Guest Blogger: L's Craft - Squishy Donuts

Today I welcome a very special guest blogger to Thoughts from the edge, my daughter L. She came to me with a shopping list and some ideas and asked if I would take her to the craft store. After seeing her beautiful creations, I suggested she blog about the process. She agreed and wrote this post, with only minor spelling and editing assistance.

My Craft

by L

 

I made squishy doughnuts and I wanted to tell other people how to make them!

What you need: you will need scissors, acrylic paint, round sponges, and carpenters glue. You can get these at Michaels.

Here are the steps you need to take to making your doughnut:

1: If you are not making a jelly filled doughnut take your scissors and hollow the middle but don't cut all the way.

2: Using your acrylic paints pick a color and paint your doughnut, pick a new color to make a design for example, I did a zigzag. 

 

3: If sprinkles are needed use beads and carpenters glue to glue on the beads. You might have to reglue them but that's ok.

4: Let them dry overnight. 

 

That is how you make your doughnuts.

Friday Fun Day - Mission Hedge Hog

L learned about claymation this summer during her art camp at The David Myers Gallery in Uptown Westerville.

This fall she applied the concept using some of her Japanese erasures. She has H's old old digital camera, which makes uploading the photos challenging, but we managed it this morning and found free software to allow us to share the slide show with you. This "video" contains over 90 still shots. Make sure enable the sound, because her choice of music is perfect.

Enjoy Mission Hedge Hog...

Mission Hedge Hog - free slideshow

NOPHO Week 3 - Elegant

From dictionary.com

el·e·gant

 [el-i-guhnt] Show IPA

adjective

1.

tastefully fine or luxurious in dress, style, design, etc.: elegant furnishings.

2.

gracefully refined and dignified, as in tastes, habits, or literary style: an elegant young gentleman; an elegant prosodist.

3.

graceful in form or movement: an elegant wave of the hand.

4.

appropriate to refined taste: a man devoted to elegant pursuits.

5.

excellent; fine; superior: an absolutely elegant wine.

 

Between you and me I elegant is like porn, you know it when you see it. Otherwise it is hard to define. Sometimes elegant is bordering on regal. Sometimes it is the opposite of trashy, ostentatious, or too much. Sometimes it borders on austere.

 

It is subjective and really a matter of sensibility and taste. Or in terms of art, ascetic.

 

L, wrinkling up her nose,  asked me what elegant was exactly and it took me a bit to explain it. She snorts and says, "you mean boring." L's tastes skirt or dive into ostentatious, depending on the day. She hasn't met a pattern she couldn't live without or mix and match with... She thinks black and white as a design scheme is in a word, BORING. (She also gave each photo in last weeks wrap up a thoughtful and very critical critique. She knows what she likes and she has, even at her young age a very fierce and well defined aesthetic.) 

 

I struggled with this photo this week. At first I had planned an outing for myself and I had an idea of what I wanted to shoot. Somehow I never made it there. Then I set up a shot in my kitchen and while I like and it is very sensual, it just wasn't exactly what I wanted.

 

I took a shot of the cat and well elegant it isn't, but regal, we nailed regal.

 

On a lark I took my camera with me Saturday as we hit the park and I hoped something would speak to me. The park is new and the season at a rather stark point, but I decided to be free and just take pictures.

 

As I edited the photos, I realized I had a few wonderful shots. And then finally, in the last three, I saw my picture! Simple, strong, and elegant.

 

(I posted the runners up on Monday and Tuesday and will finish up on Thursday and Friday. A week of photos this week.)

 

Don't you agree?

 

 

NOPHO Week 2 - Comfy Cozy

So this week, I took and edited two pictures because, I had to learn a bit of a lesson about digital photography and frankly my helpers like to push random buttons.

The long and short of it is, my camera was set incorrectly, therefore I was taking pictures at a low resolution. Allie is a dear and emailed me that again, same as last week, my pictures was an incorrect number of pixels. Thanks to H and a friend, I have been set straight and they tried not to make me feel too dumb in the process, even if I did sense some head shaking and muttering under their breath.

