Color Your World with Handmade Watercolors

With all of the daily activities of running your business it can be difficult at times to relax, decompress and enjoy life. Some people will find their escape in cooking, walking, yoga, reading a good book …really the list can go on and on because we each enjoy different forms of relaxation.

Back in my mid-to late twenties, I was working at an advertising/public relations agency and putting in an average of 50-60 hour work weeks. I was not married, no children and my career was my life, but one thing was missing: a time where I pampered myself, doing something that I enjoyed. As a birthday gift, my parents surprised me with a watercolor class at our local art center. I had always dabbled in watercolors while in college but never anything like formal training.

So I was rather quite excited to take the class, although I must admit, at first, it seemed a little odd to be leaving work at 6 p.m. to go take a watercolor class, when I was so much in the habit of working late or taking work home to do. But as the weeks went on, I was looking forward to Tuesday evenings; it became something that allowed me to clear my mind, create and most of all, to just have fun! From that first class, I think it was one of the best things that I did for myself. It allowed me to refocus and really create the work + life = balance perspective.

Today, one of my most favorite forms of relaxation is doing art/craft projects with my daughters. It is so much fun creating, sharing, working together, learning and designing all in one project! Back in October we enjoyed making handmade chalk that was featured on OMHG. To this day, we are still saving our paper towel rolls to make more chalk for this spring/summer. So this week, we decided to make handmade watercolors. I must say the colors were brilliant, in fact my daughters named our watercolors (1) Ocean Blue, (2) Lady Bug Red, (3) Sunny Yellow, and (4) Grassy Green. We wanted to share with you our recipe of fun!

Instructions

First, mix the baking soda, corn starch and light corn syrup together in a mixing bowl. Then mix in the white vinegar into your mixing bowl. You can divide this mixture into different containers and then add your food coloring for each color we placed 10-13 drops OR drop in your food coloring into the mixing bowl to make a large batch of one color.

We made four batches of the above recipe, pouring each into a separate container to dry.

We used the lids from our Melissa & Doug painting containers, but you could also use any container lid, small ramekin, and egg carton. It takes roughly 24 hours for the watercolors to dry, but the thicker the depth of the watercolor, the longer it will take.

Although the colors were vibrant when first poured into the containers, they became more muted as they dried, and when we painted with them, the colors painted on to the paper nicely, but became lighter as they dried.  If you want brighter colors, add a few more drops of food coloring. The paint will also have a little bit of texture to it, as baking soda is an ingredient.

An unexpected bonus of mixing up the paints was a little science lesson for my daughters.  When mixing up the ingredients, I recommend using a slightly larger bowl than seems necessary so the kids can better enjoy the “science” volcano that slowly erupts as a result of mixing the vinegar into the baking soda mixture!

Here are a few helpful watercoloring tips that stuck with me from watercolor class that I thought you might enjoy:

• Paint the lighter watercolor tones first then add the dark tones.
• Use facial tissues or kitchen paper towels rather than toilet paper for dabbing off color and cleaning palettes. Toilet paper will partially dissolve into your paint leaving you with lumpy paint.
• Have your paper fastened to a board or table so that it does not move or allow the paint to run if it is bumped.

 

ORIGINAL SOURCE

Tutorial: Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

Tutorial: Homemade Sidewalk Chalk

One of our favorite outside activities at our home is drawing with chalk on the driveway. You can play hopscotch, four-square, and of course draw and create silly stories. My daughters and I were talking one day as we played hopscotch about how to make chalk and I thought to myself, let’s try it!  It ended up being quite a lot of fun.

What you will need:
•    Toilet paper or paper towel tubes
•    Scissors
•    Duct tape
•    Wax paper
•    Small bucket or disposable container to make the recipe
•    ¾ cup of warm water
•    1 ½ cups Plaster of Paris
•    2-3 tablespoons of tempera paint
•    Paper bag or a “mess mat”

** we made six tubes of chalk – we simply doubled the above recipe.**

Step 1: If you are using paper towel tubes, cut each tube in half, so it is roughly the length of a toilet paper roll tube.

Step 2: Cover one end of each tube with duct table to hold the contents within. 

Step 3: Cut as many pieces of wax paper as you have tubes. Roughly 6 inches X 6 inches. Roll the wax paper loosely and insert into the tubes so as to effectively line the tubes. The top of the wax paper will be higher than the tubes. The wax paper liner will keep the chalk mixture from sticking to the cardboard tubes and will eventually be peeled off.

Step 4: Pour the warm water into your bucket. Sprinkle the Plaster of Paris over the water and stir the mixture with a plastic spoon. The Plaster of Paris roughly starts hardening within 20-30 minutes, so you need to work fast so that it does not harden too quickly. 

Step 5: Next you will want to pour the tempera paint into the Plaster of Paris mixture and stir so that it is mixed thoroughly. If you would like brighter colors  add more tempera paint into the mixture. We wanted to make a variety of colors of chalk, so we spooned about 1/2-3/4 cup of Plaster of Paris in each separate container and mixed in the different tempera paint colors into each bowl. We ended up making six different colors and next time might mix more.

