Giftmaking, redux (part 2 of 4)

Hmm, let's see now, what all did we get up to that day.... Well.

Well, we did make jigsaw puzzles. That was really fun. This is a project that I flat-out stole from Jack McKee's great book, "Woodshop for Kids" (lots and LOTS of great project ideas in there, and handy info on teaching kids to use tools wisely and well, too). I cut a puzzle 'blank' out of thin plywood and they sawed that blank all to bits with the coping saw. And then put those bits back together, painted them up, and voila! Homemade wooden puzzle, quite nice.

We also whipped up some peppermint creams, which was a recipe that I also scavenged from the amazing cookbook, River Cottage Family Cookbook (LOVE this book and all the amazing photos... so inspiring and enticing!). They're awesome because you're really essentially making ultra sweet peppermint edible playdough... which then dries into a melt-in-your-mouth little treat.

Peppermint Creams

2 c. powdered sugar

1 egg white

Peppermint essence

A few drops of cooking oil

Green food coloring (optional)

Mix up the sugar and egg white and peppermint and food coloring, if using... you will probably have to resort to squishing it together with your hands in the end, 'til all becomes a cohesive blob. Add powdered sugar as needed so that it's no longer sticking to your hands, but is easy to mold and work with, like play dough. You can then roll out the dough and use a tiny cookie cutter or jar lid to cut into nice little bite-sized uniform pieces, or you can just let the kids mold them into whatever shapes they want... which is what I did. They didn't look as pretty but believe me, they still got eaten. Rub a few drops of oil onto the piece of wax paper you have lined your cookie sheet with for easy removal.

We then dipped them in chocolate, which I had melted in this little crockpot. Optional of course, and I think this crockpot runs a little hot because the chocolate, by the time we got to it, was not smoothy, shiny, and looking forward to coating our delicious little treats, but rather in a more chunky, hard to work with state.... I shan't be using that crockpot for projects such as this again.

We also made fizzy bath salts, which I didn't manage to capture a photo of, but they are always a guaranteed hit and much easier to make than fizzy bath bombs, I believe.

There's lots of recipes out there, but here's the one that I like:

Fizzy Bath Salts

4 c. epsom salts

2 c. baking soda

1 c. citric acid

40 drops of essential oil ( I used pine tree and lavender, for a kind of holidays/ decompression blend)

food coloring optional

The food coloring might not show up in the mix, (and don't add too much, or the liquid will 'activate' the citric acid and the whole thing will fizz up and any fizzy action at a later date will be lost) but it will color the water when it goes into the bath. What could a parent or a teacher want MORE than a mix that will magically turn their bath into a fizzing purple whirlpool? Quite fun. Citric acid can be a little hard to find, but it is sometimes found in the kosher section of the supermarket as sour salt, and I also have seen it in the bulk spice section of our local gourmet grocery, Central Market.

Have fun, intrepid gifters~ more coming soon!

A visit with Stefanie diStefano and FlamingO Ranch!

Our artisan field trip class also had the wondrous good fortune to discover the Austin treasure trove that is FlamingO Ranch and it's proprietor, Ms. Stefanie DiStefano. I had seen some work of hers around town and was amazed to discover that she is a protegee of Isiah Zagar... one of my all time heroes after visiting Philadelphia Magic Gardens a few years ago. Stefanie also turned me on to this FEE.NOM.EENULL. documentary about Isiah, In A Dream... made by his son, Jeremiah... if you want to ruminate about life, love, family, and most of all art, please watch it. I found it to be totally amazing.

Anyway, can you dig it? I rubbed shoulders with someone who knows this guy (that I admire so very very much)very very well! Celebrity alert! And her ranch is a wonderland. It had the same immersive, provocative quality that this crazy place Buffet Flat had on me as a kid.... as if you were walking into the heart of someone's brain. I hope (and have little doubt) that it was an electric, never-to-be-forgotten experience for the kids who came with us.

And we even got to make a mosaic with her! Hot-cha!

