To be fair this was midway through our bedroom rearrangement (That story coming soon.) so there were a number of items that got dumped here for lack of a better place.  Also, I am aware that the pictures on the wall are not artfully arranged.  In fact they were not really arranged at all.  They were hung there for safety’s sake.  I have tried storing pictures using various stacking methods and leaning against the wall methods and packing away methods but every method was either too labor intensive or left my frames scratched/dinged in some way.  Now I hang my art on a single wall until each piece finds it’s proper home.

Ahh, that’s better.  See the shelves?!  Hubby hung those for me so I could collect all my crafty supplies from their scattered locations into one place.  I also have supplies stored in the 3 Sterilite containers.

I love these because the clear drawers make it easy to find what you need.  I also like that they roll and when moving time comes none of these supplies will have to be repacked.  I just tape the drawers shut and roll the unit into the moving van.

Here’s the view from where Brother was sitting (above).  I knew I wanted as much working surface as possible and I had three folding tables but three tables (four if you count the kid’s computer desk) in such a small space wasn’t working until we tried varying the heights.  The big white table is at counter height and makes a great layout space and cutting surface.  The blue table is desk height perfect for all sorts of general work and the sewing table is slightly shorter which works for Sister who wants to learn how to sew and I can always move the machine up to the blue table if I have a big project to do.

This configuration also left room for the kid’s computer in the corner.  (Yes, my children have their very own computer and this is their homepage.  Impressive, eh?  I made it myself. )

A metal magazine rack my parents picked up at a garage sale several years ago works great for keeping paper and cardstock sorted.

And this handy wrapping paper rack, which I found at Lowe’s after I’d already taken the other pictures, is really designed to hold plastic wrap and such on a cabinet door.

To complete the ensemble I re-labeled ev-er-y-thing using this cutie font from here (Thanks Julie for the tip.)  My hubby laughed out loud when I told him to “check out the labels” and my sister mocked me openly but I know that you, internets, will understand the need for this bit of crafty icing.  It had to be done.

I know.  I’m a tad behind but I had so much fun making Mother’s Day cards this year that I had to share.  But I couldn’t very well do that until I was certain each card arrived at its chosen destination.

I always forget how satisfying crafting is until I get back to it again.  Now I suspect that getting back to it will be much easier because though these were done on my kitchen table future endeavors will be created in the very best mother’s day gift ever … my new craft room.

Wait for it…. pictures to come.

In our unschooling world some days are “thinking” days and some are “watching” days.  We have “listening” days and “talking” days, “game” days and “reading” days, “work” days and “resting” days.  Most days are some combination with a little of this and a little of that but each in its own way is a learning day.  There is no way to know ahead of time what the day will bring and so we simply adopt the Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared” and hope for the best.  Yesterday was for making.

The children made pictures, hideouts, clay creations, bead bracelets, bird feeders, chocolate milk and a game called “Burp/Excuse Me”, green smoothies, a “magnetorium” (Sister’s word not mine), first words, a treasure hunt and music.

Because the day was full of product, it was easy to see their learning and easy to show others.  It was easy to justify this path that we have chosen.  So easy that I know we must be vigilant lest temptation urge us to turn every day into a making day.

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*Bird feeder instructions can be found in EcoArt an excellent craft book by Laurie Carlson.

**this photo was pulled from my archives because I didn’t have my camera ready to catch today’s version.

Between the activity of moving and the everyday-ness of life we missed Aunt K’s birthday.  Will realized this a couple of days ago and asked if I would make a card for her.  He even had an idea for the project.

I don’t draw worth a flip so I scoured the interet for images and finally ended up in MS Word’s clip art section creating my own.  This, the final product, is the complilation of multiple images printed out then cut then glued in place.

The interior says:  ”Holy cow, this card is late!”  Here’s some ”moo”-lah to make up for it.”

Did You Play?

I came across this pic while cleaning out my folders.  The night this little guy was created we had gone to Hobby Lobby for … something and came out with … many somethings.  Somehow that’s always the way with me and Hobby Lobby.  One of our somethings was modeling clay which kept us up way past bedtime and resulted in a number of lovely creations.  This guy in particular reminds me of this story which has always been one of my favorites about my dad.

We are converting an ugly, old, folding table into a new, cutesy, craft table which is a craft project all by itself. 

My little helpers are having so much fun.

Sister says, “Broooother!  You don’t have to paint everywhere I do!”

Does it seem to anyone else that this brush is headed for Brother’s face?

Nope - He escaped unscathed…. except of course for the part where he stuck his whole hand down into the paint bucket.  You’ll forgive me if I was a too distracted to get a picture of that. 

We’ll post up the finished product when we get it done.  IF we get it done!

We had a lovely Easter holiday over here.  For starters we didn’t go to church.  That is to say we didn’t go today.  (I liken Easter Sunday crowds to the ones you find at the mall the day after Thanksgiving. It’s almost as if they are thinking, “okay, I have to do this thing and this is the best day for it so here we go.)  Instead we took Sister to see Victory Christian Center’s annual Easter production last night when the crowd was (relatively) small.  That is less than 500.  It was her first time to really experience a retelling of Christ’s crucifixion and she cried from His sentencing by Pilot until His death.  The drive home was full of questions as I’m sure there will be many more in the coming days.

So because we went to church last night, this morning was allowed to mosey along at its own pace.  We didn’t invite scads of people over like we have in the past.  Just family this year - which still means a lot of people but not so much stress.

Many thanks to Boo Mama who orchestrated dinner.  Okay she didn’t actually come over  - in fact other than being a frequent lurker of her blog I don’t know her at all but I do know a good recipe when I see it.  She recently recommended Asian Pork Tenderloin, Shrimp & Wild Rice Casserole & Green Beans Y’all Won’t Believe and because I’m lazy always looking for ways to make life simpler, I stole borrowed her dinner plans and made them my own.  Every dish was incredibly easy and tasty as well.  My Sister-In-Law baked fresh bread (”Yummo!” to quote Sister quoting Rachel Ray) and Aunt R. brought dessert. (double Yummo!)

After dinner we sent the five children present out to hunt for the over 100 eggs we had hidden earlier.  Some contained money but most had chocolate and it is for that reason I was grateful for the coolness of the day.  Digging sticky, gooey chocolate out of a plastic oval is not my idea of a good time. (Though the kids may disagree on that point.)

We let the kids go through their treasure while Will & I set up to dye eggs.  Usually we boil several dozen eggs and let the kids do as many as they can.  That always seems so wasteful to me because we never eat all those eggs. In fact many of them get broken in the frenzy.  This year, I boiled only enough for each child to have 3 (one white, one blue, & one brown) with a few extras for the adults.  Interestingly, the process was much more organized and the children were more deliberate in their choices. 

Instead of dozens of mottled gray/blue eggs they created really beautiful designs.  We used materials around the house instead of buying kits and we discovered that food coloring and vinegar make more vibrant colors than those little Paas tablets.  Rubber bands, stickers & plain white crayons enhance the design process and glitter is always a nice touch. 

About midway through the dyeing process, I decided to award prizes:

Then it was our turn: