Zoo Animal Profile Cards

Guys. Seriously. Sometimes I am just awesome/crazy. We received passes to the Dallas Zoo for Christmas and I decided that it would be a fun learning opportunity. So I made cards for each kind of animal at the zoo. And laminated maps. 

We are going to be learning all kinds of things over here! Like what a rock hyrax is and what reticulated means.

 And did you know there is more than one kind of zebra?! Yep.

Our plan is to see every animal at the Dallas Zoo before the year is up. We'll put stickers on the cards of the animals that we've seen. 

Lest you think I'm too awesome, I did not do the research for the cards. I totally copy-and-pasted all of the information from the Dallas Zoo's website. But I DID do some really sweet formatting. Here are the files:

Mammals
Birds
Reptiles and Amphibians
Invertebrates

I printed them out on cardstock using my home printer, laminated them and then cut along the lines. I'm thinking about punching holes in the cards and putting them together on a ring. But it might be handy to have them separate. We'll have to see what works best for us.

I hope you enjoy them!

P.S. The Dallas Zoo has an iPhone app! I wanted actual cards for my 4-year-old who is more tactile, but the app is really cool too. You can find all of the same animal info on the app. On each profile page, you can click on the "Map" button and it will show you exactly where in the zoo that animal is located. The app also lists the schedule of events for the day. And it has an awesome "Friend Finder" You get a PIN number and your friend gets a PIN. You share your PINs with each other and the Friend Finder lets you see your friends each others location on the map for 24 hours. Neato!

P.P.S. After looking at the map, I just noticed that the zoo's list of animals is incomplete. Where is the info for the koalas? Emus? Lorikeets? Red crowned crane? The app map says there are camel rides, but the one printed from the websites doesn't say anything about camels. Do you have camels or not?! I need to know!! What about the koi and owls I've seen in the Children's Zoo? Not having complete information drives me crazy! Obviously. I might be sending the zoo an email. Time for an update people!

Arts and Crafts

I have decided that crafting is therapeutic. It's something that is just for me. An activity that doesn't have anything to do with my identity as a wife, a mother or any of my other roles. This is Alicia stuff only! And I'm going to start sharing my art-ing and crafting here. You can be sure that whatever groovy things you might see here, I've got lots of other struggles (see my post about keeping it real).

Let's begin with my crafting bio. Generally, I'm a Recipe Follower, meaning I'm not usually creative on my own, but I do great if I'm following someone else's example, especially if it comes with instructions or a tutorial. I like re-purposing, upcycling, making things for my daughter, crocheting, and most recently, paint-by-numbers. I usually craft after Emily "I-have-to-touch-everything-even-if-you-just-told-me-not-to" is in bed. I find it relaxing, but stimulating in an oxymoronic way.

Here is my latest creation:

(Don't you just love the toddler easel? The belly photo bomb was an awesome bonus!)

This particular piece of art started out as a crappy painted canvas board from the thrift store. I bought it (and a couple others) with the optimistic idea that I could just paint over the original amateur art and reuse it. I scrolled through my DIY and Crafts board on Pinterest and found a couple of projects I wanted to do. These were my inspiration: 

Source

Source

Originally, I was planning to make it look more like the first idea, so I bought primary colored paint, but the more I looked at the second idea, the more I liked the metallic gold underneath. So, for better or for worse, I combined the ideas.

I used Folk Art acrylic paint and your run-of-the-mill painters tape. I painted over the original painting with about 4 layers of metallic gold. This didn't cover as flawlessly as I would have liked. It was a little streaky. Next time, I'll try spray paint.

I was pretty random with my tape placement, but I did try to make sure to press it down securely so the paint wouldn't leak underneath. I wanted an overall metallic shine to the piece so I mixed each color with some of the gold. I wish the photo reflected the shininess better. 

Next time I think I'll try using thinner tape. I'm also thinking about trying one with black lines and making it look like stained glass. Wouldn't that be cool?!