Design a Square Dance Outfit Coloring Page

There are a whopping 24 states that have named square dance as their official state dance (or folk dance). These include: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. The point of state symbols is supposed to be to highlight what sets one state apart from the other 49, so I'm not crazy about the fact that 24 states share a state symbol. But it's not a coincidence: starting in the 1960's, square dancers across the country petitioned to make their hobby the official national dance. Despite many attempts, it never passed (the story is fascinating) and square dancers turned their attention to state legislatures. Obviously, that was far more successful. 

Because of the popularity of square dancing throughout American history and its status as a state symbol for so many, I wanted to design a craft inspired by it. I settled on the most iconic aspect: the outfits. Students can use my coloring page to design clothing for a square dance couple standing in promenade. I opted not to add faces or hair, as if the clothes were on mannequins. Feel free to add in whatever features you'd like.  

Square Dance Outfit Coloring Page

The first thing I did before making my coloring page was to research square dance outfits. Square Up Fashions gave me a good idea of what's popular amongst square dancers. Check out some of the dresses and skirts they currently have for sale: 

I used the basic shape of the outfits to draw a very simplified couple.

I scanned and copied my drawing. I put two couples on one page (so I could try different designs) and printed it out. 

I colored in both images with my Ohuhu Honolulus, then added details with a black fineliner. The first design (purple and black) is at the top of the post. Here's one in shades of blue. 

I tried to make the two couples look as different from each other as possible, while still staying true to what square dancers might actually wear. It was a lot of fun. As is square dancing! The last time I did square dancing was at Trevor's 4th grade Gold Rush camp in 2016. I'm overdue to do some square dancing again!

Idaho, December 2024

Today's scrapbook layout is from the December 2024 visit Trevor and I took to see our family in Idaho. We stayed for five nights and packed our time with family fun - lots of games, an early Christmas celebration, and a trip to Zoo Boise where we fed anteaters. (We did not feed them ants. We fed them yogurt. They love yogurt.) We had a great time. 

Idaho December 2024 (affiliate link)

I completed this page during the National Scrapbook Day event, but it was not inspired by a challenge. If I have any complaints about scrapbook crops, it's that most of the challenges are not compatible with getting lots of photos on a page. For example, one of the challenges from this year's event required participants to fill at least 1/3 of the page with stickers and tiny scraps before adding a photo and journaling. Another challenge requires you to follow a 2-photo sketch, use shades of green, add two patterned papers featuring hearts, AND put your journaling in word bubbles. That is an incredibly difficult challenge with just two photos and literally impossible with nine. 

The Best Tour in Every State, Part 2

This is the second part in my series about the best tour I've taken in every state. I recommend starting with the first post, which provides important background information, including my definition of a tour. 

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Hawaii

The best tour I've taken in Hawaii was The Best of Hilo. Highlights of the tour included the Tropical Botanical Garden, Rainbow Falls, Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut factory, Volcanoes National Park, and walking through a lava tube. It was fantastic.

Idaho

I've been to Idaho seven times in the last ten years to visit my family, so you'd think I would have taken at least one tour. Nope. While we've done a lot of fun activities in Idaho, none of them were tours. The closest to a tour would be the World Center for Birds of Prey, where we watched docents and staff give presentations. 

Illinois

The best tour I've taken in Illinois was by the Chicago Trolley and Double Decker Co. We had a fantastic guide who took us to all the best places in Chicago and taught us so much about the history, geography, and culture of the city. 

Indiana

The best tour we took in Indiana was Indy Fun Trolley Tours. Our guide went above and beyond, teaching us everything there is to know about Indianapolis - not just the history and points of interest, but restaurant recommendations, great stores, and even where to get the best donuts in each side of town. 

Iowa

The best tour I've taken in Iowa was a guided tour of the State Capitol. By being with a guide, we were able to go places that self-guided visitors can't go, including up a circular staircase to the dome. We had a great guide who told us so much about both the building itself and those who have worked there over the years. 

Kansas

The best tour I've taken in Kansas was the Dome Tour of the Capitol building in Topeka. Not only was it interesting and informative, but it was quite a workout!

Kentucky

It was really, really hard to pick a favorite tour in Kentucky, as we have taken quite a few excellent ones. Ultimately, I had to pick the guided tour of Churchill Downs as the best. We learned all about the history of the track, the Derby race itself, and the various winners. The highlight was going onto the track and standing in the winner's circle.  

