Vol. 4, No. 258, September 15, 2019

4258 - Snap Decision.

Today was my church's Fall Festival. I volunteered to be the chair of the pie room. This meant overseeing the cutting and serving of the pies for the dinner. During a lull in the serving I took a minute to send a picture of the pies to a friend. The second I took the picture I was struck by the resemblance to the work of Wayne Thiebaud. His paintings of pies and other dessert look so delicious.

Please note that I can't take any credit for making the pie, just cutting and serving the pie. My photo is on the top, Wayne Thiebaud's is on the bottom for comparison. No, they aren't exactly the same, but you can see the similarity, right?

Vol. 4, No. 257, September 14, 2019

4257 - I Want One.

This weekend, I got to hang out with N. We had lots of fun, but there may have been some bribing involved. In case you were unsure, bribing a three year old doesn't work very well. Regardless, I followed through with my bribe 'if you go to sleep, I will make you a bracelet in the morning.' N said she wanted a purple bracelet. So today while she was eating lunch, I braided a quick friendship bracelet. She was very excited and showed many people her new bracelet.

Vol. 4, No. 256, September 13, 2019

4256 - Just One More.

I had a student gone yesterday, so I made one more quilt square in case we have a gap. The next step is to start hanging the squares.

Vol. 4, No. 255, September 12, 2019

4255 - Double Take.

I worked with quilts again today as my last first grade class finished their quilt squares today for our school’s collaborative quilt inspired by Libs Elliott. This class and the one before used orange as their primary color.

Vol. 4, No. 254, September 11, 2019

4254 - Never Forget.

I remembered to take a picture of my collaborative quilt square today. At the elementary school, students in grades 1-4 working together to make a paper quilt inspired by the work of Libs Elliott. Each student is making a monochromatic quilt square that will be hung with the rest of the squares, creating a rainbow quilt around the cafeteria. Two of my classes worked with yellows. This is the square I made with them.

Vol. 4, No. 253, September 10, 2019

4253 - Forgotten City.

I forgot to take a picture of something that I made at school, so I frantically searched my mind for a quick project idea. Then I looked at my nails and saw chipped polish, remembering the chipped polish elephant I made before, I searched my nails more closely. I decided that one nail looked like a skyline. I took a picture and used a drawing tool on my phone to add the details.

Vol. 4, No. 252, September 9, 2019

4252 - Let's Get It Started.

As my 6th graders near the end of their Van Gogh flower making endeavor, I had to make a vase to put the flowers in. This year, I planned ahead enough so that I could laminate the vase, making it usable year after year.

Vol. 4, No. 251, September 8, 2019

4251 - What Not To Do.

Like last year, my 6th graders are beginning the school year with a Van Gogh inspired flower collaboration. Each student will make one flower to hang in the hallway, creating a large bouquet. The flowers are colored with oil pastels and one thing students struggle with is blending the colors. I decided to create a large example showing the correct and incorrect way to color. On the left, the petal colors blended because of the vertical coloring. On the right, you can see sections of color created by coloring horizontally.

Vol. 4, No. 250, September 7, 2019

4250 - Birthday Nails.

Today I got to help F celebrate her birthday. As part of the celebration, all of the Miller girls painted their nails. I helped F with her gold dots and gave S ombré nails.

Vol. 4, No. 249, September 6, 2019

4249 - The Last Piece.

The last piece to my dot rainbow was purple. When I got it finished, I arranged all of the dots creating a color wheel on the board.

Vol. 4, No. 248, September 5, 2019

4248 - Pool Party.

Tonight I attended the first home swim meet of the seasons to cheer on CC, my favorite diver. I was not super invested in the rest of the meet, so I brought with two dots that I wanted to get finished. I worked on the blue one for a while and my friend Amy seemed interested, so I offered the green dot to her. She got a decent start on it before her arm got to tired to continue. Just one more dot to go before I have a rainbow.

Vol. 4, No. 247, September 4, 2019

4247 - Might As Well.

