In the Land of the Dinosaurs and Papier Mache!

We made a little trip to fantasy land today. It's Saturday so we have swimming lessons and the library. We got take away Chinese food and came home to work on a dinosaur landscape for the boy's dinosaurs to roam. He had a lot of ideas--most of which were very creative and beyond the scope of my skills--and I did a lot of "uh-huhing" and then did what was feasible. He'd notice after awhile and say, "You know I really don't care which color blue you use for the water. Any color will do." That was after he had vetoed the only color blue I had and I used it anyway. He did put the kabosh on my plans for grass because he said grass had not evolved yet. So I informed him that those green patches were not grass but moss. We got out his books and saw that ferns were pretty rampant so we're trying to devise a way to make some sturdy ferns that can survive the rough and tumble treatment they'll get on a playmat. Maybe I'll use a fern print fabric. With the maestro's permission, of course.


We made it useable and when time permits, we'll go back and embroider more details if we feel like it. He spread it on his bedroom floor and is having a good time playing dinosaurs! One great thing about my son is he has a lot of enthusiasm and a boatload of imagination no matter what he does!
He also wanted a volcano. So we mixed up a batch of papier mache paste (5 cups of water boiled, then add 1 cup of flour and boil for 2-3 minutes more--stirring all the time. Mine was stubbornly lumpy so I poured it through the strainer.)and let it cool.
Sam tore lots of newspaper strips and we covered a little plastic bucket with a plastic bag and used masking tape to adhere some crumpled paper to give a more volcanic shape. Meanwhile, Sadie and I took an empty wine cooler bottle, topped it with a burnt out light bulb and taped it all together. We crumpled up a bit of paper for a muzzle and taped it in place. We decided on felt ears after its done. I put them near the woodburning stove that we've had going non-stop this weekend in the hopes they'll dry out enough so they can paint them on Martin Luther King Day.
So that was our crafty Saturday.

When My House is Clean...

I'm happy. However, it doesn't happen often. So I thought I should take pictures to remind myself that it is possible.

The Junk Addict Relapses

It started out well enough. I spent hours--and I mean hours--cleaning out the entry closet which was packed to the gills with junk! I set it up to hold our winter coats and the dog stuff. So now the door actually shuts.
Then we went to drop off a big of junk at the Goodwill and saw they were having a 50% off sale on New Year's Day. We had to go. Us and about a zillion other people. We actually spent most of our time shopping for clothes for my sister, but we did find some stuff we couldn't live without. Hello, Kitty is for the sister, but we NEEDED that little green vase from Germany. And those little trays for eating snacks in front of the tv. And the creamer and sugar bowl made in Japan. And the big fat mug for drinking hot coco.

And the tea holder from Finland with the little wooden lid. And the odd little light blue scrubbie holder (I'm guessing). And the girl needed a Scoobie-Doo lunch box. And the boy needed more dinosaurs. And the mother needed a pencil holder for the homework area. And the plywood lapboard for working in bed. Maybe a recovering junk addict could be forgiven--just this once.

New Year's Revolutions Cont'd...

My son said he was going to be making some New Year's Revolutions this year. Never too early to start making revolutions if you ask me.
On the bright side, I sewed the binding on the borders of my Australian Animals Quilt (using the fold a 3 inch strip in half and sew it along the front outside border so when you put on the backing, you just fold it over and handstitch in place). Then I pieced the backing for it. I got inspired by some quilts I saw on other people's blogs and got all in a tizzy over the backing.


On the less bright side, I got inspired by some quilts on other people's blogs and went to Jo-Ann's and bought some bird fabric!!!! That was totally not the plan! I was supposed to be finishing, not starting, quilts!

On the bright side, I laid out the Smoking Guns Cowgirl Quilt and found a layout that inspires me. We're talking nap quilts for all these projects! I just wish I had a dark brown fabric with a thin pink stripe to put between the center and the outside border. I just want to stick to pink, brown and white. You'd think in that massive fabric stash I have, I'd have one of everything.

I also got the idea to layout the Perfect Neighborhood with little roads connecting the houses using a background of white. We'll see.

And I got fed up with my mermaid art quilt and just machine sewed the snot out of it. Enough with the handsewing!

Christmas Comes Down

The snow village was near and dear to my son's heart. Every time I turned around, he was re-arranging it, adding things. When I packed it away, I noticed he'd pulled clumps of the snow blanket off and draped them over the roofs of each house. I remember as a child lying under the Christmas tree and playing with the manger scene. That was great fun. I realize now my mother must have had the patience of a saint. Next year, I'll help him make him his own village. Back to the pre-Christmas look until next year.