Step 6: Stand each tube with the tape side down on a cookie sheet/flat baking dish/box lid to make the project easier to transport to a drying location.  Pour or spoon the colored Plaster of Paris mixture into the wax paper lined tubes. Lightly tap the sides of the tubes to release the air bubbles (so you do not have holes in your chalk). After you have poured the mixture into the tubes start another color. When done trim the excess wax paper so that it is closer to the cardboard tube. 

Step 7: It took 3 days for our chalk to dry. On the last day, we peeled off the duct tape so that the underside could dry. When the chalk dries, peel off the paper tubes and wax paper. Your chalk is ready!

 

Original Source

Things You Didnt Know About Sleep

 

 

source

Pacquiao-vs-Mosley-Live-Stream -

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http://www.yeheytv.info/video/21581/Pacquiao-vs-Mosley-Live-Stream

Moses Goes Cyber - Google Exodus

I was looking for Pacquiao - Mosley streaming. Instead, i found this funny video.

Bin Laden Dead, President Obama Says

 

 

WASHINGTON — Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the most devastating attack on American soil in modern times and the most hunted man in the world, was killed in a firefight with United States forces in Pakistan on Sunday, President Obama announced.

Related

• Obama’s Remarks on bin Laden’s Killing (May 2, 2011)

• Obituary: The Most Wanted Face of Terrorism (May 2, 2011)

• Times Topic: Osama bin Laden

• The Lede Blog: Live Video of President Obama's Address (May 1, 2011)

• The Caucus: After Killing of bin Laden, Official Reaction Pours In (May 2, 2011)

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Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in an undated photo.

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The New York Times

 

In a dramatic late-night appearance in the East Room of the White House, Mr. Obama declared that “justice has been done” as he disclosed that American military and C.I.A. operatives had finally cornered Mr. bin Laden, the Al Qaeda leader who had eluded them for nearly a decade, and shot him to death at a compound in Pakistan.

“For over two decades, bin Laden has been Al Qaeda’s leader and symbol,” the president said in a statement carried on television around the world. “The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat Al Qaeda. But his death does not mark the end of our effort.” He added, “We must and we will remain vigilant at home and abroad.”

The death of Mr. bin Laden is a defining moment in the American-led war on terrorism. What remains to be seen is whether the death of the leader of Al Qaeda galvanizes his followers by turning him into a martyr, or whether it serves as a turning of the page in the war in Afghanistan and gives further impetus to the Obama administration to bring American troops home.

The death of Mr. bin Laden came nearly 10 years after Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked three American passenger jets and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon outside Washington. A fourth hijacked jet crashed into countryside of Pennsylvania. Late Sunday night, as the president was speaking, cheering crowds gathered outside the gates of the White House shortly before midnight as word of Mr. bin Laden’s death began trickling out, waving American flags, shouting in happiness and chanting “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” In New York City, crowds sang the Star-Spangled Banner.

“This is important news for us, and for the world,” said Gordon Felt, president of the Families of Flight 93, the airliner that crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside after passengers fought with hijackers. “It cannot ease our pain, or bring back our loved ones. It does bring a measure of comfort that the mastermind of the September 11th tragedy and the face of global terror can no longer spread his evil.”

Mr. bin Laden escaped from American troops in the mountains of Tora Bora, Afghanistan, in 2001 and, although he was widely believed to be in Pakistan, American intelligence had largely lost his trail for most of the years that followed. They picked up a fresh trail last August. Mr. Obama said in his national address Sunday night that it had taken months to firm up that information and that last week he had determined it was clear enough to authorize a secret operation in Pakistan.

The forces attacked the compound in what Mr. Obama called a “targeted operation” that left Mr. bin Laden dead. “No Americans were harmed,” Mr. Obama said. “They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.”

President Obama noted that the operation that had killed Mr. bin Laden was carried out with the cooperation of Pakistani officials, but a senior American official said Pakistani officials had not been informed of the operation in advance. The fact that Mr. bin Laden was killed deep inside Pakistan was bound once again to raise questions about just how much Pakistan is willing to work with the United States, since Pakistani officials denied for years that Mr. bin Laden was in their country. More surprising still was the fact that he was killed not far from the Pakistani capital, rather than in the remote tribal areas where he had long been rumored to have taken refuge.

The capture of Mr. bin Laden comes as relations between the United States and Pakistan have fallen to their lowest point in memory as differences over how to fight Al Qaeda-linked militants became clearer.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, publicly criticized the Pakistani military two weeks ago for failing to act against extremists allied to Al Qaeda who shelter in the Pakistani tribal areas of North Waziristan.

The United States has supported the Pakistani military with nearly $20 billion since Sept. 11 for counter-terrorism campaigns, but American officials have complained that the Pakistanis were unable to quell the militancy.

Last week, the head of the Pakistani army, Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, said that Pakistan had broken the back of terrorism in Pakistan, a statement that was received with high skepticism by American officials.

The president also made clear in his remarks at the White House on Sunday evening that the United States still faces significant national security threats.

“His death does not mark the end of our effort,” Mr. Obama said. “There’s no doubt that Al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must and we will remain vigilant at home and abroad.”

 

Original Source