It's a stake up!!!

Kids adore gardening. They love to plant seeds, they love to wear garden gloves, and they really love garden tools!! So if you are planning a garden make a point to get the grandkids involved.

I will tell you this (from personal experience)....depending on the age of the kid, planting seeds can take a really, really long time. Patience Rowdy Grandma, patience!! If you plant seeds you probably need plant markers...I have a tough time remembering what we planted where...the older I get the tougher it gets!!

Here's one stuck next to some dill and cilantro...we call him Herb!!!

The rowdies and I have come up with a great little craft to do in the spring when we plant our garden.

Rosemary smells heavenly!!

Plant markers from old scrap wood. The only other thing you need for this project is paint. The markers we have made are from six inches to a couple of feet in height. If you make them small in height they are really cute in potted plants.

This is another craft where imagination is key. The stakes may be painted only in bright colors with the name of the plant on it, or they may like the idea of painting their own plant on the stake. Kids love painting faces so they may want to paint a person or their own face on the plant marker.

People plant marker!!

Another cool idea for these sticks is to paint the face and name of everyone in the family...grandma, grandpa, mom and dad and kids and place them all together in the garden to create a family tree.

Lyndsey's people plant marker!!!

It is a good idea to spray them with an acrylic sealer when dry, they last longer in the garden.

As an alternative to scrap wood you could also purchase a strip of molding or other type of wood from the hardware store and cut it into strips.

After they are painted try wrapping them with wire and adding beads and other trinkets.

These have been in my garden for years!!!

"Make my Day"

Random acts of kindness....what a cool concept!!

As a Rowdy Grandma I introduced the grandkids to a project which allows them to pass on a little kindness. I call it "make my day", (I always had a thing for Clint Eastwood).....anyway it relates to an article I read a few years ago about a movement called Found Art.

The idea is to create small works of art and leave them in public places in the hopes when found by a stranger it will "make their day".

simple materials

One of the easiest projects we do for "make my day" is also a recycle project. It is simple, simple, simple...all you need is a brown paper bag, a glue stick and an old magazine. You don't even have to have scissors. I love the effect of tearing my bag, as well as the images I tear out of the magazines. Most kids will like the idea of tearing the materials...but there will be a few who really prefer scissors...either something in their little minds just can't handle the randomness of tearing or they like tools!!!

You simply tear the bag into strips the size of a bookmark and find wonderful, colorful pictures from magazines to glue to the paper bag bookmark. Look for fun, inspirational words to tear out and add to the bookmark. If you use white school glue to glue on your pictures you may also add an overcoat of the glue to the finished bookmark, much like decoupage.

paper bag strips

The grandkids and I have added all kinds of extras, such as stamping and embossing powders...but even if you don't have a lot of crafting materials in the house you are able to come up with the simple items for this project. Using pens or crayolas to write words such as "have a nice day" is another option , if the rowdies aren't old enough to write words they may want to use the pens and crayolas for designs...aka scribbles. Construction paper is a nice addition if you want to frame the pictures on the bookmark.

First bookmark has a coat of white glue, the last bookmark has black construction paper.

This is another good project for getting the rowdies to brainstorm. Ask them where they would like to leave their art. A supermarket shelf, a library table.....they will be delighted to help think up their special drop-off spots!! Plan a field trip and take them to the areas they want to visit with their art, it is also kind of a secret spy feeling ...leaving your art piece without being noticed.....plus you giggle a lot.

Another option is to leave a note on the back explaining this is "make my day" art and if you find it please let us know. You can set up an email address just for the purpose of "make my day" responses.

Please let me know what projects you come up with for "make my day " art, I would love to post them.

A walk in the woods.

I visited the rowdies in Arkansas this past week. They have recently moved into a wonderful home near Cabot, Arkansas. To my delight it was full of wooded areas with ponds and creeks; even an old delapidated house where I was able to collect some rusty metal and bottle caps, broken glass jars and strange nests left by who knows what kind of insect, I guess it is a dirt dobber!! Wonderful material for my next mixed-media project.

update...ain't google wonderful...my dear spouse just told me these are pipe organ mud dauber wasps!!

Paula, my oldest was in the play, Steel Magnolias, at the local dinner theater...by the way she was fabulous!! It was a little snowy and cold so I was only able to take one good walk through the woods but it too was fabulous. Woods and creeks are my favorite types of walks, I love the feeling of being deep in the woods and listening to the sound of the water......Sarah was good company and a good tour guide...thank you Sarah!!



Oh...and who remembers Dearborn heaters, this was in the old house...I actually caught my housecoat on fire when I was a kid by standing too close to one of these!!!

"Go outside and play"

"Teaching children about the natural world should be treated as one of the most important events in their lives."......Thomas Berry

A swallowtail butterfly I raised from a pupa.

While I enjoy crafting in the studio with the grandkids I also make sure we spend time together outdoors. Funny thing is not all my grandchildren like spending time outdoors.

With all the computers, video games and the urbanization of our communities there is a new term being coined, "nature deficit disorder." A wonderful book about this trend was written by Richard Louv, it is titled Last Child in the Woods.

Most of us Rowdy Grandmas grew up at a time when we either lived on farms or in wide-open spaces or one our relatives did.....so we had plenty of exposure to tree climbing .....and idle time to spend in our clubhouses nestled deep in the vines and bramble bushes in the woods near our homes.

The natural world has a spiritual, calming effect on us. We need to feel the solitude, the wonder and the sun on our faces. But, think about it, constant contact and interaction is available to our grandkids.....can they stop texting long enough to look up at the clouds???......long enough to look out the car window???

