Sunday, October 11, 2009

A Little Faith

Maybe you’ve seen the TV show Medium. A psychic solves murder cases by having dreams in which she sees the crimes being committed. The most implausible thing about this show is that no matter how many cases she miraculously solves this way, her boss and family are still skeptical EACH and EVERY time she dreams up a psychic vision.

I feel her frustration. No matter how many challenging craft projects I triumph over, my kids still don’t believe I can pull it off. How easily they forget the amazing jellyfish costumes I whipped up out of hula hoops and shower curtains. And what about the dazzling dress I fashioned from a fake pumpkin and a Wheat Thins box? Or the giant flower vase constructed out of a traffic cone and an umbrella base? The Christmas trees made of inverted tomato cages? How ‘bout the thatched hut made out of a cocoa tin, or the teeny weeny charcoal barbeque grill we made out of a shaving cream cap, black aquarium gravel, and some red foil?


So with two Halloween costumes and two school projects (a model of an animal cell and a diorama inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Pit and the Pendulum”) to conquer, they still have no faith in my ability to ferret out the perfect materials for them to carry out their visions.


We started at my favorite store for inspiration…The Dollar Tree. A store full of curious and quirky finds - all for a buck. I met resistance:


“Mom, what are we doing here?” I endured eye rolling each time I paused at displays of things like blue metallic scouring pads and toxic looking action figures. Don’t they understand how it works? You have to sense these things.


“So, can we go now, Mom?”


Sigh.


We hit the big craft store next. I did redeem myself a little when I convinced the cashier to let us take some skulls that had snapped off their kitschy resin skeleton figurines – for free. Wouldn’t those little skeleton heads dress up the pit diorama nicely? Maybe Poe would be impressed, anyway.

21 comments:

Kimbra Kasch said...

I'm always impressed with creativity - especially when it's done on a budget.

Can't wait to share my Halloween costume . . .

Bish Denham said...

They may be skeptical now, but when they have kids of their own they will more than likely WOW those kids with their miraculous ability to make things out of seemingly unrelated stuff. You are giving them a gift they don't yet realize they're getting.

My mother did the same for me.

Lisa said...

Children are skeptical and sometimes it is like they were raised by an outside force.

I just posted a conversation I just had with my first son. They do have a mind of their own.

ICQB said...

Oooh, I know just what you mean about how you have to 'sense' these things.

You walk through the store, taking in every little, kitchy thing and letting your craftiness sense take over.

It's a gift. Don't let the naysayers get you down : ) I once created Hogsmead (complete with Honeyduke's candy shop) in my garage with cardboard, duct tape, spray paint, pebbles, some old sheets, and plastic wrap.

Love the jellyfish costumes and the pumpkin/wheat-thins dress!

MG Higgins said...

I feel your creative pain! But it must be loads of fun cobbling these costumes together. Good luck! (And please take pictures and share them with us.)

Pseudo said...

First time here. I think your blog is lovely and I hope you post photos of the costumes...

Lisa said...

adrienne, I followed you home to just share with you what I myself just learned...Obama was not just found on YouTube, he has an official YouTube channel. The first President or politician to ever do that. And that was what my son was referring to.

They are ahead of us..the children.

Keri Mikulski said...

Very impressive.. Love creative costumes. :) Have fun!

Lily Cate said...

Ah, here its my husband who's the skeptic. He doesn't have the "vision". Poor him.

Adrienne said...

Kim - I loving seeing Halloween costume pictures! The homemade ones are my favorite, naturally.

Bish - I'm sure I got the knack from my mom - she was an elementary school teacher and always had the most creative projects.

Ocean Girl - Thanks for coming back with that info! I would not have thought of that. And yes, I wish I could keep up with my kids in so many ways...

Adrienne said...

ICQB - That sounds ambitious! I'm picturing the cobblestone streets and all.
Duct tape is wonderful stuff, too. So many uses...

MG - It is fun - I don't do much crafty stuff for myself anymore so these projects are a good brain exercise. Plus it's fun to see what the kids come up with, when I provide the materials and they run with them.

Pseudonymous... - Hope you'll visit again! Thanks for the nice words. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures (that my kids will let me post).

Keri - We always have fun with these projects!

Lily - Tsk! I'd find that hard to believe, but my husband confesses he usually has no idea where I'm going with something.

Kelly Polark said...

You are so very crafty, Adrienne! I like crafty projects, but I think I'd be bad at putting costumes together! My children unfortunately usually have storebought ones. One year their grandma made Luigi/Mario costumes and those were some of my favorites!

LW said...

I hope you share pictures…

The only thing that I do not miss about my kids growing up is making those Halloween
Costumer…

Louise

Ara Burklund said...

Whoa. I clicked on your costume photos. Amazing stuff! You HAVE TO post pix of the diorama, okay? : )

Rena Jones said...

I'm sure if they're like most kids, they give you hell. But as soon as your back is turned, they tell their friends how awesome you are. I remember those jellyfish costumes -- wow!

Mary Witzl said...

I sympathize too -- and I hate shows like that one you've described, where the protagonist always triumphs and her family always manages to forget this. Whenever my husband cooks, we end up with enough food for six. When I cook, we might have a tiny bit left over, but I'm generally spot on for portion sizes. But EVERY SINGLE TIME my husband sees me cooking, he'll say, "Are you sure that's going to be enough?" and try to get me to put on more rice, onions, fish, eggs -- whatever. It's enough to try the patience of a saint.

If you're ever in Scotland (and we happen to be there too) I can introduce you to someone who shares your making-something-from-nothing skill. And she'd love to see that pumpkin dress!

Adrienne said...

Kelly - How lucky to get help from Grandma! Bet they were super cute.

Louise - Funny...with your creativity, I'd have guessed you enjoyed making costumes! :)

Ara - My daughter is hard at work on the diorama. I plan to post something on it...she's having too much fun with it!

Rena - I can hope that's what they're saying behind my back. :D

Mary - Your husband's eyes must be bigger than his stomach. Or maybe he's from a big family?

For selfish reasons, I think your friend should start a blog! I love to see what clever people come up with. BTW, I have relatives in Scotland...I've only been once and hope to go back one of these days.

Anne Spollen said...

Lol, I love this post. We do the same things.

This year, Emma rebelled and is going to an actual costume shop.

And they all ask if I am going to stop at the Dollar Store when I go food shopping. If I am, they either don't come or they slink down to the floor mats.

Such beautiful junk there...

Adrienne said...

Anne - We're not alone! I just discovered there's a dollar store craft website. With all that junk being produced, someone ought to find good uses for it.

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

send your kids to my house - they will appreciate your craftiness! ;)

sruble said...

Your kids should not doubt you like that, with all the evidence!

BTW, I want to come to your house for crafts. It sounds like so much fun!