First Fusings

With great pride and excitement, I showed DH the results of my first attempts at glass fusing.  He picked one up, turned it over and handed it back to me.  "Essentially, all you are doing is putting one piece of glass on another and melting it, right?"

I must have given him a look, because he immediately laughed and said "What?!"

"You made it sound so easy.  I had to cut the glass first you know!"

Although DH may not have been as impressed with my new skill, I am quite pleased with my work.  I only wished I had been able to see the finished product LAST week.  Now that I know what stuff looks like melted, I put more effort into cutting my glass.  Oh well, hopefully I'll have 2 weeks worth of work ready to pick up for next week's final class.  Guess what one of our projects will be?  Melting a wine bottle!  Gee, wonder where I will find one of those..............

A couple of pieces from this first batch are usable for gifts.  I anticipate several more from the other pieces yet to be fired. 

I think this last piece is my favorite from the group.  It feels really nice in my hands & it is made entirely out of scrap glass.  One piece that is pictured was sent back for a second firing.

Cold Soother

I would never claim that this is a cold remedy, but I do feel better when I drink this as I feel a cold coming on.

C-Joy's Hot Cold Soother

• 1 tsp minced ginger (look for it by the jars of minced garlic in your grocery store)

• 1 Tbsp lemon juice

• Honey to taste

Put all the ingredients in a mug and fill with boiling water.  Stir until honey disolves and enjoy!

You can certainly leave the ginger out, but I find it helps keep my sinuses from clogging up.  I have also been known to throw in a dash of cinnamon and a shot of whisky for a "nyquil" replacement before bed!  The ginger is good for an upset tummy as well.  Obviously, lemon juice gives a bit of Vitamin C, and honey is good for reducing coughs and general immune system booster.  Whatever the reason, I feel better after one of these.  In fact, I'm making myself a cup right now!

Holiday Grand Plan Week Five

I did it!  I accomplished all the holiday things I set out to do this week.  Instead of just five more addresses acquired to my list, I finished it.  Of course, if any fellow FlyBabies wanted to DM their address to me I would be able to add it to my list as well (hint hint).

It is a bit easier to think about Holidays now as the weather is getting cooler.  And after counting on my calender yesterday, I realized that it is only 8 weeks until my Thanksgiving break begins!  We will be hosting our family Thanksgiving dinner, and as long as I stay on the course I'm on right now it should be a breeze.

One holiday is rapidly approaching and I feel under-prepared for, and that is Halloween.  Now that I have my own home and DD is getting older I feel compelled to decorate outside for it.  I saw a great project in a magazine for making a giant spider.  But when I priced the styrofoam ball for the spider's body, I decided to rethink ($20 for 1 ball?  I don't think so!)  I think it may be time for a paper mache spider body, and I know just the crew of 4 & 5 year olds who would be delighted to help.  We can keep the giant spider in the classroom & then I'll bring him home.  Maybe I'll splurge on small foam balls so the kids can have smaller ones to keep. 

Do you get into Halloween or is it something you prefer to pass over?

Before I forget (again), check out these fine FlyBabies and their own Holiday Planning:
DianeDenmark
A Mothers Ramblings
Typical Ramblings, Atypical Nonsense

Pottery Class, Week Two

Its best to remember appropriate hair-restraining devices before a pottery class begins.  I am still trying to remove clay from last night's class!  I guess if I can't get it all out it will prove to be an interesting talking point at school today.

It is hard being a beginning potter.  I'm sure I will get better with practice, the problem seems to be finding the time to practice.  I can't take DD with me (for obvious reasons) nor can I bring myself to have my mom watch her any more than she already does.  Hopefully noboby on my gift list is expecting ceramic goodies because I have yet to throw anything worth putting in the kiln.  I need to keep in mind that I have improved since last week so chances are that next week I'll be pulling like a pro! (Referring to clay & not men)

On a similar note I have been contemplating adding an art endorsement to my state teaching license.  It just seems a good idea to keep my options open as far as jobs go.  The glass & pottery classes are the first art classes I have taken since middle school, but I have always felt a creative compulsion.  I think perfectionism held me back from even trying.  But I really enjoy the art projects I have been doing with my students.  I should be able to take art courses at the local community college for credit toward the endorsement.  If it turns out that I'm really horrible at least I won't be out of a ton of money!  Besides, my students now will benefit from any art study I do.  I did an art history course during my first round of college, so I only have 7 more to go to be qualified to teach K-8 art in the public school system!

