It's no secret (at least for Australians) that yesterday was a special day for Aussie dads - it was Fathers Day. I have two preschool-aged daughters who love craft as much as their mother does, so it was inevitable that to 'make' Fathers Day super-special for their dad, the girls would have to make him something. While pushing the shopping trolley down the aisle at the local supermarket a couple of weeks ago, my eyes scanned the picnic products out of habit, as they always do... call it an occupational habit for someone obsessed with party planning! There in the paper plate section was a packet of 15 paper plates with a blue check on it for less than $2; I snapped them up. At the time I didn't know exactly what they would be for, but I knew they'd come in handy for something crafty.
A week later I came up with an idea, not dissimilar to the idea of making doilies into a portrait gallery. This time however, the girls and I divided the plates up; 5 each, and then with a pile of photos that had Dad in them, and a separate pile of red, white and blue papers (as well as leftover pieces of printpaper from the Ballet and Circus printpaper packages), the brief was "put a picture of dad on each plate and decorate it."
Mimi (who is 5 in October) had a great time, and was very experimental with each of her plates (and a couple of mine). Little Lotti (aged 3 and a bit) was more open-ended in her interpretation of the brief.
The result was a long sideboard photo-gallery that Daddy and his extended family all loved.
So the moral of the story, as always; even the most humble item can become classy when you look at it with imagination - and even the most humble crafter can create magic!
Take care friends; and remember to celebrate small things.
Linda. x