Today while I was trying to explain the collaborative project to my 7th graders, I was really wishing that I had visuals. Alas, I didn't plan far ahead enough to have any examples made, so during class, I began with an example. I continued during my prep time, creating 3 examples by time the day was through. In order to complete the color combination options, plan to make green, blue and purple dots tomorrow.

Vol. 4, No. 246, September 3, 2019

4246 - Lost.

One thing that I have struggles as a lower elementary school teacher is letting students leave the room to use the restroom without fear of them getting lost or taking three times as long because they trek all the way across the school to go the the restroom that they know. Last year I came up with a plan, a line on the wall that the students can follow from my room to the restroom. The year came and went, and I never set anything up.

This afternoon, while I was relishing in my extra 1.5 hours of prep time because Kindergarten doesn’t start until tomorrow, I remembered my dream of not worrying about students making it out the restroom. I decided that rather than the string line that I had thought up last year, I would create a dotted line. Raindrops for the restroom and medical crosses for the nurse. Now all I have to do is show students the card that they need to follow and they should have no problem finding their way. I also made a point to tell the music teachers about the path as their room is right next door and they have the same problem.

Time will tell if my path is successful!

Vol. 4, No. 245, September 2, 2019

4245 - Dotty.

Nothing like waiting until the last minute, but I am a world class procrastinator. This afternoon, after taking all weekend off to enjoy the final days of summer vacation, I scrambled to complete my lesson plans for tomorrow. One such page of lesson planning was a worksheet for my 7th graders to use to design a circle that will be displayed as part of a class mural in the hallway. It would probably have gone faster to print the worksheet with just empty boxes and draw in the patterns myself, but why take the fast way when you can make digital patterns?

Vol. 4, No. 244, September 1, 2019

4244 - Undercover.

During workshop I had lots of time to doodle. While I was working on filling in my planner this afternoon, I found one on the doodles I made last week. It is an umbrella in the rain.

Vol. 4, No. 243, August 31, 2019

4243 - Sparkle Rooster.

Today I attended Red Rooster Day events in Dassel. In doing so I got to snap some fun photos of the Litchfield Royalty. Here are a few of my favorites.

Vol. 4, No. 242, August 30, 2019

4242 - Golden Rule.

Today during Miller Time, I was sitting at the counter with Middle Miller. As he was working on a word search for school, I used the Gold Rush Thinking Putty to make a series of roses. Middle Miller really enjoyed smashing them.

Vol. 4, No. 241, August 29, 2019

4241 - Never Ending.

Today my co-worker and I cut the paper for our first project of the year. At the elementary school, we start the year with a collaborative that involves most of the students; because of scheduling the project will be completed by students in first through third grade. This year’s collaborative project is going to be a rainbow quilt (made out of paper). As we cut the paper squares for the quilt, we laid them out on one of the tables. Surprisingly, they fit perfectly, creating a never ending rainbow loop.

You can look forward to seeing more posts about the quilt process and completion in the coming weeks.

Vol. 4, No. 240, August 28, 2019

4240 - Doodle Station.

Today was Open House at both the Elementary and the Middle Schools. I started my evening at the elementary school where we had a Doodle Station set up. The Doodle Station was just a table covered with a large piece of paper and some markers. Students could take a break from wandering around the school to draw a little picture. At one point I was in the room with one student, who was drawing while her mom nd sister went to check out another room. I decided that I would make a doodle too. I was feeling a flamingo. For some reason I thought that the Doodle Station was one sided, so I drew my flamingo upside down so that it would match the rest of the drawings. Next I added the sand, water, clouds and sun to complete the picture.

Vol. 4, No. 239, August 27, 2019

4239 - Education.

Day 2 of Teacher Workshop Week. We started the day with an all district meeting. We got to meet all of the new staff and spent time sitting listening to lots of talking. While I listened, I made some small sketches.

Vol. 4, No. 238, August 26, 2019

4238 - Bob The Builder.

Today was the first day to teacher workshop. At the end of the year last year, I ordered some new utility carts and drying racks for the art room. They were delivered over the summer, so I spent a portion of my day assembling everything. I was going to make it easy on myself and just snap a picture of the finished projects, but I forgot. So instead, I made a quick sketch of the carts and rack on my Boogie Board.

