Self-Expression

Last week, I got a new cell phone. I didn't really want a new phone. I was actually quite happy with the one I had for the past three years, mostly because it did what I needed it to do, and I knew how to use it! Unfortunately, it decided to die on me. My theory is that it's a conspiracy between Verizon and the cell phone companies: the battery kept draining as it spent every night for about a week trying to upload some update that it was apparently too antiquated to accept, and this was how they forced me to upgrade! (I'm mostly joking here, because I don't really buy into conspiracy theories, however it really seems a bit too convenient for those companies, don't you think?) Anyway, I found a phone that is quite similar to the one I already had, although I went with a Samsung instead of an LG because it had a larger screen and it takes video. Not that I have shot any video yet, but you know, just in case, and also my phone before the one that just died took video so I did sort of wonder why I lost that feature when I upgraded to the QWERTY keyboard.

Now, here's the main reason I told you the background story. Since I had a new phone, this meant that I needed to get a new phone cover, which was a tougher decision than picking out the actual phone. (How's that for a first-world problem?) On my old phone, I had a black case with pink flowers and butterflies that I loved. However, my sister-in-law, Jill, recently got the same cover, which meant that it was high time for me to try something new. (And Jill, if you're reading this, know that I love you, but still, we need to have different cell phone covers!)

I was surprised by my inability to make a simple decision regarding a cell phone cover. An eBay search yielded tons of results for my phone, which I narrowed down to a handful: a blue-green floral design, turquoise with white polka dots, a rhinestone covered owl, a bright green background with a brown owl perched on a branch, splattered paint, purple with a white butterfly, and purple bling which had rhinestones on the entire thing. This was as far as I got the first night after picking up my new phone, and I actually lost sleep over this, if you can believe that. It shouldn't have been such a big deal, but after having the same case for three years, and knowing that I will have this one for that long, too (unless they get me with some whacked-out conspiracy), I felt it had to really reflect who I am. (If you read my post yesterday, you know that this has been on my mind lately.)

By the next day, I was able to knock a few off the list of possibilities. I had decided that I liked purple and butterflies but just not that particular design. The flowers were too generic. Turquoise with polka dots was cutesy but kind of blah, not really me. The bejeweled owl was rather ostentatious, completely over-the-top wild, which I decided might translate as "crazy" in the event that people are judging me by my phone cover, and I assume that they are -- otherwise this was a huge waste of brain power! The purple bling was pretty fabulous, but ultimately I decided it was ridiculously impractical considering how often I drop my phone, not to mention the fact that I was worried people would think I was ultra-girly and high maintenance. I like pretty things and I like being feminine, but that's not all there is to me, so it didn't seem deep enough. (I know, I'm way, way over-thinking this!) That left the green owl cover and the paint splattered cover, which I needed another night to sleep on.

This was a tricky one. I liked the owl because I like birds lately, plus it was a fun, graphic design. It was simple but fun. And I loved the bright green. (If you've been reading my recent posts related to Puerto Rico, I am sure you understand.) Plus, I felt that this would suggest to people that I lean toward environmental friendliness, you know, being green, both with the literal color and the animal imagery.

Ultimately, I chose the paint splattered cover, which I felt was ideal for my self expression. It has lots of bright COLORS! It showcases my fun and kooky side (hopefully without making me appear crazy), and it obviously lets everyone know that I am into artsy crafty things. All good stuff. I may also have been slightly influenced by this year's MOPS theme, "A Beautiful Mess," which I have currently been planning for. This made me somewhat concerned that people would think I was messy, disorganized, or something along those lines. Then, I realized that I am a mess, and it's okay. Personally, I would love it if everyone thought I had it all together, but I figured this was a fun risk to take with showcasing my silly, sloppy side instead of choosing the safer owl motif. (I do really love to try new things and have fun, but I am often held back by my own fears.) And here I thought that I was totally over-thinking this and making it so much more important than it really was, when, in fact, I learned a bit about myself during the decision making process. Hooray for self-expression that leads to self-understanding, a perfect theme for the "Summer of Meg!"

{It's a perfect fit for me}

Mommy's Got Mad Skills!

