Frozen Insanity

In about a week and a half, we begin our saga of Frozen art camps. We have done four or five Frozen-themed birthday parties already, and whenever kids come in for class and see some of the remnants of Frozen decorations, they always wish (out loud) that they could have come to the Frozen party- even if they have no idea who the party was for. I am always dreaming up new events to offer at The Barn, and always aim to provide things that the kids will be interested in. Frozen was a no-brainier; but I had no idea just how popular it would become.

I don't normally subscribe to commercially branded themes for classes or art camps, but will do them, upon request, for parties. My thinking is that I want kids to open up their minds to things that they don't see every day. I've done princess and mermaid themed events without using Disney characters, and I like the flexibility that it allows. I want kids to see beyond the popular Disney images, to know that all mermaids don't have to have red hair and that all princesses aren't necessarily the ones printed on millions of lunch boxes, sneakers, and any other inanimate objects. But with Frozen, it's different. You can't do a Frozen themed event without including the featured characters. Frozen has become a household name. The word is no longer the description of water that has reached 32 degrees. The word is representative of a world of artistic icicles, a silly animated snowman, and (most importantly) Anna and Elsa.

As most of you know, kids are CRAZY about these two ladies. Team Anna, Team Elsa- they are both loved by millions of girls, but I think that Elsa wins the popularity contest. It must be the dress. And the superpowers. And the blonde hair. Ever notice that the blondes are just more popular? The evidence reveals itself when you go to Wal-Mart, Target, or Disney.com... You can find Anna merchandise, but Elsa is usually sold out. I'm not sure if Disney dropped the ball on the supply and demand of the merchandise or if they did it on purpose to create a frenzy. I stalked the Disney Store website for a month to (happily) fork over $50 a piece for Anna and Elsa dresses (plus the matching boots.) I'm not sure if I would have done that if they were always available.

In addition to the characters, there's the music. I will admit that I cried the first time I heard/saw "Let it Go." Now when I hear it, I just WANT to cry. We listen to a Pandora station during class, which plays a variety of Disney tunes, including songs from their popular movies. Whenever any song from Frozen comes on, everyone seems to freeze and exclaim "it's Frozen!" Most of the time, they stop whatever they are doing and rush into the playroom to dance and sing along. When this happens, they kind of remind me of zombies- or maybe Pavlov's dog.

Anyway, I knew that the kids would LOVE a Frozen Art Camp. I knew that we would easily fill up one day of camp, so I initially scheduled two days. I underestimated the love. I posted the event on our Facebook page, and both days were full within about 2 hours. People wanted more. I scheduled another one. FULL. Another one. FULL. Another one.... It took a couple of days, but it filled up, too. People are still calling and trying to get in- but I think my limit is five. There's only so much self-inflected Frozen madness that one can stand before going completely bonkers. But, it's so worth it. There are going to be a lot of extremely happy little girls (and some boys) for several Saturdays to come. It's also been a great way to bring new children to The Barn. I will let you know if I ever get the songs out of my head. :-)

One Week Down, Five More to Go!

Whew! It's been a busy and fun week at The Barn! We enjoyed a full house of 22-24 kids for our first week if Imagine! Summer Art Camp. The kids were great and seemed to have a wonderful time (although occasionally the volume reached such levels that I wondered if the nurses could hear them while having lunch on the patio of Dr. Allen's office, next door). Many children were here for the first time ever and expressed how much they liked our camp and wanted to come back- always a good thing! :-)

I had two amazing helpers, Ms. Ashley and Ms. Majestic. These two young women were in constant motion as we set up, cleaned, up, set up, cleaned, up, filled cups, dispensed paint, set up, cleaned up, washed brushes, wiped tables, on and on and on. Children at art camp complete three to five projects per day, which take a lot of prep work. Ms. Ashley and Ms. Majestic seldom needed to be told to do anything- they were eager to help and often took the initiative to do what needed to be done without any direction. Thumbs up! (Thank you, ladies!)

