It's F-U-N...

On a stick!!I will admit that when I first thought of sharing this post with you I was excited. I imagined about how cute these little crafties were going to be. And then I started making Fun on a Stick and said to myself- Cheryl, this isn't THAT fun. It's just cut out paper on a stick.

Maggie the Magnificent to the rescue. Dunt-dun-duh! (That doesn't type out so well. Insert your own superhero sound effect.)

I said to her, "I'm doing a post called Fun on a Stick and it's really starting to feel like a stick in the mud." Maggie the Magnificent replies with, "We had a party once and everyone had to bring a food on a stick."

Okay, take the thermometer out because this starting to feel much better now. So, jump on your pogo stick and hop on in because I am officially declaring today FUN FRIDAY ON A STICK!
It all started when I started seeing the mustaches on a stick and these fun pictures of people at a party posing for the camera with their Mustaches on a Stick. It was cute and playful. Kind of like the picture below.

Then I thought that it would be fun if you made a funny mouth and maybe in the spirit of Halloween a Vampire or carved pumpkin mouth.

Or open a Kissing Booth. Give me a lil' smooch, baby!

But wait! Glasses would be fun, too. Cat-eye glasses, Jackie O. glasses or even better Ray glasses.

Don't stop with just one Fun on a stick. Team them up to have even more fun.

Now those are cute and can be made as elaborate or as simple as you want. All you need is a stick. I used skewers because that's what I had on hand. Draw or pull up some clip art to get your designs. I'll admit that printing out the mouths, gluing them to posterboard and cutting them out with scissors was much easier. On the glasses I used Elmer's glue to attach the sticks but on the others I just used plain old Scotch Tape.

Stretch your creative mind and bedazzle, paint or even add yarn to your mustaches. Go ahead- I've got you warmed up. What would you add to your fun on a stick?

But we're not stopping there. Oh no! We're moving to food. Shish kabobs, Corn Dogs, Carmel apples, Cotton Candy- they're all on a stick.

You have foods that are sticks- breadsticks and drumsticks.

Fruit! On a tooth pick or a skewer! Cheese! We don't need no stinking cracker! You can put anything on a skewer and voila! Fun on a stick. Heck, you can even make brownies, cookies and cake balls- all on a what? You got it- a stick! Ooh! Serve sushi and eat with...chopsticks! Somebody stop me!

Don't forget about fun activities! Sparklers aren't just for the Fourth of July, you know. And pinatas! How are you going to break them open? With a stick! Break out that horse on a stick and take a gallop around the room. Stick horse Races! Pick-up-sticks!
This is getting to be very Slap Stick so before you pull out your matchstick and burn me at the stake (which technically is just a big stick) I'm going to leave you with this: Today is also known as Free For All Friday (but I'm lobbying to change it to FUN FRIDAY ON A STICK) so keep going with the stick theme if you want or throw out another word that we can center a party idea around.

All Announcements will be in the comment section because I know we have some Snack Throw Down Stuff going on. Be sure to check out Kate and Lauren's Black Bean recipes. Polls should be up over on the right------>>> Don't forget to vote.

I've got my lipstick on straight with my broomstick in hand and I'm off to save the world so, signing off until tomorrow.

Welcome To Booville

Today's project is so easy that with a little assistance your 5 year old could do this. And they will have the satisfaction of seeing their work set out as a Halloween decoration.

You can use it as a centerpiece on your table or as a decoration on a mantle or side table. Let's get started.

First you need find a container. I just used something I had sitting in the windowsill. Mine was pretty tall so I added some crumpled up newspaper.

Next, cut some styrofoam to sit in the top of your container.

Get some of this really cool SuperMoss and cut it to size and plop right on top of the styrofoam. It doesn't need any glue and it doesn't have to be perfect.

I used some black foam and cut out a tombstone. I used white fabric paint to write R.I.P. on it. Once it dried, I used an xacto blade to cut a little slit in the moss and poked the tombstone through the moss. It stands up on it's own. No glue.

Make a ghost by gathering any kind of flowy white fabric. I had leftover cheesecloth from mummy costumes. I took a barbecue skewer and trimmed it to the height that I wanted. Stick that into some styrofoam and cover with the fabric.

Using the xacto blade again, I created a small hole in the moss and put the ghost in its place. I let the ends of the fabric cover up the edge that didn't meet the edge of the container.

