I recently bought a knitting loom for my 7 yr old daughter. I had hopes that she would want to learn this simpler process of knitting. Instead, I became addicted to making cowls. Long, short, and in-between. Stylish, warm, easy to wear. For myself, for family, for friends. I think I’m through now though. On to the next craft.

As requested for the winter program at my daughter’s elementary school, I created a cat house (and dog house, not shown) for the stage set.  Using more of the numerous moving boxes that reside in my garage, I stacked variously sized boxes and added a gable and shed roof.  A large homemade plaster rat hangs from a string, as if caught trying to eat the cheese.  The functionalist in me could not resist creating and aligning holes inside of the boxes so that a real cat could play and hide.  Since I don’t have a real cat, my daughter did her best to squeeze inside.  And she then asks if we can build another house big enough for her to play in.  Now that would be fun…

For the past couple years, I’ve made holiday ornaments for my extended family.  This year, I was inspired by some large glass ball ornaments I found at a craft store.  Filled with a variety of mosses, a silver painted miniature pine cone, and an origami crane, this craft was easy, quick, and fun.  I only wish shipping these things was as simple and pain free…

The fall colors were spectacular while they lasted here in Bend, OR. But one frosty night was all it took, and most trees are now brown or bare. Luckily, I had saved and pressed all the best examples of reds, oranges, and yellows. So when my daughter told me she wanted to make a pumpkin out of recycled materials, I envisioned collaging the leaves onto a cardboard sphere.

But when you make something with kids, part of the fun is seeing what they come up with.  So I withheld my own vision and just helped my daughter when requested.  We made a pumpkin shape by freehand cutting some pointed ellipse-shaped gores. All precision aside, I think we still got a pretty good tall pumpkin shape.

Adin loves tape, so after taping the gores together, she decided to tape some orange leaves to the sides.  Next she tried coloring it with crayons and pens. Paint came next. The final touch was to add some insects, since that is what she has been studying in school.  Black felt spiders and flies, and finally a beautiful butterfly using scrap fabric.

I think it looks so much more interesting than the real pumpkins we bought at the farm… and so much better than I had envisioned as well…

It has been too long since I took the time to make something. I’ve had to put aside my craving for a creative outlet as I and my family adjust to our new life in Bend, OR. I recently had an opportunity for a quick creative fix while working with my daughter on ideas for a 3D birthday card for a new friend.

Her friend loves elephants, so we designed a stand-up cardboard pachyderm inspired by the original Animodulos by Godeleine de Rosamel. We had only enough time to make a prototype out of a frozen food carton before we had to head off to the party. So we are saving the elephant idea for another occasion. Or not.

It’s just fun to make something again.  Thank you Godeleine.

My daughter’s 7th birthday party was carnival themed.  As they played the various games, kids collected red tickets in a popcorn bucket.  We didn’t even need prizes because the kids had so much fun collecting more and more tickets.  I thought of a simple necklace craft that would reuse the tickets after the party – or maybe some kids would want to create the necklace at the party.  When I showed the sample to my daughter, her reaction was lukewarm at best. “Nice, Mom.” So I asked her if she thought her friends would like to make a ticket trophy necklace.

“Uh, no.”

“OK, will you at least wear it so I can take a photograph and share it on my blog?” (groan.) “Please.”

Well, her expression in the photo says everything. “Come on, can’t you at least smile?”

“Mom, you didn’t ask me to.”

Good grief.

I am slowly packing our house for a move to Bend, Oregon in a month.  Boxes are everywhere, and my daughter has been “tortured” (her word) because I won’t let her have any of them.  One day I came home and several boxes were cut and altered to make a fort. I held back any comment on the loss of boxes (I can always tape them back together later) and instead enjoyed my daughter’s creativity.  There is nothing precious or precise about a cardboard box fort.  And yet the intimate, playful spaces that are created in ganging together a few boxes are indeed precious.  I promised my daughter we would build an enormous fort after we move to Oregon.  As for my own creative making between now and then, I make no promises…