The week covered a variety of fun themes, as all of our camps do. Every week of camp will be totally different and feature fresh projects for everyone to enjoy. This week we enjoyed The Sky's the Limit, Aloha Art, The Noisy Paint Box, A Day in Central Park, and Flying Down to Rio. See below for copies of the newsletters that we sent home with each child for each day. I like to create newsletters for my classes so that parents can understand the intent behind our projects and see how one thing relates to another. Sorry for the typos; I'm usually doing these at about 7:00am the morning of class with my eyes barely open. I'm a wonderful planner, but I'm equally good at procrastinating. One way or another, everything always gets done!

There were so many projects this week, it's hard to pick the one I liked best and thought was the most successful. I'm leaning toward the abstract painting on canvas, inspired by our Kandinsky lesson. The children really enjoyed the freedom the activity provided and spent time thinking about their use of color and composition. I love the way their paintings came out. They were all very proud of their work.

A very teachable moment revealed itself during the lesson. As I was describing the process of abstract painting (well, one process anyway- there are many!) a child said "you can just do whatever you want, with your eyes closed!" On the contrary, I explained. Although I'm sure that blind art exists and can be considered a sort of art-making process, most abstract pieces have a lot of thought behind them. There is a sort of process and craft in where, how, what, and why elements are used in particular ways. Happenstance painting does happen, but that doesn't mean there isn't any thought behind it.

The second and third runners up would be the wooden carnaval masks, painted in watercolor and adorned with feathers and jewels, and our Central Park cityscapes, drawn in oil pastel and painted with chalk pastels. Those came out really neat. Of course, I was too busy to take pictures of the works in progress or the finished products. Oh well! 

The most challenging project for the children was the frisbee painting. I thought it would be fun for the kids to create different things they might play with in the park for our Central Park day.  Painting plastic can be a challenge, even with paint that is supposed to work on plastic. Too much water, too much smearing, can make the paint bead up and have a faint look. To remedy the problem, I instructed the kids to "dip and dab," using little dabs of paint on the frisbees so the paint was thicker and brighter. A happy coincidence was that we were also discussing Georges Seurat's work that day, which offers wonderful examples of pointillism. Our frisbee painting (near) fiasco actually turned out to be a great way for the kids to experience painting with "points." 

We have so many more wonderful things to look forward to this summer- I can't wait to share them with you and your kids! I hope you will join us for one (or more!) of our camp weeks at The Big Red Barn. Thanks for your support!

Books, Glorious Books!

One of my favorite things about running The Barn is having an excuse to buy lots of beautiful children's books and art books. I have always loved books- old ones, new ones, book cover design, illustration, words, layout- you name it. One thing (of many) that I wanted to be when I grew up was a librarian. The wheel landed elsewhere, but I still get to play with books all the time.

If I were made out of plastic and 50 pounds thinner.

As some of you know, we often use books as inspiration for lessons and to help teach/reinforce/rein-fun (:-) I made that up) whatever we are discussing and creating at class. My Amazon account has been extremely busy lately, and I've found some great titles to share with the kids.

Each week of camp is going to include a day with an imaginary journey to a different region. Our itinerary includes: A Mediterranean Cruise, Carnival in the Andes, An Asian Adventure, Painting in Paris, and An African Safari. While researching fun books for the lessons, I discovered an amazing series, The Adventures of Bella & Harry. The series features two cute little world-traveling dogs, and has many volumes that show them going to Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Athens... you name it! It looks like a winner because of its beauty and simplicity. Gorgeous illustrations, fun and loveable characters, and non-wordy text. Too many words can backfire during rug time. I've got the t-shirt to prove it.

They're just so stinking cute!

Another camp theme will be Home Sweet Home. In addition to drawing and painting shotgun houses, learning about Victorian painted ladies, and creating adorable ceramic cottages, the children will design their own houses. The book If I Built a House, by Chris Van Dusen, will serve as unparalleled inspiration for this task. I read it yesterday and I couldn't help smiling. The illustrations are very 60's Jetson, and the rooms and ideas the child has for his house are utterly delightful.

