Month: April 2011

Decoupage Paper Mache Eggs

A simple, fun decoupage project for a spring celebration or Easter craft. You could also use this technique to cover balls with blue and green tissue paper for a fun Earth Day project.

We covered these paper mache eggs with watered down glue and colorful tissue paper.

After we glued the tissue paper on the egg, we painted over the tissue paper layer with more watered down glue to smooth out the layer of paper and ensure that is was properly adhered.


The toddler wants me to add that “we got our hands all covered with stuff… with red tissue paper!” Translation: the color from the tissue paper may bleed all over your fingertips. This only happened with the red and pink tissue paper; the blue and green tissue paper didn’t bleed on us, so different brands and different colors may make a difference.

Our eggs, shown below while they were drying, have a matte finish. I may apply a coat of glossy mod podge to create a sheen, but for now we are enjoying them.

To no one’s surprise, both of these decoupage paper mache eggs have made their way into the play kitchen.

For more information about decoupage, see our Picture Frame Decoupage Project post.

Our Spring Garden

We’ve been gardening! And by gardening I mean we’ve been weeding, weeding and weeding some more… yes, I know, we’ll be weeding ALL SUMMER LONG. It’s one of those perpetual cycles, like laundry or dishes, that can really bring you down. The good news is that 1) I get to work outside and the weather truly is gorgeous here in Sonoma County, and 2) I have a wonderful little helper to keep me company.

If only I could get her to clean up her garden tools. Ahem.

The Little Miss and I have started planning out and planting our front yard victory garden. Almost all of our perennial plants have resurfaced, so we’re focusing on cleaning up those beds and making room for our vegetables.

Last year we planted potatoes, chard, carrots and lettuce in the front yard:


This year we’re shaking things up, rotating the location of our crops, and planting peas, (keeping the same) chard, and tomatoes:

Last year the raised bed contained tomatoes, zucchini, herbs and strawberries:

This year we’re devoting the bed to strawberries, with a few leftover pea plants (that we couldn’t find another spot for) and some (yet to be planted) herbs:

Tonight the temperature is supposed to drop to freezing, so I’ve laid out our frost blanket. We’ll see if the crops survive! We’re all about the garden drama here in the wilds of Northern California.

A Creative Salad (Felt Salad Project)

For the several weeks I’ve been slowly sewing up a felt salad of mixed greens and baby spinach to add to our play kitchen.

First I traced the leaves (pulled straight from our garden/fridge!), then I matched the colors of the leaves to felt and found embroidery thread to match the leaf veins. I cut out the templates, cut the felt, and sewed up the veins.


I made baby spinach leaves:

Mesclun salad mix:

Felt mushrooms to match:

I sewed two pieces of felt together where you see the brown ridges, then we felt glued the rest of the mushroom together.

She may not be that interested in eating a real mixed greens salad yet, but she’s playing with her felt salad every day.

I figure we’re one step closer to the enjoying real thing and, for now, I’ll take it!

Sprung Into Summer

We’ve been abruptly catapulted from rainy Northern California winter weather into full-on 70 degree summer mode.

With a break from the rain, we head out into the yard, pull weeds, plant seeds. We tend the garden and watch it almost instantly respond. The perrenials, after being nourished by four months of rain, during which time they sent roots deep into the ground, show themselves and grow, grow, grow.

The bright California sun shines down. We put on sunscreen, deck out in hats, capris and fancy sunglasses. We seek out shade (at the playground, the farmers market) and wind (at the beach) to cool ourselves.

We go for scooter rides every single day.

We savor every moment outside and try to remember it’s only the beginning of April. I hold my breath as I wait for the rains to return. This week? Next week? The week after? The dry summer isn’t really here already, is it? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, we’re making the most of it.

Starting the Week Off Right

I like to begin the week with a clean kitchen.

Every week I try to keep the kitchen like this but, alas, I find the task to be impossible.

So instead I start my week off enjoying this temporary sense of calm, reminding myself that the kitchen will stay like this for only few hours (minutes?!) before the dishes begin to accumulate and the clutter piles up. I try to take a deep breath and enjoy the moment.

Of course, the kitchen isn’t really clutter-free. There’s always this giant pile of things I need to attend to TODAY… but we can turn a blind eye on that corner and just focus on the cooking space.

Clean. Sparse.

Ready to mess up!

Time to get cooking…