July 12, 2011

scrapbooking with kids and what do I do with all this stuff?

July 12, 2011/ molly balint

It just so happens that my cousin happens to be the emperor of digital scrapbooking--and the brains and beauty (sorry, Randy!) behind Designer Digitals. Spend a few moments on the Designer Digitals site and you'll be fighting the urge to start filling your cart with amazing bits of digital supplies from designers like Katie herself, Ali Edwards, Cathy Zielske and other talented designers.

As much as I love the idea of digital scrapbooking, (no mess! no storage!) I'm finding that my daughters aren't quite at the point where they can scrap independently, without my help.

Months and months ago, Katie gave my girls a few of her scrapbooking kits--which include an album, papers and all kinds of bits and bobs and supplies to make their own pages.

Armed with my favorite little compact photo printer, a (rare) cleared-off kitchen table and complete and utter free-reign to cut, paste, write, draw, glue and (make a giant mess) my girls have fallen in love with scrapbooking.

When we get out the scrapbooking supplies, I try to make myself pretty scarce. The more mothering years I have under my belt, the more I realize that it's often good to step back and out of the way of my girls' creative process. I'll come through every now and then just to be sure supplies are being properly shared and caps are being put back on glue sticks, but otherwise, I find that it is in that independence and freedom where the magic really happens.

And I know myself well enough to know that if I didn't leave the room, I'd be directing the placement of every button and paper color combinations.

For Emma, my oldest, I'm seeing lots of emotion (and passion:) come out on the page. I'm getting glimpses of what parts of her day spark her interest. She is also quickly becoming my journalling child. She keeps her commonplace, and this summer she's been keeping an almost daily record of her mornings at the barn. And she's slowly transfering some of that journaling into her scrapbook.

Mary, just a few years behind Emma is trying to keep up with her older sister--writing, journaling and scrapping things that are important to her.

And for Elizabeth, it's all about play and color and layering and deciding which colored brad goes with which puffy sticker.

Meanwhile, my homeschooling wheels are starting to smoke as I'm trying to figure out how I can incorporate this medium of creativity into our school days without making it feel forced. For now, at the very least, I think I'll encourage a weekly scrapbooking session as a journalling element to our curriculum. Maybe even let them earn the purchase of new supplies! But I'd love to see how I could make this stretch into some academic areas, as well.

I'm still working on that.

In the meantime, if you're a scrapbooking pro and you have any suggestions for STORAGE, I'd love to hear. My current system--throw it all back in the lid of the box it came in--isn't quite working out. There must be a better way.

And I'd love to hear if you're a scrapbooker, or if your kids have caught the bug just like mine. Do tell!

June 30, 2010

their summer list

June 30, 2010/ molly balint

play putt-putt golf

climb to the waterfall at Rocks

make wooden animals with the jigsaw

have lunch with daddy at work

pick blueberries at andy's

make an art project with emily

have a picnic at a park

go to a concert

go to the Walters or the BMA

make a trip to Good's

pajama swims every night

go to the zoo

hike in the big woods

visit oregon ridge

climb a steep mountain

collect leaves and make a field guide to enter in the fair

paint wooden dolls

visit the McDougals

sleep out in the yard

paint rocks

eat a fluffernutter

go out for ice cream

make friendship bracelets

make a BOOK

December 21, 2009

decorating, naturally

December 21, 2009/ molly balint

This is one of those posts I've been meaning to share for weeks now. But I'm just getting to it this morning. A little late, I know, but maybe it will provide a little inspiration for any last-minute crafting you and your family might do this week.

Emma and Mary's 4-H club decorated a Christmas tree this year which then gets auctioned and sold for charity. This year the club decided to create ornaments for the tree that were all handmade using natural materials. The idea was inspired by the Brandywine River Museum which decorates a two story tree each year made completely of these handmade ornaments, with natural materials gathered from the grounds of the museum.

For the get-together the 4-Hers were told to gather and bring any natural materials to the meeting with them, as well as a good supply of hot glue guns! Everything was dumped into a large table and within minutes the 4-Hers were creating.

It was truly amazing for me to stand back and watch the creative minds of these children come to life. Many had never visited Brandywine, but with a table full of raw materials, they were able to come up with the most creative, amazing, inspiring ornaments. Their ideas were endless.

