American Robin Diamond Art Ornament

I've been wanting to make a bird ornament using my copious supply of leftover drills from diamond art for a long time. I'm so happy with how this robin turned out! Don't have leftover diamonds in the correct colors? Not a problem! Substitute with what you have, buy a bunch of colors, or get just the colors that you need. Affiliate links below. 

 

American Robin Diamond Art Ornament

Materials: 

• wood slice ornament
• DOTZ Stick diamond adhesive
• pattern (below)
• diamond art drills (8001, 8318, 8356, 8443)
• dotting tools
• cornstarch / baby powder

Steps: 

Paint a thin coat of DOTZ Stick onto the wood slice, following the directions on the package. If you use too much, your ornament can crack from the moisture. 

When the adhesive is ready, apply the drills. This is the pattern I made. The stars mark the center of each axis, so the plus sign is the center of the design. 

In order to center the bird on my ornament, I put the center drill onto the center of the ornament... as best I could. The wood slices I used are quite irregular. In retrospect, I could have moved my starting drill over a hair to the left to better center the design. It didn't bother me much, so I left it that way.

Fill in the rest of the drills around that central one. 

Ordinarily, I'd suggest sealing your diamond art, but not on wood like this. Instead, rub cornstarch or baby powder over the uncovered area of the wood to eliminate the tackiness of any extra adhesive not covered by drills. 

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The American Robin is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin, making this a great activity for kids (or adults!) in those states. But it's equally great no matter where you live. This interesting songbird is one of the most recognized and most widespread in North America. Pair your craft project with a shaped puzzle featuring the American Robin, then check out these fun facts about this beloved bird. 

50 State Quarters: Coloring Pages Using Derwent Inktense Pencils

I've completed four more of the 50 State Quarter coloring pages: Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky, and Louisiana. This time, I colored them with Derwent Inktense Pencils and a blender pen. Affiliate links here and below. 

I'm relatively new to Inktense Pencils and there is definitely a learning curve. I found the Derwent Intense Pencils Beginners Guide by My Colourful Country Life very helpful. Once I learned the basics, it was so much fun to use the Inktense pencils on the different coloring pages. I'm eager to get them out again and practice some more.

This set of four brings me to 30/50 completed coloring pages. These are the other art materials I've used so far:

• Ohuhu Kaala markers (Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Wisconsin)
• ink and Prismacolor colored pencils (Connecticut, Idaho, Missouri, Montana)
• Flair pens (Delaware, Indiana)
• Sharpies (Maine, South Carolina)
• Stabilo Woody 3-in-1 (Colorado, New Hampshire)
• Folk Art acrylic paint (Wyoming, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Michigan)
• Crayola crayons (Florida, Maryland, South Dakota, Vermont)
• Himi gouache (Iowa, New York, Utah, West Virginia)

On to the next set of coloring pages!

A New (Old) State Flag for Maine?

Here in the US, we just had national, state, and local elections. Many of the state and local contests went the way I hoped. As for the national results... well, I don't even want to think about it, let alone talk about it. What I do want to talk about is one of Maine's state referendums. On Election Day, Mainers voted on this question: "Do you favor making the former state flag, replaced as the official flag of the State in 1909 and commonly known as the Pine Tree Flag, the official flag of the State?" 

I was hopeful they would vote yes. The current state flag is one of many state flags that features the state seal on a navy blue background. These flags are hard to differentiate from each other, are not especially attractive or attention-getting, and are difficult for crafting. Maine had the chance to vote in a flag with simple, eye-catching images (a single star and a pine tree). It would have been the only flag in the US with a buff background, making it immediately identifiable. And because it is the former flag of the state, nobody could complain about "erasing history" like you see in ignorant comments left online when other states have adopted new flags. I expected the referendum to pass. It did not. 

This is the current state flag of Maine:

The is the Pine Tree Flag, that would have replaced the current flag:

How would you have voted? Or how did you vote if you are a resident of Maine? Let me know in the comments. 

Grad Nite

In 1990, I went to Disneyland for Grad Nite with my high school friends. It was so much fun! 34 years later, Trevor went on the bigger and better version of Grad Nite, with 18 hours straight at Disneyland and California Adventure. I used the photos he shared (faces covered with fireworks for privacy) to make this page. 

Grad Nite (affiliate link)

Since most of the photos were taken at night and feature pinks and purples, I did my best to merge those colors with the traditional red, yellow, and black that all Disney-themed scrapbook supplies use. The pop of light blue from the supplies by PhotoPlay help bridge the colors. I'm really happy with how this page turned out. 

The Most Forgotten State Capitals (And Why You Should Remember Them)

I came across a really interesting news article that ranks all 50 state capitals by how many people can remember each one. I can name all 50, both because I taught states/capitals to 5th graders for many years and because I've been to almost all of them (5 to go!). But I recognize that most people don't necessarily know them all. Or they did when they were in fifth grade, but have since forgotten. 

Before I share the link to the article or reveal the most forgotten state capitals, take a minute to make your guesses. If you want, you can take the actual Sporcle US Capital quiz that was the source of the data. 

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Source

Let's start with the capitals that the most people remember. Here are the top 5, in order:

• Austin, Texas
• Sacramento, California
• Honolulu, Hawaii (we've been there multiple times, but before I was blogging about travel)
• Boston, Massachusetts
• Atlanta, Georgia

Moving on to the most forgotten. At #5 is Columbia, South Carolina. This is highly unfortunate, because Columbia is an awesome city. It's a college town, adjacent to Congaree National Park, and is full of interesting things to see and do. Don't miss the South Carolina State Museum. 

At #4 is Frankfort, Kentucky. I will admit that Frankfort is not as flashy as Louisville or as well-known as Lexington, but Frankfort is absolutely worth a visit. The capitol grounds are stunning, the bourbon-themed tours are plentiful and interesting (even for non-fans like me), and there are several museums I'm sure you'll enjoy. Eat the burgoo when you visit. 

At #3 is Charleston, West Virginia. Not only is it the capital, but it's the biggest city in the state. We enjoyed the day we spent there. 

At #2 is Concord, New Hampshire. To be perfectly honest, there isn't all that much to do in Concord besides visit the capitol. It's fine, but we enjoyed other places in New Hampshire more. 

The most forgotten state capital is Jefferson City, Missouri. This does not surprise me at all. It's small, only the 16th largest city in the state. There isn't a lot there besides the capitol, while cities like St. Louis and Kansas City are packed with many days' worth of fun stuff to do. It is, however, in the middle of the state geographically, and was founded to be the capital city. Fun fact: it is one of four state capitals named for a president. (Can you name the others?)

Here is the article about the most forgotten state capitals. It's quite interesting. Make sure to read to the end, where they highlight the most common wrong answers. For example, people who don't correctly name Lansing as the state capital of Michigan commonly guess Detroit. A cool city indeed, but not the capital.