SMMART Science: Resurrection Bread

We know that when you pop ready-made bisquits into the oven they will rise because of the baking soda or baking powder in the ingredients...but what helps make a bisquit rise a little more is a MARSHMALLOW!

My friend mentioned that she was making Resurrection Bread with her girls.  Place a marshmallow on a flattened bisquit and then form the bisquit up and around the marshmallow.  Pinch it shut to form a "tomb".

Bake the bisquits according to the package directions.  The marshmallow EXPANDS when heated, but when it cooled, it contracts and leaves a cavity in the bisquit tomb.  When your child opens the tomb..."He is not here; for he is risen"  Mathew 28:6

SMMART ART: Reverse Glass Painting

"Reverse painting on glass is an art form consisting of applying paint to a piece of glass and then viewing the image by turning the glass over and looking through the glass at the image. Verre Églomisé is a commonly used term to refer to the art of cold painting and gilding on the back of glass. In German it is also known as 'hinterglasmalerei.'  This art form has been around for many years. It was widely used for sacral paintings since Middle Ages. The most famous was the art of icons in the Byzantine Empire.

 The painting can be realistic or abstract. Realistic reverse paintings are more challenging to create as one must, for example, in painting a face, to put the pupil of an eye on the glass before the iris, exactly the opposite of normal painting. If this is neglected the artist will not be able to correct the error as they will not get in between the glass and the paint already applied. No such care need be taken with the abstract form, but with this form there is not a good idea how the piece will look like until it is finished. This process is not like stained or leaded glass work in that it is not intended to hang in a window with light coming through the piece. Hanging on a wall, framed or unframed, with a lot of light directed towards the piece provides best viewing." (Wikipedia Reverse Painting on Glass)

Do you have an old picture frame?  We did our own modified version of reverse glass painting.  First we used Sharpie markers and drew the picture outlines and inside details that we wanted to portray on the glass.  Then we painted over the top of the sharpie with clear paint, so you could see the details of the sharpie underneath the color of the clear paint.  Ours could actually be used as a sort of stained glass art.

Roxanne, the producer of "Good Things Utah", told me how she uses clear Elmer's glue and food coloring to create a clear paint that she uses to paint pictures on her windows.  Crafty girl, that Roxanne; and if you ever need anything "Blinged out", she is the queen of "Blinging" things!  She "Blings" everything from keys to use as pendants, to hats, to her office stapler.  But I digress...

SMMART Family Review of Disney on Ice Dare to Dream

With all the hustle and bustle you do as parents it is so nice to be able to take a step back and enjoy some real time with your kids. This week has been plagued with the flu at our house. So much so that we almost were not able to go to Disney on Ice. Tinkerbelle must have sprinkled some pixie dust on our house, because thursday the girls woke up feeling better with no fevers. Not so true for my poor husband and son. So with quick phone call my oldest daughter Kailey called a friend and we were off. There is nothing like watching my daughters eyes light up when Mickey Mouse skates onto the ice and the show begins. Pure joy and happiness in the eyes of your kids is the part that makes being a parent all worth it. Our favorite part of the show was watching Rapunzel and Flynn Rider fly on her hair flying around above the ice. And of course a little ice cream treat as well. We loved it….Thank you Smmart Ideas for this opportunity to spend time together as a family!

 

Melissa, Kailey and Alyssa Jaffa

 

So glad that these ladies had a super time at Disney on Ice Dare to Dream at the Energy Solutions Arena! 

SMMART ART: Huichol Gods Eye

Another yarn craft from the Huichol people of Mexico is called a "God's Eye".  You may remember making these at summer camps.

"A God's eye is a yarn weaving and a Huichol spiritual object.
The Ojo de Dios or God's eye is a ritual tool, magical object, and cultural symbol evoking the weaving motif and its spiritual associations. For the Huichol peoples of western Mexico, the God's Eye is symbolic of the power of seeing and understanding that which is unknown and unknowable, The Mystery. The four points represent the elemental processes earth, fire, air, and water.
The Ojo de Dios, or God's Eye, is a simple or complex weaving made across two or more sticks and is thought to have originated with the Huichol Indians of Jalisco, Mexico. The Huichol call their God's eyes Sikuli, which means "the power to see and understand things unknown." When a child is born, the central eye is woven by the father, then one eye is added for every year of the child's life until the child reaches the age of five." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God%27s_eye)

You need two sticks or popsicle sticks.  I think that using actual sticks seems more indiginous and authentic.  Wrap the sticks with yarn to secure them before you have your child start yarn wrapping...this will save a lot of frustrated little hands.

Wrap over stick 1, under stick 2, over stick 3 and under stick 4...continue wrapping in the same motion.  Make sure the yarn is wrapped beside previous row so the yarn spreads out flat.  When you run out of one color, you can tie another color and continue.  You can use a multicolored yarn for an easy way to get a variety of colors.

Another way I used to do...Wrap all the way around stick 1, then drag the yarn to stick 2 and wrap all the way around stick 2...then all the way around stick 3, then all the way around stick 4....so you have a full wrap around each stick...it doesn't bunch up as much this way.

Shimmer yarn is always fun to use or try some pastels for the Spring!