmh7hkLfw/w480-h640/PXL_20220422_185736874.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Made it to the other side! Short and sweet. We didn't keep hiking past the cave, though supposedly it goes on for a few miles.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid3V6rLz7r-LkLnXwtNIiUSAJ6C4GBUYTn_TmkAnx6dRXmNh-bwYeAnu5aiowJvj9ZWqDa4SNOQR7atFDjgPBhnuwxE1RyoV7_aSvLdCNKXpiHu5rdpNVgBkIGbWFjElRG7qQbEh_otocONjQVAPrTWF0jwVjoTaYX9cCoKqT4c40DBnlGxDlSmehS8g/s4032/PXL_20220422_190350897.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid3V6rLz7r-LkLnXwtNIiUSAJ6C4GBUYTn_TmkAnx6dRXmNh-bwYeAnu5aiowJvj9ZWqDa4SNOQR7atFDjgPBhnuwxE1RyoV7_aSvLdCNKXpiHu5rdpNVgBkIGbWFjElRG7qQbEh_otocONjQVAPrTWF0jwVjoTaYX9cCoKqT4c40DBnlGxDlSmehS8g/w640-h480/PXL_20220422_190350897.MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I thought it was well worth the stop on our way to Zion, a perfect little hike with the kids.</p><div class="noborderdv" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifM-qlI0Dwbw80rXJkmDaxiWno7szom1RrinmxI8zhmEvpvXE2ixy2yvB29JcZRTT1KCb1SuJVN-CX4hGaDYLlbv8MWda9OkIJaf4Ygl6s-QsobPkq-MIFmS3gNel1QccVcaOtOaNcGE1tAPCklKHy54K_R324PeEIwufhQ4BeyyLHxEoA48FbZ7jiHQ/s2508/From%20paint.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1254" data-original-width="2508" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifM-qlI0Dwbw80rXJkmDaxiWno7szom1RrinmxI8zhmEvpvXE2ixy2yvB29JcZRTT1KCb1SuJVN-CX4hGaDYLlbv8MWda9OkIJaf4Ygl6s-QsobPkq-MIFmS3gNel1QccVcaOtOaNcGE1tAPCklKHy54K_R324PeEIwufhQ4BeyyLHxEoA48FbZ7jiHQ/w200-h100/From%20paint.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-42697664466303460632021-11-17T15:13:00.000-06:002021-11-17T15:13:11.408-06:00Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake<div style="text-align: left;">"Thank you so much for the pumpkin bread you dropped off!" a good friend gushed a few years ago. "We loved it." Then a pause. "I was going to make a cream cheese frosting to go with it, but I was amazed how good it tasted without anything but powdered sugar on top! Delicious."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Well, that's because it was pumpkin cake, not pumpkin bread (but honestly, lots of pumpkin cake masquerades as bread, so no biggie). The idea of it comes from Anne Byrn and her <i>Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor</i> book (the same book inspiring this amazing <a href="https://www.sweeteningthesmallstuff.com/2015/10/chocolate-brownie-trifle.html" target="_blank">Chocolate Brownie Trifle</a>). I'm glad my friend liked it, and I'm even more glad this cake <i>does</i> work without a frosting or a glaze. Its deliciousness to effort ratio is off the charts, and it's the perfect treat for this time of year. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7PmvUcUiGvw1ah3AvzD7JhWEdOXgCSeyf6yhMu5b0BJW7RI3XGTR_SaFR__66JmsghPGXZGJ0FN-GMVBZP5K_U60MS99KPCMYu2DHGo4Pq6EC9Eq_I35jwdRHMNaxE2uEGVccXT_NFHq6/s1204/Pumpkin+Chocolate+Chip+Cake.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="903" data-original-width="1204" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7PmvUcUiGvw1ah3AvzD7JhWEdOXgCSeyf6yhMu5b0BJW7RI3XGTR_SaFR__66JmsghPGXZGJ0FN-GMVBZP5K_U60MS99KPCMYu2DHGo4Pq6EC9Eq_I35jwdRHMNaxE2uEGVccXT_NFHq6/w640-h480/Pumpkin+Chocolate+Chip+Cake.png" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJMLNa0o32nfbswe_yxVVBRiFBU3UA9P9YGXHfLg3IP4RsLW4myRtPG1gGtTxGnvxSuX5Bsz_GSp_7Zxoe1SHKsU6KbiGzd9Tj1y2B0hYoUej2KyGdixWTCK4ZLFGJoS7j17jwUw-ae-tW/s4032/PXL_20211017_193629768.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJMLNa0o32nfbswe_yxVVBRiFBU3UA9P9YGXHfLg3IP4RsLW4myRtPG1gGtTxGnvxSuX5Bsz_GSp_7Zxoe1SHKsU6KbiGzd9Tj1y2B0hYoUej2KyGdixWTCK4ZLFGJoS7j17jwUw-ae-tW/w480-h640/PXL_20211017_193629768.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p><b>Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake</b></p><p><i>Adapted from Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor</i></p><p>1 box plain yellow cake mix (18.25 oz)</p><p>15 oz canned pumpkin </p><p>1/4 cup water</p><p>2 large eggs</p><p>1 tsp cinnamon</p><p>1/2 tsp nutmeg</p><p>1/2 tsp ground allspice</p><p>2 tsp baking soda</p><p>1 cup chocolate chips</p><p><i>optional: </i>1 TB powdered sugar for garnish</p><p>Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and generously grease a 12-cup bundt pan with cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, canned pumpkin, water, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and baking soda in a large bowl. Mix with an electric mixer on low for 1 minute. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJLiQBmqmOVxQWqY8vZ0-jQD7brzJBLCsNorrsbck3FX9hUVvFI4kx1AxrU5mlh8k_g9PmxT7PueGesH1c_rzCv-xQCJPmgaemaGCiav1pjrV0huLMhOLBcj-eYptkTuCXs6SwJZ8cyyUM/s2595/PXL_20211017_195204379.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1946" data-original-width="2595" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJLiQBmqmOVxQWqY8vZ0-jQD7brzJBLCsNorrsbck3FX9hUVvFI4kx1AxrU5mlh8k_g9PmxT7PueGesH1c_rzCv-xQCJPmgaemaGCiav1pjrV0huLMhOLBcj-eYptkTuCXs6SwJZ8cyyUM/w640-h480/PXL_20211017_195204379.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and increase speed to medium, mixing for 2 more minutes. Scrape down sides again. Mix in the chocolate chips on low until they are evenly distributed throughout the batter. Pour batter into the greased bundt pan, smoothing the top.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheMTaTE616fJIulyD0W5l2doQehyprpAwdqdb4aw8Eo3vZns2pFKtDl8ZQDxQoXy3VQRA8-SqeVLlYfJObu85ykrp9GDdFWxs2Vda7CkSFEed_AFBre0P8yaNNXdFX4Y0hu_ctXJrd2-2h/s4032/PXL_20211017_195418898.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheMTaTE616fJIulyD0W5l2doQehyprpAwdqdb4aw8Eo3vZns2pFKtDl8ZQDxQoXy3VQRA8-SqeVLlYfJObu85ykrp9GDdFWxs2Vda7CkSFEed_AFBre0P8yaNNXdFX4Y0hu_ctXJrd2-2h/w640-h480/PXL_20211017_195418898.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibDT7R1XjUOVhruE4LWJiiiRbAbDf8KaIekxt5EStEnLD244rNBZpkp6LMhDgcq0SX7wqLxgBhWszfBcwCoaOMI28KPqKGE3SnVSBtl3W0KWloL3DBDMT1Rn-nX1PijQ3cA9d5-YTJE1vX/s4032/PXL_20211017_195735837.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibDT7R1XjUOVhruE4LWJiiiRbAbDf8KaIekxt5EStEnLD244rNBZpkp6LMhDgcq0SX7wqLxgBhWszfBcwCoaOMI28KPqKGE3SnVSBtl3W0KWloL3DBDMT1Rn-nX1PijQ3cA9d5-YTJE1vX/w640-h480/PXL_20211017_195735837.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Bake in the oven 42-46 minutes until it is lightly browned and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Invert onto your cake stand or serving platter to to cool completely. This can take another 40 minutes. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eUJ-_MRxfU2sqn8_7tvn7vRIDCHGtF74FO96xQIIAVNDLVnyeiikw4OE3zmTMeVIzic-SIbamXSAp0xUNp_3ErFlb_TmJ7csoQ7RAq03Onb31UQ7toSPar4AgjryW_GmxuyIVHWJRYeD/s4032/PXL_20211017_210456763.PORTRAIT.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eUJ-_MRxfU2sqn8_7tvn7vRIDCHGtF74FO96xQIIAVNDLVnyeiikw4OE3zmTMeVIzic-SIbamXSAp0xUNp_3ErFlb_TmJ7csoQ7RAq03Onb31UQ7toSPar4AgjryW_GmxuyIVHWJRYeD/w640-h480/PXL_20211017_210456763.PORTRAIT.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc85NBsWzMJvTGKnAkzCElYeiGXcuxwO0vZyQDMevCA7leN3A0Gpds_abH2X04g137u_Gvt1FKn0-fE04Yp6Vb4MLgtEBGIePm1vHKOZby2rH2b3OOzzJg6f0llytTvL_JfsyhRkY3QyQE/s4032/PXL_20211017_210429287.PORTRAIT.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc85NBsWzMJvTGKnAkzCElYeiGXcuxwO0vZyQDMevCA7leN3A0Gpds_abH2X04g137u_Gvt1FKn0-fE04Yp6Vb4MLgtEBGIePm1vHKOZby2rH2b3OOzzJg6f0llytTvL_JfsyhRkY3QyQE/w640-h480/PXL_20211017_210429287.PORTRAIT.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Finish with a dusting of powdered sugar. Note: if you add the powdered sugar before the cake has cooled, it will take on a yellowish tint. Boo. So go ahead and wait until it's cool to add the sugar.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9XeqJwpZAOAvzyFBNr-6yTU7tpLlOJCeACf2nNibcf7d4Y-eWPaCTeqqOxWLf5guEcWTMV2wT5Tp2kdGixZHikivP4Azz33XSDDZOQLX2pVh7vyd6QI17o3PINzrbpZ9PCe_gKb2ZOmR/s4032/PXL_20211017_222532805.PORTRAIT.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9XeqJwpZAOAvzyFBNr-6yTU7tpLlOJCeACf2nNibcf7d4Y-eWPaCTeqqOxWLf5guEcWTMV2wT5Tp2kdGixZHikivP4Azz33XSDDZOQLX2pVh7vyd6QI17o3PINzrbpZ9PCe_gKb2ZOmR/w640-h480/PXL_20211017_222532805.PORTRAIT.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="noborderdv" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BAJsgWq-2ueRPRYTkqFryIpOtHwwbX7CBMU7C4QWts-ElwXV3X8KKF587X85HoL9V9YibIYiHr8_pUQ-AL3JEtGgf7saRq2KGZPPtmp5sHuXc0X7bcLUgS_WwuqRxI9TqZRsIUGPoCzX/s2508/From+paint.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1254" data-original-width="2508" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BAJsgWq-2ueRPRYTkqFryIpOtHwwbX7CBMU7C4QWts-ElwXV3X8KKF587X85HoL9V9YibIYiHr8_pUQ-AL3JEtGgf7saRq2KGZPPtmp5sHuXc0X7bcLUgS_WwuqRxI9TqZRsIUGPoCzX/w200-h100/From+paint.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-60084905831912552522021-10-15T07:00:00.002-05:002021-10-15T07:00:00.259-05:00DIY Kids' Art Wall<p> <span>I think there are some pretty cute aspects to our home. There's the </span><a href="https://www.sweeteningthesmallstuff.com/2017/02/diy-storage-bench.html" target="_blank">DIY toy bench</a><span> mom and I made (<a href="https://www.sweeteningthesmallstuff.com/2021/04/recover-your-diy-storage-bench.html" target="_blank">and later recovered</a>), the </span><a href="https://www.sweeteningthesmallstuff.com/2016/08/5-diy-canvas-prints.html" target="_blank">$5 "Canvas Prints,"</a><span> the whale mobile in Gummy Bear's room... Yet the feature that gets the most notice and compliments is the kids' "Art Wall."</span></p><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-F-5iGu5zJYFqiZl32IiVE5IFMxNWTgpN-mrK1Ovzh60w-R65k18BVkyew1mv6eqE1VDL9CNj7py7W1Ze0XXEemXy452222Xw5VNjgEfiB6ndFmPlW1T0hUSQcuaV92Xt4SW7RhCNdgMe/s4032/PXL_20211009_195814073.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-F-5iGu5zJYFqiZl32IiVE5IFMxNWTgpN-mrK1Ovzh60w-R65k18BVkyew1mv6eqE1VDL9CNj7py7W1Ze0XXEemXy452222Xw5VNjgEfiB6ndFmPlW1T0hUSQcuaV92Xt4SW7RhCNdgMe/w480-h640/PXL_20211009_195814073.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">The compliments must be nods to my kids' vast artistic talents, since the actual holder is as simple as it comes. To recreate it, all you need is:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Small Command Hooks</li><li>Picture Wire</li><li>Wire Cutters</li><li>Binder Clips</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>I got everything from Walmart (except the wire cutters, which I had on hand in our basic toolbox). The instructions? As straightforward as they seem: first, determine where you want your art wall. I slipped mine in the corner of our playroom over the craft table.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhScyFsn5xAsrCoPVxLmrE_eRgV3CuY4SUp-CkA1URGI1u1tzKmpfcCUyz8ZUZ5gT97bcZ2Ihr8CltzIdAuHU-Qi-mP-Mw_R7wxpkp9TwCN4eUscoNwB4Xc50RA62_1qWqajbxbkjm2nNWk/s4032/PXL_20211009_195751116.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhScyFsn5xAsrCoPVxLmrE_eRgV3CuY4SUp-CkA1URGI1u1tzKmpfcCUyz8ZUZ5gT97bcZ2Ihr8CltzIdAuHU-Qi-mP-Mw_R7wxpkp9TwCN4eUscoNwB4Xc50RA62_1qWqajbxbkjm2nNWk/w640-h480/PXL_20211009_195751116.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>As you can see, I wanted mine four layers high, so I measured the "display" area to equally space my four rows and marked the spots for the hooks with a pencil. Following the directions on the command hooks, I attached them at my marked spots. (All it takes is unpeeling stickers, pressing the hooks in place for one minute, and then waiting an hour before hanging anything heavy. Easy-peasey.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Then, I strung the picture wires from hook to hook as taut as I could, securing them by looping around the hook and then winding the end back along the wire. Once secure, I snipped the ends with wire cutters.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpd1V0m9vyVJKcviy58OYIpOokVbIqlYanlPxA8BG1TgBfwt2nvu68EfUVfkSflMAJA-qIlqoo0ssaQvgAWJL6xtnq5ez47Ubc6IHp0wvxuWRE-7a11lmcAsMIC9iGbxObhtovVkK6z85f/s4032/PXL_20211011_011502196.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpd1V0m9vyVJKcviy58OYIpOokVbIqlYanlPxA8BG1TgBfwt2nvu68EfUVfkSflMAJA-qIlqoo0ssaQvgAWJL6xtnq5ez47Ubc6IHp0wvxuWRE-7a11lmcAsMIC9iGbxObhtovVkK6z85f/w640-h480/PXL_20211011_011502196.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Next, I put several binder clips on each wire and voila! It was ready to hold art! So simple, so inexpensive, and so customizable! </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_WUXUIjt69OOCToT1Jbb5habxfmkofugWSi6NDOznp-jIUZSNfDnSOylP494_KdKlVef2Ts0TsvMWPpO7hv5GTfG8b_NuM6l6bZzyrTc2BhVeoKE0NTekZ2QGPwrwIvVai7IJ0EIUklG/s4032/PXL_20211009_195823017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_WUXUIjt69OOCToT1Jbb5habxfmkofugWSi6NDOznp-jIUZSNfDnSOylP494_KdKlVef2Ts0TsvMWPpO7hv5GTfG8b_NuM6l6bZzyrTc2BhVeoKE0NTekZ2QGPwrwIvVai7IJ0EIUklG/w480-h640/PXL_20211009_195823017.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Mum has a version of this in her home, sometimes for the grandchildren's creations but also for her own watercolors. That sloth is to die for, mum...</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyPd2O5iBqztNoHOFZR0Ti4GUr2Ch8U9LnfCiNdS-knfDpcSa2M6ZIb6Qpn3Ra1YoEbyR2XVkfRlFcl0kgbMrPdr2z07lNZAx01C4cUJwzVAddGsGxbjuPgSqMawPk4EBSq-7GmBhcL9-x/s4032/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyPd2O5iBqztNoHOFZR0Ti4GUr2Ch8U9LnfCiNdS-knfDpcSa2M6ZIb6Qpn3Ra1YoEbyR2XVkfRlFcl0kgbMrPdr2z07lNZAx01C4cUJwzVAddGsGxbjuPgSqMawPk4EBSq-7GmBhcL9-x/w640-h480/image.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Happy drawing/painting/crafting!</div><div class="noborderdv" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCH179RkrtgHkFEK8DgY47tXoHxam7WHcUZVLHy6Vz9IN0GEeqEgqh01IcBKZd_wor6_o-y8OLTSxoz5ryOLBB0axzTsqSO3CIQ1V7BgY5Y7s7KhTRL1Im_LWylm4usuJGS5jmsnhOozjE/s2508/From+paint.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1254" data-original-width="2508" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCH179RkrtgHkFEK8DgY47tXoHxam7WHcUZVLHy6Vz9IN0GEeqEgqh01IcBKZd_wor6_o-y8OLTSxoz5ryOLBB0axzTsqSO3CIQ1V7BgY5Y7s7KhTRL1Im_LWylm4usuJGS5jmsnhOozjE/w200-h100/From+paint.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p></div>Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com0Utah, USA39.3209801 -111.093731111.010746263821154 -146.2499811 67.631213936178852 -75.9374811tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-54389515234049319282021-04-23T16:33:00.001-05:002021-10-09T15:38:18.980-05:00Recover Your DIY Storage Bench<p>It's super satisfying to look back at a project from four years ago and think, "Yes! This was so worth it. I love what I made and use it on a daily basis." </p><p>That's how I feel about our <a href="https://www.sweeteningthesmallstuff.com/2017/02/diy-storage-bench.html" target="_blank">DIY Storage Bench</a> of 2017. That bench was an essential part of our townhome's living room décor, holding the kids' toys and standing strong despite lots of sitting (and jumping...) on it. The cube's structure held up, only needing some occasional screw-tightening. The white finish did a great job withstanding the constant pulling and pushing of toy boxes. The cushion, though a little droopy on the front corners from supporting so many sitters, is still foamy and comfortable. Somehow, mom's crazy idea of using hardboard and attaching it with command strips worked perfectly. In fact, I never took the cushion portion off (until very recently). The only things that <i>didn't </i>hold up were the $5 cloth bins from Shopko. Ah, well, we can't have everything.