Star Wars Crafting

My boys love Star Wars, this is common knowledge.  I realized that I hadn't posted some of the fun things Mike and I have created for our Star Wars loving boys, so I'm documenting them now.

I had pinned these Star Wars peg dolls a long time ago, and decided they would make a great Christmas present for our Mr.'s.  I can't take any credit for how amazing they turned out, since all I did was buy the supplies and show Mike the pin.  He painted them all.  Didn't they turn out awesome?  I love all the details.  I found the metal lunch boxes at Old Navy and knew that they would make the perfect home for these tiny characters.

When I saw this Star Wars print at JoAnns, I knew I needed to make something for my boys, but couldn't decide what.  Then I remembered this tutorial for pillowcases, found a great geometric print that coordinated with the Star Wars print, and made pillowcases for the boys.  They were so excited about them.

Using this font as a template, I also embroidered their names on the sides, "Star Wars-style" with a deep red embroidery floss.  I love the way they turned out.

Here's a close-up of the lettering.

A few weeks ago, my brother Seth gave the boys this Star Wars cookie cutter set.  The boys were so very excited to make Death Star and X-Wing cookies.  In fact, the morning after they opened them, I am pretty sure the first words out of Mr. Three's mouth were, "I'm dressed!  Can we make Star Wars cookies now?"

 

We used this recipe to make the cookies and left them unfrosted.  They were delicious.  The boys liked eating them as much as playing with them.

Want more?  Here's my Star Wars Crafting pin board for inspiration.  May the Force be with you... 

End of the Year Goals, Celebrating Star Wars-Style

 

 

Mr. One is a reading machine.  He has his face buried in a book at least half of the day.  I have even threatened to take his books away as punishment because he gets so distracted when he has something new to read.  Loving to read is not his problem, but having him remember to take his AR tests in class (this is a reading comprehension program that the school uses) to meet his goals has been a challenge.  Until we realized how badly he wanted to watch the Star Wars movies. 

Our agreement was that for each quarter of the school year that he met or exceeded his point goal, he could watch an episode of Star Wars.  He very quickly started to meet his AR goals, and ended up having the most AR points in his class!  He finished the year with 78 AR points. 

Since the original movies are a trilogy, we weren't sure what to do about the final quarter of school.  Eventually we decided that, even if Mike and I aren't really fond of The Phantom Menace, Episode 1, the boys would like it.  Mr. One met his goal and we watched Episode 1 on Saturday. 

Mr. One and Mr. Two have been anticipating our movie night for weeks.  In school, Mr. Two has been making paper "tickets" to use for the movie.  I have found lots and lots of little colorful squares of paper, cut with decorative edge scissors in his shorts pockets (and in the dryer ;)).

 Mr. One and Mr. Two spent a good chunk of the day making bags for collecting tickets and signs for the movie, that they cheerfully taped around the living room.  So, after dinner and showers/baths, we got ready for movie night.  I popped some popcorn using the paper bag trick (Awesome! just put 1/4 cup popcorn kernels in a brown paper bag, fold down top and secure with a piece of tape, then set your microwave like you would for regular microwave popcorn.), burned and tossed the first few bags (still haven't gotten the hang of the new microwave), finally got it right, then sprinkled generously with salt and melted butter.  Along with the popcorn, we let everyone pick out a few movie sweets, then snuggled onto the couch to watch Star Wars together. 

(In case you can't read this, the brown bags say, "ticket collector" and "money collector".)

The boys loved every minute.  Even better, Mr. Three fell asleep before the scary fight scenes started.  I may have taken a little nap while the movie was playing, too.  I was a little sad that I missed the ET's cameo.  It was a fun way to celebrate Mr. One's hard work this year.

Ice Cream Dough

This summer, I have a plan:  work first, then play.  Simple enough, right?  We are going to do chores together and some "homework" first, then we will play.  I am going to try to do at least one fun activity with my kids each day, a simple science experiment, a game, an outing, so forth.  Nothing elaborate or overwhelming.  I want my kids to enjoy this break we have together, but I don't want to be stressed about making everything a big production.  They help me around the house, then I have
more time to set up some extra activities.  Sounds good.   Hopefully it will work.

