alternative title: fun stuff I do for work and domestic things I wish I did
In preparing for our winter festival here at work, I have been a busy bee. I am the intern in charge of all the fancy-pants large events. Among other things, this means that I pick our craft activities. For our winter festival, we will be making paper chains and little tiny snowshoes out of pipe cleaners (oops, I mean chenille sticks! Must avoid those drug references).
I've got some paper chain templates for things like birds and butterflies and whatnot; turns out some of my long-ago Christmas presents have suddenly become quite useful (other useful Christmas presents include books on string games and books about teaching nature to children).
I have found some of the cutest paper chain things online! Check out these neat templates for different shapes. And also cool is this lady's idea about decorating on the cheap for parties: rubber stamped paper chains!.
And the cutest of all: stapleless paper chains! This preschool mom found a way to make paper chains with no staples, tape, or stickers. They take a little more time, but they are so awesome.
Back in the day, I found this fabulous guide for 30 things you can do with kids. It looked so fun that I've kept the tab open forever at work. We haven't yet done any of these projects, but they look like so much fun. Wait, I lie -- at last summer's boating camp, we did Andy Goldsworthy projects every week; we had kids make art out of nature, and then we photographed the results. This was a big hit, and I'm looking forward to replicating it during one of the spring camps here.
On the domestic end, I love Margaret Mason's suggestion for ensuring that you are always ready to entertain. I don't have guests stop by often, but it is nice to encourage that sort of behavior, and I think having little treats readily available is always nice. Plus, if you keep it in a special jar or box (I'd personally pick a tin box or something similarly non-see through), it reduces the urge to graze. Gosh darn cute, and a perfect hostess gift!
Okay, now back to work for me. Just wanted to share some neat projects.