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEgn-Pi3oyIzFrQ9EfbMSFeA9IkEeZThwLqDlrRQQfJew7j-yoMEiPd4H2aLfUbi3VTTdS_T05Q6IoA-4Hg7bYPMpjHQ7ir0eSoSGepX5s7XCgoAcuxdUuvFniGJiW5_VGhkggu2DafKSf/s2048/IMG_20170112_115952.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEgn-Pi3oyIzFrQ9EfbMSFeA9IkEeZThwLqDlrRQQfJew7j-yoMEiPd4H2aLfUbi3VTTdS_T05Q6IoA-4Hg7bYPMpjHQ7ir0eSoSGepX5s7XCgoAcuxdUuvFniGJiW5_VGhkggu2DafKSf/w640-h480/IMG_20170112_115952.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Now, in our new home, we put our toy-holding bench in the playroom, but it didn't vibe with the bright, rainbow look I was going for:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidlE_ohGwrx5UlBxgxAEQN2Dp3P4-jU8w-NGsAJvI8AWEFvH1benKGuwjOZpWwzUkEUgd-4tWKDKHOrUi2pOaAC9nFzpbsebQQbobDMaqec4YOheii-ctLSAZpJFy_OvxW5FUkghHHUogF/s4032/PXL_20210117_030611815.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidlE_ohGwrx5UlBxgxAEQN2Dp3P4-jU8w-NGsAJvI8AWEFvH1benKGuwjOZpWwzUkEUgd-4tWKDKHOrUi2pOaAC9nFzpbsebQQbobDMaqec4YOheii-ctLSAZpJFy_OvxW5FUkghHHUogF/w640-h480/PXL_20210117_030611815.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>I knew I wanted to recover it, but we were also in the midst of covid lockdowns. So it sat, like so, until mom came for a visit a few months ago. Masks on and with my fabric expert in tow, we ventured to JoAnn's to pick a brighter cover for our bench.</p><p>Can I make an aside? The fabric we bought last time was <i>awesome</i>! Outdoor upholstery fabric for only $3 a yard??? It lasted like a dream, and the pattern hid any spots and dirt that must have inevitably gotten on it after years of use with little kids. Our new fabric, though adorable, was much more finicky to work with. What did we get, you ask? Mum, take it away:</p><p><i>This time we chose an indoor upholstery fabric that picked up the corn color in the pennants hanging on the wall. It has a classic pattern that makes a brighter, bolder statement than our previous choice. It is heavy duty and should wear well. But it was also expensive; I think it was listed at $30 a yard. (Fortunately, we had a couple of coupons and got it for half off.) It is an indoor fabric and doesn't have the built-in protections of our earlier outdoor choice, so we sprayed it with ScotchGuard to help protect the surface from inevitable spills. </i>Laurel's note: we also sprayed the previous fabric with ScotchGuard. One must be thorough when one has young kids...</p><p>So, how would this thicker, brighter, more finicky cloth, work on a bench cushion? Since the original cover was still smooth and taut, we opted to put the new fabric on <i>over</i> our old one. This was less time-consuming and saved us a lot of staple-removing, but it also meant the fabric under our hardboard was getting thicker and thicker. Would it be too bulky? Would the command strips still work?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlK7btAO4sLjBAElh3AIcxQvnluvUbYi3tTPcH99amCQPxwZXlO7_wy69drg4748UrYXtswZdKXktOGWC0NFsN_u2u58PTx8mz4lvIcjWv56lY6IZyDY_19whkDz8iIvNT6k_bJMiuM58O/s4032/PXL_20210308_204234252.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlK7btAO4sLjBAElh3AIcxQvnluvUbYi3tTPcH99amCQPxwZXlO7_wy69drg4748UrYXtswZdKXktOGWC0NFsN_u2u58PTx8mz4lvIcjWv56lY6IZyDY_19whkDz8iIvNT6k_bJMiuM58O/w480-h640/PXL_20210308_204234252.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>We decided it was worth the risk and, like last time, started to staple. This bold, big pattern made it more essential that we line up the fabric just right to keep the pattern lined up and square along the cushion. There was lots of adjusting. Also, notice that mom made sure we doubled over the fabric before stapling to avoid fraying. Nice thought, mum. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuVToaSmsUFht3suekvIccYmt_F_SsZaIZ2dwTJv3uCveb5iqIcXHnuzM13SkvvJGvakh6TQE-1HyXx9VIAPZ9W48X0hJnEjGARc7eJ6cf4779USadSlO08jdr3vyjmx4WEz5_Um5aGfoD/s4032/PXL_20210309_033052848.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuVToaSmsUFht3suekvIccYmt_F_SsZaIZ2dwTJv3uCveb5iqIcXHnuzM13SkvvJGvakh6TQE-1HyXx9VIAPZ9W48X0hJnEjGARc7eJ6cf4779USadSlO08jdr3vyjmx4WEz5_Um5aGfoD/w640-h480/PXL_20210309_033052848.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>This fabric is also much more stretchy, which is its own, special pain. Pull it too taut along the long sides, and the foam will develop a weird, wavy pattern along the staples. Leave it too loose and the bench is frumpy and prone to catch. It took some fiddling to determine the right tightness... and even then, we were wrong. I went back a few weeks later to pull it tighter at the short ends. This avoided ripples and gave the cushion a clean look.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy5WM-idZX5ThPfKYlQL3n_G-MhYqIB3xy1kJ2r6TILdBPsyDA8CUnyQnzIDlU0HTsWVQAHaG82aoklP3YgkZFvuDyfyxYk_Cw0Ay9IJfZWy8BwOp1MAKWfNHH7Uln9NX2k04eI6f6HV4Y/s4032/PXL_20210309_032904220.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy5WM-idZX5ThPfKYlQL3n_G-MhYqIB3xy1kJ2r6TILdBPsyDA8CUnyQnzIDlU0HTsWVQAHaG82aoklP3YgkZFvuDyfyxYk_Cw0Ay9IJfZWy8BwOp1MAKWfNHH7Uln9NX2k04eI6f6HV4Y/w640-h480/PXL_20210309_032904220.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Speaking of the ends of the bench, they were, again, much harder to arrange with thicker fabric. We cut out awkward chunks along the corners to try and avoid awkward bunching (with mom's encouraging "Trust me, this is totally normal when upholstering" to give me courage as I snipped out more and more corner fabric, praying I wouldn't take out too much.) Still, we made it, and a million staples later, we came to the moment of truth: would the command strips still attach it to the bench? Yes! Our folds of stapled fabric were <i>just</i> thin enough so the "velcro" part of the strips could connect and stay put. They are still doing their job a couple months later.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsT2XToLWtHTlP_dQ58EbGPJsjyJphCSJyaleT_hLM7WNN0AxOZ9BvMqYMyxp64CO60fUetrOM2bndT3ieyr3V0JWsrPlG-4czD2nedQ-MiI6AkRiGLIwXZcTNK9qhcKv6BHrR6VtzQwq_/s4032/PXL_20211009_195652931.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsT2XToLWtHTlP_dQ58EbGPJsjyJphCSJyaleT_hLM7WNN0AxOZ9BvMqYMyxp64CO60fUetrOM2bndT3ieyr3V0JWsrPlG-4czD2nedQ-MiI6AkRiGLIwXZcTNK9qhcKv6BHrR6VtzQwq_/w640-h480/PXL_20211009_195652931.MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzb1X_b54zr2PJHAxgOyS6jzGtzxyEcd3W9HwaPR2pCde9E1ylEbkBjZ5owrox4PidHN7L9JLUlcQKa_v-87788u9wZGRF0grouIqr0Oucfqac6Oa4S2WqAgF1XGKFSrjsrSg3WSPcxfD4/s4032/PXL_20211009_195514669.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzb1X_b54zr2PJHAxgOyS6jzGtzxyEcd3W9HwaPR2pCde9E1ylEbkBjZ5owrox4PidHN7L9JLUlcQKa_v-87788u9wZGRF0grouIqr0Oucfqac6Oa4S2WqAgF1XGKFSrjsrSg3WSPcxfD4/w640-h480/PXL_20211009_195514669.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Truly, despite the difficulties, I'm proud of this project.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_NGAC1lQufSxMtPW2HDJPxcd36hbI2QjK64Q3AyKpaELbLCx3PVQ4sCNX6wfGxvLrHl53uYUCjvgksPlFr_qBeY6uHLBQ6qD4DIivfibHnD_F6dCjPblnVRj0ZQQi3trZR6UzC4fJMY-/s4032/PXL_20211009_200138008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_NGAC1lQufSxMtPW2HDJPxcd36hbI2QjK64Q3AyKpaELbLCx3PVQ4sCNX6wfGxvLrHl53uYUCjvgksPlFr_qBeY6uHLBQ6qD4DIivfibHnD_F6dCjPblnVRj0ZQQi3trZR6UzC4fJMY-/w640-h480/PXL_20211009_200138008.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWOJIEdBlw-WpltA9TSCDDVcoHqmHJxDd5Z5vITEy3DGIZ8D8-bVo8GF-NDiELFvH7eMwX-cjnGnT1stMKAFO0afdl7nqrtLYFU3H3319r00wPjjjvHNAnKAsFhz6_ULBL2vmEMLPA4bDe/s4032/PXL_20211009_195751116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWOJIEdBlw-WpltA9TSCDDVcoHqmHJxDd5Z5vITEy3DGIZ8D8-bVo8GF-NDiELFvH7eMwX-cjnGnT1stMKAFO0afdl7nqrtLYFU3H3319r00wPjjjvHNAnKAsFhz6_ULBL2vmEMLPA4bDe/w640-h480/PXL_20211009_195751116.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="noborderdv" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BAJsgWq-2ueRPRYTkqFryIpOtHwwbX7CBMU7C4QWts-ElwXV3X8KKF587X85HoL9V9YibIYiHr8_pUQ-AL3JEtGgf7saRq2KGZPPtmp5sHuXc0X7bcLUgS_WwuqRxI9TqZRsIUGPoCzX/s2508/From+paint.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1254" data-original-width="2508" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BAJsgWq-2ueRPRYTkqFryIpOtHwwbX7CBMU7C4QWts-ElwXV3X8KKF587X85HoL9V9YibIYiHr8_pUQ-AL3JEtGgf7saRq2KGZPPtmp5sHuXc0X7bcLUgS_WwuqRxI9TqZRsIUGPoCzX/w200-h100/From+paint.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-15570480428216752642020-08-11T15:07:00.002-05:002020-08-11T15:16:25.384-05:00Hiking the Small Stuff: Bridal Veil Falls<p>Summer is officially winding down, and school is just two weeks away! Panicking that we haven't completed my list of "Small Hikes," I needed my husband's reminder that we can still go hiking in the fall. The weather will get better and better, and weekends are still a thing. So, you need not worry if you haven't hit up Bridal Veil Falls yet.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXk-7aIWw9u2fWPdH9Atx-e_p8JU7g0QJjoX0mWVYAT_y4BUuRq8EoNn62KQks887YKZKwJqObNougewhojj-j2lYScchSWVHIsd5s8DkItYwhzVCCeaa9FAxvfAre8mATBNSNfhbAa4Sj/s4032/IMG_20200727_134106880_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXk-7aIWw9u2fWPdH9Atx-e_p8JU7g0QJjoX0mWVYAT_y4BUuRq8EoNn62KQks887YKZKwJqObNougewhojj-j2lYScchSWVHIsd5s8DkItYwhzVCCeaa9FAxvfAre8mATBNSNfhbAa4Sj/s640/IMG_20200727_134106880_HDR.jpg" /></a></div><p>So, does Bridal Veil Falls count as a hike? I submit that this is a nice, small hike of sorts for little ones, albeit a wet one. It's located in Provo Canyon, and following the signs, I turned onto a small access road. The falls are a little ways down the road, and even when we seemed to be there, it was unclear where to park to get to the falls the fastest. We opted by a bridge; you've got to cross the Provo River, after all.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33vqp6Jvfi_udpOvZ2BrmE4D-_NgR-5Kzu0CDfx_t_TG-c0exjbZe9UiOOki4awufsKob-16jGoh9ggVrmXEHVSObj_yzQ4r-zzQkK_0FsupSDZxPBXTW5hUJLFDndWqLkx2xFR8aLH6k/s4032/IMG_20200727_142527097.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33vqp6Jvfi_udpOvZ2BrmE4D-_NgR-5Kzu0CDfx_t_TG-c0exjbZe9UiOOki4awufsKob-16jGoh9ggVrmXEHVSObj_yzQ4r-zzQkK_0FsupSDZxPBXTW5hUJLFDndWqLkx2xFR8aLH6k/w480-h640/IMG_20200727_142527097.jpg" title="Bridal Veil Falls" width="480" /></a></div><p>Once on the other side, you're on a paved path and need to watch out for bicycles and skateboards. However, just under the falls is a designated "walking zone" to keep you and the littles from getting run over. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3NJpCtKM7bLG73-UrkmrvDnZ-4D1zbJWg3ZV5T6IqulfeYQ8Z6T7sZtcBPINGWTtFbXpE5QvXrvrdLb2yG5FlyCF463TgRpmlPq6e2teTY4BA14cd_GWXWJ9f-sh1fou52h2M0goSPVbx/s4032/IMG_20200727_134009492_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3NJpCtKM7bLG73-UrkmrvDnZ-4D1zbJWg3ZV5T6IqulfeYQ8Z6T7sZtcBPINGWTtFbXpE5QvXrvrdLb2yG5FlyCF463TgRpmlPq6e2teTY4BA14cd_GWXWJ9f-sh1fou52h2M0goSPVbx/w480-h640/IMG_20200727_134009492_HDR.jpg" title="Bridal Veil Falls" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A short ways down the path and voila! You're at the base of the magnificent falls. We were there on a Monday afternoon in July, and it was crowded enough to require some effort to maintain social distancing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtdLXU9bl__5a6aqOIIv99mAuk8HaAlGMZb8slROb6oAGYaHiWfopX13ivtmYO6lLLOjFgeoZMERCvQEqP2d_XJPp-AiasAYwMm53rlzjMpzgiN9UIn_8SLnjgvIlbv_ibZMF0pWQun-kW/s4032/IMG_20200727_141423043_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtdLXU9bl__5a6aqOIIv99mAuk8HaAlGMZb8slROb6oAGYaHiWfopX13ivtmYO6lLLOjFgeoZMERCvQEqP2d_XJPp-AiasAYwMm53rlzjMpzgiN9UIn_8SLnjgvIlbv_ibZMF0pWQun-kW/w640-h480/IMG_20200727_141423043_HDR.jpg" title="Bridal Veil Falls" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We did not bring our water shoes, foolishly, but that didn't stop us from stepping down into the water and climbing a ways up the rocky falls.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGCvYL0Wp7_zR03j8eP8IDeOZ4VSe_nq3Sdc2LT1vE5CqcRgCN3yLtOwVArpOt1DxL-nrEMKL6dDS0aUeB4YEbAIMf3xj5hQk2SnWZJBBZD55Sfkf8ejhX67YbKFkoBF3tfmlfL32O8ksk/s4032/IMG_20200727_134749440.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGCvYL0Wp7_zR03j8eP8IDeOZ4VSe_nq3Sdc2LT1vE5CqcRgCN3yLtOwVArpOt1DxL-nrEMKL6dDS0aUeB4YEbAIMf3xj5hQk2SnWZJBBZD55Sfkf8ejhX67YbKFkoBF3tfmlfL32O8ksk/w480-h640/IMG_20200727_134749440.jpg" title="Bridal Veil Falls" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Or, if climbing sounds too intimidating, there's a shallow pool of sorts at the base where kids splashed and played. Again, I envied the parents with the foresight to dress their kids in swimsuits and water shoes!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafOxNk7Dt2ljsQ3ILLoXZA-MWZa-qIin7GvmacucUWngMIUV3bji22h3l5MQHXgJf4lcuw_LTNLpMQXRH74TaIZvQLFmoBgd7xnS1KzEN2a5f29vgM0kX6tVPqNIywM9xOKM1PF9e4HH_/s4032/IMG_20200727_134746768_HDR.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafOxNk7Dt2ljsQ3ILLoXZA-MWZa-qIin7GvmacucUWngMIUV3bji22h3l5MQHXgJf4lcuw_LTNLpMQXRH74TaIZvQLFmoBgd7xnS1KzEN2a5f29vgM0kX6tVPqNIywM9xOKM1PF9e4HH_/w480-h640/IMG_20200727_134746768_HDR.jpg" title="Bridal Veil Falls" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Meeting up with cousins for this escapade, we had kids ranging from one to ten-years-old, and all seemed to enjoy the experience. My young boys both needed ample help from able-bodied grownups (ones <i>not</i> carrying the baby, usually) to climb on the slick, wet rocks. Still, there aren't many child-friendly hikes in this canyon, so it was great to have an excursion they could enjoy even if they needed a strong arm to hold onto. Even with sloshing shoes, it was a success.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="noborderdv" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCH179RkrtgHkFEK8DgY47tXoHxam7WHcUZVLHy6Vz9IN0GEeqEgqh01IcBKZd_wor6_o-y8OLTSxoz5ryOLBB0axzTsqSO3CIQ1V7BgY5Y7s7KhTRL1Im_LWylm4usuJGS5jmsnhOozjE/s2508/From+paint.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1254" data-original-width="2508" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCH179RkrtgHkFEK8DgY47tXoHxam7WHcUZVLHy6Vz9IN0GEeqEgqh01IcBKZd_wor6_o-y8OLTSxoz5ryOLBB0axzTsqSO3CIQ1V7BgY5Y7s7KhTRL1Im_LWylm4usuJGS5jmsnhOozjE/w200-h100/From+paint.png" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p>Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-9159954863554414102020-08-02T13:04:00.000-05:002020-08-02T14:23:19.469-05:00Hiking the Small Stuff: Mill B South TrailFor those just catching up, this summer is The Summer of Small Hikes for this little family. After all, I'd love some memories that are not strictly associated with Covid-19, right? So, our previous two hikes, <a href="http://www.sweeteningthesmallstuff.com/2020/07/lisa-falls-trail.html" target="_blank">Lisa Falls Trail</a> and <a href="http://www.sweeteningthesmallstuff.com/2020/07/temple-quarry-trail.html" target="_blank">Temple Quarry Trail</a> clocked in at a mere 0.3 miles. Today, <i>today</i>, we were going to take on Mill B South trail, and it's whomping 0.5 mile to the waterfall! Bum-bum-BUUUUUUM!<br />
