The Brooding Hen

Paper Heart Valentine with Pencil Arrow

2012-02-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick and easy Valentine that is fun for kids to make and give out at school:

1. Cut red card stock or construction paper into strips. (This one is 1" x 11".)

2. Fold each strip in half and staple it right next to the fold. Bend the ends back until they touch and staple them together to make the bottom point of the heart.

3. Use a standard hole punch to make holes on each side of the heart for the pencil.

4. Thread the pencil carefully through the heart and your note. It should be a little tight, so take care not to tear it.

5. Add an eraser tip, tape on a paper fringe for the arrow, and you're done.

We are going to make A LOT of them!

Fortunately, Julio is very interested in stapling and hole-punching these days. Did you see his hand in the top picture? He really was my photo assistant this time!

Here are some other Brooding Hen Valentine posts that you might like:
Kissing Thaumatrope
Tiny Bow and Arrow (This project wasn't originally for Valentine's Day, but I see that people are using it for little Cupid's arrows.)

Tips and Tricks:

1. You can make this a lot simpler by writing your note or name directly on the heart before stapling it, and by just sharpening the pencil so that you don't need to add an eraser tip or fringe.

2. You can make them even splashier by using a shiny pencil, a ribbon for the note, a heart-shaped eraser tip, or adding feathers or other decorations as the fringe.

A Gift from Ruben

2011-12-16T21:40:00.000-08:00

Holiday decorating is in full swing at our house. We will get our tree tomorrow, but the halls around here are already decked with many quirky decorations. Last week, Ruben made this posable paper Santa toy for our front door, and today he asked me to share it with you. If you want to make your own, you can print this on heavy paper, punch holes in the arms, legs and body, and use wire brads to put it all together.

Ruben's fondness for Santa runs deep. He pulled out his old hat and pipe cleaner beard again, and I can easily imagine him dressing up like Santa every year from now until his real beard is long and white.

December Leaves

2011-12-07T05:30:00.000-08:00

Do you decorate your house for the seasons? Here in Los Angeles, the reality of our natural world bears little resemblance to our "seasonal" decorations. Back when the kids were painting Fall leaves in school, outside the trees were green and blooming. We picked strawberries and went to the beach.

Now that it is December and the school children are making cotton-ball snowmen and construction paper evergreens, the few deciduous trees that show color are giving us their muted reds and yellows, while the chilly winds kick up their fallen leaves and swirl them about.

It won't snow here. People are just now harvesting the last of their tomatoes. In winter our hills are green and in summer they are brown, but our seasonal decorations carry on with daffodils, ice cream cones, falling leaves and snowmen as if the whole world was New England. I don't mind. I want my kids to know that in December, children somewhere else are sledding and having snowball fights.

But, last week we gathered some of the prettiest leaves on our block and found a sycamore branch that fell in the wind, and I made a Los Angeles style December decoration for our living room.

Falling Leaves Mobile: Sycamore branch, Liquid Amber & Ginko leaves dipped in beeswax, transparent thread.

A Play Kitchen Made From An Old Bed!

2011-11-30T12:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a very special play kitchen that I made out of an old wooden bed frame:

It started out like this:

It was a little dented and scratched and had a broken leg, but I loved some of the details like this "beehive" bedpost finial.

We cut it up and reassembled it:

I had some ideas for it that worked out especially well, like this olive oil can that I cut open and mounted behind the stove. It is mainly decorative, but it could also double as a magnet board. I used some painted rulers along the sides to protect fingers from the sharp edges.

The "burners" are lids from large cans. I used a can opener that pries the lids off without making them sharp, and attached them to the surface with small button top wood screws.

I added some little drawings with paint pens, like this doorway and a small stop light.

Most of this project was made using recycled materials. The little picture frame was once an electrical outlet cover. (I taped two photos to a piece of clear plastic and taped the plastic inside the metal cover.) That funny hanging mushroom is an old chime mounted on a wooden spool. Just under it is a springy doorstop that rings the chime. The spinning stove knobs are slices of a wooden dowel, wood screws and bottle caps.

The sink was made with a steam table pan, plumbing pipes and some old hot and cold bathtub knobs. Joe hand cut a perfect little matching shelf out of one of the leftover wood scraps. The beehive shape on top of the bedpost inspired me to paint it yellow and draw some tiny bees on it. I drilled a hole in it and painted the inside of the hole black. It was immediately used to gather honey for pretend tea!

This kitchen was made as a gift for some very special young friends of ours who are two and a half year old twin boys. They love to cook and I wanted to make a kitchen for them that they could work and play at together for years. It was so fun to build and tinker with, but the most gratifying part was giving it to those adorable little guys and watching them enthusiastically cooking!

I have to admit, as excited as we were to deliver it, we missed it when it was gone. But then, just a few days after we delivered it, we found another darling little solid wood bed frame with lots of potential, so more kitchens are coming soon!

If you are considering making a play kitchen, I hope this gives you some inspiration, and if you have already made a play kitchen of your own, I would love to hear about it, so please share your ideas and links in the comments below!

The Monster Game

2011-11-08T08:59:00.000-08:00

Here's a simple family art game that we think is so much fun:

1. Get a piece of paper and a pencil for each person who wants to play.
2. Sit so that you can't see each others' papers.
3. Take turns giving drawing instructions by naming monster parts for all players to draw on their papers.
4. When you are all done, show each other your monsters!

Here are some examples of drawing instructions: Draw a square head, add striped horns, make a mouth with as many teeth as you like, draw a long neck, make a fuzzy body, give it feet but no legs, add six arms, draw some eyeballs.

Here are three of our monsters (Diego's, Ruben's and mine) from the same set of instructions:

So far, we have only drawn monsters, but we enjoy this game so much that I'm sure we'll try it with other themes in the future. It could be fun with castles, cities, animals, robots, or anything that the kids are loving at the moment.

The idea for this game was inspired by a lovely post on The Artful Parent.

Non-Stop Halloween

2011-11-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

Julio LOVED his super-special Halloween costume:

But, after so much excitement, he happily got back into his boring old everyday clothes:

(Ladybug costume made with aluminum wok cover, red spray paint and black tape, held on to the back by a tiny backpack taped into the inside. Pipe-cleaner antennae stitched on to jersey knit hat.)

Eleventh Hour Halloween Ideas

2011-10-31T08:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween, everybody! In case you need a last-minute costume change, here are some very fast ideas from the archives for you:

The Fastest Capes

5-Minute No Sew Skirts for Witches, Wizards, Pirates and Fairies

Tin Can Tin Man

Cats and Mice

Fork Fangs

If you make the skirts or capes, remember to save the t-shirt sleeves to use for super-easy matching doll or toy costumes!

Simple Play Kitchen Sink

2011-10-19T05:30:00.000-07:00

I have been busy working on a special play kitchen with a toy sink that I am building for some friends. Julio has been so drawn to it while I'm working on it, that I decided to make a simple version for him. I knew that I wanted to make it out of recycled furniture, and before long, I found this little treasure out on the curb:

Am I the only person in the world who could get excited over this piece of junk? When I saw it, I knew it was just perfect. I cut a few inches off of the legs and a hole for the sink, painted it blue, and outfitted it with some inexpensive plumbing pipes and a steam table pan.

I made some wooden knobs that are decorated with bottle caps. They were very simple, and they are nice and sturdy. (Let me know if you like these little knobs, and I'll give you a tutorial.)

I stuck a wire rack in there, but I may have to take it back every time I want to bake some real cookies. I thought the kids might want a door and more knobs for the oven, but I was happy to see them miming opening and closing the oven when they were pretending to bake. I'm going to wait and see how they play with it, and then I might add some more details later.

The only real problem with it is that now Julio believes that he can really wash his hands here. When I tell him to wash up for lunch, he refuses, saying, "I already did it in MY sink."

A Chalkboard in the Hall

2011-10-18T05:30:00.000-07:00

This simple project has been on my to-do list for years.

And then, moments after I hung it on the wall, Ruben wrote his first sentence.

I bought a piece of decorative molding that had a ledge big enough for holding chalk and catching dust. I rubbed some mineral oil on it, let it dry, and screwed it directly into the wall studs.

I painted a thin sheet of MDF with chalkboard paint (three coats with a smooth foam roller, and light sanding after each coat with 250 grit sandpaper). I waited three days and then "seasoned" it by rubbing it all over with the side of a piece of chalk and then washing it. I mounted it on the wall with drywall screws and finishing washers.

It has seen a lot of action all week. Julio has become an expert at drawing 7 and 8-pointed stars. What? Your two-year-old can't draw an 8-pointed star?

I'm kidding, of course! He just loves scribbling on everyone else's drawings. And we all love this new chalkboard.

Evidence

2011-10-17T05:30:00.000-07:00

Things you would never see on my sideboard before I had kids:

A. Monsters, bats and superheroes
B. Broken glass
C. Collectible figurines
D. Jigsaw puzzles
E. Piles of bills

Front Tooth

2011-10-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

It was a happy day when, after weeks and weeks of wiggling, it finally came out.

