Birdhouse to help house people

Someone at the university where I work and daughter will be starting in the fall, came up with the idea for an artsy/fun fundraiser to help raise money for our local Habitat for Humanity. Simple birdhouses were built, then distributed to various departments across campus. The houses were to be decorated, then collected to be sold at auction, with proceeds to go to the charity.

I thought my daughter might want to take a crack at it, so I told her about the event and she agreed to take it on. And look what she created! Red paint, decorative nails (just a dome-shaped head, painted black) and a couple of pieces taken from a candle holder picked up for $1.17 at a thrift store, plus a few strokes of the brush to add some vines to the outer walls and voila!

She has had several compliments on it already, and we are of course hoping it will bring a good price at the auction.

Robins in the Hand Tree

My daughter is blossoming in so many ways. Not the least of which is her creative bloom. She has a yen to be a master cake decorator, and so with Dad and I insisting she get her undergrad degree before she leaps into that world of frosting, fondant and sugar-roses, she has decided to major in Art. Now, mind you, she is several months from starting college, much less declaring a major, but she has her mind made up....for now. However, she has definitely shown some creative stretching during this year. Her previous project - a wire shape covered with nylon hosiery - became a beautiful red Cardinal. And this plaster hand could not be satisfied with a realist's finish of skin tones and nails, but instead begged to be a part of our spring world developing right outside the window. So budding limbs and Robin's eggs grace the Sycamore Hand, complete with tree swing.

I love seeing her imagination run amuck!