Finger Painting Friday

I stumbled across a homemade recipe for finger paints and couldn't wait to try it with the kids. For those of you looking for a great rainy/snowy/sick day project this one is for you!! This is a super simple recipe and could be used for a variety of purposes - practicing cursive writing or printing letters, mixing primary colors to make endless other colors, opportunity for artistic expression (big title that means it is messy fun!). Here are some pictures of our finger paint Friday! (recipe for finger paint to follow pictures)

Finger Paint Recipe:
1/2 c. corn starch
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 c. water

pour all ingredients into medium size sauce pan and cook over medium heat stirring constantly. The mixture will thicken (takes about 10-15 minutes so be patient). Remove from heat and separate into smaller containers. Add food coloring and any "scents" such as kool-aid or vanilla extract and stir. I opted not to add "scent" or flavor since Drew was going to join us and I didn't want him to eat it. I used freezer paper for the kids to paint on since the backside of the freezer paper has a thin plastic lining and would prevent the paper from becoming too soggy.

They Grow Up So Fast

Chip off the old block eh? True male bonding time. (I'm glad the reality of this won't actually begin for many many years....I just love having my little boy little right now).

Thanks for stopping by!

History

Can you guess what we are studying in History? Take a look at these pictures (above).....If you guesses ancient Egypt and mummies you guessed right! All you need are a few rolls of toilet paper and a willing "mummy model" and you've created your very own mummy. Can you guess who the last picture is? Yep - it is me! The girls giggled the entire time they wrapped me up and then enjoyed taking pictures of their mummy/mommy. Isn't school fun!

Etsy

Most of you know my favorite "hobby" over the past several years has become sewing. I started off teaching myself how to sew using the $10 1969 Singer sewing machine I picked up at a friend's garage sale. After the electrical cord was prepared and I thoroughly read the manual I just sat down, determined to learn how to get the heavy beast working (oh and by heavy I mean HEAVY!!!). After mastering the old 69'er I longed for lighter machine with an automatic buttonhole function. I was getting tired of the detachable quirky one the old Singer sported. So my awesome husband surprised me a few years back with a much lighter basic new Singer to keep me going on my hobby. What has kept me sewing as well as kept my attention is the huge variety of fabrics, projects, ideas, etc.....that can be accomplished by sewing. I just love it. I am by no means a master of this hobby but I can see that there has been some improvement over the years, especially after the first year. By the way, I originally picked up sewing while pregnant with Kami so I could learn how to make maternity pants to fit my quickly growing 3rd trimester belly. After a few attempts at making pants with one left leg and one right leg (I tossed out the two left legged pair!) I felt such a great sense of accomplishment and joy (tight pants put a squeeze on the ole joy factor) so I kept on sewing.

Moving on....

Years later the completed projects started piling up and I just kept making more things. What to do what to do?? So I decided to try the online route and set up an ETSY shop. For those who don't know what Etsy is it is a social commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items as well as art and craft supplies. These items cover a wide range including art, photography, clothing, jewelry, edibles, bath & beauty products, quilts, nick-knacks and toys. .... I strongly recommend you spend a few minutes (or more) browsing the great handmade items on Etsy's website http://www.etsy.com/. Also, if you get a chance please visit my shop a http://www.sapucha.etsy.com/ and send me any feed back - good, bad or ugly! Oh and by the way the new thingy on the right side of this blog is a little widget showing some of the items in my shop. I just learned how to create this little widget guy and I kind of like it :)

One last tidbit....

Sapucha? you ask what is Sapucha? (pronounced: Sah-poo-cha.). Well, when Kami was a little toddler she used to come up with "make up words" and she would use her make up words to name toys, people, etc. I just loved this one the best and I thought what better use of a handmade name for a shop selling handmade item.