The Dilemma of Race

 Unless you live under a rock, you know the social issues of race, racial profiling, and the fact that the US isn't as far along in racial equality as most white people think is every where now.
The terrible  shooting of Trayvon Martin, horrible responses to Rue in Hunger Games being portrayed by an African-American actress, and other random things in the news are just the tip of the iceberg.
  All this got me thinking about The Peanut and making sure she's raised to understand no one is better than anyone because of their race. It is even more important to me since we moved to our new place and she has made new friends that aren't the same color as her. To her beautiful 4 year old mind, there is no race. It just happens that a few of her little friends have different color skin.  In fact a conversation about this went as follows:
The Peanut: My friend [name] is brownish.
Me: Yup.
The Peanut: My skin is pinkish
Me: Yup.
The Peanut: I feel treatish. Can I have something yummy?

 This filled me with joy. Then I started thinking. Right now, she doesn't care. I think we're raising a loving little girl that sees past color. But that's the problem. I assume. And that is my dilemma. How do I make sure she understands that there are people in this world that judge someone just because they have dark skin? How do I explain slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, the KKK? How do I tell her that some people are cruel and say horrible things about some of her friends?

  Then I decided, I will just do my best and use every learning opportunity to make sure she understands the best that she can.

In Which I Use a Glue Gun and Only Burn Myself Four Times

  It's been quiet at Singing Princess Astronaut. This SPA has been busy moving. The husband got a new job, moving us about 15ish minutes away. The new place is pretty effing awesome. 450 square feet bigger, recently beautifully remodeled. I'm quite excited and am loving it. The packing and unpacking was a PITA, but oh well.

  Anyhoo. Glue gun. Fuck you, glue gun. I finally did the Valentine's Day project I've said I was going to do for the last 4 years.  With much adult supervision, Peanut made Valentine's Day picture frames. With exception the 3 very minor burns and one slightly more painful burn (conveniently located on the tip of my index finger, making typing so much fun!)  it was an easy project.

  All we did was hot glue some conversation hearts (you know, the awesome heart shaped candies that taste just like heart burn medicine?) to a picture frame, coat with a bit of Modge Podge, add some glitter and Ta Da! Pretty Valentine's gifts for the family!

Not pictured, my burnt finger

Stuff!  

Ta Da! 

Glitter makes it awesomer!

                   

Another Proud Geek Parent Moment.

Today while out and about with The Peanut, she yelled out, "Momma! Look the TARDIS!"
I asked, "Really? Where?"
"Over there! OK, it's not really the TARDIS. It's one of those moving bathroom things. I'm going to pretend it's the TARDIS."

My Christmas present finally arrived. 

It's OK to be a Girl.

 My Peanut has spent her day in touch with her girly side.  Last night she did her first project with her new sewing machine. Today she has watched Strawberry Shortcake, played with her Tinkerbell sticker book, and colored pretty pictures. All while wearing a cute skirt and top.  I made a comment to my husband that Peanut was being girly. He said, "There's nothing wrong with that"
  He's quite right. There isn't a thing wrong with being a girl. There's no reason to not like pink and lace and playing with dolls.  I socialize in many circles where being a girly girl is looked down upon. Like a girl or lady couldn't possibly be for equal gender rights if she likes to get her nails done and buy tons of shoes.
  I can't think of a single thing wrong with a woman CEO that likes to shop for adorable outfits or the gamer girl that collects Hello Kitty and only plays pixie healers cuz it's just cute!
  Personally, pink isn't for me. I rarely like sappy romantic movies, can't stand "Sex in the City" and have mild panic attacks if I spend too much time in the American Girl store. But I looooove shoes. I enjoy getting dressed up and looking cute on occasion.
  So I say, Ladies, go out and look adorable. Let your daughter play with a Barbie and pink Legos. Just don't forget to make sure your little girl knows she can do what ever she wants!

Here's The Peanut with the pillow she made! She insisted her new battle ax be part of the photo. 

Faux Painted Portraits

  A couple posts back I blogged about a cute idea I saw to print a photo onto tissue paper, then Modge Podge that onto a canvas.  To make sure I give credit where it is due, here is the link to the blog
Sarah's Never_Ending Projects

  So, I decided to try it. First there was the paper jam, then the ripping, then smudging. For the safety of our printer, I decided to regroup and try something new. My genius idea was tracing paper. It worked! The only "issue" was the tracing paper was too wide to fit through the printer, so I trimmed it down.

 

The supplies. I didn't realize our printer was running out of colored ink, so it printed the photo with a green tint. I decided to go with it. 

The Peanut helped me spread a nice, even layer of Modge Podge. 

Not going to lie, getting the paper to lay smooth is not easy. 

Then I added a very thin layer of the Podge over the photo.  I decide the wrinkles in the photo make it look more like a real painting. 

And on the wall. The canvas is 5x5. I decide I'm going to make up a couple more and create a little wall mural thingie. 

Cute Idea

  A couple days ago, I found a great blog with tons of cute projects. One was to print a photo onto tissue paper, then Modge Podge the photo onto a canvas. I didn't have a tissue or a canvas lying around. I do have a couple sheets of vellum paper. So I printed a black and white photo of The Peanut on a sheet of vellum. It turned out pretty neat.

I held the photo up to the sunlight so you can see how light shines through. I'm going to play around with this for a bit. I'm thinking maybe Modge Podge a photo onto a glass jar and put something pretty inside or a small strand of Christmas lights.