What little boy wouldn't want a room like this?!

I've also procured the highly entertaining title, Iggy Peck Architect. We will break out the graph paper and have some fun! I have vivid childhood memories of drawing floor plans for houses. My dad was a draftsman (which he said was like being an architect without spending the $ for extra schooling) and drew house plans (pre-Autocad) for people in Mandeville/Covington/Wherever. He sat at his HUGE desk with his array of tools and accoutrements, my favorite being the rotating electric eraser that made fast work of annihilating any unwanted pencil marks. I also really liked the big roll of masking tape and the little stencils that showed the sink and toilet. But I digress...

A few more terrific titles on the way are: Puff the Magic Dragon (Mythic Creatures Day), Amelia Makes a Movie (You're a Star Day), Central Park Serenade (A Day in Central Park Day), Love and Roast Chicken (Andes Adventure Day), Kite Flying (Orient Express Day), and Sky Tree (A Journey Through the 4 Seasons Day). I can't wait to share these, and many more, with children at The Big Red Barn this summer!

PS- One of our camp days features PETE THE CAT! Squeal!!!!

   

Party Girl

Unless you're talking about sitting in a coffee shop with a journal, I've never been a party girl. I prefer smaller groups, meaningful conversation, and tend to be an introvert. How ironic it is that I make (part of) my living by throwing parties for other people! 

Among everything else that we do at The Barn, we also offer birthday parties. I've lost count of how many I've done, but can say that they've increased in popularity over the past couple of years. Although they are a lot of work, they are also a lot of fun, and I love to figure out the project ideas, plan the decorations, and order the supplies. 

There are designated themes listed on our web site, but we (okay, I- I'm a one woman show!) can do most anything kids and parents throw at me. The most challenging parties are the ones that don't have ready-made products to go with them. Some of these themes have been somewhat outdated, yet beloved, things like The Incredibles and Digimon. In these cases, I have to think outside the box and either make the decorations from scratch or dig extra deep on Amazon, eBay, or All Posters. Often I will find one thing, like a poster, take cues from its color scheme, ad develop the look of the party.

It helps to have a formula of sorts. I've developed a basic framework of how to decorate and organize, so when I do a party all I really have to do is fill in the blanks. The fun part is figuring out what to put in those blanks! Some of the things that I use all the time are colorful tablecloths, balloon cups and sticks, and white milk glass vases (for the balloons). Then, I add in some decorations that include a backdrop for the food/cake table, scattered or strategically-placed decorations for the art tables, and (sometimes) creatively-displayed arts & crafts materials for the party projects.

I love to decorate for the parties and plan them, but I'm less fond of the cleaning up part- at least before the party. I realize that this is one of the motivations why people book parties with us- so they don't have to clean their house! Cleaning up after the party isn't a big deal, but cleaning up before the party is a lot of pressure. I want to make a good impression, especially to people who don't know me and have never been to The Big Red Barn. I have a sign in my hallway that says "Creative Minds are Rarely Tidy" and it is so very true. I think I do okay- as long as people don't look TOO closely at things :-). Maybe one of these days I'll enlist the help of a cleaning crew.

Some parties that I have done stand out as my favorites. I really enjoyed the projects we did at our Monster High party. The American Girl party decorations were so much fun to do and the children all had a great time creating tutus for their dolls. The party was a lot of work and took a lot of preparation, but it was worth it. Recently we did a Candyland party that included a gum ball machine painting on canvas and we used colorful buttons as the gum balls. I loved the project so much that I started one of my own. One of these days I'll finish it! 

