I really like marking special days with things that are heartfelt and handmade but I was worried that father’s day 2013 would pass by without much of anything in the handmade department. I’m covered in the itchiest ever poison ivy rash and it is making me cranky and tired. but, I rallied my friends. I seriously rallied. we made a special father’s day garland out of toilet paper rolls and finished it just in time.
each tp roll was painted by the boys and it spelled out a message to greet him this morning, “we heart mr. goose bomb”…the kids chose the message, obviously. they are in a phase of calling their beloved papa mr. goose bomb and they were so giggly after deciding to put that nickname on the garland.
we brought the whole project outside, which saved me some clean up time and made it more like a secret making mission than just regular old painting project. we started by painting the rolls and then we cut out letters and glued them on over the paint. to make it into a garland I just punched holes on either side of the roll and them strung them together (once they had dried) on twine with a few beads in between the rolls to separate them. super easy.
once it was decorated and strung up the boys decided they wanted to write messages to put into each roll. so, this morning, we let Papa sleep in and we wrote little love notes to him, rolled them up and taped them inside each roll. he got to read them after he woke up. it’s not a bad makeover for cast-aside toilet paper rolls, huh? I’ve started saving tp rolls and paper towel rolls and other such items and I’m very amazing at how often we use them for our art projects.
it made for a great start to father’s day. the boys really love their papa and they (and I) are lucky to have him. other aspects of parenting these days are challenging us…the boys are really into wrestling and being rough with each other; they are testing boundaries; and pushing out of their reserved public personalities by trying on aggressive ones at home. it’s exhausting and straining us all but especially the mama and papa trying to keep people physically and emotionally safe. we’ve been caught off-gaurd by this bend in the road. suffice it to say that today papa deserved love notes and a little extra gratitude for his amazing job as papa. happy father’s day is right!
Ann says
This is so heartwarming! I love how everything about this is so driven by your kids. (And my sympathies on the aggressive play. Not my favourite! This too shall probably pass — especially with an on-side and supportive partner.)
ahappystitch says
Thanks so much Ann. I love when they lead and take it in a new direction, it’s always better than what I had planned. And, thanks of rate sympathies!! Yes, it will pass, won’t it? I tend to forget that everything passes eventually. sigh.