Popsicle sticks, cardboard, and glue

“Feeling crafty” comes in waves for me. Sometimes the waves are big and impressive; other times they are feeble and dull. I have a folder on my computer full of pictures of past crafts: cards, art projects, sewing projects, home décor, and even some particularly pretty food that I’ve made. That folder is my own personal Pinterest. It’s nice to look back and recycle ideas or be inspired for new ones.

Jay and I made these popsicle stick scarecrows together while Rose took a nap one day. He put a square blue tear by his scarecrow’s eye.

You know how there are often lame craft ideas on cereal boxes and other food packages? Well, these cartons of granola actually had a GOOD idea for once—popsicle stick covered bridges! I painted tacky glue onto the cartons and Jay and Rose placed the popsicle sticks in rows onto the glue. It was a perfect project for their little hands. Usually I overestimate their abilities and end up helping more than I planned on, but this time it worked for them.

APPLES! We were given a large heap of ‘em this month, so I went to work. The total came out to 17 pints of apple butter and 16 pints of applesauce. Suddenly, Jay and Rose started liking applesauce this year. I’ve always liked it, but it was never worth it to make just for myself. I wish we had more applesauce, but I do not wish to make it, so we’ll enjoy our 16 pints while they last.

This was my first time making straight-up applesauce, and I thought it looked pretty pale next to that rich brown spiced apple butter. But it’s all tasty! I had a dilemma though. I did my usual easy-canning technique with the apple butter: ladle boiling sauce into a hot clean jar, screw on the lid, turn it over, and wait for it to seal in 10 minutes. When I was looking up applesauce tips, I read about how this method is NOT endorsed or encouraged because there could be bacteria sealed into the jar if it wasn’t boiled after the lid was put on. I’ve read about that before, but the previous article didn’t give many reasons for its paranoid claims so I scoffed at it. Well, this time I opened all12 of the jars I had already made, dumped them into a pot, washed the jars, boiled the apple butter like crazy for 10-15 minutes, and then followed the traditional (and safe) water bath preserving method. Blah, extra work. When in doubt, BOIL IT! Thankfully, all this quality time with apples has not made me lose my taste for appley food.

We updated our cardboard family magnets at last (for the first time since I first made them 3 years ago)—adding baby Chase and Layne and replacing the ones that got lost over the past few years. I love having my family all over the fridge. Jay and Rose like playing with them too.

We did this “my place in the world” project a few weeks ago. I found the idea online and adapted it here and there. I added a clear pocket with a removable person inside to the top level so they can move themselves to different places. The plan is to draw/cut/paste pictures of each place on its circle so they have a little booklet of all their locations, but we haven’t gotten that far yet, so the pages are still blank.

 
Etsy-mooching at its finest. The shop on etsy.com that sells these lace-edged slip dress hem extenders charges twice the cost of a simple slip and some lace. So I bought a cheap slip and some eyelet lace made my own extender in about half an hour, for half the price.

I’ve got these simple, ultra-comfy dresses in 3 colors but they hit just above my knee, which is not practical for a mommy (I’m 6 feet tall, for goodness sake). Enter: layered lace city! I kind of love it. I have nothing nearly this frilly, so it makes me feel extra-specially girly.

Although I may need a feather duster, white apron, and mob cap to complete this outfit. Maybe I’ll make a black version of this slip next. [In the background, Rose was in pain for some reason or a brother].

Pre-made eyelet lace is great!

I had some left over…

Annnnd the piece de resistance:

Tissue box-TP roll Star Wars walker ship. I made it this week in hopes of persuading Jay to wreck his precious big Lego walkers that we made a MONTH ago, but it was to no avail. He will not break them. We’re talking tears and freak-out mode whenever it’s suggested. I guess it doesn’t matter too much, but it would be nice if Rose could use the blocks sometimes too. For now we cannot play with the big Legos. Sigh.

I added lots of doors and windows. If I had gray spray paint, it would look more authentic, but the flowers are a unique touch.

Now we have 3 walkers.