crafting – Virgo in Wonderland

As humans, we tend to want whatever we can’t have. Before this pandemic drastically altered our lives, we longed for a morning to sleep in, more time to spend with our kids, or the chance to binge watch that new show.

Well, now we all have extra time. LOTS of extra time. It looks like we’re in this quarantine for the long haul. So aside from watching Netflix all day and doing 500 piece puzzles, what else is can we do at home?

Here’s a list of simple distractions to help make you feel a little less isolated while you’re staying indoors. And when all else fails, take a walk, ride a bike, or FaceTime/Skype/Zoom/Google Duo a friend. Whether we like it or not, it’s time to lean into this quarantine. And despite our isolation, we’re not alone. We really are in the same boat, so let’s try to make the best of it.

Entertainment

The Metropolitan Opera in New York City is streaming an opera performance every night at 6:30pm ET. Go to www.MetOpera.org to check it out.
Playbill will point you to free full length musicals like Cats, Newsies, Rent, and Into the Woods.
Netflix Party is a Chrome extension for watching Netflix remotely with friends, e.g., for movie nights with that long-distance special someone. It synchronizes video playback and adds group chat. Go to www.netflixparty.com .
If you’re a Library card holder, go to your local library’s website. Most have an extensive collection of free digital books for you to checkout.
Download the Google Arts and Culture app for access to some of the most famous museums in the world. Using their street view technology, you’ll feel like you’re actually walking through the greatest museums. It’s fantastic.

Kids

Award winning author and illustrator of the Piggie and Gerald, Pigeon and Knuffle Bunny books, Mo Willems, is doing 30 minute drawing classes for kids every weekday at 1pm ET/10am PT. They are wonderful. Go to www.kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems to check it out.
Head to the @Delish Instagram page where they’ll be doing Kids + Parents Cooking classes every weekday at 1pm ET/10am PT. They have the ingredients list posted now and they encourage using what you already have in your pantry.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium has live webcams on their website of the sea otters, jellyfish, even some excellent morning meditations. Just go to the Animals page and you’ll find them there. www.montereybayaquarium.org
Head to the CBS Evening News’ Facebook page where correspondent Steve Hartman will give you and your kids a 30 minute “Kindness 101” course from March 23-26 at 2pm ET/11am PT. He’s a fantastic storyteller and I suspect this will be an enlightening and lighthearted experience.

Podcasts for Beginners

Conan Needs a Friend
NPR’s Life Kit
Staying In w/Emily and Kumail Nanjiani
Mystery Recipe: America’s Test Kitchen Kids is a fun new podcast for young chefs
Tumble Science podcast also for kids

Crafts

Brit & Co. is offering their online art and crafting classes for free for the rest of March using the code SELFHELP at checkout. www.brit.co/learn
Craftiful Studio in San Jose, California is doing short, easy crafting tutorials everyday on their Facebook page. Go to www.craftifulstudio.com for details.
Head to McHarper Manor’s Facebook page where you can check out their Art and Craft tutorials every weekday at 1pm ET/10am PT.

Late Night Shows

Most late night talk shows have shutdown production because of social distancing guidelines. But you can’t keep Colbert, Fallon, and Kimmel down. They’re doing daily video segments from home! Find their mini monologues on their show’s YouTube channels and take a much needed laugh break.

My kids and I decided to give pin trading a try when we went to the Disneyland Resort a couple weeks ago and if you’re already aware of the practice, you know how addicting it is. It was so much fun that even my husband wanted in on the action!

Now that both my daughters have a lovely collection of pins that they’re proud of, they wanted to make sure they weren’t just left on their lanyards and thrown in a drawer somewhere. They also want a way to admire and display them in their rooms.

I’ve seen many folks put their pins on large cork boards, but we wanted to store them with their pin backs so they wouldn’t get lost. We were also wanted something that wasn’t brown. And do you know how hard it is to find a cork board that isn’t huge? We were thinking something no larger than 8×10.

So I came up with something the girls could easily personalize, keep the backs with their pins, and keep things small and inexpensive.

Here’s what we picked up at our local craft store:

1 or 2 colors of acrylic paint
Paint brush
Adhesive embellishments like foam, felt, or sparkly stickers
8×10 white canvas boards, or any size of your choosing
A tarp or some newspaper to lay down on your table or work surface

First, the girls picked their favorite color and each painted the canvas. Make sure they paint in one direction to make sure the color is nice and even. Then, they used a secondary color (they both chose a sparkly silver) to paint the 4 edges. Let dry for a few hours.

Then, they got to embelish the edges of the canvas. Since those areas are unusable with the wood backing, they could decorate with stickers or glued on gems. They turned out so cute!

Then, place your pins on the board and display! The girls decided to hang theirs on the wall. And best of all, there’s still some room to add new pins after our next trip to Disneyland.

It was a great craft for a rainy Sunday that was both affordable and functional! And I love how they could personalize to their heart’s content. Give it a try!

Tag: crafting

Free Online Classes, Entertainment, and Happy Distractions for Your Time in Quarantine

A Simple DIY Display for Disney Pin Traders