Go ahead and throw some little pumpkin ornaments on there. I also used some little rocks.

Tie some ribbon or raffia around the middle of your container to add an extra touch of detail.

We're almost done. I salvaged the rest of that skewer I used for the ghost. I printed "Welcome to Booville" and "Beware" on orange paper. Cut them out. Add little jagged edges to the sides by cutting tiny triangles and tape them to the skewer. Place the sign through the moss just like you did for the ghost.

And there you have a seriously easy Halloween decoration for you table or any where else you need a little Halloween cheer.

To finish it off for my table I wrapped the rest of the cheesecloth around the base of my container and sat the rest of the pumpkin decorations around as well.

You could adapt this same moss theme for next Easter using little Easter Eggs and a decorative bunny or chick. Your sign could say "Hoppy Trails!"

How would you adapt your container to make it your own?

Snack Throwdown:

Last week's winner was Lauren so the official score is now Kate 2, Lauren 3.

Don't forget to click on their links and see what they made for this week. This weeks secret ingredient is Sour Cream. And lastly, we're also voting for next weeks ingredient, Avacado or Black Beans.

This is Cheryl with your seriously easy craft project, signing off until tomorrow...

Dine by Design... A Feast For Your Eyes!

They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery. I consider that true and therefore think the women of a local Grapevine, TX church should be feeling pretty flattered right about now. I don't know when or where, but someday I will copy this idea... and might I say, I hope I do it half as well. EVERYONE will love this idea, but particularly my student affairs and higher ed friends will see its utility. By now, hopefully I have peaked your curiosity... but first... some Monday Maintenance

Monday Maintenance

• Flat Stanley. Helena, let us know when you are ready to move Flat Stanley along. Remember, it doesn't have to be the world's greatest adventure. Any thing he does is better than being stuck under a bulletin board (the story behind how he got flattened).


• I am waiting to see if anyone logged on yesterday between 4:16 and 5:16 p.m. CST. If so, you know what to do.


• Three people have referred someone to my sight and had them post to comments. Cassie P, Katie K, and Treye are all in the running for the $25.00 gift card (to a location of your choice). They have each had one person post a comment. That makes it a tie between the three of them, but not hard for any one of your to catch up with. The contest, to see who can refer (and then get their referral to post) at midnight on Wednesday (4/16). The winner will be announced bright and early on Thursday.


• Today's letters are (you snooze you lose, though you had extra opportunity since I forgot and left the letters posted longer than intended). To win the prize, collect them all (also by Wednesday) and be the first to decipher the code.


• IMPORTANT NOTE: Three days left and we can do this. Hope springs eternal. We have finally tipped the 3,000 mark (that means it is down hill from here). We need 1,943 hits between now and Wednesday at midnight. Sounds like a tall order to fill, right? But, hear me out... If 80 people a day visit (and we've been averaging more like 100-120) and those 80 people just got 8.09 people to also visit each day then we would be there. So if you work... walk down your hallway and ask eight colleagues of yours to participate. If you're retired, walk out your door and ask your neighbors. If you're staying at home with your kids... tell each of the moms you see at play group. If you're a student, then tell your classmates. Each of us gets 8 people today, tomorrow, and the next day. That's it. No strings attached and they never have to return again (although we want you back!!!!!). This will be a good test as to whether we, as a nation, can do our part to stop global warming. We have to. So take this small step and let's prove that with just a little bit of effort and maybe even inconvenience, we can make something big happen!!!!!

Creativity is contagious in every way shape and form. My creative neighbor knows I love creative ideas and am always on the hunt for something new. She caught me in our culdesac on Saturday afternoon and asked if I would like to accompany her for 30 minutes to a local church where a fundraiser was being held - something she thought I would not want to miss. Parenthetically I should say, my neighbor is the real-kind of creative... as in... she can make stuff. She knows how to draw, paint, make table arrangements, sew... the Martha Stewart stuff I would never even attempt. I knew when she said this would be something worth seeing, that I shouldn't miss out.

The concept behind this church dinner is that 75 women (and a small army of their friends) each sponsored a table. To sponsor a table is to agree to develop a theme for the table and subsequently to arrange for the corresponding plates, napkins, utensils, centerpieces, chair covers, party favors, and the list goes on and on an on! Imagine all of the planning, plotting, crafting, and creating that a group of women and her friends could produce if they had ALL YEAR and all that energy was being loaded into ONE table for ten people.

