to hold the moon.

i see the moon and the moon sees me

the moon sees somebody i want to see

god bless the moon and god bless me

and god bless the somebody i want to see

there are endless songs about the moon... pink moon, yellow moon, blue moon, harvest moon, moon river, moondance. there's something magical about the moon. for me, that magic is told perfectly in this nursery rhyme... which to aiden and i is actually a song. i have no idea where i first heard it but i've always loved it. i made up a tune for it years ago when aiden was very little and ever since, we sing it when we catch sight of the moon. its a quiet song... i see the moon and the moon sees me. the moon sees somebody i want to see. the magic of the moon is that no matter where you are, there it is. the magic is that the people i love that are far away can look up and see the same thing i am seeing and that connects us even if its just a little bit.

i saw these amazing things called sunjars in a european online store one time. you may have seen them too. i loved them so much i considered for a (very intense but quickly fleeting) moment paying like 45$ and crazy overseas shipping for one. (im actually not at all sure how many american dollars it would have translated to... but everything had that L money symbol next to it and more than one number and im pretty sure it would have ended up being a lot, jolly ol chap) i then resolved to put it on my wish list for 'one day' when i have a bunch of extra money. the same list that has actually traveling overseas on it... in which case i could just pick one up, right? 

anyways, i didnt give up on them... i did a little research (thanks again, google) and whaddayaknow... you can make one. even better... you can make moon jars. and that makes my heart happy. so guess what... i made some. 

the supplies you need are basic:

garden solar lights

jars

frosted glass spray

the internet would like you think its super easy... and parts of it are... like spray painting the jars.. thats easy. the internet tells you 'then simply take apart the garden light'. oh. that's all? ok... uh how do you get into this thing? i found ways... but i plan on getting the correct tools for this in the future... something that cuts metal, and maybe possibly a screwdriver that, i dunno, fits the screws. 

so once you have defied odds and freed the insides of the garden light, all wires still intact, one ... you will feel pretty good about yourself, and two... you're ready to attach the solar light to your jar! i didnt think this part through before i started. the internet's version of this project is truly magic i think because it simply says 'place the solar light inside your jar lid'. well i have gravity at my house, so i had to find a way to attach it. i found a glue gun and went with that... i ran a bead of glue along the outside edge and used a bamboo skewer to move the glue between the solar panel and the glass.

finally after your jar lid has dried, place it on your jar and find it a happy home on a window sill or a patio table where it can feel the sun. just like the moon in the sky, it cannot light up with out the sun. the sun will give it energy to light up at night. 

i plan to make more moon jars and customize them... i will show you what i mean when i do. all finished, they feel like we caught the moon's light and can hold it in our hands.

if you would like one for yourself or to give to someone you love i could make one for you to hold, too.

simple.

oh, hi april. so happy to see you. to me you're as wonderful as summer. you have long days that make me feel much more productive and less like hibernating. your days are warm enough to relax and breathe and and they dont make me tense up and brace myself when i leave the house. your days have already been good for sitting on the porch and watering the yard. i do it the old fashioned way... with a sprinkler attached to a garden hose. well... actually i usually do it the really old fashioned way... with rain. but im trying to be better this year and help my grass out a little.

the sprinkler i am using now is one i took from my grandpa's things after he passed away. i dont know why i chose to take it... i'm sentimental i guess but a sprinkler? it makes me happy though to think of how many times he set it out on his own yard and then went out again to move it. it makes me happy that it still has a life. it works perfectly, and it brings all of the neighborhood kids to jump and run through it with aiden. and i love to sit on the porch and watch that. then get up and move the water to another spot and sit back on the porch and watch some more. its comforting to see the kids laughing and happy and not worrying about anything at all except the thrill of the cold water and making up games and challenging each other. so simple.

i love simple. simple is good. by simple i dont mean easy, i just mean uncomplicated. kids playing in sprinklers. accidentally learning a new better way to do something that i never knew. appreciating my first flower of the season that God brought back all on his own, (because i know i had nothing to do with it), watching a movie ive been waiting to come out, driving in the car with the music loud and signing, listening to aiden tell a story. making up a recipe that is gooood. you know all that everyday stuff i have realized i get really excited about.

100 times a day i think of things that ive learned or heard and think man, i wish everyone knew that! so sometimes ill try to pass along those things. or ideas i have. i read recently somewhere, 'dont hold your ideas in, share them! it worked for martha stewart' ha. i so dont want to be martha but im all about sharing. and if there's one thing i have, its ideas, baby.

easter is this sunday. aiden is nine and im aware that my window for taking advantage of holiday projects with him could be closing. i hope he's never too cool to color easter eggs with his mom, but you never know. im totally not above coloring them by myself if it ever comes to that, but im also not above giving him puppy dog eyes and guilting him into doing things with me even if he is 16 and its one egg and it comes with an eye roll, ha. and so! we colored eggs. i wanted to do something different that just dipping them in the dye. and so i went to my good friend, google. google is the best. wanna know when that movie is going to dvd? google. wanna know what your resting heart rate should be? google. wanna know chuck norris's date of birth? google. (i did have to look that up recently... he's 71!) you can find anything. i found a technique for tie dying eggs and guess what. simple! you should try it (im talking to you... my imaginary readers)

you need:
a colander
white vinegar
food coloring (i bought the neon too)
eggs obviously
paper towels
and an open mind about your kitchen sink taking on a pinkish hue after your finished

so boil your eggs. if you're planning on eating them later you should boil them like this (because they'll be great!) if not... boil them any ol' way you want. or if youre feeling like a dare devil dont boil them at all then try not to break them. thatll be fun!

[perfect boiled eggs: place eggs in pan. cover with cold water. bring to a boil and cook uncovered for 7 minutes. (i dont know why 7, i didnt make this up, but i make them this way every time now and they're great... so 7) after 7 min passes, take them off the heat and run them under cold water to stop the cooking. with this method you wont have those dry yolks that are no fun and not that tasty.]

moving on :) now you have your boiled (or not) eggs. so place a couple (or as many as you want to have the same colors) in the colander over your pretty white sink. now just splash a little vinegar over them. its not important that it covers the eggs evenly. we are going for artsy here (cover up word for messy/imperfect/ooops). now take your first color right out of the little bottle and drop a couple of drops randomly on the eggs. gently (seriously we cracked a couple) shake the colander to roll the eggs around a little. wait a minute or two before adding your next color...

repeat with as many colors as you like... no two will be the same and its impossible to mess up. (woo hoo!) so that is all there is to it.. i used tongs to move the eggs to a layered paper towel to dry.

my favorite method we used was the tie dye, but we also tried to do the marble effect which is done (supposedly) by adding oil to your top color. for us it turned out more like a speckled egg which is beautiful too but im pretty sure this is one of those times in life i should have measured. aiden used crayons on some before he dipped them. (by the way... speaking of dipping and not measuring: for that part i put about a 1/3 of a mug full of vinegar and filled the rest of the mug with warm water and then added lots and lots of drops of color. repeat for as many colors as you want. who needs measuring!)

here they are all finished! you can see where we cracked one, poor egg.

so try it! its fun.... happy wednesday :)