Fun games for school - Lucy Lockett

Of course, some would argue that there's too much play and not enough learning but these people usually don't know much about either education or children. Or both. 

Some of these were games left for me to do with students by their music teachers, who didn't know who was coming in for them. 

Lucy Lockett is an old English rhyme from back in the days when clothing didn't have pockets sewn into them, but were worn [yes, worn, and primarily by women] as a totally separate article of clothing under everything else, which you could slide your hand into by a seam opening.  Unless you were a young girl, like Lucy, in which case you were showing off your pocket because it was embroidered within an inch of it's life to show off your mad skills. 

So it makes sense that it would be easy for the strings tying that pocket to your body to come undone, the pocket falling off, and you having no idea what just happened.

You will need: 
a minimum of 6 players
space enough for them to move around. 
a small coin purse or an ID pouch [like the zippered sort that V. Bradley makes for your ID and other effects]


Also, if you're musically inclined, and know solfeg or can figure out moveable Do, here's the song, plus solfeg. If you're not musically inclined, here, at least, are the words. I freely admit there is like a problem with the music provided below, the solfeg, however, should be fine.  

This game can be played one of two ways.  
First, the children sit in a circle and pass a small coin purse around while singing; a single student sits in the center with their eyes closed, and when the others are done singing, it's their job to figure out who has the pocket. The guesser usually gets three guesses, and it usually doesn't take more than a second go round for the guesser to figure out where the pocket is. The child with the pouch and the guesser switch and the game continues. 

Second, it can be played rather like a game of Hot and Cold. One student chosen as the guesser, and the the teacher or person in charge sends them out of the room or has them cover their eyes, depending on your circumstances while the other students waiting to see where the change purse has been hidden by the teacher or person in charge. The guesser returns to the area of play, and the rest of the group sings 'Lucy' while the guesser looks for the pocket. Ideally, the singing should get louder the closer the guesser gets to the pocket, and softer the farther away the guesser is. This is a great way to practice using vocal dynamics with young students.

Mitten tree

Necessity is the mother of invention. 

With temperatures plunging below zero (and that's Fahrenheit) the hunt was on for gloves and mittens and shovels that weren't broken. Two of our coat closet's walls are not insulated so leaving things in there wet can be a little dicey. 

And then there is pupcake and all his winter gear. 

On the hunt for winter apparel in our black hole closet, I found a ton of mismatch mittens and several dozen wire dry cleaners hangers. And a lightbulb went on in my brain. 

With four of us plus pupcake, 5 wire coat hangers had middle bit clipped out with wire cutters. Using needle nose pliers the (now sharpt) ends were twisted over themselves so mittens aren't snagged or people stabbed. I nailed the hangers on upside down (staples would have been a better choice), and this worked with their natural sloped shape. For air circulation and spatial consideration the branches are bent slightly towards the center of the tree. By utilizing the curved hanger hook on the top branch, the tree has a integrated hanger, and leaving the hanger hook on the bottom branch makes a hook for the dog coat. Hung over a heat register, voilà. Dry, warm mittens, pup booties and coat. I will probably go back and spray paint this later. But it'll have to wait until the summer, when I can do it outside. 

New year's resolution

I will finish these towels. I will work continuously on one pattern. I will resist the temptation to switch colors over and over and over again. 

DIY Ornament storage

I woke up this morning with the distinct thought 'I'm going to be moving this summer!' (What ever that means). 

Being on break, I have a little more time to get things sorted and then put away, rather than trying to do it after work and driving my family crazy, and since it's Christmas and it's out and has to be put away, I thought well, why not get started putting Christmas things together? Because the last time I moved, everything went to my apartment piecemeal as I discovered I needed/wanted it, and was a giant mess to pack back up again. Not. This. Time. This time I will be prepared. 

So I did a Google search. Looked under images; DIY. And turned up several DIY storage solutions. Some included cutting cardboard strips and making cells [frankly I haven't the patience...] one involved dowel rods that slip in and out of hiles drilled into the ends of a storage tote [I still don't have a drill or bits...] and several involved using plastic cups. 

Because we didn't throw a holiday party and have plastic cups laying around. Right? In truth, actually, we didn't, and we didn't get high ticket came-in-a-giant-cardboard-box items either. SO. I went to the store this morning and came back with 

• qty 2 sleeves of heavy duty plastic cups [16oz, ~$3 each]
• qty 2 flippy top bins [~$7 ea] in Christmas colors. Which weren't on sale. Yet.
• qty 2 foam core boards, 20x30 inches, by 3/16[?]  [~$2 ea] in white. because it was cheaper than black, or buying a cardboard display trifold or box.

Things we had at home that I wish I would have known we had but I bought anyway were:

• qty 1 high temp hot glue gun, fun size [~$6]
• qty 2 glue sticks for  the fun size glue gun [~$1 per package]

Things that I already had at the house that were super helpful:

• rotary cutter and mat
• utility knife
• gosgrain ribbon, ~1/2" wide, cut into [qty 4] 9" strips
• some 9oz red cups that were smaller and slimmer than the 16oz, and filled in gaps nicely [waste not]

Things that, had I been thinking, might have been a good idea to scrounge for, at home or the store:

• those 6oz crystal clear plastic cups you drink punch out of at parties. They're the perfect size for most bulbs

THINGS I WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY:
Bought a tub with straight sides, no fru fru indentations for hand holds all the way down the sides. This would have saved myself a ton of trouble trimming to fit. I was also thinking jeez, how big a box do I want to be wrangling next Christmas? A ginormous one? Or several smaller one. Small wins.