Diego would like to add: "When I lose a tooth, I feel surprised, happy and glad. It feels like an upside-down crevice when I put my tongue in the gap if it's one of the top teeth that's in the middle."

Quesadilla of the Woods

2011-10-10T08:08:00.000-07:00

After the first rains of October, these enormous brilliant yellow Laetiporus fungi popped up here and there around Los Angeles. I remember seeing one growing on this same tree last fall, and there were dozens of them on a block near our house last year.

Apparently, they are edible, and according to this, they taste like chicken. (Note to my mother: I am NOT going to eat this.) It may be delicious, but in addition to "Chicken Fungus" and "Sulfur Shelf," another of its thoroughly unappetizing common names is "Quesadilla of the Woods."

Is Halloween Tomorrow?

2011-10-07T05:30:00.000-07:00

As we went outside to carve our pumpkin back in 2008, a then four-year-old Diego said, "I've been wanting to do this ever since last Halloween, and as soon as we're done I'm going to want to do it again next year!"

What is it about Halloween? It seems like it has constantly been Halloween around here for years... the daily costumes, the obsessions with monsters, skeletons and candy. But it's October now, and the rest of the city has finally caught up with us. The boys want to decorate our front yard.

This guy's been on our front window for a month already, but he'll have some spooky company soon!

A Rabbit, A Lion, A Man with a Beard...

2011-10-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

Fighting!

2011-08-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

The other day, I stopped a very angry Julio from pinching Ruben by asking him to draw a picture of what he was feeling. He looked at the paper and crayons and then asked me to draw it for him. Before I could answer, Ruben eagerly offered to help, and the two of them sat down on the floor to make this:

Of course, I love this drawing. Isn't it expressive? Julio drew the little dark cloud on the left, and Ruben made all of the faces. That is Julio on the left with his arm out trying to pinch. Ruben is at the top, and Diego on the lower right. Julio sure looks mad, and it was a pleasure watching Ruben draw him, as Ruben kept looking up at Julio's face to get the details right. It's on an 18"x 24" paper, and was done with those wonderful beeswax block crayons.

I love the actual fighting a bit less. Over the past few months, they've had a lot of time to practice getting along with each other (including learning some shockingly colorful insults and hand gestures). I think they resolve their frequent conflicts more quickly now than they did in the beginning of the summer, and they don't always need my help to work things out, but my boys are LOUD and physical and expressive, and right now I'm ready for some quiet.

Summer vacation is almost over, and very soon we will not be spending all day together. In spite of the fighting, I think I'll miss it.

Locks and Keys and Canada

2011-08-23T05:30:00.000-07:00

Many years ago, I gave a presentation about a children's book to a class of second graders in northern California. At the end of my talk, I asked the kids, "Do you have any questions?" Half a dozen eager hands shot up, and the girl that I called on breathlessly asked, "Have you ever been to CANADA?"

I had asked a bunch of seven-year-olds if they had any questions. Of course, they had questions! As clever as those kids were, they hardly knew anything. It didn't matter that Canada had absolutely nothing to do with my book and that I had only spent two hours once upon a time in the airport in Calgary, they were amazed. We talked about Canada for twenty minutes!

I'm telling you this story because sometimes I need to remind myself that the most mundane things are often completely new to kids. If your house is like ours, you probably even have lots of boring things in your closet or garage that would be fascinating and special to kids.

These locks were perfect for Ruben. How on earth did we have so many kinds of locks in our hall closet? There was a combination, a u-lock, padlocks in many sizes, and an old deadbolt with two cylinders.

I will look around for more accidental collections like this in our house. Maybe we'll clean out the tool box or take apart some obsolete gadgets. I'd love to give them an old typewriter or sewing machine to dismantle.

What else can you think of that is probably lying around the house and might be fun to examine?

Playing with Magnets

2011-08-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

My kids almost never say, "I'm bored." I think the reason may be that if they do, I always look at them like they just said the coolest thing ever and tell them, "Great! That probably means you're about to have a good idea. People often think of interesting things to do when they are bored!"

This doesn't mean that my kids don't get bored. Sometimes I see it coming, and then I try to quickly bring out something new for them to explore.

Lately, the magnets on our refrigerator have been seeing a lot of action, so yesterday I put out some trays on the dining table with as many magnets as I could round up. We had lots. I put out several kinds of metal objects like cans and containers, cookie cutters, and whatever I could grab in a few minutes. I even brought out a box of pins (but only left them out when I was standing by).

They were occupied with these for over an hour, testing them, building things, trying to make them stick to different things, and gathering more magnets from their toy collection. Before long, they came up with some fun games to play using little rubber guys that had magnets in their hands and feet, controlling them with other strong magnets under the tray.

Sometimes they called it "Little Guy Dance Party" and sometimes, "Little Guy Fight!"

Speaking of little guys fighting, did you see that scratch on Diego's cheek? Little guys fighting seems like one of the "interesting things to do" that my boys come up with when they are bored. That is why I scurry around trying to conjure up something else for them to do if I happen to see it coming!

I do it MYSELF.

2011-08-01T05:30:00.000-07:00

This particular toddler phase is a lot easier for me the third time around. I'm a little better at knowing when to help and when to wait, and a lot better at budgeting some extra minutes for getting dressed. Pretty soon he will be able to do it all by himself, right? Didn't we all suffer this pain when we were two, this wanting to take care of ourselves without needing help? Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I still make these same faces when I look at our laundry pile.

Pint-Sized and Off-Beat

2011-07-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

What's making you laugh, these days?

Magic Wands for Wizards

2011-07-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

We made some magic wands for our little wizards!

Some old apple sticks that we gleaned from an orchard last fall had all the right magical qualities, and my violin bow was willing to spare a couple of unicorn hairs.

Our resident wizardry expert had certain ideas about how his wand was to be assembled. (It needed to have a phoenix feather inside the wood.) We drilled a tiny, deep hole into the handle end of the stick like this:

And then he stuffed the feather inside:

We trimmed off the last little bit of feather that was left sticking out, and I wrapped the handle with a fine gold wire.

It looks very magical, and has been used almost non-stop for the past week. Diego has finally managed to produce a jet of green light. (We had some fun this morning doing slow exposures with a flashlight, and coloring the image in Photoshop. Is it too heavy on the green? My art director had some very specific demands.)

Now, if I could only get that "SILENCIO" charm to work!

Julio's Birthday Tea

2011-07-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my baby turned TWO!

We had a very simple celebration with just the immediate family, and it was so relaxed and fun. While Papa and Diego entertained Julio in the other room, Ruben and I made a birthday tea with all of his favorites.

Along with cucumber sandwiches, he enjoyed the little cups of raisins and dried cranberries and an extra lemon wedge. He picked up each little treat and asked, "Is this for ME?" He blew out his candles six times. His cake was one of my July favorites, a pound cake with a layer of fresh strawberries that have been mashed with a little confectioners sugar.

In spite of the fine china, some of the guests were wearing pajamas.

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

2011-07-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

It was magical to take my kids to this place that I remember so vividly from my own childhood. It is now better than ever, with many living and interactive exhibits.

You may click on any of the pictures to see them larger.

A Red-tailed Hawk:

An enclosed garden full of butterflies (some of them sharing a picnic):

A creek to play in:

My childhood favorite, a tiny hummingbird nest:

A Peregrine Falcon:

These birds were rescued and are being cared for by the Audubon Society.

Belly, Baby, Boy.

2011-06-25T21:23:00.000-07:00

I just had to update this post from one year ago.

June 2009:

June 2010:

June 2011:

Crib Conversion

2011-06-07T05:30:00.000-07:00

I have never been thrilled with the way our crib was supposed to turn into a toddler bed. It was too big and too high off of the ground. So, the other day I rebuilt it. Even though it has the same footprint as our old crib, it now looks like an inviting kid-sized couch and is so much lower than the crib that it gives the feeling of a lot more space in the room.

It cost $15 (for the wood) and was very simple.

He loves it. Now, shhh... it's naptime!

Travels with Julio

2011-06-01T21:34:00.000-07:00

Traveling solo with a toddler definitely requires careful planning and many compromises.

I packed all sorts of things to keep Julio entertained and well-fed, but I was afraid that the long flight would be too much for both of us.

Instead, there were no disasters.

Of course, it was cramped and uncomfortable and the flight was soooo looong, but Julio was a brilliant little traveler. Both ways. Our neighbors on the planes even thanked and complimented us, as Julio was in a pleasant mood or sleeping the whole time. People around us laughed when somewhere over the Atlantic he loudly exclaimed, "A CUCUMBER for ME? Oh, THANK YOU, Mama! THANK YOU!" I know that I got off easy, so please don't hate me if you are the people whose toddler screamed for 10 hours straight the last time you flew to China. Or if you were sitting next to them.

