Swish & Flick

This project is proof that a little imagination coupled with my soon to be famous, "Glitter infused Modge Podge Paper Mâché formula.” Wow, that was a mouthful, has the power to transform just about anything into a shiny and seemingly new toy.

WHERE IT ALL STARTED

Still reeling from the success of our newly minted and wildly popular, Disney Princesses ‘GO GREEN’ during the quarantine..lol our completely recyclable doll-house which is, I’m happy to report still being played, that the first word out of Harper’s mouth upon seeing the above pictured pile of boxes was..it’s a castle. Actually it was, “Mom I think my toys need a castle.” I agreed with her, of course, and a high-five sealed the deal.

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To Start, I hot-glued the more appropriately shaped for a castle boxes together. Using a utility knife, I cut out a ‘draw bridge'

just like the ones in your imagination, when you think of a medieval castle. Then a doorway on the opposite side.

At this point, I wasn’t sure how I would utilize the open space pictured above. Except for the idea that storage is always a good idea.

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THE FUN BEGINS

Harper and I spent 30 minutes here and there for the next couple of days, until I decided one evening to pull an all nighter to finish it up. We were in the midst of quarantine so it wasn’t like we had any big plans for the following day. I made a huge production and did a whole unveiling for Harper’s enjoyment. She of course was thrilled but upon completion I’d taken several steps back and thought that something was missing. The funny is, Harper came to the same conclusion. We looked up medieval castles, and the below pictured image popped up, from there it was easy to see that we needed some battlements.

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Once they were cut-out...we papier-mâché them.

Battlements ready to attach, we employed the use of the below pictured Popsicle sticks to secure them in place.

Disney Princesses “GO GREEN’ during the ‘Quarantine'

After what seemed like an eternity of playing the lead role in my very own version of 'Ground Hog Day’ courtesy of the quarantine. The girls and I needed something different to do. Fast forward to the decision to start an art project. As an artist whose pretty much covered all the basic, go to’s that every other parent does with their children, I needed to bring something new and exciting to the table. There’s really no better way to reignite a creative spirit than by working with new materials. So, as we were literally swimming in empty juice boxes (with the ability to recyclable being shut down), those juice boxes became the new ‘Material’ and just off the wall enough to spark interest. The following morning, Harper sat down at the table in our playroom/art studio and examined the boxes I’d piled up. I’d really talked up, the new project to be and she wasn’t impressed! That’s when I said, “Okey dokey Harper, all these boxes can be repurposed and turned into anything you want, what do you think we could turn them into?” She definitely wanted to have an answer, but nothing was coming to her. As luck would have it, she’d just gotten these Disney princess finger puppets from her grandmother and hadn’t really found a place for them. As she continued to scan the room for ideas, I saw her eyes fall on those little finger puppets and then she announced that the boxes could be a doll-house for the princesses. So, the Disney finger puppets we're set to have their very own recyclable home, courtesy of a little imagination.