Recently I saw a craft project that looked so cool, so fun, so messy - just right for spending a quality afternoon together with Hannah. The idea was to dip yarn into a mixture of half glue, half water, and wrap it around a balloon. When it dries, you pop the balloon, and have an artsy string egg. So last night, Jonathan was working on an indoor home-improvement project that required the rest of us to be occupied in the dining room, and that seemed like the perfect time to bust out my yarn eggs. I could keep Hannah busy for an hour AND create some beautiful decorations just in time for Easter. (By the way, as opposed to other holidays, I do get into the whole decorating for Easter business.) But things did not go as planned. See if you can find the weak link in this project: I'd love to know exactly what went wrong!!!
I started by getting out some yarn. The only pastel (read: Easter) colors I have are baby-weight...maybe that's where things started to go downhill. Anyway, I put the yarn on the table and started rummaging for glue and balloons. Within seconds, Hannah had the balls of yarn spinning all over the floor, mischievous kitten style. This actually flustered me enough that Jonathan had to leave his tools behind to come re-wind balls of yarn while I finished getting my supplies.
Potential problem number two: my instructions called for "craft glue," and I used tacky glue. Is that craft glue, or am I supposed to use white school glue? And did they really mean for me to measure exact proportions of glue and water? I eyeballed it, but maybe I added too much water...
Finally, we sat down at the table, where I about fainted blowing up tiny, cheap balloons. This was endlessly amusing to Hannah, but made me a little worried. You know, what if all that huffing and puffing made me go into labor or something?! So I cut a long piece of yarn, stuck it in the glue, and handed the end to Hannah. Immediately, she dropped it and asked for a wet wipe because her hands were "too sticky." I tried to explain that we were using glue, and it was supposed to be sticky, and isn't it fun to get a little messy, but Miss Neat and Tidy would have nothing to do with it. The most involved I could get her in the whole process was to wipe up my spills off the table with her wet wipe!
Home improvement project complete, and the mess already cleaned by the world's only neat-freak two year old, I put the balloons aside to dry overnight. Apparently, something about the whole thing made an impression on Hannah, because all day, she's been asking me if we could play "Eggs-n-String" again. After re-thinking her adverse reaction, the whole bottle of glue I used up, and the fact that every time I went into the laundry room, the yarn was still soft and pliable (not hardened like I had expected), I decided that once was enough for this project. After Hannah went to bed, I went after the balloons with a pair of sharp scissors. I have to admit: the coolest thing about this whole project was the weird sucking noise the balloons made when I popped them and they detached from the yarn. You really should make one of these just so you can hear it!
They look quite nice. But they are still very fragile. There is no way these are going to last in the attic until next Easter. (And I know about nursing things along. I just set out some real eggs I dyed and hollowed out five years ago that have been, so far, a permanent part of our Easter decor.) Like I said, I don't know if the problem is the light weight yarn, the type of glue, the glue-to-water ratio, or what. Maybe they weren't supposed to be hardy, long-term things in the first place. In any case, they are lovely, they kept us busy for an evening, and I learned that my daughter simply cannot abide by sticky fingers. Huh...
Recently I saw a craft project that looked so cool, so fun, so messy - just right for spending a quality afternoon together with Hannah. The idea was to dip yarn into a mixture of half glue, half water, and wrap it around a balloon. When it dries, you pop the balloon, and have an artsy string egg. So last night, Jonathan was working on an indoor home-improvement project that required the rest of us to be occupied in the dining room, and that seemed like the perfect time to bust out my yarn eggs. I could keep Hannah busy for an hour AND create some beautiful decorations just in time for Easter. (By the way, as opposed to other holidays, I do get into the whole decorating for Easter business.) But things did not go as planned. See if you can find the weak link in this project: I'd love to know exactly what went wrong!!! 
I started by getting out some yarn. The only pastel (read: Easter) colors I have are baby-weight...maybe that's where things started to go downhill. Anyway, I put the yarn on the table and started rummaging for glue and balloons. Within seconds, Hannah had the balls of yarn spinning all over the floor, mischievous kitten style. This actually flustered me enough that Jonathan had to leave his tools behind to come re-wind balls of yarn while I finished getting my supplies. 
Potential problem number two: my instructions called for "craft glue," and I used tacky glue. Is that craft glue, or am I supposed to use white school glue? And did they really mean for me to measure exact proportions of glue and water? I eyeballed it, but maybe I added too much water... 
Finally, we sat down at the table, where I about fainted blowing up tiny, cheap balloons. This was endlessly amusing to Hannah, but made me a little worried. You know, what if all that huffing and puffing made me go into labor or something?! So I cut a long piece of yarn, stuck it in the glue, and handed the end to Hannah. Immediately, she dropped it and asked for a wet wipe because her hands were "too sticky." I tried to explain that we were using glue, and it was supposed to be sticky, and isn't it fun to get a little messy, but Miss Neat and Tidy would have nothing to do with it. The most involved I could get her in the whole process was to wipe up my spills off the table with her wet wipe! 
Home improvement project complete, and the mess already cleaned by the world's only neat-freak two year old, I put the balloons aside to dry overnight. Apparently, something about the whole thing made an impression on Hannah, because all day, she's been asking me if we could play "Eggs-n-String" again. After re-thinking her adverse reaction, the whole bottle of glue I used up, and the fact that every time I went into the laundry room, the yarn was still soft and pliable (not hardened like I had expected), I decided that once was enough for this project. After Hannah went to bed, I went after the balloons with a pair of sharp scissors. I have to admit: the coolest thing about this whole project was the weird sucking noise the balloons made when I popped them and they detached from the yarn. You really should make one of these just so you can hear it! 
They look quite nice. But they are still very fragile. There is no way these are going to last in the attic until next Easter. (And I know about nursing things along. I just set out some real eggs I dyed and hollowed out five years ago that have been, so far, a permanent part of our Easter decor.) Like I said, I don't know if the problem is the light weight yarn, the type of glue, the glue-to-water ratio, or what. Maybe they weren't supposed to be hardy, long-term things in the first place. In any case, they are lovely, they kept us busy for an evening, and I learned that my daughter simply cannot abide by sticky fingers. Huh... 
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