Pepper Paints

You Are A Winner!!!

Today is Learn Nothing Day

It’s absurd isn’t it? The sheer idea that you could ever learn NOTHING? Especially in a whole 24 hours. I have barely even been up for an hour and I have learned about a Gum Wall in Seattle, How to Regrow Celery, I found this thought provoking and mostly funny!, Niagara Falls goes Rainbow for Marriage equality in NY and that is just while having my first cup of coffee with my best friends fb and twitter!

With more failure to come today– I plan on listening to THIS , re reading HOW TO STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST and finishing up a book I am reading. I haven’t even considered all of the  unplanned learning that will inevitably happen while I go about my day.

We are all failures at learning nothing. It is a non discriminating holiday. Age, race, sex or location can not keep you from learning. And it’s a great thing to be a failure at!! Congratulations-you win!!

My Art

This is a piece I have showing at The Upper Arlington Concourse Gallery. The LABORING show includes excellent pieces of art by fellow women in our group of Mother Artists at Work.  The show opening is Friday April 29 from 2 to 5 pm. There will be a screening of WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS? at 2:45 followed by a round table discussion. If you are a woman, a mother an artist you need to see this movie. If you can’t make it to the opening, the show will run through May 20. Our best work so far!!

Color Project 1

DIY Lunch Bags And Gift Bags

I bought white lunch bags from one of my favorite local gems, Cake Craft. Cake Craft is a bakers oasis. Every type of candy mold, cake decor, boxes etc you can imagine.And all the sprinkles oooh!!

We used liquid water colors to paint our gift bags. I barely diluted the water colors keeping them as bright as possible. Open the bags up to keep the paint from bleeding through.

We let the colors run together on some and painted designs on others.

Take care not to tear them when they are wet. Once they dry they are ready to be filled with a gift or a lunch!

Look at the pretty bags at Artsyville! Actually look at all the pretty things there!!

Painting Photos

I saw the most awesome idea over at Eclectic Chica last week! I couldn’t wait to paint some of our own photos.

I went through some of our photos and printed out a few in black and white and put out some tempra paint and different size brushes.

This was a really fun. The girls spent a long time painting their photos.

I put the extra black and white print outs on the art table with crayons and markers for later. Such a simple idea–I love it!!

Thursday’s Recipe – Super Easy, Home Made CrockPot Yogurt

The chef and I have been very busy in the kitchen this summer!

I have always wanted to make my own yogurt but never found a recipe that looked easy enough. Until now!!

This is the recipe I followed.

It was ridiculously simple.

Because this is unsweetened I have been using it like sour cream as well as yogurt. Over the top of grated cucumbers with lots of salt and pepper Mmmm-In smoothies, over fruit with a little maple syrup. Oh boy-a half gallon of milk’s worth of yogurt did not last long around here!!

Are there any home made yogurt experts out there that could answer some of my questions??? Like in addition to starter can I add more probiotics to make a super cultured yogurt? I am not sure if they would grow. I am also interested in making some non dairy non soy yogurts…Oh the possibilities!!

Sharing Some Blog Love, Patriotic Cookies & 4th of July Jewelry…….

Here is what I am loving these days……….

Do you have Inspiration Overload?   Um–yeah, I totally do! So I thought like a song that is stuck in your head–I would unload some of what is in my head and in my Google Reader these days!!

Child’s Play has a whole new place!

I will be using some of my mint to make THIS

If ever you can’t find me–look Here

I am all about dirty, hippie children!!

More inspiration at this pretty blog

And if you are looking for the perfect little cookie to make over this 4th of July Here are my favorite patriotic cookies

Or some patriotic jewelry and accessories!!

Happy, Happy 4th of July!!

Make Your Own Hula Hoop …. We Did!

My two older kids learned how to hoop years ago. They have taken a few hooping classes and practiced on and off for years. They can do some tricks and walk around and keep the hoop up and going around effortlessly for hours.

These photos are from a few years ago at circus practice. I on the other hand never could get the hang of hooping.  Even as a kid I just couldn’t get the hoop to stay up. It always looked so fun but I also felt self conscious that I couldn’t do it so I didn’t practice at it much. And just figured I was just someone who couldn’t hoop.

Now fast forward to  this year. One of the great things about the internet and blogs is being able to see how other people live. I have been loving the new wave of unschoolers that have taken their lives on the road.  I have been  living vicariously through these families whose blog updates I  anxiously await just to  see what “we” are up to in our customized RV!  I so wish we could pack up and go–live an adventure on the road. But alas-my family says NO!  So as I sit here and dream I notice that many of these women have taken up hooping. They look like they are having so much fun.

And then Sara posted this giveaway and I entered thinking Molly would love a new hoop. But as I began clicking around her post I found that Lara and Superhooper were taking their hoops on the road and heading towards Ohio. Without a second thought I contacted Lara and invited her to Columbus.  And with that I decided eff it I was going to learn to hoop.  I didn’t care if I looked foolish. For three days my kids tried to teach me. Nothing. I watched countless how to hoop videos on Youtube and even checked a hooping book and DVD out of our library. I was dreaming about hooping.  Then it happened!!! On day 5 finally I could keep the hoop up for a minute or two. And each day it gets easier and I don’t have to make such huge exaggerated movements to keep the hoop up anymore!!! YEAH for me!!

Ginger learned too. But she is learning much faster and is working on tricks already. She literally went from not being able to hoop at all to using 2 full size hoops in less than a day.

One of our hoops broke and with 4 hoopers and being down to 1 hoop we needed more…we had to have more! So we went to Lowes and bought our supplies. (There are instructions and tips all over the internet.)

irrigation tubing  160 psi  3/4 inch

3/4 inch connectors

various colors of electrical tape and duct tape  (we found some metallic tape at a craft store.)

you will also need a hack saw and a blow dryer

Don’t be intimidated this is super easy

Measure your tubing –your hoop should come between your navel and your nipple.  The bigger the hoop the easier it is.  Mark it and cut it with a hack saw.

Heat one end with the blow dryer to soften up the tubing so the connector fits in easier. This only takes a minute or two. Once it is warm shove the connector in half way.

The girls wanted their hoops to make noise so we added rice to the tube

Next heat the other end and connect the tube together as close as you can get it. Then we wrapped a bit on electrical tape at this point to keep it together snugly.

Next–decorate your hoop however you want using electrical tape and  duct tape. The duct tape is a little slippery and wrinkly for hooping so electrical tape is recommended but we used both.

As soon as we finished we went and hooped in the dark in the back yard! There just isn’t enough room in the basement for three hoopers—unless we stand on the furniture!

Looks like we are set now! The white hoop in the front is actually an LED hoop that my husband made for Molly for Christmas a few years ago.  If you are local and are interested in joining us for free classes with Lara let me know!!! She will be here next weekend. Happy Hooping!!