Month: February 2011

Friday Fun

Friday Craft: Fun Kid T-Shirt Fashions

Karen

Now THESE are cute! And the best part? The kids can help decorate their own! I’m thinking getting dressed for school might not be quite SO hard with these fun fashions from Family Fun.

Bleach-Pen Drawing T-shirt

Here, the stain-removing power of bleach is used to create a negative-image design that subtracts color and adds fun. Bleach is strong stuff, so while working on this project, wear old clothes and rubber gloves, follow safety precautions on the label, supervise kids closely, and work in a well-ventilated area.

Materials

* Solid-color T-shirt
* Waxed paper
* Chalk
* Bleach pen (we used Clorox brand)
* Paper towel

Instructions

1. Wash and dry the shirt, then slip a piece of waxed paper inside it to prevent bleed-through.
2. Sketch your design on the shirt with chalk. Because the bleach can spread, keep the design simple, and draw with lines and dots, as shown, rather than try to fill in large areas.
3. Shake the bleach pen and give it a few test squeezes on a paper towel to make sure it’s flowing well. Trace over your chalk lines with the bleach pen. Leave the bleach on the shirt until the fabric has clearly changed color. This can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the shirt. Wash the shirt by itself in the washing machine, then dry it.

Plastic Pocket T-shirt

We’ve seen a lot of custom T-shirt projects, but none that allow kids to customize their shirts on a daily basis. This shirt’s clear plastic pocket lets kids display their obsession du jour.

Materials

* T-shirt
* Clear plastic trading card page (available at hobby or office supply stores)
* Scissors
* Masking tape
* Embroidery needle
* Embroidery floss
* Flattish object to place in pocket, such as a photo, iron-on appliqué, artificial flower, etc.

Instructions

1. Cut 1 pocket from the center of a trading card page, leaving a 1/4-inch margin around the seams.
2. Secure the pocket’s top and bottom in place with masking tape.
3. Thread the needle with the floss, knot the end, and use a simple whipstitch to attach one side of the pocket to the shirt. Remove the bottom tape and continue stitching, leaving the top open.
4. Remove the remaining tape. Place an object in the pocket.

Tips:
When drying the T-shirt, always hang-dry to protect the plastic pocket.

Thumbprint Garden T-Shirt (Watch the how-to video)

These personalized T-shirts — the girls can put their own signature flower on one another’s tees — will be the hit of any party.

Materials

* T-shirts
* Cardboard
* Fabric paints
* Paper plates
* Green fabric marker (we used FabricMate from Yasutomo, available at fabric stores)

Instructions

1. Set up your decorating station by first cutting a piece of cardboard to fit snugly inside each shirt, separating the front and the back layers. Line up the shirts on your worktable and squirt small puddles of fabric paint onto paper plates.
2. For each shirt, have the girls each dip a pinky finger into a puddle of paint and press it onto the T-shirt for a flower center.
3. Next, have them each dip a thumb into a different color of paint and press it onto the shirt around the pinky print to make petals
4. Use a fabric marker to paint stems and leaves.
5. Finally, have each guest use the fabric marker to write her name under her thumbprint flower on each shirt.
6. Leave the cardboard inside the shirts while they dry and refer to the fabric paint bottle for washing instructions.

Fruit Prints


With this paint-stamping activity, your child can “pear” up her favorite fruits and vegetables to produce a colorful stripe design. Or, she can turn individual prints into comical characters by drawing on stick limbs and facial features.

MATERIALS

Fruits and vegetables
Knife
Paper towels
Plastic bag
Cardboard cut to fit between the front and back of the shirt
Prewashed cotton T-shirt
Fabric paints
Plastic plates or paintbrush
Fabric markers (optional)

Instructions

1. Slice the fruits and vegetables in half and place cut-side down on paper towels. Just about any fresh produce will do, although juicy ones, like oranges or even onions, should be allowed to dry for 15 minutes or so. Meanwhile, wrap the plastic bag around the cardboard and slip it inside the shirt.
2. Pour some fabric paint onto the plastic plates and have your child practice making prints by dipping the cut surface of a fruit or vegetable into the paint (or she can brush the paint onto the vegetables) and then pressing it onto newspaper. When she feels ready, she can print directly on the shirt.
3. Once the paint dries, remove the cardboard. Then heat-set the design and launder the shirt according to the paint manufacturer’s directions.