Lately, I have been annoyed by the feeling of being boxed in by everyone else and their perception of who I am. When I vocalized this during the Puerto Rico trip, my sister-in-law, Jill, asked me, "Do you even know who you are any more?" She raised a good point! Who I am got kind of lost when I became a mom, and perhaps, became even more muddled when I switched from being a working mom to being a stay-at-home mom. So (in my mind at least), I have dubbed this the "Summer of Meg!" and I have been trying to take advantage of opportunities to try new things whenever they happen to be presented to me.

A couple of days ago, after watching my brother and his girlfriend try out my cousin's paddle board, I decided that I should try it, too. I ran up to the house and quickly put on my swim suit. In my eagerness to get going, I was already headed into the water before my brother, Ryan, was done giving me some some pointers. Normally, I am more tentative and try to get as much info as possible before jumping into new things, but I figured it would be much harder to chicken out once I had already committed myself to paddle boarding, and I really wanted to force myself to take on the challenge.

Naturally, it turned out that I should have given him a minute to finish explaining how to turn around. (This is why I usually figure things out before attempting them.) I had a slight scare when I got out far enough that the wind was starting to push me out into the bay, finding myself wondering aloud, "How do I turn around?!"  Fortunately, I was not far out, and I was never really in danger. I was just bound and determined to NOT fall into the water since the weather was more reminiscent of a September day in northern Michigan than the late-July day that it actually was.

So, I used my instincts and sat down (or squatted actually -- I don't really remember -- and my dear husband was kind enough to not shoot film or video of this portion of the show). Then, I pushed the paddle deep and hard until I was able to turn the board back toward shore. After turning around, I hopped back up, and noticed that I had a rather large audience, much larger than when I had started (and undoubtedly they were all thinking, "What?! Meg is paddle boarding?! Better not miss this!!).

Well, this meant that I had even more incentive to not fall in the drink. Most of the family was there watching, including my cousin John, the owner of the paddle board, and for some reason not looking stupid in front of him was imperative. I remember laughing and yelling, "I got this!" I was feeling more confident since I figured out how to turn around, how to get down and back up again, and most importantly, I did it all without falling in, so I hoped they didn't notice my legs were shaking a bit while I negotiated all this.

Safely back on shore, everyone seemed very impressed that I had stayed upright the entire time. My dad commented that he assumed that I would fall in. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dad! I informed him that I was highly motivated. My mom suggested that most people fall the first time they try it, but I am not sure what she was basing this on. Why were they all so surprised? Did I mention that I was highly motivated? The water wasn't as warm as I would like, and the air definitely was not warm enough for me to be getting soaked. The most telling of all was Mia's shocked reaction, "Mom! I can't believe you can paddle board!!" I replied, "Well, guess what? I've got all kinds of skills that you don't know about!" Clearly, I am not known for being an adventurous spirit, but maybe on I am on the right track with the "Summer of Meg!"

"Do one thing every day that scares you." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

{Trying something new...}

{I enjoyed my adventure, but I was relieved to return to shore!}

Decorating Dilemma

Decisions, decisions. Today, I picked up my custom-framed artwork from Michaels and I am soooooo excited by how it turned out. This was a favorite souvenir from our day in Old San Juan, during our Puerto Rico trip: a $5 print of a cityscape, the most important design element being COLOR! (If you read my post about Puerto Rico, you understand how much I LOVE color!)

I enjoyed heading to Michaels and experimented with the different mats and frames until I had narrowed it down to two different color combinations: purple frame with red mat and green frame with blue mat. I think the guy working the framing counter knew to not mess with my creative juices because he just sat back and watched me. Then, he used his computer software to show me what the final product would look like for each color combination. (Way cool! I love the new technology, which they did not have the last time I had something framed.) The only problem was that I was stuck and couldn't decide between the two combinations. Both were really beautiful, but each one made the print look very different because it pulled different colors from the print and highlighted them. Finally, I decided to go with the red mat and purple frame because I told him I was pretty sure it would be hung on a yellow wall. He again used his computer program to show me what it would look like mounted on a yellow wall. That was the deciding factor because the red/purple pairing had the most impact.

Now, that I have gotten the artwork home, I am thrilled with what a $65 custom-frame and mat can do to make a very inexpensive print look amazing. However, I am once again faced with a design dilemma. While I was originally planning to hang the artwork on my yellow wall, I am now thinking it might look right at home in my green dining room. The yellow wall is the the entry way and living room, so people would see if upon first entering our home, but I would also enjoy looking at my picture of COLORFUL Old San Juan during every meal. After reading this post from Button Bird Designs, I have decided to ask for other people's input. Where do you think I should hang my print?

