Goo, Craft Kits, and Birthday Gifts...
Tonight David and I went out for Sushi. I love a good veggie roll with any combination of cucumber, avocado, and cream cheese etc. We ordered a Mexican roll filled with cilantro, tomato, onion and jalepeno and I think that it was just about the best thing that I have put in my mouth for a long time. We sat at the bar, me with my Arnold Palmer and he with his Knob Creek as we waited for a table. We soon gave up on that and just ordered our Sushi there and proceeded to consume it faster than I thought possible. I wore sparkly earrings and little heels with David in his deep red shirt from Mexico that I happen to adore on him and we sat and laughed, people watched, and enjoyed an unrushed date, much like it used to be before we had babies. I was full to bursting, my heart and my tummy as we made our way home.
We made Goo a couple of weeks ago and my, my was it fun...
We made long strings and piles...we broke it into small pieces and then clumped it back together again.
It is not quite a liquid and not quite a solid. It conforms to pretty much anything you might put it on. It drips and pools and creeps. The kids loved playing with it and although a bit got on their clothes, I pulled off what I could and the rest came off in the washer with no detectable stains remaining. It is recommended to store it in the fridge between uses, but it still doesn't last too long, just about a week or so.
Goo Recipe
4 oz white glue (standard bottle size)
3 oz water
food coloring (optional)
4 tsp Borax
5 Tbls. water
Mix the glue, 3 oz water, and food coloring in a disposable bowl. Mix the Borax and 5 Tbls. water in another bowl. Stir to dissolve. Pour a little of the Borax mixture into the glue mixture. Stir until a blob forms. Remove the blob to a third container. Pour a little more of the Borax mixture into the glue mixture, stir until a blob forms, remove the blob as before. When all of the glue mixture has been used up, knead the blobs together in your hands (doing this over the kitchen sink is a good idea). It may be rather wet at first, but will come together and dry out a bit while you are kneading them together. You will have one nice sized blob in the end. Store in the refridgerator between uses.
I stocked up on a few bottles of glue from the office supply store and plan on whipping out this activity from time to time this Summer, especially if it is a rainy or unbearably hot day.
I think I mentione awhile back that I made up some craft/activity kits to do with the kids throughout the Summer. Just things that involve cardboard tubes, pipe cleaners, tissue paper and the like. Anything that comprises the uses of glue and sticky tape are always a hit.
I did a web search and I found a couple of sites that had easy and fun sounding crafts. Most of what I gleaned I got from here and here. I then gathered all of the supplies I needed and I put my kits together. Universal supplies that would be needed for most things went into the basket. Things like tape, glue, scissors, staples, paint brushes etc. Then I put craft specific supplies into individual ziplock bags along with the printed instructions. Next I labeled with a sharpie, stashed them all in the basket and placed in the closet. Now I just have to grab, dole out supplies and set the kids to work. I wanted to have them also, so that when my Mom is here she can pull them out to do things with the kids too while I am with the baby. I also put together a basket with sidewalk chalk, bubbles, a kite, etc for grabbing to take out side. I find I am much more likely to do crafts if I am more organized to begin with. If I have to spend an hour gathering supplies, I find the mood has past and it will be awhile before I attempt it again. This way I hope to do more with my Sweeties in the months to come as the new baby allows.
Since the kids are gone, I will be stepping in as a poor in comparison substitute at a 5 years old's birthday party tomorrow. I can't after all, run around and play like Elijah and Evelyn would, but I can at least come bearing a gift.
A few days ago I pulled the sewing machine back out and I sewed up a quick gift. I made up a colored pencil roll and I decopaged a drawing pad for the birthday girl. Tutorials for the pencil rolls have been floating around on blogs for awhile now and I had been wanting to try my hand at one. I used the instructions from here. I added a second row to accomodate 24 pencils and I increased the height from 4 to 10 inches. I also think that 4 inches might have been a misprint and perhaps they meant to put 8 inches instead. My thoughts anyway.
I used linen for the front and three purple prints from my stash. She is a girly girl that likes her pinks and purples. I used a dove gray satin ribbon that I had on hand for the ties and useing fabric ink, I stamped her name in purple on the outside.