The most popular party we have done has been Frozen (big surprise there!) I've lost count, but we've done 4 or 5 of them and have another on the books- not to mention the five art camps. When the first Frozen party was scheduled early this year, it was close to impossible to find any Frozen tableware or party decorations, and if you did find them, they were marked up to five times the normal cost. Not a big deal; using plates and decorations in the pretty purple and aqua colors worked well. I also threw in a ton of snowflake decorations, a poster from Wal-mart, and an AWESOME Frozen castle that I found at Once Upon a Child in Mandeville. I was shocked when I found it- especially since it came with Anna and Elsa dolls and more accessories. The lady at the store said that the seller's child had gotten it for Christmas and never played with it. Whaaaat???!!! What a score! Not only was it a great party decoration, it was also a magnificent toy for my Lily Grace. :-)

Sweet Baboo

They say that behind every good man there's a good woman. The opposite is true, too.

For the most part, I always work alone. I've always worked best on my own, especially at school, and the phrase "group project" has never been music to my ears. On my own, I plan events and activities, dream up random ideas, create flyers, ads, and lesson plans, teach class, sweep the floor, pick up the toys, decorate the art room, blow up balloons... The list goes on and on. When people meet me and learn about The Barn, they ask "So, it's just you?" Pretty much, I say. But it's not just me. It's Bryan, too.

I call Bryan my sweet baboo. I picked up the term from Charlie Brown's sister, Sally. Unlike Linus, Bryan doesn't mind the endearment. I have no clue what a baboo is and if Bryan actually is whatever it means, but Bryan is sweet, and that's good enough for me.

Bryan is the one who puts up with the cups of water and paintbrushes piled on the kitchen counter after class (and for days after that if my schedule affords the luxury of my procrastination from cleaning them). Bryan puts up with staying (far) away from home on crazy kids night out nights and art camp days when over a dozen children are having the time of their lives in our (otherwise peaceful) house. Bryan puts up with discovering the pee splattered all over the toilet seat from little boys who are still learning proper aim (I clean it up). Bryan puts up with me laying on the couch, shell shocked, after an especially challenging day of reasoning with preschoolers. Bryan puts up with my flights of whimsy like building a barn float for the local parade or helping create an outdoor classroom (he doesn't know about that yet). Bryan puts up with my crazy schedule of this class and that, this party and that one, and whatever else I've put on the always eclectic calendar. Bryan puts up with my frantic 8:45 AM crazy woman cleaning before 9:00 class- when I'm out of breath and my eyes are wild and I'm rushing around like a madwoman (but I always answer the door with a smile- transformed instantly by seeing the kids walk in). Bryan puts up with having to navigate my office every time he goes in and out of the house, and with my supply closet whenever he does the laundry. All he asks is that I keep the top of the washer and dryer clear. I succeed- except when I don't. :-)

Working on The Big Red Barn float.

I'm thankful everyday for my sweet Baboo. I continue to do most everything at The Barn by myself, but sure am glad that Bryan is there to back me up- at least when class is over. :-) 

 

Helping Hands

This week I am working on the Tots N Tunes Preschool Music Program video, which I have edited and set to music twice a year for almost the past ten years. It is a task that comes around far too quickly every time, that I am totally guilty of procrastinating on, but despite various hiccups and technical difficulties, always ends up completed on time.

When Leslie Domingues, owner of Northlake Academy of Music and Tots N Tunes, asked me if I could do it this year, I wondered if I would be able to fit the project's many hours of computer work/editing into my schedule. It's not that it's hard, it's just time consuming. It's a busy early December at The Big Red Barn, and I have a lot of birthday parties, a holiday tea, a parade, a float to build, and my own child's activities to think about. As I've learned over years of piling my plate too high, I knew that it would get done, one way or another, so I said yes. The extra money would come in handy, but I did it for more than money.

In another life, I was a dancer and a dance teacher. This led me to the job as creative movement teacher at Tots N Tunes, a preschool music program that began in the back of Werlein's Music Store, almost 15 years ago. The program was started by Leslie Domingues, who had taught for many years as a piano teacher and who had a special love of working with children. I was there for the first class of Tots N Tunes, and many more to count thereafter. Over the years I witnessed Leslie's brainchild grow from a floating preschool music program to an amazing music studio, Northlake Academy of Music, with over a dozen rooms for private lessons, a separate Tots N Tunes room, a choir room, a violin room, and more. It's really an amazing facility. But I digress.

