There is a Batman costume and a ninja costume (both full with masks) in my son's room. I'm starting to wonder if he does some caped crusading at night. (That would help explain the bruised legs and the surly attitude...)
 It's no secret that we've got some superhero fans in our house. I went 30 years without knowing the intricacies (or even the names!) of most superheroes, and now I know more than I really care to. I must admit, some of it is pretty cool, and definitely better than some of the other toys out there. Rainbow loom bracelets have been the activity of choice this Summer. Again, I have to admit that I thought it was kind of silly and overpriced at first, but anything that keeps my boys concentration for an hour at a time is worth the money (and you can now find supplies for much much less at AC Moore!). So, combining superheroes and bracelet-making must be a good match! Thankfully, they're good at keeping everything organized because my borderline OCD is also no secret.  Sorting these things is like therapy for me! #issues As the rubberbands came out this morning, they began to fall into superhero color patterns. Little Guy decided to create some bracelets based on the characters.  Little fingers hard at work. (The shirt was not staged; this is pretty frequent attire.) Check out some combinations, then tell us your favorites!  Wolverine  Hulk (the purple is for his tattered shorts!)  Batman (Brave and the Bold color palette)  Captain America  Iron Man  Superman  Poison Ivy  Flash  Green Lantern  Batman/Catwoman  Robin  Harley Quinn  We had this for Spiderman, then decided red and blue or red and black would be better...  Camo (I don't know if any comic heroes wear camo, but it's a cool combination. US Military = heroes :))  Me, in my pajamas, modeling my new Superman bracelet We're missing a LOT! Who would you add? There are endless combinations. Try some of the more complicated patterns to make it even more dynamic! If superheroes aren't your thing, try colors that match each of the Princesses, Disney character color combinations, sports teams (we have Phillies bracelets here, despite their patheticness of late), Ninjago guys...choose your own adventure :) Rainbow Loom was not my creation (wish it was...). And obviously, I don't work for Marvel or DC. This is just our idea for cheap, easy Summer fun! It's 100 degrees and my boys are running around outside in full superhero costumes. I suggested they just wear the capes, but that was a no-go. (Meanwhile, I'm still hot from going to the playground 6 hours ago ;))
Ok, with 2 walls taken care of, and 1 made up of the door and a closet, that left one more wall to decorate. As we've seen, my artistic skill stops right around tracing shapes and using school glue. So, for the final project, I armed myself with exactly those things!  3D superhero symbol signs I grabbed a couple colors of posterboard, felt squares, and another piece of foamboard for backing. I returned to the almighty Google, and searched for outlines of the logos I wanted. I traced and trimmed, layered, glued, leveled, taped, and...done! Although, I have since been requested to add Flash and Wonder Woman panels, so my project may not quite be over... I'm going to add a couple other little things, and hang the Batman/Robin pinata in the corner, then that will be it! Last week I posted the first step in creating a superhero room for Little Guy. To recap, I wanted something cool but not permanent. A posterboard became a Gotham City backdrop/headboard. Of course, I couldn't stop there. I had a superhero image saved to my computer from some 'research' I had done for a couple superhero birthday parties we had. Horrible stealer disclaimer: I do not know where the image came from. I know that's a mortal sin to artists, so I am not posting the actual image. It's easy enough to find/create one if you want to duplicate this. The original image was in color, but I thought it might be kind of cool in black and white-- like a comic book kind of look. ...plus, my husband has a large format B&W printer at work, so he could do it for free :) Don't worry if you don't have a hookup like that-- the large business supply stores do these (sometimes called engineer prints) for about $5. I mounted it on foamboard and hung it on the wall! This time there was already a nail, so I hooked it on there, but I'm sure painters tape would work for this one too. (It's posterboard and paper, so it's really light!) This is so simple, but I really love how it looks. I like the retro-looking faces. Friendly tip-- you may