Dog days of Summer

It's hot here.  Really, REALLY, hot.  Even the pool seems to simmer.  My AC is working overtime and we're doing are best to enjoy it inside.  But somehow, a girl has to keep the munchkins from having a revolt.  And, spending all day watching Phineus and Ferb isn't going to cut it. (although there's been a fair share of that going on as well.)  So, being me, the over achieving glutton for punishment that I am, I turn to crafts.  Kids' crafts specifically.  I'm not really sure these are blog worthy.  We've had very mixed results.  But, my blog was feeling a little neglected so, I thought I'd share the good, the bad, and the ugly.

First, I'll start with the good: a Fairy House

made completely out of scrap wood and project leftovers.  This turned out better than I expected and the little girl who's room it's going in was so excited about it.  Basically I let her be the designer and I just handled the power tools and the hot glue gun.  She did a great job didn't she.

Next came the bad: Bleach sprayed T-shirts
I saw the idea once to put a shape on a colored t-shirt and then spray around it using bleach.  I thought this would be such a fun project.  I applied butterflies and pokemon characters by request using my vinyl decals.

Then I inserted foil into the shirts to prevent bleed-through.  I handed the kids a spray gun with a mixture of water and bleach and let them go crazy on the drive-way. 

But sadly, after the shirts dried, we discovered the bleach had bled through beneath the vinyl decal removing all traces of a picture.  Maybe less water next time.

I think I'm going to have to redo the images with fabric paint cause those kids were fairly disappointed.  Darn it all!

Finally, the ugly: Paper Mache Pinatas.

I was the most excited about this project.  I mean, who can resist the lure of a candy filled, colorfully painted, festive creation that you're SuPPoseD to beat to a pulp!

But, less than two minutes into the process, the glue filled bowl was knocked to the ground and it splattered EvErYwHerE!  Do you know how tough it is to clean up glue?...Twice!  Ah yes, it happened a second time too.  While I was in the middle of cleaning (that time frame is pretty open since it took a while), I noticed the kids dropping out one by one.  They weren't a fan of flour/water up to the elbows.  So, I got to construct four pinatas almost single handedly.  I kinda wish it was single handedly because I'm still cleaning up glue. 

But they did look pretty cute hanging up ready to dry.  I wanted to paint them like Easter eggs.

A few days, some crayola paint, and a couple bags of candy later, we got to knock the stuffing out of them.  This almost made up for the glue on the floor...almost.

Just in case you are a glutton for punishment like me, here's the recipe I used for my pinata glue.

1 part flour mixed with two parts water.  It's cheap and it worked.

I'd love to hear all about your summer time kid's crafts.  There's one week left before school.  Plenty of time to get messy.