{Option 1: The Yellow Wall}

 

OR

{Option 2: The Green Wall}

Make Your Own: Mustache on a Stick

Yesterday I saw an ad on Facebook that featured a woman and a little boy holding mustaches on sticks. So fun! With both of my brothers coming to Michigan this weekend, I felt inspired to make a few of these to take Up North with us. I felt that these would make for some fun family memories especially since I know that Nick, a professional photographer, will be taking lots of photos.

So, I grabbed all of the black felt scraps that I had, my bottle of Aleene's tacky glue, and a bunch of wooden skewers -- which had gotten tucked into my craft stash just last week after falling onto the laundry room floor. (Why do I store my skewers in the laundry room? Honestly, I have no clue, but that is where they have been for ages. Anyway, once they hit the floor, I figured that they were no longer "food safe," but that didn't mean that they couldn't be used for crafting. I just needed an idea. Funny how things work out.)

In the end, I had enough materials to make eleven mustaches on a stick. Coincidentally, (or maybe not -- you see how these things work out?) this is the exact number of family members who will be getting together this weekend.

{My mustaches remind me of a flock of birds.}

Materials:

• wooden skewers (or dowels)
• black felt (or craft foam or card stock)
• tacky glue
• pen/pencil
• scissors
• scratch paper (optional)

Directions:

1. To begin, I cut pieces of scratch paper to approximately the same size as my black felt scraps. Then, I folded them in half, hamburger style. One each scrap of paper, I drew one half of a mustache shape, cut it out and checked to see if it fit on the felt. I then adjusted accordingly, both to make sure that it fit, and that I was happy with the shape, making more trimmings as needed. (Tip: If you don't want to draw your mustaches freehand, look for an online template such as this one.)
2. Next, I used a little bit of tacky glue to stick my scratch paper templates on top of my black felt, just enough to get each to lay flat, but not so much to make it permanently bonded. Then, I cut around the templates. Once done cutting, I peeled off my templates. You do not have to use glue, but it made it easier to cut around the template without it slipping. (Tip: For cutting felt, use the sharpest scissors that you have available.)
3. To make the wooden skewers more kid friendly, I used my scissors to cut off the sharp ends. (Note: If I had more felt, I would have made two-sided mustaches, sandwiching the sharp part of the skewer in between the two pieces of felt, and thus eliminating the need to trim them.)
4. To finish my mustaches, I used a dab of tacky glue to adhere a wooden skewer to the back side of each felt mustache. When I say "back side," I mean the side that already had traces of glue on it, left over from the templates. (Note: I have seen other mustaches on sticks that had the sticks placed off center, and while I realize that this probably looks nicer in photos, it wasn't working for me. So, I centered mine to get stability, because floppy mustaches were not the look I was going for.)
5. Make sure the glue dries completely before modeling your new facial hair. (Tip: If the tacky glue is not working, consider using hot glue instead.)

{My favorite little people model some of my creations.}

Curtain Call

Near the end of the school year, I found a sweet little wooden puppet theatre at a garage sale for just $2! I had never seen one at a garage sale before. Ever. So, I scooped it up. Then, after getting it home, I discovered that all of our puppets have gone AWOL. Perhaps because they have never had a proper theatre in which to perform? So, it has sat in a corner of the living room most of the time, occasionally getting opened up for brief puppet shows sadly consisting of about 2 finger puppets, all we could find after searching the WHOLE house!

Now, fast forward to this insanely hot week, when I have thought (more than once) that I somehow ended up in the Sahara instead of good old Michigan, by some weird turn of events. Yeah, it's crazy hot here, and the kids and I have slowly been going batty from being cooped up. This means that the Activity Director (a.k.a. "Mom") has been coming up with lots of projects to try to maintain our sanity.

