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Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Cherry Blossoms in the Snow

It is officially springtime now, and all around the internet people are celebrating the return of green and flowers and especially cherry blossoms.  I am struggling with having charitable feelings towards those people because here in the Midwest we have snow flurries and not cherry blossoms and I am feeling very jealous.  So, I decided to make my own cherry blossoms to brighten up my kitchen.  I actually thought my kids would enjoy doing this, so I made my usual call: "Who wants to do a project?"  Instead of the usually enthusiastic response I was expecting, I got total rejection.   Each of my kids was involved in their own "thing" and weren't interested in projecting fun.  So, like the Little Red Hen, I said, "Then I'll do it myself."  And I did.

The first step is not pictured.  I dipped a bunch of coffee filters in water colored with red food coloring and then spread them out to dry.  Then I folded the dried papers into quarters and drew a heart shape pattern to cut out.  It took a few tries to get the right size and proportion, but this wide version worked the best. 
 After I cut out the shapes, the flowers looked a little boring, so I added dots of red marker in different places and then touched the spots with a drop of water.  The water made the red bleed into the paper and look more natural.  I also drew little lines to represent the stamens.
 Then I dressed up a Lemon Verbena shrub that I have been trying to overwinter.  It wasn't looking to good before I added the flowers (by cutting little slits and slipping them over branches), and I don't know if it will ultimately survive or not, but for the moment it looks quite cheerful!
Of course after it was done my children all said "I didn't know you were going to do THAT.  I wanted to help!"  Unlike the Little Red Hen, I let them enjoy the fruits of my labor.  Maybe they won't reject me next time.

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