This weekend, pumpkin patches across the country (list of participating pumpkin patches) will be taken over by the crew at Ice Age to help to get the season off right.  As part of a nationwide initiative, Fox will be hosting Family Fun Days this Saturday and Sunday, October 24 and 25, at various pumpkin patches in your community with professional pumpkin carving artists, movie giveaways and other festive activities that create the perfect fall outing for the entire family.

You will have the chance to win prizes including DVD copies of the first two installments of the Ice Age trilogy, and branded Ice Age glow sticks to keep Halloween night fun and safe.

Do you little ones need some color sheets to get in the spirit? The good folks at Fox have provided some Ice Age Halloween sheets that you can print and color (here’s the compressed file).

]]> http://blog.constantchatter.com/2009/10/23/foxs-ice-age-is-coming-to-a-pumpkin-patch-near-you/1110/feed 0 http://blog.constantchatter.com/2009/03/10/lets-make-playdough/792 http://blog.constantchatter.com/2009/03/10/lets-make-playdough/792#comments Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:15:22 +0000 Chatterblog http://www.constantchatter.com/?p=792

photo: Trisha | The Zest: Cooking Like I Mean It

Did you know that you can actually make your own playdough?

Granted it won’t have that familiar PlayDough scent, but if you make it right, it just might smell good enough to eat!

Oh yeah, it’s actually edible too. Just be sure to store it in an air-tight container and it should last you quite a while.

Basic Homemade Playdough

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 cups water
Food coloring

• Put all ingredients in a saucepan and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.
• Stir constantly.
• Divide into batches and add food coloring.
• Store in an air-tight container.

Peanut Butter Playdough – this one doesn’t use food coloring, but it’s a fun twist on a fun activity!

Ingredients:

1 c. Smooth Peanut Butter
1/2 c. Honey
2 c. Nonfat Dry Milk

• Mix together the peanut butter and honey first.
• Add half of the dry and mix; then continue to add a little at a time until it feels soft and playful!
• Use less than 2 cups of dry milk if the clay seems to be getting dry.
• Store in an air-tight container.

photo: jimmiehomeschoolmom

Tip for the lactose intolerant: mix together the honey and peanut butter and then slowly add 8 – 12 ounces of corn meal a little at a time until your clay is the desired constancy.

Kool-Aid Playdough - no food coloring needed as it takes on the color of the koolaid.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
1 pkg unsweetened Kool-aid (just the dry koolaid, don’t mix it into juice)

1 cup boiling water

1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil

• In a bowl, mix flour, salt and kool-aid.
• Stir in water and oil.
• Knead with hands for about 5 minutes.
• Store in an air-tight container.

Do you need a quick and easy gift that you can make with the kids?  Decoupage is nothing more than gluing stickers or pictures onto something such as a box, an ornament or a frame.  You’ll spend more time heading out to your local craft store to pick up the (inexpensive) supplies than you’ll spend actually taking the time to create the project. It can be a fun way to add a personal touch to a favorite photo.1) Gather your supplies – You’ll need the following: an inexpensive frame with a flat, wide surfaces; Mod Podge (I like matte); scrapbook paper or pretty wrapping paper; text cut from magazines, stickers or 3-D scrapbooking images; a paintbrush and a clean work surface.

2) Measure the paper against the frame & cut out the middle being sure to leave extra paper to wrap the edges completely.

3) Paint over the frame with the Mod Podge to glue the paper to the frame. After carefully placing the paper onto the frame, wrap the extra paper around to the back, smooth out any wrinkles and paint over the paper again with the Mod Podge.

4) Apply any stickers, words or decorations after you’ve applied the top coat of Mod Podge.  If you want, you can paint an additional coat to give everything a good seal and a nice gloss.

5) Allow a couple of hours for the frame to dry thoroughly and admire your mad decoupage skillz (this is actually the longest time you’ll invest in this project).

This method can also be used to create picture frames using different images or text from magazines (the frame below was made using text from wedding magazines – I wrapped the frame first with inexpensive wrapping paper as outlined above so there wouldn’t be any of the bare frame showing between the overlapped text).  In this case, you use the Mod Podge to apply each piece of paper, overlapping text as desired.  When you’re finished with everything, top with a final coat to seal and glaze.  Be warned, this method takes much longer to create between cutting out the text and applying each piece one at a time.

I’ve also used a similar method to create magnets.  Using some fun fonts and pretty paper, I printed up a selection of words (in this case: love, hope, dream, live, breathe, relax, etc.,) cut them out for each piece of large, flat glass (found in the floral section of your local craft store or Wal-Mart) and then used the Mod Podge to glue the paper to the glass and the magnet to the back of the paper.  Again, this takes a little longer create but is still super easy to do.

Of course, some projects turn out better than others, but don’t let that stop you. For example, I’ve personally found wrapping paper much easier to work with as it’s thinner than scrapbooking paper, but that also means it’s more fragile. I like to think that there are always a learning opportunities in those mistakes.  Then again, something that makes this a good craft to do with the kids, it’s quite forgiving – you can usually cover up those mishaps with another sticker, picture or magazine clipping. 