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As noted before, my kids are young, and I have a baby either strapped to my front and wiggling like mad in my Ergo carrier (which I love) <i>or</i> strapped to my back in a thrift store pack (which I hate.) Thus, we're looking for very doable hikes that will leave our family of five with happiness, joy, and a sense of wonder at the beautiful nature in the Salt Lake Area. This means short, easy hikes.<br />
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So, Mill B South trail, up Big Cottonwood Canyon, seemed to fit the bill: a paved, shady trail that ends in a waterfall? We were in. So in.<br />
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The parking lot is small, but we followed the lead of others and found parking on the shoulder along the road. Back at the lot, we found a nice, broad, paved trail flanked by trees. This "Mill B South Trail" is, apparently, the start of a longer "Lake Blanche" trail.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJONyovVRZVyokiIYhmF5UiVjVzejHV9kW1Diqzc4L6fTgeBCjdnlbymeeMVD4corUZWnlyYntUojG0Xp1sNkWnMQsjYV2zfw2nqpanxEdC9fvgsHm6MMnqEUoFGNPQzIM8TNwYVwl-O8/s1600/IMG_20200606_105418096_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJONyovVRZVyokiIYhmF5UiVjVzejHV9kW1Diqzc4L6fTgeBCjdnlbymeeMVD4corUZWnlyYntUojG0Xp1sNkWnMQsjYV2zfw2nqpanxEdC9fvgsHm6MMnqEUoFGNPQzIM8TNwYVwl-O8/s640/IMG_20200606_105418096_HDR.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK6b19ZnfPcQNAZE9sb5JmpeD0wH0y4UkWK0iCPj9rS40KDf2xDbvaYRF4eXwGJ5sjwI5KlLAk26k2I7Bec2ImbLpPQmFBy16wH1c2YSxuqhp-PZ2-MxYV1p5zCoZsUauDBpABLcxszTOf/s1600/IMG_20200606_105235684_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK6b19ZnfPcQNAZE9sb5JmpeD0wH0y4UkWK0iCPj9rS40KDf2xDbvaYRF4eXwGJ5sjwI5KlLAk26k2I7Bec2ImbLpPQmFBy16wH1c2YSxuqhp-PZ2-MxYV1p5zCoZsUauDBpABLcxszTOf/s640/IMG_20200606_105235684_HDR.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Despite its stroller-friendly nature, I again had Gummy Bear on my back, which, in the end, was fortuitous. Though the trail is short and paved, the boys found it a wee bit steep and claimed they were tired. Still, we made it to the waterfall without too much trouble (or grumbling).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrhUFHL1LS9jSaLndiHNYvRXOB0gkWHqy9O7T8iFM7PdnTrRBtPsqcjDTx9eW-kNW5keRae1a-AxhLltovJXdkI57E_wpZ0FB5TduJDPwUYLC26NoWGlquDcQqdaLhU67xHEIxhNg6A-I6/s1600/IMG_20200606_112042531_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrhUFHL1LS9jSaLndiHNYvRXOB0gkWHqy9O7T8iFM7PdnTrRBtPsqcjDTx9eW-kNW5keRae1a-AxhLltovJXdkI57E_wpZ0FB5TduJDPwUYLC26NoWGlquDcQqdaLhU67xHEIxhNg6A-I6/s640/IMG_20200606_112042531_HDR.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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After throwing some rocks in the water, the boys magically regained their energy and wanted to head up the rocky trail towards Lake Blanche. My hunch was right; they prefer clambering over rocks to walking on pavement. However, we weren't sure how far to go with the little ones; they obviously wouldn't make it all the way to the lake. However, there's a bridge a ways up that made a nice turnaround point, complete with a bench for sitting and snacking.<br />
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Overall, it was a lovely hike with lovely views, lovely trees, and lovely flowers.<br />
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<br />Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-91657778749371312412020-07-25T20:20:00.000-05:002020-08-02T14:23:35.402-05:00Hiking the Small Stuff: Temple Quarry TrailWell, folks, we not only survived but thrived on our <a href="http://www.sweeteningthesmallstuff.com/2020/07/lisa-falls-trail.html" target="_blank">Lisa Falls Hike</a>, and less than a week later, we were at it again! We again took to Little Cottonwood Canyon near Sandy, Utah, to try our next baby-preschooler-six-year-old-friendly hike: Temple Quarry Loop. It has its own dedicated lot, but we missed the turn and parked at one nearby, figuring we'd just walk over. It's nice to know there's nearby parking if the lot is full; however, that's a busy road to cross with kids, so dad brought the car down to us after the hike was over. Lesson learned.<br />
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Here's the deets: Temple Quarry is a paved loop only 0.3 miles long. The elevation gain is 19 feet, so this is a mellow, peaceful circle. Did I mention it is paved? Yes, this appears to be a stroller-friendly hike!<br />
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Stroller-friendly, that is, if you stay on the path. The concrete loop is interspersed with signs and placards that give the history (and insanity?) of quarrying and dragging giant blocks of granite for the Salt Lake City Temple to the valley using wooden carts and oxen. However, there are also dirt trails off the main trail that lead to the nearby river, and our boys loved scampering up and down those to the water's edge. Again, they <i>love</i> water. Throwing rocks in the water will amuse for a very long time...</div>
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The vistas and wildflowers were beautiful in late May.</div>
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The hike was yet another win, and we plan to go back, maybe with grandma and grandpa. We suspect they'll enjoy the history and beautiful views (and their knees will hopefully like the even, paved trail.)</div>
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<br />Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-20701675121497261602020-07-19T12:15:00.001-05:002020-07-19T15:08:07.545-05:00A Very Tiny House in the Middle of the Woods (or Playroom)Several months ago, I had a chance to combine two of my favorite hobbies--woodworking and making doll things for my granddaughters. While browsing Ana White's woodworking ideas for a different project, I happened to see plans for building a cabin hangout for 18 inch dolls. It seemed like a perfect joint present for two of my granddaughters who are sisters and have birthdays just a few weeks a part.<br />
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Here is a photo of the project from her site and a link:<br />
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<a href="https://www.ana-white.com/woodworking-projects/camp-hangout-18-or-american-girl-dolls">https://www.ana-white.com/woodworking-projects/camp-hangout-18-or-american-girl-dolls</a><br />
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I already had some of the wood I needed, but my guess is that even if I had started from scratch, building the cabin itself would have cost less than $50. The current list price for a similar, plastic cabin at a retail store is $185. Accessories add to the cost but can also be done on a budget. More about that in a moment.<br />
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I followed her plans as outlined with one exception. Instead of painting some of the wood white, I chose to paint only the back wall (forest green) and then, after sanding, I coated the rest of the cabin with clear polyurethane. I like the look of the natural wood but wanted to protect it as well. Here is a picture before I added the roof and the back wall:<br />
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And here is the completed cabin.</div>
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The Ana White site also has plans for accessories, including a darling cot. I chose to go a different direction with things I already had. Instead of building a cot, I created a hammock out of the cover that came with a hammock I purchased for our back porch. It stretches across the cabin from the left back to the right front. I simply used cup hooks. When it's not in use, it hangs out of the way in the back corner:<br />
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Knowing that I might build this at some point, I purchased several cabin appropriate ornaments after Christmas last year. One of the funnest things I found was a small string of battery operated fairy lights decorated with twigs and pine cones. I hung it along the eaves and secured the battery back with velcro strips on the back of the cabin. It is out of sight but easy to access to turn the lights on and off.<br />
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These lanterns are a little large scale wise, but I love them and used them anyway. I hung one on each side of the cabin with small hooks.<br />
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The gingham bear picture, tackle box, fishing tales sign, and checked backpack are all repurposed Christmas ornaments. I made the wooden shelf from wood scraps left over from the project.<br />
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Both the fishing pole, resting in the back corner, and the picnic basket were thrift store finds. (The picnic basket was my five year old granddaughter's absolute favorite part of the cabin.)<br />
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Happy Camping!<br />
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<br />Marilyn Jensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803629129887374043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-68604016865060029242020-07-12T11:25:00.001-05:002020-07-19T15:59:27.665-05:00Hiking with (Very Small) Kids: Lisa Falls TrailCovid-19 is clogging up our national parks with stir-crazy, outdoors enthusiasts, but that’s not a problem when you live 20 minutes from the mountains. No, the greatest challenge to hiking in the mountains with children is… the children. I find that people use the term “family-friendly” loosely on hiking websites and apps; perhaps their families consists of robust, fit teenagers. Mine has a baby, a preschooler, and a six-year-old along with my husband and myself, and though I want to instill in them a sense of wonder for nature and a sense of reward for accomplishing hard things, most hikes are too difficult for our set. Well do I remember the many hikes of my childhood, and I hated them all. They were simply too arduous for a kid.<br />
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So, are there excursions in the Salt Lake area we can realistically do with my short-legged companions and a baby strapped to my back? The answer appears to be yes, and this is our summer to discover them.<br />
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Our first hiking attempt? Lisa Falls Trails. Here are the deets: it’s a 0.3 mile out and back hike with 121 feet of elevation gain. It’s located in Little Cottonwood Canyon, and Google Maps did a pretty good job telling us when to pull over and park. There’s no dedicated, paved lot, perse, but there was plenty of gravely parking off the road. We were initially unsure where to find the trail head, but we followed more knowledgeable hikers to the correct spot.<br />
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Water is, apparently, a great incentive for my children, and luckily there are many hikes in the Salt Lake area that culminate in a waterfall. This one is a rocky climb which, come to find out, is exactly what my boys enjoy. Scrambling over rocks is much more enjoyable for them than walking on pavement. We appreciated the late morning shade that lasted up until the falls themselves. Our attempt was in late May, and though the trail itself didn’t seem overcrowded, there were groups of people gathered at the top. Social distancing was more difficult at the actual falls. Thus we didn't stay too long; a few quick pics, and we were back in the trees, enjoying the scramble back down.<br />
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Kids are parents alike found this a short and sweet winner.<br />
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Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-9657776819565364952020-03-02T10:21:00.000-06:002020-04-18T16:01:26.701-05:00Simple Cutting Hack for Making T Shirt QuiltsOne of our granddaughters was involved in soft ball, band, theater and an assortment of other extra-curricualar events during middle school and high school. So for her birthday, her dad thought it would be fun to create a quilt out of the old t-shirts that she wore as she participated in those activities. He and my daugher asked if I wanted to help. I've made a lot of quilts over the years, but I have never done a t-shirt quilt before. I knew this would be a big project--she has a lot of shirts--and trying to figure out how to cut those soft, stretchy shirts into twenty even squares was a little daunting.<br />
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So I spread the shirts out and measured side to side and top to bottom to see if I could figure out what dimension would allow me to include the important patterns on the front without running into the sleeve and neck edges. I ultimately decided that 14 inches was optimal.</div>
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But then, how to cut them? I needed to be able to see that 14" square while I cut the t-shirt fronts so that I could center the designs. For most quitlting, the easiest option is use a cutting mat, plastic cutting guide, and a rotary cutter. But I didn't have and couldn't find a template that size, and the smaller templates that I do have are somewhat opaque. I remembered that you can buy fairly thick clear plastic sheets at the hardware store, so I went to Lowes, and, sure enough, they had them in varying sizes. None of them were exactly the size I needed, but the helpful hardware people will cut them to size for you without charge. For $12, I was able to purchase the plastic and have it cut into a 14 x 14" square. (I got to keep the left over pieces. Future projects. . . .?) Not cheap, perhaps, but certainly worth it for the time it saved me.</div>