Foam Stamps

This method couples the age-old art of block printing with modern supplies (craft foam and fabric paint), letting your child create snappy designs that she can reprint whenever she likes.

Finally, heat-set the design and launder the shirt according to the paint and marker manufacturers’ directions.

Materials

* Plastic bag
* Cardboard cut to fit between the front and back of the shirt
* Prewashed cotton T-shirt
* Pencil
* Thin craft foam (such as Foamies)
* Scissors
* Tacky glue
* Wooden blocks (sold at many craft stores) or squares of corrugated cardboard layered and glued together
* Plastic plates or soft paintbrush
* Fabric pens
* Fabric paint

Instructions

1. Wrap the plastic bag around the cardboard and slip it inside the shirt. tools Have your child sketch shapes or letters onto the foam sheets. To create a row of people like the one shown here, draw a head, pants, a skirt and a shirt. Cut out two of each shape, then layer and glue each pair onto a wooden block or cardboard square (glue letters on backward). The double layer lets you apply paint to the foam without getting any on the block.
2. When the glue is dry, you can begin printing. Pour some fabric paint onto a plastic plate and dip the foam stamp into it (or brush paint directly onto the foam). Then press the stamp onto the shirt. Once your child has printed as many shapes and colors as she likes, and the paint has dried, she can use fabric pens to embellish them with facial features, hair, shoes, and other details.

Reverse Stencils

Your kids will have a blast with this technique. First you press on Con-Tact paper shapes, next you spritz paint all over the shirt, then you rip off the stencils to reveal the finished design.

Materials

* Plastic bag
* Cardboard cut to fit between the front and back of the shirt
* Light-colored pre-washed cotton T-shirt
* Newspaper
* Pencil
* Con-Tact paper
* Scissors
* Spray bottle
* Warm water
* Fabric paint

Instructions

1. Wrap the plastic bag around the cardboard and slip it inside the shirt and then lay the shirt face up on the newspaper. Have your child draw various shapes, such as the shark, swirl, zigzag, or flower shown here, on the Con-Tact paper. Cut out the shapes and stick them onto the shirt so that they are firmly attached.
2. In the spray bottle, mix three parts fabric paint to two parts warm water and shake. Now your child can spray the paint onto the fabric all around the cutouts. Advise him that a light spray will produce a striking bubbly effect and is less likely to seep under the stencil. (Another option is to press paint-coated sponges onto the fabric.)
3. Once the paint dries, remove the Con-Tact paper and the cardboard, then heat-set the design and launder the shirt according to the paint manufacturer’s directions.

Fool-the-Eye-Tie


With a little fabric paint and a freezer-paper stencil, this tee goes formal with faux neckwear. Kids can easily design their own tie: the louder, the better!

Materials

* Plastic-coated freezer paper (found in the food-wrap section of most supermarkets)
* Masking tape
* Craft knife
* T-shirt
* Iron
* Waxed paper
* Paintbrushes
* Fabric paint


Instructions

1. Draw the outline of a necktie onto the non-shiny side of a piece of freezer paper.
2. Tape the freezer paper to a cutting board or surface and use the craft knife to cut out the shape (a parent’s job).
3. Lay the stencil, shiny side down, on the T-shirt. With the iron on the cotton setting, press briefly all around the edges of the stencil until the paper sticks to the shirt (don’t sweep the iron back and forth; doing so may tear the paper).
4. Slip a sheet of waxed paper into the shirt to prevent bleed-through. Paint your design, always stroking toward the center so that the paint doesn’t seep under the stencil.
5. Carefully peel off the stencil and allow the paint to dry.