Now imagine that times 75. Yes, 75 gloriously decorated tables around every imaginable theme. We're talking chocolate, travel, books, games, Barbie, Nancy Drew, lemons, m & m's, Valentine's day, Christmas, summer, gardening, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, cowboys, and my neighbors table... tennis. I'm naming a fraction. In fact, I was so overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the event and yet... the amount of attention that was paid to the smallest of details, that I didn't make a single note. I took some pictures I will share with you, but I will have to leave the rest up to your creative imaginations.

I spent a good amount of time looking at the tennis table, because my friend worked on it, so I will recall all the that I can to give you some idea... The plates were clear glass, but painted on the bottom to resemble a tennis ball (the EXACT color, I might add). To the left of each plate was a napkin with a monogrammed sweat band as the napkin holder! Beneath the plate was a table mat to look like a tennis court. Above the plate was a place card holder in the shape of a tennis ball, and centered in the table was the most perfect topiary made with tennis balls. Each woman received a package of handmade note cards "sporting" a fun tennis saying. I can't remember if there was anything draped over the back of the chair , but I do remember that all the women sitting at this table were coming to the dinner dressed in tennis attire (just like all the women at the Who Want to be a Millionaire table dressed in identical and slinky, black and white cocktail dresses).

I love this idea, not only because it is creativity...MANIFESTED in the most tangible of ways, but also because the very idea is creative. Raise money by involving 75 different groups of people and then guarantee a lot of buzz and a good turn out - all because of the lengths these women could not resist going to when doing their "EXTREME DECORATING." Genius. I'm a great example. I moved to town in November and only heard about the idea three days ago. I, like many community members, only "toured" the tables this year, but you better believe that next year I will want to get one step closer by attending the event. I like being creative as much as the next person, so it won't take me long before I want to roll up my sleeves and coordinate the design of a table myself. And, this is not even a church I attend!

Melanie, Heather, cspgradstudent, Tera... someone... steal this idea! Heather, picture a fundraiser where each student organization was developing the table decorations for ONE table. Their goal... identify a theme and then develop it to its nth degree. Then those same students sell tickets to faculty, staff, administrators, their parents, and alumni (ooohhh... even the Homecoming Committee could use this idea). The church sold tickets for $15.00 a piece - reasonable, especially if you could get food donated). This has great possibilities for not just churches, but student organization, PTAs, Women's League groups; a neighborhood; girl scout (!) troops... the list goes on.

Ok, I hope I did this beautifully executed idea justice. If not, it's because I was overcome by the sheer creativity of it all and - being the internal processor that I am - two days was just not enough time to soak it all in and then turn around and describe it. Of course it's also Monday and I'm just warming up for the week, too.



Pictures say a thousand words, so be sure to spend some time checking out the pictures I've included... and then go recruit your 8 people!.

Signing off until tomorrow...

"O" is for Oracle

Oh, it would have been way to predictable to simply draw on words like organize, original, ornament, orange, or our beloved... Oprah for today's entry.  Instead, I want to leave today's creative idea to complete chance - letting it unravel in real time.  

This is going to be fun, fun, fun.  No matter where you are sitting while reading this you will want to get up and participate.  For today's entry I will follow my oracle.  To create an oracle, we need three things...

First, we need a question we want to address.  My question.  Around what topic should today's creative idea be centered?  Now, what's your question?  What should you make for dinner? Where should you and your colleagues go to lunch?  What should Friday's Fun-in-the-box-Friday activity be?  What, once and for all, should Cristine use as party favors for her husband's golf tournament?  Stop now and decide on a question.  Go ahead.  It will be fun.  Incidentally, if you work, you will be the hit of your next meeting when you bring this idea along.

Second.  We need a way to generate a random piece of information.  The operative word here is RANDOM.  After all, if you and your family, your staff, or your colleagues employ similar decision making techniques with each situation then you are bound to come up with similar solutions.  One way to unleash your creativity is to employ different approaches to decision-making.

Ok, we're going to take a time out here to actually help you acquire your random piece of information.  I used this activity once when training college students to think more creatively about program development and promotion.  We were sitting in a large auditorium.  I happen to be sitting in Starbucks right this moment.  Wherever you are it will work.  Ready?...