want to find one with a slightly less intimidating picture of Hulk. It may have been the source of a bad dream during the first week it was up... Even more coming up soon! *I know, I know. We criss-crossed Marvel and DC superheroes. It was on purpose. We're equal-opportunity superhero lovers ;)  I have commitment issues when it comes to decorating-- especially kids rooms. When we were designing the nursery, I avoided a "theme". I didn't want every piece of Classic Pooh decor in existence. I didn't want teddy bears on every wall, blanket, and pillow. I found a bedding set that I loved. I pulled a light green color from the quilt and used that as the paint color (we didn't find out what we were having. We figured 'baby' was all we needed to know ;)) The most extreme thing that I did was paint vertical stripes on the bottom half of the wall. That was good therapy for my pregnant OCD brain. Overall, I wanted something that could transition. About two years ago (? I forget...) I turned it from a nursery into a little boy room. We swapped out the 'nursery' valance for longer navy curtains, the star-covered rug with a primary colored one, and added some racecar touches-- wall decals, CARS nightlight, a Someday I'll Win the Race print from Pumpkin and Butterfly-- and called it a day. Recently, my son wanted to turn it into a superhero room. He had gotten an Avengers comforter for his birthday, so that was a start. I began to look for ideas for wall decorations that would be simple, cool, and...non-permanent. When I saw the Gotham City (Metropolis?) backdrop that my friend created for her son's birthday party, I knew that was the first piece! I started with a black presentation board, cut out a skyline, and added some yellow rectangles as the lit windows. Here's the kicker-- it's attached to the wall with blue painters tape. What's more non-committal than that?! I added a (cardstock paper and felt) bat signal above it, and voila! This piece was done and hung in one afternoon! More pieces coming in future posts!  Have you ever had an ingenious idea that was so easy, you can't figure out why you never thought of it before?! Let me share my genius with you:
My boys love all things Batman. Yesterday I stacked a few pieces of scrap paper, cut them into the shape of a bat (roughly...), and hid them around the house (there were 12). It look me 3 minutes to set up, but took them almost 30 minutes start to finish! Fun for them, easy free time for me! I numbered them and had the kids put them in order when they were done. Then they extended the game by hiding them from each other AND are asking me to do the same thing this afternoon. Free and easy? Sure! Holy labor of love, Batman! It only took about an hour..and a few tears.  What’s better than one story about The Super Hero Squad’s never-ending quest to defeat Dr. Doom and his league of bad guys? Two hundred stories about The Super Hero Squad’s never-ending quest to defeat Dr. Doom and his league of bad guys! (Bonus for the parents: All 200+ stories are in one, lightweight book!). Super Hero Squad Flips Out! is an awesome creation, born out of a collaboration between LB Kids and Idiots’ Books. Six stories and six scenes are divided in thirds to create (hold on, *convert the fraction to a decimal, carry the 7…) a LOT of possibilities! Each story combination flows seamlessly together to tell an exciting (if silly) Super Hero Squad story. Little eyes and fingers roaming the page to search for the mentioned characters will not be disappointed; the pictures match up—to each other and to the story—amazingly well. Seriously, I am beyond impressed that the plot makes sense (well, in terms of superheroes at least), the grammar is consistent, and the illustrations are impeccably matched. This book is recommended for kids age 4-8, but I’d bet my supermom cape that superhero fans five times that age range would enjoy this mix-and-match adventure book. *English Major Disclaimer: Mathematical calculations found within this post may not be accurate.  Writer Matthew Swanson and artist Robbi Behr comprise Idiots’ Books. They also happen to be raising their family in a barn-turned-home which, to me, tops off cool with a dollop of awesome.
Read their post about their role in creating Super Hero Squad Flips Out! |
AuthorWith a love of children and a passion for reading and writing, Kelly decided to share her experiences with others through the pages of the Crib Notes book and site.  Join me on Influenster: www.influenster.com/r/1290177J
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