Don't have one of those jazzy Spirograph toys? Well, don't you worry one little wiggle, my friend. Tomorrow I'll show you how to create your own Simple Saturday Spiro-manic drawings sans that expensive toy.

 All you'll need is to download the .pfd I have linked to tomorrow's post, some colored pencils, and a ruler. That's it!

So tomorrow, find yourself a serene little corner and get ready for a ton of line drawing, pencil coloring fun!

Now where's that pencil sharpener?

A pansy derives its name from the French word pensée which literally translated into English denotes ‘thought’. The herb was so popular in Europe that even Shakespeare mentions about it when Ophelia refers to pansies as ‘That’s for thoughts’. Interestingly, in the conventional ‘flower language’, the three colors of the pansy flowers stand for three different things. For instance, purple, while and yellow stand for memories, loving thoughts and souvenirs respectively. And what is noteworthy is the fact that all the three terms bring a sense of comfort and ease to the heavy hearts of separated lovers. Hence, pansy is also often known as the ‘heartsease’.

That's right. Me and my old buddy Shakespeare...we know a good thing when we see one. Enough of the history lesson. Let's make a Simple Saturday Fingertip Puppet! I know you can't wait. I can see you sitting there right now with your construction paper, tape, scissors, and waterproof markers in hand. Let's get after it!

 To begin with, let's use the markers to draw the pansy's center and its stem along the inside of one of your fingers. I used my pinkie finger. You can chose which ever one you'd like to. Heck, use all 10 of those digits, if you'd like!

Next, draw 5 petals on the construction paper and cut those heartshaped darlings out.

Next is the tricky part. Tape the petals around your fingertip. After a tiny bit of pansy petal shading...ta da! You have made a Simple Saturday Pansy Power Fingertip Puppet! Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen?

Hey...you know what? I think I'm going to replicate the pansy chorus and make a pansy puppet on each of my fingertips. Yeah...that's it.

All right, y'all... I'm offically inspired. For now, my friend, for the sake of time we'll have to settle for this solitary bloom. BUT keep your eye on this post. 

Get set for an update... a plethora of pansies!

A pansy party!!!

A few months ago I stopped to appreciate a large cluster of these treasures which lined the edge of the shopping center sidewalk. They seemed to be dancing in the warm summer breeze. It was like those vividly colored monkey faces, all turned my way, were cheering me onward.

"Hurray for you, Debbie! Hurray! Hurray!"

Tomorrow, let's replicate my pansy cheering section. What do you say? Gather up some brightly colored construction paper, scissors, tape, and water color markers and I'll show you how to make some Pansy Power Fingertip Puppets.

Hip! Hip! Hooray! 

Super simple. 

Super sweet.

Simple Saturday Fingertip Puppets.

Remember the short supply list? An index card, scissors, and a marker?

  All you have to do is draw a picture of your puppet. The two nickle-sized circles at the base of my drawing will be cut out leaving a nice place for my fingers to slide right in. That's it, my Simple Saturday friend. I told you it was easy.

Got some kiddies to keep summertime busy? Suggest that they draw a family of puppets.

A plethora of Simple Saturday Fingertip Puppets...that's it.

They should stay busy for a long, long time.

We hope.

All you need to gather up for tomorrow's project are a few index cards, scissors, markers, and two fingertips. 

And that's all there is to it.

See you on Saturday, Twinkletips!

Isn't Sals a cutie? And check out the charming daisy necklace she's wearing. Great, isn't it? Want to make one with us? Well, then...let's get busy.

Did you gather the supplies? The glass seed beads, scissors, and either thin fishing line or the cool stretchy thread that can be bought at the craft store?

Lean in close and I'll tell you a Simple Saturday secret. I went ahead and bought that fancy stretchy cord because I hoped that Sally would enjoy making Beaded Daisy Chains with me and want to make lots of them for her friends. She did. We did. It's all good.

Here we go.

To begin, cut a 3 foot piece of thread from the spool. Slip one bead on the thread. Secure the bead to the thread by tying a few knots around it, leaving about 2 inches of the thread at the end.

Then thread 10 beads on the string. I call these beads the 'stem'. You can call them whatever you want to.