On another note, I ended up running out of clear cups. So rather than glue the remnants of 9oz red cups to the top board of the second box, I just left it empty, and filled cups in along the two long sides of the rectangle. I have small stuff I keep in egg cartons; they should fit in there nicely. Also, there is just enough clearance above the two tiers of trays that I should be able to pad the top with seasonal linens; the tree skirt I keep meaning to make, the stockings, those sorts of things.

There was a lot of trial and error cutting, getting the first piece of foam core to fit into the bottom of the first bin. A lot. So for the second go round, since both bins are the same size, I traced the two bottoms, upper and lower tiers, onto the other piece of foam core and cut away. I also discovered it was better to put the base into the bin, put glue on the bottom of a cup and press it down than try to glue outside of the box - I had a much better idea of where to put the cups to get as many onto the board as possible. [hence the tinier red cups, to fill wasted space].

This would have been the part where I stood back and admired my handiwork.

Then I realised I had a bit of a problem. [This is after all the cups have been glued down to the boards, and are sitting in the boxes] My brain said: these boards will be full of ornaments, and therefor heavier than they are now. Trying to pick the boards up from the bottom of the box by the cups might result in cups tearing off. Fix it now.

This is where the pieces of ribbon came in. Like cupboard handles or a dresser knob, they're there to help lift the tray out of the bottom so that the cups don't rip off while you're struggling a full tray out of the box. Two really healthy globs of hot glue on either long end and some gentle pressure. Those puppys aren't going anywhere. 

Now I find myself asking, was that really cheaper than buying the special box? Eh, probably not, but I know now what I will be saving through the year to sort and fix my mother's ornament boxes up. 

Some of the really tiny ornaments we store in old, labled egg cartons [in a box that holds other things], and no doubt will continue to do so. But for now, when it comes time for me to fly the coop, I will know exactly where to find Christmas. 

Awesome in a stand

A friend just dropped this off at my parent's house for me... At first, I want sure what it was, and then she opened it up...

And my jaw hit the floor. Her mom saw something like it years ago and her dad built it. They created a fabric panel for both sides, which does cut down on the weight of the case, but I'm guessing it's at least 40 years old, just dating the fabric. 

Closed, it's 36 1/2 inches tall, 16 1/2 inches long and 6 inches deep, with 3  interior shelves on each side, for a total of 6. It's a basic box construction, except that instead of being flush with the ground, the bottom sits up about 3 inches, giving the case feet. 

Today, I ripped the fabric off the back, pulled out all the tacks and fabric, and began priming it. The fabric is dryrotted and smells a little musty, so it's time for a change. There was no sanding, just priming. In the basement. With a window cracked (I know, super intelligent...)

The lighting down in the basement is terrible... 

It's been painted a pale blue, the bottom shelf raspberry. The bottom pocket is a little off, but not enought for me to want to rip the tacks out and readjust it. 

The fabric on the back is upholstery grade, the interior is a twill and a light weight canvas. 

Of course, I got it all set up on the vanity where I sew and the machine decided to quit working. But it's ready to go, and it's been a fabulous place to store the fabric for and finished Christmas presents I was sewing. 

From the trenches

Nuff said. 

June July and August

And that's three more for the road. 

Pony paradise.

Beware of little girls and my little pony.

Of course, I was one of those little girls, once upon a time... Oh, who am I kidding?

 Dire consequences have been threatened if ponies are gifted to children of my acquaintance, consequences for the ponies anyway. But really. I wouldn't do that. The ponies don't deserve that. As of late, much fun has been had in lining up the ponies for a 'Miss Equestria' competition. Similar fun was had making custom ponies from Fauxnies found at the thrift store. 

For example, this little blue Fauxnie was turned into a Percy Jackson. He's a little runty compared to the other ponies, and the girls are quick to point out that his hooves don't look like the other boy ponies.

This was my first ever attempt at creating a custom pony, though I have a lot of first generation '80's ponies picked up at garage sales in my youth that could be considered bait, or prime candidates for makeover. We got acrylic paint from the craft show, and I got some translucent polymer clay, and baked the clay on the pony as other customizers have suggested (which worked out pretty well) and then painted over the clay prosthetics with several slightly thinned layers of acrylic.

And by bake, I mean guy went into the oven at what ever the bake temp on the packet recommended for the length of time recommended, while I hovered at the oven door, watching for singed blue hair.  And those hooves aren't going anywhere. :D

Bicycle! Bicycle! I want to ride my bicycle!

I have a bicycle. It. And it fits in my car. Words cannot describe how excited I am about this. It fits in my car! It's in my car. It is a six speed Dahon Boardwalk.

AND IT FITS IN MY CAR!!!

Stoplights of Pittsburgh

 

Downtown. Forbes and [Something]

 

 

Near Children's Hospital in Garfield/Bloomfield

 

Pittsburgh Arsenal School, 40th and Butler

 

 

62nd Street Bridge and Butler

 

Ellsworth Ave, East Liberty

 

 

UPMC Building, Downtown, Chatham Square

All photos taken with an iPhone 4S between December 15th, 2013[ish] and February 2014. I can't believe we had rain this winter. It's possible that was from the fall...