Stand up and take (insert a number 1-10) steps to your (appoint a direction... forward, backward, north, south, left, right).  Touch the item closest to you.  Identify the first letter of the item you touched.  Determine which number - 1-26 - of the alphabet your letter is.  Point to that number of objects in the room you are sitting. Determine the first letter of the last thing to which you pointed.  What letter does it start with?  Pick up the book closest to you.  Open to any random page and a word starting with that letter.  THAT IS YOUR ORACLE!  Needless to say, I made up the prompts.  They could be anything and in any order.  Think MadLibs.

 

Here's how mine played out...  Stand up and take 3 steps forward.  Touch the newspaper.  The first letter of newspaper is "N" - the 19th letter of the alphabet.  I pointed to a chair, table, picture, magazine holder, bulletin board, apron, bottle of syrup, espresso machine, barrista, pastry, CD for sale, Starbuck's logo, sugar packet, stirrer, mug, woman writing letters, computer, bag of coffee beans, and door. The first letter of the 19th item is "D."  I opened up my book and (Free Prize Inside by Seth Godin) and DOOM is the first word I saw starting with the letter "D." So... "Doom" is my oracle (Oh, how I wish I could cheat and pick a different one, but that wouldn't be fun and it wouldn't help illustrate the usefulness of trusting an oracle).  P.S. There are two "o"s in the word, so I think it was fated.

Third step.  We need an attitude open to interpreting the resulting random piece of information.  Why would I have landed on the word doom?  Am I doomed?  Is my blog doomed?  Doomed makes me think of gloom.  Is that because it's raining outside or because I've been in a funky mood lately?  Hmmmm... mood is doom spelled backwards....

That's it. Today's idea will be about creative (substance-free) ways to improve your mood!  My sister shared with me when she was in town this past weekend that she gets herself out of a funk by changing one small thing in her routine.  It could be something as simple as reversing the order in which she gets dressed.  I've been thinking about her strategy since she left, so maybe this was meant to be.  Some things that I try are...

• Wake up thinking about the one thing I am most looking forward to doing that day (mailing a package, meeting someone for lunch, reading the next chapter in a book, trying a new recipe).
  
• Slip off to a bookstore and pull a random book off the shelf looking for some meaning behind why I selected it (or it selected me, as the case may be).
  
• Buy a favorite magazine and make a date with Ben and Jerry to curl up and read it page by glorious page.
  
• My friend Melissa insists on embracing her bad mood by assigning whole days as f#@! days. The goal... use the "f" word at the beginning of every sentence.
  
• How about you?  What do you do?
  

I'm dying to know what questions you posed and what your oracles turned out to be.  If willing, I'd love you to post them.

Signing off until tomorrow when I use "u" to uncover the uniqueness of "U'... 

Grow A Green Thumb

Day two of our celebration of all things green. What with the whole push for "going green" I thought about simply giving a green tip each day of this week. I decided that was way too predictable and therefore not creative enough for our readers. Instead, we will visit everything from money to fashion - all with a focus on green.

Today is compliments of my mother, the retired florist, ... flowers and green plants. I was lucky enough to have grown up in a home where fresh flowers filled every room. The downside... I took it all for granted and consequently know nothing about foliage of any sort. I consulted with her on the phone, picking her brain for fun facts my readers might like to know. Here you go...

• Green foliage plants actually serve more of a purpose than simply making your home more beautiful. They actually serve to purify the air in your house and help eliminate odors. She recommended two sites for more information on the Top 10 plants for your home and other fun facts. The sites are Care2/greenliving and houseplants/care.blogspot.com.
  
• When cutting roses to put in a vase, always fill your kitchen sink and cut them while the tips are submerged in water. While many people strip roses of all their thorns, my mother advises against it. First, according to her, it is part of what makes a rose beautiful and second, you run the risk of nicking the stem. Roses, unlike, other flowers, drink from the outside and removing the thorns means possibly nicking the outer stem and disturbing the flow of water.
  
• Daffodils are not compatible with any other flowers. There is something about their makeup that poisons the water, therefore killing other flowers in the arrangement. They are best in a vase by themselves.
  
• Tulips. Have you ever noticed how tulips, when in an arrangement, with other flowers continue to grow? It doesn't take long before they are out of sync with the rest of the arrangement. Fix this by disrupting the flow of water to the flower. Simply make a small vertical nick in one side of the tulip's stem.
  
