Melted Crayon Art

Cutting out all those heart and gluing them on things can get addictive. I am still not fond of the Valentine's Day nonsense but for the children's sake, I go along and help with the projects while quietly counting down the days. Then the hours. Minutes.

I saw this online here. Who can resist Martha Stewart's crafts? Especially if you don't have to buy anything that is involved!

So, I go right to it. Well, I did not want to use any of the crayons that hadn't died from natural causes. Meaning, I only used previously collected broken crayons. Well, using a pencil sharpener to get the material was a pain. :) It could be because they weren't full length but I'd think that with unbroken crayons the chance of breaking something off is even bigger since you'd hold the crayon differently. But it doesn't matter now.

 I got enough for about four hearts.

Here is the result:

I cropped the rest out only because my windows are very dirty (winter grime) and no need to advertize it :).

A few things:
- Definitely put something to protect your ironing surface and your iron
- The wax paper starts peeling when you start cutting out the shapes but it won't change how it looks on the window.

They definitely look pretty when the sun "catches" them. My children love them. Now I wish I had done it sooner.

I am thinking about making something similar with Easter eggs but... I cannot be sure I will go through with it. Getting the crayon shavings was a lot more pain than I had thought. Hoped. Wanted.

Even now as they are on my windows the sun is making the hearts look brighter and our rooms look cheerier :)

Valentine's Day - Is it Over Yet?

How I don't like Valentine's Day. The entire idea of a mandatory dates, buying flowers and jewelry, marriage proposals is just wrong. 

I know that if I weren't happily married people would say I was bitter. Well, I'm not :).

 I just hate what this "holiday" brings along with it. Boyfriends, fiancees, spouses feel obligated to buy things to each other. Children are required to send silly cards to their classmates (lists are sent home, so there is no choice, really) whether they like it or not. Hearts are everywhere, pink and red are blinding... I absolutely hate Valentine's Day and cannot wait for it to be done.

Who knows, maybe, as my kids grow older, I'll be one of those moms who makes heart shape pancakes, leaves heart shaped notes everywhere, gives presents and whatnot because that's what this culture does... I am afraid that will happen... Can I resist it? I don't know...

Valentine's Day Card Holder for Boys

So, my son who is in preschool came home with bunch of frilly stuff and an "order" to use those things for Valentine's Day card holder making.

Here they are:

This is all fine and dandy, but I couldn't imagine gluing all this together in order to make a box for a boy. Too... cotton-candy-ee (it may not be a word), so I had to find another alternative.

I searched high and low ad I don't remember which site I saw this but there was an owl - brown owl with some Valentine's Day decor. Perfect!

I took an empty Fruit Snack box like this one:

And started adding things to make it boy-friendly yet include things that were required to be on the box.

Here is the result:

Notice the football cutouts on the wings :). Manly! And the ears and part of the "clothing" is cut out from a paper grocery bag. All in all, a decent owl. I had my son decorate the other side with his hearts that he cut out all by himself and proudly glued on the box.
His name tag is going to go between the ears and I think maybe I'll include a set of feet as well, but all in all, I think we are done. Whew!!!

Let's hope it will be filled with a ton of candy :). I'd better be careful what I'm wishing for.

Murder, She Wrote

What is it about this show? I love it. The simplicity, the evidence that wouldn't hold up in court - ways it was obtained, substantial, and easy to poke holes in, but still, I love this show! These days all those murders involving shows are very over the top. Criminology interests me - always has, but the ugliness of it all, the details of the horrific crimes is sometimes just too much. Even if they do get the guy.

It is strange how you can call a murder involving show "better times" or "innocent" but this show is. It's amusing as well, of course. The way Mrs. Fletcher there can pick up an evidence, put it in her purse and then later give it to the police saying that she found it on the floor. And it works! It will be counted as one of the very important pieces of evidence! Love it!

Currently I am watching some old episodes on TV Land and loving every moment of it. Probably should purchase a season or two. Or all of them.

How to Make Frozen Decorations

We had some fairly freezing weather not so long ago (our current weather in teens is nothing, really). So, I decided to try this.

I took two balloons, filled both with water and some food coloring and set them on our front steps overnight. The next morning I checked on my patients, "cut them open" and result was fairly cute frozen water balls. Had it been Christmas time, I would have made several green and red ones and lined our entire driveway with those. :)

Here is a picture before I removed the balloon casing:

here is how they looked after:

Uneven, yes (it was quite a doing to get enough water and food coloring in the balloons that are not meant for water balloon fights), but pretty cute. I mean, as cute as frozen water can be, that is. And they looked really cool in the dark.

I tried one more time but with a bit more food coloring (the ones above looked good until it got really sunny, the color was not so striking anymore.


Here is another set during the daylight:

The ice started cracking inside (I'm not sure why), but I still thought it looked cool :) So, I decided to do this:

 I put the green one on the other post. Looked cool, that's for sure. Misshapen, but cool.

And this is how you made cheap Christmas or whatever ornaments with hardly any cost (provided that the weather holds :).

Oh, and a tip of the day: When your hands are wet, do NOT reach for your screen door's metal handle without thinking twice. I got away with a "warning", meaning, even though I didn't get stuck entirely, but it hurt nevertheless as I quickly removed my hand. Seemed worth it, though. The frozen balls looked so good for a week, then the weather got warmer again.

Whoever reads this post - go for it! It's fun!

Writing a Book

Every now and then I am thinking how I would be an awesome person to write a book. A decent, interesting, clean, witty, smart, intelligent, I-can't-wait-for-her-next-book kind of book. I have developed several authors I like - both Christian and non-Christians who write intelligent books full of details, depth and fully researched material. And you really do feel that you want to literally sink your teeth in it .But, well, you won't. Doesn't mean you are not thinking about it.

Non-Christian authors that I have liked that are incredible are: Lisa Gardner (goodness!), Jonathan Kellermann (way to go! But not the books he has written with his wife - I have read only one of those and was so disappointed as if he had personally insulted me :), Michael Palmer (hold on to your chair!). You are never disappointed when you read one of their books! Never! 

But since I have stumbled upon books that have been a pain to finish (but I had already invested so much time in them), even my husband has suggested I'd write a book.

So, a while back I started one. Well, it ain't that easy, after all (who would have thought?). I got two pages written and nothing seemed right, descriptions were sub par, situations, monologue or dialogue pitiful... So, that I almost took back all my bad thoughts about those bad authors. Almost. 

I guess we'll see if I can finish my book (more like get really started) or simply dream about it and imagine being a successful author. On Amazon. Whose sad books are given away for free in order to boost the ratings... Positive outlook, people! :)

A New Blog

I finally decided to start a blog. For no particular reason, really, but instead of posting my photos on Facebook, I'll do it here. So, let's begin! Interestingly enough, between my posting the first version of this intro and coming back to edit it, I had already gotten 4 page views! Let's make it interesting then :)