An alligator chewing on the coveted balloons, which are inside a tin I bought at a yard sale this weekend.

Here’s a great rainy (or sunny) day activity…a treasure hunt.

The kids requested a treasure hunt this morning and rather than draw a map like I usually do, I used my daughter’s Vtech digital camera to take pictures of objects near the treasures. The kids scrolled through the pics and figured out their location.

The pictures get progressively harder to identify. Plus some of the toys were not in their usual places, so those finds were a little more challenging. I refrained from making this a lesson in putting your toys away and let them have fun while being stumped.

The first round involved “treasures” I had around the house: unused stickers from the sticker bin, balloons (the biggest hit), tumbled rocks, and some cards they can write notes on later.

By the second and third treasure hunt, I ran out of treasure. My daughter suggested using candy from a recent birthday party as the booty.

The kids have since made it their own game, taking pictures of objects for each other to identify. IDing and stumping each other is the “treasure” now.

This was an awesome activity that occupied more than a hour and I had nothing to clean up afterward. That’s a great game. Next time, we’re going to try it outside.

The kids re-create Monet's waterlillies using felt board and felt cutouts.

Here’s the art history class I wish I had in college:

..and now on to Impressionism. There’s a girl dancing…a field of hay…a vase of pretty flowers…some waves…and…we’re done. Now let’s go paint something.

The horse sculpture outside the Allentown Art Museum.

That was the art history lesson I had Sunday with my kids when we went to see Monet to Matisse: French Masterworks from the Dixon Gallery and Gardens at the Allentown Art Museum. Just like me, they didn’t feel the need to know exactly who painted what in exactly what year. They just knew if they liked it or not.

My daughter wanted to see Degas’ paintings (girl = ballerinas!), and she recognized the waterlilies of Monet that were featured in the Artways gallery. A few weeks ago serendipity led me to borrow The Magical Garden of Claude Monet by Laurence Anholt from our local library. We’ve since read storybooks about Matisse and Degas from the same author. They were a great set up to the exhibit.

To my 2-year-old son, they were all rather ordinary pictures until we got to the 3oth Juried Show exhibit and Steve Scheuring’s oil painting “Crash” spoked to his little tiny car-lovin’, truck-drivin’ soul. An entire painting of bright Hot Wheels! Does it get any better than that when you’re 2?

Considering my kids are so young, I think they held out pretty long exploring Impressionism. Mind you, I wasn’t expecting to stand about with them discussing use of color or contemplating brush strokes. But my 5-year-old would have enjoyed the paintings a little longer if she wasn’t so focused on getting to the children’s interactive gallery. That’s what they enjoyed the most, though: painting scarves, using felt to make water lily gardens like Monet and painting with scissors like Matisse.

I’m hoping to go back to the Allentown Art Museum and actually look at the paintings before the Impressionist exhibit leaves on May 3. Maybe I’ll even get to read about the paintings and relearn all that art history shelved in the back of my brain.

Left to her own devices my daughter comes up with the cutest stuff, like this spring chick. I’m encouraging more glue useage instead of taping everything. “Look, the beak opens and the wings move,” she said.

A few artist books done. Experimenting with pencil pockets of different shapes. The red flowers on white background  (journal at bottom of photo) were snipped from a shirt my daughter outgrew years ago, but the shirt was to worn out to pass on to cousins.

Steamy cups of homemade hot chocolate after throwing snow balls, shoveling sidewalks and playing with snowy dogs.

Books read when we piled into bed for an afternoon snuggle. The kids were given a one time only offer: eat Smarties in mom’s bed while she read to them. I was sipping a vanilla chai.

“Asparagus Eggs” (as we call it), our favorite Martha Stewart recipe. Delicious, nutritious dinner in a flash.

Snow days are such a pleasant treat!

*****UPDATE******

For those of you who couldn’t see the link to the Martha Stewart recipe, here it is, from the May/June 2003 Everyday Food magazine

The American Girl Catalog with a multitude of sticky notes spewing out the top.