Now thread 6 petal beads onto the string. Next, loop the end of the thread all the way around the cluster of petal beads. Insert the end of the thread into the back side of the first petal bead.

Ready for the inside of the daisy? Okay, slip a bead onto the end of the thread. Stay inspired. You're almost there! 

 Now take the end of your string and slip it into the 4th bead in your daisy cluster.

 Go ahead and tighten the beaded daisy snug up against the end of the stem.

There! You did it!! All you have to do now is repeat the pattern all over again and again and again and again... Nothing to it.

If you prefer to make a shortened version to begin with a nice little bracelet is always nice.

Really...once you get the hang of making Simple Saturday Beaded Daisy Chain necklaces, you just can't stop. They're that much fun to make. Isn't that right Sally/Lorry/Sals? So good to see you, sweetheart.

He loves me.

He loves me not.

He loves me.

He loves me not.

What the heck! Why waste time on this silly waffling game when we can be productive making Simple Saturday Beaded Daisy Chains, right?

For tomorrow's fun we need small glass seed beads, scissors, and either thin fishing line or some stretchy clear thread. I went ahead and bought some at the craft store.

Regarding whether he loves me or loves me not...dude, I don't have time to worry about such things. For real.

Don't you agree?

Sheesh.

Speaking of bracelets, did you get the 3 colors of embroidery thread, scissors and tape? Okay then, let's give these giddy gals something to giggle about!

Cut a long piece of each thread color. How long, you ask? Well, for our first practice run, I'd cut each piece about 2 feet long. Once you get really good at making these you can cut longer pieces of thread. For now, let's keep it short...okay?

Group your threads together. Fold them in half and tie a knot near the halfway spot loop. Secure the loop to your tabletop with a piece of tape. Now we're ready for the fun part.

Choose one color to begin knotting with. This thread is called the knotter...smart, eh? As you can see, I chose the blue thread for my first knotters. Smooth the other two colored threads together like I did with my yellow and red threads. These straightened threads are called fillers.

See how I layed the blue thread in a 'u' over my red and yellow threads? You go ahead and do that with your knotter.

 Now, tuck that knotter thread inside that loop you formed with the 'u'. See? Like I did?

Then carefully tie what is called a half hitch by tightening your loop around the fillers. Bring the knotter all the way to the original big loop. Smooth it flat and you, my friend, have made your first half-hitch knot! Woo Hoo!

Okay now...I made 5 half-hitch knots in a row with my blue thread. Then, I decided that I wanted to change knotter color from blue to red. It's easier than you think. Trust me.

All I did was join the blue thread with the yellow thread, making them both the fillers now. Then, with my red thread, I made the 'u' loops, tucked the thread into the 'u' loop, and tightened the half-hitch knot. In short, I simply repreated the process with my red thread. No problem...right?

After making 5 knots with my red thread, I repeated the whole banana with my yellow thread! Can you see how the pattern is created? Easy enough, right?

 After you've had success making a few shorter bracelets you're ready to graduate to the longer version. I'm busy making a longer one as we speak.

However, I tried to tie my practice Simple Saturday short bracelet on Tripod, but he was having none of it. Though brokenhearted, I told him in the most aloof tone I could muster, "Be that way, dog. Be that way."

He answered me with a long, wet lick.

Yuck! That's a dawg for you.

Anyhow, click on this link to see the long bracelet that I made for my bestest buddy in the world...YOU!

Now, go out there and have a super Simple Saturday, pal, and I'll see you back here next weekend.

Hey...let's make our best buds a little something to show just how much we care for them, want to? How about a bracelet? Or maybe a little something colorful to tie around their ankle? How about it? Just a little something to remind them just how much we love and appreciate their playing such an important role in our lives. 

Here's what you need to gather up for  tomorrow's BFF fun: three colors of embroidery floss, scissors, and tape. That's it!

Be thinking of who you want to give this bracelet to. Tomorrow, as we twist and tie the threads together, let's think of all of the good things we love about our pals.

Don't worry. Friendship bracelets are easy to make. Your BFF's will love them almost as much as they love you!