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I cut the backs off each shirt and sent them to a thrift store that recycles fabric. Then I simply placed each front on my cutting board. I didn't have to worry about measuring or straight lines or anything other than having the fabric smooth. I centered my plastic template over the emblem on the t-shirt that I wanted to highlight in the square:</div>
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Using my rotary cutter, all I had to do was cut around the template:</div>
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Marilyn Jensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803629129887374043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-81691623219046878952020-02-18T14:52:00.000-06:002020-02-18T14:52:20.626-06:00Number Three Caterpillar Birthday Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was a busy weekend, as so many are. Gumdrop's family party was fast approaching, and I showed my other half various birthday cake options on Pinterest, hoping for his help narrowing down the choices. So when he lovingly suggested that we do something simple... I realized it was up to me alone.<br />
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Not that I blame him. He grew up on box cake baked into a rectangular pan--"regular cake," so they call it. His mom made a tasty buttercream frosting, and voila! Birthday cake. For my mom, however, cake was her artistic medium, and for your birthday, you ate a boat or a bunny or something of that sort. Further, box-cake isn't my jam; it tastes kinda ho-hum. I'm sure Gumdrop could care less, as he usually eats little frosting before asking for a handful of chocolate chips instead. Still, if I'm going to make it, I'd like to enjoy it, too. Besides, last year SourPatch got a delicious <i>and</i> <a href="http://www.sweeteningthesmallstuff.com/2019/05/octonauts-themed-birthday-party.html" target="_blank">fun Octonauts cake</a>; Gumdrop deserved one, too. So I said to myself. Because I wanted to make one.<br />
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So, busy weekend or not, I settled on the classic number 3 cake, caterpillar-style. There are rough instructions for it in <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/ATWxzjKueuy2jTp88RqKUeiE6kT1r5JhDuXMtVeZJflejQJuoQFQnuo/" target="_blank">this delightful, jazzy video tutorial</a>...doo, doo, doo-doo-doo, doo-doot-doo. It shows where to cut the bundt cakes AND has you use a cookie scoop to distribute the frosting. Have I mentioned how much I love my cookie scoop? I use it whenever I can: to fill muffin tins, to fill chicken puffs, and to, well, scoop cookie dough. Now, I shall use it to distribute frosting on a cake, and I love it.<br />
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Eh-hem. Anyways, here's the final result:<br />
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This does make a lot of cake. I love my Cake Mix Doctor cookbook and went into a panic when I could not find it in the new house (I later found it in the linen closet, naturally...)! This turned out to be a boon, as I discovered the popular <a href="https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/7565/too-much-chocolate-cake/" target="_blank">Too Much Chocolate Cake</a> recipe on allrecipes.com. It is as delicious as the 5 stars and 5000 reviews suggest. Armed with my fluted bundt pan and ramekins, I doubled the recipe and cooked up the 4 cakes in two batches. Obviously, the small "head" cakes cook for a much shorter time than the bundt cakes, so be sure to check on them and pull them out early once they spring back to the touch.</div>
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While letting the cakes cool completely on wire racks, I whipped up some buttercream (again, from an online recipe, as my cookbook also contained my usual one). After skipping all the ones that are Crisco based (really? For <b><i>butter</i></b>cream frosting?), I found a classic butter-powdered sugar-milk variety that tasted as delicious as anything made from those ingredients should. </div>
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It was only then that I realized I grabbed a box of neon food coloring by mistake... ah well. For added texture and interest, I tossed giant round sprinkles onto the frosting immediately after spreading (before the frosting hardens up). I thought the effect was great... until we ate it a few hours later. Sheesh, those sprinkles are like rocks! I felt like a was going to break a tooth; I'm getting something smaller next time. Good thing it looked cute.</div>
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To finish it off, I added the facial features. Though the obvious choice of decoration was fondant, I shuttered to resort to it. Not only do I dislike the taste, but don't you also have to either make or buy a lot of it for a tiny amount of decoration? Luckily for me, I'd learned the Starburst hack from the dragon cake I made SourPatch ages ago. A small pack of Starburst will give you a variety of colors, and a few seconds in the microwave will yield them malleable for a few minutes before they harden again. So a few yellow, orange, and red squares plus two toothpicks yielded eyes, mouth, and antennae for our caterpillar friend.</div>
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Happy Birthday, Gumdrop. May your next year be as bright as this (neon) cake!</div>
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<br />Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-78516455927783555472020-02-02T21:02:00.001-06:002020-02-02T21:02:40.544-06:00Fairy GardensIt's almost spring, so it's a perfect time to think about fairy gardens. Two of our granddaughters have spring birthdays, and their creative mom decided to help them (and their brother) create fairy gardens as part of their birthday joy. For us, it was a four-part process, and the children were involved in all of it:<br />
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<b>Choose a container: </b><br />
This can be easy or hard, depending on what you're looking for. There are a bazillion pots out there within a huge cost range. Our goal was to make fun gardens at a moderate price, so we used pots that I already had. And I think I purchased them initially at thrift stores. You want to be sure that the pot or container is large enough to handle the plants you choose plus the fairy decorations. However, soil alone is heavy, so it is also important to consider the weight of the container once it is filled. There are great inexpensive plastic or resin pots that look like stone or terra cotta. That is what we chose to work with:<br />
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<b>Choose plants:</b><br />
Fairy garden plants need to stay relatively small, so check on growth height and spread when you choose your plants. We went to a nearby nursery to find ours, but I have noticed since then that both Lowes and Home Depot have fairy garden sections, and they may be less expensive. (Also, Kroger, our grocery store, recently had small succulents for $1 a plant. Super price!) We tried to choose plants that gave us variety--color, texture and height. You want enough greenery to fill but not crowd your container. (Leave enough space for the plants to grow, and if things start to look too crowded, it's fine to prune a bit. These pictures were taken right after the gardens were created, and by the end of the summer they filled in even more.) Be sure to leave plenty of room for your accessories. Also consider light and water requirements. Two of our gardens had similar plantings, but we chose succulents for the third. Mixing them might have been a mistake because succulents require much less water.<br />
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Notice that this garden has ferns, plants that droop over the edge, flowering plants, and taller plants at the back to add dimension. Check for variation in color and texture as well.<br />
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<b>Choose accessories:</b><br />
This is the fun part, and you can be so creative. We found many of our fairies, structures and other accessories online, but we also found them at the dollar store, the hardware store, and thrift stores. (I spotted a darling mushroom at Hobby Lobby this week--a Christmas tree ornament that was 90% off.) The hunt is half the fun. In the gardens above, look for charming houses, bridges, a metal trellis, benches, woodland animals, stepping stones, and a pebble brook, The male of the group chose gnomes instead of fairies and succulents instead of leafy greens. The result was delightful, and of the three gardens, this was the only one that survived the winter cold. The others will need to be replanted:<br />
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Again, notice the variation in plant color, size, and texture (and the adorable hedgehogs.)<br />
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One of the cottages has little solar panels and lights up at night. SO FUN!:<br />
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<b>Put it all together:</b><br />
We bought a large bag of container potting soil and went to work. We had the children set out their design by arranging the pots and the accessories on top of the soil before we did any digging. That helped us create a pleasing composition without having to dig up and rearrange. Once everything is in place, it might be helpful to snap a reference picture so you can check back as you plant.<br />
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The children loved both the process and the finished products. And they are excited to re-imagine their plantings this year. It is fairy garden magic.<br />
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<br />Marilyn Jensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803629129887374043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-9111822742255128562020-01-22T07:21:00.000-06:002020-01-22T07:21:55.625-06:00There Was a Little House. . . .Laurel and I have both taken a long blog break, mine longer than hers. But we plan to be back with a vengence because we have missed it. It stirs our creative juices, and, more importantly, it keeps us connected to each other in a special way.<br />
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Before I fell off the earth, I had started working on a children's garden and playhouse for our back yard. (I blogged about it clear back in spring of 2018.) Over the next few weeks, I'll update you on the progress and share what I learned from the experience--what worked and what didn't.<br />
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My yard growing up was a childhood paradise, a half acre of house, lawn and flowerbeds, and another half acre in back of orchard and trees--and a brick playhouse that my Dad and older brother built for me. I knew I couldn't replicate that sense of space and freedom in our much smaller city lot, but I did hope to carve out child-friendly, creative spaces for our grandchildren. That space centers around this playhouse--a much smaller and simpler version of the one that my Dad created for me:<br />
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I found the <a href="https://www.ana-white.com/woodworking-projects/indoor-playhouse-featuring-jen-woodhouse" target="_blank">free building plans</a> for this house at a site I use often for my DIY creations. Because the site has everything else you need to know, I'll just share the things I learned and the adaptations I made to make it more weather proof; the Ana White house was made for indoor use.<br />
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Although I wanted my structure to be sturdy, I didn't necessarily want it to be permanent, so I chose not to lay a cement foundation. Instead, I bought a prefab section of cedar fencing that was about two feet wider and longer than the house. Cedar was more expensive than pine, but I knew that it would weather better. If I had built it myself, I would have made it a about two feet longer to give the house a larger side porch area. As it is, it has a narrow back porch that is shaded by an overhanging part of the roof and a small side porch. It gave me enough room to add a little bistro table that can be served through the back window:<br />
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But choosing a pre-made foundation made sense; it was both less expensive and much easier since I was constructing the house by myself. I did add some extra bracing to the underside to strengthen it, and I attached boards to the front, back, and sides for strength and aesthetics.<br />
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To keep the platform off the potentially wet ground, I rested each corner on bricks. Since the ground slopes away from the house, I used smaller bricks in the front and cinderblocks in the back where the slope is greater.<br />
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I put the frame together on my porch because of a very rainy spring and then moved it to the platform to put up the walls. The biggest challenge was keeping everything square. Fortunately, wood is very forgiving, and when I had to, I just shaved a little off to make things fit.<br />
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In a way, it was a good thing that there was a lot of rain. It slowed the process down, and because of that, it quickly became clear that nails from my handy nail gun were not going to be sufficient to hold it together. As the tongue and groove planks became heavy with rain, they began to sag and pull away from the frame. So I went back and added screws to every board. It made all the difference, and I would recommend screws from the very beginning.<br />
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The plans call for a plywood roof, but plywood does not hold up well in wet weather. So my wise husband looked for and found a lighter and more durable solution online at Home Depot. We ended up using a Suntuf polycarbonate clear roofing panel that we cut to fit and then screwed into place. It keeps out rain and blocks harmful UV rays while letting in light. The entire roof is a skylight.<br />
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I painted the house, both inside and out, with two coats of clear polyurethane and painted the front trim with oil-based, green paint. (You can see from the pictures of the back porch that the wood is already beginning to weather a bit, but I'm okay with that.) Then I had the fun job of furnishing and decorating the interior. I found (or made) all the child-size furniture at thrift store bargains:<br />
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And the exterior--a thrift store rocker for the porch, solar lights from Amazon, and a genuine mailbox from the hardware store:<br />
