Dear You (Dear Me)

This has been forming in my heart for a while now and today I simply couldn't put it off any longer.  It demanded to be written, to be shared. 

Dear You,

you, the one reading these words

you, with the ancient, wanting heart

you, wondering if you'll ever

get it right

i invite you to pause

for a moment

and listen to the

space

between

these

words

to the space where

softness rests and

hunger fades

to the space that

so gently

asks you to

stop

the thoughts

that doubt your worth

to stop the voices

that compare

and leave you feeling

less

there is no less

there are no shadows or shoulds

no pretty or good

no bad or broken

no wrong or right

in Love

there is only this breath

and that which breaths it

there is only you

and your giggling

fully blossomed

self

ready

ready right now

to shine

it's newborn

ancient

just right

Light



Ooops...

One of my blog goals is to go back through all the recipes I've posted and add photographs.  And as I add more recipes I'll include pictures in the original posts.

So today I made bagels and completely forgot to take pictures of the process!  D'oh!

Instead, I'll leave you with the link to the original post and this picture...

This morning...

Pookie:  Mom, you should wear an eye patch.
Me, laughing: Why?
Pookie: Because you're the captain and captains get to wear eye patches!
Me: I'm the captain?  Of what?
Pookie: Of the kids!  I'm going to make you an eye patch!
Me:  Do I get to pick the color?
Pookie: No!  Captains only get black eye patches!

That kid cracks me up!

Put a brick on her head!

Thirteen years ago I gave birth to a tiny little baby girl.  She's grown a bit since then and is becoming a wonderful young woman.  She's smart, creative, affectionate and playful.  She sticks her tongue out at her Dad daily, has adorable dimples that she tries unsuccessfully to hide when she's pretending to be mad and a stronger sense of who she is than most girls twice her age. 

• We went on vacation last year and the first souvenir she bought for herself was a stuffed version of the rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail - it has giant teeth and a red, bloody looking mouth.  She LOVES it!
• She loves video games like Castlevania and Lego Battles.
• Last year for her birthday she asked for a field guide to rocks and minerals.
• She wanted to learn to speak Draconic (the language of the dragons), so she printed a bunch of word lists and such, then made her own "class."  She's getting pretty good at it and is now teaching two of her brothers how to speak it, too.  
• She likes origami and has taught me to make a few things.
• She recently informed me that she'd like to learn French, too, because she likes the way it sounds.
• Her two favorite movies are Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Noises Off!  At least twice a day she works a quote from one of them into a conversation.
• She makes crazy good baking powder biscuits.
• She refuses to cook tomato soup while The Boy makes grilled cheese sandwiches because a few years ago he accidentally bumped her, sloshing hot soup all over her.  The burns weren't bad and there's no scarring, but she won't tempt fate again.
• She's often my crafty partner in crime, helping me figure out how to make my ideas into reality - she's logical where I'm not.
• She buys most of her clothes from the boys' department because she thinks the ones in the girls' department are too revealing or have stupid sayings on them that she doesn't agree with (things like "90% angel, 10% devil" or "I'm the princess.  Spoil me.")
• She has a Lego stash that rivals most small stores.
• When she's got free time she can often be found in the driveway building some sort of rock maze or preserve for her vast menagerie of plastic animal figurines or making extremely detailed animals out of play dough (usually that she's made herself).
• When she's reading, which is pretty often, she prefers non-fiction.  She reads field guides and coffee table books like novels - the more information, the better!
• Her current career choices are veterinarian, marine biologist or wildlife photographer.
• The day we brought her home from the hospital (she was so little!), Bryant made us a special dinner.  That same meal has been her birthday dinner of choice every single year. 

Happy birthday, Scooter!  We love you!

Playing with paper

I had a bit of a rough morning.  A battle of the wills over chores, some serious talk about a school issue and the messiness that always accompanies vacation had me feeling a little cantankerous.  But as I looked out at the branches of the walnut tree whipping in the wind against a dark grey, cloudy backdrop, I felt the calmness settle into my heart.  I let the peace soak into me and then I felt it; the tiny stirring of creative inspiration. 

Trees often have that effect on me, especially when the wind tickles their leaves.

I had bagels to make this morning, but they're the kind of bread that only takes a moment here and there.  So while they rose the first time, I contemplated the crafty possibilities.  Moments later, I saw in my head exactly what I wanted to try.  After I rolled the bagels in to pretty little circles and set them out to rise again, I gathered my supplies. 

