Sunday, January 30, 2011

DIY rainy day dragon craft for kids

a rainy sunday...what better time for trying a little craft with the kiddos i've been eyeballing in family fun magazine. do you see how in the previous link the dragon puppet looks so perfect, the girl looks so smiley and everything just looks so friggin' clean and tidy??? WELL...enter realtiy.


things got off to a GREAT start, the neighbor boys came over and we were all set to start painting...


i was all calm, i had read the instructions to make the dragons a couple of times, i had the oldest boy cut the egg cartons just so, i was thinking the pacing of this craft was just fine, i was in fact drinking coffee and enjoying the lovely creativity of the kids on a rainy morning...HAHAHAHAHA so silly.










usually i pride myself on how things like mixing all the paint colors together don't bug me...so far so good, i wasn't bugged, yet...
and was i bugged when the black paint for painting the scales went through the fabric and onto the floor??? NO! not ME!
did it bother me when the boys mom came over and informed me that i in fact had NOT read the directions the right way or cut out the stupid egg cartons the right way? NOOOOOO. It certainly didn't bother me when I tried to staple all this wet paint soggy egg carton crap together to no avail...WAIT A SECOND,,,why am I the one trying to staple this soggy mess
ummm, creative art work together? I thought this was for the kids....why are they making SO MUCH NOISE anyway? why aren't they deeply and QUIETLY engrossed in the creative process here? Oh that's right, they are arguing and wrestling in the bed room "YOU GUYS WORK IT OUT, SHE ISN'T HURT THAT BAD...I HAVE TO STAPLE THESE   WET EGG CARTONS TOGETHER. LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!!!"

friggin' mess



now quit fighting and pose with these dragon puppets your mother and I YOU made!!!!

"now set up this awesome puppet theater your mom made  (I'm sure there is a similar non stressful story behind that as well) and put on the best f*#$ing dragon puppet show of your life...SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!!,oops, I mean, could you cute kids try to keep it done please???? Thanks:)""oh dear, did you hurt your head when you fell through that awesomely cute puppet theater? GET UP GET UP QUIT CRYING, i mean, uh-oh...I'm at a loss here....but look at how great your dragon puppet is! Right? RIGHT? Is 11:00 am too early for a little drinky?"

but come on people, i mean look at the end result...a big thing that will never get played with and warm fuzzy memories of two uptight moms on the verge of a nervous breakdown stapling and painting and cursing while the kidlings avoided serious bodily injury while running like wild banshees throughout this little happy suburban home . 
(i know, perhaps you are wondering, where did this kid in the above pic come from?...he wasn't in the pictures when these AMAZING CRAFTS were being executed...well, that is because he was with his Dad this weekend and when he came home and saw what had been done without him, he felt really left out and got pissed. ) so what can i say to sum this experience up.....hmmm, next time it is a rainy Sunday morning and the impulse to get "crafty with the kiddos" strikes....remind me to 
either
a. go back to bed
b. turn on an age appropriate movie for the kids and go back to bed
c. send my kids to the neighbors house and go back to bed

Happy Crafting Everyone!!!!!!




6 comments:

  1. Ha! This made me laugh out loud! You perfectly articulated what a fun project this was.

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  2. Heidi, that is why i love you, you read that in my mind i was screaming SHUT UP at the kids and you laugh! you are a true soul sister!

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  3. this made me laugh soo much! i feel the same when i volunteer in my daughter's class and it's arts and crafts time. it gets soo out of control! thank goodness someone else has to clean up the mess because i think that might put an end to my volunteering if i had to clean up too!

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  4. Amy, You just described when I bring in an art project to the classrooms I work at...except that I work in about 8 classrooms where I PUT my stupid self through this. There are at least 5-10 kids per class! Argh! Did I mention the kids I work with have a difficult time doing 99% of these projects because of their disabilities? Needless to say, I only do this once in a blue moon now, to keep my sanity. Then I come back to this crazy hood doing the same thing at home! Ha ha I still love you and Heidi!

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  5. BEST BLOG POST EVER!!
    amy, you are sooo funny.
    thank you for describing REALITY!

    which brings me to?
    when are WE going to have a craft date???

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  6. thank you my sisters in crafting with kids...why do we continue doing this to ourselves?

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