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Marilyn Jensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803629129887374043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-89374185460116411272019-05-12T08:11:00.000-05:002019-05-12T08:11:06.448-05:00Octonauts Themed Birthday PartyWell, our first ever birthday party is in the books! Don't get me wrong; we didn't completely ignore SourPatch's first few birthdays. There were definitely cake and family time involved in all of them, and I think birthday #3 fell on a day I was hosting preschool, so we worked birthday festivities into the activities of the day (that year had the best dragon cake, too! The tutorial is floating around online somewhere...)<br />
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Then last year, SourPatch opted for an excursion with a friend over a traditional party. Yet this year... this year it felt like it was time. Patches was excited about a friend party, and I was ready to try to expand my mothering experiences to include hosting said party. His favorite show of the moment is Octonauts, a show of which I approve and an obvious theme for his party.<br />
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Here's what I liked about his birthday this year: it gave us an opportunity to work on party-preparations together. For example, we bonded making a pinata of Captain Barnacle's face. I was going to add a link to the tutorial we used, only to find out the site is having troubles. Basically, we cut out two outlines of a polar bear head in cardboard and a two inch strip of cardboard to go in between. We taped it together with packing tape (not <i>too</i> tight, lest the kids couldn't crack it open...) and left an open flap to add candy later. Oh, and I added some sturdy ribbon tied around the inner cardboard strip for hanging.<br />
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Next, the wrapping! To give it the appearance of fur--and that classic pinata look--I cut slits 3/4 of the way up two rolls of white streamers acquired from the dollar store. Since I had modge podge on hand, it was my adhesive of choice to brush across the pinata in sections as I wrapped the pre-cut streamer around and around and around, overlapping the strips to leave no brown cardboard peeking through. SourPatch was a great helper here.<br />
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Once completely wrapped, I let it dry and cut out a hat, ears, and face from construction paper and card stock. Add an Octonauts emblem to the hat, and voila! The captain.<br />
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I'm glad it looked cute and even more glad that the kids universally seemed to enjoy hitting it. Indeed, they <i>kept</i> hitting it even after the candy came out.<br />
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My son also enjoyed helping decorate for the party. We added streamer seaweed to the windows.<br />
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We also made and hung jellyfish from the ceiling (the tutorial is found here at <a href="https://littlestarslearning.blogspot.com/2012/07/jellyfish-from-trash-liners.html" target="_blank">Little Stars Learning</a>.)<br />
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So... activities. I read lots of moms online skip the party games all together and just let the kids play, especially if they have pleasant weather and a big yard. I considered having the party at a nearby park, but the weather was inclement. Further, the point was to try to throw a "real" party, not just a play date, so, consulting with the birthday boy, we tried to think of activities he and his friends would enjoy.<br />
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As the kids arrived, we had a bubble machine blowing ambient bubbles on the porch. First thing, they came and played "Pin the Eyepatch on Kwazii" (another creation we threw together with poster board and construction paper, though I believe there's a version you can buy on amazon.)<br />
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Then, there were ocean sticker scenes from <a href="https://www.orientaltrading.com/dolphin-mini-sticker-scenes-a2-70_2344.fltr?keyword=ocean" target="_blank">Oriental Trading Company</a> available for the kids at folding tables to create while waiting for the other kids to arrive. I'd say half the kids chose to do the sticker scenes while the other half played with toys. Works for me!<br />
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Once all the children arrived, we unrolled a "treasure map" to three different spots in our home. The first spot had a classic "fishing game." Dad crouched on the other side of a blue blanket, attaching cheap plastic ocean animals to the end of a fishing rod as each child took turns casting it over. The next spot on the map went to these awesome swordfish swords, also from Oriental Trading Company (but sadly now discontinued.) I had them stabbed into a gold, spray-painted cardboard box so they could each pull their sword out King Arthur style. The kids enjoyed playing with them and surprisingly didn't kill each other with them (though one child did obliterate the box... no picture of that one!)<br />
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Our last stop on the treasure map led the kids to sand boxes on the porch full of buried gold (plastic) doubloons. After digging their allocated amount of coins, they were free to go and play until pinata time. I, like every other mom on the internet, made "Pesos' Medical Bags" to hold their party swag and pinata candy. Thank you, Misadventures of a First Time Mum for the <a href="http://misadventuresofamum.blogspot.com/2011/10/octonauts-to-role-play.html" target="_blank">band aid printable</a>.<br />
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As mentioned before, the kids really do love hitting a pinata, especially with their new swordfish sword. Post pinata, we went inside for cake and candles. I made a Kwazii cake on Patch's actual birthday earlier in the week; we rocked cupcakes for the friend party. Now, what to do for food? Looking online, I found that some really beautiful, elaborate, and adorable, ocean-themed spreads. I thought and thought about what to do... and decided to follow one party planner's much simpler suggestion: ice cream bar. Kids love the power to choose their own toppings, she claimed, and she was right. Cake and ice cream? Simple. Though yes, I'm sure I did spoil these kids' lunches...<br />
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I really meant to say "no presents necessary" on the invitations and then just didn't... However, it was great to see how excited the kids were to see SourPatch open his presents. I thought kids hated the "open presents" part? I was actually going to skip it. Again, I'm a rookie mom, apparently; this was a highlight for the guests, and though I'll still likely say "no presents" next year, it was fun to see the kids' faces light up with the happiness of giving.<br />
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It felt like a win. Yes, we invited more kids than I thought prudent for the age group (and our square footage.) Yes, it was chaotic. Yet the kids seemed to enjoy the activities and company, and SourPatch had a great time, both in the preparations leading up to the party and at the party itself. Victory.<br />
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<br />Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-62508103543180948652019-03-03T18:12:00.001-06:002019-03-03T18:14:46.521-06:00Young Women's Smash Book ActivityFact: Young Women's is new to me. I mean, yes I attended young women's class as a teenager at church, but this is my first time called to it as an adult. It's a learning curve, but I'm tentatively enjoying the process.<br />
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I feel like our last mutual activity was a success, in part do to the wonderful hoarding of goodness knows how many previous presidencies. Our YW closet, it turns out, is a treasure trove of stickers, jewels, and scrap booking do-dads. Add to it some awesome scrap booking paper and wasabi tape one of the counselors inherited from work, plus some dollar store composition books, and we were set. If you have a similar stash of materials available, this might just be the activity for you: we made "smash books," the internet-sensation, journal/scrapbook with no rules and no pressure. I hoped this would be a good prelude to upcoming personal progress activities; after all, so many experiences have a journaling component. It's also a nice start-of-the-year activity, don't you think? Resolving to document your thoughts and adventures of the upcoming year?<br />
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Here's hoping. As the girls arrived, we played a few rounds of "This or That?" as a get-to-know you opportunity. I printed the ideas from <a href="http://amateurcrafthour.blogspot.com/2013/10/this-or-that.html" target="_blank">Amateur Craft Hour</a> and cut each suggestion into a strip of paper, thrown into a bowl. It was fun to hear which "item" each girl would pick, and hopefully a good bonding experience, too!<br />
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Next, I explained we were making "smash books" and showed some online examples to get the girls excited and give ideas of what to do. I then asked why we are commanded to keep a journal or record, and answered it a couple of ways. One, there's<a href="https://www.lds.org/youth/learn/ss/marriage-and-family/journal?lang=eng#video=o-remember-remember" target="_blank"> this great, short video</a> from President Eyring's talk <i>O Remember, Remember</i>. After watching the video, we passed around and read some of my favorite quotes pulled from the <i>New Era </i>article <i><a href="https://www.lds.org/study/new-era/2003/02/the-angels-may-quote-from-it?lang=eng" target="_blank">The Angels May Quote from It</a></i> by President Spencer W. Kimball. It's a fabulous message.<br />
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Now on to the creating! Almost. With all of these crafty supplies on hand, this is also a natural time to write an amazing birthday card, a thank you, or a "we miss you" message to anyone to whom the YW might need to send their appreciation! If the bishop or a member of your ward needs a pick-me-up, it's easy to spend 5 minutes expressing love and appreciation... in every color. And with stickers. In our case, it was the YW president's birthday, so each girl wrote a birthday note and decorated a giant card (poster, really) to leave on her doorstep.<br />
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Then, on to their books! With the <a href="https://www.lds.org/youth/theme/2019?lang=eng&_r=1" target="_blank">2019 youth mutual album</a> playing in the background, we just chatted and decorated. It's nice that these books are open-ended and low pressure. We'll see if the girls bring these journals with them to Young Women's on Sunday; I feel more motivated as a leader to provide handouts when I teach so I can encourage them to glue them in. It was a fun activity.<br />
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<br />Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-83350383021889281252019-01-26T20:56:00.001-06:002019-02-04T22:05:12.843-06:00Shapes Preschool LessonShapes! What a wonderful topic for a preschool lesson, right? I was excited about this one. After browsing the internet for ideas (as I always do), my interest was piqued by the plastic tiles in various shapes used to make mosaic-like pictures. Have you seen them? I thought the idea was great: a fine-motor activity showing how different shapes fit together to form a beautiful picture. I was a little skeptical that they would keep the kids attention, however. Still, reading all the glowing reviews, I took a chance and bought a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004WKPP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" target="_blank">pattern block set</a> by Learning Resources and some <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M1HBEUU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" target="_blank">accompanying activity cards</a>.<br />
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I had the tiles and cards out while the kids arrived, along with basic wooden blocks and Magformers (your family knows and loves <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Magformers-pieces-magnetic-building-educational/dp/B002NGOH1W/ref=sr_1_4?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1548557168&sr=1-4&keywords=magformers" target="_blank">Magformers</a> as much as mine, right?) I was so thrilled; the kids <i>loved</i> the cards. The first thirty minutes of preschool saw five little preschoolers excitedly putting together pattern after pattern (two of the kids preferred blocks and Magformers. Either way, all the children were engaged creating with shapes!) What a great, fine motor activity as well as tactile geometry lesson.<br />
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As a few of the kids grew restless with the tiles, we cleaned up and did our usual circle time, reviewing our letter and number of the week. I could tell we needed some large motor movement, so we watched and danced to this "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGDiUaku3bQ" target="_blank">dancing shapes</a>" video. It's not great, but the kids just needed something lively, and it did the job.<br />
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After asking the kids to name all the shapes they could think of, I read <i>Shape by Shape </i>by Suse MacDonald. It's a delightful book that slowly builds a dinosaur, well, shape by shape. I have to say, I was a little worried that these kids, many of whom are five, would already know all the typical two-dimensional shapes. I was surprised to find several needed reminders on the most basic of shapes.<br />
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Then, I handed the kids a pile of Q-tips and began reading <i>The Greedy Triangle</i> by Marilyn Burns. As the triangle added more sides and angles in each stage of the book, the children created each new shape with their q-tips. This was a nice, natural way to talk through many of the basic shapes. After the book, we made all the shapes again, <i>this</i> time using our bodies! Again, it showed me how much the kids like being involved and doing large motor activities.<br />
