Cherry Blossom Crafts for the Kids

Here in the Washington DC Metro Area, spring brings the Cherry Blossoms, and the famous National Cherry Blossom Festival!! It all swings into action with the Smithsonian Kite Festival and the Festival Family Day Opening Ceremony tomorrow. Naturally the de Gallo family will be staying as far away from the festivities as possible.

In honor of the spring, here is my easy Cherry Blossom Sumie Painting tutorial.
The supplies you will need are:
A piece of construction paper, white glue, square pieces of pink or white tissue papers cut to different sizes, a straw (I cut this one in half for Piko), a pencil, and watered down black paint (we used a 1 to 1 water to paint ratio, and the Apple Barrel brand of paint).


Step 1.
Place afew large drops of the watered down paint onto the paper, and blow on them with your straw. Direct the stream of air from your straw in different directions to create the brances of your cherry tree. Drop more paint onto the paper to extend your branches and make it thicker in sections.




Step 2.
Bunch a square of tissue paper around the eraser end of your pencil.



Step 3.
Holding the paper to the pencil with your fingertips, dip the paper and pencil into glue.


Step 4.
Place the tissue paper onto the branch of your cherry tree. Continue step 2-4 until you have filled the tree to your satisfaction.


Viola!! Beautiful spring art.

AHAHAHAHHAAA!

I love it!
Still have not seen it yet!

Do it for the kids!

Agh! I'm pathetic.

Spending time with other adults, not my husband, and not close friends, is EXHAUSTING!!!

Piko de Gallo was invited to a friend's house yesterday after school. They are not yet at that age where an invitation means drop the kid and have the afternoon off. The visit requires parental attendance as well. BLAH!

The other mothers that were there are all very nice ladies, and fun to talk to, but I was there for almost 4 hours!! That's alot of time to spend trying not to be rude and crude and inappropriate like I am at home with Sarge. Maybe as I get to know some of these ladies a bit better I'll feel better about it.

So I was tired when we got home.

Unfortunately it was Sarge's day off, and the warm weather jump started him. The entire contents of the shed was strewn across our back patio. But he left the best job for me. I forgot to take a picture of it, but there was a dead mouse in the pot of our turkey fryer. Ew. EW! EEEWWWW!!!!!!!!! So I had to dispose of that while he filled Piko's sandbox. Fun times.

The Week in de Gallo News

Piko's "Party Favors".
I am her supplier. And Piko de Gallo is addicted!!



I can't remember when we discovered this wonderful item. But throw a handful in the bath, and Piko de G is fully occupied, Sarge and I can have an uninterrupted adult conversation, lasting upwards of a half hour.
At $1.00 for 12 pills I think that it's totally worth it.



I imagine that the end result is somewhat educational, because she sorts them by color, counts them, and is learning the difference between a squid and an octopus.

We have also unfortunately acquired a new pet.
Meet "Nekko de Gallo"



Quite possibly the nicest cat I have ever met. She literally followed us home. We were somewhat worried that Nekko and Dog would not get along. Dog de Gallo has a very high chase drive. Color us surprised to discover that the dog is afraid of the cat! Naturally this is endlessly entertaining to Sarge and I, so we torture her whenever we can.

The weather has also made a turn for the better, which means that the sticks have come out, and Mommy gets some quite time.



And in crafting news:
Freezer paper stencils, are the AWESOME!!

Applying the paint.



Painted stencils.




Finished stencils.




And happily, albeit strangely, nothing has pissed me off this week. Possibly I'm mellowing with age, or I'm entering a period of personal Zen. I'm reserving judgement, because I sitll have to go grocery shopping this weekend.

They're Multiplying!!

If you remember I was recently stupidly surprised at the number and quality of craft blogs out there. I cannot believe that it took me this long to realize this great resource that was untapped in my computer.

Well, Easter is coming up and we're experimenting with ideas for gifts for Piko de Gallo's preschool classmates. Aaaannd, we got sidetracked.

