Sunday, August 5, 2012

Driven to Extremes

Recently the kids were invited to a birthday party with a drive in movie theme. The hosts were going to set up a big screen in their back yard and all of the party goers were told to come equipped with cardboard box 'cars' that they made. 12 year old K-boy eschewed this invitation in favor of staying home with BadDad to watch scary movies, but M-girl and D-boy were enchanted with the idea and couldn't wait to get started on their cars.

Actually they didn't wait. No sooner had my hubby scrounged up a couple of empty cartons, then they set to work, visions of a pink convertible and an aquamarine big rig dancing in their heads. After much cutting of cardboard and usage of specially purchased duct tape, this is what their cars looked like.



Not quite party ready. I moaned and put it on my mental to do list. There it stayed until the day before the party.

By then I had two kids anxious that they wouldn't have functional cars for the party, and a colossal dread of the messy project ahead. Finally, I gathered new boxes and headed for the basement for some peace while I thought of how to assemble their dream cars. At times it would be simpler to have less creative children.

After much pondering, and more delaying, I realized that colored wrapping paper was the solution to all of our construction problems. A quick 4pm trip to Target, and we were ready to go with both hot pink and aquamarine paper. The kids were right there helping me, so hours later...we still weren't done and I sent everyone to bed.

The next morning (party day) I woke up bright, refreshed and panicked. We set to work like machines, cranking out tail fins, windshields, headlights and real working hoods. Finally, an hour or so before party time we were done and the cars were pretty darn amazing considering they were entirely made of cardboard, paper and tape. When I saw the grins on M-girl's and D-boy's faces, I was puffed up with super mom pride.




On the way out to the party M-girl piped up and said, Mom do you think Mrs. K. really meant for it to be so much work?

Oh, I'm sure everyone had a good time making their cars. This kind of work is fun! I replied.

Imagine my surprise when we arrived at the party only to discover that most of the other 'cars' were quite a bit simpler than ours. For starters they were still their original cardboard color, and didn't have the same degree of ornamentation as ours. Not a tail fin or whitewall tire in sight. The party goers, happy to be given licence to pretend, swarmed around, admiring all of the cars, and having the kind of carefree fun that children can have on a warm summer night.

Sigh! My hubby says I get a tad obsessed with perfection sometimes. Maybe this was one of those times? Perhaps I could have but the brakes on the crafting monster just a bit?

Still it was all worth it when D-boy, grin still firmly in place, asked on the way home from the party,

Mom, can I keep my truck forever?

Sure you can, Sweetheart. Sure you can.

linking to:  Pour Your Heart Out

26 comments:

  1. Hey, those cars look great. I'd be proud to be seen driving one of them.

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    1. Thanks Stephen! If only my kids would keep thinking that way once they're old enough to drive!

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  2. Love, love, love! Some of my happiest childhood memories were from old cardboard boxes. When I turned 16, for several weeks we had collected every appliance box in our town and had made a massive maze in our backyard. It was really, really fun! :)

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    1. That sounds like so much fun! My siblings and I used to make fun houses in our basement out of boxes and blankets whenever our parents purchased something that came in a huge box. Great memories!

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  3. oh wow...great creativity!!
    when my kids were little I would go to the appliance stores on Tuesdays and ask them for all their big boxes for the kids to play with.. provided.hours and hours of play time..got them thinking "outside the box"!

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    1. Seeing kids with boxes really makes you wonder why most of us have houses filled with toys! There's nothing like using a bit of imagination to have a great time.

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  4. You are a rockstar mom! Seriously, can't believe you whipped these things up and your kids know they've got a great mom too--trust me!

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    1. Well, I might have gone a bit overboard. The scary thing is they were right there with me, making those cars over the top. It was fun in retrospect though.

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  5. Oh my goodness that is a mixture of hilarious and absolutely precious. The cardboard box cars you made were INCREDIBLE. I love that you add the American flag to both as well. How funny that the rest of the cars pale in comparison to the ones you made. Go big or go home :)

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    1. Asking us to do a crafty project is kind of like throwing down a gauntlet. My kids and I will take that challenge (even if no one else really meant to compete). I'm pretty sure we get it from my own mom, who was known to pull all nighters over our Halloween costumes.

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  6. Wow, those are awesome! I love the creativity. I understand going for that "perfection" thing, too. As long as you had fun and made a memory with your kids (which it totally sounds like you did), then I'd say it was worth it. =0)

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    1. There's plenty of things that I don't go for perfection on (my garden for one). On the things that I do though, I don't really realize that's what I'm doing until I'm so far into the project that I'm having fun.

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  7. OK so maybe they were little over dressed for the party, but those cars turned out fantastic!!! Let them play with them until they fall apart. You've got yard toys for the rest of the summer. Can't beat that! :)

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    1. Oh they will be playing with them! I've even suggested that they would make great Halloween costumes. I don't think the kids are going for that though.

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  8. Despite all the work, it was quite a clever idea for a birthday party! Hope your kiddos had fun :)

    Stopping by from Shell's PYHO :)

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    1. Oh it was a great idea, and the kids had sooo much fun! The amount of work was purely my own fault.

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  9. That seems like a lot of work to ask for a party- but yes love love the cars you made! At the end of our school year the kindergartners have a little race with cars they make and I am just glad I happened to see some of the cars the kids made last year as people go way way out and I wouldn't have made anything even close if I did not know.

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    1. I bet that race is really cute! At least you have all schoolyear to think about what you're going to make. Then again if you'r like me you'll wait till the last minute anyway!

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  10. Their cars are awesome!!!! And what a fun idea for a party.

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    1. Thanks! It was a great party. I wish at least one of my kids had a summer birthday, backyard parties are so much fun!

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  11. what a great idea!! just discovered your blog and I love it! I'm your newest follower - hope you can check me out too! xo

    http://allthingsprettyandlittle.blogspot.com/

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  12. WOW - I'm so impressed with your mad skills! Those look so awesome!

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    1. Thanks! They were actually a lot of fun to make once we got over the hard part.

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  13. Wow - these are so awesome! I'm not surprised at all your son wants to keep his forever!

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    1. It's funny how when kids are expecting that you're up to completing a task, you find that you really are!

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