Monthly Archives: October 2017

Once Upon a Midnight Dreary…

Posted on by

dr. dana as poe

Channel your inner Poe with an easy-to-make shoulder raven. Not included (and probably best avoided): a cask of amontillado.

You’ll need:

  • 1 toilet paper tube
  • Black construction paper
  • Black drinking straw or beads
  • Hole punch
  • 1 piece of elastic beading cord
  • Scissors, tape, and glue for construction

The raven is basically a toilet paper tube, wrapped in black construction paper, with two holes punched in the front and back. A loop of elastic beading cord threads through the holes and keeps the bird in place on your shoulder.

raven tubeWhen the tube and cord are prepped, use more black construction paper to add all the fun details! Here’s my “deluxe” raven with lots of black ruffled layers, twisteez wire feet, and a tri-fold beak.

deluxe ravenHowever! Here’s a simpler version with a simple tab-and-fold beak and construction paper feet. Also, notice the eyes on both birds? Those are little snippets of black drinking straw. To attach the eyes, dip one side of the straw snippet in a dollop of white glue, then press it on the bird’s face. The raven is now ready for some tapping at your chamber door.

simpler raven

Many thanks to the Scheide Library for serving as the location for our photo shoot. Part of Princeton University’s Rare Books and Special Collections Department, the Scheide Library is home to priceless literary treasures, including the first printed book, Beethoven’s musical sketchbook, and a lengthy autograph speech by Abraham Lincoln from 1856!

scheide library

Of Mice And Movies

Posted on by

of mice and movies

Enjoy a fabulous film with your furry friends! First, stop by our mouse-sized concession stand for popcorn, candy, and drinks. Then head to the “story time theater” for a special screening of a Mickey Mouse animation short!

katie at the movies

We read Martha the Movie Mouse by Arnold Lobel (Harper & Row, 1966). Martha is a mouse with no home. One night, however, she wanders into a movie theater. The beautiful chandelier, the candy counter, the soft-drink machine – it’s a wonderland! Martha soon meets Dan, the projectionist, and they become friends. But one day, entranced by a musical number, Martha dances her way on stage and there’s a huge fuss. Once again, Martha is out in the cold. But when the projector slips a gear the audience is demanding a diversion or their money back, Martha comes to the rescue. She takes the stage and sings and dances her heart out. Wow! Overnight, Martha the Movie Mouse becomes a star! Martha is happy with her new life, but most of all, she loves quiet evenings watching movies with her good friend, Dan.

You’ll need:

  • 1 large box (ours was 4.5” X 4.5” x 9” – a large tissue box works too)
  • 1 small box (ours was 2” x 4” x 4” – a small tissue box works too)
  • 1 clear plastic favor box (more on this below)
  • 1 concession stand template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ card stock
  • 1-2 sheets of white computer printer paper
  • Poster board
  • 2 white paper sample cups
  • 2 clear plastic sample cups
  • 2 cotton balls
  • 2 snippets of drinking straw
  • Grey construction paper
  • 2 toilet paper tubes
  • 2 mini pom-poms
  • Scissors and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating
  • Hot glue

concession standFirst the concession stand, starting with that awesome popcorn machine! Our popcorn machine is a 4″ x 4″ x 4″ plastic favor box from Oriental Trading Company (item #13705345, 24 boxes for $9.50). Cut the clear lid off the top of the favor box and set it aside. Later, the this lid will be the “glass” front of the candy display case. You can leave the top of the popcorn machine open, or use a piece of poster board to create a new lid.

popcorn lidCut and color the popcorn sign from the template and tape it to the top of the favor box. Then hot glue the popcorn machine to the top of a large box. To make the popcorn, scribble on 1-2 pieces of white printer paper with yellow marker. Cut the paper into tiny squares and crinkle them tightly. Serve your popcorn in 2 small paper sample cups. Use a marker or crayon to draw red stripes on the cup if you’d like!

popcorn buckets

Next up…the candy display case! As you can see in the photo below, both the display box, and the shelf inside it, are tilted backwards. You can also see how the cardboard lid of the box has been replaced with the clear plastic favor box lid. We hinged our lid at the bottom of the display case, but some kids opted for a top hinge.

