happy halloween!

It definitely warmed up here in Ann Arbor for Halloween, but of course, the weather couldn't give us too much of a break.  It's been raining since last evening with no end in immediate sight.  I'm hoping that we'll luck out and only have a slow drizzle for a brief lap up and down our street this evening.

The first year we celebrated Halloween in Ann Arbor, squirrels pretty much decimated our pumpkin before the trick-or-treaters even arrived at our front porch.  Last year I added a fantastic metal pumpkin made from reclaimed sheets of steel, cut, shaped, and riveted into a large jack-o-lantern to the porch display anticipating the same fate for our carved pumpkin.  

This year we waited until the last weekend available to buy a pumpkin and we kept it inside until we carved it on Monday night.  And again the squirrels dined on our jack-o-lantern, eating an eyeball and a few teeth.  But, as luck would have it, I chose to decorate a pumpkin this year that would be cool enough to keep inside.   A few weeks ago, Ella and I hit up the dollar store for some crafting inspiration. One of the items I picked up  was a package of small black rubber bands, you know the kind that are used for braided hair.  Paired with nails and arranged in a repeating pattern, I think they create a pretty cool result.  I've decided to attempt a really great, non-traditional pumpkin every year to keep a little bit of the Halloween spirit inside.

Oh, and I just have to share with you Ella's costume - my little Rosie the Riveter!  Hopefully I'll be able to get a better photo later today!

Happy Halloween!

loose parts: goofy spider

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about our own loose parts bin that I started after being inspired by The Loose Parts Project.  And this week I'm super excited to introduce you to three new friends made from the contents of our bin.  What perfect timing with Halloween decorations going up all over town!

Our loose parts bin has been living in my workroom since writing the post and it's been getting a lot of use.  Usually Ella just loves to pull everything out, pour out the jar of assorted caps, and occasionally stack various items to create a "tahwer," as she likes to call them.  But last week she pulled out a set of three cardboard shapes and immediately identified them as spiders.  I couldn't just sit back and watch after this announcement.  It was such a great idea!  So we got to work completing the spiders using other items from the bin.  

She picked the yogurt containers for the body and the bottle caps for the eyes.  I suggested using the pipe cleaners to hold them all together and reminded Ella that she had some googly eyes left over from a previous project that she could use.

We now have (according to Ella) a spider family - daddy, mommy, and Ella!

To make these at home, I've created a handy template for the small spider legs. They can be cut from any piece of scrap cardboard or heavy paper you have around the house (cereal boxes would work great).  For the small template, a plastic applesauce cup served as the body.  Create two small holes, one in the center bottom of the plastic cup and one through the center of the cardboard spider legs.  Pull a pipe cleaner through both holes and tie off on both ends.  I created a loop at the top of the spider by folding the pipe cleaner over my finger and wrapping the loose end around the base of the loop several times before trimming.  Then dress him up any way you'd like!  And, if you're looking for a sea theme, go ahead and call him an octopus . . .

Happy making!