Iron Craft #17- Royal Wedding

This week for Iron Craft the challenge was Royal Wedding...what, you didn't hear there is wedding this week? You would have to be under a rock to not know about "the wedding" on Friday. Thing 1 is concerned that no one will remember his birthday on Saturday because everyone is focused on Will and Kate.

We did our crafting this week at Kathy's house while enjoying a great Easter dinner.

Being boys and not really caring about weddings (though both have asked to get up at 3 am to watch) we went the easy route with the Things. They will be wearing their new shirts with pride on Friday supporting those on the other side of the pond.

I decided on a Royal Wedding survival kit. In order to watch the event live I will need to be up really early. I decided I needed something to set my tea cup on....

So now all I have to do is set the alarm and get up.

This is what happens moments after the Things pretend to like each other....

Wrestle mania!!!

Until next week.....

Iron Craft #16 - Cha-ching!!!

This week on Iron Craft it is all about money. That word makes me think of Pink Floyd's song Money and the cha-ching sound. We had fun this week with this theme- lots of different projects going on here.

I had to work on Saturday so the Things spent part of the day with Kathy and Matt ( I am lucky to live 9 blocks away and that they are nice enough to help out when I need it!!!) Thing 1 loves the book The Encyclopedia of Immaturity, Vol 1. Among the many things it has that make boys laugh it shows you how to make a ring out of money so...Thing 1 made a little Rupee Bling for his pinky.

Thing 2 worked with Kathy to make a paper mache piggy bank.

We came home with both of them to be decorated. Not to be left out, Thing 1 decorated the other one.

Thing 1's is on the left and Thing 2's is on the right.

My mom made a great card that could be used to hold money. I guess it is not my birthday card since that is not my name on it....

But, the child who has a birthday next week is standing next to me as I work on this and sees his name wondering if Grandma is giving away a birthday secret. (He says he can't believe Grandma would spend the time on making the card and not send it) He says the money does not need to be in it- he just wants the card.

I was excited for this week's theme. I have been wanting to make a little coin/money pouch for awhile. There are many times I just want something to hold a few cards, my driver's license and my phone. I used the pattern found here -I tried to add a pocket on the outside but as my son would say-"epic failure" . I chose some springy fabric as we cannot seem to leave winter behind. I love my new pouch!!!

Looking forward to seeing what next week's challenge brings.... the one thing I really hope is we have some warm weather!!!

Until next week...

Iron Craft #15-Bunny or chick???

It use to be that one sign of spring was the Peeps showing up in the stores around Easter time. Now they have peeps for almost all the major holidays. You can even get them covered in chocolate. I wonder if they still have the sugar coating on them or not. This week for the Iron Craft challenge we were tasked with doing something with Peeps. Peeps was the material.

Thing 1 knew right away what he was going to do- set up a scene with Peeps. So he got to work- all 4 packages of peeps were opened and sugar galore was sent all over the living room. I walked in and saw his work... Attack of the Peeps!!! ( I secretly think he just wanted to eat them as I know there were peeps missing between photo shoots)

My project was rather simple- use a model of the Empire State Building that Thing 1 made and create- Peep Kong

Grandma, who is a regular now decided to make a nice spring center piece with her Peeps. Truth be told- I buy my mom Peeps at each holiday as they are a favorite of hers-she eats them but only after being opened and getting a little hard. I love the arrangement she has put together.

Thing 2 was excited to make something that is a favorite around here this time of year....S'mores. What kid ( and most adults) doesn't like marshmallow, chocolate and graham crackers. However, when I went for the chocolate bars there were none to be found- not saying who but I know a couple of Things that might be guilty. Since we were using Peeps, why not use chocolate chip cookies for the outside. We even included who I guess could be called Thing 3, Lucas' buddy Charlie.

The only one not to make an appearance yet is my husband, the Big Cheese. I challenged him to come up with something this week. Not a lot of time or places to find Peeps or marshmallows in Saudi Arabia but he did send a photo of a couple of camels in a pickup truck. Is it dinner or a pet?

Maybe one of these weeks when he gets back he will join us for a challenge. My other goal is to get grandma to use her "real" camera and not her iPhone....got to get here to branch out on the technology.

Until next week.....

Iron Craft #14-Wish you were here

This week the challenge on Iron Craft was to make a postcard. It sounded simple enough. But boy did I struggle- I was the last one in the house done.

Grandma went over the top by making cards for Thing 1, Thing 2, Kathy, myself and for the swap. Each of hers is a little different. The boys will love getting mail.

Thing 1 decided he was going to draw the Van's logo that is on his baseball hat. He loves his hat and his Vans.

Next to finish was Thing 2. He and I talked one night about what he wanted to do and we came up with using a thumb print to make a bunny. He was going to make a card for the swap as well as one for each of his grandparents and his cousins in North Carolina. He loved getting his hands dirty and doing this project.

When it came time to finish the bunnies and write on the card I really struggled with letting him do it without my input. I wanted it to be simple and not say much- he on the other hand had a whole different take on it. I need to remind myself that he is 8 and it is his project. I can't tell him how to do it. I think the recipients of these cards will love them.

By Tuesday I still did not have an idea, so my friend Jen at work said let's take a break and go over to the art building and come up with something. One advantage of working in recreation is having lots of resources at your disposal. After looking at a ton of stuff I decided on using some tissue paper, art paper and oil pastels. I put the tissue paper on the art paper and "painted" over it with water and let the colors bleed through. After that was done I used the oil pastels to outline the colors. I scanned it to make it postcard size. A fun break in the pre-summer chaos that is my job.

After I posted some photos on facebook and on here of the Things meeting their namesakes Grandpa asked where is photo was. So making his first appearance in this space is Grandpa and his namesake :)

Looking forward to next week's challenge. Wondering as the warm weather stays, spring fever really hits and baseball season starts will getting the projects done be harder.