Block Letter Monsters

Last week, Trevor showed me that he has figured out how to draw block letters.  I hadn't even realized he was interested in learning, since he would ordinarily ask me about something he wants to learn, especially if it's art-related.  But apparently he'd been working hard to figure out block letters on his own.  

Not only is it cool that he can make block letters now (and doubly cool that he taught himself), but it means that we can do some of the fun crafts that I've been saving!  First up, Block Letter Monsters.

 

Materials: white paper, pencil, black crayon, rub-on tool (a popsicle stick works too), and markers (color pencils, crayons or paint would all be fine).

Begin by folding your paper in half lengthwise.  Using the pencil, lightly write your name in block letters.  The base of each letter should sit on the fold.  When this is done correctly and you're happy with your letters, trace over them in black crayon.  Press hard.

Reverse the fold you made before so that your name is now on the inside.  If you pressed hard enough with the crayon, you should be able to see your name lightly through the paper. Trace over your name using the rub-on tool or popsicle stick.  Press hard.

 

The pressure will transfer some of the crayon to the opposite side of the paper.  If you miss a spot (like the middle of my C), just refold the paper and trace over that area again.

 

Use the black crayon to darken the faint mirror image.

 

Now it's time to get creative!  Turn your paper vertically and transform your name into a monster!  You may want to add a few extra lines, like eyelashes or teeth.  This is fine; just make sure your name is still legible.

 

Here is Trevor's completed monster.  The scanner cut off about 1/4 inch from the left side, but you get the idea.

Here's my monster.

I've done this project at least a dozen times in my life and each has turned out completely different.  Using all caps or drawing the letters in a slightly different style will transform the finished shape into something totally new.  You can also rotate your paper 180 degrees for a very different look.  As you can see, Trevor chose to have the first letter of his name at the bottom, while I put the first letter of my name at the top.  If you give it a try, let me know.  I'd love to feature reader work here!

A Highly Unusual Baby Shower Card

As you know, I am Mommy to one son.  I'm Aunt Cindy to three nephews.  So when my sister announced that she was expecting a baby girl, I was really excited.  I would have been excited to have a new nephew, of course, but I can't wait to meet my first niece.  Only a few more weeks!

I'm going to be making a creative gift for the family after the baby is born, but I also wanted to get them something to open at the baby shower.  Trevor and I went to the baby store and headed right into the girl section.  Unfamiliar territory for me!  As I was looking at the frilly pink and lavender dresses, Trevor made a beeline to this outfit (and yes, it was in the girls' section):

Even though it's not frilly, pink or girly in any way, it is perfect.  My sister, brother-in-law and nephew are huge Disney fans.  Each fall, we celebrate my nephew's birthday with a Disney trip.  So we chose a size that will (hopefully) fit my new niece during the next trip.

Here is the card I made to go with the gift.  Not your traditional baby shower card!

 

Here's how the gift looked.  Not traditional either.  

I'm happy to say - it was a hit!  

Butter Mints

As requested, here is the recipe for the Butter Mints we gave out at Christmas.

Butter Mints

                                           3 T butter                                              1.5 lbs. powdered sugar

                                           1 t. peppermint extract                      food color (optional)

                                           3 T. milk

Using a hand mixer, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add peppermint extract and milk. At this point, you can add some food color. Start with a small amount, as you can always add but you can't remove. Still using the mixer, blend in approximately 2/3 of the powdered sugar. 

 

Knead the remaining powdered sugar into the dough. It will be very stiff as you work in the last bit. If you used paste food color (vs. liquid), you may need to add a drop or two of water.   

  

Working with a small amount at a time, form the dough into a log. (I learned to keep the extra dough covered with plastic wrap, as it can dry out quickly.) Gently flatten the log on one side, rotate and flatten, and continue until the log is rectangular rather than cylindrical. Use a sharp knife to slice the mints into individual pieces.

Put the cut mints onto a baking sheet and let dry overnight.

In the morning, turn the mints so that the bottom side dries. When they are dry, store in an air-tight container.  Enjoy!

Crayon Melt Owl

It's been awhile since I last pulled out the warming tray.  (If you don't know what I'm talking about, go here and here first.) This time, we used our warming trays to make Crayon Melt Owls.

Back in early December, Trevor's school had a huge, awesome craft night.  There were dozens of crafts, some free-form and some kits.  One of the kits was this owl from Oriental Trading Company.  It was the inspiration for our Crayon Melt Owl.  

We started by pulling out brown, orange and yellow crayons.

Then we plugged in the warming tray and covered a paper with swirls and smears of color. Trevor had a crayon in each hand, giggling the whole time.

 

Here's what my finished paper looked like.  Trevor's had more browns and oranges.  (If you don't have a warming tray, you could achieve a similar look with paint.)  Additional supplies: scissors, pop dots, googly eyes, and white glue.

 

We cut out the pieces from our papers.

There are five pieces: the main body, the secondary body piece, the tummy, the eyes and a beak.

Starting at the bottom, we built the owl up, using pop dots between each layer.  Here's mine. 

 

This gives you a sense of the dimension.

 

I ended up adding wings to mine.  

Trevor liked his without wings.  Or, more accurately, without VISIBLE wings, as he assures me his owl does have wings but they are tucked in. 

 

Such a fun project!

