Every morning this week, Kate and I have been hanging out together while Jane is at drama camp. Originally, Kate was supposed to be at camp, too, but because of a scheduling snafu, it didn't happen. In an effort to make her week fun, we came up with a list of some projects and activities that the two of us could do together. After reading Elizabeth's post which was part of Amanda's Soulful Mothering series (such a lovely group of posts, don't you think?), we decided to make our own hula hoops yesterday morning.

It was just as easy as it looks in the video. Seriously. The only downfall was that we weren't able to buy the pipe by the foot, so I now have enough pipe to make hula hoops for the entire neighborhood. Ok, that may be a slight exaggeration, but I did have to buy a 100' coil of 3/4" poly pipe which will make 10 hula hoops. Suffice it to say that we will be making these for birthday party gifts for the next year. If you can find a local hardware store that will cut the pipe by the foot, it really is a low-cost project. We used a combo of duct tape and electrical tape to decorate the hoops, a lot of which we had on hand.

The finished hoop is great. It's heavier than the ones you buy at the toy store making it easy for even this 40 year old to do. Seriously. I really thought that I had lost my hooping mojo as I cannot get the cheap plastic ones to stay up. Not the case! It was all the hoop, not me. Very reassuring, I tell you. So naturally, I'm going to need my very own, especially since it's a great ab workout. Or maybe because I want to use that super sparkly silver tape. Or maybe both.

Hey there! Today, I'm over at Cindy's blog, Skip to my Lou, with a tutorial on how to make glycerin soap. The girls and I love to do this, especially for gifts. They've been making soap for a long time and now can pretty much do the whole thing on their own. Younger kids may need a little help from an adult as the soap is hot. Otherwise, it's one of my very favorite kid crafts because it's a cinch to make and clean up. Please pop over and take a look. Cindy also has a stellar line up of Craft Camp for the month of June, just like she did last year. (You can see my post from last year on kids' embroidery here). You'll definitely want to check it out!

Gumbo is Jane's newest stuffed animal. She made Gumbo yesterday all on her own, using the sewing machine that the girls received for Christmas. I helped thread the machine, taught her how to pivot the fabric with the needle down and was at hand for little issues.  The rest Jane did on her own. She was super pleased with her creation and I think she should be. It's a big accomplishment to set out to design a project, make it and see it through to the end, mistakes and all. I'm very proud of her.

I was in the middle of sewing my dress when Jane decided to start this project. The timing wasn't optimal for me - I can't tell you how many times I had to put down my sewing to help with hers - but I am glad that I was present to help Jane make Gumbo. Watching her create this was a joy and as we were working, I was happy to set aside what I wanted to do right then and join her. These moments don't come often and when they do, I'm going to grab them.

And the dress? Well, that's entirely different story.

Good morning! It's gray and rainy here, but I hope the sun is shining on all of you. I thought that I would write a little bit about each auction project we did to answer some of your questions. I really wish I could do tutorials for these, but I didn't take step-by-step photos and, honestly, I just don't have that kind of time right now. If you have specific questions, I'll do my best to answer them in the comments. OK? All right, let's get started.

1. Glue Batik Quilts (4th grade) - We used the glue batik explained by That Artist Woman in this post. Each 4th grade class has 23 students so I knew we needed a 4 x 6 grid. To make it a decent size throw blanket, I decided that 12" finished squares (12.5" unfinished) would work well. We started by cutting large pieces of white paper into 13" squares that the children drew their picture on. One class did an ocean theme, the other a sun theme. We did this so each quilt could have a unique color combination, making them similar to each other in technique, but entirely different in look.  Once the kids drew their pictures with pencil, they traced it with a black marker.  Then they put a 13" white fabric square on top of their drawing and traced the art with the gel glue.  I used Kona white for the fabric and cut the squares a 1/2" bigger than I needed so I could trim the squares to a uniform size.  When the glue was dry, the kids used watered down acrylic to paint over the glue relief. After the paint had dried, I brought all the squares home and washed the glue out of the fabric in the bathtub. This took a decent amount of time and a little elbow grease. Some paint came off the squares, especially on the ones that had been heavily painted. This didn't effect the final outcome - it actually took care of some of the squares that were a little crunchy with paint at the outset.  Once dry, I ran the squares through the washing machine on a cold cycle and dried them in the dryer on low heat. From that point, I trimmed them to 12.5" and sewed them together. The quilting was done freehand and with variegated thread. I used the same solid fabric for the back and for the binding.