Fused Glass Follow-Up

I was so disappointed going to class last night & finding out that our work didn't get fired in the kiln.  Evidently the kiln still wasn't working properly, so they are going somewhere else to have our work done.  Because I don't know how last week's work turned out, it was hard to get excited about making new stuff.  Plus I didn't have a decent glass cutter to use which was very frustrating.  But not nearly as frustrating as I found melting tiny glass rods over a little candle in order to bend the rod to my will.  Let's just say that the Force was with the candle and not me.  I wonder if there is a kiln mold so I can make some of these:

Today is a long day: work, gym workout with my trainer, run home & change for pottery class, go to Mom's to hang out w/her & DD until class time, class, pick up DD from Mom's, then finally home.  Really makes me wish that I had put more effort into getting things ready for this morning.  But hey, it's only until November that my Wednesday's will be crazy!

Best Time to Start Flying

I've been thinking long and hard about this, and I think I have the answer.  The best time to start Flying? When you are two. Yes that's right, at the ripe old age of two.  This is where my Montessori background is going to shine through!

Around age two, children enter a sensitive period for order.  A sensitive period is a time when a child learns particular things effortlessly.  One example would be language.  For the first six years of life, children (usually) learn to speak with minimal adult intervention.  If a child misses fulfilling a sensitive period, such as language, the child will struggle to fill that need for the rest of her life.  (Also why children pick up second languages so easily while adults tend to struggle.)

Did you ever know a child who would only eat peanut butter sandwiches for lunch?  Perhaps there was only 1 pair of shoes acceptable to wear, or maybe the hair had to be done just so before being able to go out to play.  These are all manifestations of the sensitive period for order.  Children aren't just making these demands to drive us crazy.  These routines are what helps the child feel secure in the world.  When they feel secure, life is good.  When they feel insecure...............temper tantrum anyone?

This is where I think Flying begins so strike while the iron is hot!  Start little routines that help your child create order.  Clothes come off and go into a hamper.  Use a duvet instead of a top sheet so the child can make their bed on their own.  Dedicate a space to put shoes (bonus points to you if you use clothespins to keep the shoes together).  Have baskets for toys so that they are easy to put away.  And then regularly put the toys away.  Do things like this when they are ready and eager to do so and it will become second nature by the time they are done with the sensitive period.  I will not promise that they won't regress once hormones enter the picture though!

My theory is that the people who are Born Organized are ones who actually had a successful sensitive period for order.  The rest of us missed the boat and that is why we need the FlyLady to get back on track!

Holiday Grand Plan: Week 4

Once again, I am SO glad that I am starting my holiday planning so far in advance!  I completely forgot about doing any holiday things this past week. 

Angel, c.1957 (With Holly)  Art PrintWarhol, Andy

I had planned on decluttering my freezer (or having DH do it while he was on vacation), but that never happened.  I did find this morning an interesting blog post about creating "freezer meal starters".  Instead of packaging meals to heat and serve, you precook an item to "start" a meal you can finish quickly.  This appeals to me because I have a small chest freezer and if I precooked meals I wouldn't have space for making holiday goodies in advance.  It also appeals to me for I am horrible at remembering to take something out in time to cook. 

I had also planned on continuing the creation of my holiday address labels.  I promise I will get at least 5 new addresses added by next Sunday!

I'll also need to track down supplies for my handmade holiday gifts & projects.  I've located the recipes I wish to use as gifts, all I need are some baking supplies, mason jars, holiday ribbons & figure out a way to make fancy labels on stiff paper board.  I have been using cardboard file boxes to help keep my school work organzied, so I will invest in some more to keep my holiday projects organized!

Looking ahead to the next week is taking an inventory of my gift closet.  My gift closet is actually a combination of a cardboard file box with goodies that DH comes across at his store, and the plastic tubs I keep our holiday decor in.  I'm thinking the two need to combine!  Our gift closet supply has run low.  But once I get it together and organized, I'm sure it will be easier to maintain and use.

Another fun task will be the holiday budget.  It won't take long, since its pretty much the same from year to year.  What DH & I will need to negotiate is how much to spend on DD.

So nothing new here really, already falling behind on my tasks.  But maybe, just maybe, this will be the week I catch up!