Camp Creek Blog

The less we try to do during the holidays, the more we enjoy the season. Because, you know, a party doesn't just take that one day. There are the days you clean, the days you decorate, the days you order food or cook or bake or all three, the days that you stress because your homemade wreath that expresses just how you feel about the holidays doesn't look like the one on the cover of Blueprint.

I'm not even going to get into guest lists, finding the holiday platter you were sure you put in the high cupboard but it's not there, and guiltily shifting some of the ornaments the kids hung on the tree because the clumping is ruining your overall effect of elegant insouciance.

It's not just the one day, it's a whole lot of days, in a holiday season that for me often feels like the giant hourglass on the Wizard of Oz. Or Days of Our Lives. Anyway, an ominously large hourglass.

I'm not trying to discourage entertaining, just pointing out that when you take on a commitment, you're usually looking at the bright, shiny tip of the iceberg — for instance, that four hours that your warm, glowy house will be filled with laughter and well-dressed friends lifting their glasses in cheer. You blissfully forget the looming bulk of the iceberg hiding 'neath the blue water, representing all the hours and days you'll need to spend to get to those happy four hours.

Taking on one major commitment during the holiday season may be worth it, but how many of us stop at one? What is it that impels us to make a complicated gift from scratch, sign up for three cookie exchanges and a handmade swap, agree to help out with a church or school event, decide this year is the year we'll show the kids the true meaning of the season by donating time to the local shelter, and somehow get pressured into the neighborhood's progressive dinner, all in the same month?

After all, we can have a big party any time of the year. We can teach the kids about giving back to the community any old month. (Actually, they need you more in February.) People will always call and ask you for help, because you're so busy, you ooze success at getting things done. (If you say no, they'll call the next person on their list.) What makes us decide that we have to do all these things, right now, this month?

Have you ever had a minor illness and experienced how luxurious it is to just lay around and do nothing? Imagine Santa brought you something you didn't even know you needed — a sprained ankle, or maybe a ever-so-slightly detached retina. (Does that hurt?) And suddenly you were just left at home by yourself (with your family, of course) and no commitments, because you're not allowed to go out. You just have the fire, the softly falling snow, your favorite music on the stereo, and your family, who are relaxed and happy because they're not being yelled at asked to clean something, move something, hide something, or stay away from something every 10 minutes.

Now that's a good present.

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. — Dr. Seuss

As we discussed with clean recyclables, once you have begun to acquire items for your studio, you will develop a practiced eye.

You don't have to shop only in the arts and crafts aisle of your local department store.

Every time a piece of paper passes through your hands, think — is this something the kids could use? Tissue paper, bits of wrapping paper, cardboard inserts, the silver disc that seals your new tin of coffee.

When you open a new package, whether it's cookies or a kitchen appliance, take a second look at those pieces that hold everything inside for shipping. Whether it's hard plastic or soft foam, if it's clean with no sharp edges, if it has an interesting texture, set it aside.

In your office, think about file folders, binder clips, address labels, envelopes, tags, graph paper.

In your kitchen, think about paper plates, styrofoam bowls, plastic spoons, silver cupcake wrappers, leftover holiday napkins, empty spice tins.

In your garage, think about large flat washers, nuts, bolts, plastic garden pots, twine, empty spools.

At work, look at the things that are regularly thrown away. (Or at your friend's workplace. Or at the stores you frequent.) We've collected empty film canisters, bottle tops, cardboard squares, shredded paper, "mat middles" from the local framing place. ("Mat middles" are the squares of mat board that are left when a mat is cut — great for drawing, painting, or constructing.) We've been given plastic lids, linoleum squares, jewelry boxes, packing peanuts.

It doesn't take many helpers to get a good supply of materials coming in — a couple friends, some grandparents, and you're well on your way to a stocked studio. Once people have an idea of what you're looking for, they will delight in bringing you odd bits and treasures.

These things you gather aren't only pieces of future constructions (bird eyes, alligator tails, robot arms, race-car wheels) but also things to cut up and collage and even exciting new things to paint with or paint on.

Any type of fabric (old sheets, cut-up burlap, etc.) can be an intriguing new surface to paint on at the easel, as well as any sort of odd paper or cardboard or even wood. Old plastic kitchen tools, fake plastic credit cards that come in junk mail, old plastic coils, etc., make great painting tools. Anything with an interesting texture can be pressed into clay or playdough.

Only your imagination limits the things you can bring into the studio, and once you've limbered up those thinking muscles, you'll be surprised by how much raw creative material is sitting around, just waiting for you to pick it up.

A reader asked

Okay, so if you had to give a list, for a mama of say, three young boys. A list of great art materials that one must have (in addition to all the great stuff you listed in your last post) What would it be? We have a few oil pastels, some chalk pastels. Some watercolor and tracing papers. Some acrylics and watercolors, a BIG chunky pad of drawing paper.