What did I learn - you cannot in photoshop resize a picture that is 400 px to one that 700 px. What you have to do is reshoot. Which is big fun when you use models. L and E were each paid two pieces of candy for their collective time investment of 10 minutes, 5 minutes or so on Friday afternoon and again 5 minutes or so on Sunday late morning. I will say laying under a blanket is hard work and they probably deserved more pay than two pieces of candy, but I am working with a budget.

The idea for this week's picture came from my childhood, I always liked to hide under the covers. I would read, play with my dolls and color, all while hiding in my bed under a pile of blankets. Also, E is a tornado in the bed, he is all over the place. So many mornings, when I peek in at him, all you see is a huge pile of balled up covers with his little feet sticking out. It is so adorable.

And as they say a picture was born.

What you can't see is their arms are sticking out and they are each holding two of their favorite stuffed animals. We experimented with some longer shots - to show hands and feet, but for some reason, their feet won out.

It was a fun shoot, even if my models were a tad surly and cranky and frankly, bossy. Talent these days, what's a girl to do?

A Holiday Story -- Santa Gets Thanked by L

L had to write a story for class and frankly, it is pretty good and it proves my point, a writer writes and a writers personality and sensibilities shine through, even in works of fiction. She asked me if I thought it was good enough for my blog and I told her it was absolutely good enough for my blog.

So here is her story!


**********************************************************************************
 

Santa Gets Thanked

by L

It was the night of Christmas Eve Seema and Percha were hoping to get all they wanted. Seema and Percha were sisters. The two sisters were sitting on the to rusty metal chairs on the deck. “Mom said we have to get to bed early if we want Santa to come,” said Percha.

“I know,” said Seema “but I want to see what Santa looks like."

“Well,” said Percha “Santa has a fluffy white beard and a red cloak”.

“I know that,” said Seema “but I also want to thank him for last years gifts”.

“Girls,” called mom “time for bed.”

Seema and Percha quickly got up, ran inside, got on their PJ's, and went to bed. I really want to see Santa thought Seema. Seema had a hard time gong to sleep but when she did, she woke to a very loud sound. Seema jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs. When Seema got down stairs she saw me. Seema carefully crept up to me. I finally looked at Seema and said “Hi are you Seema?”

“Yeee...sss,” Seema said very scared.

“Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho!” I said, “there is no need to be scared.”

“I came to say thank you for last years gifts,” Seema said.

“You are welcome,” I said and with that I was gone.

Seema sat on the chair and softy touched the wrapping paper. Seema looked at the clock, it was 6:00 am, one hour before her sister got up. So she waited and waited. Her sister was up half an hour later. Seema and Percha opened the gifts. Seema got two stuffed animals, a craft and a movie. Percha got the same. Both of them had the best Chrismas ever.

Music Monday: Jean Elan - Where's Your Head At

Now picture my Little Diva, in my bed room aka the house ballroom and dance studio, with a purple plastic trick or treat jack o lantern dancing. Yep that is what most days are like around here.

She is dancing and planning and organizing her own Halloween show! I suggested jokingly about a week ago, she should do her best Ichabod Crane and this song and the trick or treat buckets would be a great prop.

All I can say is be careful what you suggest!

This past week has been a challenging one and my Little Diva made a very adult decision to still dance with the Youth Company at her dance school in the annual Halloween Spooktacular! Having made that choice, she danced her heart out and I couldn't be prouder of her. This week she will perform at the annual trick or treat alternative event at the recreation center and tomorrow she misses school, to go perform in a few inner city schools and a nursing home. Her Youth Company brings dance and Halloween Cheer to those who might not otherwise experience it.

The arts do matter. They enrich our communities and just as communities are better for the support of the arts, I think artists, when they give back or pay it forward, they make our communities so much better.

