Last Craft of the Summer

School starts next week, so this is our last craft of the summer. Here is a list of what we used for this craft:

Canvas

mod podge

paintbrushes

magazine clippings

First I cut out a bunch of colors from the pages of magazines. I separated them into to piles: warm colors and cool colors.

Then I drew the shape of a fish on the canvas. When it was time for the craft, the mermaids painted mod podge over the canvas and started pasting the magazine clippings to the canvas.

I told them to use the warm colors for the fish body and the cool colors for the water.

After the canvas was completely covered and there was no white showing, the they spread mod podge over the top.

The mermaids enjoyed this craft a lot, and I am going to put a black frame around these fishes and hang them in my bedroom.

Have a great school year, and we'll see you next summer!

Mer-Friends

For the past few months I have been saving cereal boxes to make "giant blocks." The mermaids had some mer-friends over last week and it was finally the perfect time to bring the "blocks" out.

First they made a tower to see how high they could stack the boxes with out it falling over:

Then they made a mansion. They took their dollhouse furniture and set it all up inside to make it nice and cozy. This was fun for all five children, and they could all play at the same time. The mer-boy was especially enthusiastic about this project and kept adding new "additions" to the mansion. It was played with for quite a long time.

Cost: $0.00

Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind...

Okay, okay....so this isn't really a craft you can do with kids from beginning to end, but the blue mermaid did help me lay out the squares, and the red mermaid helped me cut the runaway threads. This is a rag quilt that I copied from one I saw at my sister's house. It is sooooo much faster to make that your standard pieced quilt. And the there is lots of room for error since its raggedness adds to its charm.

This little quilt is for the mer-baby when he is born. If you look close you can see the Boy Scout fabrics I added. Maybe while he's wrapped up in this blanket some of those good Boy Scout qualities will seep into his personality.

One can hope.

A Gift You Give Your Friends

I teach the girls that a party is a gift you give your friends. The mermaids were so excited for their birthday, and I think what made it more exciting was that they were able to be involved in so much of the planning and preparation.
Here is the red mermaid tieing up the paper flowers that she made to the treehouse stairs. Here is the tree house decked out in its party glory. Makes me wish I was turning six, too. Or it makes me wish I was a treehouse. One of the two.

In addition to the paper flowers the girls made the pinata. At first they wanted a mermaid shaped pinata, but after realizing they'd be hitting the mermaid with a bat they changed their minds to making a fish. Which made me happy because a mermaid pinata would have been a little....tricky to make.

The girls had a wonderful party. Thank you to all the kids who came. We hope you enjoyed our "gift" to you.

A Cake Without Cake

The red mermaid has never been a fan of cake, so last year we discovered an easy way to make a birthday cake without it.

We got this recipe from a friend of mine who dubbed it Redneck Ice Cream Sandwich Torte. Pretty fancy, eh?

First you mix up the icing. The mermaids call this the "glue."

Then you lay ice cream bars on a pan/platter/cake stand. Or if you really want to be redneck, on some cardboard covered with tin foil.

Ah...sorry about the sideways photo. Put the "glue" on the first layer of ice cream bars. Then add more bars. You have to work fast! Mmmmm...

Cover the entire cake with cool whip and put it in the freezer until it is time to decorate for the party. This was such a big hit last year that the blue mermaid decided she wanted one this year, too. So we made two.

Here is the official recipe:

REDNECK ICE CREAM SANDWICH TORTE
from Metta Prieto
1 c. coarsely chopped creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookies (i.e. Oreos, about 10)
1/2 c. milk

1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) chocolate instant pudding

1 container (12 oz.) frozen whipped topping (i.e. cool whip), thawed

12 frozen rectangle ice cream sandwiches, unwrapped

2 T. semi-sweet chocolate morsels, grated or multi-colored sprinkles

Instructions 1. Coarsely chop cookies. Combine milk and pudding mix; whisk until mixture is smooth and begins to thicken. Immediately fold in half of the whipped topping and cookies; set filling aside.2. Working quickly, arrange six of the ice cream sandwiches side by side on a Large Platter. Spread filling evenly over sandwiches. Top with remaining ice cream sandwiches, forming a rectangle-shaped torte; smooth sides. Spread remaining whipped topping over top and sides of torte. Grate chocolate over torte or use sprinkles. Freeze at least 30 minutes, or until ready to serve.Yield: 16 servings