Tinkering class grande finale... homemade carnival!

6 weeks of work culminated yesterday in one scrappy little handmade fall festival. A high striker, fishing pond, roller coaster, food stand, and ball toss... and oh yes, human hamster wheel races.

Pretty darn fun. We enjoyed it.

The beginnings of a roller coaster...

... in tinkering class today. It was pretty cool. More to be done, but still cool. It's amazing... when Gever Tulley came to Austin, in one of his talks he said that tinkering with kids almost always, in his experience, follows the model of the hero's journey, which is a basic pattern that almost any blockbuster (or otherwise) Hollywood movie (or otherwise) follows.... the hero/ine is introduced, things are going well until SOMETHING GOES TERRIBLY WRONG and he/she spends the rest of the film/novel/comic book/magazine article overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles until there is a FINAL AMAZING TRIUMPH at the end (think Star Wars). I am so glad that he mentioned this because it really gives me the wherewithal to just keep on truckin' through the sticky part in the middle, that always seems to happen when we're trying to tinker with kids. If I didn't have this now deeply embedded into my consciousness I might give up a lot more readily but as it stands luckily I have managed (so far) to roll with the punches and have found(at least a few times) the sweet sweet tinkering triumph that lies on the other side. Every single time we've had a tinkering class or camp our first day usually goes well, then we (or I, at least) go completely deep into the weeds for a few sessions and it just feels like nothing is ever going to come together and that it's all a total DISASTER.... and then, VOILA, it really DOES come together, and we (I mean I ) weep salty tears of relief and joy. And makes me feel like it all might be worth doing, after all.

It takes faith, this tinkering thing, it surely does! And a big ol' failure-postive attitude, too...

Frankentoys

I had the good fortune to go to the insanely fabulous event, Art Outside, and bring my Frankentoys project. What a thrill to be in the middle of it all, making art and having fun with kids, my favorite thing of all!

Tinkering for grown-ups

I was invited to do this team-building activity for a group from Whole Foods this week.This was so much fun... We made drawbots and desktop succulent gardens out of sardine cans (my kids have been insane for sardines lately... seriously they're almost on par with candy to use as a lure to get them to do my bidding). I really think the tinkering is a great way to break adults out of their shells. My heart was SO greatly warmed seeing these sweet folks get so excited... laughing, shrieking, problem-solving... it was totally adorable.

I have been doing a lot of work on Austin Tinkering School lately... just trying to get it all ship-shape so that it can hopefully be a real actual livelihood that can perchance support my whole family in the manner to which they've become accustomed. My husband recently quit his job to work with me full time on ATS(Unbelievable! Amazing! Terrifying! Exciting! Wild and wonderful! ) so this is not very hypothetical and these musings are quite pertinent to our life. Matt quit his job mid-summer and did all the tinkering camps with me, which was perfectly amazing, and that's the kind of completely exciting and satisfying and hands-on work that we love. Since then there's actually been about a 6 week period with hardly any classes (they all start next week) and we've just been thinking website, registration forms, 'pay now' buttons (ooh! fancy!), tax ID numbers, all this stuff I could never get to on my own and is simply amazing to be getting to now, with Matt's help. However I have found myself to be getting bogged down, and I've been thinking that I needed to refresh and revive myself and remind myself of what I am after here, like WHY does Austin Tinkering School need to come to life. Yes, it's a money-making venture, and that's important, but I don't think that should really be the taproot of the whole thing. If money is simply all I need it would surely be faster and easier to just get a job at Starbucks. Anyway, this is all a very garbledy and roundabout way of saying that I think the purpose of it all is just to bring that excitement of creation and making to people's lives. I can't say we always achieve it but there were lots of great moments during the camps this summer where kids were just completely lit up from within. And to see these adults completely giddy... that makes me feel like we are providing a valuable service. Now to see if we can keep sending out sparks while keeping our family out of the poorhouse... I do believe we can... think good thoughts for us all!