• Keep arrangements looking good by changing the water every day or two. Water should be room temperature. Some people add an aspirin, 7Up, or a penny - all in an effort to keep flowers looking good longer. My mom wouldn't commit to which of any of these tricks really worked. Maybe some of you have an opinion or another trick.
  
• If an arrangement is well done, you should be able to pluck one or two flowers from it as they die and still have the arrangement looking balanced. Something to aspire to for any of us who want to develop this skill.
• We missed the boat on making our own green carnations for St. Patrick's Day, but you could try this trick for Mother's Day (maybe a pale pink or blue carnation). Simply cut the stem and stick it in a potent cup of the food dye color of your choice. You have to do this about 18 hours before you intend to use it, as that is how long it will take for the flower to absorb the colored water.
  

If you are like me and much of this escapes you... try this fun little idea. My mom came to visit after Jack was born and was a huge help in taking care of the other two boys. A week after she returned home, my son's and I mailed her a big box filled with bright colored tissue paper flowers. On the outside of box we wrote, "Thanks a BUNCH for all your help!" The boys had fun helping me make them and I knew they'd still be alive when they arrived.

Signing off until tomorrow...

A Whack on the Side of the Head

I promised no alliterations, but I am not ready to abandon Wacky Wednesday completely. When I was typing last week's entry, I was reminded of a deck of cards I own (Creative Whack Pack, by Rogervon Oech - sold at any book store) that I use when conducting training on topics related to creativity. Each card tells a short story and then leaves you with a mental challenge - mental gymnastics of sorts. I thought this could be an interesting activity for us to engage in together. After all, if this blog is to be about creativity then a nice byproduct of checking in with me each day is that it will get your own creative juices flowing and find yourself applying some of what you read to your own world.

Think of this as improv. Each Wednesday I will share with you the contents of one card, coupled with a problem I am facing. We will put the two thoughts together and see if we can't come up - in real time - with a creative solution. Then, using the same creative principle and your own problem, you'll try!

Here we go...

Dig Deeper: Emile' Chartier: "Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it's the only one you have." Don't stop with the first right answer you find. Dig deeper and look for others. how do you keep a fish from smelling? Cook it as soon as you catch it. Keep a cat around. Burn incense. Cut its nose off. Remember: the best way to get a good idea is to get lots of ideas. What good ideas are below the surface? What's the second right answer?

Now my problem. My 3 year old son is easily distracted at dinner, making eating his meal a long and frustrating process - especially for me and his dad. Up to this point, the solution has been to continue reminding him that he is supposed to be eating and that he should stay on task. Instead of asking how you keep a fish from smelling, let me ask.. How do you keep a three-year old from getting distracted during dinner?

• Remove all distractions such as siblings, parents, centerpieces, etc...
  
• Allocate a designated amount of time for eating his meal before it is removed from the table.


• Let his 15 year old brother eat whatever is left after a designated amount of time.


• Serve everyone, except him, a meal until he asks for it.


• Come to the table as a family 10 minutes before the meal is served, so that stories can be shared before the food arrives (ooohhh, I like that one).


• Fill his plate with a bite or two, instead of everything upfront. By reversing the expectation from finish what's on your plate to asking for additional bites, he might become more interested (scarcity mentality).


• Each portion of his dinner could earn him part of his evening routine (dinner = dessert; milk = book; salad = Mango Key bedtime story).

You get the idea. Now your turn. For which of your problems are you seeking a solution? What good ideas are below the surface? What's the second right answer? Don't skim over this... really take a second and try or -a second right answer - try on your commute home tonight.

Signing off until tomorrow...

Fun in a Box Friday!

Nothing says weekend like Fun in a Box Friday. When my two sisters and I were growing up, Friday's nights seemed picture perfect. We ate spaghetti and meatballs for dinner (considered a real family treat), snuggled in sleeping bags in front of our of our 10"x10" (yes, I mean inch not foot) black and white t.v. and watched the Brady Bunch and Partridge Family, back to back, during Prime Time. That seemed like heaven. Ann, Ellen, and I would start acting crazy the moment we got home from school, in anticipation of the fun awaiting us that evening. My mother even developed a diagnosis. She called it the "Friday Night Crazies."