Vol. 4, No. 237, August 25, 2019

4237 - In This Together.

Today ended up being an impromptu family day, minus Philip, however he did get in on the activities via phone multiple times. Jessica was coming over to help Mom make a baby quilt for my niece. She brought 2 large bushel baskets full of peppers and tomatoes, which meant that today became salsa day. We worked together and divided up the tasks. Half of us made salsa and half worked on the quilt. I was mostly of the quilt team, but did get in some stirring and recipe reading for the salsa. At the end of the night we had one quilt top and 40 jars of salsa.

Vol. 4, No. 236, August 24, 2019

4236 - Pretty Piggies.

Today I was invited for a Girl's Day to celebrate Oldest Miller's 10th Birthday. For her birthday, she chose to get pedicures, lunch and a quick shopping trip so spend Birthday money. I chose a fall-ish blue for my base coat. Then tonight after birthday root beer floats, I went home and added a fun design, daisies with gold centers.

Vol. 4, No. 235, August 23, 2019

4235 - Goldy.

Today I went to the Minnesota State Fair with part of my family. Amidst walking over 10 miles and trying lots of new foods, I didn’t take time to make a project. Instead, here is a gold feather that I made yesterday during Miller Time. The Miller Littles recently got a few varieties of Think Putty, including Gold Rush Magnetic putty. Think Putty is very similar to Silly Putty, so the feather looked really cool right away, but it didn’t last long.

Vol. 4, No. 234, August 22, 2019

4234 - Stick Together.

As I mentioned before, one of my favorite parts of my Miller Family Vacation was the Blue Bell Chuckwagon Dinner and Hayride. Our guide, Bullhead, goes by a different name for nine months out of the year, Mr. T. That’s right, Bullhead is a teacher like myself; he teacher K-8 phy-ed. Although I only spent two hours with him, I could tell that he is a great teacher. He was also a fun guide, so I decided that I would leave him a tip at the end of the night. I decided to make the tip more artsy, so on the drive back to the station after dinner, I quickly folded some money origami. I didn’t have much time, and was working on my lap as we drove down bumpy roads, so I chose an easy pattern, a heart.

Vol. 4, No. 233, August 21, 2019

4233 - And So Much More.

My adventures through South Dakota with the Miller Family continued, as did my photo collages.

4230 - This morning my day began with blowing bubbles with Oldest Miller on the front porch of the cabin. The colors in the bubbles were fun to watch. Next we took off towards Custer, SD and traveled on the Wildlife Loop. We saw many animals, but the most exciting part was the donkey parade walking right next to the car. The highlight of the day and maybe the whole trip was the Blue Bell Chuckwagon Hayride and Cookout. The ride took us through Custer State Park where we saw more animals including lots of buffalo. As we rode, our guide, Bullhead, sang songs and told some stories about the park. When we reached the secluded canyon, we enjoyed a delicious steak dinner followed by music and dancing.

4230 - Our last full day in South Dakota involved a lot less travel. We ventured to Deadwood, SD where we walked the Historic Main Street, stopping at Saloon No. 10 to take in a Wild Bill Hickok re-enactment. Afterwards, we went to Broken Boot Mine where after touring the mine, we panned for gold. The Miller Littles were excited about all of the gold that they found. The evening was spent back at the cabin, watching the sunset, enjoying the hot tub, and playing cards.

Vol. 4, No. 232, August 20, 2019

4232 - Food, Friends, Fun.

I spent the last six days traveling through South Dakota with the Miller Family. I took pictures each day and created close-up collages. Here are the answers to what each picture is.

4328 -After a half day of travel, we stopped in Mitchell, SD for the night. The next morning we stopped at the Corn Palace, so the first picture is one of the murals decorating the outside of the Corn Palace. Next as we entered the Badlands we stopped to feed prairie dogs. This was lots of fun until it started to rain. We continued our drive through the Badlands. Fortunately the rain eventually stopped and I was able to get some pictures that almost capture the beauty of the rock formations.