Thanks to Betz White's Cashmere Bunny Tutorial



It may look like we're well on our way, but I am NOT making 22 of these bunnies for Piko de G's class.

I would also like to know where Betz lives, that she can find cashmere sweaters at Goodwill! We only found one at our local Value Village, and the rest of the bunnies are made up of felted sweaters, and old clothes. That pink one on the end has a rattle in it's belly, and I shoved pieces of a pretzel bag into the ears. It's going to one of my neighbor's baby. If I recall babies love the rattlin' and cracklin', and it's also not getting button eyes, and a pompom tail. I'll have to think of some other baby safe alternatives.

And just for She Said. Yes, we do have bunny fever!



You can't just have one bunny!

Piko de Gallo have and I have an ongoing sort of argument. She's only 4 1/2 but we talk about growing up, college and moving out all the time. In a non-serious joking manner of course!!

She states that she is not going to move out on her own, ever. I think that's just fine, but I tell her that she has to get a job, and pay rent. Unfortunately she thinks that she can just stay home with me, like we do right now, forever. We go back and forth over this all the time.

Well, finally I have the upper hand.

Two nights ago as I was waiting for her to finish her dinner, I ate a couple of mini Three Musketeer candies. Of course she was intrigued.

PdG: Is that your dessert?
Me: Nope, I'm still going to have a Popsicle with you.
PdG: So is that part of your dinner?
Me: Yep!
PdG: I wish I could have candy for dinner.
Me: WELL! If you live on your own when you're grown up, you can eat
whatever you want for dinner. But if you live with me, you have to
eat what I make.
PdG: *wheels turning*

Yesterday, we were both feeling sick, so we decided to take a nap after lunch. As we were getting settled in my bed, Piko de G is using Sarge's new pillow.

PdG: I like this bed. It's so big. Daddy's new pillow is good. I wish I had one.
Me: *wheels turning* Well, if you live on your own when you grow up,
you can have a big bed too. But if you live with me, you have
to stay in your bunk bed.
PdG: A big bed all to myself?
ME: Yep, and I'd even buy you a pillow like Daddy's for a housewarming present.
PdG: I would get presents?
Me: Uh-huh, and then you could eat candy for dinner and stay up all night
watching Animal Planet.
PdG: That sounds good.
Me: You have no idea.

Fun With Dinner

As is often the case these days I find myself in the same pickle as my lone commenter Dennis.

What to make for dinner?

So lastnight I came up with a masterpiece, if I do say so myself.

I used some leftover spaghetti sauce, whatever random remainders were in my collection of pasta boxes. Mixed it all together, covered it in cheese, and baked it for 40 min at 350.

So what? you say. That's just "Spaghetti Pie"!

My secret ingredient.

Fried Polish Sausage, layered between the pasta layer and the sauce layer.

This makes it "HIDE THE SAUSAGE SPAGHETTI PIE!!!!"

Sarge is afraid that Piko de Gallo is going to go to school and announce infront of everyone that we had "Hide The Sausage" for dinner.

Also, tonight is my first PTA meeting. Gods help me!

MUST! GET! BABYSITTER!!!

Oh my.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=2010486900

Edited to add:
And the wank goes on and on....
My favorite from lj user anonyrat:
"Complaining that 300 doesn't accurately represent the battle of Thermopylae is like complaining that Captain America punching Hitler in the face doesn't accurately represent World War 2."

MUCH LOLZERS!

How Rude!

So I was mailing some stuff at the Post Office the other day. And as usual at 10am on a weekday, there is only one postal clerk at the desk. Normally this is not to big of a deal, but lately it seems to be pretty busy at that time, there are at least 3 people waiting in line when I get there.

The postal clerk that works the desk is old as dirt, and pretty slow. But she makes up for it by being very helpful, and extremely nice. At least to me.

Anyway, I'm standing there patiently waiting my turn, and the two people in line behind me start talking. They are: Old Dude=OD, and Old Lady=OL, I think that they know each other, but they did not come in together.