Louisiana

Picking the best tour in Louisiana was very difficult. We had several outstanding tours, but I think I have to pick the guided tour at Mardi Gras World as my favorite. I loved the behind-the-scenes look at everything that goes into making all the incredible Mardi Gras floats, and particularly enjoyed seeing the artists at work. Trying authentic King Cake for the first time made the tour even more fun and memorable.

Maine

The best tour I've taken in Maine was a guided walk at Acadia National Park and Cadillac Mountain. It was absolutely beautiful and our guide was excellent. It was exciting seeing a variety of animals and experiencing multiple biomes during a relatively short walk at Acadia. The views from Cadillac Mountain were stunning. 

Maryland

The best tour we took in Maryland was the guided walking tour at the United States Naval Academy. We learned so much about the Academy and what student life is like. So interesting and a really different college experience than the one I had!

I'll be back on Monday with the best tours I've taken in the next ten states. 

50 State Quarters Coloring Pages Featuring Ink and Prismacolor Colored Pencils

Remember the state quarters coloring pages I shared back in July? I colored those with my Ohuhu Kaalas. I chose four more states and challenged myself to color them using something different. Can you tell what I used? 

It's a bit of a trick question, because I actually used two different art supplies to color these. First, I used blending brushes to cover the large areas with dye-based ink (affiliate links here and below). 

Then I used Prismacolor colored pencils to blend colors over the ink base. That part was the most fun. My least favorite part was adding all of the leaves on Connecticut's Charter Oak. 

I love these coloring pages and am eager to keep going with more states. I'm going to color the next batch with a different medium, but I'm not sure what that will be yet. Stay tuned!

Monarch Caterpillar Craft

Sharing the photo of Eric Carle's messy studio got me thinking about the Very Hungry Caterpillar, which in turn got me thinking about actual caterpillars. There are tons of butterfly crafts (here are six of mine) but with the exception of the Very Hungry version, there are not a lot of caterpillar crafts. Since the monarch caterpillar is distinctive, beautiful, AND the larval form of the state insect of 7 states (Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, Vermont, and West Virginia), it was the perfect choice. 

I chose to use yellow and white paint on black cardstock for my monarch caterpillar. If you use black and yellow paint on white cardstock, you'll get better coverage. If you want to avoid paint altogether, just cut the stripes from the appropriate colors of cardstock or construction paper. 

Monarch Caterpillar Craft

Materials:

• cardstock or construction paper
• paint and black pen (optional)
• scissors
• glue

Steps:

Cut out the following caterpillar body parts from cardstock or construction paper: 1 oblong body (slimmer than the one below- I trimmed mine later), two large tentacles (filaments) and two smaller ones, four prolegs, and three true legs. Insects, including caterpillars, have six legs but only three will show on each side. 

Paint white stripes onto the caterpillar's body. At this time, add a circle of white onto each proleg. If you are using paper instead, cut strips for the body and circles for the prolegs and glue them in place. 

When the paint has dried, paint every other white stripe yellow. (Or, glue strips of yellow in place.) Let the paint dry, then use the pen to draw black lines on either side of each yellow stripe. At this point, I realized my caterpillar came out a bit more plump than the real thing, so I trimmed it. 

Glue the tentacles, prolegs, and legs into place.  

Indulge me in a brief soapbox moment regarding monarch caterpillars. You may have pleasant memories of raising monarchs as a kid. It is fascinating to see them go through their life cycle and it feels amazing to release them into the wild. This used to be a fairly common practice in elementary classrooms, but captive rearing is now thought to be harmful. Those who care about the future of monarchs should focus on efforts to protect their breeding and overwintering territories. Our kids' kids and their kids deserve to have a world filled with monarchs, too.  

Idaho 2021

It is extremely satisfying to finish the layout at the top of my scrapping to-do list. In this case, the top of the list was our 2021 trip to Idaho. We drove to Idaho Falls, then spent three days in Idaho before crossing over into Montana for a few days. We returned to Idaho, then drove west across the state to visit my family before heading home. I've already done the Montana layout and a page about the Estajonesier time, but I was struggling with the Idaho one. Since the time was split before and after Montana, I wasn't sure what to do. I decided to make a single layout with both sets of photos and to place it immediately before the Montana page in the scrapbook. 

Idaho 2021 (affiliate link)

Once the decision was made, the layout came together quickly. I wish I'd left myself more room for journaling, but at least the whole story is in a series of blog posts. Knowing that the blog and the albums compliment each other means that I don't have to count on either one to have 100% of the information I want to document 100% of the time. 

