As a logophile, I’m trying to find just the right word to describe Joel.  Amazing.  Talented.  Incredible.  Brilliant.  Artistic.  Remarkable.  Astounding.  Creative.  Marvelous.  Clever.  Gifted.  Did I mention incredible?

You get the idea.

It seems that he gets an idea and it flows smoothly from the synapses firing in his little gray cells down to his fingers and voilá!  He has  a complete, cute, and fun project.  (At least that how his creative process seems to be from my point of view . . . No stress or ‘all thumbs’ like me!)

I love this paper city that he has created.  He has a template that you can download – and color.  This would be a great activity to do with grandchildren.  You might want to use some watercolor pencils for older grandchildren to give them a little bit of experience in ‘doing’ a watercolor picture with a pencil instead of a paintbrush and paint.

If you like his paper city, you might also like these:

Cowboy Cutouts
May Day Flower Basket
Walnut Boats
Slithering Friend
Yo-Yo Ball

Now I must warn you.  You can spend lots of time browsing his site because he has such great ideas — and because the pictures of his children are absolutely adorable.

In an e-mail to me, Joel mentioned that he has lots of special memories of doing crafts with his grandmothers.  So, you can see just how important these activities are in strengthening your relationship with grandchildren!  I hope you can use some of his ideas with your grandchildren.

Thanks, Joel, for sharing your creativity with others (and for allowing me to use a photo of your paper city)!  The world is a better place because of you!

Dear Readers, I hope that you have fun making a paper city with your grandchildren!

Remember the photo booths where you could sit inside a curtained-off booth and for 25 cents have a black-and-white picture taken?  Those were the good ol’ days.  You hardly see those booths any more.  They’ve almost gone the way of the dinosaur and pay telephone booths.  Which is too bad.  Those photo booths were great (and cheap) fun.

My son and daughter-in-law participated in a fun modern-day photo booth photo shoot.  While those participants were adults (except for one two-year-old), they all had fun.  Which made me think about doing something similar with grandchildren.  I think this would be a hoot to do with almost any age grandchildren — but especially grandchildren who are willing to let loose and be silly.  (And, Grandma, you need to let down your hair and be silly, too!)

All you need to do is find a spot in your home where you can set up a photo booth.  Maybe a hallway.  Maybe just the family room where you’ve moved a piece or two of furniture out of the way.

Hang a colorful bed sheet or piece of fabric for your background.  Gather some lamps to make sure you have ample lighting.  Round up (or make) props.  Have a stool or two for your subjects to sit on.  Grab your digital camera and get ready for some action.

Do single portraits.  Do pairs.  Do groups.  Have serious shots.  Goofy ones.  Let your grandchildren take turns being the photographer.  Snap.  Snap.  Snap.

When interest flags, head to your printer to print up your grandchildren’s favorite pictures.  Or, you can post the pictures on your blog.  Your grandchildren can post them on their blog.  You can send copies in a family e-newsletter.    Whatever.

Here’s a couple of pictures to give you an idea.

I love breads, rolls, cinnamon rolls, orange rolls, raspberry rolls. BREAD!  Gimme carbs any day over chocolate.

I saw these Orange Knot Rolls on Grandma Lizzie’s site. I just had to make them.  Had to.

We had some of our children and grandchildren over for Sunday dinner and so I made the rolls.  They turned out beautiful and tasted absolutely divine.  (I just ate two of them.  TWO!!  I had to eat two so that there were enough calories for each of my hips . . .)

These are so easy to make, they would be a great for grandchildren to cut their bread making teeth on this recipe.  I recommend that you thaw the rolls before your grandchildren come over for their baking lesson.

Orange Knots

12 Rhodes Dinner Rolls, thawed but cold

1 medium orange rind, grated
½ cup sugar
¼ cup butter, melted

Citrus Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon butter melted
3 tablespoons orange juice
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix grated orange rind with sugar. Roll each roll into a 9-inch rope. Tie in a loose knot. Roll each knot in melted butter and then in rind/sugar mixture. Place on a large sprayed baking sheet. Cover with sprayed plastic wrap and let double in size. Remove wrap.

Bake at 350° F 15-20 minutes. Remove from pan and place on cooling rack. Brush with citrus glaze while still warm.

This recipe was for 12 rolls.  However, I was able to make 24 rolls with the sugar mixture and the citrus glaze.

While you are waiting for the rolls to raise, make sure you do something fun with your grandchildren.  These rolls can be your ‘treat’ after your activity. Or, you can serve them for a special meal that you make together.  Because these rolls are so easy to make, your grandchildren will feel very successful when their beautiful rolls come out of the oven.

Happy baking!

Our grandson recently had his two-year-old birthday party.

(Recently?  Really now.  You call a month-and-a-half-ago recent?)

My creative daughter-in-law had a fish themed party for our grandson.  Way cute!  One of the activities was a variation on a white elephant game.  Her activity had a scratch-off card so we could see which fish we were assigned for the game.

Since she used this scratch off idea and since I had read earlier about it (and since I need an idea to write about here), I thought I would share the idea with you.

The basic idea is to print your ‘ticket’ up, cover it with clear contact paper, and paint over it with a special paint solution.  Ticket holders can then scratch off the paint to discover what they ‘won.’

Here’s the recipe for the paint solution:  2 tablespoons of acrylic paint and 1 tablespoon of dish washing liquid.  Mix well.

You might need to paint a second coat if you can see through the first coat of paint.  Be careful not to get it too thick or it will be difficult to scrape off.

Here are some folks who have created great tutorials on making scratch off items:

• Scratch and Win Valentine from Family Fun
• DIY Scratch Off Lottery Ticket Valentines
• How To Make A Scratch and Win Lottery Ticket

Even though two of these ideas are based around Valentine’s Day, all of you creative grandmothers can think of TONS of ways that you could use this scratch and sniff thingy. It would be fun for older grandchildren to make them for an activity with the younger grandchildren.

Other ways to use the scratch off idea:

• For other holidays (like a message from the George Washington on President’s Day, the Easter Bunny, the Great Pumpkin, or Santa Claus)
• On a birthday card or letter (especially to a far away grandchild)
• With a secret message for a mission impossible day with grandma
• On a treasure hunt
• For a going back to school party
• For a getting out of school party
• On a scavenger hunt
• With a game-o-round activity
• For family reunion games

Have any of you used the scratch off idea before?  I’d love to have you comment and share your experience.  Or, if this has sparked any new ideas of how to use a scratch and win activity, it would be great to hear your ideas.