The Smithsonian Butterfly Pavilion

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butterfly_ct_bday_smith_003Like I said yesterday, I took way too many photos of the butterflies in the Smithsonian Butterfly Pavilion. I couldn’t help it! It was an amazing experience. It is a long, narrow room that is just filled with hundreds of butterflies. SO MANY BUTTERFLIES!

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They had loads of places to land, but sometimes if you were lucky they’d land of you! they landed on my husband A LOT.

butterfly_ct_bday_smith_014Plus there are people walking around telling you about the butterflies and even helping you catch one on a paint brush (you aren’t allowed to touch them) CT was able to hold the paintbrush a few times. It was one of the highlights of her birthday.

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Right before you walk into the pavilion they also an exhibit where they teach you all about the life cycle of butterflies and moths. If you go at certain times of day they also have other huge insects that you can hold… if you’re brave enough.

butterfly_ct_bday_smith_001If you are ever in DC I highly recommend this as a stop! It’s $6 an adult, $5 per kid to get into the pavilion, but its SO worth it. I’d do it every month, maybe even twice a month. I’d recommend buying tickets ahead of time just in case, they only allow a certain amount of visitors per half hour. Oh and if you on Tuesdays it’s free!! (but you should still reserve tickets online, I imagine the free days are packed)

I’m already looking forward to when the holiday season is over so we can head back down. We were told that each time you visit is a completely different experience. I want to see if that’s true.

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CT’s 4th Birthday Adventure

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ct_bday_smith_001My little girl turned FOUR last week! Super crazy. For her birthday we asked if there was anything special she wanted to do. Her original response was “go to the park”. We then explained she could do more too and started listing off loads of places. In the end she told us she wanted to go to the museum, because theres a museum in Animal Crossing video game. Though in the game theres Art, Dino Skeletons, Live Insects and Butterflies. Luckily the Smithsonian covers most of that stuff all in one building and it’s only a short drive and a metro ride away!

ct_bday_smith_002 ct_bday_smith_003ct_bday_smith_015First we checked out the Dinosaur Skeletons and Fossils, since that was her first request. It’s also a big thing in the game. You dig up fossils, take them to the museum and a little owl guy checks them out and then you have skeletons that you can donate to the museum or sell for profit.

ct_bday_smith_010ct_bday_smith_012ct_bday_smith_013I may have gone a bit overboard with the photos, but seriously the Smithsonian is SO COOL! I grew up visiting all the museums on field trips, with my family and then as a teenager with my friends. I had the biggest smile on my face all day watching CT freak out about everything. She is really into skeletons and such right now (Thanks to the Dr. Suess book: Inside Your Outside, All About the Human Body) So the exhibits actually kept her attention.

ct_bday_smith_009Lucky for us there was also a small exhibit with live fish. So we could check that off the Animal Crossing list.

ct_bday_smith_011They also had gems and live butterflies like in the game! (I took so many photos of the butterflies that they require their own post)

ct_bday_smith_004 ct_bday_smith_005As you can tell from our required photo outside the museum, it was COLD! I think it was freezing temps actually. Don’t worry, we were all super bundled up.

ct_bday_smith_006 ct_bday_smith_008 ct_bday_smith_007ct_bday_smith_014ct_bday_smith_017ct_bday_smith_016To end our Animal Crossing themed museum trip, we headed next door to the National Gallery of Art Sculptural Garden. Seriously one of my absolute favorite places! CT loved walking underneath the sculptures and see just how big they were!.

The entire day was just so much fun. We all enjoyed ourselves and are already planning another trip down. There’s so much more to see!!!

Check back tomorrow for my ridiculous amount of butterfly pictures from the Live Butterfly Pavilion at the Smithsonian.

December Crafternoon

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december2013_crafternoon_001 december2013_crafternoon_002 december2013_crafternoon_003 december2013_crafternoon_004 december2013_crafternoon_005I don’t think I’ve written about Heidi’s crafternoons in awhile. I missed last months, and the month before was just crazy pants for me.

This month’s crafternoon was Christmas themed and we made cardboard Putz Houses. It was a kinda intricate craft and a bit frustrating, but still fun as usual. Everyone also brought cookies for a cookie swap (that I was totally unprepared for), and they all looked SO YUMMY!

I always forget how much I miss seeing everyone until after I leave one of these events. I can’t wait until the next one!

Handmade: Donut Mushroom Hybrid Ornaments

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ornaments_heidi_001This year I took part in a few Secret Santa swaps. Something I haven’t ever really done before, but I thought was a neat idea. Most of the recipients haven’t received their gifts yet, so I can’t share them all yet. But I have been itching to share SOMETHING!

The only swap I didn’t go out of my way to sign up for was the one for Heidi’s crafternoon this month. My recipient just happened to be Heidi herself, and she is always fun to shop for! I found her a bunch of cool little trinkets, but of course I HAD to make something too! She collects mushroom stuff and donuts, so I figured why not make a set of mushrooms WITH icing and sprinkles on top? They were so fun to make, I always forget how much I love playing with clay.

I also made a few more clay ornaments for another swap I’m doing, but photos would seriously give away who the new owners will be, so I’m going to wait. The other set is something close to my own nerdy heart and I wish I had made myself some too!!

Maybe I’ll make some cast plastic ornaments for the shop next year? Is that something people would want?

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GRUMP @ the Artisphere and Closing Up Shop until 2014

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grump2webTomorrow, all day, I will be vending at GRUMP Holiday Arts & Crafts Fair at the Artisphere, which is located at 1101 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington VA !

It will be the last show I’m doing this year, so if you’re in the area, please come by and say hi!

To make sure inventory doesn’t get all messed up, I’m closing up shop before the show and won’t be reopening until the second week of January 2014. Normally I close up shop around the 10th, but with CT’s party coming up and handmade gifts that need to be made, the decision to do so tonight was better for everyone. Less stress for me, and no delayed packages for you!

So if there was something you really wanted, go get it now! I can’t promise it will be there come 2014.

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