THANKSGIVING TRADITIONS: THANKFUL BOARD

Originally posted November 2008

{Thankful board circa 2004}

We have a chalkboard in our kitchen that is quite literally the center of our universe. Anything important, and even a bunch of trivialities, make their way to "the chalkboard." (I use quotations here because that's how we refer to it, as if it's the only chalkboard on the planet.) So as Thanksgiving approached several years ago when Pumpkin and Petunia were still toddlers (preschool and pre-preschool, respectively), I thought it would be cute to record what each child was thankful for and the chalkboard was the natural place for such a list. As a family, we gathered around the chalkboard and I asked each child what they were thankful for. Pumpkin, being the oldest took the lead and dictated his list as I recorded it verbatim. Petunia followed and the list was ceremoniously placed back on the wall in the kitchen.

When family and friends arrived for Thanksgiving, the list was the centerpiece of the discussion and we all had fun seeing thanks through the eyes of toddlers. When it came time to decorate for Christmas, I cringed at the thought of erasing the chalkboard. The list was made on a whim and I hadn't really thought it through. How could I erase something that came straight from my children's hearts? What kind of monster was I?! Then I realized (duh!) that I could take a picture. So I got out the camera, took a shot or two of the list and had the photo developed (yes, it was that long ago). Only then when I had the photo of the list in hand, did I erase it from the board.

Since then, every year the children make their thankful lists on the chalkboard. They are old enough now to write it themselves and we have added a third list these past couple of years for Peanut. This is the first year that she will understand well enough to dictate her thankfuls herself and we're really looking forward to hear what she has to say. My husband and I do write our own lists, but we hang them separately so as to not take up space on the chalkboard that the kids would like to fill.

What I didn't realize that first year as I took a picture of the chalkboard before erasing the list was that these photos, now taken every year on the day we begin preparing the house for Christmas, would become one of the most meaningful records that our family keeps. Marking moments in time, seeing the constants on the list each year: grandparents, cousins, the beach. And the things that change as each child grows and matures: Rescue Heroes lose their spot to baseball; the Wiggles lose their spot to High School Musical. I cannot wait to see what the list holds this year; there are always some suprises. Personally, I am always thankful for children who value the people in their lives enough to always put them at the top of their lists.

Remember to link to or write about your family's traditions in the comments. I would love to hear all about the things that make this holiday special for you!

PROUDEST MONKEY PHOTOGRAPHY - BOSTON EDITION

My amazing friend Domenica was in Boston this spring and I couldn't resist whisking her away for a roaming photo shoot of my children while she was here.


As we wandered the waterfront and the streets of the North End, Dom tucked the kids into alleys and on doorsteps, capturing glimpses of their personalities around every corner.

Seriously! I am blown away by her talent.

Domenica, I can't thank you enough for this once-in-a-lifetime capture of my littles (who are getting big faster than I'd like to admit!)



{wardrobe notes - because I love that you always ask! Pumpkin: polo and shorts Lands End, Red Sox necklaces phiten.com; Petunia: dress and headband crewcuts, jean jacket Macy's; Kristin charm necklace and stackable bracelets Stella & Dot; Peanut: dress Liberty of London for Target, straw hat Gap, Kristin ring and bracelet Stella & Dot.}

GIRLS CAN SAVE THE WORLD

Spotted this shirt at Old Navy and wanted to buy one for every girl on the planet. Here are my girls wearing theirs on their visit with Santa.

They were on sale for $5 at the time, but they are now apparently "on sale" for $10.00 (orig. price $9.50 - odd, no?) But no matter, I'd honestly pay double.

In other news on the "Girls Can Save the World" front, many of you have been asking for an update on Petunia's American Girl charity project. Well, I am thrilled to tell you that she reached her goal of raising enough money for a doll for a child in need and then some!

