We’re Crafty

I've been meaning to post this for awhile . . . let's blame Eli, shall we?  He's been cranky and clingy and poopy, so we're just in basic survival mode here lately.  But before all this, Elena and I squeezed in a little craft time together, inspired by a project I saw on The Artful Parent blog (I'd post a link, but TypePad is also being cranky and poopy tonight).

We made nature beads out of Sculpey.  We took a walk around the yard and collected bits of leaves, flowers and seeds.  Back in the house, we rolled the Sculpey into balls and then pressed the Sculpey on top of the leaf or other nature item.  I used a wooden skewer to poke holes for stringing and then we baked the discs in a 225 degree oven for 45 minutes and they come out hardened.  We had better luck with leaves than with flowers, but they really came out quite lovely.  We've given some out for mother's day and to Elena's teachers, but this one I kept for myself.  I'd tell you exactly what it is, but I think it's some random weed!  Hopefully as we settle into a summer routine and Eli perks up a bit we'll be able to fit more stuff like this into our days.  We still have embroidery we'd like to get started, and I've got the stuff to do sun prints as well. 

Elena consistently amazes me with her readiness to make anything a craft project, though.  While I find it necessary to research, gather, and prepare a craft to the nth degree, she just dives in with whatever she has available.  We had some cardboard from a box sitting around the other day and she spent half the morning cutting it out and assembling it into a birdhouse.  Version 1 got ruined after we let it sit out overnight and it rained, so the next day she was at it again, making a new and improved version.  She had it on the front porch yesterday and today, and don't you know I risked life and limb rescuing it this evening when a storm blew in out of nowhere!