At our house we celebrate many Friday's with our Fun-In-A-Box box. It's filled with slips of paper, each revealing a different fun activity submitted by someone in the family. Examples include things such as bowling, watch a movie, eat dessert under a tent, shop in the $1 bin at Target, play a game, make smores, sleep in sleeping bags, play frisbee, and do a craft (guess who wrote that one?!). We are also sure to submit festivals, carnivals, and other attractions listed in the newspaper, as they appear. We rotate who the lucky family member is that gets to draw the weekly activity. Once randomly selected, we're off for an evening of fun.

Notes about why this works... First, we don't try to do it every week. Impossible. Between school obligations, birthday parties, and other life events, we would never be able to sustain it every week all year. Instead, I slip a note in their lunch bag or cereal bowl announcing that today is a "Fun in a Box Friday." Then they have the day to anticipate the fun that awaits. Second, the selections are a range from simple (dessert in a tent or game night) to the more elaborate (do a craft or attend a festival). Third, we set a dollar limit ($10.00) on the submissions they are allowed to make. That way it's less about money and more about doing a fun activity together. My husband and I are the ones who submit the more costly activities (bowling or a festival).

Grown-up version...

Let's face it... Fun-in-a-Box-Friday could work for you and a group of friends, you and your boyfriend or girlfriend, or you and your office mates. Wouldn't Friday's in the office be more fun if there was a box from which you drew a random, but fun activity, in which everyone participated?! Heck yes.

But, that's not my adult version for the day. No, we will call the grown-up version... Free For All Friday. The purpose behind this is to have you - my loyal blog readers - submit questions, challenges, consultations or requests for a creative solution to something you have on your mind. It could be how to organize something in your house, a gift idea, an idea for a party favor, or holiday celebration. You name it. The real beauty behind this is that I will post my attempt at an answer and then each of you can take a crack at it by posting your response. That way, the person posing the question receives the benefit of our collective creativity.

I ran this idea past a loyal confidante of mine and she immediately posed a challenge. So here we go... week one and we are already in business. She is looking for an inexpensive party favor ($1-$3/per favor) that she can present to each of the six boys on her son's soccer team at the conclusion of soccer season. She wants it to be something they are likely to hold onto for longer than it takes to get from the field to the car. The boys range in age from 5-6.

Hmmm... whistles?... no, the other soccer mom's would kill her. Soccer ball cookies wrapped in cellophane (everything looks better wrapped in cellophane - a topic we'll talk about later) and sitting on top of AstroTurf? I like the idea, but will she think it won't last long enough? Soccer ball hats (sold at party supply stores) with a fun note that says, "Hats off to you!"? Is a hat anti climatic for a 5 year old boy? Oooohhh... but the idea improves if she brings Sharpie markers and lets each of the boys sign one another's hats, including their team number. I still like the idea of somehow using AstroTurf. I'll keep pondering, but now you give it a try....

Signing off until tomorrow, ____________ Saturday.

One, Two, Three...Cheese!

I’ve spoken to creative friends and relatives of mine all over the map and together we have concluded that a way to measure your “fun factor” is by the number of times you have been asked to host Flat Stanley. I would have to say, I am moderately fun. I certainly haven’t been asked to host hundreds of these fellows, but I’ve hosted enough to be able to provide you with this fun idea…

Elementary kids all over the country (usually around the second grade) are challenged to send a Flat Stanley to friends and family around the globe who, in turn, escort and photograph Stanley on adventures - then passing him along to someone else with a comparably high “fun factor.” I personally have been responsible for getting Flat Stanley’s to places such as Arizona, Time Square, between the hedges at the University of Georgia, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, the farm fields of Iowa, and more.

If the idea is this contagious in a classroom setting, imagine how much it can be for you and your family or you and your friends. Find a fun family heirloom, a favorite stuffed animal, a t-shirt with some nostalgia, or anything else easy to pack. Next time you go on a vacation, or just embark on an outing in town, bring it along with you. Snap a family picture somehow showcasing the item. Imagine the lifetime of fun and challenge you could have filling a family photo album with pictures of your family mascot on a countless number of adventures. A bonus to this idea is it can persist long after your kids have left the house - for wherever they go, there’s a photo to be had!

Birds of a Feather Flock Together

If I've noticed anything over time it is that creative people find one another... and in many cases help bring your creativity to a whole new level. Today's blog is compliments of my dear friend from Pennsylvania.