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Next, we talked about how shapes are all around us. To demonstrate, we took turns playing "I Spy," shape style. Each child had a chance to say he or she spied a certain shape in the room (usually with the color, too, to make it easier.) The kids enjoyed the game, and it again highlighted how several of the kids could not quite tell different shapes apart and gave us a chance to teach the correct name: "That is actually an oval, not a circle. See how it is more egg shaped and longer across this way than across that way?"<br />
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We briefly dipped into the world of three-dimensional shapes with our wooden blocks, identifying some of the more common ones. We played "Which shape is missing?" where three differently shaped blocks were put in front of a child. Then, after covering up the shapes, one was removed, and the kids had to see if they could remember what shape was now missing.<br />
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Our last book was <i>Mouse Shapes</i> by Ellen Stoll Walsh. I thought it put a nice cap on the end of our activities. We began the day by using shapes to make predetermined pictures on cards. Now, we read about mice creating their own pictures with shapes and afterwards went to do just that ourselves. I was delighted that the kids really engaged in making their own pictures using various shapes cut out of construction paper. I love open-ended art projects that really allow the kids to create rather than merely copy.<br />
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To wrap things up, we did a "snack sort" where they had to sort a medley of crackers, cereal, and chips into groups by shape before eating them. In hindsight I should have found more nutritious options. . . there are whole grain Triscuit crackers, at least!<br />
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Thanks for another fun preschool, kids! I'm grateful we have a chance to learn together.<br />
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<br />Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-14034125914362970982018-12-13T08:26:00.000-06:002019-01-24T19:31:36.463-06:00Mammals, Reptiles, and Amphibians Preschool LessonMmkay, the title already sounds like a doozy, right? I hosted preschool this week, and the topics assigned to me on the master calendar were insects, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Sheesh! That's a lot to cover in two days (fish and birds carry over into next week.) I happily reused my <a href="http://www.sweeteningthesmallstuff.com/2018/03/preschool-lesson-very-quiet-cricket.html" target="_blank">Very Quiet Cricket Lesson</a> from last year (after consulting with SourPatch to see which parts I should change. He said the whole thing was great. He's such an endearing kid...) I added a more comprehensive introduction to insects and had them label a cricket in lieu of the salt painting, but otherwise, it was pretty much the same, butterfly snacks and all.<br />
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After reviewing our Letter and Number of the Week (J & 11) and doing circle time (welcome song, calendar, weather, etc.), I asked the kids to feel down their back for their backbone. I explained that many creatures, like the insects we discussed last time, have no backbone (or bones at all!) I showed them pictures of a medley of invertebrates and had them name them. I then said that animals with backbones are divided into different groups, and we were going to discuss three of them today. First the mammals:<br />
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<b>Mammals</b><br />
Admittedly, this section was the hardest for me. I think it's because mammals can seem more diverse than some of the other groups, and my time was limited. I did find a few books that make great introductions to the characteristics of mammals (forgot to picture <i>Is a Camel a Mammal?</i>; it's also a winner.) In the end, I just had time to read <i>About Mammals</i> by Cathryn Sill.<br />
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I wanted something large motor for our activity, so we played "mammal charades." I had several of SourPatch's toys in a sack, let each child take turns taking one out where no one else could see and then acting it out for the rest of the children (sounds allowed, but no talking.) After they correctly identified the animal, we set it up front and discussed the mammal characteristics it has.<br />
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Since they were still full of the wiggles, I put on <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gh_BlsS5rQ" target="_blank">Hop Little Bunnies</a></i>. Now, this is Gumdrop's favorite song, and he is 2 to 3 years younger than these kids. I was worried they'd think it was lame to hop like bunnies. Not so--apparently this song transcends age and was a blast.<br />
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<b>Reptiles</b><br />
Next, we introduced reptiles with <i>Miles and Miles of Reptiles</i>. It's a long one, but they were attentive. We felt due for a song, so we watched <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVExxCE7YMQ" target="_blank">this video</a> of <i>I'm Getting Eaten by a Boa Constrictor</i> two (and then three) times to learn the words and sing along.<br />
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We then watched some <i>Planet Earth: Jungles </i>(it's currently on Netflix; I haven't checked to see if clips are available on YouTube.) These kids were <b>mesmerized </b>by Planet Earth; they could have watched it all day. Specifically, we put on the clip of the Draco lizard roughly from minute 8:40 until 11:50. When the lizard leaped into the air, spread its skin flaps, and soared away in a daring escape, the kids "ahh'd." Adorable.<br />
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Next we read <i>Blake the Snake</i>, an endearing if not very educational snake book. It segued into my idea to have the kids trace J's and 11's in glue and then, like Blake in the story, have their yarn "snake" make the letter and number. We also utilized our time at the table to do this simple (and free) <a href="http://www.tlsbooks.com/mammalsandreptilescutandpaste.html" target="_blank">mammal/reptile sorting page </a>to see if they understood the difference. I'd say half the kiddos could actually do it on their own, but it was a good review for everyone anyway. This is a good age to practice using glue sticks, too.<br />
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What was our snack? We had "snakes" in the dirt: chocolate pudding topped with crushed Oreos and a few gummy snakes (okay, they were worms, but the kids went with it.)<br />
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<b>Amphibians</b><br />
Did you know almost 90% of amphibians are frogs (toad are frogs, come to find out.) That's what wikipedia says, anyways. Go figure; I couldn't think of any amphibians but frogs and salamanders. There's also a creepy creature called a caecilian that looks like a slimy snake. That's about all there is, folks.<br />
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Luckily, I love frogs (and salamanders! Jury is out on the caecilian...) I used the beginning of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI8GPsf6TAc" target="_blank">this video</a> as an introduction with some hesitation; it makes some generalizations that aren't 100% true about all amphibians. Still, it was an efficient sum-up, and then I again turned back to Planet Earth and the jungle at minute 29:55ish to 35:24. There's this tiny, see-through frog that bravely guards his eggs from wasps. I did skip over the middle where the wasp eats some of the eggs (these are sensitive kids) but absolutely showed the part where the dad frog fends off the next batch of wasps with his kicks. Atta frog! Again, the kids couldn't look away (and begged for more.)<br />
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No time for more! Actually, we were running out of time. We didn't get to sing <i>5 Little Speckled Frogs</i> or watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxKArhySbko" target="_blank">Caribbean Amphibian</a>, nor did we hope across the living room on felt lily pads. We didn't read any of these great books, either:<br />
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Instead, we had time to do our salamander scratch art. After showing photos of how beautiful and colorful salamanders can be, we returned to the table to make some of our own. Do you remember doing scratch art in school? I do, and I remembered it was amazing. Turns out, it still is. My original plan was to DIY the paper with crayons and black paint. After practicing beforehand with SourPatch, the result was lackluster, so I caved and bought <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MUCA9IZ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" target="_blank">this paper </a>instead. It came with four wooden styluses, and I made a few more out of kabob skewers for the rest of the children. I had preciously scratched out the outline of a salamander for each child, but they could then decorate it and the paper as they chose. I was thrilled that they really seemed to love scratching off the black surface to find bright colors beneath.<br />
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That's it! It's always a little hard to tell how much the kids absorbed, but when one mom picking up her son asked what he learned today, he enthusiastically said, "A lot!" Right you are; that was a lot of information, and I'm glad you'll take some of it with you.<br />
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<br />Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-18320322243107116302018-10-08T22:11:00.000-05:002018-10-08T22:11:28.700-05:00Human Body Preschool LessonI love autumn! I love the colorful leaves and crisp air; I love the pumpkins on porches (and in my bread!) It's also refreshing to get a second "new year" feeling so many months after January first. After all, school is starting, including my third (THIRD?) round of mom-preschool with SourPatch. We keep doubling in numbers; we've gone from two kids to four kids to seven kids. Feeling daunted but determined, I did my first week of preschool at our home last week, and I feel like it was a success.<br />
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So we've done an alphabet theme and a literature theme preschool; now we have a "all-sorts-of-topics-under-the-sun" preschool, coupled with a letter and number of the week. Deep breath. Fortunately, my topic for Tuesday was the human body, and boy howdy, I have a passion for it. The human body is incredible; now to just show these children <i>how</i> incredible! </div>
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To try to tap into the "imagination mode", we based out preschool on the "Inside Your Outside" book, a doctor-Seussish journey through the human body. Therefore, I passed out tickets and required the kids to climb through our magical "machine" before we began.</div>
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Once through our "machine," we followed along in the book and started with our brain. After reading about the left and right sides of our brain, worked on some fine motor skills with our letter and number of the week. We practiced writing the letter "C" and number "4" to exercise our left brain, then colored a picture to exercise our right brain. I love the <a href="https://www.themeasuredmom.com/letters-of-all-sizes/" target="_blank">letters of all sizes</a> that the Measured Mom puts on her blog (for free!) There are lots of great coloring pages such as <a href="https://www.education.com/worksheet/article/coloring-learn-letter-c/" target="_blank">this free download</a> from education.com. The number four page I accessed through SourPatch's participation in <a href="https://www.waterfordupstart.org/" target="_blank">Waterford's upstart program</a> (which we love.)</div>
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Brain duly covered, we moved on to the skeleton. Our boys are transfixed by this <i>Dem Bones</i> book, and the preschool loved this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e54m6XOpRgU" target="_blank">semi-dancing video</a> to go along with it. We also sang <i><a href="https://www.lds.org/music/library/childrens-songbook/hinges?lang=eng&_r=1" target="_blank">Hinges</a></i> after discussing joints.</div>
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Since another mother is covering the Five Senses in an upcoming lesson, we moved on to the muscles. An active, large-motor activity here seemed like a must. Ergo, I made a giant, active animal dice (die, but that sounds weird, right?) and let each child have a turn rolling it. All of the kids then used their muscles to imitate the animal; they crawled like crabs, waddled like penguins, flew like birds, hopped like kangaroos... you get the picture.</div>
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For the heart section, I pulled out my stethoscope (helps to be a nurse here...) and let them listen to their own hearts beating. One or two weren't terribly impressed, but most got a magical look on their face. They were listening to their very own hearts pumping their blood. I'm glad they caught the wonder of it. The heart is incredible, after all. I also tried to get them to take a quick listen to their lungs while they were at it.</div>
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We read through the digestion/urinary part and then were about to wrap up with my grand sticker finale, when I noticed the liver was overlooked. Though I tried to let it go, I couldn't; the liver is so fascinating and important. However, after finding some really informational videos clearly aimed at adults... I showed them <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-Mn8mK7Tsc" target="_blank">this very, very obnoxious liver video </a>for children. Still not sure if I made the right choice, but they were attentive...</div>
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So, to wrap up, I bought (what I consider) to be <a href="https://www.orientaltrading.com/organs-of-the-human-body-giant-sticker-scenes-a2-57_6863.fltr" target="_blank">an extremely cool sticker set of organs in the body</a> from Oriental Trading Company (on a free shipping day, naturally). I knew it might be a lot for preschoolers; I'd toyed with the idea of adding stickers as we talked about each part but quickly abandoned it as preschool kept rolling.Yes, the kids were excited for the stickers. I put up a completed sticker chart for them to copy and then tried to talk them from head-to-toe on how to assemble it. I'd say a third of them ignored me and went right to placing stickers everywhere and anywhere on the torso, a third sort-of-followed along, getting organs in roughly the right spot. The last third were meticulous; it was adorable to watch them carefully, carefully put each sticker in just the right spot.</div>