candy display

To make the display case, tri-fold a piece of poster board and: 1) Hot glue (or tape) the top fold to the top of the box; then 2) Hot glue (or tape) the display box to the middle fold. As you can see below, the lower fold tilts the display case backwards very nicely.

candy display box tilt steps

The shelves inside the display box are very similar. Tri-fold a piece of poster board, then tuck it into the box.

candy display shelves

We wanted 2 shelves of candy, so we taped a folded snippet of poster board in the center of shelves. Then we stocked the shelves with candy labels printed on white card stock (thank you, Google image search!).

candy on display

Finally, beverages. Stick some cotton balls in plastic 1oz. cups, add a couple snippets of drinking straw and you’re done! In the below photo, you can also see how we constructed our toilet paper tube mice. Each kids made 2 mice to go with the 2 drinks and 2 popcorn buckets at the concession stand.

mice and soda

For a little extra flash, cut and color the art deco panel from the template and add a couple foil star stickers to the stand.

concession stand

When the concession stands were complete, mice lined up for goodies and then headed to the movie theater to watch the film. Our “movie screen” was Katie holding up a Microsoft tablet (we didn’t want to prop it up and risk having it take a tumble).

katie IS the moviesWhat was playing that day? A mouse movie of course! It was Mickey’s Garden, a charming 9 minute Disney cartoon from 1935.

https://youtu.be/rBiFwUDAT6A

Projects Projects Everywhere, Redux

Posted on by

the project projectQ: What do I do with my kid’s art projects? They’ll be upset if I toss them out, but I’m being squeezed out of the house by an army of cardboard creations!

No, this isn’t a question from a blog reader. It’s the question I ask myself the eve of every curbside recycling pick-up. You see, our home studio overflows with art projects. Which I consider a very good thing. Bring on the creativity!  But eventually, space runs out and reality rears its ugly head. My house overflows with paper, tubes, and boxes connected with sticky webs of tape. The shelves are packed, and I haven’t seen the top of my coffee table in 7 days. Worse, we don’t have any room to make new projects!

Alas, I have a few unpleasant options to choose from:

Option 1: Toss the projects. This usually backfires because my kids routinely root through the recycling bins for building materials, resulting in “MOM! Why did you toss my 10 car tissue box train!?!?” Or they catch me carrying the stuff to the trash and plead with me to keep the 45 pieces of pipe cleaner jewelry that have been hanging on the living room doorknob for 5 weeks.

Option 2: Have the kids decide which projects they’re ready to toss. I sit the kids down and tell them how proud I am of their projects. I explain that it’s time to let the shoe box fire station go because we all need to be responsible and keep the house orderly. My kids of course understand and don’t argue with me. They dispose of the projects and even offer to tidy up their rooms as well. Um…in the spirit of full disclosure…I must admit that I’ve never actually had any success with Option 2.

Option 3: Wait until they’re not looking / asleep and sneakily dispose of the projects. This is what happens most often I’m afraid. However, it’s surprisingly difficult to turn your back on an oatmeal container cat staring dolefully at you over the rim of a recycling bin hidden in the backyard. And then there’s the inevitable “Hey, where’s the swimming pool I made for my Shopkins?” A ferocious interrogation ensues until you finally confess you tossed it because you had to clean up. Even while you’re rationally defending the tidiness of your household to the indignant artist, you secretly feel like a horrible monster for tossing your child’s creative vision. Sigh.

In 2014, I blogged about one solution to project clutter. It’s a customized project book made out of an inexpensive photo album. You can read about it here.

project bookLast weekend, however, I came up with another solution! I created an Instagram account. Now, anytime a project needs recycling, I just upload a photo of it to my Instagram.

the project project screen shotThere the project remains, forever validating my kids’ imaginative musings. It’s a fun gallery documenting their tremendous creativity AND a digital representation of one less job for Mom the Recycling Cop. Bonus! Grandma and Grandpa can follow our Instagram to see what those clever grandkids are up to.

the project project train table

The Project Project hasn’t been running very long, but I can already see and feel a difference in the house. Projects are recycled without a fuss because they’re not getting tossed out. They’re simply changing into something that can be seen and shared with others. Also, I love these projects! I honestly feel bad when they have to go. Now I can revisit them all the time.

Want to see a truly FANTASTIC Instagram art project? Check out this fashionista mother and daughter crafting team!