Life Posts

Boredom Busters

Although we are all inside, potentially anxiously awaiting a return to normal life, one of the coolest things that’s come from all of this has been the abundance of resources that are being offered to help alleviate stress and boredom.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, so please feel free to add your own in the comments. If the links don’t work, you should be able to copy and paste them. Please also comment back if you’ve tried any of them! Stay healthy!

Virtual Museum tours

https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour

http://www.openculture.com/2019/02/download-free-coloring-books-from-113-museums.html

https://artsandculture.google.com/partner?hl=en

https://www.moma.org/

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/photosmultimedia/virtualtours.htm

Kid Ideas

https://coolprogeny.com/2020/03/operation-storytime/

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-tools/articles/resources/scholastic-learn-at-home–free-resources-for-school-closures.html#

https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems/

https://adventuresinfamilyhood.com/20-virtual-field-trips-to-take-with-your-kids.html

https://storytimefromspace.com/

https://stories.audible.com/discovery

https://www.wfla.com/community/health/coronavirus/kids-stuck-at-home-should-go-on-these-virtual-disney-world-rides/

https://www.mkewithkids.com/post/here-are-two-weeks-worth-of-fun-and-easy-science-experiments

Music Resources

https://www.dso.org/ Opened their archives for free

https://www.npr.org/2020/03/17/816504058/a-list-of-live-virtual-concerts-to-watch-during-the-coronavirus-shutdown?utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=nprnews&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0IgP0yG6ZKr5HhAcUVSICc6DDNANQY7k9DLLN3LUcg03TsrDDDqF5GgbQ&fbclid=IwAR0Sogk4RPIFk5su_9JzhdPFwWSZ431tktAaVCTfCNK9qL4kQugr19bK4ts

Freegal- Music downloads through your library. Your library has to be in the program for you to participate.

Zoos and Aquariums

https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams

https://detroitzoo.org/otter-live-cam/. They also just added a penguin cam!!

https://www.georgiaaquarium.org/webcam/african-penguin-cam/

https://www.aqua.org/Experience/live#btr

Exercise Classses

https://ymca360.org/

https://www.dancingalonetogether.org/

https://youtu.be/b1H3xO3x_Js. Yoga with Adrienne is my favorite yoga practice on YouTube.

Youtube has Cosmic Kids Yoga, Zumba routines, and all sorts of other fitness classes.

Miscellaneous Ideas and Classes

https://www.177milkstreet.com/school/classes/online-classes/

https://accessmars.withgoogle.com/#

https://www.neilgaiman.com/Cool_Stuff

https://www.classcentral.com/collection/ivy-league-moocs This is a collection of free online courses from Ivy League schools.

https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/gardening/g31746949/gardens-you-can-virtually-tour/?utm_campaign=socialflowFBHBU&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social-media

Harry Potter virtual escape room! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSflNxNM0jzbZJjUqOcXkwhGTfii4CM_CA3kCxImbY8c3AABEA/viewform?fbclid=IwAR10iBRN3qfwd779mRqPvQcq2eaJErTczzMxuICYRBl5zRIepN-Kj4UTAYk

Blueprint is a craft and sewing class website that’s being offered for free for two months right now. It used to be Craftsy. I have found a bunch of free patterns on it previously, but have never tried a class.

Joann’s Fabrics has a deal with Creative Bug for some amount of time free. I have no idea if it’s good or not, as I haven’t tried it.

NASA shares their pictures publicly, so those are always fun to look at. I’ve used some of them for Wednesday pictures.

Libby/Overtime is a virtual library app. you will need a library card. (I may have already downloaded 4 books to read and put 4 others on a hold to read later.)

Crafty

Free Fabric (and Fancy’s reaction)!

I know, I know! I should be saying “no new fabric,” but our friend Katy came to stay with us for a few days with her dog Moose, and brought a whole lot of free fabric from the costume shop. How could I say no to that?!

We did make an agreement though. The fabric I won’t use, I can donate or get rid of. I have the same arrangement with my Mom when she gives me fabric and I’ve been pretty good about it. Katy wasn’t sure what was in the bags, so it was lots of fun to go through them and see what could be discovered.

This may have been Fancy’s reaction to seeing all the new fabric. I think she thought I was going to take over her toy closet.

Here are a few more pictures of some of the fun fabrics.

This is a cotton fabric. I’m thinking about making a bellydance hip wrap, as it is long and a little too narrow for bags.

Red sparkly bow ties. I believe these are hand sewn. The stitches are very neat and orderly. They are also a cotton material.

Stretchy fabrics! The polka dot one is a very odd shaped remnant and is a pretty thick poly material. The yellow poly is in two slightly bigger pieces and is thinner. I’m kind of fascinated with it, but have no idea what to make. It should be enough to cover a dance bra though and would be quite sparkly on stage.

Olive Green jersey. There isn’t a lot of this and it is bottom weight, or heavier, so I am going to try to make a pair of sleep shorts or a casual skirt. It feels nice and smooth. I forgot to take the pin out, so that’s not a hole.

Stretch poly. This is very thick and makes my texture issues go wild, so I may not keep it. There is a bunch of it though and it’s very shiny. I’ll see how I feel about it in a month or so.

There were a ton of other fabrics too, some lace pieces, a bunch of blue satiny stuff, and some solid color broadcloth. There was also a full bag of little scrap pieces of all kinds of material, which might come to the office with me to be part of my art kit.

Speaking of the office, I have discovered that the totes I bought to store things in were not quite all that I needed. I’m constantly switching what I put where depending on what I am using at the time. I had thought that I might need to make some containers and I was right. I need a pencil trays for colored pencils, a container or two for my loose games, and a big basket for my puppets that I just acquired.

I went looking for what might work the best and found a few tutorials. I think I’m going to go with the fabric trays, as being able to see what is in things would be good. I am going to use fabrics I’ve been saving, primarily in blues and browns to go with the color scheme, but a few flamingos might slip in there as well.

Here is the website I used, in case, you might find something useful as well. http://noodle-head.com/2011/10/fabric-tray-tutorial-2.html

If the trays work out, I may put some on Etsy. I want to diversify my bag options a little more. If not, all I will be out is some fabric. I’ve got all the materials already.

I have a vending event this week, which is a local one, so it should be good. We’re also picking up the cinder blocks for the garden, which should be exciting. . Then, this coming Sunday is the second to last day of my third job! I’m excited to focus on growing my caseload and more on Etsy and the blog.

Tomorrow I plan to make one of the trays with some octopus fabric and some fabric that looks like sand. I’m hoping it turns out as cute as I think it will. If I can get it done on time, maybe I will post a picture on Wednesday. For now though, I’ll go dream of new fabric ideas.