Exactly 15 minutes after this American Girl catalog arrived in our mail box today, it was tagged with sticky notes to demark “the pages that have things I like.” My 5-year-old ooh-ed and aaah-ed and I-want-this-ed all the the way through all 63 pages.

We’re not American Girl afficiandos (yet), but I passed it along to my 5-year-old. One look at it and she said, “I’ll get the sticky notes.”

That made me smile. My beading catalogs immediately become tasseled with sticky notes when they arrive in my mailbox. Finally, proof that my child (who looks like her dad) has some of my genetic material. Or just good training.

Good luck, Santa! This is just the beginning of the sticky note frenzy.

Two bushels was enough to pick considering the bushels of rain we endured.

There we are, my kids, niece and mom (plus my sister-in law, who is beside me snapping pictures, too) slogging through Hurricane Hanna’s downpour with our apples.

Today was the day I scheduled for apple picking. So we went.

Mind you, we weren’t getting the high winds from the hurricane, just lots and lots of rain.

So am I so saddled to my schedule that I’ll take on a hurricane to meet today’s tasks? Or am I a free spirit, not constrained by such things as weather?

Most people don’t do enough in the rain. The first sign of a drop, a they’re in the house because it’s wet. Being in the rain is so fun.

Today we had more than our fair share of “fun.” We were drenched; even our underwear was wet. But the kids had a great time, and I got my bushel of organic apples to store up for the winter.

Tomorrow, the cozy smell of apple sauce and drying apples will fill my kitchen.

Sparkle and shine from canning jar rims.

My canning jars needed an upgrade. They’re hand-me-downs from my mom, so after years of pickles and preserves, it was time for new rims. But what to do with the old rims?

Turn them into dress-up bling!

They have all the necessary ingredients for 5-year-old jewelry bliss: jangly noises when worn together, shiny metallics, and sparkly beads.

My helper got creative with the bracelet at the upper left. She wove wire in and out of the holes, string beads along the way.

Here’s how my 5-year-old and I made old canning jar rims into fun new bangles.

Supplies

• old canning jar rims
• block of wood
• safety goggles
• hammer
• center punch
• pliers
• metal file
• non-toxic spray paint
• latex gloves
• newspaper
• 

  Position the center punch on the inside of the rim.

• screwdriver (for removing spray paint cap)
• beading or craft wire
• round nose pliers
• beads
• messy workbench (optional)

1. Place the side of the rim on the block of wood. Position the center punch where you’d like the hole and hit with hammer until you punch through the rim. Punch hole from inside to outside of rim. If a smidgen of metal remains in the hole, pull it off with a pliers.

2. After you’ve made as many holes as you’d like, file each hole with a metal file to remove sharp edges.

Filing the burrs.

3. Spread newspaper in well ventilated area, don latex gloves and spray paint inside and outside of each rim. We used gold and silver and gave each band two coats.

4. After the paint has dried, add beads. Cut a 2 inch piece of wire. Grab the end of the wire with a round nose pliers and roll the pliers make several loops in a row. Thread wire through hole in rim, so the loop is on the inside.

5. Thread bead(s) onto wire. Cut excess wire so you have 1/4 to 1/2 inch of wire above beads. Grab the end of the wire with a round nose pliers and roll the pliers back toward the wire to make a series of small loops.

Little spirals of wire hold the beads in place.

6. Although you are finished, allow the bracelet to cure for 7 days to a month so that the paints are non-toxic to the skin. Rust-oleum said its spray paint is nontoxic within 7 days. Krylon suggested waiting 30 days for paint to cure fully to a non-toxic state. If you’re not sure, call the manufacturer.

Safety and other notes

• Always wear eye protection when hammering, filing and spray painting.
• Be sure the paint you use can be worn against the skin and that it does not contain lead.  If you’re unsure, call the manufacturer. I used Krylon silver crafter’s paint and Rust-oleum metallic paint.
• Spray paint can be removed from your forehead with nail polish remover.

The beads woven into this bracelet reflect the colors of the morning glories in my garden.