2. Fingerprint Critter Desks (3rd grade) - This was Plan B. Plan A included kid art and decoupage and didn't really work out the way we had wanted so we scrapped it and moved on.  The solid wood chair desks were spraypainted and then using high adhesion latex paint, each child put their fingerprint(s) on a portion of the desk.  The next week we went back with a fine point Sharpie paint pen and turned the finger prints into critters, Ed Emberley style.

3. Eric Carle inspired canvases (2nd grade) - These are always a huge seller at our auction so I knew that we would do this again.  The art teacher handles this entirely by herself. The kids paint and pattern different papers and then cut them into shapes to make a collage on a canvas with a painted background. After the paper is glued to the canvas, it's sealed. I'm not sure what she uses for this, but I can find out if anyone needs to know. Different themes we have done over the past 3 auctions are: meadow, ocean, jungle, street scene, balloon race and fireworks over the city.

4. Tile mosaic planters and bird bath (6th grade) - I bought the pots and birdbath at a local garden center. I was able to find glass mosaic pieces at JoAnn's - they were kind of pricey. If I had more time, I would have searched online. The white background tile came from the bathroom section at Lowe's. I bought 4" ceramic tile and smashed it myself by putting it in a towel and hammering it.  To adhere the tile to the pots, we used liquid nails. I went this route because after googling "How to make a mosaic planter", this was suggested because both the tile and pot are porous. I really don't have much experience with tile work, but figured that I could manage it with a little research. I got super lucky, though, because a 6th grade parent took over and grouted and sealed everything for me. These were BIG sellers at the auction.

5. Rain barrels (5th grade) - I bought the rain barrels locally. They were the standard bright blue which I roughed up and painted using a spray plastic primer from Lowe's. After 2 coats of that, I continued with 3 coats of enamel spray paint in blue and green.  The kids then painted bugs/umbrellas using a high adhesion latex paint (I'm not sure what it was - it was donated by a parish family that owns a paint store). I then brushed on 3 coats of polyacrylic.  Sounds easy, but was actually very time consuming with all the dry time between coats.

6. Painted outdoor furniture (7th grade) - I think this one is self-explanatory. We used high adhesion exterior latex paint on a picnic table and adirondack chair and then I brushed on a couple coats of polyacrylic.

7. Photography (8th grade) - Another parent and I worked with the 8th graders on this. Using our DSLR cameras, the kids took photos of the architecture of our church, both inside and outside. We put the cameras on auto, encouraged them to look at things from interesting angles and asked that they take vertical shots so they'd all be the same perspective. Each child took 5 or 6 photos.  I went through all the photos, chose each child's best also trying not to have too many of the same object. Using photoshop, I turned them black and white, adjusted the contrast and made them into a mosaic. The mosaics each contain 12 photos, 4" x 6" in size, with a 1/4" boarder between shots.  I had the mosaics printed locally and then matted to fit 24" x 36" poster frames that were bought on sale at JoAnn's.

8. Advent calendars (1st grade) - Using markers, the kids drew ornaments on 3" square pieces of paper. The artwork was scanned into the computer and I printed it out on fabric.  I bought the printable fabric at JoAnn's on sale - I wasn't worried about it being the best quality as I figure these will likely never get washed.  After the artwork was printed, I attached the fabric sheets to felt using a spray adhesive (505 is the one I use) and stitched around the figures with about a 1/8" boarder.  I cut them around the stitching and attached a sticky-backed velcro dot on the back of each ornament.  To make the actual calendar, my friend and I stitched the numbers on 4" squares of red felt using embroidery floss. I drew the tree on felt, cut it out and sewed that and the squares on an off-white felt background with about 1/8" seam allowance.  To hang the calendars, I sewed a rod pocket at the top for a dowel that has a large length of red grosgrain ribbon tied in a bow.  We used acrylic felt for everything to keep the cost down.