OD & OL exchange hellos etc.

OD:Oh God!!She is the slowest worker they have!
OL:Says something about how she usually goes to another post office.
OD:She is so slow!! I used to go to (Some other) Post Office,
and she worked there, and they all agreed that she is the slowest worker ever! They should have another person at the desk. She is SO SLOW!!

Old Dude is not speaking in a quiet conversational voice. He is practically yelling. I'm sure the clerk can hear him.

OD: That's the thing with government work, it's hard to get rid of people.
She's SO SLOW!!

Holy crap! As if waiting in line at the post office is not torture enough!

I swear I was standing in line for about 10 minutes, and he was complaining LOUDLY the whole time. And I do believe that the clerk went slower with every complaint.

So I finally get to the desk, exchange prolonged pleasantries with the clerk, oh poo, my mailing tubes just will not stay on the scale!! I absolutely must check to see if the letter I am mailing has enough postage. And naturally I need stamps. Oh, hmmmmm....the quilts...ooooor the hearts....la-la-la. I did decide on the quilts, and as I was putting them in my wallet I said very quietly to myself "hmmm, these are quite nice."

"Yes they are aren't they?" The postal clerk responds.

Oh damn dude. I wish I could have thought of a reason to hang around till he got to the counter.

Easy Girl's Day Kanzashi

Kanzashi is a folded cloth hair ornament worn by ladies and girls in Japan. They are usually quite complex and elaborate, not to mention expensive. Piko de Gallo and I came up with a pretty easy and cheap method of making them ourselves.

Here are the supplies you are going to need.
Flat Glue Dots
Pop-up (raised) Glue Dots
Hair Clips
Floral Pearl sprays, I got these at the local Michael's, they can be found in the wedding, or floral section.
Artificial cherry blossoms, these were from the dollar store. They look pretty realistic.


Place one of the flat glue dots onto the non-opening side of the clip. Be careful that the glue dot is completely on the hair clip, or it could stick to your hair.


Place the pearl spray onto that glue dot, and press firmly into place.


Put one of the raised glue dots onto the back of a cherry blossom.


Press that cherry blossom onto the hair clip over the other glue dot and pearl spray. Again, be careful that the glue is completely on the clip, and not overflowing anywhere.


Tah-dah! Easy, cute, cheap, Kanzashi!



And as you can see, easy to do with the kids. Piko de G is 4 1/2, and did this craft with minimal parental interference. We also took this idea to her pre-school and did it with the girls there as well.

Happy Girl's Day!

I'll upload some craft tutorials later!

Day of the Dog

We here at the de Gallo homestead have been watching alot of "The Dog Whisperer". We have a dog, and that dog needs whispering. Because honestly all of the yelling Sarge is doing is not exactly helping.

Dog de Gallo is actually a very good dog. She does not jump up to get to food on counter tops, she does not eat everything in the house. She is trusted to stay at home alone for long periods of time, and can be relied on to not destroy anything. She knows where to poop and where to pee, and she loves to fetch and have ear rubs. She is a great bed warmer in the mornings when Sarge has left for work. Dog and Piko get along pretty well, although I think that Dog de G is a bit jealous of Piko de G, since she was here first, and Piko basically usurped her.

HOWEVER.

She barks. ALOT. OFTEN. She sometimes eats her poo, and then comes in the house and throws up on my feet. Dog de Gallo is also very food aggressive, yikes! She even bit Sarge's hand once...ONCE. She is also an excited pee-er, which is not all that bad I guess. And oh yeah, she weighs about 85 lbs, and the hair, don't even get me started on the hair. What's up with dog hair? How does it get into everything, and it weaves it's way into fabrics somehow, like it's alive! Whenever I take food anywhere, I always warn that there might be dog hair in it, and I'm very sorry.

