Craft Day

Today the girls painted birdhouses, boxes and wooden necklaces (and the table and the floor and themselves) while I finished their French memo boards.


Intensity.


(notice the blue paint on Zoë's lip?)

(Doesn't the pink on Charis' nose accentuate her eyes? Not to mention her lunch under her nose?)

While they were busy, I finished the memo boards. I think the project took me about four-to-five hours -- not counting the time I spent fiddling with my staple gun that wouldn't work, running to Joann's for a new staple gun, the time nursing a smashed finger and endlessly bleeding cuticle, and time to exchange ribbon to appease an indecisive child :)

For the memo boards, I bought cheap plastic-framed cork boards, thin batting and fabric (yes, I used my 50% coupon!). I wrapped the boards with the batting and fabric, and stapled them to the back. I then wrapped the ribbon around the board, stapling on the back.

I then used upholstery tacks on the ribbons. But I was afraid the upholstery tacks weren't going to stay in the cork board (and yes, some of them pushed through the back of the cork board), so I pulled them out and coated the peg with super glue. Hopefully that will help. I taped down the staples and excess fabric on the back of the board with clear duct tape (just to give a smooth surface).

(The picture of Mark, Esther and me was taken June 7, 2007 -- the week we met Esther).

I used the same bright, whimsical fabric for each board, but changed the ribbon for each girl (I bought two rolls of ribbon for each board). I also used some puffy, glittery stickers to further personalize each board.

The picture to the right of Zoë was taken June 7, 2007 -- the day we met her.