Squishy Shopkins

About four years ago I found myself sculpting a whole set of Angry Birds for Wesley. He was so into Angry Birds and I really enjoyed making that set of toys for him. They live in a small zippered case and still get taken down and played with once a month or so. Greta often asks why I made those for him and never made her a set of clay toys. This has been asked repeatedly over the past year and I finally decided it was time to make her something.

She's had quite the obsession with Shopkins lately. These are little toys with faces on them that kids collect. She's got about 20 of them and plays with them constantly. She's even found a YouTube channel that just deals with Shopkins. They make arts and crafts among other things on that channel. She loves watching it and became interested in making a certain craft involving a car sponge and Puffy Paint. Yes, I know that sounds strange. I thought it was bizarre when I heard of it but after watching this woman make a Shopkin out of a sponge and decorate it with Puffy Paint I decided we can do that. And it would qualify as my crafty gift to her (like I did with the Angry Birds for Wesley). You know with kids everything has to be fair, fair, fair!

So I went to Wal-Mart and bought a sponge in the car section and a pack of Puffy Paint in the craft isle. It cost $12 for everything. Puffy Paint is needed so that it will be squishy and soft on the sponge. Regular acrylics would crack and peel off.

We first cut out the shapes of the Shopkins we were going to "sculpt". We picked D'Lish Donut, Kooky Cookie, Strawberry Kiss and Cookie Nut to start with. Something tells me I'll be doing more of these....it was actually pretty fun and a nice change from using clay.

Here is Kooky Cookie all cut out and ready for paint. I used the small scrap pieces to make his arms and feet. We used some Aleen's craft glue to glue the arms and feet on.

Then it was time to paint them. I didn't realize how long of a process this would be! It took many coats of Puffy Paint to cover the porous sponge. It's thick paint and I ended up just smoothing it on with a plastic spoon. This took about a week's worth of coats.

Here are the four finished sponge Shopkin creations. They were fun to make and Greta adores them.

They "squish" like a sponge.

Here are what we used for reference (so you know what they are supposed to look like). Fun crafting project!

Chicken Greta

I'm in the kitchen and look out the window to see Greta running around the side yard squawking like a chicken. Just thought I'd share.

Cub Scout Outings, Girls Day and Water Fun

This weekend marked a "first" in Wesley's life. He got to go for his first overnight camping trip with his cub scout pack. He was a little nervous about it but got pretty excited after packing up his backpack Friday evening. He loves gadgets and seeing all the fun camping gear (lanterns, mess kits and flashlights) sure put a smile on his face. He gave us the full report after getting home yesterday. He was surprised that they "camped out right next to the road." Apparently he thought they were going to hike to a more scenic destination. He liked roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over the camp fire and made sure to not turn his completely black like some of the other boys. He said his sleeping bag was warm and comfortable but the wind kept him up all night. Poor kid slept pretty good in his bed last night. He also said he really enjoyed whittling with a pocket knife and really wants his own pocket knife now. We'll have to find him a good one. I'm super proud of him!

Since Wesley was gone all weekend I thought it would be fun to take Greta out for a Girls Day Out. We don't get to do those as much anymore since she started Kindergarten and I miss them. We went out to lunch, I stopped and got a veggie bowl at Chipotle and brought it to McDonalds to eat. She got ice cream afterwards and was being a ham so I took some pictures. This is classic six year old Greta.

We went treasure hunting at Goodwill and then off to Target to look at Shopkins (her latest obsession). The Shopkins section at Target was completely cleaned out.....there wasn't a single thing. I asked a store employee what was going on and he said that's what the Shopkins section always looks like. He said they are very popular and usually always sold out. So we went to Wal-Mart and they had a nice big display. Strange. She got five new little ones that she plays with every waking hour. We had a nice time out together.

This weekend was lovely and it hit 90 degrees yesterday. The kids begged to get the sprinkler out and I said sure! They love the sprinkler on the trampoline, it's the best of both worlds. I hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Fun with Cousins

Bennett's Birthday Bash

We went to visit my sister and celebrate my youngest nephews birthday this past weekend. It's hard to believe Bennett just turned 5 years old....because he was just born the other day. He's quite the ham and had me chuckling all weekend. We had a nice time and the kids just love seeing their cousins.

They had a nice lady there doing face painting for the kids (and certain grown-up "kids")

 

Signs of Spring

The snow is all melted and the green grass is poking up through the ground. I love seeing the big fat buds on the trees and flowers poking up. Signs of spring are everywhere.

The minions are turning into the little predators they become in the spring and have brought me their first kill of the season. A poor Garter snake. I sure wish they would just stop killing everything in sight.

Another sign of spring? The kids are outside all the time. It's lovely. We are on the trampoline at least once a day. I think it's one of the best workouts ever. I thought buying the trampoline would be for the kids but I get just as much out of it as they do. They also have a newfound love of the swing set (it's getting re-stained this spring). They've become brazen enough to jump off the swing while swinging and have contests to see who flies the farthest. They come in with all sorts of scratches and bruises. Fun times!

I wanted to do something with my hair this spring, something different. I didn't want to chop it all off as I've been growing it out for a couple of years now. So I thought highlights would be fun. I haven't had highlights in over a decade. My hair dresser specializes in balayage, which is like traditional highlights but it's painted on with a brush instead of wrapped up in foil. He painted particular strands and then put plastic wrap to keep layers apart. When he was finished painting my hair and plastic wrapping me, I looked like some psychotic Saran Wrap monster.

It lightened up the hair nicely and it looks natural....like I've been out in the sun all summer. He did a great job.  I took a before and after just to see if I could tell a difference.

With spring here I knew it was time for the Cub Scouts to start having their outings. On Friday they went to the local nature center to learn about wildlife we have in our neck of the woods. Then the weekend after next they have their first camping trip. I'm kind of nervous about that one. But like the scout leader said, it's a nice way to "cut the cord". He's sure having fun in Cub Scouts.

Happy Easter!

 We woke up to an Easter surprise! Snow! They were forecasting an inch for the area and we got a couple of inches. This is the most snow we've gotten all winter and the kids had way too much fun in it. Too bad it will be melted by lunch. We sure needed the moisture though.

Friday the kids were out of school so we dyed eggs.

Yesterday was the annual Easter Egg Dash that we attend every year. It only goes up to 9 years old, so Wesley only has one more year. :( Crazy how time flies!

Eating chocolate bunny and other goodies this morning after Dad made waffles and berry sauce for breakfast. What a treat! I hope you have a lovely Easter! 

Zoo!

First day of Spring break my friend Jessica and I decided to take the kids to the zoo. You know, since it was 80 degrees out and the most beautiful day of the year. Unfortunately everyone in town thought the same thing. The parking lot was packed and the front entrance had a line of people extending out to the parking lot. It was crazy! If we hadn't just driven an hour to get there we probably would have turned around and gone home. Note to self: no zoo during spring break.

Half an hour later we finally made it into the zoo and the crowds dispersed. It was a lovely trip and the kids were happy we went.