It will probably be a while before Julio and I go on a long trip together again, so we will have some time to enjoy these sweet memories of our first perfect flight together.

X-ray Overlay

2011-05-18T07:36:00.000-07:00

Did you ever make these when you were a kid? I absolutely loved making them when I was about 10 years old.

I recently made a couple for the boys, at first just a freehand dinosaur, and another a few days later at Ruben's request when he saw a picture of a cheetah skeleton in one of his library books.

All you have to do is fold a piece of typing paper in half and draw your animal on one side, pressing down hard with your pencil. Then open the paper and draw bones inside the outline impression.

If you want to color it in, use colored pencils, but do it faintly or it will be hard to see through. Then hold it up to the light!

Some other overlay ideas are:

Draw something other than bones inside, like what your animal ate for dinner!

Make a monster or fictional character... what kind of bones would it have?

Draw an outline of a body or head and put something surprising inside.

Write some words on the top sheet, and make them say something else when you hold it up to the light.

Please leave me a comment and let me know if you try it, I'd love to see what you do!

Tiny Photo Books and Big Travel

2011-05-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving soon on a long journey with Julio! He and I are going to my brother's wedding in Switzerland. It will be Julio's first time on an airplane, train, and even in a taxi, and I am so excited about sharing the many adventures ahead with him.

The last time I flew: with Joe & Diego in '05

I am a little bit less excited about the 17 hours of airplanes and airports between here and there (and then again a week later when we come home!) Julio is generally a mellow little guy who likes to stick close to Mama, but I know that this trip will be asking a lot of him. I need some small, quiet things that will entertain my little 22-month-old travel companion. I have crayons, a new cup, a favorite blanket, snacks and some small toys. What else do I need?

After making those tiny blank books the other day, I saw this description on Elsa's book blog of why miniature books became popular in the late 19th Century: "One could carry a vast number of books in a small case for when one travelled."

A light bulb went off! These would be fun to have on the plane, and they are TINY! I quickly made some miniature photo books to stash in my backpack. One has family portraits, one has pictures from our last camping trip, and one has pictures of Julio doing all sorts of things that he loves doing at home. I made lots of them! They were so quick to make, and I used packing tape to laminate the pages before I folded and glued them, so they look like tiny, glossy magazines.

What else do I need for traveling with a toddler? I asked some mom friends who travel a lot, and the advice I've gotten so far is this:

     "Bring one new thing for every hour on the plane. They can be simple things like a new cup, book or spoon."

     "Bring lots of snacks."

And my favorite, so far:

     "Hand out earplugs and cookies to the people around you as soon as you sit down, 'cause you're going to need some friends!"

I'm really hoping that I'll get some payback for all of the times that I offered to hold and entertain young travelers when I was flying solo. Have you traveled alone with a little one? Got any advice for me?

Very Tiny Blank Books

2011-05-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

I made these tiny books out of paint chip samples today. They were quick and easy, and I'm sure that our toy house will be full of them before long.

This is all you need:

Cut out your covers and score them lightly along the edges of the white line:

Cut strips of paper that are slightly shorter than the covers:

Cover the whole back of the paper with glue:

Then just carefully re-fold the paper and stick it into the cover. If you've got a steady hand, you can write on the cover with a very fine point permanent pen before you glue them together. I used a .005 on this one:

I want to make one with a family photo album printed on the paper inside!

These are very simple five-minute miniature books, but if you want to see some incredible tiny artists' books, check out my friend Elsa's book blog.

Paper Toys

2011-05-10T05:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of paper toys that Ruben made today:

He's been making these kinds of things for a few weeks. He'll draw and cut, and then say something like, "Now I need to add an ear," or "Oh! I forgot the boots." Then he'll draw and cut some more and then tape all of his pieces together and play with his finished work. Most of them are paper figures like the lion and the Batman above, but there are also ladders, buildings, axes, brooms and trees, which sometimes have sticks held on with lots of tape that add support to the structure. He is figuring it out as he goes, sometimes with some frustration, but mostly with pure have-to-stay-up-late-so-I-can-finish-this excitement.

I love watching this explosion of creativity.

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T05:30:00.000-07:00

On Sunday morning there were a few perfect moments in the Santa Barbara foothills.

Weeds and Seeds (part 2)

2011-04-28T05:30:00.000-07:00

After school today, I asked the kids if they knew how those prickers stuck to their socks yesterday. They had a couple of ideas, like "they're sharp, like a needle" and "maybe they are sticky."

So, when we got home, I put out the prickers, stickers and burrs that I had collected yesterday. I set them on white paper, with a couple of magnifying loupes, a microscope, a flashlight and a pair of socks. I invited the boys to examine.

They were amazed by what they saw. Ruben's first comment was, "Diego's socks are made out of strings!" But then, they noticed the hooks:

And the barbs:

And they got lost in this tiny world.

And then, there was the answer. Look at how they grab onto our socks!

(click on photos to view larger)

Weeds and Seeds

2011-04-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to stop in an overgrown vacant lot to look at grass seeds.

Our whole city is blooming and making seeds these days, in response to an unusual abundance of winter rain.

I brought along some egg cartons, thinking that the kids would like to collect and sort the seeds.

Instead, they gamboled off like little billy goats.

When they stopped to pull prickers from their socks, I mentioned that this was how grasses spread. I decided to gather some seeds myself, in case they wanted to look at them when we got home.

There was a beautiful variety, even some wheat!

I think I'll put the seeds out after school with some magnifying glasses and pairs of socks. Maybe the kids can figure out how they stick!

Sometimes What You Need is What Happens

2011-04-13T08:01:00.000-07:00

I needed to sit in the sun and have a quiet cup of tea all by myself.

It happened.

Fill Light

2011-04-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

I thought that you might enjoy this little photo trick from behind the scenes yesterday, when I was taking pictures of the can lids for my memory game post.

Here was my first attempt at photographing the stack of can lids:

It was on the floor in front of a big window, and I liked the backlight on the stack and the floor, but the front of the stack was too dark and I wanted you to see more details so that you could tell what it was. It needed some fill light, which just means light that brightens up the shadows without changing the main lighting.

An easy way to make fill light is to use some sort of reflector. I often just hold a plain white piece of paper for fill on something small like this, but in this case, I grabbed a book that was sitting nearby and propped it open to use the white pages inside for my reflector.

Now you can see a white highlight on the side of the stack, which gives it more detail and definition:

Using a reflector for fill light is a simple trick, but it can be very useful when you're using back or side lighting, or have too much contrast on your subject.

I hope you found this illuminating!

Tin Can Memory Game

2011-04-11T05:30:00.000-07:00

Do you remember when I mentioned that we got a can opener that removes the lids without leaving sharp edges? Of course, I've been saving all of our lids for future projects, and now we have a lot of them.

So, we used stickers to turn them into a Memory Game.

We made several matching pairs, and we play the game like this:

Turn over all of the lids,

Take turns turning over two at a time and trying to find the matching pairs. If you find a pair, put it on your stack and go again. If you don't find a match, it is the next person's turn.

There is something extra fun about playing a game that you have made, so we've been using this one a lot. These metal lids are really nice to handle and stack, and the boys have found all sorts of other creative uses for them. They've also made some fun sticker combinations that are waiting for more lids, and they get very excited about expanding the game each time we cook something from another matching can.

Some Tips and Tricks:

If you're playing with someone under five, you can make it easier for them by making one big stack of the pairs that all of the players find, or you can let them turn over three lids on each turn instead of two.

I think this game would be so fun (and a great gift for a 1-6 year old) if you made it with your own photo stickers using pictures of the faces of friends and family. I will definitely try this some day!

Use matching cans that don't have a rubbery coating on the inside.

Do not make this game with can lids if you don't have a special can opener!

Mobile

2011-04-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

I made this mobile last weekend for one of my little friends for her first birthday:

It was more fun and challenging than I expected, but I am so happy with how it turned out. It was not easy to make each piece spin freely without ever crashing into the others, so it took a lot of careful adjusting.

I added some nature treasures that I had gathered and enjoyed over the years, and it was so gratifying to see them in this new way. I spent a lot of time thinking about the textures and weights and how to make them balance both physically and aesthetically. This is one of my favorite parts:

The crow feather is so light that it catches every small puff of wind, and it spins more easily than the other elements. I put a small metal weight on the tip in order to make it hang horizontally. Here's a closer look:

I've had the abalone shell for many years, and have always loved how rough and dark it is on one side and pearly iridescent on the other.

I wanted some other shiny elements to catch her little eye, so I wrapped some sections of the apple branches with pieces of wire that used to belong to my grandmother.

The smooth, dark branches were gleaned from our favorite apple ranch, and the others are fallen sycamore branches from trees in our neighborhood.

Now I want to make another.

Grasshopper Eggs

2011-04-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

Please come back tomorrow if you don't enjoy close-ups of insect life!

