Category: DIY Art School

Keeping a Humor Journal

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Life is strange right now. But the isolation and huge disruptions to normal life are temporary. There is a light at the end of the tunnel (and no, it’s not a train).

One thing that has really helped me keep my perspective is to keep a humor journal. Every day I write at least one funny thing that happened that day. Sometimes the entry is just “I forgot to do the laundry again.” Sometimes I ask someone in my family if they can remember something funny. Watching for the humor helps. Rereading the entries is even better. Here are a few of the entries in my humor journal:

7-29-20

Yesterday, the school told us it will be online school in the fall. It will be quality education, they reassured us. Not like in the spring, they added.

8-3-20

As I was leaving the house to go grocery shopping, the kids were still calling after me the things they thought I should buy. “Is syrup on the list?” “I need shampoo and conditioner.” I think the list grew by 35% or so in the hour before I left.

8-10-20

I woke up and wanted to go right back to bed. I spent all day fantasizing about taking a nap. I’ll probably stay up late reading.

8-30-20

Our neighbor got a new mailbox, bigger than ours. Our mailbox used to be the biggest on the row. “Do we need to get a bigger mailbox?” I joked. My husband laughed. “Can you imagine escalating that until we’re getting our mail delivered to tree houses?” he asked.

10-27-20

My oldest child: Who has the dishes?

Me: You do.

My oldest child: But I did the dishes a few days ago!

Me: And it’s your turn again.

Adulthood: Finally realizing that chores are never ever truly done.

I’d love to hear some funny moments from your life! Please share them in the comments. And, if you have any questions about keeping a humor journal, please ask!

How to Make Basic Paper Dolls

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When I was younger, I spent a lot of time making paper dolls. It was a fun way to use my imagination and make something to give away that made people happy. All I needed was blank paper, a window, sunlight, and something to draw with.

First, you need to draw something to dress up. It can be anything. It can be something you draw or that someone else drew. It just needs a torso and limbs. The limbs may be optional. I think you could make it work without them. Actually, a snake paper doll sounds fun. It would need bends in the torso to keep the clothes from sliding off. Maybe next time.

Next, hold it up to a window, put a paper over it, and trace the outline and add the facial features so you know where they are. This is important if you are adding masks or helmets or hats.

Now, as long as you have the outline, you can color and cut out the doll and still make more clothes. Or recreate the doll. Things can happen to ruin paper, and if you’ve gifted the paper doll to someone small, things are likely to happen. It’s nice to be able to say that you can fix it if they get upset.

Using the outline, or the doll, you can make just about any outfit you can imagine. Hold it up to a window, put a paper over it, and start drawing. The outline needs to hug the sides of the torso in a few places so that you can draw tabs there to hold the clothes onto the doll. It works best if there’s at least one tab on either side of the torso. The more tabs, the better.

Shoes and hats can be connected to the outfit or not. With hats, it’s difficult to add more than one tab. So, you can draw the hat with a slit just the size of the head at the brim, leaving room around it so the paper doesn’t tear. Then the hat just slides onto the head of the doll.

Experiment and have fun. If something doesn’t work quite right, try it a different way. Figuring it all out is part of the fun.

If you want to print out the pictures in this post and make the killer whale paper doll with all its clothes, click on each image and then print them.

Please let me know if you make some paper dolls! I’d love to see pictures.

Family Recipe: Sangria

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This Sangria is non-alcoholic and probably not very authentic. But it’s the Sangria that my husband’s mother serves on Christmas eve.

My husband’s parents met at a mission reunion. Both of them served a mission in the same area of Mexico. Their Christmas eve dinner is a reminder of that.

This Sangria is a nice celebration drink even if it isn’t Christmas. We even had some tonight with dinner!

Family Recipe: Japanese Mum’s Chicken

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This recipe wasn’t passed down to us by a family member, but we’ve enjoyed it for so many years that it’s become a family recipe for our family just the same.

We found this recipe online when the kids were small, and we’ve been making it ever since. My husband changes the recipe a little each time, but it’s remained essentially the same. It’s definitely a family favorite.

Here’s a link to the original recipe post: https://www.food.com/recipe/japanese-mums-chicken-68955

Family Recipe: Potato Salad

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Whenever I think of picnics, I think of Mom’s potato salad. I love, love, love it. I’ve tried other potato salads, but I don’t really like them. My children have followed in my footsteps and love this potato salad best, too.

It’s best cold, so it takes a little planning ahead to boil the potatoes and eggs, assemble the salad, and leave it in the fridge to cool. It’s worth it, though. In my opinion, a picnic just isn’t quite right without potato salad.