4329 - Day 2 in South Dakota brought us to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. While at Crazy Horse, we got to see a presentation of traditional Native American dance and storytelling. In the gift shop there was a large selection of pottery. The pot shown here is Painted Desert Hors Hair Pottery by Navajo Artists. Finally, we ended the day by relaxing in the hot tub at our cabin near Lead, SD.

Check in tomorrow to see the remaining two days of my vacation.

Vol. 4, No. 231, August 19, 2019

4231 - Final Four.

I've been traveling but instead of posting pictures of my adventures, decided to take a more creative route. Here is the final photo collage with 4 close-ups of things I have seen.

Vol. 4, No. 230, August 18, 2019

4230 - One To Go.

I've been traveling but instead of posting pictures of my adventures, decided to take a more creative route. You can look forward to one more day in which, I will be posting a photo collage with 4 close-ups of things I have seen.

Vol. 4, No. 229, August 17, 2019

4229 - Here Is More.

I've been traveling but instead of posting pictures of my adventures, decided to take a more creative route. For the next 2 days, I will be posting a photo collage with 4 close-ups of things I have seen.

Vol. 4, No. 228, August 16, 2019

4228 - Guess Who.

I've been traveling but instead of posting pictures of my adventures, decided to take a more creative route. For the next 3 days, I will be posting a photo collage with 4 close-ups of things I have seen.

Vol. 4, No. 227, August 15, 2019

4227 - BuzzFeed’s Best.

I was putzing of Facebook the other day and saw a post for BuzzFeed’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. I read the article and thought it made sense, so I decided to try the cookies. They were easy to make, and they do have great flavor. However, the cookies are greasy to the touch and flat as a pancake. I won’t be making the recipe again, but if you feel inclined to try, you can find the recipe here. https://www.buzzfeed.com/jesseszewczyk/heres-how-to-make-buzzfeeds-best-chocolate-chip-cookies?utm_source=dynamic&utm_campaign=bfsharecopy&sub=0_123092627#123092627

Vol. 4, No. 226, August 14, 2019

4226 - Vacation.

I decided to take a small creative break and just post projects that I completed recently but didn't post yet. Today's vacation post is the present that I wrapped for S's Birthday on Monday. It was a Baby Alive Doll that she had asked for.

Vol. 4, No. 225, August 13, 2019

4225 - Cornelius.

Yesterday and today I had the privilege of joining the Watercade Royalty for some Corn Crnival fun in Cokato. It was a carnival to remember, with coronation, Go-Gurt from the Dairy Princesses, a prized cob of corn named Cornelius, mini donuts, fun with other royalty and bumps along the parade route.

Vol. 4, No. 224, August 12, 2019

4224 - 100 Dalmations Meets Wreck-it Ralph.

Before I begin, title credit goes to Margo. The original name she game was Cruella Deville's Food Cake, but that was when it was just smears of chocolate and vanilla frosting. When it got covered with sprinkles and M&M's and started cracking, it got renamed. I will admit it looks rather disgusting, but I had good intentions when I started out.

This cake is for S's birthday. Last week I asked S what kind of cake she likes. She said Funfetti, with half vanilla frosting and half chocolate frosting so that she can have a piece from the middle with both. I decided that a zebra themed cake would be fun, so I researched some ideas, and then let S choose 2 cake mixes and 2 frostings. I layered the cake batter in the pan, creating a ringed effect. Then I intended to fill the cooked cakes with and M&M and sprinkle filling, but I forgot and started frosting the cake. So I improvised. I lifted up the top layer of cake, tossing the filling inside. It's not the same, but maybe still delicious. Then I frosted the cake, of course I struggled to keep crumbs from getting mixed in. There didn't seem to be enough frosting to adequately frost the edges of the cake, but that was all I had, so I made it work. Next, I covered the entire cake with sprinkles and what was left of the M&M's. All of a sudden, the top of the cake was cracking; lifting the top layer was not a good idea. I decided to improvise by filling the cracks with colored sugar, like gold.

In the end, the cake looked nothing like the picture in my head and I don't think I will be going into professional cake decorating anytime soon. However, S and the Miller Littles loved it!

