#8

This past weekend, tattoo #8 happened. I made the appointment SO many months ago (which is what happens when you have the best tattoo guy in the land...he books up quick) and the day finally arrived!

I had prepared myself for the hours and hours sitting that this next tat would entail...Thad (that's my dude) called the night before to confirm some stuff but first played the jokester and said he had to cancel the appointment. Not cool dude. All was good and I was ready.

This round would be a doozy...4 hours or so but worth every second. My long term plan (like years and years and years) is to complete a half sleeve on my left upper arm. I don't have a specific plan for how this will come together....as ideas come, so it will be.

I knew, however, that every sleeve should for sure include some classically drawn flowers. I like pink, I like flowers. They are beautiful. That's about as deep a meaning I have to offer for the choosing of #8.

Here we go:

Boom...I think it's my favorite so far! Currently in process of healing...it will look even more amazing in a few weeks. In the meantime, lots of lotion, sleeping on my right side and shedding of colorful skin chunks (bahahaha....I know that's super gross...but that's what happens...just keepin it real).

'So, what's your plan for tattoo #9?' I'm glad you asked.

I have yet to represent my loving/wonderful mommy and daddy somewhere on this human canvas....something I have wanted but had yet to be inspired with a worthy subject matter.

I asked my mama for some ideas and she suggested a chocolate chip cookie. This is genius because she is a cookie baker by trade and my dad has never met a cookie he didn't like...hilarious. Alas, a cookie tattoo would most likely look like a large mole or questionable skin condition. The idea search continued.

Then it came to me. All my young life, there was a set of wooden carved wings hanging above a doorway. I always liked them. My mom told me that the wings were their first wedding present- hand carved by a friend. I also (in the recent past) may or may not have staked my claim on said wings with a post it note stuck to the back where I wrote 'Dharma wants these someday'. The note may have been dated and parents initials possibly involved...the details are fuzzy.

When I bought my house this summer, mama gifted me with the wings to hang over my door. Wow!

A perfect representation of my parents and a wonderful memory from my childhood. Done deal.

I have an appointment scheduled for early June, can't wait for #9.

Toddler Talk: Winter White

This weekend, it was time once again for our monthly classroom makeover- new arrangement, new toys.

Since the snow is flying and a chill is in the air, we decided to make this week's curriculum theme to be WINTER. We planned several activities to talk about the happenings of the winter season...one of which was this grouptime:

I called it 'Polar Bear Peek'. I told the toddlers that the bear fell asleep....shhhh! Oh my, and now it is snowing. How many snowflakes will it take to hide Mr. Polar Bear??

They thought it was exciting to watch him be covered up one by one by each flake (then count all the flakes at the end of course, cause counting practice was the secret purpose for said activity).

Most delightful was removing them one by one to find him again at the end...the anticipation was killing them! I saved the flake covering his face for last and they cheered for the reveal. And then we counted them all once more for good measure:)

We have added winter books and other activities thru the week that run with this theme as well...paper snowball toss, snowflake window collages and more!

Lastly we made a little dramatic play set to expand the theme to free play time:

A big piece of white vinal (1 yard from Joann...on sale and with a coupon it was less than $10), a bucket of arctic animals, foam snowflakes and some little snow caves made with wipes containers (lids removed, a door cut into one side, and covered with white duct tape to make it a little more durable and extra winter-y). The kids are digging it!

Crafty Corner: Tin Punched Delight

Ok, ok....I know the holidays are over. The tree has been taken down and tossed to the curb, decorations and lights stowed away, cookies gobbled up with not a crumb to be found.

But I have one more little holiday project to share...I think you will like it!

I saw this blog back in November: A Beautiful Mess

Since I saw this 2 days before Thanksgiving, I didn't have time to prepare them for that particular dinner table centerpiece. No worries, another holiday was right around the corner! In keeping with the theme of Christmas, I decided to change the word from 'Thanks' to 'Noel' (although it is wonderful to be thankful at Christmas as well).