One such project was making spoon puppets with Mia while Logan (miraculously!!) took a two-hour nap in the afternoon. Our spoons were all left over from my sister-in-law's kitchen themed bridal shower that I threw for her a couple years ago. (Yes, I know, I'm a bit of a pack rat... Honestly, I had been planning for these to become puppets all along, and it's taken me this long to find the motivation. Desperate times, you know?) We ended up with ten spoon puppets altogether, although I am mystified as to where the other two wooden spoons went. I know they came in 4-packs from Dollar Tree, so it seems like we should have twelve, but that's okay. This was more than enough to create a well-stocked puppet theatre.

{Wooden Spoon Puppets by Mia, Age 6}

Materials:

• wooden spoons
• permanent markers
• acrylic paint
• foam paint brushes
• tacky glue
• googly eyes
• felt
• craft foam
• scissors
• buttons
• sequins
• fabric scraps
• plastic gems
• pipe cleaners
• paint tray (old Styrofoam tray or a plate or bowl) 
• hot glue gun (for adult use only)
• something to protect work surface (cereal box liner or wax paper)

Directions:

1. We used acrylic paint for the faces of the puppets. (Well, all of them except for the one she says is "sun burned" which she colored with an orange marker). I didn't have any "flesh" colors on hand, so I mixed up an assortment of skin tones using pinks, yellow, orange, some blue, and white. Apply a thin coat to the front side of the spoon, going down the "neck" somewhat. Then, flip it over, and apply a thin coat to the back as well. You don't need to paint the entire spoon, unless you want to. Lay flat on your cereal box liner (or wax paper) to dry completely, which takes just a few minutes. Tip: Acrylic paints will stain fabric, so old clothes/paint shirts are recommended. Also, you will want to protect your work surface. We used a cereal box liner, which works very nicely for this.
2. Add clothing to your puppets. Mia used Sharpie markers to draw shirts and pants on some that she decided would be men. For the women, I helped her drape fabric scraps of her choosing to make dresses and then I used my hot glue gun to secure the material. 
3. Add faces and hair. Mia drew hair on the men. She came up with assorted hair-dos for the women, which were made out of pipe cleaners, and adhered using hot glue. (Yarn would also work, but she wasn't interested in using any.) For faces, she drew noses and mouths using Sharpie markers. She added googly eyes with tacky glue.
4. Don't forget the accessories and other details! All of the men have mustaches, which is funny to me since we don't know any men with mustaches. She also gave two of the three men glasses, drawn with black Sharpie before adding the eyes. A couple of the men are wearing craft foam bow ties, which I applied with hot glue and one has little buttons on his shirt, which again were hot glued. One of the girls, which Mia called "Rapunzel," has similar bows in her hair and another has a purple butterfly gem. Lastly, the "Old Lady," has two earring (miss-matched) and a necklace.
5. Make sure all glue is dry before putting on your first wooden spoon puppet performance. Enjoy!

{Some of my favorite people put on a puppet show.}

Note: Not all puppets need to be people. They could be animals (like Mia made), robots, monsters, or whatever you can come up with! Mia chose to make two dogs and two cats, too. One of the "skin tones" came out on the yellow-ish side, but she declared it to be the perfect color for a Golden Retriever. His body and ears are yellow felt. His collar is red felt and his "license" is a gold sequins. (This is probably my favorite one, too. He's awfully cute with his lopsided kid-applied eyes, making it look like he is considering something mischievous.) Both of the cats have striped bodies of alternating orange and brown Sharpie marker, and they have their own collars and tags, too. The last dog looks a bit cat-like sense he has short pointy ears and whiskers, however Mia insists that dogs have whiskers, too! For whatever reason, we had no "children" that she created. When I pictured this project, I figured some of the puppets would naturally look like the members of our family, but clearly it's good to let kids do their own thing!

Color Hunt Activity and Color Wheel Craft

Okay, even though I am labeling this "rainy day fun" it has not actually been raining here. Instead, it's just been so hot that it feels like the flesh is melting off of my bones whenever I set foot outdoors. No joke! Heat index of 102 degrees today! Ugh... Anyway, that means that I we have been cooped up inside (God bless whoever invented central air, am I right?) pretty much all week except for when we were running errands (and a 9:00 am park play date today -- glad we didn't start that one any later). Only problem is the cabin fever aspect of things. Fortunately, this mommy keeps all sorts of lists of possible things to do.