**This post was not sponsored. I just think Family Fun is, well, fun. Though if Family Fun would like to pay me to pass on their awesome crafts, I won’t complain. 😉

More from Write From Karen

Can We Talk?, Parenting

Teacher Suspended for Blogging About Her Students

Karen

Vodpod videos no longer available.


(RSS readers – I’ve embedded a video. You probably can’t see it so you’ll have to visit my blog to view it. Sorry about that).

I can totally understand this woman’s frustration.

Kids nowadays ARE self-entitled spoiled brats who whine too much because parents are more concerned with being their friends and not their parents. I’m sure it’s terribly difficult to deal with that kind of attitude in the classroom. Especially nowadays when the kids all know that if anything happens, their parents will become fire-breathing dragons and threaten a law suit. (And trust me, I hear about these kids from my high school boys, too. The disruptions, the attitudes, the blatant disrespect. If half of what they tell me is true [and I take what they tell me with a grain of salt], then it’s a wonder these teachers can teach anything over all the “noise” produced by these troublemakers).

I can’t imagine being a teacher in today’s classrooms. I can totally understand why this woman needed to blow off some steam. I’m not a teacher, but I’ve seen enough bad behavior, just as an outside parent, to make my blood boil. Can you imagine being stuck with the brats every day?

However, I do find her naivety just a bit annoying. She published her first name, last initial AND a picture of herself on her blog – yet she didn’t think anyone would ever find her blog? *snort* Please. The Internet has a LOOOOONG memory. Even if you delete some stuff, it’s possible to find it later and today’s kids? Are computer savvy. They’ve grown up on this stuff so it’s really easy for them to navigate and search things out.

I’ll be interested in what happens to her. If her contract specifically addresses an issue like this, then she will deserve to lose her job, but if not, she didn’t do anything illegal. Was it smart? No. But she has a right to her opinion and she didn’t list the school by name or any specific students so …

I ABHOR ABC news – and I thought the interviewer in this video was purposefully slanting the questions to make the teacher look like the insensitive one (because God forbid we blame the PARENTS of these bratty kids for the way they turned out *dramatic gasp*), BUT, I thought the question she posed to the teacher, asking her how she would feel if her children’s teachers made some sort of remark like that referencing her own children was pretty interesting.

I think if I had been asked that question, I’d say something along the lines of, “if my kids are truly that awful when I’m not around, I’d want to know about it. Because no kid of mine is going to blatantly disrespect their teacher like that.”

And I would. I realize that kids are totally different when they are not around their parents, but if they’re that bad? I want to know. I have no problem with being told my kids are acting like assholes because I live with them. And they can be assholes sometimes. I’m not delusional enough to think my kids are on their best behavior at all times.

But I think most parents WOULDN’T want to know. I would imagine most parents would get all defensive if confronted with a less-than perfect child because they would think it reflected poorly on their parenting skills.

Which, it probably would.

But that’s why I felt compelled to write about this because as the teacher says in the video, perhaps this will spark a conversation. A long overdue conversation, about how kids nowadays are out of control. How parents don’t parent anymore, they pawn off them off on the nearest caregiver, relative or school they can find. How parents don’t seem to have a backbone anymore when it comes to teaching their children morals and disciplining them when they do something wrong. It’s all about not hurting Johnny’s feelings or bruising his self-esteem.

(*talk to the hand*)

Hogwash. I get so impatient with that “new age” way of thinking. Kids are tough little boogers, not to mention, extremely smart. Kids pick up on this wimpy parenting style and they manipulate it for all it’s worth. They KNOW teachers can’t touch them. They KNOW teachers are really limited to what they can do or say before getting themselves into trouble. They KNOW that mommy and/or daddy will bail them out if all they do is cry their tears or cry foul in some way.

We’re raising a pampered, spoiled generation. Let’s be honest.

So yeah, I feel sorry for this teacher. She probably shouldn’t have wrote those things on such a public forum (if she just wanted to keep it between her and her friends, she should have made it a private blog), but she’s only saying what we’re all thinking.

Our youth HAVE gotten out of control and parents? It’s time to own up and take some responsibility. Our kids are whiny brats because we’ve raised them to be that way.