First thing's first. The cans. The tutorial said to use any old tin can, and then to later paint the inside with gold paint to really make it shimmer. I liked the idea of shimmer for sure but also thought,'Oh, another step to this that sounds kind of tedious. Getting a nice even coat inside a can is not easy. And then it has to dry, and then...is it really safe to burn a candle so close to paint. Probably, but maybe not?'

Then a magical thing happened as I opened my cans (I saved and froze the contents for later consumption) and poured out the tomato sauce. They were already GOLD!!!!!!

Buy these...no gold paint needed:

Next, I filled the cans with rice to the top (make sure it's as close to the top as possible) and then a little water to allow the rice to freeze in liquid. This will ensure that when you are pounding the nail with the hammer, the can will retain its shape and not collapse. (One of my cans was not quite to the top and I did have to be a little careful when pounding...a fuller can would have been better).

Once frozen, I cut out the letters I had printed (pick the font and size that makes you happy) and then secured them with a long strip of duct tape all around. This tip is a good one. Since the tape will not stick to the cold can, make sure you wrap it around and stick the tape to itself. Boom.

Next, start hammering. I made the holes pretty close together and went to town all the way around. The can had grooves in it, so hammering in the valley of each groove was easier and a helpful guide to keep the distance between the holes uniform.

I then removed the paper/tape and headed to the sink. I was too impatient to wait for the insides to defrost in a pan of warm water, so I ran the can under hot water. The holes I just punched worked nicely to drain water and retain the rice. Once thawed, I just dumped the rice out and rinsed.

Repeat with all cans and you will have a lovely centerpiece for any table or mantel. The tutorial also said to paint the outsides of the cans white, but I kind of liked the shiny tin...so I left it.

So pleased with the result and it was quite a quick project without having to paint anything! This is also such a versatile project - you really could choose any word to fit any fancy occasion! Happy tin can punching:)

Crafty Corner: Dinosaur Roar!

Each month, we change our classroom around...new arrangement of furniture and different toys. We have at least 3 different dramatic play sets each round- I was in the mood for some dinosaurs and all we had were a bucket of plastic dinos and 2 hats like this (not sure where we got them, but they were definitely not sufficient enough for all the Tods to be patient and wait their turn):

Cute idea, but we needed more. Hmmmmm...it's been awhile since I busted out the old hot glue gun and this project seemed just about right for such things.

I found some super cheap winter hats at Wal-mart (like under a dollar each) and scored some stretchy toddler sized cheapy mittens at Joann in a clearance bin as well. (Stock up on these when they are in season, lots of fun things to use them for but they are super hard to find once winter gets underway).

I modeled my new hats after the ones that we already had. I first cut out a few parts...eyes and nostrils:

I carefully glued them on (no burns yet....I most often incur an injury or 2 in process of hot gluing things) and then cut out some jagged teeth. I flipped the front brim of the hat up and glued the teeth to the inside:

Roar (and still injury free):

Next up were some Dino scales/spikes for the top of the head. I cut 2 pieces the same and hot glued them together (leaving about 1/2 inch along the bottom open...for gluing to the hat):

I found it best to bend my knee and place the hat over it for the gluing process...it kept the hat taut enough for me to get the piece glued on straight and flat. (I was in the home stretch now...still no owies to speak of). At the last minute I decided to cut out some circles to glue to the sides for extra flair...this is the point at which I burned my finger like it was nobody's business. Baaaahhhh so close. Also, Yowwwwwwie. Burning glue stuck to baby pinky finger= instant blister. Totally worth it....for the children.

Grrrrrrrrreat. Moving onto Dino claws....

The kids love them and dress up many times in the day to be Dinosaurs who enjoy eating teachers and prowling with clawed hands outstretched. For an added bonus, I also cut out some 'Dino Bones' and just used thick foam board from the craft store. Pretty durable (aside from a few toddler teeth marks here and there). I would call this little project Dino-riffic!