Marshmallows + Toothpicks = Fun

by Melissa // April 7, 2011 // 3 Comments

I recently entertained my kids all day for $1.

That’s how much a bag of miniature marshmallows cost me. Those toothpicks have been in my cupboard forever. All you have to do is stick the toothpicks into the marshmallows, and you can build things – like so:

The kids went a different route. Max made a monster…

Charlie made a bunny monster. That’s the long, bumpy thing on the table in front of him.

They made snakes, racetracks, birdhouses, ceiling fans and houses for their monsters. It takes a long time to go through all the marshmallows. Then we left them alone for a few hours: once the marshmallows dry out the structures become much more sturdy, allowing the kids to play with their creations without them breaking.

Then, of course, the kids ate stale marshmallows and I had to clean up sticky toothpicks.

Finally, an Excuse for Fun Fur

by Melissa // April 6, 2011 // 3 Comments

I am super excited about this project. I found the idea on a blog called Capture the Details about a year ago and I ran across it again yesterday. I know a lot of you are still trying to get rid of persistent snow – we’ve started having 100 degree days and sweating until we cave in and turn on the AC. Either way I think all of us deserve a little soft spring grass.

Fortunately, all you need is some green Fun Fur, some sort of wreath-type-shaped thing, and something to decorate with. I found a pack of artificial monarch butterflies at Michael’s and I knew they would love to chill on the grass wreath.

All you do is tie the fun fur around the wreath base and start wrapping it around and around. Smoosh it together, keep wrapping…I think it only took me about fifteen minutes. Maybe twenty. I tied the end around the wreath form to secure it, and:

IT’S SO FLUFFY! Look, the green is a different color in every photo. Cool.

The butterflies had thin, flexible wires attached to them already, so all I needed to do was trim them down to about two inches and poke them into the wreath. Max and Charlie helped and it was fun all around.

I think it’s beautiful. I also think letting the kids help place the butterflies helped them to look more natural and less staged – thanks, kids.

Right now I’m hanging it on the inside of our front door from Greg’s Yamaha lanyard because I forgot to buy ribbon when I got the yarn. I know I have some ribbon around somewhere already…but for now I’m just happy to have a little bit of spring and some butterflies in my house.

Whoopdwhoop!

by Melissa // April 5, 2011 // No Comments

Last week I ran across a site called Whoopdwhoop. Have you heard of it? Their tagline is the “currency free creative marketplace.” It seems like a cross between Etsy and a craft swap – you send something you’ve made to someone who wants it for free, and in return you get points called “whoops” that you can “spend” on something someone else has made.

I like the idea, in theory. Unlike a straight-up swap, you don’t have to find someone who makes something you like who also likes something that you make. You just give what you make, and then you can request things that you like from someone else. It appeals, as someone I spoke to about it said, to my barefoot hippie tendencies. It remains to be seen how well it works – I get the feeling that the site is just getting started and there’s not a lot of variety yet. (Plus there seem to be a lot of tutus and hairbows listed, which…I don’t really need.)

Still! I’m excited to give it a try. I’ve already listed some of the jewelry that I’ve made (listing items is one way to get whoops) and if you’re interested, you can sign up here!

Come check it out!

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