Okay, if you're still here, check out this amazing thing that we saw on our front lawn this afternoon:

Her abdomen was stuck into the ground because she was right in the middle of laying her eggs! We watched her doing it for a couple of minutes, and when she left, this tiny pile of pink foam was all that we could see:

The foam is the plug to an egg case that she buried about an inch under ground.

I can't believe that we got to see this today, having just finished On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder, in which there are incredible descriptions of grasshoppers and their eggs. After that dramatic story, I had to reassure the boys that there will not be a grasshopper plague in Los Angeles when this egg case hatches!

Weaving

2011-04-04T05:30:00.000-07:00

Like Summer

2011-03-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

Tin Man

2011-03-24T05:30:00.000-07:00

If you listen very carefully, you can hear a rusty voice barely whispering, "Oil me!"

Ruben made the hat with one of the parents at his school out of a paper plate, tape and aluminum foil. He taped the cans and lids to his shirt. (We have a nice can opener that removes the lids of cans without any sharp edges.) I love how the big tomato cans fit right over the tops of his cowboy boots.

It is non-stop Wizard of Oz around here!

One of THOSE Days

2011-03-17T05:30:00.000-07:00

"What is the matter, my dear? said Miss Grizzel. "Is the jelly not to your liking?"

That face just kills me. Even though I was having "one of those days," a look at this picture lightened my load. This is from a 1931 edition of The Cuckoo Clock by Mrs. Molesworth, and the brilliant illustration is by C.S. Brock. It is in Chapter 6, "Rubbed the Wrong Way."

What makes you smile when even the jelly is not to your liking?

Phony Trees

2011-03-16T05:30:00.000-07:00

I kept seeing a strange tree as I zipped past in my minivan, but it was hard to get a good look in traffic.

I tried to get a little closer, but it proved difficult.

Do you think it's related to this conifer around the corner?

Or this one without its foliage?

Make Your Own Kid-Sized Clothes Hangers

2011-03-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

Here are some free and easy wire hangers that I just made for our dress-up area:

Watch out when you cut. My wire end went flying!

I am hoping that the electrical tape wrapping will make these more durable and will keep any sharp wire safely inside the cardboard. It's time for me to teach them to hang up their own capes!

Sheet Pans and Oobleck

2011-03-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

I use aluminum baking sheets (aka sheet pans) as work surfaces for a lot of our projects. They keep glue off of the table and keep small parts from rolling away, but above all, they make it easy to move the project aside for a few minutes or hours and then bring it back without a lot of disruption. I often wish our art area (dining room) had one of these. I'm pretty sure I'd put warm cookies on mine, too.

You can see the kids using sheet pans for playdough just a few posts ago. Sometimes I have the kids finger paint directly on the pan instead of on paper, and then just rinse the pan when they're done.

These pans are perfect for oobleck, too. If you've never tried making oobleck, PLEASE do: 2 parts cornstarch + 1 part water = non-toxic, mind-bending Non-Newtonian fluid. Fun if you're 2 or 20 or 100.

Plain white oobleck is wonderful, but you can have lots of fun with color mixing, too. For mesmerizing color, you can't beat adding little flakes of dry watercolor paint, which dissolve slowly, leaving color trails, but adding drops of liquid tempera or food coloring works, too.

Oobleck is a shear thickening non-Newtonian fluid, which basically means that pressure makes it more solid. If you punch it, it's hard, if you poke it, it's soft. Squeeze it and it breaks, let go of it and it drips.

Here's an amazing video of oobleck on a vibrating surface. I can't wait to try that!

Jumbo and Peanuts

2011-03-10T05:30:00.000-08:00

I am almost embarrassed to admit how many times I've listened to my Jumbo CD. It has been in my car since it first came out (right around when Julio was born), and in the past year and a half I have listened to it over and over... and over. This has had an interesting unexpected consequence: Julio loves it, too. More than I do. When we get in the car he starts saying, "Jumbo!" If I try to play any other music, he starts shouting, "JUMBO! JUMBO! JUMBO!" Like some magical elixir, Jumbo stops his crying immediately when he hears it. If he's tired, it puts him right to sleep. If he's neither tired nor cranky, he starts laughing when he hears the first notes. You can listen to the title track at the link above to see how hilarious this is. It is certainly no "Hush, Little Baby."

Jumbo is my brother, Mole's, album, but all sisterly pride aside, this album is excellent. My brother wrote and sang all of the songs, the music is complex and catchy and beautifully produced, and his lyrics are alternately brilliantly funny and touching. This is not kids' music, but in our family it's at the top of the charts.

If you want some great music that was actually written for kids, check out "Whoever Shall Have Some Good Peanuts" by Sam Hinton. My brothers and I literally wore the grooves off of our old vinyl album when we were kids, and you may hear some of its folksy influence in my brother's music. There are a lot of old traditionals on this album, and although there are many sweet songs, it is not saccharin like so much of today's kiddie music. There are fights and dreams and drunkards and death and there is plenty of silliness, too. Hinton was a superb vocalist and a true folk master (he was also a naturalist), and I count him among my personal heroes.

You can listen to the beginnings of some songs from the album:
Barnyard Song
Old Blue
Old Dan Tucker
The Frog Song

My music list is not quite as long as my book list, but there you have it: Jumbo and Peanuts. What are you listening to at your house?

Some Great Little Books

2011-03-09T16:52:00.000-08:00

I've spent a lot of time reading, thinking about and making books for children. My love and enjoyment of picture books has expanded in the past six years, as I've had the pleasure of field-testing some old and new favorites with my three little book-lovers. I put a lot of thought into choosing books for this list, with the aim of selecting those that could be enjoyed by boys and girls (and their adults) with a broad range of interests and backgrounds. Now, go read someone a story!

THE PICTURE BOOKS THAT MAIZ WISHES THAT ALL CHILDREN EVERYWHERE COULD HAVE IN THEIR LIBRARIES:

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack & Kurt Wiese
Ferdinand by Munro Leaf / Robert Lawson, illus.
The Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel
Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey
Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne / Ernest Shepard, illus.
When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne / Ernest Shepard, illus.
The Little Bear books by Else Holmelund Minarik / Maurice Sendak, illus.
Beatrix Potter books, especially: The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Two Bad Mice, The Tale of Jeremy Fisher, The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck and The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
The Complete Adventures of Curious George by Margaret & H.A. Rey
Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go
Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
The Sneeches and Other Tales by Dr. Seuss
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion / Margaret Bloy Graham, illus.

Okay, so those are what I consider to be the CLASSICS. My taste in kids' books may seem a little old fashioned, but those are all beautifully written and illustrated. They have a wide appeal, and introduce readers to a great variety of words, ideas and lifestyles. Here are some more that I am also crazy about:

MORE BOOKS THAT MAIZ IS CRAZY ABOUT:

In the Town All Year 'Round by Rotraut Susanne Berner
Up, Up, Up! It's Apple-Picking Time by Jody Fickes Shapiro / Kitty Harvill, illus.
Traction Man is Here! by Mini Grey
Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman / Marla Frazee, illus.
Martha Speaks by Susan Meddaugh
The Day the Babies Crawled Away by Peggy Rathmann
Wild About Books by Judy Sierra / Marc Brown, illus.
Doctor De Soto by William Steig
Shrek! by William Steig
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen / John Schoenherr illus.

What, there are more?! And...

SOME OTHER GREAT BOOKS FOR TODDLERS and BOOK BEGINNERS:

Hug by Jez Alborough
Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang
Little Fur Family by Margaret Wise Brown / Garth Williams, illus.
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown / Clement Hurd, illus.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Go, Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman
The Everything Book by Denise Fleming
Barnyard Banter by Denise Fleming
Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins / Eric Gurney, illus.
Goodnight, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
The Nutshell Library by Maurice Sendak
"More, More, More" Said the Baby by Vera B. Williams

Some notes on finding more: Many of these authors have more great books out there, especially Steig, Sendak, Taback, Henkes, Rathmann, Potter, Scarry and Seuss. Look for the originals, as there are many not-so-good derivations of some of these classics, especially of Curious George, Winnie-the-Pooh and Richard Scarry.

There are lots of places to find these books. If you can shop at an independent children's bookstore, lucky you! (There is a great one in LA called Children's Book World.) I hope you can also find them all for free at your local library.

Detail of illustration by Ernest H. Shepard from Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne, 2006 Dutton Children's Books ed.

Small Canvas

2011-03-08T05:30:00.000-08:00

A great artist can paint a great picture on a small canvas.
-Charles Dudley Warner

Ballpoint on brother, 2011

Playdough Plus

2011-03-07T05:30:00.000-08:00

The boys got very enthusiastic when we added some feathers, sticks and beads to our playdough.

This is Argus Panoptes or Argos, according to Diego. (For those of you who don't happen to live with a 6 year old, Argus is a mythological Greek monster with 100 eyes):

I loved this creature that Ruben was making:

It just kept getting better...

