venice

While it's cold or snowing over most of the country this is what it looked like in Venice yesterday.

hogan of pencils

Jasper wants to build a Native American Hogan for his shelter project at school. This weekend he did a study in pencils.

Halloween

Two Greek Godesses, Charlie Chaplin and Spiderman

Jasper's school costume, a Greek sailor.

retro Jasper

Here is a photo our neighbor Isabelle took of Jasper a couple of years ago. We've known Isabelle since she was about 6, now she's all grown up and studying abroad in Prague.

Isabelle had this quote attached to the photo on her Flickr page.

"There is nothing easier than lopping off heads and nothing harder than developing ideas."
Fyodor Dostoevsky

eyeworks

We made a trip to LA Eyeworks this afternoon where we have been going to get our glasses for about twenty years.

When Sydney needed glasses we called ahead to see if they would fit kids. When we got there Kevyn had pulled about 30 frames to show Sydney. She found the pink and purple frames that she wears everyday.

Now it's Jasper's turn to pick out frames.

He found this retro pair of sunglasses c. 1995. It's the same pair his dad had picked out 15 years ago.

Like father, like son...

tiny canvases

We found these tiny canvases at Blick art supply store. The kids seemed to have fun with them and some acrylic paints. Could make awesome holiday gifts....

Wax

Creations made from beeswax.

Stockmar modeling beeswax can be purchased through Rock, Scissors, Stone.

Heating the beeswax up in warm cups of water will help to soften it, making it easier to work with. Otherwise, it can be softened in your hand.

Kids having fun with melted wax from the ghost candle.

more pumpkins, more veggies

Jasper had a field trip to Tanaka Farms on Friday where he picked carrots, radishes, green beans and onions. He cut them and cooked them up for us tonight. Delicious!

And then there were pumpkins...

Halloween costume sneak peak

Sydney thought she'd be the Mad Hatter but then changed her mind.

Now she's working on an Aphrodite costume.

And for Jasper... well see if you can figure it out. Mustache to follow...

Halloween

The Halloween gnomes and cat were made using patterns from Feltcraft by Petra Berger.

Pumpkin time

We made felt pumpkins using a basic ball pattern from Feltcraft by Petra Berger. The big pumpkin was made with 10 sections and the smaller ones with 6 sections.

For the stem, I improvised with green felt using a pipe cleaner to give it support. Then we stuffed the ball and stem with batting.

The small ball is a great sewing project for kids as young as 5 years old. Use embroidery floss and an embroidery needle so if kids poke themselves, it's not so sharp.

The quality of the felt is important so we try to get 100% wool felt. It's a lot nicer to work with and can make these pumpkins everlasting. A Child's Dream Come True is a good source for natural 100% wool felt.

Joshua Tree

We took a couple of days last week and went camping in Joshua Tree National Park. We hiked boulders and ate by firelight.

And then we saw this guy walking around the boulders... a huge taranchula!