Once Petunia had saved enough money for the doll, we worked hard to find a girl in our area wishing for an American Girl doll. To be honest, it was not such an easy task. Not because there are not enough girls in need, but for so many little girls, an American Girl doll is not even in their frame of reference. After all, it is a pretty big gift in our family as well. The difference being that we do have the means to purchase one on the rare occasion as a special gift. After searching quite a bit and reaching out to several different organizations, a little girl wishing for an American Girl doll appeared on the Home for Little Wanderers' wish list! This particular little girl not only described precisely the AG Just Like Me doll she is wishing for, but also specified two outfits by name that she would love to own (one or the other, she said). The fact that she was so specific with her wishes was proof positive to Petunia that she is a true American Girl fan. We had found our girl!

Armed with our list, we set off to the American Girl store and met with personal shopper Carol who was an absolute dream to shop with. She helped us pick the exact doll that was described and also led us to the outfits requested, all while treating Petunia like royalty. Petunia was thrilled to have saved enough money to purchase not only the doll, but also both outfits for the girl even though she had only requested either/or. She said that the girl would surely be happy now as she was getting even more than she asked for. I told her that this girl was going to be beyond happy with all of it, one outfit or two didn't matter. She was likely making this little girl's dreams come true. I don't know if Petunia truly understood what I meant, but the thought of it did make her smile.

After all was said and done and the present was delivered, Petunia thanked me for all of it, the trip to American Girl and the experience of delivering to the Home. I was almost speechless because this whole project truly had nothing to do with me. Sure I was the chauffeur, but this project, from beginning to end, was all about Petunia. I was the one who should thank her (and I did!) because I never would have had such a wonderful time sharing in this experience with her if one day last January, she didn't wonder what she could do for a girl not as lucky as she.

So now I need to thank all of you for asking about Petunia's progress on this venture. I was hesitant to share the completion of the project (although it's not really the end as the collection jar is already starting to fill up again), as it is sometimes a bit uncomfortable to tell the world about the best moments in your children's lives. It's often easier to commiserate about the rat race of life than the beautiful moments (why is that?) But it was with your urging that I am sharing and I hope that this will inspire others to know that girls can save the world. Will it be done with one American Girl doll at a time? I doubt it. But it's a decent start, don't you think?

BACK TO SCHOOL

Every year since Pumpkin's first day of preschool 7 years ago (7 years! oh my gosh how time passes when you're not looking), I have taken this obligatory backpack photo. Now that I have a collection, I think I'll matte and frame them and hang them down our hallway. Cute, don't you think?

That's much better. Smiling faces! They're happy to be in the same school this year.

"Please don't go!" 

On the other hand, poor little Peanut was not happy this morning.

A new addition to my lunch box surprises: little flags in their sandwiches. I've got to keep them on their toes. They've come to expect sandwich shapes, notes wrapped around snacks, a hidden hershey kiss or two, but the flags are new and wouldn't you know it's the first thing they mentioned about their day. Success!

BEACH REPORT

Reporting from the beaches of New England. Air Temp: 88-92 degrees. Humidity: Moderate to High. Water Temp: A balmy 65 degrees - refreshing once your body goes completely numb!

Sand: Perfect texture for castles, just add water.

LAZY DAYS OF SUMMER

Please excuse the intermittent posting while we kick back and enjoy the summer before it slips away...

ALTERNATE PLANS

Just as we were on our way out the door to go berry picking, a thunder storm rolled in. Oh well, there's always tomorrow. I think we may make these instead.

ART CAMP RECAP

For those of you who have expressed interest in hosting an art camp of your own, the following is a quick recap  of my lessons learned along the way. 

1. Start small. If you think you would like to have ten attendees, invite five! For your first time hosting, keep the number of participants to a minimum so that you will not feel overwhelmed. Petunia only invited two friends, and there is really no need to be that conservative, but we took into consideration that Peanut would be participating and she is only 2. Had Peanut not been with us, I think 5 would have been the perfect number.