This week I sent off four custom horse hair pieces to their owners. Hoepfully they’re all happily wearing them right now!

Custom work always makes you stretch. Sometimes it stretches an idea you already have.  This customer asked for turquoise-colored leather rather than the standard brown. Brilliant idea! I’m going to try some other colors in the future.

The bracelet is reversible so you can wear the horse hair side out or the leather side out.

Other days it’s a stretch to find all the supplies. Inevitably, my manufacturer decides to discontinue the one finding I use a lot. Then it’s off on the treasure hunt again, finding a new supplier or replacement part. That was my reality this week as I worked on a quote for a new piece.

With the two round horse hair bracelets below, the client requested magnetic clasps so the bracelets were easy to get on and off. Part of that treasure hunt was finding super strong magnetic clasps that can withstand a little tugging. This is a bracelet after all.

Fabulous Four: Recent custom pieces.

Sometimes custom work just stretches your brain to create a new style that matches the vision of your clients. I have that challenge coming up as I embark on 5 new custom pieces in the coming weeks.

The most important thing I’ve learned from doing custom pieces is to capture a clipping of horse tail from your horse now.  I often meet people who wish they had some piece of their horse now that it’s gone. After their horse has passed they understandable don’t feel they can cut off a piece of its tail.

So if you do one thing today, make a momento of something important in your life. Whether its your horse, your child, a favorite fishing hole, a secret vacation spot, your best recipe, record the here and now of it. Take a picture. Write down what it stirrs in you. I know you won’t regret it.

MaryJanesFarm Magazine sittin' atop the fence post.

It’s been a week of wonderful things.

First Up: MARYJANES FARM magazine. I love, love, l-o-v-e this magazine. I guess it speaks to my inner fantasy to own an old stone farm house with shutters and a big red barn. The beauty of this mag is that it encourages everyone to be “a farm girl at heart” no matter where you live and how many chickens you do or don’t have.

I’ve been waiting eons for a new issue and guess what? Now you can buy a regular subscription! The folks at Mary Jane’s Farm obviously hooked up with a publisher (they used to do it all by themselves, whenever they got around to it). And while I’m slightly disappointed that they now accept ads–not accepting ads was innovative–I’ll take it in exchange for more regular issues.

You can hear a podcast interview at CraftCast and find out all the things the founder Mary Jane Butters is up to. She has a new book out, too, that I’ll be check out next time I go on a Barnes & Noble date with friends.

Luxuriously squishy moss near the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

New England Fare: Clams, mussels and lobsters from a clambake.

Vacation in the Sun: Just returned from vacationing in New Hampshire (again). Got in some family time and outdoor time. Finally it was sunny and we got in some mini-hikes and a classic New England Clambake. Plus we visited the great Science Museum where the kids got to see lots of wild animals up close.

New fabrics to add to my stash!

New Fabric to play with: Kris of Monkeyfoot Designs she passed on to me some scraps of fabrics from Amy Butler and Joel Dewberry. And lucky me! Her PortabelloPixie Farmers Market order came in while I was visiting so I came home with some adorable prints (note the apples and stripes and firework flowers). I’m itching to stitch these up into some new coffee cuffs.

Yummy dinner at Mama’s Restaurant & Cafe Baci, Hackettstown, NJ: On the last leg of the journey south, the kids and I stopped for a bite in Hackettstown, NJ and I was in heaven: Mama’s Restaurant & Cafe Baci has a gluten-free menu. Not just a box with 3 items, but 4 pages of gluten-free pasta, pizza, breadsticks and dessert (carrot walnut cake, anyone?). It was awesome to order a huge bowl of penne pasta with Alfredo sauce, shrimp, artichokes and asparagus, and not worry about how I’d feel later. Plus, I had garlic herb breadsticks, pipin’ hot Italian bread with butter and white cake with white icing to go (all gluten-free!). I’ll be heading back there.

Saw Sunflower: My 5-year-old couldn’t wait to see our resident garter snake and name it. Big strides I say, because my 5-year-old still screams bloody murder at the tiniest insect. But she appreciates snakes. Yeah! Sunflower is her name because she’s black and yellow.