I then glued a piece of card board to the front of a drawing pad to add strength and then decopaged squares of paper to it. After it dried, I added a square with her name and a few retro cat stickers that I had on hand as well with another layer of decopage glue. It was a quick, easy, and very inexpensive birthday gift. Although, she is only tunring 5, I think these are things she can use as she gets older.
Well, it is time for bed...well, maybe ice cream and then bed, if I am to be honest. ;)
We made Goo a couple of weeks ago and my, my was it fun...
We made long strings and piles...we broke it into small pieces and then clumped it back together again.
It is not quite a liquid and not quite a solid. It conforms to pretty much anything you might put it on. It drips and pools and creeps. The kids loved playing with it and although a bit got on their clothes, I pulled off what I could and the rest came off in the washer with no detectable stains remaining. It is recommended to store it in the fridge between uses, but it still doesn't last too long, just about a week or so.Goo Recipe
4 oz white glue (standard bottle size)
3 oz water
food coloring (optional)
4 tsp Borax
5 Tbls. water
Mix the glue, 3 oz water, and food coloring in a disposable bowl. Mix the Borax and 5 Tbls. water in another bowl. Stir to dissolve. Pour a little of the Borax mixture into the glue mixture. Stir until a blob forms. Remove the blob to a third container. Pour a little more of the Borax mixture into the glue mixture, stir until a blob forms, remove the blob as before. When all of the glue mixture has been used up, knead the blobs together in your hands (doing this over the kitchen sink is a good idea). It may be rather wet at first, but will come together and dry out a bit while you are kneading them together. You will have one nice sized blob in the end. Store in the refridgerator between uses.
I stocked up on a few bottles of glue from the office supply store and plan on whipping out this activity from time to time this Summer, especially if it is a rainy or unbearably hot day.
I think I mentione awhile back that I made up some craft/activity kits to do with the kids throughout the Summer. Just things that involve cardboard tubes, pipe cleaners, tissue paper and the like. Anything that comprises the uses of glue and sticky tape are always a hit.
I did a web search and I found a couple of sites that had easy and fun sounding crafts. Most of what I gleaned I got from here and here. I then gathered all of the supplies I needed and I put my kits together. Universal supplies that would be needed for most things went into the basket. Things like tape, glue, scissors, staples, paint brushes etc. Then I put craft specific supplies into individual ziplock bags along with the printed instructions. Next I labeled with a sharpie, stashed them all in the basket and placed in the closet. Now I just have to grab, dole out supplies and set the kids to work. I wanted to have them also, so that when my Mom is here she can pull them out to do things with the kids too while I am with the baby. I also put together a basket with sidewalk chalk, bubbles, a kite, etc for grabbing to take out side. I find I am much more likely to do crafts if I am more organized to begin with. If I have to spend an hour gathering supplies, I find the mood has past and it will be awhile before I attempt it again. This way I hope to do more with my Sweeties in the months to come as the new baby allows.Since the kids are gone, I will be stepping in as a poor in comparison substitute at a 5 years old's birthday party tomorrow. I can't after all, run around and play like Elijah and Evelyn would, but I can at least come bearing a gift.
A few days ago I pulled the sewing machine back out and I sewed up a quick gift. I made up a colored pencil roll and I decopaged a drawing pad for the birthday girl. Tutorials for the pencil rolls have been floating around on blogs for awhile now and I had been wanting to try my hand at one. I used the instructions from here. I added a second row to accomodate 24 pencils and I increased the height from 4 to 10 inches. I also think that 4 inches might have been a misprint and perhaps they meant to put 8 inches instead. My thoughts anyway.
I used linen for the front and three purple prints from my stash. She is a girly girl that likes her pinks and purples. I used a dove gray satin ribbon that I had on hand for the ties and useing fabric ink, I stamped her name in purple on the outside.
I then glued a piece of card board to the front of a drawing pad to add strength and then decopaged squares of paper to it. After it dried, I added a square with her name and a few retro cat stickers that I had on hand as well with another layer of decopage glue. It was a quick, easy, and very inexpensive birthday gift. Although, she is only tunring 5, I think these are things she can use as she gets older.
Well, it is time for bed...well, maybe ice cream and then bed, if I am to be honest. ;)
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