I boiled the bagels, got them baking and then got started.  After a bit of measuring, cutting and gluing, this is what I made...

I know, nothing special, right?  It's just a plain old envelope with a colored band... But wait, there's more!!

The envelope is actually a little package!  It's perfect for gifting cash or a gift card, even a few little chocolates, if you made the band a bit bigger. 

Obviously this one is pretty plain - I didn't take the time to doll it up too much because the kids were coming in from playing outside and the bagels finished baking.  But I can see lots of possibilities here!

Strap on your art smock, it's gonna get messy!

My kids love sidewalk chalk.

I mean they LOVE sidewalk chalk.

But some days, they don't want to draw, they want to paint.  What's a frugal Mom to do?  Mix up a few cups of sidewalk paint and let them have at it!

I put two heaping spoonfuls of corn starch in each cup of  a muffin tin; one cup for each color paint you want to make.  Next, add in a squeeze of gel food coloring or a dozen or so drops of liquid.  You can always add more later, so don't worry about being exact.  Now it gets messy, so you may want to do this next step outside, especially if you've got little helpers.

I used a pop bottle, rinsed and filled with cool water, to add a bit of liquid to each cup.  Stir the mix around and add more water, if necessary.  You'll know you've got it right when the cornstarch isn't clumpy anymore, but you do want it to be a little thick, so add the water in small amounts.  Do this step one cup at a time, otherwise the other cups will be solid bricks by the time you're finished mixing the first.

A few things to note:

*This paint dries very quickly and becomes slightly paler as it dries.
*As you can see in the pictures, we used several different kinds of brushes.  The bristled brushes, natural and synthetic, were harder to use.  They pick up more of the cornstarch and don't spread the colors as nicely as the foam brushes.  However, all the brushes we used were super easy to clean by running them under cold water until the water ran clear, then switching to hot to make sure they were good and clean. 
*Because you're using food coloring, you don't want to get this all over the house or your clothes - that's what art smocks or old, holey t-shirts are for.
*If you're like me and inadvertently set a spoon covered with hot pink paint on your kitchen counter, you will have a pink stain to bleach off later.  Don't be like me - set the spoons on a plate or paper towel.
*I've read that you can use Kool-aid to color and scent the paint, but I haven't tried it yet.  It seems like the colors would be a bit more vibrant but equally,  if not more, staining.

And the winner is....

Cynical Realist!

Thank you all for your lovely comments (and to those of you who read, but don't comment, feel free to give me a shout out - I'd love to know who you are)!

I'll contact the winner shortly, but please don't forget that those who didn't win can make your own dahlias by following the link here.  

Herbaceous

I saw a tutorial for these gorgeous felt dahlias a few weeks ago and immediately set to work making my own. I put off posting as long as I did because the red one was a gift for my Gram and I didn't want to post it here before I had a chance to deliver it to her. As luck would have it, her computer needs a tune-up, so I had a perfect excuse to drive out to her house!

I made the red one first, but just couldn't stop! Cutting all those petals does take a bit of time, but it's pretty mindless once you get into the groove, making this a perfect movie watching project.

Each dahlia took me about an hour and a half, including time for the glue to dry. Speaking of glue, I had an opportunity to try a glue I'd never used before - Beacon Adhesives Fabri-Tac. This is some pretty cool stuff! It only sticks to fabrics, so if I got it on my fingers, I simply rubbed them together and it wiped right off! It also didn't stick to my plastic tablecloth or the bottom of the pan I used to hold the petals as they dried. But on the fabric, it has serious holding power! It's a little pricey at about $6 for a 4 oz bottle, but I barely used any for this project, so it'll last a good long while.

Each flower has a secret compartment on the back, just the right size for adding a small picture or a note! This one wasn't finished when the picture was taken, but a pin back or magnet could easily be added. To give you a better idea of size, the red square on the back is just about the size of a postage stamp.

And, because I think you guys are pretty awesome, I'm giving away one of these dahlias!  To enter for a chance to win, simply leave a comment here (not on the Facebook link), any comment will do.  The winner gets one dahlia, with either a magnet or pin back added, your choice of colors from my available stash.

The winner will be announced tomorrow, June 3 and I'll get started on the dahlia as soon as the winner lets me know what color he/she wants.


EDIT: Due to some people having a hard time commenting here, I'll accept comments on Facebook as entries into the contest, too.