...and better!

House Bookshelf

2011-03-03T21:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a bookshelf that I made a few years ago to house our picture books. It is made out of 3/4" plywood, and is very sturdy. One of my favorite features is the sideways shelf on the right, which holds all of our long books that stick out too far if we put them on the other shelves.

I imagined that we would occasionally empty it and use it like a toy house, but that has yet to happen. It also has a chimney tissue holder that holds a regular square tissue box. Here's a closer look:

I want to show you some more of my home made projects, and I was having so much fun taking pictures around the house that I left Julio happily entertaining himself at the dining table. From the other room, I heard him say, "Cow milk. Want it!" And then his big brother call out, "I'll get it for you, Julio!" I got back just in time to see this near-disaster:

Play Kitchen Stove

2011-03-02T22:22:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of fun making this play stove today:

A while ago, I salvaged an old burner grate and put it in our play kitchen, but I always wanted to mount it on a board and give it a knob. Today, I found an old wood scrap and then we got to work! We used bent nails to hold it in place, and screwed down a piece of an old dowel with a hole drilled in it for the knob. Ruben got to use the hammer and the hand drill, so he was thrilled. He used watercolor paints to make red flames, but when he saw me cooking on the blue gas flame of our real stove, he asked me to paint some blue on top of the red.

A play kitchen is a great thing to have in or near your real kitchen. The kids love to pretend cook when they are not participating in the real cooking. You don't need much, even just a low counter space or a box, or some floor space and some small real or toy pots, pans, utensils or dishes. Ours is an old piano bench in the laundry area between our real stove and the back door. I hung some hooks on the wall over it, and we've accumulated a lot of accessories over the years. Sometimes I think it would be fun to mount a faucet on the table or wall, or add a cupboard with a door on it. I still might, but already this area gets so much play just as it is.

Even without doors and knobs, there are all sorts of delicacies prepared here. Somebody made me some Apple-orange-radish pudding today, and did you notice the blue play dough pancakes going into the "oven" in the top picture?

Brrr!

2011-02-11T12:55:00.000-08:00

I'm not one of those gloating-about-the-weather Californians. I know you're cold out there! I've spent many a bundled winter hiking over icy plow mounds and stepping into slush-covered puddles, and I still don't think you should move here just for the weather. Snowy winters can be so beautiful, and sometimes (but not always) I miss them.

I was thinking about you out there in the blizzards when I noticed this tangerine peel on my breakfast table, the perfect symbol for the Californian daydreaming about winter:

Kissing Thaumatrope

2011-02-08T08:45:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, I thought that it would be so fun to make Joe a kissing thaumatrope for Valentine's Day. Like so many of my BRILLIANT ideas, I promptly forgot all about it.

Until recently, when I saw this thaumatrope-on-a-stick on Made by Joel, and it reminded me that I had to try it. Even though they're not done, I'm showing you my work in progress now, just in case you want to use this idea to make your very own thaumatrope valentines.

Are you wondering what I am talking about?

On one side it looks like this:

On the other side it looks like this:

When you spin the stick, it looks like this:

Movie magic! Persistence of vision!!! Kissing!!!!! Does it get any better than this?

I'm making some for my three little Valentinos, too. Isn't it funny that no one in my family even asked what I was doing when I said, "Here, stand against the wall and let me take a picture of you kissing something." They all just did it.

If you do make your own, please send me a picture! Wouldn't they make sweet wedding invitations or favors?

Materials: Paper, cardboard, double-stick tape or glue, round chopstick or kebab stick, photo prints or drawings of kissers in profile. Line them up carefully so that they work together when you spin the stick, and test it out before you glue!

Uncle Corey

2011-02-07T08:45:00.000-08:00

Although he was here for less than a day, and I was laid up with a bad back the whole time, it was pure fun to see him, as it always is.

Casanova and Me

2011-02-04T05:30:00.000-08:00

In the spring of 2001, a dear friend of mine died unexpectedly. While clearing out his apartment with a few close friends, I noticed that he had one shelf of special books on the wall of his bedroom. I knew they must have been his favorites because even though the rest of his apartment was crammed with books, on this one small shelf I recognized several titles that he had recommended to me over the years. From this eclectic mix of fiction, philosophy, education, and autobiography, each of the books that he had loaned me had been extraordinary, and had introduced me to some of my most favorite authors and ideas.

Somewhere in an old box of 35mm slides, I have a picture that I took of his shelf before we boxed up the books. I picked out a few to keep, and then we donated the rest to charity.

One of these books that has languished on my shelf until now is The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova. Have you read it? Much more than just the exaggerations of a wealthy womanizer, it is a lavish 1700's autobiography, part travelogue and part trickster-tales, overflowing with impossible romance and adventure. Could the life of Jacques Casanova possibly be any more different from that of a 21st Century frugal, faithful, forty-something L.A. mom with a minivan?! Although I am not escaping from the Inquisition, seducing my way across Europe, gambling, masquerading, dropping diamonds, dueling and duping princes and popes, I sure am having fun reading about it.

Here are a couple of my favorite quotes so far:

(As Casanova is arrested in Venice by the Inquisition)

There were about forty archers outside the door, which showed they expected some difficulty in arresting me! Two would have been enough. It is odd that in London, where every one is brave, one can arrest another single-handed. Among cowards thirty are not considered too many: it is, perhaps, because the coward turned assailant is more frightened than the coward whom he assails!

This archer is neither Venetian nor 18th C.

(After meeting a beautiful French woman)

A letter of recommendation written by the Graces on the forehead of Beauty is never dishonoured, for every one who has his eyes and a heart pays on sight.

My favorite 18th C. French beauty, Quentin de la Tour

So, tell me please, what books are on your special shelf?

Cowboy Parenting

2011-01-19T05:30:00.000-08:00

For the past couple of years, I've been inching my way through the long and consistently wonderful list of Newbery medal winners. I'm midway through Will James' Smoky, the Cowhorse, winner of the 1927 medal, and I just came across this gem that brought to my mind some of the concepts behind compassionate parenting:

Will James was a French Canadian turned Wild West cattle rustler, who wrote and illustrated many books on horses and cowboys. His characters of both Smoky and Clint, the cowboy who becomes Smoky's "pardner" are beautifully described. James' deep compassion for horses and his entertaining use of cowboy dialect are making this book a real pleasure to read.

And, since I just can't bring myself to write a post without a picture, here's an old one of Ruben waiting for his grub from the chuckwagon:

Firefighter Birthday Party

2011-01-07T21:58:00.000-08:00

Ever since Ruben's preschool took a field trip to the fire station, he has been very interested in acting out fire scenarios at home. Although it isn't at all difficult to find a good preschool-sized firefighter costume, we didn't have one, so over the past several weeks I have sorted out a firefighter costume for him with things from around the house. He wears jeans and a matching jean jacket with yellow electrical tape stripes on it, black boots, and a hat made from: newspaper, packing tape, a piece of red origami paper and the sticker that they handed out at the fire station. His tools include an axe (spatula), hose (piece of rope wound on an old 16mm film reel), and phone for dialing 911 (stickers on the wall with numbers written on them). We wave red bandannas to pretend there's a fire and he comes right to the rescue. When the whole family gets in on it, he LOVES it.

For his birthday, we took it all to the park, and invited two of his friends and their parents to get in on the action. We acted out the fire rescue scenario over and over, including trips to the hospital (picnic table) where we were treated for broken limbs and smoke inhalation. He had requested a cake "shaped like a house on fire with snow on the roof," so I made a banana cake with cream cheese frosting and topped it with little people for him to rescue.

Just before serving, I poured some heated rum around the base of the cake and lit it on fire for a little flambé excitement. (It sort of worked, but would probably have been more dramatic in a dark room.) It did soak the bottom of the cake with rum, so that part was for the parents, and the kids got the top layer. I'm pretty sure that Ruben loved everything about his little party.

Four

2011-01-06T21:37:00.000-08:00

I can't believe he's already four any more than I can believe that I've only known him for four years. How does that work? He is our treasure, and life in this house is so full of fun because of this loving, sensitive, loud and hilariously funny little fellow. Happy fourth birthday, Ruben!

Photos From My Minivan

2011-01-03T22:18:00.000-08:00

Street photography has changed for me since I moved to Los Angeles. Now, there is often a bit of my rear view mirrors showing as I catch a glimpse of LA-style life on the streets. Here are some of the many pictures that I took through the window of my minivan in 2010:

The End of December

2010-12-31T00:25:00.000-08:00

A Special Visitor

2010-12-22T17:35:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago, I told Ruben to put the gift that he made at preschool under our tree as the first Christmas present. He said, "Okay!" but then disappeared for about 10 minutes. From the other room we heard, "Everybody close your eyes!" We closed our eyes and then heard a few minutes of clomping around, rustling under the tree and then receding footsteps. Then, again from the other room, "OKAY! You can open your eyes now." The gift was there (we cheered), but the boy was not, so we called him to come out to us.