9. Play tents (Kindergarten) - I made these two years ago and you can read about that project in this post. The process this time was exactly the same.  The bamboo came from Lowe's - it's way sturdier than the kind they have at my Home Depot.

Phew. There you go.

Some other things to mention:  Cost is always a concern when doing these projects.  With a little planning, you can do this on a budget. We spent $866.00 on 18 projects and brought in $6800. Not bad, huh? I use coupons from JoAnn's and Michael's like crazy. I have my friends save theirs for me so I can use more than one a week. I also shop the sales. I don't think I paid full price for more than a few things. Also, use your resources and find people who can donate items and supplies. Our 3rd grade desks were donated so the cost on those projects was minimal. The matting for our photography project was done at cost - local businesses are often willing to work with you especially if you mention them in your program or give them a big shout out at the auction.  Look for larger items at consignment, thrift and antique stores. Sometimes we base what we do around what we can find. If you have a carpenter friend, maybe they could build something simple for you to work with.  Finally, working with kids takes time. Give yourself a lot of it, and then add a couple extra weeks to be on the safe side. We had a few time setbacks that were out of our control - snow days, sick kids, etc. If you are finished early, bonus!

I think that's it. Questions? Fire away.

Good morning! It's gray and rainy here, but I hope the sun is shining on all of you. I thought that I would write a little bit about each auction project we did to answer some of your questions. I really wish I could do tutorials for these, but I didn't take step-by-step photos and, honestly, I just don't have that kind of time right now. If you have specific questions, I'll do my best to answer them in the comments. OK? All right, let's get started.

1. Glue Batik Quilts (4th grade) - We used the glue batik explained by That Artist Woman in this post. Each 4th grade class has 23 students so I knew we needed a 4 x 6 grid. To make it a decent size throw blanket, I decided that 12" finished squares (12.5" unfinished) would work well. We started by cutting large pieces of white paper into 13" squares that the children drew their picture on. One class did an ocean theme, the other a sun theme. We did this so each quilt could have a unique color combination, making them similar to each other in technique, but entirely different in look.  Once the kids drew their pictures with pencil, they traced it with a black marker.  Then they put a 13" white fabric square on top of their drawing and traced the art with the gel glue.  I used Kona white for the fabric and cut the squares a 1/2" bigger than I needed so I could trim the squares to a uniform size.  When the glue was dry, the kids used watered down acrylic to paint over the glue relief. After the paint had dried, I brought all the squares home and washed the glue out of the fabric in the bathtub. This took a decent amount of time and a little elbow grease. Some paint came off the squares, especially on the ones that had been heavily painted. This didn't effect the final outcome - it actually took care of some of the squares that were a little crunchy with paint at the outset.  Once dry, I ran the squares through the washing machine on a cold cycle and dried them in the dryer on low heat. From that point, I trimmed them to 12.5" and sewed them together. The quilting was done freehand and with variegated thread. I used the same solid fabric for the back and for the binding.

2. Fingerprint Critter Desks (3rd grade) - This was Plan B. Plan A included kid art and decoupage and didn't really work out the way we had wanted so we scrapped it and moved on.  The solid wood chair desks were spraypainted and then using high adhesion latex paint, each child put their fingerprint(s) on a portion of the desk.  The next week we went back with a fine point Sharpie paint pen and turned the finger prints into critters, Ed Emberley style.

3. Eric Carle inspired canvases (2nd grade) - These are always a huge seller at our auction so I knew that we would do this again.  The art teacher handles this entirely by herself. The kids paint and pattern different papers and then cut them into shapes to make a collage on a canvas with a painted background. After the paper is glued to the canvas, it's sealed. I'm not sure what she uses for this, but I can find out if anyone needs to know. Different themes we have done over the past 3 auctions are: meadow, ocean, jungle, street scene, balloon race and fireworks over the city.