The tree turned out to be amazing, as you might guess. It won an award at the festival, and was one of the first to sell( for quite a good price. ) And it has inspired quite a few crafting moments here at home as well. Especially when the combine was working across the road last week, spewing corn cobs and seed into our yard....

I truly hope this inspires you to take a little walk outside and gather. You'll be surprised what little minds can come up with. Just have the glue gun hot and ready.

See the whole set of ornaments HERE.

November 16, 2009

sun, day 2

November 16, 2009/ molly balint

Good Morning, friends.

We are on day two of sunshine and I am soaking it in. It has been a wet, dreary fall so far and I'm learning to truly appreciate each sunny day, as if it were a gift.

Yesterday, I actually found myself out on the mower--mowing our grass in the middle of November. I have to say, I'm sad to see that job disappear for the winter. It is one of my favorite things--ipod on, children can't interrupt me, seeing the trail of accomplishment (mowed grass) behind me. And to top it off, the mower we use is one of those commercial zero-turn kinds. The kind that spins on a dime. I think you all know how much I enjoy a good power tool. And this, though much bigger, falls in the same category. And when you have as much grass to mow as we do, a little riding mower would take half a lifetime to get the job done.

Did I just write about riding mowers on my blog?? I'm turning into my husband....

Last week was a long one--Dan was home sick for two days, which always seems to throw everything off, even though we barely saw him emerge from the guest bedroom. And the girls and I were on house arrest the rest of the week, as my car was in need of brake repair. Let's just say, when it gets to the point of grinding, it's time to change the brakes. Thank goodness, my husband could do it, and save us the astronomical costs of repair.

Did I just talk about changing my car's brakes on my blog? I am turning into my husband...(I did refrain from talking about the frozen calipers [my new vocab from the weekend])....

We also had rain all week and by Friday the girls (and I) were suffering from a severe case of cabin fever. I could tell they had huge amounts of energy that needed to be expended, so I got them going on a project. I figured they could expend that energy in a creative form. Creative therapy, I like to call it.

creative therapy for children suffering from cabin fever

So we pulled out the iron and ironing board and my big basket of fabric scraps and began cutting out triangles for what will eventually become a little flag banner to hang above the beds in their room. Each child had a job--Mary turns out to be an excellent iron-er. And Emma traced and cut out (with pinking shears) all the triangles.

Elizabeth "sorted" the scrap basket. And Ruby laid behind me and chewed up tiny bits of fabric scraps and paper. She's such a help.

Immediately, the mood of the house changed. The girls settled down and became engrossed with their jobs. Emma, who loves a good project, began to talk my ear off. I barely spoke through the whole project except to answer a few questions, or agree with the things she was sharing with me. It seemed like all that energy was coming out through her hands, and her mouth.

It was a great way to break the week's foul mood.

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In other news, the winner of Friday's Show & Tell giveaway is Emily Preston.

Emily, please send me an email (you'll find it on the About Molly page) and let me know you're mailing info. I'll get the book out to you asap.

November 05, 2009

carving pumpkins with power tools

November 05, 2009/ molly balint

Our pumpkins barely made it to the carving blocks this year. In fact, if I hadn't rescued them quickly enough our chickens would have made short order of them, just like this scene. In fact, the chickens had already started some of the "carving" for us.

Since we didn't get to the carving until after Halloween, I really wanted to encourage the girls away from faces to something that could be more Fall-ish. Emma seemed pretty dead-set on carving something scary into her pumpkin...that is, until I brought out her daddy's power drill.

I wish I had pictures--bits of pumpkin flying everywhere. Girls wielding power tools. But a mother can only handle so much power tool safety without trying to photograph it at the same time. Some things are better left to the imagination.

Once the carving was finished, I happily carried the pulpy mess into my kitchen where I spent a painstakingly long amount of time cleaning the seeds. I LOVE pumpkin seeds. I mean, seriously LOOOVE them. It really bothers me if I accidentally let one slip into the discard pile, or I miss one hiding in the pulp. I get every.single.seed.

And then I roast them with a little salt and butter in the skillet, all while fighting off little fingers who try to get in on the goodness.

Now they are sitting on the center of our kitchen table in a canning jar, whose lid I have screwed on so tight, I can barely get it off myself. It's kid-proof, requiring help (and the rationing of seeds) whenever little children decide they want to dip in to the treasure chest of seed-wealth.