The Creative Salad – Page 23 – Crafty fun and homeschool adventures in Sonoma County, California.

The January Ahead of Us

We have a big month ahead of us:

Several special birthdays (our daughter turns five!), unpacking from the big move and settling in to our new home, a giant deadline at David’s workplace plus a second job added to the mix (lecturer in the engineering department at the local university), and the long-awaited conclusion of our favorite book series that my husband has been reading for over twenty years.

Oh, and I’m eight months pregnant. (Here’s hoping the baby is born NEXT month closer to his due date!) I have some nesting to do.

What can I say?! We like to keep things busy.

May 2013 be as rich and full as 2012. Happy New Year!

Countdown to Christmas

Christmas may be just around the corner, but our family is counting down to something else that’s happening on December 25th:

We’re moving into our new place, a house just down the street but quite a bit bigger.

In the meantime the girls are frantically packing while David spends his days painting. No time for blogging or extra activities, sending cards or holiday baking. We’re focused on the move and, out of necessity, having a low-key Christmas season.

Cause we’re getting this awesome present on the 25th.

Happy holidays! See you back here in the new year!

Stocking Stuffers for the Young Artist

Here are some of our favorite small, affordable art accessories that would make fantastic stocking stuffers for an artistic child (or grown up!) in your life:

Pentel Water Brush — we love using this water brush with watercolor pencils (we own phenomenal watercolor pencil sets by Derwent and Caran D’Ache). No need to worry about your little one spilling a glass of water or having to change the water frequently when it turns murky; this refillable brush holds the water inside and you just lightly press or paint with it to wet your paper and turn your pencil-markings into paint!

Royal Langnickel soft grip brushes — easy to hold, our daughter always asks for these brushes when we do painting projects. They come in a host of fun colors. Find them at your local art store in the kids section.

Metallic gel pens — great for drawing on dark paper or simply adding a bit of a sparkle to a handwritten note, we own dozens of these metallic pens in every color of the rainbow!

Carnival Glitter Glue — there may be many types of glitter glue out there, but these brand new glitter pens from eeBoo are particularly pretty, making them perfect for a holiday stocking or to adorn the top of a gift. I’m partial to the colorful swirl. (While they are available online, we found them at our local Whole Foods Market.)

Speedball Linoleum Cutter Set — We love carving our own stamps using this lino cutter and Speedball Speedy-Cut Carving Blocks. With a number of tips, this cutter makes it easy to carve, and the carving blocks are thick enough to hold and stamp with afterwards. Pair the lino cutter with some colorful stamp pads and you’re all set to create beautiful stamps from the get go!

Vitamix Love

I frequently say that once you drive a car that gets 45 mpg (like our Prius) you cannot go back to a car with average fuel efficiency. The same holds true for Vitamix blenders. The other blenders just don’t compare.

We love and use our Vitamix 5200 every single day.

We grind our own almond and coconut flours (using the BPA-free dry grains container):

We make smoothies:

We blend dressings and grind nut butters.

When we are done, we fill the container halfway with water and a drop of dish soap, turn it on and it becomes it’s own dishwasher:

We don’t even need to scrub it!

Hands down: best kitchen purchase EVER.

3-D Puzzleball Fun

Our daughter has always loved puzzles and games. This past year we’ve discovered a new, 3-D puzzle challenge: Puzzleballs by Ravensburger!

You can assemble the pieces either in numerical order:

Or put the puzzle together based on piece shape/color like regular puzzles for a greater challenge:

The plastic pieces clip into each other so the balls hold their shape:

Mama has it on good authority that there will be more puzzleballs under the Christmas tree this year. Little miss is going to be over the moon. Let’s put together some puzzleballs!