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Probably the most popular body activity we did was this one inspired from <a href="https://www.pre-kpages.com/all-about-me-snack-activity/" target="_blank">this blog's All About Me snack</a> idea: body pizzas. Using a cookie cutter, I punched people shapes out of tortillas to represent skin. Next, I spooned sauce onto each of their "crusts" for them to spread out while we discussed what our blood does. Shredded cheese represented bones followed by pepperoni as muscles. The kids really seemed to enjoying making (and eating!) them.<br />
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Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-79395230351560113502018-05-09T19:42:00.000-05:002018-05-09T19:54:39.188-05:00Footboard/Headboard BenchIt's garage sale time of year again! And that means it's a perfect time to find just the right bed to repurpose into a designer bench. I lucked out last fall when a neighbor put a twin size bed out on the curb with a "free" sign attached. I ran home, grabbed the truck, and nabbed it. (I brought home the entire bed hoping that I would be able to use the slats in the construction, but they were too short, so I had to purchase additional boards at the hardware store.) I have to admit that the headboard/footboard sat on our back porch for several months--the holidays and cold weather slowed me down a bit--but when the spring weather brought warmer days, I finally got to it.<br />
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There are a lot of great online sites with step by step instructions for how to benchify your bed, but I used <a href="https://www.addicted2decorating.com/d-i-y-project-turning-a-headboard-and-footboard-into-a-bench.html" target="_blank">this one</a> from <a href="https://www.addicted2decorating.com/d-i-y-project-turning-a-headboard-and-footboard-into-a-bench.html" target="_blank">Addicted2Decorating</a>. The directions were clear and easy to follow.<br />
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The only thing that I did differently was to use narrower boards for the seat. I chose to do that because I thought it would look better, but I realized the first time I sat on it that I had made a mistake. I had forgotten that narrower would also mean less sturdy, and the boards sagged when anyone sat on them. So I ended up gluing and screwing a brace under the seat for added strength. You can see it between the seat boards and the front apron:<br />
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It was a fun and relatively easy project, one that I would love to do again--perhaps with a larger bed. This bench is love-seat size. The problem is. . . . where will I put all these benches?<br />
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<br />Marilyn Jensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803629129887374043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-5054447756189125592018-04-20T17:59:00.001-05:002018-04-20T17:59:02.574-05:00DIY Tulip WreathApparently I'm into wreaths? I remember each holiday in my childhood, mom would lug a giant rubbermaid box of decorations out of the garage, and we'd bedeck the house. In hindsight, I suspect our decorations were probably a mix of garish-and-cheap next to expensive-and-broken items: White ghosts (stuffed with plastic grocery bags) hanging from the trees out front for Halloween, real pumpkins stabbed with wooden feathers to resemble turkeys at Thanksgiving, or intricate little Christmas nutcrackers with delicate hats, hands, or heads that were super-glued back on after careless children broke them.<br />
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Sorry we broke all your stuff, mom (and continue to break; who killed off another wise man from your nativity set last Christmas? It wasn't me this time.) That's not the point, though; the point is that I remember loving the process of decorating our house. However, I'm four years a mother, and I don't really have much of a stash of seasonal decor myself to spread the joy to my children. The <i>one</i> thing I'm slowly accumulating is a small supply of wreaths.<br />
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Perhaps it's because <a href="http://www.sweeteningthesmallstuff.com/2016/10/diy-pine-cone-wreath.html" target="_blank">my first DIY autumn wreath</a> was (is) so awesome. I really liked how it turned out, and the process was a fun experiment.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6Y7VYncC9sLawM6xhSni3K1XRm3112OV80FvP9o07kC_B5Glr9sa-zXcYtWMRq0y7arPlXceyCIpFbED2TqaU705HOevuRqJZNl-hTiExfzUsSrmjsVtK4I77Lk9FdVUABABcZOvsJgI/s1600/IMG_20160928_134410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6Y7VYncC9sLawM6xhSni3K1XRm3112OV80FvP9o07kC_B5Glr9sa-zXcYtWMRq0y7arPlXceyCIpFbED2TqaU705HOevuRqJZNl-hTiExfzUsSrmjsVtK4I77Lk9FdVUABABcZOvsJgI/s640/IMG_20160928_134410.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Then the Christmas edition came around the next year:</div>
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However, pine cones don't really say "spring," do they? I did the unthinkable a <i>bought</i> an Easter wreath on sale at Smith's, but Easter came and went so quickly. I eyed my barren door last week and knew it was time for something happy, springy, and floral. Thus, to my Pinterest board I went, and I pulled up<a href="https://www.thehowtomom.com/2017/02/diy-tulip-wreath.html" target="_blank"> this lovely tulip wreath tutorial</a> from The How-To Mom. "Laurel," you say, "your wreath doesn't look as great as hers." I know, I know. It's either a product of skill <i>or</i> a Michael's vs. Dollar Tree effect. I do love her two-toned effect, but the dollar store only had pink and pink-with-a-little-bit-of-white varieties. Not much contrast, I'm afraid. Nonetheless, I am super pleased with how it turned out.</div>
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I bought the tulip stems and ribbon from Dollar Tree. Fact: I can't remember how many bunches I bought (not enough the first time; I had to go back for more.) My best guess is 12 bunches with 4 or 5 tulips a bunch. I used one spool of 3 inch x 3 yard green burlap ribbon. It... almost reached. I knew it was going to be close, and had I overlapped it slightly less, I think I could have made it seamlessly around. The very last section (where I put the loop to hang it) has a loop of brown burlap that I hope is hidden by the flowers.😊</div>
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Since the Dollar Tree only had 9 inch foam wreath forms, I opted for a Walmart one for around $4. I chose the 12 inch (though the original tutorial uses a 14 inch.) All around, that clocks in the price of this beauty at roughly $17 before tax. </div>
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I love the simplicity of this tutorial. After clipping off the individual stems with pliers and securing my ribbon to the foam with hot glue, I wrapped. Just wrapped. No more gluing until securing the ribbon at the very end, no floral wire, pushpins, or eye screws... I loved making this wreath.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5K8100j4nnxKjo4o2gdadRQuci092pi8S_hLoWekVWLM4bKzHEPA1n4BWgE9kmrz_jrOKywCtlTphhXV56Ks7akkr6vj5ft8aPiHrfDLfhDuozGUcEd9-Xa8GoCM6F-kDHjkaJiyv7wUF/s1600/IMG_20180414_210003113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5K8100j4nnxKjo4o2gdadRQuci092pi8S_hLoWekVWLM4bKzHEPA1n4BWgE9kmrz_jrOKywCtlTphhXV56Ks7akkr6vj5ft8aPiHrfDLfhDuozGUcEd9-Xa8GoCM6F-kDHjkaJiyv7wUF/s400/IMG_20180414_210003113.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiacJvaSqmXzFnYfGOpmm6C6E2b2frc76icy88kkYSX8xvuU_WcEW487YM7AkOsfBpFSsj9B5oDUpz6l9IMAZhlAvvWLvr6yswky7aFtIZZ8ilanfN-mU63TP2bJR0jN18RjR2S40bQ76w0/s1600/IMG_20180414_210014204_LL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiacJvaSqmXzFnYfGOpmm6C6E2b2frc76icy88kkYSX8xvuU_WcEW487YM7AkOsfBpFSsj9B5oDUpz6l9IMAZhlAvvWLvr6yswky7aFtIZZ8ilanfN-mU63TP2bJR0jN18RjR2S40bQ76w0/s400/IMG_20180414_210014204_LL.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I tried to follow the pictures and suggestions from the original tutorial. It looked like she grouped 3 or 4 stems per wrap-around of ribbon, pushing the leaves towards the top so they won't get pinned under the ribbon. The end of the ring is tricky, but I found I could trim the stems slightly shorter and tuck the last flowers into the first loop of ribbon. I used hot glue to secure the end of the ribbon and glued on a loop for hanging.<br />
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Voila: spring.</div>
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Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-49369146819547395992018-04-14T14:34:00.002-05:002018-04-14T14:34:13.741-05:00"Big Dreams, Small Spaces" Texas Style I am not a fan of most reality TV. But I DO love the "Great British Baking Show," and I have recently discovered another British import that has a similar appeal for me. It's called "Big Dreams, Small Spaces," and it's about a gardening guru, Monte Don, who helps two individuals or families during each episode turn small yards into interesting or beautiful garden spaces. One of the things I love about it is that the participants do most of the work themselves; they don't hire professionals to come in to make the transformation happen. And often they work with a relatively small budget.<br />
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I have to admit that I am intrigued. Well, more than intrigued; I am motivated. So over the course of the summer, my plan is to take this small, ugly corner of our yard and transform it into a magical garden for our grandchildren, complete with structures, plantings, and decor. I want to involve them both in designing the space and in working to make it happen.<br />
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This really is a small space--only about 15 1/2 feet by 36 feet, but I feel like it has potential, and anything will be an improvement. Right now it is just sort of a graveyard for odds and ends. The only bright spot is the flower bed along the house wall which is just beginning to bloom:<br />
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Monte always has the homeowners draw up a plan, so the children and I have plotted out our design. I wish he were here to give us his input, but for now we will go with what we have got:<br />
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It may be hard to read, but it includes a narrow flower bed around the giant water tank, a small graveled seating area around an equally small raised fire bowl, a play house w/deck, and a child-size garden bench.<br />
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Budget? I'm just having to estimate here, but I'm hoping to pull if all off for under $400. The playhouse plans I have found have a cost of about $250, but I will need to build a deck under it because the ground slopes down to the fence, so that cost will be higher. Add in the cost of the fire feature, the bench, plants, gravel and mulch, and $400 may be too little. But that will be our target.<br />
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It's a little (very) scary to post about this as an on-going project because it could turn into a complete disaster. But putting it out there will also encourage me to really make it happen. And along the way I will share what I learn--what works and what doesn't. And if it turns out, maybe it will encourage you to dream big in a small way too.<br />
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<br />Marilyn Jensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803629129887374043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-46849779540083689402018-03-15T20:55:00.000-05:002018-03-15T20:55:07.763-05:00Can you bake a cake in a KitchenAid mixing bowl?Yes.<br />
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End of blog post.<br />
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Except first, can we talk about internet forums or conversation threads or whatever it's called when someone asks a question and others can post answers? I appreciate such things; I find good tips and helpful answers to the problems that Google doesn't know how to solve. However, upon trying to figure out the above, I found some vague yeses, some "I Don't Knows" (why post at all to say you don't know? Unless you have a related, helpful suggestion?), and a lecture or two about treating the KitchenAid mixing bowl with care rather than hazarding its safety in an oven.<br />
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Whatever. The point is, SourPatch had a very specific request for his birthday cake: a chocolate, blue bird cake. A short perusal of Google images later, I found and fell in love with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WNOCYa_WX0" target="_blank">this cake</a>. The artist uses 4 round cakes and shapes them to look like a dome. Then, there's also<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmqhRalqNKI" target="_blank"> this very cute tutorial</a> with a pair of round cakes and a dome cake on top.<br />
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Here's the rub: I'm trying to cut back on my sugar intake, and the big family party happens after Patch's birthday. For the day of, I just wanted <i>one</i> cake mix worth of cake for the family and a few friends. Further, even if I did want a behemoth of a cake, why not use a cake pan already in the intended shape? So I eyed my stainless steel mixing bowl and asked the internet if I could bake with it.<br />
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True, I have had lots of experience baking with the <a href="http://blog.wilton.com/index.php/the-wonder-mold-pan-doll-cakes-and-much-more/" target="_blank">Wilton Wonder Mold Pan</a>. My bestie in high school convinced me to go on a "Barbie Cake" baking run. The advantage this pan has over the KitchenAid bowl is a long, metal skewer running down the center to help it bake evenly. The disadvantage is has is that I don't own one any more.<br />
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However, I followed the same baking temperature and time suggested for the Wilton pan: 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Using a Devil's food recipe from the wonderful <a href="http://annebyrn.com/books/chocolate-from-the-cake-mix-doctor/" target="_blank">Cake Mix Doctor Book</a>, I found that time perfect for my cake, even without the metal cylinder in the center. I also found it a little squatty. I know that I managed to cook two mixes at once for a tall Barbie cake, but alas I don't have any memory of how to adjust the time.<br />