So I have no doubts where Little Diva's heart or head is at...

30 Day Photo Challenge: Day 24 - Color Scheme

L is the color queen of our house. She can mix patterns and colors and create amazing outfits that no one else would ever think of, me included.

So tonight, I mentioned I was stumped again. I really don't have a favorite or signature color and most of our house trends towards neutrals, as H is not at all into bold color.

When I was working, it was very conservative. I had a closet full of very nice, very tailored and very boring suits. Navy, black, brown, grey, navy, black, did I mention black? I could have moonlighted as an undertaker without a problem.

Now though, I can experiment with colors. I have gone a little crazy with colors lately too. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

All of these items were in my closet and while I can assure you, I would never wear them all together, I am equally confident that L would totally pull off the combination flawlessly.

30 Day Photo Challenge: Day 23 - Childhood Memory

This one stumped me. Last week I thought about paying my hometown a visit. Surly I could find a memory or two there. Last week came and went and no trip.

Tonight on the way to dance lessons I was talking to L about tomorrow's challenge and how I thought I might have to sit it out. She says, "Oh come on Mom, you have lots of stuff from your childhood. Wait, remember that strange pink doll, I have that. See even I have a piece of your childhood."

Later I was cleaning up the kitchen and the kids were snacking and L says, "So how you gonna stage today's picture?" (Stage? my 9 year old used the word stage...)

I said I hadn't decided. E volunteers, "I think it would be cool if you did it like an I Spy picture."

Bingo!

So after bed time, I rounded up some items and staged and I Spy type photo. Can you guess which items are which???

Recycled quilt, a new life to something old before even recycle was a hot shot buzz word.
Souvenir from my 1st trip to Germany
Statue from the site of a bit of France, right here in Ohio.
A high school honor
L's bit of my childhood
A weird memento with an even weirder tag
A knotty endeavour
Something made by my great-grandfather
Pink memories - Snaps before digital

I bet if I was willing to hunt and dig out more, I have more items I could have put in this picture but I think this is a good sampling and representative of a number of years of my childhood.

Sewing 201: Reversable Cape

When I was surfing during the holidays for sewing tutorials, I came across the blog, Lia's Crafty Journey and this tutorial. After making the gift bags, I felt like I could do just about anything.

And I did!

I made this cape with some fantastic fabric I found on sale at JoAnn's before Christmas. I have enough left over to make a dress with a short skirt or a skirt with an above the knee length. I am pretty happy with the results.

This is the back view. I made the cape slightly wider and longer than the patter calls for, as I am tall and my arms are longish. I wanted it to hit just about the waist of my pants.

The sleeves hit just below the elbow, which is perfect, I am glad I added a bit of length.

You can adjust the cape using the buttons, it has endless possibilities.

I used very flat pewter buttons, so that they would lay flat, since you sew buttons back to back on either side of the fabric. This project had me re-learning how to use the button hole presser foot and I still had a few false starts (hint: practice a few first on scrap fabric.) but all in all it worked out well.

I would sat all in it took me an hour and a half, but I never to work straight through on these projects, so I have been 15 minutes here and there.

Lia's down-under so her pattern is in metric measurements, but you can adjust to Imperial measurements or JoAnn's can cut in metrics if you ask. I have both sets of rulers and just worked in metrics.

Happy sewing!

(photo credits go to L, my sewing and creative partner in crime. At 8, she is all about crafting and photography.)

Reading a Rough Story

We were coming home from dinner out and the kids always want to know who is going to put them to bed. H said he was going to do it tonight. H tends to wash E's hair "rough" as E says and so he said, "Daddy don't wash my hair rough!"

L is in a jolly mood and says, "Well too bad E, Daddy is going to wash your hair rough and read you a story rough and cuddle you roughly."

I asked how one reads and cuddles rough.

She explains Daddy can yell the story and then squeeze E very tight.

E scamper her to the writing cave tonight and says to me, "Tell Daddy not to read my story rough!"

