The Cursive Project: Javelin

We had a lot of fun with the homemade football in the backyard, so when it was time for Letter J of The Cursive Project, I was really excited to make a javelin. Trevor had all sorts of ideas for fun ways we could use it for more backyard games.

We gathered our materials: a long cardboard tube (that once held wrapping paper), newspaper, and tape.

We rolled a chunk of newspaper into a cone and added a piece of tape to hold it in place.  

We tested to be sure the cone would fit snugly over the end of the cardboard tube, which it did. (On the first try!)  We wrapped the whole cone with black gaff tape to strengthen it.

It looked like this when we were done.

We slid the tube into the cone and headed to the backyard.

We each did a few tosses to make sure it would hold together and sail straight.  It was perfect.

We set up one of Trevor's plastic rings on the far side of the lawn and aimed for it.  We earned a point when the tip of the javelin was inside the ring.

Trevor added more rings and assigned different point values to each color (including some that had a negative point value) to make the game more interesting.

I like this picture.  It's fun to see the javelin sailing out of the frame.

We played with the javelin for a good hour and it held up beautifully.  So much fun!

The Cursive Project: Ice Cream

We've been eating a LOT of ice cream this summer.  Actually, more accurately, Trevor has been the one eating a LOT of ice cream this summer.  He needs to gain weight, so his doctor has prescribed Haagan Dazs after meals.  I'm having the occasional spoonful here and there, as it is almost impossible to dish up delicious ice cream for someone else two or more times a day without having a single bite.  Fortunately, when I took him in for a weight check, he had gained weight.  Equally fortunately, I haven't gained weight.  Of course, I haven't lost weight either. Oh well!

For Letter I of The Cursive Project, we used crayons, watercolors, and Sharpie to create ice cream cones.  We started by using pencil to lightly sketch a triple-scoop cone on watercolor paper, then outlined the design with crayon.

This is mine.  My three flavors are mint chip, rocky road, and lemon sorbet.  You can't tell in the photo, but I used white crayon to add marshmallows to the rocky road.

Trevor went with a Neapolitan trio. 

Next, we used watercolors to paint our cones.  The waxy crayon border keeps the paints from flowing outside of the design.  Here you can see the white marshmallows being revealed as I paint over them.  

Here's Trevor mixing up the perfect shade for his vanilla ice cream.

After the paint dried, we outlined with Sharpie.

I don't think I've ever actually eaten a triple-scoop ice cream cone, and I know that Trevor hasn't. He almost always chooses to have his ice cream in a bowl instead of a cone.  As I was doing this project, I had a flashback from approximately 1980 of walking downtown with my friend Nancy to get double-scoop ice cream cones from Thrifty.  They used a cylinder to scoop the ice cream, and each scoop was just a dime.  Ah, fond memories!

Well, Now I Know...

Before continuing on to Letter I of The Cursive Project, I wanted to share a recent craft fail of mine.  I own a really comfy pair of flip flops that I like, but the pattern was wearing off the toes and heels.  Here's the "before" picture:

I use Sharpies to touch up scuffs on shoes all the time, so I figured I could use a Sharpie to draw the pattern back in, and my flip flops would be good as new.  Ten minutes later, they looked like this:

Yea!  Good as new!  Or not, as it turns out.

I ended up waiting about a week before wearing them to Trevor's baseball game and dinner afterward.  When I got home, I noticed this:

Darn.  Well, now I know to limit my Sharpie-shoe-touchups to the OUTSIDE of shoes, and not the part that touches my feet.  Lesson learned.

The Cursive Project: Hedgehog Candy

Trevor and I are having a lot of fun with The Cursive Project.  We're enjoying the creative time together and he is thrilled to finally be learning cursive.  He was so excited yesterday when he discovered a section of cursive writing in one of his library books and he was able to read it himself.  In the past, he's always had to come to me to decipher it for him.

After completing his worksheet, we got started on the day's project - Hedgehog Candy.  Steve said to clarify that it is candy that looks like hedgehogs, not candy made from hedgehogs.  I can't imagine that is necessary, but in case anyone was concerned, let me assure you that no hedgehogs were harmed in the making of this candy.  

We started by putting graham crackers in a ziplock bag and squashing them with the rolling pin until they were powdery crumbs.  We measured out 1/4 c. of crumbs, then added 1/2 c. of peanut butter and 1/2 c. of powdered sugar and mixed to create a stiff dough.

Take a chunk of dough and roll it between your hands to make a ball, then use your fingers to elongate one end.  Keep shaping it to make a teardrop shape, as shown above.  Drop chocolate sprinkles over the top of the rounded end, pressing gently to make them adhere.  

Insert three sprinkles into the pointy end to make two eyes and a nose.

Each one ended up with a slightly different look.  We experimented with added slivered almond feet, but they looked cuter without the feet.

They were quite tasty, too.  On to Letter I!  

The Cursive Project: Goose

For Letter G of The Cursive Project, Trevor chose to make a goose.  While I don't hate them the way I hate eels, I have had a distinctly negative opinion of geese since our 4th anniversary, when I was bitten by a goose at an otherwise very nice B&B.  We'd just checked in minutes before and the owner was showing us around.  A goose came running straight at me and bit a chunk out of my leg.  We did get first aid, upgrades, and a free future stay out of it, but my negative opinion of geese remains.  

Except Canada Geese.  They seem perfectly pleasant.  

Photo credit

After he did his Letter G cursive page, Trevor and I gathered our materials: cardstock (blue for the background, black and white for the goose), scissors, crayons, chalk, and adhesive.  

We began by looking carefully at a lot of photos of Canada Geese.  Then we each sketched our basic pattern on scratch paper: a oval for the body, a pointy oval wing, a long neck with a rounded head and straight beak, a white band around the head, and a pointy set of tail feathers. We cut our our patterns, made adjustments, then cut the pieces out of cardstock.  We used crayons to create feathers on the wings and tail, then glued the goose parts to the paper.  We used grey and blue chalks to add ripples and movement to the water.  Finally, we added a black eye.

Here's Trevor's goose:

This is mine: 

On to Letter H!