The Estajonesiers

When I was a teenager, our family went on a cruise with two other families: the Thackers and the Pedriolis. Rather than being known as the Jones-Thacker-Pedrioli party, we shortened our group name to Jokeroli (pronouced like ravioli, but with joker at the front). It suited us well. 

When my sister became Kari Estabrook and I became Cindy deRosier, we needed a portmanteau for our family. We became the Estajonesiers. Not quite as catchy or succinct as Jokeroli, but it does the job. We even have a theme song, as the Estajonesiers fits perfectly into the chorus of Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay. (I would have sworn it was Tra-La-La not Tra-Ra-Ra, but apparently I'm mixing it up with the Banana Splits theme song.)

Anyway, I don't think I've ever used Estajoniers on a layout, so I used it as the title for a page about our time visiting my family in Idaho last summer. 

Estajonesiers (affiliate link)

The glittery letters on this page made it tempting to use it for the Glitter square on my BASH-O card, since I don't use a lot of glitter. But I don't have other photos printed that work so well for Family. So that's the square I'm using. One more page until my second BASH-O!

Pretzel Monarch Butterflies

I've used pretzels to make a butterfly craft before, but that was a savory project suitable for young children. This is a sweet craft, better for preteens and up. I had a lot of fun figuring it out as I went and I'm happy with the end results. Affiliate links below. 

Pretzel Monarch Butterflies

Materials:

• parchment paper
• mini pretzel twists
• pretzel sticks
• Wilton Candy Melts (black, orange, white)
• scribe tool
• aluminum foil

Steps: 

Place a sheet of parchment paper underneath a wire rack. Prepare the black candy melts following the directions on the package. For each butterfly, dip two pretzel twists and one pretzel stick into the melted black candy, then transfer them to the rack. I used a sharp knife to make the pretzel sticks shorter; whether you need to do this or not depends on the brand you use. After the pretzels have sat for 30 seconds, transfer them to a different part of the rack so that they don't stick. Let them set completely. 

You'll be melting more black candy, so don't clean that container yet. 

Move the rack, then transfer the pretzels to the parchment paper. Prepare the orange candy melts. I experimented with different methods of filling the holes of the pretzel twists with orange (see failures below). I found the easiest and most effective method was spooning a dollop of melted candy into each opening, then using an extra pretzel stick to push it over the black candy. The goal is to leave a thin border of black between the orange areas. 

In retrospect, I should have used the scribe tool to get rid of the peaks in the orange that the pretzel stick left. 

When the orange has set completely, prepare more black Candy Melts. Use the scribe tool to draw lines of black candy across the orange to mimic the patterns of a monarch butterfly. Symmetry is more important than accuracy, so work on both the left and right wings at the same time so that you end up with matching pairs. Let the black candy set. Don't clean the container or the scribe tool - you'll use both again.  

Prepare a small amount of white Candy Melts in a separate container. Use a clean scribe tool to put dots along the outer edges of the pretzels. Again, work in pairs and focus on symmetry. Let the white candy set. 

Crumple a small piece of foil into a cradle to hold the butterfly wings in the position you want. Do this for each of your butterflies. Carefully remove the pretzel twists, keeping the stick pretzels in position. Melt more black candy. Working on one butterfly at a time, use the scribe tool to paint a line of melted candy along each side of the stick pretzel, then gently place the pretzel twists back into position.  

Reinforce the wings by adding a bit of extra black candy along the point where the wings meet the body. Let the candy set completely, then remove the butterflies and place them onto frosted cupcakes. 

Happy spring, everyone! Celebrate with a cupcake. 

Family Fun in Idaho and Montana: Craters of the Moon, then West toward Boise (Part 7)

This is the seventh post (and final) about our family's 2021 travels to Idaho and Montana. Start by reading with the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth posts about this trip if you haven't already. Because I blog about educational travel, I received admission tickets, discounts, media rates, and similar benefits from some locations. Other attractions are free to everyone, and I paid full price for the rest. This has no bearing on my reviews. Everything that I share is something that I fully recommend.

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Craters of the Moon, then West toward Boise

Steve has wanted to visit Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve for a long, long time. Friday, July 30 was the day he finally did. We had a short drive from Arco and arrived at the Visitor Center just after its 9:00 am opening. After a quick orientation, we headed out on the 7-mile Loop Road. 

