Creativity

Today, I finally unleashed the art supplies from the plastic tub within a U-Haul box, and got them sorted and put away. (Yes, it's been a month and we are STILL unpacking.) Clio was at the library with Dave, where they were experiencing a "Bug Safari" visiting from the nearby Butterfly Pavilion; upon their return, the one piece of news I was able to extract from them was that Clio "touched a huge, live cockroach." (Funny: in Brooklyn we tried explicitly to avoid that.) Trying to show off all that I had accomplished in their absence, I pulled out the new arts-and-crafts drawer in the dining room hutch, and the sight of all those organized, labeled baggies full of stickers and paints seemed to get Clio's creative juices flowing. She took her materials to the little table in the kitchen and proceeded to produce two collages (heavily laden with the shiniest stickers imaginable):


followed by this lovely watercolor.

At first, it was a blue, green, and brown sphere, and when I told her that it reminded me of the earth, she said "I'm making a planet." So there you go. Once the plant was finished, she proceeded to fill in the atmosphere- in basically the same colors. So it all kind of blends, but if you look closely you can kind of see the reddish edges of her planet.

Meanwhile, as I unpacked my jewelry, I rediscovered the necklace that Clio made me before we left New York.


She got several beading kits for her birthday, and I love the way she piled on the overscale flowers, the fact that she strung some of them backwards, so they are simple, unadorned colors, and, most of all, the perfect asymmetry, with so many of the large beads to one side. Would someone get this kid some real stones to work with? I would actually wear this out in the world if it was made with, say, green turquoise or coral. (Back when she made this I thought I had a great entrepreneurial idea on my hands- real jewelry making kits for kids- until I realized that's just called the bead store.)

I got inspired by all of Clio's creativity, so I got in on the action, too. I found two spools of green grosgrain ribbon that I vaguely remember purchasing at some kind of vintage swap meet at the Metropolitan Pavilion, and I used one to make this old-school barette organizer for Clio's barettes.


So easy: just tie the top in a secure bow and hook on a nail or hook, and clip barrettes on.


If you want to include ponytail holders at the bottom, as I did, simply fold the ribbon around the elastics, then use the bottom two barrettes to secure the ribbon back on itself (this also gives you a nice, finished edge.)


I used two barrettes to make sure the whole thing didn't come apart if Clio needed that particular accessory in her hair one day. Voila.

Now if only I had some of those braided ribbon barrettes from the 80s....