String Art Heart

String Art Project

Last weekend I went on a mini road trip and visited an old friend of mine, Jenny, in her new house 2 hours away from here. She is one of those friends that, despite distance and time, our friendship always takes off again where it last left off. I love friendships like that — no initial shyness, just being-ness. She has always been a crafty soul and this is one of the reasons why I think we have always connected so well.

Jenny's String Art Star

While sitting in her front room, I spied a precious little treasure on a shelf nearby (pictured above). The hand-crafted object looked like one of those antique relics one might find in a colonial arts museum.

Inscription on back

After further investigation I discovered that this object — made up of nails, wood and string —  was actually made by my friend when she was young. Flipping it over and reading the words on the backside I realized that it was a present to her "Mumsie", AKA, Grandma. How cool! I can only imagine how touched her grandmother felt to receive such a thoughtful gift from her. I knew right away what my next project would be with my son. Because Valentine's Day was right around the corner, I thought positioning the nails to form a heart shape would be just perfect.
This project turned out to be a great way to introduce my 4-year-old son to using a hammer and nails. I do, however, think that it might be better suited for older kids (7 and up) as they will be able to do more of the steps by themselves (like holding nails, hammering them in, and tying knots).

Materials needed:

• 2x4 piece of wood cut into a square
• medium grain sandpaper
• hammer and nails (I used an 1.25" length nails with a head on them: "bright nails")
• paper
• scotch or masking tape
• scissors
• string
• ribbon

Step one: Sand down edges of the wood block. I had to show my son how to do this by placing my hand over his and showing him the back and forth movement.

Step Two: Cut out a symmetrical paper heart that fits well on block. Center and place tape on the back and secure it down on wood.

Step Three: Hammer nails down around the edge of the heart spacing them about a half inch apart. I had to hammer in the nails first so they were secure and then I let my son hammer them in more. He was afraid to hold the nail at its base but I encouraged him to, explaining that if he focuses and he is careful he won't hit his hand. He was able to for awhile and then just ended up wielding the hammer with both hands.

Heart shape finished

Step four: Remove paper heart. Tie string around a nail leaving a tail so that you can tie the other end of string to it when done. Wrap the string around the heart a few times to define an outline (I did this part). 

Weave the string back and forth every direction using nails as anchors. My son had a great time doing this part as I expected he would (his favorite pastime is stealing balls of yarn from me and stringing up the house). When finished, adult neatens it up by tightening string and pulling stray strings that wound up on the outside of the heart into the inside. Tie the two ends of string together and cut tails with scissors.

Step five: Center and wrap a ribbon around the edges of the wood block. Then tie a knot at the top as close to the wood as possible. Tie the 2 tails of the ribbon into another knot about 6 inches from the first knot. Hang and enjoy!

Kale Chips - Delicious! Who knew?

I have been meaning to make kale chips for years! — Actually, it has been ever since the time a friend mentioned that her son LOVED my favorite leafy green sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and baked. That had to be about 5 years ago at least, and since then I've had it in the back of my mind to give this recipe a whirl. Well, needless to say, that day did not come soon enough!
Yesterday, I had an appointment with a nutritional counselor. Even though I think I am a fairly healthy eater there are some things noted that could use a little tweaking. One is my mindless indulgence of salty snacks, AKA, an abundance of empty calories. Yeah, so what if I eat the "healthy" kind of potato chip? You know, the kind that is "natural", GMO-free, and with no tran-fats? The unfortunate truth in this is that no matter how seemingly healthy a potato chip brand choice is, the fact is it is still a potato chip: a thinly sliced potato, drenched in oil and deep-fried. There probably isn't any kind of potato chip on Earth that is truly healthy for me (unless, maybe if it is baked, then what, I ask, is the point?). However, the fortunate part in this is that the counselor mentioned trying kale chips as an alternative. Instantly I knew just what I had to do, and I knew just the place to find what I needed, and a little partner in crime to help me carry out my plan!

Lucky for me, I had one last stand of vegetables growing in my garden from the summer before, and it just happened to be — ***drum roll*** — kale! My son got completely excited about the process of helping out and making "chips" from ground up.

He loved ripping the leaves of kale into tiny bite-sized pieces and washing them in the salad spinner.

After washing the kale really good, we dried them best we could with the spinner, and then patted them dry with a clean cloth. We then tossed the kale with olive oil, some sea salt, tamari, and flax seeds. We were all out of parmesan, or else that would have been in the mix too. I lined a baking tray with parchment paper and put the kale in the oven (preheated to 350 degrees) for about 10-15 minutes. When I took them out and popped a few in my mouth, my response was WOW! I could have never guessed how delicious and "snacky" something so healthy could taste! Bursts of flavor melted in my mouth, and the warm crispiness of each piece added a unique texture to the whole eating experience. My son liked them too! Woo-hoo! Who would have thought? So excited to have found a healthy snack to add to my growing list, and the fact that my son likes it too — a double bonus! It is one of those things I think you have to try to believe —  and I'm so glad that I did!