2. Be realistic about time. I originally told the mothers of the girls that the camp would be from 10-12 each day. I'm not sure if I was afraid of committing to a stretch of time and then not having enough activities for the girls, but 2 hours was not even close to enough time. If you will be working on sewing projects or projects with many steps like the bound journals, you will need at least 4 hour sessions to not feel rushed. Between breaks and end of the day swimming, the girls were with me for a good 6 hours each day. Similarly, we only planned this camp for three days, but in the future, we will definitely plan for four days. 

3. Let paint dry overnight. If there is painting involved in a multi-step project, like the journals, schedule the painting for the end of one day and the next step in the painted project for the beginning of the next day so you can be sure the paint is completely dry. I thought that lunch break would be enough paint-drying time and had a moment of panic with my hairdryer to speed the process. Luckily, the girls were none the wiser. ; )

4. Don't be afraid to go for it. For the most part, the projects we worked on were very involved: sewing a purse when none of the girls had ever sewn before, combining print making and book binding into one project, but with a big effort, you get a big result. That is what will set your camp apart from arts and crafts that your participants may do at school or at home.

5. Make it special. Think about how the participants will bring home their beautiful creations. Package them up nicely at the end of the day so that when they present them to their families it will be an event. 

6. Have fun! If your campers make an adorable purse, you make one too! If not, you'll wish you had.

I am thrilled that so many of you have been inspired to host an art camp of your own. As always, I am happy to answer any additional questions that you may have. Just ask in the comments or drop me a line. Also, if you have any tips, tricks or great projects for me, let me know about them!

For details on each day of camp, follow the links below.

Art Camp Day One

Art Camp Day Two

Art Camp Day Three

ART CAMP - DAY THREE

Today was the final day of art camp and I can honestly say that I'm sad that it's over. I'd like to take a day or two off, but I would definitely be ready to pick right up again on Monday! Sadly, that is not the plan, but this is absolutely something we will do again in the future.

The theme for today was wearable art and I decided to reward the girls' hard work these past two days with some fun projects that can be completed rather quickly. I had planned to start out with some fabric scrap necklaces to use up some of the scraps from the purses we made on day one, but when Petunia saw the Martha Stewart paper bead necklace kit that I picked up just in case I needed an extra activity, she fell in love with the idea and wanted to make that first. So that's what we did! Here are the girls rolling the paper beads.

Now to string the beads on to the elastic, making a pattern of colors and sizes.

This was a great activity for Peanut because she finally felt like she could keep up with the big girls and truly make her own necklace with very little help.

Like most of Martha's kits, this really was well put together and the colors and patterns are beautiful. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed that this is the project that Petunia chose, but once we got started, I realized it was a perfect choice.

Here is Peanut showing off her creation.

And here is a completed necklace. I love how the little girl that made this one planned it so she can wear it with one side showing pink, orange and green or flip it to the other side to show the blues, depending on what she was wearing. Very clever!

Once the necklaces were made, we quickly moved on to the next project. I was determined to use some of the beautiful scraps leftover from the purses we made, so we decided to make some fabric pins. 

The first step was to position the template on the fabric to find the most beautiful spot to cut, then the template was traced and the circle was carefully cut out of the fabric. I then helped the girls personalize their buttons by adding a painted monogram.

Next, the buttons were assembled with the Badge-a-minit and we used our muscles to squeeze really hard and secure the pins. Anytime I can use my Badge-a-minit, I'm happy.

Here is our adorable group modeling their pins and necklaces after a great couple of days of camp. I did have a few more projects up my sleeve, but the girls decided to save them for next time and spend the rest of this very warm day swimming. That's fine with me, as that means there will be a next time! Although I'm taking bets that the next spare moment Petunia has she will want me to work on the remaining projects with her.

Well that's it for Summer Art Camp 2009! I really learned a lot from this experience and will definitely be planning future sessions. I know that the girls had tons of fun, are thrilled with their new treasures and learned some new skills in the process - so I'd call that a great success!

So many of you have contacted me asking for advice on how to host your own art camp, and I am just thrilled that so many people are inspired to take this on themselves. To help you along, I will be recapping the entire three days and including some tips and tricks and lessons learned along the way in my next post. Check back for that no later than Monday.