Cherish by Jeanette Lynton – This book is fantastic, and a sure-cure for scrapper’s block. In it are 50 two-page layout ideas and step by step instructions on how to cut your paper and assemble each one. Great page designs, easy to create. It’s sure to give new life to your favorite scrapper’s pages!

Emschwar

Believe it or not, you can give people etched glass gifts this holiday season that you made yourself. It’s much easier than you’d think!

This year, half my gift list is getting etched glass bowls or pitchers. It’s so easy, and cheap! (I found the bowls at Walmart for $4 a piece.) It does take a little bit of time, especially with the rub on stencils. I spend about an hour and a half on each bowl, but most of that time is spent on the couch, watching TV while I layout and rub on the stencils.

Here’s what you’ll need:
- glass etching cream (I used Armour Etch brand)
- glass etching stencils (I used the Armour Etch Rub-n-Etch ones. They also make reusable ones, or you can make your own with contact paper)
- rubber gloves
- a paintbrush
- masking tape
- glass objects to etch (bowls, pitchers, frames, mirrors, whatever. Pyrex is not recommended, although I had no problem etching Pyrex)

Here’s what you do:
1. Clean your glass with glass cleaner. Make sure you use one that isn’t “fingerprint resistant” because that will leave residue on the glass.
2. Place your stencil on the glass with masking tape. (If you use the Rub-n-Etch stencils, you’ll need to rub them on with a popsicle stick (included) and then tape again.) I prefer to put several stencils on at once to completely decorate the object, but you can do them one at a time if that’s easier for you.
3. Using the paintbrush, apply the etching cream (thickly!) to the stencil.
4. Wait 60 seconds.
5. Rinse off with warm water. Use the paintbrush to help remove all the cream (as an added bonus, you clean your brush at the same time!).
6. Remove the stencil and masking tape, and dry your object.
7. Enjoy your beautifully etched piece! Can you believe you made it yourself?

Emschwar

The coasters can be purchased at Home Depot, Lowe’s or your favorite home improvement store. They’re actually white tiles and are about 16 cents each. Luckily, I had an entire box of them just sitting in the garage. After buying some mod podge, I went in search of some pictures! I already had developed a number of pictures from our cruise, so these will make great gifts for mil/fil. So, I found a paint brush (we have these in abundance around our house) and a few paper bags (I have no idea why I had these, but I was thankful to find them when I was looking for paint brushes. I’m fortunate to have a paper cutter, so it was really easy to cut a straight line, but if you don’t have one don’t worry, scissors will work just fine.

So, I set myself some room on the dining room table and set to work. You can see my set up here:

Each coat takes about 15 minutes to dry, so I did them one at a time. I’d cut a picture and then glue it on the tile. Then, I’d cut another picture and glue it. After a few of these, I was ready to start my first coat. So, I just cycled through like this. All told, I spent less than an hour on 11 of them (I ran out of room on my paper bags!). After they finish drying, I’ll glue some felt to the bottom so that they don’t scratch the surface of anything that they set on. You can buy felt at any fabric store for fairly cheap, but I recommend looking in the remnant bins at JoAnn’s as anything less than a yard is half price (at least at my local store). Because I won’t be using a ton, this is a good solution.

Don’t think I thought this up myself, I found this on another message board – sewingmommas.com. A woman there had made them – she didn’t give a ton of details, but the mod podge, felt and small tiles was enough information for me.

Jennylou

Knit Knit Knit
Originally uploaded by le happy.

I love finding time to sneak it into my daily routines, too. I enjoy having my hands busy while I watch TV or a movie, for example. Or I’ll bring it in the car for those occasions when my toddler falls asleep on the way home and I don’t want to wake up her by getting her out of the car! And I have to say, there’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of seeing a finished project. You can use your creativity to make your own patterns, switch out colors and alter patterns, once you get some practice.

So you know all the reasons to do it, but how do you get started? Well, if you’ve been missing out on the recent knitting revolution and don’t know where to begin, maybe this will encourage you to jump on in. I’m going to answer some of the most common questions I get about learning to knit.

Knitting looks too confusing and complicated. What’s the basic concept?
If you see someone start knitting, you’ll notice that on the left needle is filled with little loops of yarn. Each one of those is called a stitch. To knit, you wrap the yarn around the tip of the right needle and pull it through the first stitch on the left needle. That’s it! Of course, it can get more complicated later, but most of knitting is just that. Repeat it over and over until the end of the row and then you just swap the needles so the stitches are all on the left side needle again. (This repetitiveness is why it is said to be similar to meditation.)

How do I find instructions to knit something?
You can find knitting patterns at your local yarn shop, at craft stores (like Michaels or Joann’s), online, or in knitting books, booklets, and magazines. A search for “free knitting patterns” will turn up a variety of sites online, plus most libraries have a selection of knitting books that you can check out or photocopy patterns from.

