cracker box

So the craft project is still in the works. Monday, perhaps? I know I've said this before, but I tend to get inspired, plan way to much for the week, and then sorely disappoint myself when I get about 10% of my to-do's done. This past week marked the end of our weekly homeschool cooperative, which is always a busy time. I volunteered to make some props for the play and, of course, had huge expectations [like Broadway will surely offer me a job as a set designer after seeing these puppies], but my imagination is much bigger than my abilities. Add to that, sick days, cheerleading camp, a freak cold front with major wind gusts, and a 9 month old, and I almost had to label the props so people could tell what they were. They were pretty bad, and I was praying that the boat I made would stay together long enough for its 60 second scene. It survived, I survived, and now I'm looking forward to this busy next week as we prepare for a quick trip to DC. It will be the first time flying for Mr. Gus, so if you have any tips, please share!

As for tips, I thought I'd share this nifty device I discovered while making props. If you have a baby, or small child, or perhaps a husband who looks like this when he eats:

Than this is the product for you!

 I call it the "Cracker Box," otherwise known as a crumb catcher!

Just look at all of that crumb catching capacity!

I know you're saying to yourself  "Why is this so special, Nessa? It's just a box."

But what looks like just a box is actually much, much more. With this product, there's no clean-up involved!

"But, how?" you might say if you kept talking to yourself.

The key to this self cleaning Cracker Box is in its unique design. The special open-ended box allows for easy access of any and all family pets and means that the crumbs are licked up almost as soon as they fall to the bottom:

Just set your baby/child/husband inside, hand them a cracker, and watch the Cracker Box do its job.

The Cracker Box keeps crumbs off your floor, crumbs off your rug, your baby happy, and your dog fed!

It's a win win situation!

The Cracker Box comes in small, medium, and husband sizes and is available anywhere you can find a box. Those who have a Cracker Box should be aware that use might  result in an impromptu tongue bath 

 Dog not included.

xo

nessa dee

Crafty Friday: The Box House

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get this posted. I woke up this morning with a cold, and didn't feel like doing much of anything today, but I finally made myself get out of bed and get to work. Hopefully this craft will be worth the wait.

To be honest, I'd been telling my children that we were going to build a box house for months now, and I had them gathering boxes all that time. What it amounted to was a big box trash pile in our game room for that time. We had so many boxes and it looked so bad that I started throwing things away thinking we would never get to this project. I'm glad we didn't give up on it, though because I love what it has become.

Here's what you need:

-a ton of boxes, all difefrent shapes and sizes
-a hot glue gun
-packing tape
-scissors
-markers

Extra embellishments we used:
-straws
-moss
-pipe cleaners
-construction paper
-fabric/felt
-string
-golf tees
-styrofoam balls
-old jewelry

We started by cutting out windows and doors in some of our boxes, and drawing windows and doors on other ones.

Then we did a "dry fit" so to speak, stacking and arranging boxes. You need to have a few bigger boxes at the bottom to give the structure a sturdy foundation. We used a combination of packing tape and hot glue to attach the pieces together.

Then, it was an "arrange as you" go format to figure out the layout as we built up, making sure that we added any text, or drawings onto the boxes before we glued them to the structure. Finally, we added all kinds of embellishments including trees made out of styrofoam balls, golf tees, and moss, balconies out of cardboard, a clothes line in the alley, a mail box, a trash can, stairs, window boxes pieces of jewelry used as signs or garden stones, and a flag pole and lamp post out of straws. 

[Wasn't it sweet that my daughter put my business at the top of the structure. It was all her idea...I promise!]

We had more fun figuring out all of the tiny details, and that's the other reason I'm posting this so late. As I'm typing this, Audrie is still working on embellishments. I don't know if we are ever going to quit. Who knows, by the time this baby's born, our whole game room might consist of a box world with it's own government, indoor plumbing, electricity. That reminds me...where did I pack the Christmas lights?

Happy crafting!

xo

nessa dee

If this box were a vehicle…

it would be a smart car.

It always amuses me to see that with all of the toys up in the playroom, my kids still have fun with a plain old box…even if it’s quite compact.

xo

nessa dee

Help…

…we’re buried in boxes and we can’t get up!

Well, we’re all moved into our new house, though not unpacked. I will show you all pictures when I get to them, but it might be a while before they’re posted. We’re heading off to sunny Florida tomorrow and will be back next week. I’ll try to blog while I’m gone and keep you all updated on our trip, but I can’t make any promises.

I’ll see you when I see you!

nessa dee

A shiny new…box?

After receiving billions of shiny new toys for Christmas, guess what my kids played with all day yesterday…

It was a boat for a little while and then became the cornerstone of an office cubicle where the kids typed up expense reports, wrote some emails, and made lots of important phone calls. I don’t know why we even go to stores to buy toys when a dumpster would suffice. Oh well.

xo

nessa dee

IF: Choose

Choose your destination!

A lot going on this week. This is an old illustration from my sketchbook.