chain maille or quilting?

to chain or not to chain? aye, that is the question. and a good one. it seems that as my world expands with new creativity ... new inspiration ..................

my world also contracts with the limitations of aging. age is a very unforgiving companion. at 25 i loved golfing, biking, swimming, sewing, crochet, knitting, painting (pictures, walls, etc), crafts, sculpture, hyperactive little kids ....

i'm twice that age now. and have less than half the enthusiasm and energy lol

i no longer golf. bikes scare me. ride a motorcycle now? i don't even like to drive a car at night. sewing? i no longer sew dolls and wardrobes. i no longer create costumes. i am limited to crocheting baby booties (still can't follow a pattern worth a darn either). i rarely attempt to knit now. i can still paint a wall ... a painting? well, .... no. fewer crafts. no sculpture. and hyperactive little kids ...

... well ...

the nice thing about working at a school is, you get to spend time with kids and then go home to take a nap.

edible play clay

this is a snack recipe that we developed at home. before making this, review the materials -- be aware that kids with food allergies cannot make this because of the ingredients.

Materials: see notes below regarding amounts

• 1 cup nonfat powdered milk
• 1 cup instant "quick" oats
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1cinnamon, raisins, craisins, shelled nuts, sunflower seeds, etc. keep it healthy!

in a medium mixing bowl, combine the powdered milk and oats.

in a large measuring cup, measure the honey, then add peanut butter to make 1-3/4 cups. mix well.

slowly add the honey and peanut butter mix to the powdered milk and oats. mix well.

make sure the kids' hands are washed well, and dry. have them take turns mixing the play clay with their hands.

divide the play clay equally between the kids (dont forget to save some for yourself). have fun making shapes and decorating them with the "extra" ingredients!

Notes:

• the amounts will vary with temperature and humidity. if the clay seems too sticky, gradually add more powdered milk and oats. if it is too dry, gradually add peanut butter. if it gets too crumbly, add honey sparingly -- too much honey will make it sticky and hard to clean up.
• you can eat this as is. it does not have to be cooked, baked, or anything else. if it is NOT going to be eaten right away, make sure you bag it.

silly putty - homemade

this recipe started out as a science experiment to make therapeutic putty for kids. warning: you need to make it very clear to young kids that this is a chemical compound -- it should not be used on porous surfaces (it's tough to get it out of fabric!) and it is not for consumption.

Materials:

• ziploc freezer bag
• 1/2 cup elmer's all purpose glue (washable or school glue won't work)
• 1/2 cup water
• about 1 cup staflo liquid starch (this stuff is blue, but it won't make the putty blue)

pour the glue and water into the ziploc bag. squeeze out most of the air, close the bag, and rub it between your hands to mix the water and glue.

when this is well mixed, carefully open the bag and add about 1/4 cup of the liquid starch. again, close the bag, and rub it between your hands. the mixture in the bag will start to look runny and stringy. don't worry -- just keep rubbing the bag between your hands to mix it.

gradually add liquid starch, closing the bag and mixing as you go, until it is the consistancy you wanted.

NOTES:

• for more liquidy, runny putty (the kind the kids call "snot"), add more water to the glue mix. you can add more water later, as needed, too.
• colour? you want colour??? try food colouring in very small increments -- one drop at a time, mixing well. keep in mind that the food colouring leaches out -- onto skin, clothing, etc. so you might want to stick to the basic white.
• the amount of liquid starch you need will vary -- it seriously depends on temperature and humidity.
• if you're doing this as a kid project, make sure you have plenty of adult supervision.
• time: allow approximately 15 minutes (really energetic kids) to 45 minutes (we had one child whine about having to work so hard). allow an additional half hour to experiment with the stuff.
• mixing this in one giant batch is not a good idea. it gets awfully messy. the individual ziplocs seem to work best for mixing, and eliminates storage issues.

Challenges:

• Stretch it! this works best with the runnier stuff. one kid was able to stretch this thin enough to cover an entire 8' x 4' table with no holes. another kids stretched his batch enough to write his entire name in cursive.
• Bubble it! glob it together in a ball, stick a plastic straw in, and gently blow. the record so far, is a bubble almost 24 wide.
• Bounce it! the thicker it is, the better it bounces!