Copyright 2012, Beth Pomponio
Monthly Archives: March 2012
Marble Painting
I tried this craft with my 3 and 1 year old grandchildren. It was a hit! All the 1 year old could do is tip the pan, but that was enough for her to feel like she was doing the same thing her brother was. And you see the results come out great no matter what age child is doing the project.
You need several colors of paint, a marble for each color of paint, a small paper or plastic bowl for each color, white paper, and a flat bottom tray or bin. I used poster paint I bought at my craft store. A cookie baking sheet will work well. This can be a messy project, so protect the work area and put smocks on the kids. I kept moist wipes handy for cleaning the paint off our fingers after touching each paint filled marble.
Put a piece of paper in the bottom of your tray. Pour a small amount of paint into a bowl. This project doesn’t take much paint. Put a marble into 1 color of paint and roll it around so the marble is covered with the paint. Then, drop the marble onto the paper and tip the tray so the marble rolls around on the paper. Roll the marble until you like the results and then remove it from the tray. Repeat with the remaining colors using 1 marble per color paint. Mix and match the colors. You can roll 1 marble at a time or all of them at the same time. That’s the way my grandson liked to do it. Set the finished artwork on a flat surface to dry.
As you’ll see in the pictures, I used a dish pan because I thought the high sides would be better for keeping the marble contained if my grandchildren got carried away with their tipping and rolling. But, the bottom didn’t have a flat level surface, it bowed up. The paper wouldn’t lie flat and the marbles tended to go under the paper. So, try to use something with a flat bottom.
You can laminate a piece or 2 of the finished artwork and use them for placemats. Or cut them into strips for bookmarks. What a wonderful unique gift that would be for the readers in the family!
Have plenty of paper! The kids won’t want to stop making “modern” art!
Rolling the marble.
Finished masterpieces drying.
Even the pan was pretty!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Crafting With My Grandson
My grandson is 3 and he loves to color. So, I had him scribble all over a piece of white paper with green markers, crayons, and colored pencils. Then, I cut out shamrock shapes from his colored paper and outlined them with black marker. I glued these onto another piece of white paper. You can use heavy weight paper, color both sides and hang them from a mobile or in the window. They look a little like stained glass.
Beth’s Meatballs
I am going to share my famous meatball recipe. Usually, I just grab and throw the spices into the mix, but I am giving you some more precise measurements for the recipe. You can adjust the portions to your liking. All the spices are dried.
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon basil
1 Tablespoon oregano
1 Tablespoon dried minced onion
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon parsley
1 (23.9 oz.) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce. I like to use marinara
Mix all of the ingredients except the spaghetti sauce in a bowl. Cover the bottom of a 2 1/2 to 3 quart sauce pot with spaghetti sauce. Roll about 1 tablespoon of the meat mixture into balls about 1 1/2 inch in diameter and put the meatballs into the pot. Cover the meatballs with the remaining sauce. If the sauce is thick I put a little water in the jar, shake it up to get the remaining sauce in the jar, and pour it into the pot. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.
Serve with spaghetti or on rolls.
Makes about 18 meatballs.
Mix ground beef and spices.
Place meatballs in pot on layer of sauce.
Cover with remaining sauce and simmer.
Serve with pasta or on rolls.
Memory Wire Bracelet
Bracelets made from Memory Wire are the fastest way to make a piece of jewelry for any occasion. To make one, wrap several lengths of memory wire around your wrist until you have the amount of strands you like. Three or more give you a better look. Cut the wire about two inches longer than you want it. With round nose pliers, roll one end of the wire to form a loop. String the beads onto the wire. You can do random patterns or a planned pattern. You can use a mixture of shapes and sizes or use beads that are all the same. This is a great project to use up odd leftover beads. Once you’ve strung the beads to about an inch from the end, roll the second end into a loop. You are finished! If you don’t like the plain loops at the ends, add charms like the bracelet shown in the picture above.
Make loop on one end with round nose pliers.
String beads onto wire.
Close second end with another loop.
The finished bracelet. This took me less than a half hour.
This was done in a random pattern with leftover beads in pastel Spring colors.
Spring and Easter.
Made from packages of assorted beads.
I sometimes wear the blue and purple bracelets intertwined.
This one is made by cutting the memory wire into separate circles. Then they are joined by stringing on spacer bars.
I will do a tutorial on this in a future post.
Beads were added to the loops at the ends for a finished look.