Anyway, back to the Dog Whisperer. Sarge was watching with Piko de Gallo the other morning, and Caesar was helping a dog that had severe separation anxiety. One of the things that he suggested would help was to get "friend" for that dog. He kept the dog at his dog center and picked out a new dog at a shelter to be the friend. They got along great, and it went a long way to helping that poor dog.

Lately Sarge has been talking about getting a "friend" for Dog de Gallo. I guess he thinks that because Piko de Gallo and I are so busy with school and other activities, Dog de Gallo is alone much more often than she is used to. He thinks that she is lonely. I guess, she might be. So I have agreed to get another dog.

Yes Librarian, I can hear you laughing from your new place in Seattle.

HOWEVER!

I told Sarge that we can only get a "friend" for Dog de Gallo IF, Caesar Milan himself comes to Maryland and picks the dog out for us.



And, I get to name it "Otter". Because then we will have Dog de Gallo, and the "Otter" dog.

TMC

Hello, my name is Mommy de Gallo, and I suffer from "Too Much Crafts".

Yet somehow I missed the mental memo that the internets are a great place to find craft ideas and yeah, HELLO!! CRAFTING BLOGS!!! I've been up till all hours looking at sites, following links, and creating bookmarks. (I found this awesome site called Etsy, where people sell all their crafts. An excellent place to buy one of a kind gifts.) I used to have the UTC (Urge To Craft) under control, and stuck mainly to cross stitching, and the occasional one off craft on the side. Then I hit a boom, I started knitting, and it was all down hill from there. I think at this point the only thing that I do not do is paper crafts (so not a scrapper, and The Librarian is the card maker), and needlepoint(I just don't get it, and it's way too expensive). I suppose in a way I'm making use of my 5 years at college earning that Fine Arts degree.

I have declared this "The Year of ME Crafting". I'm clearing my backlog of owed craftings, and unfinished projects, and then I'm only working on learning new techniques, and crafts, and working on my own projects.

The problem is that I have such a backlog of projects it's overwhelming. I really want to start on the new ideas and techniques I'm seeing when looking at all of those other blogs.

Here is proof that crafts have taken over the de Gallo household.


My dining table, chairs, and sideboard.
I love my sewing case. I bought a
train case style makeup case from
Wall-Mart, and use that.
We all had to eat in the living
room this weekend, because I had
taken over the table with craft
stuff, and e-bay mail outs.


"My" side of the couch.
Yes, overflowing would be a
good adjective to use.





Sarge gives me the "rolls eyes" whenever I try to get Piko de Gallo to clean up after herself. I think that he thinks I'm not setting a good example.

And of course much of this got sidetracked today because of SNOW!




Ebay and crafts be damned, when your kid says "Work can wait mommy, let's go outside!",
what can you do? Besides, you know I had shoveling to do.

Dear "Healthy" smoker,

It's really quite fantastic that you are here at the gym at 8am on a Sunday morning. I'm here too, and I think it's fabulous that there are about 15 open treadmills. No I don't mind that you are using the one right next to me, this is not the movie theatre, and there is no need for the "personal space seat", well treadmill in this case.

HOWEVER!!!! And you know there is going to be a "HOWEVER!!!!"

I would really appreciate it if you would refrain from smoking directly before you enter the gym. I know that it is your right to smoke, and I certainly appreciate the fact that you are not smoking inside the gym, and hey, it's great you're off setting your unhealthy habits with some healthy ones. I'm like that with my eating. But that smell, you know that cigarette smell, yeah, IT STINKS! YOU STINK!!! And not in that good working out sweaty way. And because I was halfway through my run, and breathing quite heavily, ALL I COULD SMELL WAS YOU IN ALL YOUR GLORY! On second thought, you should have maintained the "personal space treadmill".

And you six guys hogging the bench press, seriously you guys were there when I got there, and were still there when I left. What kind of work out are you really getting when you only do 3 sets per hour? Yes I see that mind boggling number of plates on the barbell, but really, you're waiting WAY too long between sets.