Work Stuff

We Have Signage!

Karen

signage

Woohoo!

Ain’t it purty!

We’ve had a time with this sign, let me tell ya. We’ve been going back and forth with the maintenance guy that works at the office center and either it’s been too cold to put the sign up, or he’s just been too busy to fool with it.

Finally, Kevin offered him an out and the poor guy was relieved.

We called “Fast Signs.

WOW! We called Fast Signs today, told them what we wanted, they sent us a draft to approve and they came over within a FEW HOURS and put it up.

When they say FAST, they mean FAST!

At any rate, we’re thrilled and I’m so proud of Kevin – he has his own business, in his own office and now he has his own sign advertising his services.

He’s official!

Woohoo!

Life

Too Many Uncertainties

Karen

We went to Jazz’s scheduling information meeting at his school last night. Even though the process sounds incredibly complicated, it’s nice to see them get the kids more involved in the process.

In essence, the kids with the better attendance this semester have first dibs on their classes for next year. This is to promote good attendance, of course. Then, in May, they will all gather in the gym and do an “arena-type” scheduling thing – it sounds really confusing. I hope it’s not for the kids. But it’ll be nice to have Jazz more involved in his classes.

I wish they had done something like this for Dude. (Dude is a senior this year). It used to take us FOREVER to go through his schedule because I could never get him to decide on any classes. I would finally (and this was literally after three hours of just sitting there, waiting on him to decide something) have to pick his classes for him.

I’m afraid I’ve done more harm than good when it comes to Dude. Now that he’s faced with trying to decide his course of action after high school, he’s stumped once again. He’s so used to my doing his thinking for him that he is out of his element.

Granted, not many 18-year olds know what they want to do after high school, but still, he doesn’t have a clue where to even start. We’ve offered many alternatives, but nothing seems to have sparked his interest. I’ve been making him come to the office after school to study for the ACT test. He’ll be re-taking the test in April. If I don’t make him study, he won’t. And he really needs to earn a better score if he wants to go to college at some future point.

I’ve also been making him look at our community college courses and he’ll also look at what Missouri State University offers, as well. Again, he doesn’t have to decide on a future right this minute, and he certainly has the option of changing course once he starts pursuing something and decides he doesn’t want to go that route, nothing is written in stone, especially at this point, but he needs to do SOMETHING. Even if that something is not something he wants to do with his life.

Kevin is suggesting he take the A+ certification program. This program would allow him to work at computer fix-it places – he would be fixing computer issues for people. He did such a great job building his own computer (with no help from either of us, thank you very much) and seemed to enjoy it so much, that Kevin thinks that might be a good place for him to start. He would have a job doing what he loves to do and he could then decide whether he wanted to take more computer / IT classes.

He doesn’t exactly act THRILLED with that idea (but then again, he’s a pretty low key kind of teenager anyway), but he’s not outright rejecting the idea either, so … it’s a start, I think.

Kevin and I talked … and we decided to forego the Documentation Specialist position. I did a lot of research about the position and the company and it just didn’t seem like a good fit for me. Instead, I’m actively pursuing a clerical job in the health care field. We’ll see where that takes us.

It’s both frustrating, and exciting, to be on the precipice of a new beginning. Kevin is starting his accounting company, I’m looking for a new career, Dude is starting a new life and Jazz will be learning to drive and will soon be more independent.

I feel like we have a lot of balls up in the air, at the moment. There are so many unknowns at this point. I don’t handle uncertainty very well. I’m okay with change, as long as I know what that change is. It’s the not knowing that drives me nuts.

I feel a bit lost.

Abundant Life

Audio Teaching: What Jesus Christ is Doing For Us Today

Karen

by John Schoenheit
This is a most inspiring and informative teaching that will likely enhance your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ as you see from Scripture what he is currently doing for each member of his Body, the Church. As portrayed in God’s Word, the exalted Lord Jesus is at the same time both awesome and personal. Although he is now the Lord of the universe, he is still for each Christian the same man we read about in the Gospels, a man of love, grace, mercy, and compassion. As he sets forth Jesus’ current ministry, John Schoenheit clarifies some difficult verses in a most enlightening way.