But here I am with THREE 40% off coupons from [a big-box art store], and I really want to get some good quality stuff for creating and hide it away for Christmas. Ideas?

Great question! To review, we talked here about starting the year with some basics, which you can offer in large supply:

• pencils

• pencil sharpener and white vinyl eraser

• paper (copy paper is great for everyday drawing: bright white, nice texture, and 500 sheets to a package!)

• markers (various colors, thin and thick)

• clipboards (one per kid, for taking drawing materials on field trips, in the car, on the couch, in the yard, etc.)

• kid scissors

• white school-type glue

• old magazines, maps, found paper, leftover gift wrap — anything collage-able

• clean recyclables (boxes, cardboard tubes, plastic lids, etc.)

• popsicle sticks

• yarn (cheap stuff)

• masking tape

• natural items: leaves, twigs, pinecones, acorns, shells, etc.

• large pad of easel paper (I like the double pack they sell at Staples)

• watercolors (I prefer Prang; they are more expensive but last a long time)

• tempera paint (you can get by with just primary colors plus white to start)

• good drip-proof paint cups with lids (if you put a different brush in each cup it will minimize mixing/dirtying the paint — although that is inevitable, so give them a small amount to start ;o)

With these items, you've got the basics for drawing, painting, collage, and building structures.

Tomorrow I’ll give an advanced list.

In the meantime, with your 40% coupons burning a hole in your pocket, my suggestions for enhancing your studio (thinking of getting the most out of your coupon) would be:

• large set of high-quality brand colored pencils (they offer much better and more varied colors than the basic Crayola set)

• very good-quality electric pencil sharpener (when you use a lot of pencils, this is a blessing to get them all back into shape again quickly)

• set of Derwent or similar drawing pencils of different weights — excellent for observational drawing and encouraging drawing in general

• easel if you don’t already have one (preferably two-sided with a shelf — i’ve found these on sale at school-supply stores and big-box stores)

• loom

• large pads of nice drawing paper

• perhaps a large pack of tempera paints, if they sell them bundled (maximizing the coupon!)

It's difficult to think of pricier items for stocking the art studio, since most things are fairly inexpensive! The above are more long-term investments. For more of a short-term thrill, check out my Holiday Gift Ideas for Your Child Artist.

Finally, one of the most important things you need for your basic art studio is a place to make art. This isn't necessarily something you can buy at a store.

You need to have a space where your children can work and you won’t be a nervous wreck about them destroying the table, the floor, the walls, etc. Maybe all you need is a plastic tablecloth to throw down under the easel, and you're fine. Or maybe you need a table where you won’t have to worry about glue or paint leaving its mark.

This problem extends to the co-op and classroom as well, where some groups have carpeted rooms (!) and no safe place to paint.

We have had great success with garage-sale wooden tables, sawing the tables off to make them the appropriate height for the children who will work there.

Plastic tablecloths can be used to protect floors but they can be slippery — I like good old-fashioned canvas dropcloths. You can buy them at any hardware store or big-box lumber or home renovation store.

Whatever your solution, it’s no use stocking up on great supplies if you’ll hesitate before saying yes, we’ll make some art today. Ideally, art supplies are always available and there’s always a place to work.

Above, an unfinished ornament for one of the boys. Will I feel guilty when I cross-stitch "2004" on it? No way.

As I spent today enjoying myself with family instead of writing a blog post, I'm going to enhance this post with one of my favorite little zen stories. You've probably already heard it, but it's still good.

Stephen Covey relates this story in his book First Things First:

In the middle of a seminar on time management, a lecturer said, "Okay, it's time for a quiz." Reaching under the table, he pulled out a wide mouthed gallon jar and set it on the table next to a platter covered with fist-sized rocks. "How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?" he asked the audience.

After the students made their guesses, the seminar leader said, "Okay, let's find out." He put one rock in the jar, then another, then another--until no more rocks would fit. Then he asked, "Is the jar full?"

Everybody could see that not one more of the rocks would fit, so they said, "Yes."

"Not so fast," he cautioned. From under the table he lifted out a bucket of gravel, dumped it in the jar, and shook it. The gravel slid into all the little spaces left by the big rocks. Grinning, the seminar leader asked once more, "Is the jar full?"

A little wiser by now, the students responded, "Probably not."

"Good," the teacher said. Then he reached under the table to bring up a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar. While the students watched, the sand filled in the little spaces left by the rocks and gravel. Once more he looked at the class and said, "Now, is the jar full?"

"No," everyone shouted back.

"Good!" said the seminar leader, who then grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it into the jar. He got something like a quart of water into that jar before he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the jar is now full. Can anybody tell me the lesson you can learn from this? What's my point?"

An eager participant spoke up: "Well, there are gaps in your schedule. And if you really work at it, you can always fit more into your life."

"No," the leader said. "That's not the point. The point is this: if I hadn't put those big rocks in first, I would never have gotten them in."

I've got my big rocks ready. Hope yours all get in this year.