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The moral is that the cake pan survived (325 is a pretty low baking temp, n'est pas?) and from all appearances returned unscathed from its adventure in the oven. Along with homemade buttercream frosting, I decorated with edible colored baking sheets my mom gifted me in lieu of the fondant (and marshmallows for the eyes.) The final result wasn't polished, but it was delicious!<br />
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<br />Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-34392971793755193712018-03-05T20:36:00.002-06:002018-03-06T14:24:14.105-06:00Preschool Lesson: The Very Quiet CricketMy husband and I are a little at odds regarding Eric Carle books. I think it's the simple text that fails to wow my sweetheart. However, I remember the childhood magic of opening a book and having it chirp, blink, or squeak at me. Marvelous.<br />
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So I was excited about our preschool based around <i>The Very Quiet Cricket</i>. Further, a cursory glance showed that there are many, many preschool lesson plans centered on bugs and insects. "This will be easy," I thought. Yet several days and perusals later, I was having a hard time pegging down my plan. Was it information overload? Did the ideas just not speak? All I know is that it was hard to sketch out a plan. Finally, I decided to let the book be my guide and to have one activity for each of the bugs Eric Carle includes in the story. It made for a fun preschool.<br />
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I almost forgot to mention Shoo Fly. I put the song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qt-4TwZgQU" target="_blank">Shoo Fly</a> on repeat while the kids were arriving and had shakers available for them to jam along. SourPatch got <i>so</i> into singing this song, both at the beginning and end of preschool, and his enthusiasm was infectious; <i>everyone</i> got into this song.<br />
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Yet all good things must come to an end, so the music went off and we gathered in a circle. After <a href="https://www.lds.org/music/library/childrens-songbook/here-we-are-together?lang=eng" target="_blank">a welcome song</a>, <a href="http://preschool.uen.org/curriculum/march_s/Weather_Song.pdf" target="_blank">weather song</a>, and calendaring time, we read through <i>The Very Quiet Cricket. </i>After taking a moment to soak in the magic of the chirp on the last page, we talked about insects for a little bit, defining the important characteristics and discovering that crickets fit these parameters. We also put on insect hats. We needed to get our heads in the game, as it were.<br />
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We then did our "cricket activity." Okay, I don't know what the dealio is with paint, but this foursome of kids gets <i>so</i> excited about the very thought of painting. They're also an exuberant bunch, and painting is messy. Thus, I was excited to try "salt painting." Previous to preschool, I filled in the outline of a cricket (traced from the cover of the book) with Elmer's glue and covered it with salt. The children then used watered-down paint (very, very watered down paint) to paint the now dry crickets. It's an unusual activity, but the kids enjoyed it, and it gave us time to review what makes the cricket an insect while they colored the six legs, head, abdomen, thorax, antennae, and wings. So I'd call our first salt paint attempt a success.<br />
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Back to the book, we read about the locust and sang "<a href="https://www.lds.org/music/library/childrens-songbook/do-as-im-doing?lang=eng&_r=1" target="_blank">Do as I'm Doing</a>" spin style, just like the locust in the book.<br />
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Fact: I am now terrified of praying mantises. Not for myself, I suppose, but on principle. They are so, so scary. Did you know they've been known to eat mice, birds, or even turtles? TURTLES? Are you kidding me?!?! I digress, though; for the praying mantis, I showed the children the first two minutes of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hGuallLPcM" target="_blank">this video</a>.<br />
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Next, the worm. After wiggling together like worms, the kids had to put this puzzle in order and practice using gluesticks to paste it to another page. I found this puzzle in an <a href="https://royalbaloo.com/downloads3/creepy-crawly-packs/" target="_blank"><i>amazing</i> free download</a> from Royal Baloo. Love this site--she has a giant, creepy crawlies pack full of great activities for multiple age groups.<br />
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The spittlebug was a new one for me. Bugs that froth and blow bubbles? Cool. So we stepped out on the porch and blew a few bubbles of our own.<br />
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For the cicada, I turned yet again to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQwCOBBLXEI" target="_blank">youtube</a> to let the children listen to a clip of noisy cicadas. I would have loved to show them the creepy exoskeletons I used to find all over the trees growing up...<br />
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We buzzed and flew like bees before chanting "<a href="http://www.dltk-teach.com/rhymes/bumblebee/song2.htm" target="_blank">Here is the Beehive but where are the Bees?</a>" and doing a little fingerplay.<br />
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We did the next two insects back-to-back, as they both activities needing do-a-dot markers (or stickers, if you like). We whizzed like dragonflies and then completed this do-a-dot page from the aforementioned <a href="https://royalbaloo.com/downloads3/creepy-crawly-packs/" target="_blank">Royal Baloo pack</a> (also the source for the mosquito page below.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGWYRxe965MwFWwE5QRXh_51vM6xU2aF9I92DjGiIWSIVZ1_fcf97bfwhyryg9Bp3fCw-FapgRi0m8Kp7HxN8AbpA5Ci8HJXJq8xfMOdaELiKtxUSXNN0s2QasagzdyEf_XrIO0VKyCDj/s1600/IMG_20180208_104901.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEGWYRxe965MwFWwE5QRXh_51vM6xU2aF9I92DjGiIWSIVZ1_fcf97bfwhyryg9Bp3fCw-FapgRi0m8Kp7HxN8AbpA5Ci8HJXJq8xfMOdaELiKtxUSXNN0s2QasagzdyEf_XrIO0VKyCDj/s640/IMG_20180208_104901.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Ah, mosquitoes. Rather than go deep into what these pests do, we practiced sorting lower and uppercase m's in this do-a-dot page.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4WwSu6iFDkfoGhoT7xebuod-nvGZuyWUG9m9Twc5LuKiwvPpGBNjDwAe1Uh4z5UowV4uyLJdzGeyRbcip0rOKUgp5SF2dIPhMFKYf1YbW3AgIALkR93RQg9ALJSUaobz7tWryVNBKtvQ/s1600/IMG_20180208_105553.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4WwSu6iFDkfoGhoT7xebuod-nvGZuyWUG9m9Twc5LuKiwvPpGBNjDwAe1Uh4z5UowV4uyLJdzGeyRbcip0rOKUgp5SF2dIPhMFKYf1YbW3AgIALkR93RQg9ALJSUaobz7tWryVNBKtvQ/s640/IMG_20180208_105553.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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For the luna moth, we watched a video of its metamorphosis (after silently gliding around the room, of course.) Oh. My. Word. I know I should be used to caterpillars changing into moths or butterflies, but it's still crazy amazing to see. Here's the thing: I can't find the awesome video I showed the kids, and since my old computer sputtered and died, I can't search my history either. My annoyance is real. There are lots of online, time-lapse videos of metamorphosis for butterflies that show the same principle.<br />
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Ready for our snack, I arranged pretzels and fruit to look like a butterfly. A little extra effort on presentation goes a long way with these kiddos.<br />
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Apart from doing the individual insect activities, we talked briefly about loud and quiet, rounding it out with the "<a href="http://www.daycareresource.com/printables/fingerplays/twolittleblackbirds.pdf" target="_blank">Two Little Blackbirds Sitting on a Cloud</a>" fingerplay.<br />
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I loved the idea from <a href="https://teachingmama.org/insect-sensory-bin/" target="_blank">teachingmama.org</a> to use a box of "Back to Nature" bug pasta (I found it at Target). Sourpatch and I sorted the bugs and dyed them different colors (I discuss how in <a href="http://www.sweeteningthesmallstuff.com/2017/04/preschool-lesson-letter.html" target="_blank">this post</a>). We then worked on our fine motor skills by threading them onto pipe cleaners like beads, making some bug bracelets. Loved it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiavRdBBKD32nC2Cq2f5PG62WNXD0JXy0jAOu1OxwNYZOPkL4GwvNuJUaswZBaDRjcBbYGR-B5BaCazSNro9aJxaXptLfx90Z_ZGJz1OZDaxRtcHgVRqV1w5nNbtz2S20dQ0awf11DZlFIK/s1600/IMG_20180208_161416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiavRdBBKD32nC2Cq2f5PG62WNXD0JXy0jAOu1OxwNYZOPkL4GwvNuJUaswZBaDRjcBbYGR-B5BaCazSNro9aJxaXptLfx90Z_ZGJz1OZDaxRtcHgVRqV1w5nNbtz2S20dQ0awf11DZlFIK/s640/IMG_20180208_161416.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Another great hit was few rounds of Bug in the Rug (I made them put back on their insect hats for this one.) How does one play that, you ask? One of the children leaves the room. Another child hides under the "rug" (or blanket). When the first child returns we chant, "Bug in the rug, bug in the rug, who is that bug in the rug?" The child then has to remember who is missing from the group and correctly guess who is under the blanket. Not hard in a group of four, you point out? Too true, but the kids loved the game all the same.<br />
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All these fun activities left no time for other books, which is a pity, since Sourpatch and I read so many books about creepy crawlies leading up to preschool. Two of his favorites were <i>Fly!</i> by Karl Newsom Edwards and <i>The Magic Schoolbus Inside a Beehive.</i><br />
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All in all, it was great fun all around. For me, especially.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntlfjXw190ueAU4wWV0W-Oc0VxmREwoD3494PJTH89n9x3MBjlqvBF-bu9XD0BzmTEFYXvzmOQFvCqOwMD4-YrU-9XwvR-IJByM9htmZlLMy0WLtam_yfHhzeznSjjujge9GtK6LuKj-J/s1600/From+paint.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntlfjXw190ueAU4wWV0W-Oc0VxmREwoD3494PJTH89n9x3MBjlqvBF-bu9XD0BzmTEFYXvzmOQFvCqOwMD4-YrU-9XwvR-IJByM9htmZlLMy0WLtam_yfHhzeznSjjujge9GtK6LuKj-J/s200/From+paint.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<br />Laurel Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15028272438887891982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6352446810964029440.post-89167273631850313162018-01-25T15:19:00.003-06:002018-01-27T14:26:57.191-06:00Decorating with Living PlantsA friend came to my house for the first time several years ago, looked around, and said, "Your home is so. . . simple." I really am not much into "things," so my furnishings and accessories do tend to be pretty simple. But one of my decorating "go tos" is live plants. Both of my parents had amazingly green thumbs, so I grew up with beautiful plants--indoors and out. They are lovely to look at, bring nature inside, provide natural air filtering, and inexpensively fill spots in my house that were a bit too "simple." And many of my plants were gifts from friends, so they are daily reminders of people that I love. I know that trying to keep plants alive can seem intimidating, but if you feel that way, talk to friends, family and gardeners who might be able to give you suggestions for easy varieties to start with. My main piece of advice: don't over water.<br />
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A few suggestions for decorating with plants:<br />
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Choose plants with beautiful shapes. They become living sculptures:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqcuoGouc5NkjiQ3kMeBduowKnSnMyVrW9AQ_RoESt6Ao9CW0Kq9WVfQ5-7PC-BZubfU7e_pf16UhYucBMAdG0n3c-s-x4rw-bBDsOVE7MT4qQrRtxJqbeoDkMkd-LKY77_mk5x1UgTG89/s1600/IMG_20180125_121604.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqcuoGouc5NkjiQ3kMeBduowKnSnMyVrW9AQ_RoESt6Ao9CW0Kq9WVfQ5-7PC-BZubfU7e_pf16UhYucBMAdG0n3c-s-x4rw-bBDsOVE7MT4qQrRtxJqbeoDkMkd-LKY77_mk5x1UgTG89/s400/IMG_20180125_121604.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRyvgE1JuynlOgc2gIW8aUY9TYjcRCSLJukhAcHxly2yZffTxwoMB-RZOmBmmS6BDvCnKgmArLHt5GcxhGQNSxXDaxeYKZ4WqwHJWZv3I3-LvWBgNH5T7QXhlS5a_ObxNkTxKJG1fgpGcI/s1600/IMG_20180125_122003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRyvgE1JuynlOgc2gIW8aUY9TYjcRCSLJukhAcHxly2yZffTxwoMB-RZOmBmmS6BDvCnKgmArLHt5GcxhGQNSxXDaxeYKZ4WqwHJWZv3I3-LvWBgNH5T7QXhlS5a_ObxNkTxKJG1fgpGcI/s400/IMG_20180125_122003.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Look for containers that add interesting color or texture:<br />
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Unlike many decorations, plants tend to like humidity, so consider adding them to your bathrooms:<br />
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Combine plants with photos and other items to create groupings:<br />
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Use plants as screens. This plant is hiding (sort of) a small speaker:</div>
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Add them to work spaces to create a natural, restful environment:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3A_LTLZWilDA15nSjJsDeIm85RFLeU_HJXNO2XGuFsHcBugVunoAbvbdK4qiiEt_XfEiQxkzaVjksw07bHtSs8QxmYoRfgiQAgrJ6C2Udsa6Ioh0TXwytgz452cEy-sBO420F7Nz-4NB2/s1600/IMG_20180125_123513.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3A_LTLZWilDA15nSjJsDeIm85RFLeU_HJXNO2XGuFsHcBugVunoAbvbdK4qiiEt_XfEiQxkzaVjksw07bHtSs8QxmYoRfgiQAgrJ6C2Udsa6Ioh0TXwytgz452cEy-sBO420F7Nz-4NB2/s400/IMG_20180125_123513.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It may still be winter outside, but you can always have a bit of summer inside with beautiful plants.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX6Rumc7sxkAdp58PVvc7KLsTZFhv1RPk8PmMmjbM3AVCP13TYGubHqTmUE9JzWqTBgAo0ct5XQyHPF39F0xhiBegYwUTSEP_EHDmFaT0IWrvCrxfTWfsGeT4vIgR7CqXeA6nMUbkUx4ij/s1600/Marilyn.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="819" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX6Rumc7sxkAdp58PVvc7KLsTZFhv1RPk8PmMmjbM3AVCP13TYGubHqTmUE9JzWqTBgAo0ct5XQyHPF39F0xhiBegYwUTSEP_EHDmFaT0IWrvCrxfTWfsGeT4vIgR7CqXeA6nMUbkUx4ij/s200/Marilyn.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<br />Marilyn Jensonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11803629129887374043noreply@blogger.com1