Nineteen years ago, while in graduate school, I started hosting an annual Random Acts of Kindness packaging party. It served two purposes. First, it was a great way for me to reconnect with friends who, because of the rigors of graduate school, I fell out of touch with. Second, it allowed me to share my obsession with mail - hoping in the process I might find some unsuspecting girlfriends who would keep me company.

I love sending packages. When other people are building their wardrobes and shoe selections, I am buying printed tissue paper, stickers, foam shapes, hole puches, crinkle of every color, sharpie markers, cool notecards, and above all CLEAN, NEW, WHITE BOXES! I have a collection that probably verges on excessive. What goes in the packages that I send is far less important than the cool packaging and thoughtful note surrounding the treat.

So what exactly is a Random Acts of Kindness Party? Once a year (usually two weeks before Halloween) I invite 10-12 women to my house (it can almost be more fun if the gathering of women is eclectic and don't already know each other). Their task is to bring to the packaging party two things - addresses for 3-4 people to whom they want to send a pick-me-up and a set of twelve small items that can be packaged in a box about 7x5x4 in size (bigger than that can be expensive to mail). Items are typically things such as fun packages of baked goods, bookmarks, candles, recipe cards, small picture frames, soaps, holiday socks, keychains, handmade braclets, etc.... All the items brought by your guests are placed on a community table from which they can shop around for the perfect combination of goodies to send the recipients of their packages.

My contribution is all the packaging supplies necessary to turn your package from simply being thoughtful to being the talk of the postoffice. Lucky party goers move from table to table selecting fun treats to mail to long lost friends, a neighbor needing a pick me up, an old boss or mentor, an aunt or uncle you rarely see, or someone else who is on your mind. Once the treats are selected, participants move to the boxing stations (usually set up all over the kitchen, living room, dining room). Here they select colorful tissue paper, crinkle, ribbons, and most importantly a notecard.

Before the packages are taped shut, one more small task! Placed inside each package is a small note reading "Catch the spirit, do a random act of kindness." This will often times spark a packaging party in another city (to which every once in a while, you might actually recieve and unexpected random act of kindness in the mail). Finally, the packages are wrapped, sealed, addressed, and then decorated on the outside with stickers and markers. This is why it is essential that the boxes are pristine, white boxes that have never been used (not even the pre-printed ones purchased at Target or the post office). I get mine from the Container Store, but if you don't have one near you, you can either order on-line or visit an office supply store like Staples or Office Depot (brown can work in a pinch, but markers are definately more vibrant on a white box).

Wanna do one? Either wait until September when I start planning my annual October party (and talking about it on my blog) or jump right in create your own occassion... St. Patrick's Day, spring break, or first day of summer could be examples.

The great pics are from my good friend's Random Acts of Kindness Party: Valentines Day! I was, in fact, the lucky recipient of a package - the fun contents of which you will have to wait until next Valentine's Day to discover! It, afterall, sparked a whole new fun and creative idea.

Signing off for the day....

Warming up - Fruit Stand Fun

Today marks the first official day of my blog. Ultimately, it is my goal to use mundane happenings and the world around me to post a creative-idea-a-day. Many of the ideas will center around ways to slow the world down through family activities, traditions and rituals. I believe the childhood we hope to create for our children is not so much about the sheer number of hours spent, but instead about the quality of that time. Family activities, rituals, and traditions serve as a focused way to spend time with your children while making them feel special in the process. No promises about the daily post, but it is a little challenge I have created for myself.

I returned home late last night after a weekend in Louisville, Kentucky. When I woke up this morning the first thing I saw was the fruit holder sitting in the center of our kitchen table where the kids eat breakfast. It was still decorated for Valentine's Day. The idea....

How about creating a single space in your home that the family frequents to help build excitement and anticipation for upcoming holidays and family events. I didn't have the time or inclination to decorate my whole home for Valentine's day, but certainly I had it in me to transform my fruit stand centerpiece. By filling it with red fruit, plastic hearts and beaded hearts on a stick (along with fun place mats from Target), I could build some anticipation and magic around what might otherwise be an overlooked holiday. If not a fruit stand at the kitchen table, how about a mud room, a play room, or a mirror in the kids bathroom.

Next holiday... green for Saint Patrick's Day. Check me out on March 1 where I will insert a photo of the transformed fruit stand.