One of the best things about working for Leslie is/was how well she treats her employees. Leslie always paid fairly, gave Christmas bonuses, bought at Wendy's for the ride across the Causeway on Saturday after Tots N Tunes, and surprised you now and then with a little treat, like coffee from Starbucks. Sure, these things are monetary, and employee praise doesn't necessarily need be linked to money, but when you're a girl in your mid 20's (or mid 30's) with very little money, they certainly are appreciated! Over my years of work at Tots N Tunes/Northlake, I took on other job responsibilities, including flyer/web/graphic design, administrative duties, and (of course) the Tots N Tunes video. When I had my daughter, Lily Grace, and moved from Mandeville to Ponchatoula, I took a break from teaching at Tots N Tunes, but continued to help out with non-teaching things.

One of the things that I am most grateful about is how Leslie provided me with the opportunity to earn money when my options were limited. She let me work from home and allowed me to bring my daughter, Lily Grace, to work at her house. We would sit at her table and work on various things while Lily toddled around, requested anything and everything in Leslie's impressive pantry, played with toys, and watched TV. Leslie was always loving and patient with Lily, now and then surprising her with special treats. She was more than a boss, she was a friend, and I was always happy to spend the hours working together and talking about life. At the time, my home life, marriage, and financial situation were not the stuff dreams are made of. The small, yet more than fair, monthly salary that she gave me was an enormous help, and allowed me to tuck money away for a rainy day (at least when I didn't have to use it to pay the electric bill.) That rainy day turned out to be The Big Red Barn.

The Big Red Barn was originally located in a cottage next door to my old house. The cottage was actually a garage, which was made into an apartment with a bathroom and kitchenette. The structure was sound, but it needed a few renovations. I had dreamed of opening an arts center for children for years, and the space was just sitting there, so it seemed like a great opportunity. I talked to my then-husband about the idea, and though it took a while, things eventually started to happen. My (then) mother-in-law bought a new sink, hot water heater, and lumber to finish the walls. My (then) father-in-law, who lived with us at the time, completed the work in lieu of rent. Family helped with the framework, but it was up to me to fill that framework. I filled it, figuratively, brick by brick, month by month. I scrimped and saved the money I earned from Leslie and used it to buy carpet, wall paint, basic art supplies, and advertising materials/ad space.

I've always been a total diva of bargain shopping, and am in no way above trash-picking or yard sailing, so I knew how to spend as little as possible and get the most bang for my buck. For example, the original chairs at The Big Red Barn were purchased at a Ponchatoula High fundraiser yard sale for 50 CENTS each! They were old rusty school chairs, probably from the 60s or 70s. I spray painted them and they served us well, for years. It didn't take a lot of money to get started, but every little bit helped.

The opportunity that Leslie gave me allowed me to earn enough money to help make my dreams come true. I don't know if it would have happened otherwise, especially since I HATE asking anyone for help, and although my parents probably would have lent me money if I asked for it, I never would have asked. I live my dream every day, and am thankful and amazed at my fun, yet humble, little place. I've made it happen, but I have had help along the way. Most dreams need a little assistance; we just have to know where to find it.


        



  

Leggo those Legos!

Uh oh. I'm in trouble again. It's been a while since I was ensnared by a toy obsession, but with the catalyst of Christmas and an awakened interest in Legos, I can feel myself getting tangled up and I'm powerless to stop it.

It started out innocently enough; I was clicking my way through memory lane, looking at some recently scanned slides from our childhood. There was a picture of my sister Susie proudly holding a Lego house creation. Using that picture and many more, I wrote a blog post about our low tech childhood. Briefly I described some of the tv/tablet/internet-free activities we enjoyed, including playing with Legos. I have so many great memories of sitting on the floor with a pile of blocks and remember the satisfaction of fastening  them together, creating doors, windows, and furniture. 

