more of that happiness project...and the start of December Daily...

Leave it to Jean to go above and beyond. :D

While I will, of course, be adding this list to the master happiness project list found here, I just had to share the list that Jean made for me. I asked Jean for a list of creativity prompts...and damn, did she deliver. Not only did she email me the list, but she made me little cards that I can randomly pick from.

And here's the list itself. Her sons helped a bit by adding a few interesting suggestions of their own. :P

1. Look out a window. Write a haiku about what you see there.

2. Write a limerick about someone or something that upsets you.

3. Draw a picture with your non-dominant hand.

4. Wash your hair, put it up in old-fashioned pincurls, and let it dry. Take a photo of the resulting ‘do.

5. Open a cookbook to a random page and select a random recipe. Make it.

6. Make a pie combining two (or more) fruits that you have never eaten together.

7. Design your own mixed drink. Make it.

8. Graffiti your name on a wall (or a large piece of paper, posterboard, etc.).

9. STEVE: Make an illustrated children’s guide to more than one way to skin a cat.

10. Make a figure from things you would otherwise recycle or throw away. Take a photo of it then recycle or throw away the items.

11. On a round plate, make a face out of food items. Eat it yourself, or share it.

12. Devise a code or cipher. Write a love note to Rich using it. If he can’t decode it, you can give him a clue to help him.

13. Dye some wool yarn or fabric using KoolAid. If you need directions, see http://www.thepiper.com/fiberart/koolaid/basic-howto.html

14. Make greeting cards based around a knock-knock jokes you get from Max and Gray (one joke from each). Let each of them decide to whom the card should be sent.

15. STEVE: Make a dinner that is against the teachings of as many major religions as possible.

16. DON: Plan and execute the perfect crime. (Jean says that you don’t have to do the “execute” part unless it’s a victimless crime.)

17. DON: Become the supervillain “The Noodler.” (Jean’s alternative: Choose a superpower and design your own superhero or supervillain. Be that hero or villain for an hour.)

18. Make a name bug. (Fold a piece of paper. Write a name in cursive using the fold as the line. Be creative with letters with tails. Cut out the name including any openings in letters. Open the fold. The resulting shape is the name bug.)

19. What can you put into a cookie (bar or round variety) that you’ve never put in one before? Make them.

20. Write a love note to Rich in Pig Latin.

21. Create your own clown persona. Be that clown for an hour including making one phone call.

22. Save the seeds from all the fruit you eat in a day. Plant them and see what comes up.

23. Make and decorate gngerbread people. Eat them creatively.

24. Design some mutant animals ala Jean’s Beanie Baby Mutations (on paper is fine).

25. Make a fruit sculpture. Serve it.

26. Using torn tissue paper and white craft glue, make a collage.

27. Take a photo upside down, looking between your legs.

28. Write a letter in a circle, from the outside to the inside.

29. Make up a song even if you can’t write the music to it.

30. Take a white-on-white photo (e.g., a white cup sitting on a white saucer on a white countertop).

31. Step in paint and make footprints on a large piece of newsprint, posterboard, etc.

32. Tie-dye a shirt. (You may use a kit.)

33. Origami something.

34. Make a list of things or people that annoy you. Destroy it creatively.

35. Take a funny-walk walk (ala “Walk Like an Egyptian”).

36. Do a self-portrait. Oh, you only have two minutes in which to do it, so you had better get started.

37. Make a meal that can be served and eaten without utensils.

38. The Soundtrack of Debi’s Life. What songs would be on it? What would the liner notes be? The cover art? If you really get into this, burn it onto a CD and add the liner notes and artwork.

39. Come up with a family motto and devise a family coat of arms.

40. Write a song parody ala Weird Al Yankovic.

41. Take a night-time photo, painting with your camera by moving it while looking at the lights of a city, a Christmas tree, etc.

42. Take 26 photos, one for each letter of the alphabet. Example: A rolled-up hose hanging on a wall can be an “O.”

43. Make a sock puppet. Have it be your voice for an hour.

44. Draw or otherwise make a maze.

45. Randomly choose one herb or spice from your herb/spice cabinet or rack. Randomly choose a vegetable from your supply. Google them along with “recipe,” and make one of the top three recipes the search yields.

46. Make a purse out of a bra. For help getting started, see http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Bra-Purse

47. Make a greeting card based on a sentence diagram or the art of sentence diagramming.

48. Open a dictionary to a random page and choose a random word. Make a greeting card based on or using that word. Let Annie decide to whom the card should be sent.

49.Make a greeting card based on a rebus.

50. Discharge dye something. (A bleach pen is a great way to start.)

Looks like I definitely have some fun in my future, doesn't it?

*****
And changing gears, I am so proud of myself! I actually started our December Daily album!

(the front cover)

(Day 1)

Yep, last night we put up our tree so that definitely trumped anything else I might have wanted to document for December 1st. As usual, we had a ton of fun. The kids carefully(?) hung all the ornaments as we talked about who had made this one or that one. We had Christmas music playing, and we contributed some not so professional singing to the mix. And the trimming was followed by the traditional eggnog. And there was the bonus prize of fresh-baked Snickerdoodles. And as usual, it took Lucky all of three seconds to plop himself in his favorite cozy spot.