Yarn eggs got me all tied up

So I have experienced my very own Pinterest failed it moment. What is this, you ask? Well, according to me, a failed it moment comes when you attempt to do something you saw on Pinterest, and fail miserably. 

     Here is mine - I saw this great idea for an Easter decoration on Pinterest (you can get to the site by clicking on the caption). 

http://churchfun.com/2009/03/29/free-yarn-easter-egg-project/

     It looked pretty easy to make, very inexpensive, and cute. I even considered trying to do this in my Sunday School class - I teach the 3-5yr olds. I mean, it's a balloon with some glue and yarn. How hard could it be? It sure seems simple enough to pull off...

     Boy was I wrong. My first attempt was laughable in how it turned out. Instead of a cute egg, mine turned out to look more like a bird's nest; and not a very decorative one at that. Thinking back, I believe I used too little glue and too much water. Hmm...

     Surprising enough after that horrible failed it moment, I decided to try the experiment again, with a few minor adjustments.

     This time I started with more yarn, and a lighter color since this is supposed to be an Easter decoration and the first time my colors looked more like Christmastime. And instead of using white craft glue (since I believe you need a good portion of a bottle for one of these), I decided to make my own paper mache paste.

     For those of you who haven't done paper mache before, it's super easy. Mix water and flour with a whisk until it's a gloppy consistency. That's it. Awesomely simple, isn't it? So I used the paper mache paste this time, and I made sure to completely drench each strand of yarn before putting it on the balloon. And when I used up all 24 strands of yarn, here's what it looked like...

 Pretty neat, huh? I was excited already, because it seemed to be drying and firming up much better even at this stage. And yes, this is my very own invention - the Courtney balloon-egg-drying system. I have since improved this to be a piece of yarn threaded through a clothespin and hung on a cabinet knob, but whatever works. 

     And there it hung for the rest of the day. You don't need 24 hours of drying time, but at least 5 or 6 is probably necessary to make sure that it's not wet still. Then I stuck my finger into some of the larger openings to separate the balloon from the dried shell (so it doesn't try to pull the yard inward when you pop the balloon). And finally, POP! I popped the balloon and fished it out.

     Voila! Here is how this one turned out. Pretty good, in my own personal opinion. Since I used white and light pink yarn the colors are very muted; I'm curious what color the blue or red yard would be with this technique. But it is stiff and strong and ready to go on my mantle. If I'm feeling more adventurous later on and get tired of this color I could always spray paint it gold or purple or whatever other color I wanted. And if you don't have a perfectly round balloon, then they would turn out egg-shaped, which is pretty perfect considering the holiday. 

So I actually do consider this one a success... after that first attempt anyway.

Sick and tired and hungry

What a week....

My poor toddler has been sick with croup. And in an odd twist, when she is sick, she doesn't nap very well. Perhaps it's the coughing keeping her up, but even though she has no energy and sits around the house most of the day doing not-so-much, she won't take a nap. Which means I don't get a rest either.

     Luckily the baby seems ok and has been sleeping better at night. Of course her sister has filled in all those times where I used to get up with the baby, so I'm still getting up 4 or 5 times a night. Hence why the nap is so important. Well, hopefully that'll change soon. I keep hoping.

     And we've been experimenting with different tricks to reduce the coughing. A steamy bathroom for 30 minutes seems to help some, but we finally broke down and got a humidifier last night. It helped some, but was not the sure fix I was hoping for. A friend today suggested bundling her up and taking her out into the cold air for a few minutes, so I think we'll be trying that tonight. Cross your fingers for me.

     Now for a quick update on my food journey this week. I'm proud to say that I have only gone to the store once (Costco to buy.... flour!) and it wasn't until Thursday. Man was it tough being home all week with the girls and not having flour to bake with. So I guess it's been a somewhat accidental fast. I couldn't just turn to the kitchen cupboards and bake something to keep us distracted. But now we have flour again, so I'm optimistic that we can get through this weekend without needing a store run (or at least not a big one), and I see a possibility that I'll be able to make it through next week as well.

Less is more, right?

In my Friday mornings bible study / mommy group we have decided to embark on 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker. The basis of the book (or rather the introduction) is that as a society we have become one of excess where 'more is more' and being humble or thrifty isn't heralded as it used to. Or perhaps as much as it should. 

Pies I made for Thanksgiving. Don't they look delicious?

     So she challenges her readers to go through a minimizing exercise with her - each chapter focuses on a different theme and the reader is asked to reduce whatever that focus is, essentially doing a modified fast from it in an effort to realize how much excess we all have and how much we could do with less. This month the focus is food, and boy is it scary.

     I know I'm a foody. I've always been. I was the child in 5th grade who when asked what my favorite food was, proudly answered, "lobster." Forget pizza or hotdogs, I wanted fresh Maine Lobster. HA! So I love food, I love to make food, I love to eat food, and I love the feeling I get when people eat my food and enjoy it. So this month is a TOUGH one for me.

     The basic challenge is to choose 7 food items (think chicken or eggs, or bread, etc) and only eat those for 1 week. Yikes. I'm not really sure I can do that; I'm pretty sure I started hyperventilating merely reading it on the page. So onto the alternatives. One of her suggested alternatives is to cut the food budget in half for a week instead, and to donate the other half (probably to the church since that's where this is all stemming from). I think we can do that... let's see.

     Now today is day 1. And since I hadn't actually read the chapter until this weekend, I didn't give myself the opportunity to bulk up last week in anticipation. Of course, I do tend to stock the house with a lot of food anyway (I love having the ingredients on hand for whatever I get the urge to make). So right now the grocery list only has 2 items on it - flour and rice (yes, flour for those of you who read my previous post... I've run out of flour!!). I think we're starting off in a pretty good place.

     In fact, I'm going to see how long I can last without going to the store at all. Potentially combining a couple of her suggested alternatives - cutting the food budget and just eating the food you already have in the house. Here at the onset I'm going to see if I can handle half of the weekly food budget stretched for 2 weeks... although am I cheating if I say that my basic goal is to manage 1 week on half the food budget and my stretch goal is to make it with that same amount for 2 weeks?

     One thing to note - I'm going to try and NOT shop that differently than normal, but merely focus on the basics without the fluff and fancy food. So if I need to buy flour (and 25lbs of it), then I'll buy flour at the same quantity I usually do without just going for the smaller bag where I know I'll end up spending more later. Of course, because this is a self created program, there's a lot of room for interpretation. 

Now you'll have to check back in a few days to see if I succeed or how I end up "interpreting" my plans.