ART CAMP - DAY TWO

Well, day two of art camp was just as successful as day one thanks to another great project and an awesome group of girls. On the agenda today was a project that combined a few concepts that all came together into one great little journal. My goal for this week is to put together projects that result in something that the girls can not only cherish but also put to good use.

We started the day with a scavenger hunt around the yard looking for objects in nature that would make interesting patterns when used to make prints. The girls came in with some fantastic finds: tree bark (from the ground, not the trees!), leaves, flowers, rocks and shells.

Peanut loved this part because she was allowed to go in the gardens!

Once they came in with all of their great finds, they sat down to a big piece of scrap paper to test out the possibilities. We used acrylic paint (watered down a tad) and the girls applied paint to the objects with brushes or just dipped them right in the paint. The only rule was that the paintbrushes should not touch the paper, only the objects. 

Peanut enjoyed this even more than being in the garden. She was really digging the rock and cone flower combo!

After experimenting a bit with the patterns and discovering that they could use each object several ways to make different designs (they even used individual flower petals like paint brushes. remember: no paint brushes on paper!), they swapped out the scrap paper for cover stock that would be used for the covers of the journals. 

They each had three sheets of cover stock, two to make their two journals and one to make some bookmarks. They were told to cover the paper in a random pattern because we would be using a template to trace and cut the journal cover from the paper and  parts of the sheet would be discarded. One sheet of 81/2 by 11 cover stock would yield the front and back cover of the journal and an inside pocket. (template courtesy of How About Orange)

I loved how the flowers and sticks and such looked covered in paint.

Once all three sheets were beautifully printed, it was time for lunch and a little girl time why the paint dried.

After the break, we layed out the templates on the beautiful cover stock and cut out the journal covers. I did not get a shot of this step as we were busy contemplating which way to lay the templates to be sure to incorporate the most beautiful parts of the designs.

Then we added the journal pages, 5 sheets trimmed to size and folded in half to make ten pages, and used embroidery floss and a large needle to bind the books. For a great video demonstrating this process, go here.

Here is a shot of two completed journals. You can see the thread of the hand binding in the center of the journal. The patterned corner on the right of the open journal gives you a bit of a glimpse of the inside pocket.  I love this feature of the template.

The final shot of the stacked journals all wrapped up and ready to bring home.

Tomorrow's plan is to do several smaller projects that do not take the entire camp day to complete. The girls have worked hard, they've earned some instant gratification. The theme for day three: wearable art!

ART CAMP - DAY ONE

Well, I officially survived the first day of art camp. Not only did I survive - it was an absolute blast! Petunia was very practical and decided to start small and invite only two friends figuring that with her and Peanut (who is more like five kids all wrapped in to one!) that would be plenty. She's a very smart girl as this was the perfect group, we can add more next time once we have some experience under our belt.

We jumped right in with a sewing project from The Object Project, the "Kid Flick" Girl's purse. The finished product is absolutely adorable and the pattern is a DVD case. Very clever! This was the first time using a sewing machine for all of the girls and I was so impressed with how well they handled the machine.

Always one to keep up with the big kids, here is Peanut folding her fabric. (note to self: reapply sunscreen more often, she should not have a tan on her arms).

Once the body of the purse was sewn, the girls learned some gathering and hand stitching techniques to attach the handles, which are cute little bangle bracelets. Also very clever! 

The hand stitching took some time...

...but they took a couple of breaks

and did some beautiful work.

Then outside for a picnic lunch to rest their fingers and chat about how they would embellish their purses.

Here they are showing off their completed creations, embellished with handmade tulle flowers and felt flowers and birds. Aren't they sweet? And the purses are pretty cute too.

The purses are already filled with mini notebooks, pens and lipgloss. The greatest satisfaction of a job well done is the payoff of being able to use what you've made - and look good doing it!

Now to prepare for tomorrow. Print making and bookbinding are on the agenda. I can't wait!