Pinterest Paper Plate Owl Awesome Sauce

Yeah, we fucking did.  Paper plate owls are ALL OVER Pinterest, so I said "Let's jump on that wagon, girlies!"  Well, sort of.  Actually I said, "Who wants to make paper plate owls?" and they were sold.  I went through my little scrap bin...

This bin makes me happy for some reason.

 And cut some wing-y goodness...

Small and big for the layering fun.

We headed outside for the painting...

Most of which actually made it on to the plates.  YAY!

Can I craft yet, Mom?  Almost, sweet baby.  Almost.

I got the supplies together while the paint congealed and we set to work.  Lots of glue, design, eyes, wing options, etc!  When we finally completed our owls for the final time, for REAL, we had this:

Tertia needed one more eye, for some reason.

Prima OWNED this craft!

Secunda also nailed it.

And mine.  I LOVE doing crafts with the girlies!

Personalized Field Bags

From Jeans!

I hemmed some shorts - well, I hacked off two pairs of jeans - and couldn't possibly throw all that POTENTIAL away.  So I hoarded them until inspiration smacked me in the gob.  And, boy howdy, it did.

The girls were allowed to choose the fabric for their straps.  I just laid out choices and they browsed, negotiated, and bargained until each got what I wanted them to have.  Because that's how I do it.  

I cut each bag from one pant leg.  I eyeballed the flaps because it's jeans ferchrissakes.  Each bag was finished with my most favorite sewing item, red bias tape.  I didn't even change the thread to sew the bottom.  I still love them. 

 Prima chose for her strap a really cute yellow floral.  Lots of pink, lavender, and white.  So she got a flower painted on hers. 

 Secunda chose Cat in the Hat.  Which is just so cool.  She doesn't even know yet how cool it is.  So she got a hat in the signature colors and style of her favorite literary cat.

Tertia wanted red.  And pink.  And orange.  And bubbles.  I got it.

Love you brave, scientific, smart, curious, honest, crazy, real girls.  Let's go play in the dirt!

Seen here!

And here.

"You can do that, right Mom?"

Um...  Sure.  Sure I can. 

You certainly seem to think so, anyway.  So let's see if you're right.

We have a geriatric dove named Gracie who dutifully lays eggs for us every two weeks or so.  The fairies are fascinated with her as she has been a fixture for them their whole lives.  They are rarely allowed to handle her and love her from afar.  Secunda took my design notebook this morning and drew up a little sketch of her Gracie.  And then the question:  "You can do that, right Mom?"

I looked up to Big Daddy grinning at me.  "Right, Mom?" he asked. 

Umm... Sure.  Sure I can.  Because I love you so much, I will risk failure.  And disappointing you.  So here goes.

Here's the preliminary sketch Secunda approved (and Tertia was nice enough to put her own name on it).  I wanted to just use some muslin and Secunda chose the buttons. 

Buttons for beak, eyes, and wings. Chosen by the artist.  There's even a Gracie feather in the shot!

I wanted the wings to button on and off, just to make it more interesting.  I free-handed the whole thing and got it completed in about 45 minutes. 

Nothing fancy, but made with so much love. 

How could I say no to those eyes? 

And this Gracie can PLAY!!  Yaaaays!!

Fizzing Fairy Chests! (Baking Soda and Vinegar and PINK)

It was Science/Reading day yesterday, so I decided the girls should have some fun.  The day before, Prima and I got to work with the Scientist part of Mad Scientist:

We had to have treasures for our Fairy Chests.

And Fairy Chest raw materials.

Prima mixed the goop with the ratios found on the amazing fun-a-day website.  She was so careful and really got into it after the magical watermelon jello, because PINK.

Measure measure.

Stir stir.

 

I filled them with fairy treasures...

They froze beautifully overnight, and yesterday morning, we had this:

 

I got a gallon of white vinegar (surely that would be enough) and we headed outside with bowl, spoons, plates, and boots.  To say the least, it was a smashing success.

Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble

 

 

She really wanted to eat it.

We talked about the gas produced, why it was strong at first then got weaker, how chemical changes happen and why, what a catalyst is and how it does not apply here, etc. 

YAY, Tertia!  I love you!

A DIAMOND for Secunda! I love you!

Plus, treasures!