Turns out that while our eyes were closed, this jolly fellow had paid a visit:

Of course, some of us had to take turns sitting on his lap and telling him what we most want for Christmas.

(Another rubber duck)

(A slingshot)

This Santa costume was made out of a red silk suit from Hong Kong, black cowboy boots, a Santa hat and a pipe cleaner beard and glasses. Ruben wore it every day last January and February, and many, many times since then.

Little Holiday Toys

2010-12-21T05:30:00.000-08:00

I've been having so much fun making tiny toys for our holiday play time. Here are Santa and Rudolph, made of clothespins, pipe cleaners, yarn & wire:

And here I made the snowman, not the little wooden animals:

He is a part of this miniature winter scene that we all made together. Can you tell what I used to make him?

It's popcorn! I stuck together three little pieces with a toothpick, and broke off one end of the toothpick and colored it orange to make the nose. The snow is coconut, and the trees are little bits of Christmas tree stuck in clay. We had six (!) kids come visit us today, and our little winter scene was played with by everyone!

More Preschooler Portraits

2010-12-16T16:01:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple more of my recent favorites:

(Click on them to view larger)

Preschooler Portraits

2010-12-15T07:50:00.000-08:00

I love taking portraits of preschoolers. I prefer to photograph these kids spontaneously when they are in the middle of their day. That way they are both busy and relaxed and are wearing their everyday clothes and hairstyles. Sometimes they are even in costumes, or there is paint or food on their faces. They usually look at the camera and give me a practiced "Cheese" smile, but if I wait just a minute or two, it goes away and something real happens. Sometimes I try to warm them up by asking them questions or joking around with them. If I am lucky (and quick), I can catch them in one of those magic moments, and in their portrait we will see a glimmer of their future adult selves or a fleeting expression of genuine emotion.

Small-it

2010-12-13T05:30:00.000-08:00

This is one of those things that may sound totally ridiculous until you try it, and then once you do you'll go around thinking, "This is the best wallet EVER!"

The humble binder clip (also known as banker's clip, bulldog clip, or foldback clip) was invented in 1910 by Louis E. Baltzley, and in my opinion should be recognized as a marvel of industrial design. Seriously, it deserves its own pedestal at MOMA. It is so small, strong and flexible and it securely holds as little or as much as you'll ever need. It is very easy to get cards and money in and out without spilling the other contents, and nothing ever falls out.

I switched from wallet to money clip just after college. I was doing a lot of international traveling, and wanted a slimmer and more discreet way to carry my cards and money in my front pocket. A couple of years later, my fancy silver money clip broke, and I grabbed a binder clip off of my desk to use as a temporary wallet. That was about twenty years ago, and I am still using the very same binder clip.

Home Improvements

2010-12-07T10:50:00.000-08:00

Sometimes all it takes is a little package of googly eyes to spruce up some of the otherwise less attractive corners of your home.

Gotta' love a little DIY!

Hubbub & Mayhem

2010-11-24T08:12:00.000-08:00

We've been playing Hubbub, a game that was likely played by the Native Americans in New England around the time of the first Thanksgiving. It is very simple to make and play, just take five or more small objects that you can mark on one or both sides. We chose squash seeds, but you could use pebbles, bottle caps, whatever. We have two teams, the blue x's and the red dots:

We put them in a basket or bowl and have two people bang it on the floor, chanting "Hub! Hub! Hub!" Someone calls "Stop!" and then we count how many seeds are face up for each team. We play up to fifty. You can even play with twenty seeds if you have someone in your family, like we do, who likes to count and add (go figure!)

And now for the mayhem: If you want another fun Thanksgiving activity, you might enjoy this older post:

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, wherever you are!

Strawberry

2010-11-23T05:30:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, we got a strawberry plant in our CSA box. We planted it, even though it looked like a little clump of wet sticks and scraggly roots. It is thriving in its new location in our window box, and we have loved watching it come to life.

It's a little bit Spring in November outside our window.

Filmstrips (part 2)

2010-11-22T05:30:00.000-08:00

I love the images and advice on this child care filmstrip called "Teaching Desirable Habits" from 1953:

(From the Infant Care Series , "Teaching Desirable Habits" A Centron Production, produced by Luella M. Foster)

Filmstrips

2010-11-19T05:30:00.000-08:00

I found these many years ago outside of a high school in Manhattan. The school was being updated, and on the curb was a vast quantity of beautiful old oak furniture, metal cabinets and out-dated teaching materials. Peering over the edge of a dumpster, I was in heaven.

Each of these little cans contains a home economics film strip from the 1950's or 60's with many useful tips on how to cook, clean, sew and look good while you're doing it. Many of them are thinly veiled ads that might as well be called "Brand Name presents: How To Use Our Product." Most are wonderfully illustrated, but a few use some classic photography. I don't have the audio cassettes that went with them, but they are very entertaining to look at. I should probably watch this one:

But, as I'm currently in the habit of avoiding laundry, I'll move on to another gem. And, yes, right next to the filmstrips I found this projector. And an extra bulb.

The following are from Noxema and Covergirl present 'A Winning Complexion.' After showing photos of the teenagers that were selected to be the next Covergirls, the film advises you about the three things that determine if you will also become a winner:

If you like these, I have more to show you, but for now this will have to be:

Family Traditions

2010-11-17T05:30:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about traditions. Not the "let's stop at the same taco stand every time we go to the Merry-go-round" type of family tradition, but the real generation-to-generation passing on of customs and rituals.

I know that there are people out there who have family traditions that go back countless generations. This is not the case for me. In the past three generations, life for our family has changed so greatly that now we find ourselves raising children in a completely different environment with different nationalities, opportunities, occupations, religions and pastimes than our grandparents. Even the weather is different. Our grandparents are all gone, and many of the family traditions of their childhoods have been forgotten.

What is the value of these traditions anyway? I'm not being rhetorical! Do they tie us to the foggy past, giving us a sense of the smallness of our place in time? Do they connect us with our ancestors in a deeply meaningful way? It is easy to romanticize them, but are there really some great forgotten traditions, or has it been like this for our families throughout history, each generation wondering about and trying to interpret some almost-forgotten rituals of the past?

Because I either don't know about or don't feel very connected to many of the traditions of our families' past, I find myself, in a position to pick and choose or invent the customs of my own home. It will be up to the next generation to determine if these customs become true family traditions.

Advent Calendar

2010-11-16T05:30:00.000-08:00

Last year I made an advent calendar for the boys.

It was my first advent calendar, too. I have always loved the idea of opening one of those tiny windows each day. Savoring the waiting.

Inside of every window, I put a tiny scroll with instructions for something we had to do that day.

They were all fun, simple free things that were a little out of the ordinary for us. Some were traditional seasonal activities:

Some took all night (this one transformed into 'let's not use electricity until we go to bed'):

Others only lasted for four minutes:

I drew little creatures inside of each window. Some of our favorites made an appearance.

We were counting the days of December until this guy:

This wonderful tradition could be adapted for families who celebrate any holiday (or none) because it is really just about marking the daily passage of time and because you can make it into something that fits your values and ideas about the season.

If you would like to use some of my ideas for activities for our family, you can click on each of the three small pictures below for a larger, printable list.

(The font is P22 PanAm)

If you have any other activities to suggest, I'd love to hear them!

A Busy Day

2010-11-11T11:12:00.000-08:00

So much to do:

Sounds pretty idyllic, right? But there's no school today, and so far our day has been more about conflict resolution and damage control! I'm fairly certain we'll get to No. 2, but I'll have to let you know if we manage to do anything else.

Toy Iron

2010-11-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

Here's a simple toy iron that I made with some wood scraps and an old spool:

If you make one, be sure that the handle lines up with the back of the iron so that it can stand up like this:

And countersink the hardware and sand the bottom, as it may be rubbed vigorously all over your house!

I liked how it looked with one spool and no hardware showing on the top, so I had to reinforce the handle in order to keep it securely attached. I drilled small holes into the base, handle and spool, pegged it with four little pieces of toothpicks and then glued it all together. It is very sturdy.

Is this unnecessarily complicated? Yes. It could have been avoided if the iron was a little bigger and had two spools holding the handle (with enough room between them for a small hand), but I loved the simple look of this little toy, and wanted to hide the connections. Here's an "x-ray" of my handle attachment:

We keep it in our play kitchen, and it keeps the capes smooth and stylish and ready for action.

I made this a couple of years ago, and Diego helped me with the sawing and sanding. These little toys we've made together hold so many sweet memories for me.

Clock

2010-11-09T11:24:00.000-08:00

Here's a clock that Diego and I made a few years ago, when he first started asking me about time:

I made the dots and attached the popsicle sticks for him, and then we did the rest together. I did make a tiny pilot hole before installing the popsicle sticks, and the screw is fairly tight so that the hands can be spun around easily, but still hold their positions. Our clock is mostly used in imaginative ways, with occasional counting and time-learning play.