I am a grandma so I accept the moniker "old fogey" gladly when I ask the kids to put their Wii, their cellphone, or their ipod down long enough to go outside with me to the creek behind our house and search for minnows, tadpoles and frogs.

No, this is not my creek...just a very peaceful picture.

Look at your own time spent with the rowdies and find ways to incorporate time outdoors....even if you have to yell..."go outside and play."

Jeepers Creepers where'd you get those eyes???

One of the reasons my grandkids love the studio is because it is a happy place......in fact it's kind of a rule. When they get a little snippy with each other I remind them Rowdy Grandma's studio is for laughing, creating and acting silly ...there's no crying in crafting!!!

A very favorite way of keeping a cheerful mood is to play music, and it is usually the oldies. The perfect tune for the Jeepers Peepers project is Jeepers Creepers by the Mills Brothers....we love it!!!


Lyndsey enjoying the music, and of course kids are crazy for glasses so she is modeling a pair of funky specs!!

Instead of making a pin from an eyeglass lens how about turning it into a necklace. Follow the instructions for the pin, the only difference is instead of adding a pin back twist a piece of wire into a figure 8 and use your heavy glue to attach it to the felt. When wire piece is dry add a leather or satin cord large enough to slip over the rowdies head.


A thin rim of white glue was applied around the rim of these specs and then sprinkled with glitter....when dry a photocopied picture of a peacock feather was glued to the lens.


If the you or the kids don't have the patience to wait for the glue to dry you may add the image to wet glue and glitter. Faith put her image on when wet and it spread the glitter onto more of the pin. It's beautiful.



Crumbled tree bark glued aroung the rim....a 2 part resin was poured onto the lens and the tree bark frame.


The frames of these Jeepers Peepers were soldered.

Jeepers Creepers where'd you get those peepers???

Anyone remember that wonderful old song...Jeepers Creepers...for some reason it is one of those songs that has always stuck in my head. Kind of like Zippity-do-dah and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

When I wondered what the heck to do with all of the old eyeglasses grandpa and I seemed to be collecting, that song came to my mind…soooo of course that is what I call this project. Jeepers Peepers.



The eyeglass lens generally pops right out of the frame, which leaves you with a perfect little piece of glass which is all ready for decoupage.



Materials needed are:

Eyeglass lens
White glue
Strong glue, such as E2000
Magazine or wrapping paper
Pin back
Felt or acrylic paint ......and a little pair of hands!!!

A lens is a very small area so when you sit down to look through the magazine for images, or select a wrapping paper, be sure and remind the kids to look at how tiny an area they will be working on ….small images may be faces, pictures of toys, flowers or animals. When they find the perfect image cut it a little larger than the lens so it is less difficult for small hands to work with.



For this project the glue is easier to work with if you pour a small amount into a jar lid and use a paintbrush to apply the glue to the back of the lens. Once the lens is covered with glue place the part of the image that will show through the glass onto the glued area and press out air bubbles. Then apply a layer of glue,with a paintbrush or a finger, to the back of the image and let dry approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour.


Once dry, trim the excess paper around the lens with a small pair of scissors. At this step you may simply paint the back with acrylic paint and let dry. The rowdies and I like to use felt. Lay the tiny masterpiece down on the felt and use a sharpie or a piece of chalk to draw an outline,cut this shape out of the felt.


Test it to see how close you came, you may want to trim it a little before you glue the felt to the back, or wait til it is dry and trim.



Spread a small amount of strong glue on top of the entire paper backing, press the felt firmly onto the glue. This stage will probably take a few hours to dry. At this point you may glue your pin back to the felt, again using the strong glue, or you may prefer to glue the pin back on after the felt layer has dried. Note: for the buffalo pin we tried slitting holes in the felt and inserting the pin back through it, we then glued the felt and pin back on at the same time. This method hides and secures the pin back, but is more difficult to operate the pin closure.




If you chose to paint the back apply the pin back with strong glue once the paint is dry. Helpful hint: place the pin back high on the lens rather than in the middle so the pin will not sag when worn.


I have made many different styles of these pins. When crafting with the grandkids this is a very simple way to make them. Sunday I will post a few additional ideas you may want to use for this project….I will also post some pictures of the Jeepers Peepers I have made.

Folksy !!!

Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting a great group of women, many of them grandmothers and some of them great-grandmothers. These ladies are members of the 20th Century Study Club in Justin, Texas.

I had been invited to their monthly meeting to share some of my pieces of American Folk Art, as well as some information about folk art styles. Wow, was I impressed when I learned this club has been in existence since 1938. This kind of group is what makes American communities so important, for over 70 years these ladies have gathered together to form friendships and to help strengthen their local community. There were some wonderful conversations concerning their own collections and remembrances of folk art that had been produced or collected in their own families. Thank you ladies!!

In an earlier post I suggested kids seem to be natural folk artists, they can turn just about anything into art if encouraged. I would also like to encourage our generation to think in that way. Folk art came about when “common folk” began to have access to mass produced goods. Instead of throwing things away they found a way to make use of them.

An old jar became decorative when it was covered with putty or clay and odd bits of beads, buttons and memorabilia were stuck to the sides.


Bottle caps became kitschy ashtrays when strung together with wire.


Fabric scraps from old clothing became a useful bed covering.


And, as we all know popsicle sticks can be anything!!!



In the next week I will share with you one of my favorite recycled projects. What do you do with old eyeglasses???...you turn them into Jeepers Peepers of course!!!