What might happen if you were to hand a piece of fine art to a 4-year-old …

who is armed with markers?

Magic, that’s what.

Illustrator Mica Angela Hendricks confirmed this in a positively picturesque blog post earlier this year.

Eager to try out a special new sketchbook she’d ordered for herself, Mica attempted to sit down for a bit of “mommy time” drawing when her 4-year-old daughter snapped to attention.

“OOOH! Is that a NEW sketchbook? Can I draw in that too, mama?”

Reluctant to relinquish her project …

(“I’m all about kids’ crafts, but when it comes to my own art projects, I don’t like to share.”)

She told her daughter that she had been planning to add a body to the woman’s face she’d just drawn.

“Well, I will do it,” her daughter declared resolutely, and she grabbed the pen.

One page, Mica resigned … I can sacrifice one page.

She didn’t anticipate the absolute wonder of what came next.

“I had drawn a woman’s face, and she had turned her into a dinosaur-woman. It was beautiful, it was carefree, and I LOVED what she had created,” Mica admitted. “Flipping through my sketchbook, I found another doodle of a face I had not yet finished. She drew a body on it, too, and I was enthralled. It was such a beautiful combination of my style and hers. And she loved being a part of it. She never hesitated in her intent. She wasn’t tentative. She was insistent and confident that she would, of course, improve any illustration I might have done. And the thing is, she DID.”

Image courtesy of Mica Angela Hendricks via Busymockingbird.com

Take a look at some of the magnificent illustrations that resulted from this mother-daughter collaboration and read more about what Mica learned from letting go of her artistic reins in her original post.

Ready to rock the radish?

Photo by thebittenword.com via Wikimedia Commons

Well, okay, maybe I’m not quite hip enough to make that question work,

but the Gery Girls sure are.

This dynamic and darling duo of sisters Lillian (10) and Lyla (7) is “rocking” fruits and veggies from the orchard to the garden in their own snappy CDs.

Under the guitar-picking guidance of their dad, Nashville musician Douglas Gery, the Girls are out to get other kids groovin’ to good food by making get-up-and-dance music.

So, don’t be shy … “Root for the Radish!”

Or, grab a potato sack and get ready to hop your heart out …

Whew! These gals will get your blood pumping.

The Gery Girls also have a Christmas CD that will tickle kids’ funny bones with tunes like “Santa’s Getting Buff.”

Listen to more songs and order CDs (all 4 for $15) at www.gerygirls.com.

Karina, who took today’s photo-of-the-day, spent last weekend knitting her first-ever project—hat, gloves, scarf. In one weekend! (Like, that’s just soooooo farmgirl.) She couldn’t put the needles down once Knit Ann Purl found her way into Karina’s heart.

And she into ours. Stay tuned for more of her photos.

And a book. She and I are working on a book together. The book, the book, the book, nothin’ but the book. (Our deadline looms. Looms. Looms.)

Used work truck that hubby (Mr. Butters) purchased recently. Do ya think we should replace the sign? Or … if the truck fits, just use it. Fit happens, right? 

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Gift registries are generally associated with weddings and baby showers, but now that the holiday season is gleaming on the not-so-distant horizon, I starting thinking …

How would you feel about revamping the annual wish-list notion by incorporating a registry?

Before you balk, let me introduce you to a brilliant new twist on the traditional registry idea:

SoKind.

Catchy handle aside, SoKind really does get right to the heart of generosity. This online service encourages the giving of homemade gifts, charitable donations, secondhand goods, experiences, volunteer assistance, and other genuinely valuable offerings.

What’s not to love?

Parents, in particular, often search for ways to inspire family and friends to give their kids less stuff.

(You know how all of the plastic toys can pile up!)

Photo by Kannanshanmugam, Shanmugamstudio, Kollam via Wikimedia Commons

Sometimes, though, it can be tricky to request specific gifts—especially, ahem, from certain relatives—without seeming picky or ungrateful.

And, let’s face it—it can be stressful for loved ones to try and track down gifts with more meaning.

SoKind offers an eloquent means of requesting gifts and, in turn, expressive alternatives to the ho-hum default (read: gift cards).