Homemade Breakfast: My 5-year-old decided to make breakfast this morning. She found a recipe in a back issue of My Big Backyard magazine. We didn’t have strawberries so she used the blueberries we picked last week and the blueberry jam I made from our pickins. Yummy!

Captions and sharing: My web guru (aka my husband) updated my version of WordPress and look! I have captions on my photos! I’m so excited. He also figured out while my Notable Reads (down there on the left, below the Crafty Crow button) were not working. He’s a computer ace! So click away now to see the bird mobiles and watercolor techniques.

Gas is $3.85 a gallon and I just spent a half hour driving around in the middle of the night trying to get my one-year-old to sleep. Had it worked, I’d be asleep right now. Instead, I’m writing this post.

The little bugger (that’s the one in question, stealing my bobbins) has hardly slept in 3 days. I’m guessing he has an ear infection or a nasty case of teething. These revelations never come to you during the hours of 9 – 5 when you can actually do something about them. They don’t come when you can call someone: your mom, a friend, the doctor. Instead at 2:30 a.m. I realized he wasn’t just being a pain in the butt, he was likely not feeling well. Or feeling worse than I thought.

I have never driven my kids around in the middle of the night to make them sleep, even though it’s been suggested. But I was at a loss and the neighbors are probably tired of hearing his wailing. So off we went. At 2:30 a.m. In the car.

Despite the earlier humidity, it was cool outside.

Off we went in search of sleep. Up the hill, down the otherside. In my sleepy state I chose a route with the least amount of stop signs, maximum amount of rolling hills and straight shots. I was sure he’d be out in 5 minutes. Nope. Too much to see at 2:33 a.m. Three cars, a big rig and a bicyclist (yes a bicyclist, but he/she was wearing reflective clothing!).

I watched his face in the rearview mirror as we passed street lights, trying to assess his nearness to sleep. At mile 10.3 I thought I saw him nodding off. Instead he sang a few bars of a made-up ditty, likely to keep him awake so he could see the big trucks on the highway.

Gas is $3.85 a gallon and I drove 20.7 miles and the kid didn’t fall asleep. This is having kids. When we returned home, he emptied my purse of cars and is playing with them now instead of sleeping.

A while back, Melody tagged me to see what I carry around in that behemoth of a bag I tote around. I cried, “No tagbacks!” something I haven’t said since second grade. But alas, I was still tagged. (Honestly, I don’t get this online tagging thing). I guess what’s in your purse reveals something about your personality.

I’d like to say I carry around a tiny little clutch with driver’s license, credit card, $100 and a funny, intelligent read. Not so. Instead, my purse is more like a flea market/used car lot.

So here goes.

First the bag above is a circa 2007 made by my sister-in-law Kris from Etsuko Furuya fabric from the Amy Butler Nappy Bag pattern. Note the all-important cellphone pocket on one shoulder and cute spider on the other. It’s so huge, I joke that one day I’ll look in there and find a frozen turkey I forgot from weeks ago.

The essentials that go in any bag: wallet, cell phone, check book, diapers and wipes and coffee cuff for emergency coffee stops.
The kids stuff: artist book, crayons, Batman bib, snack cups,lots of cars,. Sad will be the day when giving my 1-year-old won’t solve every problem.

Other stuff that keeps me ticking: lip gloss, business cards and that lady with the funny nose that keeps me amused.

Plus the all important collection of paper junk: paint sample I want to match curtains to; Ninja girls fabric I want to buy more of; one of many to-do lists; myriad of coupons.

Missing on picture day was my every-important day planner that contains about 16 to-do lists. I think it was giving a lecture at a local college on time management that day.

Since I began to write this post, I’ve rescued 3 Matchbox Cars from my 1-year-olds pajamas, he has (funnily enough) emptied my purse completely and he’s now compemplating banging really loudly on the Barbie piano. Time to exit the highway and go to bed. Hopefully.