I assured E, that Daddy would not yell the story...

Courageous Lioness...

I am deeply moved with how brave L has been, she handled Friday with no crying and no fussing. She bravely marched into the surgery center, let me change her clothes and asked questions of the doctors. She understands she will feel better now, once the tonsils are gone.

When she was in recovery, she threw up, but did not cry, just let me clean her up and then insisted when we got home, she was having a bath, with a LUSH bath bomb. She got agitated at one point, right after they gave her something to calm her tummy, and informed me, that having her tonsils out had been a bad idea and she WAS not going to do it ever again. Then she fell asleep and woke up her normal perky and happy self.

Yesterday she was tired and not eating much, but has been very cheerful and helpful, she helped me fold laundry, and I did not ask her, she just volunteered.

So much fierceness and courage in that 6 year old.

Last night she visited with my mom and ate a fair number of BBQ Kettle Chips and some cookies and drank a huge amount of water and juice.

This morning she tried cereal and ate half and went with me to Kroger. She and I are going to bake and watch tv. Maybe a trip to the library this afternoon. She is staying close and has slept with me the past two nights.

But she has tackled this procedure like everything, head on and with determination and no complaints. She is a lioness...

Can I bring my flowers...

The day before the grand camping adventure was our little Diva's big dance recital. She was in two scenes. As we walked into the auditorium L asks, "Will I get flowers like last time?" She remembered we had all given her flowers afterward. Yes I replied.

She paused a bit and asked, "Can I take them with me?"

I thought about it. Did we have room for a vase full of flowers?

"Sure." I replied, "Why not."

So we toured Michigan with a vase of flowers. First in the middle compartment of my car and then in the sink of the RV, while on the road and then on the shelf in the front of the RV, when we were stopped.

It was very homey having the flowers. Amazingly they looked none the worse for the wear. A testment to the true strength and beauty of roses but also my baby girl.

Airstream?!? or Sardine Can?

I will let you know... meanwhile this is for H and L!



L loves this song....

Rules of the Pool

Today L and I had a special mommy and me day. E had his last day of school before winter break. It was his holiday party and movie day. So L and I ran errands and picked the crafts for her tea party next week - then we went to the indoor pool at the rec center. (I had rallied hard for the conservatory but she was dead set on the pool.)

The pool really is nice. Large and with 2 slides. One baby slide and one big kid slide. The big kid slide requires that you be 42" tall and able to pass a swim test or over 48" tall and no swim test! Very simple - so between 42" and 48" you have to pass the test.

L wanted to do the big slide! I did not think she would be tall enough, but she climbed up the steps and low and behold down she came. Happy as a clam. She did the slide no less than 10 times before the the rest period. After rest period and the life guard shift, she climbs the stairs only to come down in tears. The new life guard felt she was not tall enough. (Hello her hair is wet....and flat to her head and the last time she had dry hair.) She is distraught for being denied what she had just done. I climb up the steps with her and got attitude. So not his problem.

So I marched us to the pool managers office. I was not taking issue with the rule - IT IS A GOOD RULE! But I was taking issue with the haphazard way it was being applied. There should be safe guards in place to ensure that all the guards are enforcing the rule in the same way. There should be a wet hair or dry hair allowance. Or the kids have to be clearly an inch over 48". Some safe guard. I get that it is a judgement call, but there are ways to ensure that everyone is making a seemingly uniform judgement. (Mgmt 101)

Like I explained the the pool manager - I take no issue with the rule on its face. I take issue that L is seeing people in positions of authority applying the rule in a haphazard way. It is unfair and creates situations where she feel she cannot trust those around her in positions of authority to act in a reliable and principled manner. To be allowed to do something and then 15 minutes later be denied the same privilege is unacceptable in my mind.

The manager agreed. She is just tall enough or just a tad under and she can swim - so she was allowed to proceed. But I could tell she felt confused and let down.

