KISS Linky Party #3: The Hunger Games

Welcome to the third Keep It Simple Saturday linky party! I had a post all planned out to share with you all, but after I saw what my daughter had been working on, I just had to brag on her!

She and I are going to the movies tonight to see The Hunger Games. We usually only go watch a movie when it comes out in the theater if it’s one we really, really want to see. I’m just going to say, “If you haven’t read the books, you need to. Now.” I was hesitant at first and only started reading the first one because Laina asked me to, but then I was hooked! Anyways, onto the KISS project.

Laina created a very simple Hunger Games themed t-shirt, using a black t-shirt from Wal-Mart, some fabric paints from the thrift store, and a stencil she created. She printed out the Mockingjay symbol from the internet, cut it out, glued it to a  piece of cardboard and taped it to the shirt.

Sorry, I took the pictures after she had finished, so I had to recreate it.

Then she just painted around it.  She used the bright colors to represent Katniss, “the girl on fire.”

Doesn’t it look like she created an explosion in the background?

I think she did a great job!

On to the highlights from last week! If I featured you this week or last, please grab the KISS featured button from my sidebar.

Dolly from Hibiscus House shared her memories of her Grandpa and simple life in the country.

Joann from Life at 2810 shared a project that incorporated only found items and stuff she had on hand. Can’t get much simpler than that!

And finally, Bliss from Bliss Ranch shared how a simple flower keeps memories of her mom alive.

**3/24 8:11pm~party is up and going! Since there was a problem with Linky tools server, this week’s party will go on until midnight on Tuesday!**

Now it’s your turn!

If you choose to use my button in your post as the link back, please make sure you copy the button code and not just the picture.

Here’s the KISS party rules:

• Share your simple craft ideas, recipes, home decorating tips, organizing solutions, thrifty finds, finance tips, or any changes you’ve decided to make that will simplify your life. If it will simplify something…share it!
• Please follow my blog, either via Google Friends or Linky Followers before linking up. Also, feel free to like my Facebook page.
• Be sure to link back to your original post and not just your url (main blog address).
• Please grab the KISS button from my sidebar and post it somewhere on your blog.
• Include a visible link to the KISS party or my main blog address in or at the bottom of the post you’re linking up so others can find the party, too! Any post not linked back will be deleted.
• Visit another guest. Scroll through the other links and find a couple that interest you. Visit them and leave a comment letting them know how you found them. We all like comments!
• Please, please, please turn off word verification on comments!
• I will visit each link and highlight a few at the following week’s party.
• The party will run from sometime on Fridays until midnight on Monday nights.

By linking up to this party, you understand and agree that I may use your images on my blog, Facebook page or Pinterest board.

Mommy Duties

This last week I had to do perform a mommy duty. Well, I had to perform more than one, but this was one I always put off. 

Ironing.

Usually I wait until I have a pile of items and then turn on a show I enjoy and iron away.

But not last week. My children had a special ironing request that had to be done.

Immediately.

These are what were so important:

A horse….

                       

Red Skull from Captain America….

                                         

and Captain America himself.

                                         

Melty beads or fusion beads, as they could be known. My talented little boys like to create all kinds of creatures with these and then wait patiently for me to iron them. (Just a little sarcasm inserted there.)  But once they’re completed, they have oh-so-much-fun with them. And it was certainly worth pulling the iron out for.

The Finished Project

Some time ago I had shared that Laina was working on a hand-stitched quilt project. She started this with her 4H group last year, but did not complete it with the group.

Not long after we moved, I suggested she dig it out and work on it. In a matter of minutes, she finished it up and was ready to move on to something new.

Here is the finished project:

                                          

It’s about the size of a doll quilt or small lap blanket.

Pretty darn cute.

Weekend Crafting

For the past three days Conman has been bugging me to make baking clay. I'm not even sure where he got the idea for that, because I have never made baking clay!

I do have a handy book titled The Stuff That Fun Is Made of: A Comprehensive Collection of Recipes for Play & Learning by Selena Laporte. I purchased this at a homeschool convention I attended last July, and hadn't used it yet. So out it came and we found a recipe for basic modeling dough:

• 5 cups of flour
• 1 cup of salt (yes, you read that right-1 cup!)
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 2 cups of hot water

We mixed it all together, kneaded it really well and the boys dove in! You can add food coloring if you want to seperate out some dough and then color it. I chose to avoid that and have the boys paint their creations after they had baked and cooled.

This was actually a two day process. Yesterday they crafted and baked; today we painted. We baked them at 200 degrees and it took several hours for Blakester's pieces since they were larger than Conman's. After painting them, I sealed them with clear nail polish. This is a suggestion from the book's author for sealing smaller pieces.

Here's some pics of them working diligently modeling their clay and painting it:

Conman made what he calls "lego guys". You can tell from my previous posts he has a huge fascination with these. Blakester made a snake and a replica of Conman's head:

Ah, brotherly love! At least they worked quietly together during the process.