Cardboard Tube Opossum

When I was going through my stickers to find a teensy heart for 'The Kissing Hand' raccoon, I came across some opossum (possum?) stickers I'd forgotten I had. There aren't a lot of opossum (possum?) crafts out there, so I decided to make one. I'm always on the lookout for topics that aren't represented on Fun Family Crafts and a quick search determined we had neither opossums nor possums on the site. Once I did the research to learn the difference between an opossum and a possum, I proceeded, confident that the stickers were opossums and that's what I'd be making. Affiliate links below. 

Cardboard Tube Opossum

Materials: 

• cardboard tube
• grey paint
• scissors
• cardstock (white and grey)
• craft glue
• pink colored pencil
• 1 cm pink mini pom pom
• googly eyes
• pink pipe cleaner
• tape or hot glue

Steps: 

Start by painting the cardboard tube grey. While it is drying, cut a narrow, elongated heart from white cardstock. When the paint is dry, glue the heart onto the end of the tube. A rubber band holds it in place while it's drying. 

(See the opossum stickers?)

Cut a pair of skinny arms and a pair of skinny legs from the grey cardstock. Cut two rounded ears from the grey cardstock and use the colored pencil to add pink shading to the centers. Bend them up slightly. Glue the arms, legs and ears in place. Add the googly eyes and the pink pom pom nose. Finally, bend the pipe cleaner to make a tail. Secure it inside the tube with tape or hot glue.

A completed opossum! I'm glad it's an opossum and not a possum because that means it goes in Letter O which is more sparse than Letter P. It's the little things.

Hunger Action Month Presentation

Yesterday, this happened:

Trevor had asked his teacher if he could give a presentation to the class as an ambassador for Hunger Action Month. We invited his friend/classmate/neighbor Avery to help. 

Avery came to our house on Tuesday to prepare for their presentation. We drizzled orange Wilton Candy Melts (affiliate link) over popcorn, then bagged it up with a note. We decorated a shoebox to hold donations. We practiced what each of them would say during the presentation.

And somehow, we resisted eating any of the popcorn until everything was done, even though it smelled amazing. 

The finished bags looked really cute. 

 

So did the donation box. 

Trevor and Avery did a great job teaching their classmates about hunger in our community. The kids were very bothered to learn that 1 in 8 people do not have enough food. They were amazed that the Food Bank can provide 2 meals for every $1 donated. They were surprised to hear that the Food Bank is able to get food much more inexpensively than we can, so while donating food is wonderful, donating money is even more helpful. They were eager to learn more about volunteer opportunities sorting cans and bagging produce at the Food Bank. 

 

Each of us, no matter our age, can make a difference in the fight against hunger. These two 10-year olds have educated 30 others (who presumably will educate their friends and family). That's where it starts. 

Loom Knit Hat and Matching Scarf

Remember the beanie I knit for my niece? I added a pom pom to the top and made a matching scarf. I'm so happy with how it turned out. I wish it fit me!

The yarn is Deborah Norville Everyday Soft Worsted Yarn and the shade is Parrot. Gorgeous. I made the beanie with the smaller loom in the Oval Loom Knitting Set by Leisure Arts. I made the scarf using a Knit Quick small round knitting loom. I wish I'd known years ago how fun and easy loom knitting is! I love it. Expect to see many more projects from me in the future.

Thanks to Leisure Arts and Premier Yarn for providing me with materials to make this project!

40-4-Steve: Dave's Giant Hamburger

Dave's Giant Hamburger is an institution in our town, famous for delicious burgers, amazing milkshakes, and the fact that they do not serve fries. Trevor and I went together 3 years ago as a Kidding Around project but Steve was out of town and couldn't join us. For three years, we've been saying that he HAS to try Dave's. I added it to the list of 40-4-Steve and made it happen.

Dave's did not disappoint. Our burgers and shakes were fantastic... so good, in fact, that we didn't even miss the fries.

Perler Bead Flags

California is celebrating its 166th birthday this month. Trevor made a Perler Bead flag of his own design to commemorate the occasion.

When your medium is Perler beads, you have to take a little creative license. Way better than I could have done, that's for sure. For comparison, here's the state flag:

Here's Trevor's version of the US flag:

Again, creative license. 

Both designs should be easy to replicate by looking at Trevor's. For the California flag, you need a rectangular board and white, red, brown and green beads. For the US flag, you need the rectangular board and red, white and blue beads. 

Now we can add our state and national flags to our growing collection of Perler Bead flags. You can see our versions of the Olympic flag, as well as the flags of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Bahamas, and Lebanon here.