Our plan was to park and hike at each of the seven stops. Steve suggested we skip the easiest stop for now and head directly to the steepest trail while it was still cool outside, so our first hike was Inferno Cone. The path is short but steep. For perspective, check out these two photos. Steve took the picture of Trevor and me about 1/4 of the way up the trail at the same time that I took the photo of Steve (wearing orange). 

The trail is deceptive; it looks like the peak is right there, but you reach one fake-summit after another. Trevor scurried it up like a mountain goat. There he is, far above me. 

The view at the top was spectacular. 

I wasn't expecting there to be so much vegetation at Craters of the Moon, so it was a wonderful surprise to see trees, shrubs, and flowers growing from the volcanic rock. 

  

After hiking down Inferno Cone, we continued on the Loop Road, stopping at each of the remaining six parking lots in order to hike the trails. It was neat. Not only were we surprised by the vegetation, but the diversity of the geological features was surprising, too. 

I should point out that we stayed on trails the entire time. The formations are fragile. 

It was getting quite warm when we left Craters toward our next destination, my parents' house in Eagle, Idaho. We hadn't seen them since July 2019. COVID canceled their visit to California for Trevor's original confirmation ceremony in March 2020 and the rescheduled March 2021 date, as well as our planned cruise for my parents' 50th anniversary in June 2020 and the rescheduled June 2021 date. We were so excited to finally get to see them. 

We stopped for a late lunch at the delightful 93 Bar and Grill in Carey, then made it to my parents' house just before dinnertime. We spent that evening, and then two full days with my parents and my sister's family. It was wonderful. 

Of course, we took family photos of the whole group...

Grandpa, Grandma, and the grandkids...

... and a stacked photo showing how much everyone has grown. As you can see from the picture above, Timothy is quite a bit taller than Trevor and was crouching for this photo. Grr. I wish I'd noticed that then. Don't mess around with a scrapbooker's photos!

During our visit, we played a lot of board games...

... the cousins swam together...

... and we celebrated Kari and Brian's 25th anniversary. 

Part of the celebration included Allison trying on my mom's wedding dress (it almost fits and Allison is only 8) and my grandma's wedding dress (way too big). 

We ate a lot of really good food when we were there (part of our continuing efforts to only eat what we can't get at home when we travel). Our favorite was Coned Pizza. It's probably a good thing it isn't local to me. I LOVED Coned. Steve thinks we should open a franchise when he retires. Alas, he's only 45, so there's no pizza business in our near future. 

  

Another fun meal was Pie-O-Neer Pies. We'd planned to visit their restaurant during our next trip to Idaho to try their delicious-sounding meat pies, but they closed during COVID. Fortunately, they now sell their pies at grocery stores and other locations. I sent my dad on a quest to find all the flavors so we could try them. They were delicious!

Because my sister's kids are basically nocturnal, we used the mornings while they were still asleep for the three of us to do some touristy things. We LOVED the Idaho State Museum in Boise. 

The museum is large and very well-maintained, with all sorts of interesting interactive exhibits. I loved the unique touches. For example, you can sit on (stationary) chair lifts to watch this video about skiing in Idaho. 

There was something neat around every turn. 

The temporary exhibit about the trailblazing women of Idaho was outstanding. We learned so much. This activity was really neat. Each post represents one of the traits shown by these women (courage, determination, creativity, etc) and visitors were asked to mark their own path. It was cool. 

Our other outing took us to the Albertsons Market Street store. Ordinarily, I don't blog about visiting the grocery store, but this store is special. 

First and foremost, it is huge. Pictures don't show the magnitude, so you'll have to trust me. This is about 20% of the bakery counter...

... and this is the popcorn counter, where you can buy different flavors of freshly popped corn. 

There's an entire food court within the grocery store.

There's a refrigerated room within the store for all the wine. There was some high-end stuff there. The bottles of wine we drink have 2-digit prices, not 4-digit prices.

The international section has speciality items for many different cuisines. I would have SO much fun with this if it were local. 

My grocery store doesn't have a sock aisle. 

Nor does it have video story time for kids. 

I have to go elsewhere for my small appliances.

We spent over an hour walking up and down every aisle. It was incredible - a foodie paradise. The best part was all of my usual products were there, for the same prices. There was just so much more in addition to those. No matter what you're looking for, at any price point, it's probably at Albertson's Market Street. 

All too soon, it was time to head home. Fortunately, thanks to Steve's excellent driving and audiobooks for entertainment, the day of travel wasn't too bad. And now that I'm home, I'm eager to start planning our next trip!