4. Tile mosaic planters and bird bath (6th grade) - I bought the pots and birdbath at a local garden center. I was able to find glass mosaic pieces at JoAnn's - they were kind of pricey. If I had more time, I would have searched online. The white background tile came from the bathroom section at Lowe's. I bought 4" ceramic tile and smashed it myself by putting it in a towel and hammering it.  To adhere the tile to the pots, we used liquid nails. I went this route because after googling "How to make a mosaic planter", this was suggested because both the tile and pot are porous. I really don't have much experience with tile work, but figured that I could manage it with a little research. I got super lucky, though, because a 6th grade parent took over and grouted and sealed everything for me. These were BIG sellers at the auction.

5. Rain barrels (5th grade) - I bought the rain barrels locally. They were the standard bright blue which I roughed up and painted using a spray plastic primer from Lowe's. After 2 coats of that, I continued with 3 coats of enamel spray paint in blue and green.  The kids then painted bugs/umbrellas using a high adhesion latex paint (I'm not sure what it was - it was donated by a parish family that owns a paint store). I then brushed on 3 coats of polyacrylic.  Sounds easy, but was actually very time consuming with all the dry time between coats.

6. Painted outdoor furniture (7th grade) - I think this one is self-explanatory. We used high adhesion exterior latex paint on a picnic table and adirondack chair and then I brushed on a couple coats of polyacrylic.

7. Photography (8th grade) - Another parent and I worked with the 8th graders on this. Using our DSLR cameras, the kids took photos of the architecture of our church, both inside and outside. We put the cameras on auto, encouraged them to look at things from interesting angles and asked that they take vertical shots so they'd all be the same perspective. Each child took 5 or 6 photos.  I went through all the photos, chose each child's best also trying not to have too many of the same object. Using photoshop, I turned them black and white, adjusted the contrast and made them into a mosaic. The mosaics each contain 12 photos, 4" x 6" in size, with a 1/4" boarder between shots.  I had the mosaics printed locally and then matted to fit 24" x 36" poster frames that were bought on sale at JoAnn's.

8. Advent calendars (1st grade) - Using markers, the kids drew ornaments on 3" square pieces of paper. The artwork was scanned into the computer and I printed it out on fabric.  I bought the printable fabric at JoAnn's on sale - I wasn't worried about it being the best quality as I figure these will likely never get washed.  After the artwork was printed, I attached the fabric sheets to felt using a spray adhesive (505 is the one I use) and stitched around the figures with about a 1/8" boarder.  I cut them around the stitching and attached a sticky-backed velcro dot on the back of each ornament.  To make the actual calendar, my friend and I stitched the numbers on 4" squares of red felt using embroidery floss. I drew the tree on felt, cut it out and sewed that and the squares on an off-white felt background with about 1/8" seam allowance.  To hang the calendars, I sewed a rod pocket at the top for a dowel that has a large length of red grosgrain ribbon tied in a bow.  We used acrylic felt for everything to keep the cost down.

9. Play tents (Kindergarten) - I made these two years ago and you can read about that project in this post. The process this time was exactly the same.  The bamboo came from Lowe's - it's way sturdier than the kind they have at my Home Depot.

Phew. There you go.

Some other things to mention:  Cost is always a concern when doing these projects.  With a little planning, you can do this on a budget. We spent $866.00 on 18 projects and brought in $6800. Not bad, huh? I use coupons from JoAnn's and Michael's like crazy. I have my friends save theirs for me so I can use more than one a week. I also shop the sales. I don't think I paid full price for more than a few things. Also, use your resources and find people who can donate items and supplies. Our 3rd grade desks were donated so the cost on those projects was minimal. The matting for our photography project was done at cost - local businesses are often willing to work with you especially if you mention them in your program or give them a big shout out at the auction.  Look for larger items at consignment, thrift and antique stores. Sometimes we base what we do around what we can find. If you have a carpenter friend, maybe they could build something simple for you to work with.  Finally, working with kids takes time. Give yourself a lot of it, and then add a couple extra weeks to be on the safe side. We had a few time setbacks that were out of our control - snow days, sick kids, etc. If you are finished early, bonus!