One activity we did yesterday afternoon was a color hunt around the house. This was nice because the kids worked together instead of, you know, trying to kill each other and driving me insane in the process. Ah, reprieve! I gave them the muffin tin that I had added colored inserts to for this color sorting activity and told them to find small toys and what-nots that would be lightweight enough to glue onto paper and that they wouldn't miss after the items were glued to the paper. (Note: This ended up being a great way to have them herd up all those things that I get sick of finding everywhere like plastic ring toppers from holiday cupcakes and little goodie bag items from birthday parties.) After they found all the little toys and other odds and ends from their bedrooms, I suggested we look at the craft bins where they found plenty of sequins, beads, buttons, pom poms, foam letters, bottle caps, and the Styrofoam tiles left over from this craft. By the time they had filled up the 6 cup muffin tin, I felt that we had enough colorful finds to create our color wheel, inspired by this blog (and found on Pinterest).

{From Color Hunt...}

{To Color Wheel}

Materials for Color Wheel:

• 1/2 piece of white poster board (with grid lines, if possible)
• pencil or pen
• black Sharpie (optional)
• large frying pan (or whatever you have that's big and round)
• ruler
• scissors
• acrylic paint (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) OR markers
• something to hold paint (I used a Styrofoam tray.)
• foam paint brushes (1 per color)
• something to protect work surface (cereal box liner, vinyl table cloth, newspaper)
• hot glue gun

Directions for Color Wheel:

1. Using a pen or pencil, trace a large round object (I used my biggest frying pan) onto a half piece of white poster board. Tip: If your poster board has grid lines, I recommend keeping them visible.
2. Cut out the circle.
3. Find the center of the circle and make a dot. I used black Sharpie for this. (This is very easy to do if your poster board has grid lines. If not, you will probably want to use your ruler to help.)
4. Using a ruler, draw 3 lines across the circle. You should now have 6 pie wedges of approximately the same size. Tip: I first did this with a pencil, and then followed with a black Sharpie, correcting the placement as I went. It does not need to be perfect, but I was glad to have used pencil the first go round. I didn't bother erasing my stray pencil marks because I knew I would be painting on top of them anyway.
5. Once my circle was divided into 6 segments, I used acrylic paints to fill them in. I started my primary colors: first red, then I skipped a wedge, filled in the next with yellow, skipped a wedge, and then filled in the final part with blue. I had hoped that this would dry fast enough that the paint wouldn't touch the next corresponding part of my color wheel. (This would have worked better, though, if I hadn't immediately started painting the rest of the segments.) I finished up with secondary colors: orange (in between red and yellow), green (in between yellow and blue), and purple (in between blue and red). Make sure paint is dry before continuing to the next step. This shouldn't take more than 20 minutes or so. Tip: Protect clothing and work surface before using acrylic paints. I wore an old shirt and covered my table with a cereal box liner, which I use in place of wax paper for craft projects. Tip: I only used one coat of paint, and I didn't worry about streaks or uneven coverage at all. I knew it would get covered well enough to not matter, so save yourself some time by not trying to make it perfect. Tip: If you would like your child to fill in the color wheel, I suggest using washable markers in place of acrylic paints.
6. Using a pre-heated glue gun (adults only!) start adhering the colorful items to the corresponding sections of your color wheel until it is as full as you would like. You can have your child tell you where to place things, if desired. Tip: Self-adhesive craft foams shapes and letters will save you some glue, if those happen to be among the items your kids have scrounged up! Tip: Start with the largest items and work your way down to the smallest items, that way you can squeeze them in as needed. Tip: If you want to be sure things will fit, lay them out prior to gluing. Allow hot glue to dry completely before moving the color wheel.

You Put Your Right Foot In...

{I didn't realize how many pairs of shoes he had...

}

For little ones who like to put on their own shoes but who struggle with getting them on the correct feet (read: all toddlers/preschoolers), here is a quick and easy solution that I picked up by reading FamilyFun magazine (June/July 2013, page 112b). Just take a permanent marker (I used a black Sharpie) and draw arrows on the insides of the shoes. Make the left shoe's arrow pointing right and the right shoe's arrow pointing left. Now, when the shoes are correctly laid out in front of the child's feet, the arrows point toward each other. Brilliant, simple, cheap, quick, and absolutely no-skills-necessary = the perfect parent hack! This works for all types of shoes and boots. And, the fact that the you see results right away doesn't hurt either. I only wish I had known about this when Mia was younger.