Click the arrow to listen.

Related article

Check out Truth or Tradition teachings on:

Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
YouTube
iTunes
Amazon

Prompt Fiction, Relationships

Focusing on What Was Important

Karen

The assignment was: after you have died, your daughter/son will be given the gift of seeing a single five-minute period of your life through your eyes, feeling and experiencing those moments as you did when they occurred. What five minutes would you have him/her see?

Choosing five minutes of my life to share with my boys was really hard. I’ve had so many wonderful moments in my life that settling on a mere five minutes seemed impossible at first. But I thought about it. I patiently inserted slides of my life into the projector and this was the slide that made me smile; this was the moment I knew my life had changed forever.

_______________________________________

“Grab your camera and let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” I asked while grabbing my camera. I didn’t hesitate. I was ready to follow him anywhere. I trusted him. I liked him. I looked forward to spending time with him. I might even have loved him.

“To the lake. Let’s take some pictures. I’ll teach you some techniques.”

So, we left. The day was chilly, but I was warm enough in my jean jacket. I worried that the wind would mess up my hair because I wanted to look good for him under all conditions. I wanted him to be proud of me; his opinion meant something to me.

Which was weird for me. I was confused, but it was a pleasant confusion. My entire body felt like it was standing at the edge of a cliff, my balance precarious, my arms outstretched and grappling for something to hang on to. But I wasn’t scared of falling into this relationship; it was more of an eager anticipation.

We explored the lake that day. We took a lot of pictures – most of them were mediocre, a few of them were even great. I learned a lot about photography, and about myself that day. I felt comfortable with him. I began to imagine my life with him.

We each brought different strengths to our relationship – he brought clarity, determination, motivation; I brought whimsy, nonchalance, and careful abandon. We both shared an intense imagination.

And we laughed a lot.

Though our relationship was still fairly new, it felt like we had known one another our entire lives. There was the initial awkwardness of getting to know one another, but it only lasted mere days instead of weeks and we soon fell into an easygoing, pleasant and fun relationship. We were honest with one another and after several weeks of being with him, I began entertaining the thought of maybe, just maybe, we could live a lifetime together.

They say you “know” when you have meant the right person and forgive me, but I have to agree. There simply wasn’t one thing about him that sealed the deal for me, it was so many little things and then nothing at all. He simply stepped into my world and staked a claim on the plat of land in my heart that was reserved for that special someone.

I hadn’t even known that piece of real estate existed until he came along.

This should have scared me – the thought of committing to one person had always scared me up until that point. But I think because he was able to step into my world so effortlessly, so quietly, with very little fanfare, that it caught me off guard and I let my defenses down, just for a moment, but long enough for the damage to be done.

I was in love.

I realized my feelings as we took turns posing for one another. I felt free to be myself and I enthusiastically alternated my poses: from goofy to sexy all in an attempt to make him laugh and look at me, to really see me as a person and a possible life partner.

Though my feelings had sort of taken off without my permission, I forced myself to think about the reality of our relationship. Was he someone I could respect? Was he responsible? Did he have goals? Could I live with his bad habits?

And most importantly – could he put up with me and all of my irrational moods and faulty personality?

I had high hopes.

Though we were together at the lake that day, we also took time to explore on our own. The fact that he felt comfortable enough to give me my space was really what clinched the deal.

He was secure enough in himself, and in me, to give me room to breathe.

I knew there would be times that I would crave isolation. I required his understanding.

I sensed his understanding.

We arrived at the lake mere boyfriend and girlfriend – we left the lake that day soul mates.

Scan10443A

Prompt Fiction

Romantic Encounter: The Wrong Conclusion

Karen

Ready for this week’s prompt?

You inadvertently run an important paper through the shredder.

Want to play along? Check out Romantic Encounters. 😀

_______________________________________________________________

“I came over as soon as I could. How is she?” Donna threw her bag onto a nearby chair; her eyes remained focused on the teenage girl in front of her.

