Junk Mail Art and Spring Break Play

Growing up my mom and I had a tradition.  Each year, she'd take me out of school for one day, and we'd play hooky.  We'd go shopping and go to the movies.  We dedicated the entire day to PLAY and it is still one of my greatest memories.  I don't remember what I missed at school those days, but I do remember how much fun we had together.  

So this past weekend, we played hooky once again and enjoyed a spontaneous adventure.  We started by getting our toes done and ate lunch at our favorite restaurant. Then, we stumbled into the most amazing paper store and that's where the creative inspiration hit.  They had displayed fabulous recycled flowers and butterflies created from their store catalogs.  Since I'm much more aware these days about using recycled materials, and the fact that I have a love affair with flowers, I decided this was a perfect project for me to try.    

I gathered our most recent junk mail from the recycle bin, some sturdy wire, old buttons, scissors, a hole punch and a hot glue gun.  (It helps to put on your favorite music.  My choice today was the newest P!nk album.  Love her.)

I cut five petals for each flower, put the ends of the petals together with a small amount of glue, and punched one hole through all the petals.  Then I inserted the wire through the hole and bent it slightly to hide it underneath the button.  I hot glued the button on the wire and paper petals and that's it.  SO easy and so much fun. In fact, I can't stand junk mail, but now...I'm kind of curious to see what comes today.

On a side note, my mom got her toes freshly painted because she headed off to the beach for spring break. It got me thinking. Why can't I have spring break even though I'm staying home?  Why can't I still play hooky?  I may not be able to skip out on my job, considering my toddler relies on me to feed and care for him, but I can create a new version of spontaneous play.  

So, this week, we are having a mock spring break.  We will try new things, experience daily adventures, get our toes out in the sand...uh...um...dirt, and have some much needed springtime fun. We may not have a beach in Kansas, but we're bound to find some interesting things just by getting out to play.  

Your Personal Reflection:  Are you going anywhere for spring break?  If not, what kind of fun and spontaneous play can you do to create your version at home?