Made from scrap wood, popsicle sticks, tiny wood screw, felt-tipped pens.

Park Bench

2010-11-08T08:59:00.000-08:00

When Joe and I first came to Los Angeles, we moved from a tiny Manhattan apartment, so we had a lot of furnishing to do. One of the first additions to our house was this park bench, which is now one of our favorite places to sit in the house.

I found an old bench with broken slats that someone was throwing away. Saving the beautiful curvy cast iron pieces, we replaced the broken wood with new red oak. It was too pretty to put in the garden, so it has been sitting by our front door ever since.

It really is a comfortable place to sit, and people have even been known to take cat naps there (although whenever I see that, I want to blanket them in a newspaper to keep them warm Central Park-style.) We used new brass bolts with round button tops to attach the wood.

The whole project cost us about $40, but it could be done for a lot less if you used pine or recycled wood. One of the fun parts was deciding how long we wanted the bench to be. I almost made it into a chair, and someday I'll probably make another one as a matching chair, which I think would make excellent living room furniture.

The combination of velvet, wood and cast iron makes me very happy!

All Sorts of Horrible Things About My Mother

2010-11-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

I'll have to confess, Mom was not very enthusiastic when I first told her about my blog. She cautioned me about sharing private information, told me not to "spill my guts," and said in no uncertain terms not to write anything about her. My response was, "But MA, my blog is called, 'All Sorts of Horrible Things About My Mother!'"

My mom holding me, 1970

Fortunately, she's now an avid fan of these posts. As with most of my endeavors, she's cautious and protective at first, and generous and supportive until the end. She's got a great sense of humor (even though the punchline is usually in the first sentence of her jokes), she is a natural teacher, and she somehow made it look like having four kids in under 6 years in your forties was just fun and easy.

If you have a mother that you love anywhere near as much as I love mine, lucky you, give her a call!

Happy Birthday, Ma! I love you so much!

Here's another picture of Julio sitting on the toy bed, 'cause I know you'll probably like that better than the adorable picture of you that I posted above:

I wish I was there to celebrate with you!

Buy Now, Pay Later

2010-11-04T05:30:00.000-07:00

Danger Cat

2010-11-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago, I took this picture of my friend's cat:

My friend's sister surprised her by having the photo turned into a painting:

The photo was taken to Nepal, where three different versions of it were painted on metal by Nepalese artists. My friend's sister then got to choose her favorite one. The commissions were arranged by Danger Dogs from Nepal, an American art dealer who practices fair trade and "micro-finance through art patronage." How cool is that?

No Afterglow?

2010-11-01T22:07:00.000-07:00

Poor Halloween... so quickly cast aside!

Weekend Highlights

2010-11-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

Costumes of course:

So SPOOOOKY!!!

Happy jack-o-lantern soup:

This monster decoration:

Candy search & seizure:

Our friends with the two darling little girls dressed their kids like a police officer and a firefighter. The parents dressed up like a robber and fire. So cute!

When we got home, we had trick-or-treaters coming to our door, and no candy to give out. Diego and Ruben wanted to give away some that they had just collected, and they had so much fun answering the door and handing out most of their candy.

Enough already with Halloween. Between school parties and neighborhood street fairs, gatherings at friends' houses and trick-or-treating, I'm relieved to see some November!

The Bat

2010-10-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

Shhh! He's sleeping now, but just wait 'til the sun goes down...

Tooth Fairy

2010-10-28T05:30:00.000-07:00

Last night, the tooth fairy came to our house for the very first time...

In exchange for Diego's first lost tooth, he got a two dollar bill, a tiny coin from Guatemala, a congratulatory note and a honey stick. The Tooth Fairy also left dozens of shiny footprints all over the bedside table. They were so tiny!

Cat and Mouse Costumes

2010-10-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, I made this simple mouse costume for Diego:

Photo by the great Sharon Montrose (Lucky us!)

He was also wearing matching brown pants and brown sandals. A 14" long, tapered tail that was made out of the same fabric as the ears was tucked into the back of his pants. He was absurdly cute in this costume, especially when he got into it and acted like a mouse, which he did EVERY SINGLE DAY until Christmas.

I think some fantastic toddler costumes can be made very simply using solid colored matching pants and shirts, with just one or two other accessories. That way, if the costume does become a favorite, it's easy to wash, easy to get on and off in a hurry, and comfortable for play time.

Here's a picture of Ruben from last year, when he needed a quick NEW costume right before a Halloween party (!):

(photo credit unknown)

I grabbed some kitty ears that we already had in our dress up box, and made very simple sock paws with white stitches out of some of Joe's black socks. He wore a black turtleneck, black pants, black shoes and black eyeliner whiskers. He had another long black sock safety pinned onto the back of his pants (I think I just stuffed it with another sock). The paws were a great success for Ruben. I think that because they were the part of the costume that he could see and interact with all the time, they really brought it alive for him. When he put them on, he clearly felt like he became a cat.

This year our costumes will be a little more elaborate, but I do love the simplicity of these old favorites.

Hummingbird Resting, Grooming, Gone

2010-10-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

Nature Imitates Nature

2010-10-25T05:30:00.000-07:00

Halloween Costumes (part 1)

2010-10-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

We've been making a lot of these:

Involving these:

and this:

I think I've talked them out of this:

So, I was playing around with another XXL t-shirt, when I discovered that this could be the perfect (!!!) body for Ruben's BAT costume:

Does my drawing make sense? The t-shirt is upside down. I put elastic through the bottom hem, just like in these skirts. I turned it inside out and stitched it along the dashed line. I cut two arm holes where you see those two vertical lines. His legs come out of what were once the t-shirt sleeves. This is so simple that it has already taken me much longer to write this post than it did to make the costume! This is just the beginning for our bat, but it would be a very cute body for many toddler-preschooler animal costumes.

It's really stretchy around the neck, which you need for easy on/off. He says it is very comfortable.

He gets into character as soon as he puts it on. I love that. I'll show you more pictures when he has wings!

Fork Fangs!

2010-10-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

I just remembered this old cafeteria trick:

BWA-ha-ha-ha-ha!

More to Explore

2010-10-20T05:30:00.000-07:00

Iron Jane

2010-10-19T05:30:00.000-07:00

We are three weeks into our CSA, and it is such a pleasure.

(We just got a farm subscription, so for $20 every week we get a huge box of a variety of local, organically grown fruits and vegetables. I promise I won't bore you with the inventory... please keep reading!)

The very first thought I had when I opened our box was, "Hooray, somebody else decided what we're going to have for dinner!"

Making dinner at our house sometimes feels like my own private game of Iron Chef. There's a one hour countdown and the big clock is ticking, the available ingredients are strangely mismatched, and oh, the PRESSURE. But, if I can pull it off, I win the prestigious title of "Iron Chef." Well, maybe not. But if I beat the meltdown, and dinner tastes good, I feel the Iron.

But, back to the CSA. I love NOT having a choice of what vegetables we get each week. Someone else is shopping for me, and they're choosing some things that I never buy. Vegetable variety is being forced upon me, and I know that is a good thing. A little recipe search on Google or Epicurious gives me some inspiration, and off I go.

If you happen to be getting an abundance of yellow summer squash in your CSA or garden, here's a delicious and easy recipe that I came up with last night. I used some Japanese zucchini recipes for inspiration. Please let me know if you try it!

Summer Squash and Onions

Ingredients:

* 4-6 medium yellow summersquashes

* 2 tablespoons olive oil

* 1 onion

* 2 tablespoons soy sauce

* 1/2 teaspoon powderedginger

* 1/2 teaspoon garlicpowder

* 1 1/2 tablespoons honey

* 3 tablespoons sesameseeds

* 2 tablespoons butter

* ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Slice squash and onion into thin (about 1/4”) pieces

2. Mix soy sauce, honey, garlic and gingeruntil honey is dissolved

3. Pour olive oil into large frying panand heat on medium high

4. When pan is hot, add all remainingingredients (including soy sauce mix)

5. Fry, stirring occasionally, untilsquash is tender and browned

(Farm illustration by Diego)

Quiet Time

2010-10-18T05:30:00.000-07:00

Or, maybe not...

Date Night

2010-10-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

Toys stay on the floor and dishes in the sink... Tonight is date night. At least, I think it is. Joe's not back from tucking in Diego, so that might be a sign that he's accidentally resting up for date night. I should know. I just woke up from putting Julio to bed.

"What does this dynamic couple do for date night?" I know you're wondering. No, there is no babysitter or idling taxi waiting for me to put the finishing touches on my up-do. These days, date night is more of a sweatpants and herbal tea type of affair. There is usually a laptop and a DVD involved. Sometimes we watch the whole thing (not in one installment) or enjoy a (huge) bowl of ice cream.

