July 2011 – Page 2 – The Creative Salad

Mod Podged Trays

A simple art project that reuses those cardboard-like compostable trays.

We inadvertently buy several of these compostable trays each week. Our local supermarket uses them in their bulk foods section, placing them under dried fruits.

I always save the trays without a set use in mind, knowing they’d be fun for a project.

We decided to paint them simply, layering and mixing red, pink and blue washable kids paint.

After they dried, we added a touch of glitter before sealing the trays with mod podge. They certainly won’t last forever. Because they’re made out of sugarcane, they’re probably already breaking down. But we can enjoy them for a few weeks or months certainly.

We love our simple, sparkly trays with a myriad of uses.

This week they’re holding felt salad greens, shells, and our over-sized decoupage eggs.

Shots, Posts and Tweets July Edition

Here’s a summary of this past week’s Facebook posts and tweets, plus some fun never-before-seen snapshots to cherish and remember:

(snapshot) A pause between scooter rides. (Yes, she’s sporting several fun temporary tattoos!)

(facebook + twitter) There’s a frog living IN our water and gravel table! I certainly didn’t see that coming.

(facebook + twitter) Toddler art envelope making, assembly line style (more info here)

(facebook + twitter) Second batch of granola out of the oven and, while it’s still too sweet, it’s nevertheless unbelievably delicious.

(snapshot) First tomatoes from the garden

(facebook + twitter) Baking brownies is never a good idea, except that it is.

(snapshot) This week’s Thrift Store Score: $3 J-41 shoes in perfect condition in a discontinued (yet coveted!) color that I had planned on buying anyway. Major $$$ saved and I got the color I really wanted!

(facebook + twitter) Toddler armed (with a spray bottle + water) and ready to wash the car, water the plants, clean the windows… or get you wet when you least expect it!

(facebook + twitter) Drinking lavender iced tea and working at a coffee-shop! I haven’t done this since living in Boulder, CO circa 2006. Now if only I could buy myself some inspiration. Perhaps I need to order myself a caffeinated beverage. :)

(facebook + twitter) Our kid slept 13.5 hours last night. If only I had gone to bed at 6:15pm, then I could have slept that much too!

(facebook + snapshots) The best way to visit San Francisco is with friends who LOVE the city. We get to see it through their eyes and have a blast!

(snapshots) Some very needed and incredibly fun artistic down time after a busy day running around the city. Such a fun week!

Poppy Flower Inspired Tissue Paper Art

After shaking the poppy seed pods and planting their seeds in our garden, we felt inspired to do some poppy flower inspired art. We whipped up some collages with tissue paper, glue, and dried black beans.

First we cut petals of red and orange tissue paper, then we adhered them to drawing paper with a glue stick.

We created some three-dimensional poppies made by pulling up and twisting the tissue paper petals around the end of a pencil.

We added some dried black beans with glue to serve as seeds.

A fun, simple, nature-inspired project with fantastic results.

An easy, creative activity to make with kids of all ages.

Poppy Seed Pods

Poppies grow rampant here in Northern California. We see the orange, California-native poppies bloom throughout the spring and summer, along roadsides and in fields. Reseeding themselves, they come up year after year.

Recently we’ve also spotted the larger, more spectacular, non-native Papaver poppy:

Our neighbor Sarah saved us some seed pods from her purple-colored Papaver poppies:

When you shake them, you hear the poppy seeds jingle around inside.

Be careful though! They easily spill out of these holes in the side of the pod. A simple, elegant way to distribute seeds, relying on wind or animals to shake the pods.

We’re excited to sew them in our garden! Thank you, Sarah!

The Only Downside to Being Avid Readers…

All those books really pile up.

Some recent reads…

David has been rereading the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin (that HBO recently adapted as the Game of Thrones) in anticipation of this week’s release of A Dance With Dragons.

I recently reread the Dragonriders of Pern series in chronological order, continue to plow through nonfiction books like Nurtureshock (in the same vein of amazing as Punished By Rewards), and remain a magazine junkie (favs include Country Living, Sunset and Living Crafts).

Our daughter has been reading her way through the Biscuit series on her own, and devouring any Henry and Mudge books that we read to her.

I doubt you find it surprising that we max out our library cards each week.

What can I say? We love to read.