I hope the manager takes the time to express my concern to the life guards. It seems like no big deal, but in reality it really is a big deal!

I would submit that this is an issue in society at large! We as a culture tend to be selective in rule enforcement. I think it is important to be flexible and judge certain things on a case by case basis - but there is also something to be said for being principled and consistent in rule enforcement.

The Bomb!

I have created a monster. A clean smelling bath loving monster. L is obsessed with Bath Bombs from LUSH. She discovered these when we went to Lush to get my henna and fav conditioner. The salesgirl showed the kiddos how the bath bombs worked and then L did the same for her class when she was scientist of the week. (hint sodium bicarbonate and powdered citric acid - when they hit the water - bam.... well ok - fizz....)

So the new bathtub is done and we are loving it. (pictures coming soon I promise....) All the better for bath bombs... Wednesday after her brother's Thanksgiving Feast - I took L to LUSH to get some new BOMBS for the new bathtub. For this wonderful occasion she dressed in her Sugar Plum Fairy dance ensemble - complete with three layer tutu... cupcake knee socks... a white turtle neck under the costume and her brown leather riding boots... (Could even I make this up....) the feathers in her hair were the icing on the cake.

We bought the BOMBs and then she used one that evening.. It was purple.

So today, dressed in her angel costume - complete with wings... she is imploring me to let her take a bath and use the flower bomb - becasue in the LUSH magazine (which came the same day as our shopping trip...and it is a newspaper more than a magazine - which she will not put down - she is studying for her PHd in Lush Bath Bombs...) IT said that there is a flower you can keep in the Bomb - after your bath.

What I ask could possibly top that??

Twilight

Yes...The Best Seller by Stephanie Meyer and now a movie. Yep this is the Twilight I am talking about. My 19 year old babysitter was gushing about it about a month or so ago and I filed that away in my mind and then I heard about the movie and decided I wanted to check it out. The YA market for books is huge and I am a fan of YA fiction - lord knows I read enough of it as kid. Stacks and stacks of books.

I also will concede that on of my works in progress stars a slightly less than human protagonist. (Not a vampire and that IS all I am saying...)

What Worked for Me

The story is beautifully written. While long - it is alot of dialog and moves at a lightening fast pace. It is well developed and I love that the details develop as I read. I felt like I was right there with Bella as she discovered her new home town.

The romance is sweet and very light and I did not feel like it was out of place. There is a wonderful mystery element to the story. It really was sweet and it totally made me want to keep turning the pages.

I tend to write in 1st person and this book is a prime example why that can be so powerful.

What did not work for me

Overall it was a good read and nothing jumped out and said - Hey this is not working. It is not that deep a book - but then Bella is 17 years and a junior in high school and thinks very much like a young woman. It is authentic. Edward is the deeper of the two and at times I felt like the story was telling too much about him and less about Bella.

L asked why there was picture of an apple on the cover and I get the Biblical reference on the 1st page - but I am not sure it as well illustrated in the story as one might think.


Overall

This is a good book for the holidays. Great reading on the plane or train or long car trip. Becasue of the subject matter - vampires and the slightly romantic overtones I would say this book is PG-13 for certain.

You can buy it here.

All I want for Christmas....

L submitted her list. Hold on for this one....

3 jolly ranchers (the candy)

2 lollipops

books

Mulan 2

Yep that is it. It is a departure from years past when she asked for books and cookies. The challenge for Santa I think, will be finding the 3 jolly ranchers...

In all seriousness, L is like her momma. She does not covet things. She wants special her focused time and lots of love and cuddles. Which I have no trouble giving her. She lives for the experiences of life. At 6 she seems to know what is truly valuable.

Where's the Boat?

That is what E wanted to know after we stood in line for an hour! They charged in this morning at 5:30 am - so I got us dressed and fed and off to the polls. At 6:27 am we were at least 25 deep! We waited an hour!

