Drop-Dead Adorable

Yesterday, Audrey and I busied ourselves with a little Halloween crafting. This weekend we are taking part in a local Trunk-or-Treat. Most of these events are community or church-sponsored. The basic concept is that participants come with their cars decorated to a designated parking lot. They pop their trunks, which are filled with candy, and trick-or-treaters visit each car. The Trunk-or-Treat we're participating in is sponsored by my mom's group (and the church where we hold our meetings), with snacks, games, and a craft project for the kids. I've been brainstorming for easy ways to decorate the car. Bats seemed like an ideal choice, Audrey being the animal enthusiast she is, and recently asking me what bats are.

I had planned on using a stash of empty toilet paper rolls I've been collecting, but then ran across this post about clothespin bats. The bats were too cute to pass up (and we had almost everything on the list to make them). We made a few minor changes. The original design used construction paper to make the bats, but I noticed a comment by a reader who used felt. I thought this was a great idea for durability sake. This reader used iron-on jewels for the eyes since a hole-punch won't go through felt. I had some white sequin discs leftover from another project that worked just fine (and toddler fingers are the perfect size for this little detail work). I left the eye-gluing to Audrey and I tackled spray painting the clothespins. Together we glued the tips of the wings to form one piece. After the clothespins dried (which happened to be after Audrey had gone to bed) I glued the clothespins to the bats. This morning I attached some clear nylon jewelry cord to each bat.


Audrey grabbed 3 of the bats and very appropriately hung them from a doorknob, a kitchen window, and the stair banister. The other five I hung from the fireplace (and I think my little designer was right, 5 are all the fireplace needs). They will hang there until Saturday morning when we drape them from the top of the car for Trunk-or-Treat. I have thoughts of making black cardboard wings to attach to the sides of the car, but we'll see if I get that far. We have more important things to prepare for this week - like a certain someone turning three.

*While Audrey and I physically did this project, I must give credit where it's due. Crafting would not have happened yesterday had it not been for my friend, Elizabeth, who upon finding out in the morning that I was functioning on a mere four hours of sleep, whisked Audrey off for a play date so I could get some rest. Without her generosity, there would have been no afternoon creativity and no bats, just one zombie of a mama. (Thanks, Elizabeth)!


I suppose I should give some credit to Martha Stewart, too, since it is her design. But I'm sure she couldn't have made them, either, had it not been for enough sleep and good friends. There are some things (domestic goddess, or not) that we all need.

Rainy Day Projects

Today I woke up to the sound of rain and thoughts of making chicken noodle soup. From the first hours, today was a day that seemed to want to take its time, and in accordance, meant for us to take our time. What better day to begin a project: something a bit meticulous and time-consuming, out of materials soft-to-the-touch, for the purpose of being used on other slow, rainy days?

Some of my favorite memories revolve around the one rainy day that seemed to befall my family every summer on our vacation to one of Kentucky's lakes. The usual outdoor activities put on hold, my grandmother would round up my willing sisters and cousins and we would play Scrabble, tucked safely beneath a covered outdoor patio. As we tried to best one another on the game board, the rain fell just feet away, strong and steady, most times not letting up until late in the day. Until this moment, I had never stopped to think about what a gift that rain was, driving us all in from the damp to the warmth that was my grandmother.

Audrey is not quite ready for Scrabble. But she does seem primed to be introduced to her letters. Lately, she has learned what constitutes an identical match. We don't own the game Memory (another favorite from childhood), but I think Audrey could master its concept. So today, armed with a ridiculous pile of felt, a needle threaded with some embroidery floss, and a rainy day, I got to work making our own Memory game of sorts.

I found a font I liked on the computer, typed the alphabet, increased the size to 150% and printed the letters out. After cutting them out, I used them as pattern pieces to cut the letters out of my felt. Then, I cut out squares, a dark gray square for the back of each game piece (shown below) and varied colored squares to be used for the fronts. Of course, each piece has to be made twice. I embroidered the letters onto the fronts before pairing them with a back and stitching them up the sides. (I realize that we'll end up with 52 pieces, which may seem like a bit much for a 2-year-old, but I figure we can use them a few pieces at a time, concentrating on just the letters we want to focus on that week). Due to nature of the project (all hand work) and the interruptions for tickle fights, cuddling on the couch, and making and eating chicken noodle soup, I finished just one game piece. This seemed like such a simple task when it first occurred to me. I suppose I should be a little discouraged. But as I type, hearing the dog snore under the table near my feet, it seems like - well, that sort of day.