“What gifts do you truly want?” asks SoKind. “Music lessons? Homemade dinners? A museum membership? Babysitting help? Donations to your favorite charity? Through SoKind, you can register for gifts of time, experience, and skill, as well as traditional material gifts and secondhand items. The registry is entirely customizable, so the possibilities are endless!”

This novel registry would also be a terrific tool for office celebrations, don’t you think?

Here’s the gist of how SoKind works:

1. Fuel up on inspiration for gift ideas you and your family might enjoy at SoKind gift ideas and sample registries.
2. Create your own registry, including as much information as possible for gift buyers. For instance, if you want only locally made products, you can add this to your description.
3. Share your registry with family and friends by sending personalized announcements. SoKind keeps track of what gifts have been given and who signed up for each (or, you can keep it anonymous if you prefer to be surprised).
4. When it’s all said and done, you can send thank you e-cards through SoKind, too.

Hooligan Houlihan got creative beyond her usual crafty self. Possessed!

Before

After

Here’s how she did it:

Six years ago, Annie Leonard released The Story of Stuff, a compelling 20-minute video in which Leonard illustrated the vicious cycle of unbridled consumerism from factory to daily life to landfill.

Photo courtesy of StoryofStuff.org

“We have a problem with Stuff,” Leonard declared. “We use too much, too much of it is toxic, and we don’t share it very well. But that’s not the way things have to be. Together, we can build a society based on better, not more; sharing, not selfishness; community, not division.”

Photo courtesy of Treehugger.com

It was a brief animated statement that became a movement (500,000 worldwide members and counting).

Soon, there were more movies—stories of bottled water, cosmetics, electronics, and so on.

While each video addressed ideas for working toward happy endings, Leonard just released a fabulous finale to her “stuff” series that hits the cumulative nail on the head:

The Story of Solutions.

“In what I call the ‘Game of More,’ politicians cheer a steadily growing economy at the same time as our health indicators are worsening, income inequality is growing, and polar icecaps are melting,” writes Annie Leonard in this month’s issue of YES! Magazine. “But what if we changed the point of the game? What if the goal of our economy wasn’t more, but better—better health, better jobs, and a better chance to survive on the planet? Shouldn’t that be what winning means? That’s the question I ask in my new movie.”

Leonard points us to the plastic packaging problem as a case in point.

“Game of More” solutions include initiatives that reward people with gift cards to buy things if they recycle plastic bags and containers. Sounds like a nice idea, but think about it: This strategy really just encourages a “more is better” economy.

Leonard proposes new solutions such as campaigns that are trying to ban plastic packaging. “By volunteering their time, these citizens are declaring that there’s something more important to them than just earning and spending more,” she explains. “To win this campaign, these citizens are going to have to team up with forward-thinking businesses offering alternatives to throwaway plastic packaging.”

Changing the goal of the entire economy—from more to better—is a monumental undertaking. Annie Leonard doesn’t deny it.

“We can’t do it all at once. But I argue that by focusing on game-changing solutions, we can steadily build an economy that values things like safer, healthier, and more fair as much as we currently value faster, cheaper, and newer,” she says.

Take nine minutes to hear more of Leonard’s spot-on logic (seriously spot-on—I love this woman) in the Story of Solutions video, below:

While we’re on the subject of board games

(if you’re scratching your head, visit my recent Farming Game entry to catch up),

Classic Monopoly fans may—or may not—enjoy this twist on tradition:

Photo courtesy of Big Hope via Co.Exist

That’s right: Commonopoly.

While countless Monopoly spin-offs have flooded the market in recent years, none is quite like this one.

Not only is it basically a DIY game (check out playing instructions on the Big Hope website), but it also scraps the whole notion of monopolization altogether.

But, wasn’t that the point?

Not anymore.

“Commonopoly demands that players brainstorm alternative economic systems through activities placed around the board,” explains Sydney Brownstone of Co.Exist. “The players move counter clockwise, as per the instructions, and subsequent creative acts are to be documented in booklets later distributed to the public. Much of the game focuses on coming up with ideas for public spaces, as well as sharing home remedies for common ailments.”

Bringing social consciousness into a game built on power play?

I’m game!