Vol. 4, No. 223, August 11, 2019

4223 - Engagedaversary.

This weekend I was asked to take by my sister and brother-in-law to take pictures family pictures for the third anniversary of their engagement. We went back to the spot where he proposed on top of Darwin Hill. This time, instead of wearing sweatshirts, they used the same sweatshirts to make a heart for their daughter to lay in. This is a collage of some of my favorite pictures from the photo shoot.

Vol. 4, No. 222, August 10, 2019

4222 - To Be Determined.

Happy TBD (Twine Ball Day) everyone! On the excitement scale this TBD was rather low, but it was fun to have some beautiful girls to photograph. The Litchfield Royalty had fun riding in the parade with the Dairy Princesses, posing with a rubber ducky a.k.a. their missing princess, checking out the twine ball museum, and if course seeing the twine ball. Despite the intermittent rain, fun was had by all.

Vol. 4, No. 221, August 9, 2019

4221 - Buttery.

The peaches decided that they were ripe. So tonight, after a full family dinner, minus Margo, and cleaning up the kitchen, we finally got started on our peaches just before 8pm. We decided to start with peach butter, which is similar to jam, however it doesn't not have any pectin in it, instead you just cook it until it thickens. Four hours and one broken jar later, Mom, Becca and I had produced six jars of peach butter.

Vol. 4, No. 220, August 8, 2019

4220 - Crabapple.

Today while the Miller Littles were jumping on the trampoline, I noticed some crabapples on a tree nearby. I picked a small handful and headed to the sidewalk. I used the apples to draw a crabapple in the sidewalk. The chalkier purple color is the dried pigment.

Vol. 4, No. 219, August 7, 2019

4219 - Grandma GIF.

I was stumped for a project for today, so I went to my phone's camera roll. I came across a GIF that my phone created using some photos that I took at Jessica's wedding. The pictures may not be the most adorable of the day, but it is a precious memory.

Vol. 4, No. 218, August 6, 2019

4218 - Styled.

Today in order to prepare for our outing to Target Field for their first Twins game, I braided the hair of two Miller Littles. S with her long hair on the left chose 2 French braids. F with her short hair opted for half up, double French braids combined into one at the end.

Vol. 4, No. 217, August 5, 2019

4217 - Horsing Around.

During Miller Time, I sat with the Miller Littles as they colored. The girls were coloring pictures of horses from a coloring book. F wanted a picture of just a horse's head, large enough so that I would fill the page. She couldn't find one in the coloring book that satisfied this want, so she asked me to draw one. This was the slightly scary looking result. Maybe it would have looked better if she had actually colored it. Before I could take a picture, F folded it up to give to her sister.

Vol. 4, No. 216, August 4, 2019

4216 -Until Next Time.

Today was the last day of the Meeker County Fair. Before working to send projects home, I walked around one last time. I snapped this cute pic of some cows patiently waiting until they get to leave. You know it's been a long weekend when even the animals look tired.

Vol. 4, No. 215, August 3, 2019

4115 - Lettuce Celebrate.

Continuing with my One Vegetable One Community projects, I created a lettuce greeting card. I used a wooden spoon to rub the pigment out of a lettuce leaf, leaving behind a silhouette. I trimmed around the silhouette and put it on a green card. The card won me second place at the Meeker County Fair.

Vol. 4, No. 214, August 2, 2019

4214 - First Floral Fair.

The next project I finished for the Meeker County Fair was a metal flower sculpture. Using the same technique I used for Queen CC's flowers, I sculpted the wire, dipped it in wood glue, painted with nail polish, assembled the flower and wrapped the stem in floral tape. The sculpture won me first place at the fair.

Vol. 4, No. 213, August 1, 2019

4213 - Summer Sweets.

Continuing with my fair projects, I entered another Lettuce project, Lettuce Bars. This recipe wasn't so hard to find, but I could only find one, there weren't multiple variations for me to choose from. The best news is that they won First Place!

Find the recipe here. https://grassfedcow.com/recipes/spiced-lettuce-cake-bars/