Faking the Season: Winter Part 2 - Snowflakes

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Raindrops have finally been falling on my head here in San Diego! California has been so dry all year long that these past three days have felt heavenly for me! It is almost possible to believe that winter solstice is just around the corner. 

And to lift the mood even further, our family has just plunged into faking the season and making snowflakes. We try and cover most of the windows of our house with paper snowflakes. This involves multiple nights of scissors handling and paper clippings all over the floor. Often we have even asked for help from friends and neighbors. It is so much fun to get together and see who has natural talent! The best part though is to compete with my better half who seems to have a real knack at making snowflakes. His ones turn out fabulous every time, and mine are usually just mediocre - unless I strike gold and make a randomly brilliant flake by accident. It has also been wonderful to notice how both of my kids are now able to make snowflakes of their own. 

If you would like to make snowflakes, you will only need scissors and paper (printing or tissue paper, white and light blue paper works beautifully). It also never hurts to add some sparkles with glitter! If you need instructions on how to fold the paper, you can find them here: How to Make 6 Pointed Paper Snowflakes 

Just watch out, soon your floors are full of paper cuttings as well! Enjoy!

Faking the Seasons: Winter Part 1

Wintry Pine Cone Wind Chime Terhi-tivity

My favorite season, winter, starts right after Thanksgiving at our house! There are no icy snowflakes on the corners of the windows, nor is there any snow in the ground, but I won't let that bother me. Instead, I will create a winter wonderland of our own and fake the season, right here in sunny San Diego. 

Our family loves to go on day trips to our local mountains. We always look for nature treasures during our hikes and visits to the day use areas of nature preserves and state parks. We had gathered up a huge bag full of pine cones and now I had an idea of making a wind chime out of them.

After working on the chime under our carport, we moved it to our back patio. Now the fake snow and glitter add sparkles into our living room through the windows.

If you'd like to make your own pine cone wind chime, you will need the following items:

• a big tree branch 
• pine cones
• fishing line
• spray can of fake snow
• glitter (Any color would do. I chose iridescent glitter.)

The tricky part of this project is attaching the pine cones to the fishing line. I just kept on twirling the fishing line around each pine cone multiple times and that seemed to do the trick. These pine cones were quite large. Little ones would make a cute small pine cone chime! 

Let me know if I inspired you to make one too! Until it's time to fake the season again...

Exuberant Celebration of Dr.Seuss

Cat in the Hat, what do you know about that?

Did you know that Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss was from San Diego? I lived here several years before I discovered that interesting fact. In the past, I'd seen Dr. Seuss sculptures around the Hotel Del in Coronado, and now there is a fabulous exhibition at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park. The kids and I were excited when we heard the exhibit had opened, so we hopped in the car to check it out for ourselves.

Immediately upon entering the exhibit, we were immersed in Theodor Geisel's imaginary world. The kids giggled at the funny animals on the Unorthodox Taxidermy wall. The fuzzy tail of the turtle caught my son's eye. My daughter loved the fish which looked more like a chainsaw.

 The whole setting of the exhibit was cheerful, and the whimsical furniture added to the fun.

While the kids were busy making hats and "truffula" trees...

 

... I looked at some pretty awesome art work.

If you'd like to take a first hand look at Theodor Geisel's art, I recommend you go and visit the San Diego History Center by the end of the year. It is a lot of fun for adults and children alike. Here is a link to the event: Ingenious! The World of Dr. Seuss  I would love to hear from your experience at the exhibit, thus, please do come back and post a comment!

After we got back from the museum, I asked the kids to go and gather all Dr. Seuss related books, toys and games from their bedrooms. That resulted in an exuberant night filled with tongue twisters and laughter. In my next post, I will share our favorite Dr. Seuss items.

Until then, take a moment to read a few of your favorite Dr. Seuss books. Those tongue twisters get me every time!