How do I translate the instructions so they make sense? What does K10, P2tog, YO, sl, K3tbl, mean anyway?
Knitting patterns tend to be written in abbreviations. Most patterns or books have a decoding section, where they explain certain abbreviations. You’ll find that most abbreviations are pretty standard and after awhile you won’t have to keep looking for the glossary! I think seeing these abbreviations scares off a lot of people unnecessarily. If you can follow any of the hundreds of internet abbreviations (like LOL and KWIM?), these will be no more difficult to pick up. When really in doubt, there are also a lot of websites that list knitting abbreviations, so a search for that phrase will help you with deciphering.

There are so many different needles, what are they all for?
You have quite a selection, and as you tackle more projects you’ll end up building your own needle collection. Each type of needle comes in a range of sizes (thicknesses). First of all, there are straight needles and they’re varying lengths. While you’re knitting, the project will be hanging off of your needles. So if it’s a small thing —like baby booties— shorter needles are fine. If it’s a bit bigger —like a wide scarf —then you’ll want longer needles. Then there are also circular needles— straight on the ends but connected in the middle, so they make a U shape when you hold them up. Think about it, if you want to make an afghan or baby blanket, that would be a lot of weight to hold up on your needles! This way most of the stitches hang off of the bend in the U. Circulars are my favorite, because no matter how heavy the project, the weight of it sits on my lap instead of my wrists. There are also double pointed needles, which are usually shorter. You need them for knitting small projects around in a circle, such as for hats or socks.

How do I know which size and kind of needle I need? And what does “gauge swatch” mean? Is it necessary to make one?
Luckily you don’t have to buy all types or many sizes at first. Just look at the pattern and you’ll see that it tells you which sizes you’ll probably need. That isn’t always exact, it depends on how tightly or loosely you pull the yarn as you knit. Everyone develops their own natural style with that as they practice. The pattern will also have a section called “gauge” or “tension.” It’ll tell you to knit a little test piece, usually about 4 inches square. If your test swatch ends up too big, you need to go down a size in needles and try again, or go up a size if the swatch is too small. That way you find out before knitting the whole sweater the wrong size! It’s very important for sizing to knit the gauge swatch. Plus, you can use it as a sample and wash it to find out what will happen to the finished product—is it going to felt up (turn from wool into felt) or will the dye run or will it shrink?

There are even more yarn selections than needles—how do I chose the right one for my project?
Again, there are many different sizes and types of yarn. You can go natural with silk, cotton or wool, synthetic with an acrylic or nylon, or modern with a soy or bamboo yarn. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks, and a huge variety of blends exists to give you more freedom. Yarn can be very fine (think lace), thin “sport weight” (baby clothes), medium “worsted weight” (probably most projects you’ll make, like socks and sweaters), or chunky (good for big blankets or a thick scarf). That explains why the type and size of yarn you choose depends on the project you choose. You must get the pattern first before needles or yarn! In the pattern, it will tell you the weight of yarn to use and will also usually suggest a certain yarn brand and type which the model in the photo was made with.

What should I make first?
Something simple! Squares or rectangles are the easiest shapes to start with. But don’t find yourself limited to scarves or clothing. Try something for your house, like making your own washcloths, potholders, dishcloths, baby blankets, or if you know any kids, doll blankets. Once you are used to making the stitches the same size (it’s all about keeping the same tautness on the yarn) and have figured out how to correct some mistakes, you can start branching out to some other patterns and more complex stitches.

And don’t forget to stop by the knitting thread on the Constant Chatter forums. It’s a great place to ask for help with specific problems, vent frustrations, and of course proudly show off your accomplishments. Happy knitting!

-Scooter

Originally uploaded by omnicollective.

The Great American Scrapbook Convention really is a scrapbooker’s dream day – tons of scrapbooking supplies to see, try and buy, workshops to take, crops to attend, and even door prizes to win. If you’re near Arlington, Texas, Chantilly, Virginia or Grand Rapids, Michigan, you should definitely go. Just wear good shoes (you’ll be
on your feet all day) and leave the credit card at home – or you’ll hear about it from your husband later!

Emschwar

Del Monte Fruit Chillers are not the kind of thing I’d ordinarily give a second glance. But when my husband offered me a sample of his Arctic Strawberry Fruit Chiller, it was love at first bite. They taste exactly like sorbet and come individually portioned just like a fruit cup, offering both portion control and the ability to eat them on the go. Brilliant.

Stitch ‘N Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook by Debbie Stoller is my new best friend. As a brand new knitter, I constantly have questions and doubts about my projects. I turn to this book every time and have not yet needed to look anywhere else for an answer. It’s also filled with many hip projects of all skill levels. I can’t imagine a need to own another knitting book for quite some time.

Martha Stewart Crafts, Martha Stewart’s new scrapbooking product line at Michaels. I might as well out myself as a lover of everything Martha, and these products are no exception. My mind is spinning with possibilities and projects.

My local farmer’s market and all the wonderful fresh food. To find a farmer’s market near you, check the Local Harvest website.

Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky, the latest release from an awesome band. I’ve had the first single “What Light” on repeat since I first scored the free download on their website. The rest of the album is equally intoxicating. It’s the perfect accompaniment for a summer night with friends, the grill and a cold beer.

lawyerlee