Many thanks,
MdeG, who dragged her ass out of bed at 7:30 to go to the fracking gym.

In which being passive-aggressive bites me in the butt

So the other day I was ranting about my crappy neighbors and their lack of snow shoveling etiquette.

So yeah, in a bit of immature passive-aggressive retaliation, I only shoveled my bit.

Later in the day I'm out there when neighbor #2 is out as well. He apologized about the snow piling, and explained that he had helped 2 of his other neighbors clear their cars and was late for work, so he did not have a chance to take care of the walk. Oh Crap! Now I feel bad.

But it gets worse.

I find out that his wife is due to pop with their third kid any day now, and he was rushing off to work to make sure that his paternity leave paperwork was completed.

AND!!!!

Now the snow on their walk is frozen into a slippery sheet of ice 3 inches thick, and she might have to rush out to the hospital any minute.

I should have just sucked it up and shoveled the whole damn thing.

Dear Neighbors,

YOU ALL SUCK! That's right. YOU. ALL. SUCK!!!

Every time it snows, I take the time to shovel the walk that runs along the front of ALL OF OUR parking spaces, and sometimes your walkways when I'm feeling extra frisky. I don't have to do it, I do it to be nice, and so that our wonderful mailman does not fall and break his head. And also since it is guaranteed to be a snow day, I don't get to go to the gym, so this is my workout.

HOWEVER!!!

It pisses me off to come outside later than usual on a snow day (due to a child with a fever) to find that you neighbor on the end, only saw fit to shovel from your door to your car! You're lucky, and it's nice for you that your parking space is directly in front of your unit, unlike mine which is 3 spaces down. You suck! And you neighbor on the other side, yes I saw you this morning cleaning your car, and shoveling a path on the drivers side. And what the f-ing F?!?! You shoveled all that snow into a pile next to my passenger side door?! Well, F-you very much! You suck too!

Why must you all suck so?
Happy Valentines day,
Mommy de Gallo

PS. Sarge you kind of suck too, I think that you used all the salt last night as a pre-emptive strike against the ice. However what happened is that the first layer of snow hit the salt, melted, and then a fresh layer of snow fell. Meaning that I encountered a LAYER OF ICE 1/2" thick under the snow I was trying to clear. Didn't you grow up in Maine?!

Putting the Asian in Caucasian

So every time I call my mom and tell her what new activities Piko de Gallo is participating in she gets all excited. But in a very predictable way.

For example, Sarge bought Piko de G a golf set this fall, and they have been going to the driving range a couple times a month, whenever it is warm enough. So I tell Grandma this, and she says "Oh great! She can be the next Michell Wie!!".

Uh-huh

This week I got to call her to tell her that we have started going to the ice rink for the cutely named "Totsicles" class. Basically just a bunch of toddlers slipping and sliding around the rink, trying not to fall on their 'tocks. Grandma finds this also very exciting, and exclaims "That's wonderful! She'll be the next Michelle Kwan!"

Huh, I never noticed this before I just typed that, but the two prominent female Asian athletic figures my mom watches are both named Michelle. Maybe we should have named her "Michelle de Gallo".

Ooooohkay mom. Way to focus on the ethnic aspect. And I should point out that we are not Chinese.

I'm wondering if when I call her next week to tell her that Piko has been registered to play soccer this spring she will know who Sun Wen is.

Piko de Gallo rollin' at the links and rinks.

300 redux

Several places on the internets there is a bit of hoopla regarding the upcoming release of the movie "300". Folks are calling it terrible for depicting a war, a violent, bloody, one sided war. I suppose creating propaganda and parallels to the war the US is currently engaged in. And causing much fandom wankage.

I suppose that these are all valid arguments. EXCEPT that this movie is based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller that was written back in 1999. And it is obviously not a historically accurate retelling of the actual battle of Thermopylae. As Amazon.com puts it, the Persians did not scatter, and the Spartans were strangely homophobic for such a gay society (there was a bit of man love in that culture right?). And I'm thinking that the Persians were probably not so much into the whole body piercing.