Goal 35: Library Roulette (Part 3)

I'm having so much fun with my Library Roulette goal!  Last week, I shared the first three books on my reading list.  Today I'm sharing three more.

327: International Relations

Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy

by Lindsay Moran

I was amused when I discovered that 327 was International Relations.  A bit of background... From the minute I started school until the beginning of high school, I wanted to grow up and become an elementary school teacher.  I had a chalkboard in my childhood bedroom and a yardstick that I used as a pointer.  My mom bought me discarded textbooks from the district office as gifts.  I'd study the books, then I would make the neighborhood kids sit squeezed in rows in my bedroom and I'd teach them from the textbooks.  I loved it.  I'm pretty sure I was born to teach.     

When I entered high school, I decided that I would not be a teacher but would instead have a career in Food Science.  I loved food and cooking and thought it would be a very interesting path to take.  In my junior year, I took my first chemistry class (which I hated) and decided Food Science was out.  

When it was time to fill out college applications, I was heavily involved with 4-H Citizenship activities, including Model OAS (Organization of American States).  Based on this one hobby, I applied to the University of California at Davis as an International Relations major.  The IR major at UCD was made up of equal parts of political science, history and economics.  I loved my history and econ classes (as well as all my general ed classes), but I didn't like the poly sci classes very much.  It became painfully clear that International Relations was actually not something that interested me very much at all, and that I actually REALLY wanted to be an elementary school teacher (which, of course, I'd known most of my life).  I decided to complete my IR major and added an Education minor.  I got my teaching credential the following year, eventually got an MA in Education and spent 11 years teaching 4th/5th grade.

People are usually very surprised to hear that my BA is in International Relations.  I'm not all that interested in government or politics or foreign affairs.  I am no longer fluent in the only other language besides English I've ever studied (Spanish).  I would never consider moving outside of California and would never live in a major city.  I'm not even a huge fan of traveling.  I do, however, LOVE learning about other countries and cultures.  

So I wasn't sure what I was going to find in the 327 section of the library.  Would it be more of the textbooks I really didn't enjoy all that much in college?  Happily, the answer was no. There were many interesting books from which to choose.  This one, a memoir about life as a CIA spy, jumped out at me immediately.  I definitely wasn't assigned anything like that to read in college!

The first half of Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy was a fascinating look at the application process and training required to become a CIA Case Officer.  I had never really given any thought about what it might mean to be a spy and what type of training would be necessary.  The second half of the book focused on the actual job of spying and was also very interesting.  

I had a hard time setting the book down, as I was so curious what would happen next.  Overall, I liked the book very much and definitely learned a lot.  The ending wasn't what I expected (or necessarily what I wanted), but it was a fascinating memoir.

Recommended: Yes, highly.  

021: Library Relationships

Library Partnerships: Making Connections between School and Public Libraries

by Tasha Squires

When I was around 8, my mom went back to college for a degree in Library Science.  I vaguely remember her studying, but I can't remember anything about her textbooks or other materials.  I picture her doing a lot of typing (on a manual typewriter, of course).  As I read Library Partnerships: Making Connections between School and Public Libraries, it occurred to me that those studying Library Science in 2013 must have a significantly different curriculum than my mom did around 1980.

The book was full of wonderful suggestions about how public librarians and school librarians can partner with each other.  There are specific ideas and directions as to how to develop these relationships.  While interesting, they weren't relevant to me as a reader, since I am not (and likely will never be) a librarian.  However, about midway through the book, the author began discussing how and why librarians should forge relationships with teachers. Fascinating!  In my years of teaching, it never occurred to me to create a relationship with a public librarian.  I used the library for classroom materials constantly, but I never ordered class sets of books, or requested a set of themed materials, or alerted a librarian about upcoming topics of study.  I never invited a librarian to do a booktalk in my classroom, nor did I ever promote library events, or offer extra credit to those who attended one.  Talk about missed opportunities!    

My only real criticism of this book is that can be tedious in its attempt to cover so many different situations.  The author points out, for example, that a public librarian in a rural area with a bookmobile will have a different relationship with the one English teacher at the only local middle school than will a public librarian in a large city with many schools served by one library.  The needs and circumstances are so different that the book sometimes struggles to address such a large spectrum of needs. Still, I applaud the effort to be so inclusive.

Recommended: Yes, if you are a librarian or a teacher.  Otherwise, no.

001: Knowledge

Wrong: Why Experts Keep Failing Us and How to Know When Not to Trust Them

by David H. Freedman

Studies come out all the time telling us, definitively, that this is what we should eat, how schools should be run, how best to treat cancer, or how we should raise our kids... and then another study comes out telling us exactly the opposite.  It's hard to know what to believe and who to trust.  Wrong: Why Experts Keep Failing Us and How to Know When Not to Trust Them looks at why we shouldn't necessarily trust experts and why and how they mislead us. Chapters include: "The Trouble With Scientists," "The Idiocy of Crowds," and "Experts and the Media," to name a few.  The material is interesting and detailed, with many specific examples of why we can pretty much count on experts to be wrong a majority of the time.  

Overall, I found the material interesting but depressing.  While it may be true that most experts are wrong most of the time, I didn't enjoy being reminded of that for almost 300 pages.  My favorite part of the book was Appendix 4: "Is This Book Wrong?"  I really appreciate the fact that the author is not only open to the possibility that he is wrong, but embraces the fact that there is almost certainly material in his book that is wrong.

Recommended: Not really.