I am sure many people would have rather my kiddos stayed home - but it is their country too and they should be part of the process. Beside the schools are closed here - so L would have been coming with me anyway. E has preschool today but I was afraid the lines would only get worse as the day goes on.

L was chanting in the car over to the polls - "Smart people vote for Obama!" He is her choice. She voted yesterday at school. I told her while I was voting for Obama - and I do ardently believe he has the best ideas for America - that the most important thing is that people are voting. Not voting ought to be illegal. Today is the only day MY opinion actually matters. Today it COUNTS.

So I voted for Obama, I voted against the casino and I voted for th school issues - not becasue I have changed my opinion about HOW the school board is managing my tax dollars (but then I can vote them out next round and mark my words I am paying attention.)- but becasue the bond issue will be used to fix a problem that vexes me. Anyone can get into the school where L attends. The security is non-existent and there is a man running around my community taking photos of the kiddos - that is a real problem and while I think paying the superintendents housing costs is a bad idea and I was pretty clear on my feelings about the school's NEW MATH - I take my Baby's safety very SERIOUSLY.

So all I can do now is hope that enough people feel the same as I do.

So go vote or in E's world - I might just be motivated to push you off the BOAT. No dead weight! Once every four years - the country asks you to make your voice heard... NO EXCUSES!

Story

L read me Go Dog Go today. The entire thing - solo - with very little help from me. Wow! It was exciting and she was so proud of herself. She is growing in leaps and bounds and learning so much.

She is writing her own stories and asking great questions about the books we read together, like what happen next or why did the author end the story there.

She gets what I am trying to do as a career and see is seeing the power that language, reading and writing hold.

BEHOLD the POWER of WORDs.....

Bulky

So I have long resisted the Warehouse store. I have a number of issues with Walmart. I will give them that they have managed to run a retail like college text book case study, but I have a number of issues with their labor practices and well I am just not sure I want to allocate my retail dollars their direction. Hence I have also not been seduced by Sam's club.

We do have a Costco in town. Not close to me, but not far either. J has one near her and loves it. Other friends have had nothing but good stuff to say about it. Oprah is one of their biggest fans.

I have decided that I need to be buying certain things in larger quantities than say 6. L packs her lunch everyday for school. We do not have time to come home on Monday and Tuesdays for an at the table snack. Often the snack is eaten in the car. E still needs to snack on the go sometimes. I can blow thru a package of 6 Z-Bars or 6 cracker snack packs in no time flat.

I used to resist buying the crackers in small portion controlled packs, but with me not eating most of what the kiddos are eating and H gone so much, things go stale and where is the savings in that?

While I do most of my shopping at Whole Foods (given I have to be able trust what is in it....) I still go to the other grocery stores a fair amount to get this and that. Some weeks I will have been to 3 stores and WF twice. This is nuts.

So now that we have a much bigger refrigerator and one in basement and significantly larger pantry, I felt it was time to perhaps think about buying in bulk. My mother is also closer and is interested in either sharing some of the larger items and she was down with splitting the cost of a membership.

So we took a field trip to Costco, bought the membership and went to town. I was impressed. Still 70% of the food is off my list, but I did find some of my favorite snack items in bulk and at a super price. Yippee. I doubt I will shop there for my produce but I got rice milk cheap, crackers and granola bars for the kids. Stuff H likes to take when he travels and all at a really good price.

Everyone was super friendly and helpful. They load and unload your card for you. I did not take the time to look at the clothing and center of the store stuff, but I will, next time I go solo.

L was SO excited. She randomly this week asked if I could get her Go Dog Go for her birthday next year. Lo and Behold, they had a huge table of Dr. Suess books in a three pack and Go Dog Go was one of them. We got that also.

It may be a once a month or every 6 weeks stop, becasue I did stock up this time! I have reached the point in my like where I want to go one or two places and shop and then go home. No more endless chasing my tail and seeking the cheapest price. If I spend over 4 hours a week running here and there - I have eaten up any sayings in my time and the cost of gas.