When Diego was a baby, we used to read or play scrabble or cribbage, make some music together or (once) do some stretching and a light workout. For that matter, before the kids came along, we even used to go out. Those luxuries are on hold these busy days, but you know what? I really don't mind. I love watching a movie (falling asleep) next to Joe on the couch. I know our days of out-on-the-town will be back before long, but right now I can't even imagine staying out late. I think I'd rather have a babysitter come at 5:30 in the morning so Joe and I could get an extra hour of sleep. Speaking of which, I'd better go wake him up for date night!

The Very Young at Art

2010-10-14T05:30:00.000-07:00

Sidewalk chalk was a big hit. Scribbling everywhere with big, easy to hold chunks, and endless cups of water for pouring on top... what more could a fifteen-month-old want?

Pet Gorilla

2010-10-13T05:30:00.000-07:00

This toy has been in our house since Diego was a baby. We call it the pet gorilla.

It's just a picture of a baby gorilla that I downloaded, printed, cut out and stuck in an old candy box. Occasionally, we "feed" it some fresh bamboo, which adds to the effect.

Julio is fascinated.

He stares at it for a while, then asks for the box to be opened. He takes out and examines the bamboo and the picture. He says, "Gorilla!"

The other boys still occasionally play with it, but I remember that when they were his age, they were just as intrigued by it as Julio is now.

Spooky Spider

2010-10-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

I asked Diego if he would like to make a spider web for our front door as a Halloween decoration. He said, "No thanks, but I'd like you to make one." Not what I had in mind, but I said, "Okay, I'll make a web if you make a spider," and he enthusiastically agreed.

I stuck six kebab skewers into a wine cork, and while I sat on the floor twisting yarn around them, Diego ran off to make a spider. He chose his own materials, so I had no idea what he was going to make, but as usual, I love his creation!

I am so crazy about our little collaborations. They are always surprising, and always turn out so much better than anything I would have made on my own.

You Can't Handle, The Truth

2010-10-11T05:30:00.000-07:00

I'm surely not the first person to have this idea, but this morning when I went grocery shopping without my reusable bags and had to use paper, I realized:

Putting handles on paper bags causes a huge waste!

When I was a kid, we never double-bagged our groceries. The bags didn't have handles, and we carried them up in our arms. When we bought lots of cans or other heavy loads, they were usually put into old cardboard boxes for us, but mostly groceries were brought home in single brown paper bags.

Now that there are flimsy handles on all of the bags, nobody around here carries the bags by holding the bottoms any more. Most people end up using either two paper bags or a paper and a plastic together for each sack of groceries in order to make sure they don't drop them if the handle breaks!

I'm sure there must be studies and statistics about this, right? Seriously, it's probably time to ban the bags, but at the very least, let's forgo the convenience and go back to paper bags without handles!

Guero

2010-10-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

He lives right in the middle of the city, next door to a vacant lot by the freeway. Clearly, he owns the place.

We had to stop and say hello.

Gorgeous, isn't he?

Extension Tubes

2010-10-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

Do you know about Extension Tubes? They are tubes that fit between your lens and camera body, and they are a fairly inexpensive way to give your lenses a macro effect.

As you can see, they really are just tubes. There is no glass in them, but they have electronic contacts so that the camera and lens can still communicate with each other for exposure and auto focus. Mine are made by Kenko, and I got them at B&H Photo many years ago.

Here are some examples of what they can do. (You can click on any of the photos to get an enlarged view.) This tiny mushroom was on my front lawn:

This is a full frame of the closest I could possibly get to it with a 50mm macro lens:

Here it is the full frame after I added a 36mm extension tube:

And again:

Here's another tiny mushroom (you can see the blade of grass for scale):

And the entrance to an earthworm burrow:

As you see, they can give your photos an ethereal quality, with a very, very shallow focus. When you use them, you need to be extremely close to your subject and hold your camera very still, so they're not ideal for taking pictures of anything that moves. But, if you happen to be well on your way to becoming the world's greatest tiny mushroom photographer... you might enjoy playing around with these!

Hen of the Woods

2010-10-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

Do you ever buy something from the market that you've never tried before? I don't mean a new brand of something that you usually buy, but something so totally new to you that you need to go home and look up what it is and how to cook it. If you are a foreigner in the country where you live, this is probably a common occurrence for you, but most of us who live near where we were raised seem to stick to the same familiar grocery list month after month.

I love trying new foods, and fortunately for me, I live in a big city where I can be a foreigner whenever I choose. Within a few miles of my house, there are some fantastic Korean, Indian, Japanese, Greek, Mexican, Thai, Eastern European, French, Jewish, and Ethiopian grocery stores. My favorite markets for experimentation are usually Asian, because I love so many of the flavors, because I can't read most of the packaging and because I didn't grow up eating or cooking this kind of food. It can be wonderfully disorienting to shop in a market where you don't know most of the products. Sometimes I will pick up a package and wonder, "Is this thing fish, or dessert, or both?!" If the ingredients are listed in English I can usually tell if what I'm looking at is junk food or not, but the flavors are often a complete surprise.

The produce department of my nearby Koreatown Galleria Market yields all kinds of exotic-to-me fruits and vegetables. My current favorite section is the mushroom area, where I can buy fresh Enoki, Oyster, King Oyster, Bunapi (brown and white), Portobella, Maitake, and Shiitake mushrooms. We're working our way through them.

The Maitake, or "Hen-of-the-Woods" mushrooms, pictured above, are a new-to-us favorite. They looked so strange to me that I had to try them... I've just been sautéing them with butter and garlic, and they are so delicious.

I know that this kind of grocery shopping is not for everyone! What about you? Do you enjoy tasting new-to-you foods?

Nuts

2010-09-30T05:30:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago, as we were waiting for a space in our library parking lot, the boys and I watched a squirrel bury an enormous walnut.

As we watched discreetly from behind tinted windows, we had front row seats to the whole show: Little guy with jumbo-jawbreaker-walnut scampers across parking lot, looks around furtively for spying walnut thieves, lays nut down, digs furiously until his head is underground, stares suspiciously at our minivan, puts nut in hole, and very carefully fills hole and covers with dry leaf camouflage.

I told the boys about an article I read a while back about how squirrels don't always dig up their own nuts. As I remember it, they just know the proper circumstances and geometry of where to bury/where to find nuts, and they all work hard at caching as many nuts as possible. When winter comes, they just look in those logical nut spots, and find nuts. This article described these findings as a major breakthrough in squirrel research.

Of course, when I tried to confirm this, I couldn't find the article. I do remember it, though! I did find other interesting information about squirrels. They are "scatter hoarders" as opposed to "larder hoarders." (I can relate.) They complain with a "Kuk!" They use their tails for balance and communication, and as parachutes and blankets.

Mostly, I just love knowing that there is a secret walnut cache in that otherwise totally boring corner of the library parking lot.

For Margaux

2010-09-28T05:30:00.000-07:00

I have a little friend named Margaux who lives in Switzerland. Even though I've never met her in person, I know that she is a very special little girl! Her mother sent us some lovely soft toys that she made for our boys, and wrote that Margaux had enjoyed making up stories about them. This is an update of what the toys have been doing since they arrived at our house. I hope her mother will translate it for her, and perhaps if you know a little person who would enjoy it, you could read this story to them:

A Letter from Duck

Dearest Margaux,

We have finally arrived at our new home in California!

We were very happy to get out of that box (US Mail is not so nice as Swiss Air, if you know what I mean). We were greeted by THREE very enthusiastic little boys, Diego, Ruben and Julio, but guess what? They only spoke English! Rooster found someone right away who could translate for us.

Crow was so tired from all of the travels. Diego took one look at him and said, "He looks like he has passed out." He was given a glass of wine, and put to bed.

After a long sleep, he was as good as new, and joined us on a terrific, whirlwind tour of our new place.

The bed crow slept in belonged to a little fellow named JunJun. He was very sweet, and was so taken with my overalls, that I decided to let him wear them. The straps were a bit too long for him, so I picked out some buttons that I liked.

And my new friend, Diego, sewed them on for me.

They were red.

JunJun was so happy! He is teaching me English, and I am teaching him French, and we are now very good friends.

Speaking of friends, we have each picked a boy from our new family to call our very own. My boy is Diego, Crow picked Julio, and Rooster chose Ruben. Rooster and Ruben love each other so much! They have already had so many adventures together, and are planning to have many, many more.

We also met up with a friendly elephant. Do you remember him? He remembers you fondly, and asked me to send you kisses and hugs. He has been living here for a while, and has taught us some things about how to behave when we are in our new home. He fits in very well here!

Well, I think that is all of the news that I have for you today. So, bye-bye from all of your Swiss friends who are living in Los Angeles.

We really love our new home and our new friends, so thank you very much for sending us here. I hope that you will come visit us here some day!

Love,

Duck