Friday was the first day of summer for us.  We woke up and pulled weeds (well, I did most of the pulling, but I intended on the boys helping...).

 In the afternoon, we made ice cream dough to play with (1 1/2 cups cornstarch and 3/4 cups hair conditioner).  I used a strawberry conditioner and some red food coloring for strawberry ice cream, put some bead "sprinkles" in a cup, and pulled out an ice cream play set I found at Ikea.

 The three oldest Mr.'s enjoyed taking imaginary ice cream orders and molding the dough into the cones and cups.

(Mr. Four entertained himself with empty backpacks.)

I loved watching them at their imaginary play, and joined in the fun a bit.  This dough is really fun to play with, messy but fun.  As I was taking some pictures, Mr. One tells me, "Mom, come take a picture of this."

I look over at his creation, a bit puzzled.  He then explains, "Look, it's Darth Ice Cream!"

And Star Wars takes over again.  Sigh.

Star Wars Day

Saturday was Star Wars Day, you know, "May the fourth be with you"...

My boys woke up at the crack of dawn.  Literally.  They were that excited.

They put on their Star Wars tees and wanted to bust out the Legos as soon as possible, creating their own Star Wars worlds all over the dining room table.

They reluctantly paused and cleaned up to eat breakfast.  Luckily it was a breakfast served with whipped cream, so the complaining was kept at a minimum.

They also had a blast playing Lego Star Wars on the wii and other games on the Lego website.  In fact, they would have been happy playing all day if we had let them.  However, we had Mr. One's soccer game to attend and some errands to run.  No worries, because I was armed with Star Wars fruit snacks for the boys to enjoy at the game.  I think Mr. Three spent more time studying the box than watching his brother play soccer.

I also set up a little scavenger hunt for the boys in the afternoon to break up the game playing.  I found the general idea here and decided I could easily adapt it to fit our Star Wars theme.  They donned their Star Wars gear, and I hid Mr. Three's toys, along with clues around the house.  Ending the hunt, they were lead outside to free Han Solo from his carbonite prison.  (The carbonite was baking soda and colored water, molded around a Han Solo action figure and left to dry out overnight.)  I was hoping the carbonite would end up with a grayer hue, but I guess I was a bit heavy-handed on the green food coloring.  They gleefully trapped Darth Vader in a plastic container and used their light sabers (medicine syringes filled with vinegar), to free Han, giggling at the foaming reaction as they worked.  They loved this and asked if we could do it again, but, could we please freeze Darth instead of the hero next time.

To reward their hard work, we gave them light sabers (glow sticks) and Darth Vader candy filled eggs (thank you to a great friend for finding those for us). 

We giggled as we watched some funny Star Wars related videos (thanks to a fun auntie for finding them).

They went to bed humming "Luke's Theme" and the "Imperial March", dreaming of Tie Fighters and X-Wings, using the Force and destroying the Death Star.

In truth, the boys had so much interest invested in this holiday of sorts, that they would have considered it a good day without Mike or I doing anything but playing along.  But, with a little extra effort and a pinch of planning, we really made it a special day.  And so often, it is the little things that make all the difference.

May the Forth Be With You...

In case you were wondering, today is Star Wars day.  

You know, May the Fourth be with you...

We have plans, oh yes, we have plans.  

My two oldest are plotting big things, and when we asked them what they wanted to do, they just said to wait and see how it unfolds.  

Oh boy!  

If you need a little crafty inspiration, check out my Star Wars Pinterest board.  (I can't believe I even have this...)  

Here's a little teaser of what we may be using on this most exciting day.

Oh, and on an unrelated note, strawberries, whipped cream and overnight french toast is an awesome breakfast!  

 

 

My favorite recipe for Creme Brulee French toast here or a lighter version, which is still good, Carmel French Toast here.