[-craft, kids-]

here’s a fun activity to do with or without your kids!

by Suze Corte

Spring is in the air, so we know you’re going to want to make some of these hanging delights to brighten your porch, balcony or sunroom.

This is a tried-and-true project that’s fun for children and adults of any age. We are giving away our secrets, here, so the least you can do is dig in and have yourself some fun! You have to let your project dry overnight before you complete it on Day Two.
So if you’re into INSTANT gratification, see Optionalities*.

Materials:

Yarn-any color
White glue (like Elmer’s)
Liquid starch
Bowl
One-inch brush
White tissue paper
Colored tissue paper-Spring colors, torn into random 2-5 inch shapes
Nylon fishing wire
Hole puncher
Scissors
Spray starch (optional)

Day One:
Cut off a long piece of yarn 14-18 inches for each Floaty Tissue Paper Delight. You’ll probably want to make at least three.
Tie the length of yarn together and knot it so that you have a circle of yarn.
Mix together in your bowl: 1 cup of glue, ¼ cup of liquid starch and ¼ cup water.
If the amounts are not exact, that’s okay. You can have tons of fun no matter how the mixture comes out.* If the mixture becomes lumpy, add more water and/or glue.
After you have your mixture the consistency of very heavy cream, you’re ready.

Lay out two sheets of white tissue paper on your worktable, one on top of the other. Drop your yarn circle into the glue mixture and coat it all over. Mix it around with your hands for sensory fun.

Take the yarn out of the glue mixture and plop it onto your tissue paper. It will be drippy and that’s fine. This is a messy project. Begin to form a shape with your yarn circle. Make a large shape, fairly simple, with lots of open space in the center of the yarn. It can be a heart, a nebulous shape, a bird, anything!

Once you’ve got your shape ready on top of the tissue paper, dip your brush into the glue mixture and very lightly brush glue onto the yarn and the surrounding tissue paper. If you brush too briskly or too much, the tissue paper will tear, so a light, springy touch is what you’re after.

Take your pieces of torn up colored tissue paper and lay them down onto your yarn circle, overlapping as you go. This is willy-nilly placement; don’t worry about being exact. The pieces can flop over the yarn onto the white paper; that’s perfectly okay.

As you’re laying out the colored pieces, dip your brush in the glue again and again and use a light stroke to make the paper stick. You can brush right over the top of all the tissue paper. If some of the paper tears, you can “mend” it with another piece of tissue paper.

When you’re done, there will be about two to three layers of tissue paper. Keep it light! Next, place two more sheets of white tissue paper on top of the colored layer. Brush over this lightly, as well. Make sure it’s all nice and sticky and gluey. Hang your creation up to dry. We use a drying rack and clothespins. It might drip, so put newspapers underneath to keep the floor clean. If you want to make this nice and stiff, you can apply some spray starch at this stage. Experiment!

Day Two:
Your tissue paper creation should now be dry. Cut around the shape just barely outside the yarn, cutting away the excess tissue paper. You will be left with your interesting shape ready to hang. Punch a hole in the top and hang with nylon fishing filament. Watch how your Floaty Tissue Paper Delight plays with the spring breeze! Make lots and hang them all over your special space!

Have fun and let us know how this turns out for you!

*Optionalities: If you’re really into sensory experiences, transform your glue mixture into “Gak” once you’ve made your Floaty Tissue Paper Delight. Just add more liquid starch until you start getting a solid mixture. It will be slimy and fun. This will wash off hands with soap and water and lasts if you store it in a sealable plastic bag. We hope you have loads of fun, and that playing with all of this frees up your creative spirit!

about the author: Suze Corte is a pre-school teacher with many years experience as an art teacher, primarily to young children. she is also an artist and writer and contributing editor to The PCQ. More of her artistry can be seen at her flickr photostream or click on Suze Corte in the tags to see all her PCQ posts.