I think that's it. Questions? Fire away.

I'm completely, totally immersed with finishing the single girls and with Downton Abbey. Seriously, it's all I can do - sew or watch. While I'm head down working on quilts (or head up, eyes on the TV), I thought I'd tell you a little bit about the auction projects that I worked on for the past few months.

Our school auction takes place every other year. This is the second time that I have been in charge of the kids' art projects. We have 9 grades (K - 8th) with two classes per grade. I come up with an idea for each grade and then each of the classes makes a variation of that idea. I get a lot of help from the art teacher - she takes on a few of the projects herself and uses class time with the kids to work on their art. Certain grades need more time to work on their projects. If that is the case, I go in and work with them or find parent volunteers who can help out.  I also asked for volunteers to help with prepping and finishing some of the projects.  Things like painting base coats on furniture, grouting mosaic tile, quilting and other sewing were done outside of school by myself and a few other parents.  I feel really lucky that our school has many talented, willing people that helped me this year. I couldn't have done it alone.

The hardest part of this whole process is coming up with good, doable projects that people will want to buy and have in their home that don't cost too much to make. This year our projects included play tents (K), advent calendars (1st grade), painted/collaged canvases (2nd grade), painted desks (3rd grade), batik quilts (4th grade), painted rain barrels (5th grade), mosaic bird bath/planters (6th grade), painted outdoor furniture (7th grade) and black and white photography (8th grade). I plan on going into detail on the quilts tomorrow. If there are other projects that you want to know more about, let me know in the comments and I will do my best to cover it all.

I'm completely, totally immersed with finishing the single girls and with Downton Abbey. Seriously, it's all I can do - sew or watch. While I'm head down working on quilts (or head up, eyes on the TV), I thought I'd tell you a little bit about the auction projects that I worked on for the past few months.

Our school auction takes place every other year. This is the second time that I have been in charge of the kids' art projects. We have 9 grades (K - 8th) with two classes per grade. I come up with an idea for each grade and then each of the classes makes a variation of that idea. I get a lot of help from the art teacher - she takes on a few of the projects herself and uses class time with the kids to work on their art. Certain grades need more time to work on their projects. If that is the case, I go in and work with them or find parent volunteers who can help out.  I also asked for volunteers to help with prepping and finishing some of the projects.  Things like painting base coats on furniture, grouting mosaic tile, quilting and other sewing were done outside of school by myself and a few other parents.  I feel really lucky that our school has many talented, willing people that helped me this year. I couldn't have done it alone.

The hardest part of this whole process is coming up with good, doable projects that people will want to buy and have in their home that don't cost too much to make. This year our projects included play tents (K), advent calendars (1st grade), painted/collaged canvases (2nd grade), painted desks (3rd grade), batik quilts (4th grade), painted rain barrels (5th grade), mosaic bird bath/planters (6th grade), painted outdoor furniture (7th grade) and black and white photography (8th grade). I plan on going into detail on the quilts tomorrow. If there are other projects that you want to know more about, let me know in the comments and I will do my best to cover it all.

Most of my creative time these days has been spent working on our school's auction art projects. These are two quilts (one in warm tones, one in cool tones) that the fourth grade classes made using the glue batik method. I'm waiting on one block for each top and then it'll be time to finish them. I struggled with how I want to quilt these - I really want the artwork to shine and I am worried that dense quilting might compete with the large-scale blocks. I've given it lots of thought and I think I have a solid plan. I am going to use variegated thread in the hopes that it will blend in a bit more than white would.  We'll see! For the most part, I am really pleased how they are coming together and hope that they do well in the auction later this month.

(Does the auction talk bore you all to tears? I'd like to share more of the projects, but am unsure if it's interesting to anyone but me.)