Work in Progress--Kitchen Mural at Buckman Elementary

Buckman Elementary, where Indigo has been going since Kindergarten (only one year left, omg!!) is a fantastic arts focus school. Art is integrated into every aspect of the curriculum. The kids have tons of great experiences with visual and performing arts.

But to be honest, for an art school there is very little permanent art on interior of the building. So you can imagine how excited I was when the PTA approached me to create a mural spanning a huge wall in the kitchen! The wall is about 10' x 23', and the mural wraps around onto the doors on either side, plus I'll be adding some smatterings on the hood above the oven, a door in the back of the room, and an area of the wall in the hallway. Holy huge project, Batman!

As an arts school, naturally it attracts a lot of parents who not only appreciate the arts but are artists themselves, so I am incredibly honored that someone thought of me to do the work. There is such a grand lack of funding in the public schools, especially for the arts. I don't need to tell you how many schools are losing their art programs altogether. Which makes me feel even luckier that my daughter goes to such a great school, and that, even in times like these, our school sees the value of art and is willing and able to fund new projects.

The kitchen may seem an unlikely place for a giant mural, but it is one of the mose deserving. It is an interior room with no windows, mind-numbing fluorescent lights, and horrible yellowish industrial paint (DREARY). But it's a place where children comes every day to get their nourishment and energy for the rest of the day--it should be a cheerful, energetic place! I hope that by the time I'm done, that's exactly what it will be.

Saturday Crafty-ness!

What to do on a cold, rainy March Saturday? Why, make your own dry-erase boards, of course! Heehee, I'm a dork, I know, but a couple of days ago Indigo and I bought a 2-lb container of strawberries. May sound like a lot, but in this house strawberries don't have a chance and we finished them off last night. I was about to throw the container--one of those clear plastic clamshell thingies--into the recycling when I remembered that I really need a dry erase board. That, and it's Saturday, and we've already been to the movie theater today (we saw Bedtime Stories), and it's raining and cruddy out, and we needed a project to finish off our afternoon.

Here are the basic steps:
Cut out a rectangle (or any other shape!) from the clamshell. It has to be smooth and flat, or the dry-erase markers won't erase.

Cut out a piece of white poster board (or matt board) the same size as your clear plastic.

Using a stapler, staple the plastic and the poster board together on all four edges. It doesn't have to be perfect--your frame will cover it up.

Take 4 wide popsicle sticks or strips of wood and measure how long you want them to be around your board. If you're using popsicle sticks, you can probably cut them to size with scissors.

Paint the popsicle sticks! We used acrylic paints, but you could use tempera or watercolor, or even decopage them.

It is really stinky, but I used E6000 to glue the popsicle sticks to the plastic side of the boards. It sticks to plastic better than hot glue.

I also used E6000 to glue a couple of magnets to the back of the boards, so they will stick to the fridge or the inside of a locker. Pretty cool, huh?

I have heard that you can also use this kind of plastic to make your own shrinky dinks, which will probably be my next project when we have another container to recycle. It makes me feel a lot better to be able to use this kind of stuff and not just throw it away. Even in a recycling container, where I am not sure whether it will actually be recycled or not. Now, to go pick up those aliens...

I killed the tooth fairy.

I did it. I killed the tooth fairy. Now I feel guilty about, but what was I to do?!?

Here's how it happened. Last night before dinner, I was sitting at my computer editing photos of my pendants. Indigo crawled into my lap to cuddle as I clicked away. We were talking about the woman pendants--she decided some of them looked like her, some like me, and was telling me which was which. In sweet 7-year-old fashion, she asked me to make one that looked just like her and list it on etsy, telling everyone that it was her.

Suddenly, mid-conversation, she pulled away from me a little bit and looked directly at me. "Mama," she said, "Tell me the truth now. Do NOT even lie. Is the tooth fairy real?"

I stumbled for a second in shock of the question. I have always felt a pang of guilt surrounding the tooth fairy, Santa, and other such creatures that are fun to pretend about but are really a big, fat, lie. My stomach turned a bit as I tried to decide what to say. Gain some time, answer with a question, "Are you sure you want to know the answer to that?"

"Ma-ma! For real! You have to tell me the truth. Is the tooth fairy real or is it you that comes in and puts the money in there?"

I sighed. I have always been honest with her, sometimes giving kid-versions of things, but still being honest. And I expect her to do the same. At her young age, we have even talked about periods and how babies are made, in answer to her questions. I just couldn't lie to such a straightforward question. "Yes, honey, the tooth fairy is really me. I'm sorry to tell you that, but it is just a game that we play."

"So it was you that wrote those tiny notes from the tooth fairy?"

"Yes, it was me. How do you feel about that?" She put her head on my shoulder and hid her face a bit. "Are you okay Sweetie?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." Pause. "So, what about Santa Claus?"