Originally published in the April 2005 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: inspiration

Suze Corte is a writer, artist and pre-school teacher in Houston, Texas. In 2007, she was chosen as be the Houston Area Association of Educator’s of Young Children’s Teacher of the Year and the Texas Association of Educators of Young Children’s Teacher of the Year. Congratulations, Suze! It is a well-deserved recognition.

[-gardening article-]

Planting a garden is work full of hope and joyful expectation. If it’s time to plant seedlings where you are, this article will inspire you and help you to enjoy the fruits of your labours.

by guest contributor, Sherry D. Ramsey

As gardeners, we all share some of the joys that growing things can bring: the thrill when that speck of green pokes up, signaling an awakened seed; that heady raw earth smell when the soil is turned for the first time in spring; the burgeoning splashes of color as the garden fulfills its springtime promise. Walking the garden, reveling in our successes, and fetching a breath of that intoxicating scent of flower and earth and sun make all our hard work worthwhile.

But there are other, out-of-the-ordinary ways to enjoy the garden that many of us miss in the practical rounds of weeding and watering, pruning and cultivating. Here are a few simple suggestions for delving deeper and discovering the heart and soul of your garden this summer.

• 1. Make a point of observing your garden at different times during the day.

The dew-spangled garden just at dawn (or at least early morning) is different from the sun-swollen mid-afternoon garden, and a distinct experience again in a cool, misty twilight. Nothing compares to the magic of the garden limned by the silvered fingers of a full moon.

• 2. Walk your garden in different weather situations.

Most of us enjoy the garden on a sunny afternoon, but don’t miss its wild, tossed beauty in a windstorm or the deepening greens and cool wet scents of the garden in the rain.

• 3. Don’t just stroll in your garden.

Grab a blanket, stool, or lawn chair and settle yourself close to a flower bed. Now watch the interplay of blossoms, insects, breezes and birds. Observe each petal and leaf in its unique relationship to the plant as a whole. How many color variations are there in a single bloom? A single leaf?

• 4. While you’re sitting there, close your eyes for a few minutes and listen.

The drone of nectar-laden bees, the rustle of foliage, the background of birdsong, the skittering of insects through the grass, maybe even the swift whir of a hummingbird– they’re all part of your garden, too.

• 5. Display a big spray of cut flowers in your garden–they’re not just for inside the house.

Cut flower bouquets allow you to bring together blooms that can’t grow together because of conflicting light, water and soil requirements. The resulting combinations can lend a whole new dimension of beauty to your garden, and a lovely focal point for a patio, deck or gazebo.

• 6. Sprinkle your garden with tiny lights at night, for just pennies.

Tea light candles set in empty glass jars (Mason jars are excellent) weave a flickering path of beauty through the nighttime garden. Watch how flower colors mute and blend by candlelight as the garden takes on an entirely new persona.

• 7. Finally, keep a journal of your garden.

Not just the prosaic facts on planting and blooming dates, plant performance and propagation notes. Weave in your thoughts and observations as you follow the suggestions in this article. How did the garden look in the rain or at dawn? What made it different by candle- or moonlight? How did it sound? Did you learn anything new from your observations? Don’t forget to note down how the garden looked on special days throughout the summer–birthdays, anniversaries, family visits, holidays. Your garden journal will make great winter reading when the garden is sleeping and you’re curled up in your living room, browsing through seed catalogs and dreaming of spring.

The great gift of a garden is that it delights all of our senses. With a little creative thinking, it can delight the spirit and soul as well.

© 2005 - 2007 Sherry D. Ramsey, all rights reserved

About the author:
Sherry writes speculative fiction. She’s published many short stories and her newest SF novel, “One’s Aspect to the Sun” was recently awarded second place in the 28th Annual Atlantic Writing Competition’s novel category, the H.R. (Bill) Percy Prize. She’s also the author of many essays and articles especially on the craft of writing. She is the publisher and editor of the highly successful Scriptorium Webzine for Writers. You can read all about Sherry at her author’s website www.sherrydramsey.com.

Be sure to read Sherry’s other works in The PCQ.
short story
- Accidents Happen
poetry
- UPLOAD
- I, Galaxy

Originally published in the April 2005 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: inspiration