I thought that Lily would enjoy them, too (and also wanted to relive some of my own childhood) so I searched for some basic lots of blocks that we could play with. As I looked at the various Lego tubs available and read reviews, it seemed like none of them were what I really wanted. I wanted a lot of 2x6 bricks, the kind that we always ran out of. Unfortunately, many of the reviews complained about what was included in the tubs- specifically the limited number of that holy grail size of brick. So, I went to eBay. Surely someone would be selling a big box of old Legos that they didn't want anymore. I saw a listing for a lot of Legos, with Lego Friends pieces. The picture for the listing showed a pile of multicolored blocks, but there were also interesting little doors, windows, and accessories thrown into the mix. Ooooooooh....If only I had had those nifty little pieces when I was little! I (I mean Lily) had to have them. eBay wasn't exactly giving the stuff away, so off to Amazon I went, where I searched Lego Friends.

I had seen the Lego Friends on display at Target before, but when they came out in 2012, it seemed that Lily was still a little too young to manage them. She had noticed the displays, and was attracted to their girly colors and fun aesthetics, but I always shooed her away because I didn't want to deal with all of the pieces and thought they might frustrate her. She seemed to think that the sets came out of the box the way they were displayed, like a Barbie or Little People house, and didn't understand that they needed to be built. Because of that, I didn't pay that much attention to all of the different sets Lego had come out with- but I'm paying attention now!

I'm actually not a big fan of Lego sets that are intended to build one thing; I think that they potentially limit the imagination. Left to my own devices, I'd rather have a big pile of them and make whatever I wanted, play with it a while, then make something else with the pieces. But, when I saw the sets for Lego Friends, I couldn't help but admire the cute detail and architecture of the series. There were so many wonderful little features like furniture, flowers, trees, food, even an espresso machine! I reasoned that they would be a great jumping off point that could foster a love of Legos. If Lily enjoyed building one planned thing, maybe that would pave the way for her making up her own things. And, when that time comes, she would have a lot of neat elements to use in her creations.

This is not an actual kit... This is a hotel created with stock Legos and kit elements. So cool!

Another cool creation, starring Lego Friends!

I needed to decide which set to get. I wanted a set that had a lot of pieces that could be configured in many different ways, and after looking at the many different options, I ordered the high school and the house. I liked the way that they were separated into modular builds, and the fact that the created modules could be used to create different building configurations. From Amazon, the two sets totaled about $95.00, not bad for 2 nice Christmas presents.

But I couldn't stop there. I'm painfully guilty of wanting to buy EVERYTHING when I get a "toy fever." Past fevers have included old-school Little People (see here), Fisher Price Snap & Style Dolls, new-school Little People, Loving Family Dollhouse people & furniture, play food, etc. As I looked through the pages of different sets available, I thought of the different things that Lily would like her Friends characters to do: go to the cafe, the pool, play in the treehouse... and reasoned that she needed those sets, too. There was also a set  cute little makeup table, ballet barre, and a stage! (Squeal!)

Waiting to buy later could have been an option, but then I saw that some of the sets are being retired, and some have already been retired (like the cool Butterfly Salon set that retailed for $25 and now cannot be found for much less than $70 on eBay and Amazon!). There have also been some pretty good sales lately, especially with Christmas coupons. So, as of today, I've spent about $160 on Legos: all for Christmas presents. Now, if only I can keep my hands off of them until December 25th!

I bought:

Heartlake High $44

Olivia's House $55

Olivia's Treehouse $18

City Park Cafe $25

Rehearsal Stage $18

MUST. STOP. NOW!!!!

... I can't wait to go to Legoland when we go to Kansas City for Thanksgiving. :-)

So cool! Munchkinland, made out of Legos!

Do you love Legos, too? Check out these really great blogs with pictures and inspiration for awesome Lego creations.

http://friendsinspiregirlsglobally.blogspot.com/

http://friendsbricks.blogspot.com/

PS...
Lego Friends received a lot of negative feminist backlash when they released this series in 2012. Many websites and blogs were of the opinion that it was sexist to have Legos with beauty shops, girly figures, and bakeries. I read the assertions in several of the articles, and just don't agree.