Anyhoo, who cares about all that?!?!? I love Frank Miller's books, and as I have said before, I especially love this.
Sarge says "Body makeup", I say "Who cares?!?!"



















And I'm pretty confident I will have not problems with the rest of the leather clad Spartans. All 300 of them.

Whenever the trailer comes on the TV Sarge just rolls his eyes while I wipe the drool from my chin. I'm pretty sure I have a babysitter lined up because I'm thinking that Piko de Gallo will not be enjoying the 3 hour blood bath. David Wenham, or no David Wenham.

I got a nice Borders gift card from my in laws for Christmas, and finally decided to spend some of it the other week while Piko de Gallo was at school. How I love going to the book store by myself!!

I love book stores, I don't necessarily love Borders as I used to work there about 7 years ago. I believe that I am suffering from Post Traumatic Store Employee Syndrome.

I cannot browse without putting things away. It chills my cold little heart a bit more to see that customers are still the lazy 'tock-holes they were 7 years ago. As I browse the magazines, I see stuff out of place, I put them back, I browse remainders (sale books), putting stuff back. Seriously how hard is it to pick up a book, look at it, decide you don't want it, and then put it back right where you found it. I browse genre fiction, find random paperbacks on the floor, put them back.

I flashback to the afternoon that I spent organizing the mini book spinner in my old store. When I was done, all of those stupid little books were organized by subject, with the multiples all together. A totally fruitless endeavor I should have known. After I finished, I was stationed at the information desk, and watched as a lady flipped through the books. Picking up a book, putting it back in a random place, picking up another, and putting it back randomly. I wanted to grab the spinner from her and yell "NO BOOKS FOR YOU!". Who the hell needs a mini book on rubber duckies anyway??

The kicker however came when I was in the crafts section looking at knitting books. When does it ever seem appropriate to just lay books across the tops of other books on the shelves? I would think that it would be better to just leave them on the floor. So I'm in the craft section, looking at the books, and shelving all of the ones that are lying across the tops of the stacks. I must have looked like a Crazy Customer (TM.) , because booksellers kept walking past me, giving me the weird look. I had to stop myself when I came across a copy of Duty and Desire: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman IN THE CRAFTS SECTION!!!!! Seriously, I know you can read, you're in a fracking bookstore, so you must know your alphabets.

On a tangent. Finding a book about Mr. Darcy in the knitting/crafting section makes me think that the people (women most likely) buying craft/knitting books fall into the stereotypical female Jane Austen reader category. And yes, I include myself in that category I'm afraid, because what was my final purchase that day? Cross Stitch a Day calendar, Crochet a Day calendar (hey, they were clearanced at $4 each!), and Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.

Back on track. I know that the people putting crap away in random places of the store are exactly the same people who bitch and moan when the computer says the store has one copy of something, and it cannot be found in it's rightful place on the shelf. Ooooh, I used to hate those people!! It's been years, and I still hate those people.

Sarge says I have latent customer service issues.

I say that I should just stay home and order from Amazon.com.

Target and the truffles of Poo!

Piko de Gallo and I set off to Target the day after Christmas (Boxing Day to you Librarian!) to buy some cheap wrapping paper and spend some of the Grandma cash she got. Our neighborhood (emphasis on the "hood" part) Target is rarely crowded and we easily found parking and lots and lots of wrapping paper. However the toy department was almost competely wiped out!! Piko de Gallo was a little dissapointed, but she managed to find a Polly Pocket set that she had on her Christmas wishlist.

I on the other hand was delighted to find that select Choxie products were 50% off!!

Oh the joy! I picked out some lovely dark chocolate truffles.

Dark chocolate truffles!! YUM!! 50% off, I can get two boxes!

All is good and I get everything home, put everything away, and open the box.

HELLO!!!

A box full of delicious chocolate poo!

Needless to say I had to eat them all before they grossed me out too much.