“She’s … out of it,” the girl said, her dark blue lipstick shimmering in the late afternoon sunlight. “She’s depressed. She’s shocked. She’s pissed,” she suddenly poked herself in the chest. “I’M pissed. What the hell was he thinking?”

Donna had known the girl her entire life. She could see the hurt lurking behind the brave mask. She put an arm around the girl’s bony shoulders and held on tight even when the girl tried to initially throw her support off. After several long, tense moments, the girl broke down and began to cry, burying her head into Donna’s shoulder.

“I’m going to have makeup all over my blouse,” Donna absently thought as she stroked the girl’s blue-streaked hair. She continued to hold the girl for several minutes as she cried out her emotions.

Betrayal was never easy to deal with, let alone when you were a 16-year old girl.

“I’m sorry,” the girl said, her voice muffled by Donna’s blouse.

“Don’t be. You’re justified.”

She sniffed. “I need a tissue.” She pulled back and went over to an end table to snag a tissue from the box decorated with hearts all over it.

Donna suddenly had the urge to rip that box into several tiny pieces.

The girl blew her nose then spat out a bitter laugh. “This is the worst Valentine’s Day in history. Love SUCKS!”

Donna gave her a few minutes to compose herself before quietly asking, “Where is she, Alexandria.”

She shrugged a shoulder toward the back of the house. “In the office. But I warn you, she won’t come out. I’ve been trying to get her to open the door for the last hour and …nothing.”

“What is she doing in there?”

“I don’t know. I heard some crashes earlier. I thought maybe she hurt herself. But when I pounded on the door and demanded an answer, she just said to leave her alone – she needed time to regroup, or some shit like that.” Alexandria wrapped the soggy tissue around her nose again and gave a noisy honk.

“Right. Tell you what. Why don’t you make some coffee, or maybe some sandwiches –“

“None of us are hungry, Aunt Donna.”

“I know that, sweetie. But just do it, okay? I’m going to try and get her to open the door.”

Alexandria snorted. “Yeah. Good luck with that.” She stomped into the kitchen, her combat boots heavy enough to vibrate the floor.

She took a moment to gulp in some fresh air before heading down the hallway. She passed several family portraits – Mary had always made sure they had had their pictures taken every year, without fail, even when Alexandria had vehemently protested – when she stopped in front of the door leading to the office.

She lifted a hand and rapped her knuckles sharply against the door. She paused to listen. All she could hear was the steady hum of some machine.

“Go away, Alex. I don’t want to talk right now,” her sister’s voice ground out. She could tell by the tone that she still had a tight rein on her anger.

“It’s Donna, Mary. Let me in.”

She wasn’t sure what she had expected. Mary wasn’t exactly an open book. She had always been a bit unpredictable, even growing up, so she wasn’t sure that she would even talk to her in the first place, but she jumped when the door suddenly flung open and Mary reached a hand out to drag Donna quickly inside the room.

“Hey!” Alexandria’s voice could be heard coming down the hallway. “No fair! I want to come in, too!”

“Later, honey! I need to talk to Aunt Donna first,” Mary slammed the door and then turned her tear-streaked face toward her sister. “That low-lying piece of pond scum,” she hissed. “Can you BELIEVE he would do something like this to me?”

Donna blinked at the mess in the office. Her sister was rather anal about keeping things tidy. In fact, she remembered trying to convince their mother that she was OCD when they were little and that she had needed help, her obsession for order was so outrageous growing up. But the otherwise spotless office was in complete disarray. Papers were everywhere. The cushion on the office chair had been ripped and fluffy, white stuffing peeked through the jagged leather edges. The fax machine had been pulled off the table and was lying in pieces on the floor. The curtains had been shredded and several pictures had been ripped off the walls, the glass cracked, but not broken, like she had stomped on the faces of her loved ones.

A cold chill suddenly went up her spine at the sheer destruction around them. She had never seen her sister this upset before.

Continue reading “Romantic Encounter: The Wrong Conclusion” →