The idea to the right is wonderful!  The Robertson family puts their holiday cards in an album on the den table for everyone to browse through.  Their album contains cards from at least a decade ago (wow!).  Think of the fun people have looking and comparing pictures of how children have grown on family cards!  The small areas could also be used for small gift tags that are too special to toss out! 
Sent in by Emily Robertson of Dalton, Georgia. 
 

The idea to the left isn't so much how to display your cards, but what to do with them!  Yep, every year we are all stuck with cute and gorgeous cards and the dilema of what to do with them!  How about saving them, cutting the pictures out and reusing them to make new cards, gift tags or collage in a scrap book! 
Sent in by Shannon Wright of Parkersburg, West Virginia. 

Here is another idea reusing your cards!  Save those large cards and cut off the backside.  The following year, just reuse the picture side by turning it into a postcard! 

Here's a new idea for displaying cards!  Use a window shutter, paint it in a holiday fashion (here we tried to simulate red with gold sponging...) and find a good spot to hang it up.  When your cards start pouring in, simply slip the back of the cards onto the slits!  If the cards are vertical, you could cut a slot into the back with a utility knife to make them hang on an angle. 

We've probably all seen the 'clothesline' idea, but this one incorporates 1/2" ribbon hung over a doorway or entry way.  Instead of the ole paperclips, use clothespins but first have the kids paint those boring clothespins!  A beautiful new twist on a warn out idea...we loved it! 
The three ideas above were all send in by Xina Crawford of Huntville, Alabama. 
 
Our final idea is for your creative types!  Using small pieces of tape or that tacky rubber stuff, arrange your cards to create a wreath or tree on the back of your door or on a large empty wall!  If you have an alcove before your front door, a card wreath could be just the thing to decorate the front of your door! 
The Kourkoumelis Family of Astoria, New York. 
 

So what is a batik?  Batik is using wax on fabric to create a resist when dye is added. Where the wax is placed, the fabric dye can't get into the fabric.  Imagine dying a piece of fabric bright yellow.  Then you take wax and draw dots all over the yellow fabric (shown here in red).  When all your dots are drawn you dye the fabric black.    Once the fabric has dried you wash out all the red wax you put on and you are left with a black piece of fabric with beautiful yellow dots! 

Of course, real batiks are much more complicated than simple yellow dots!  This art of batik is practiced all over the world including India and parts of Africa - very beautiful batiks come from the country of Nigeria, often with stories in the pictures! 

How to make your own batik... 
You will need: 
    • white drawing paper  
    • light colored crayons 
    • watercolor paints 
  
Step1:  The first thing you will need is a piece of good white drawing paper.  Fold your paper into sections as shown in the picture on the right.  

Step 2:  Now you need to decide on a pattern or two to repeat on your batik.  Use lots lines and shapes but don't color any areas in solid!  Leave white space for your "dye". 

Suggestions for colors:  The colors that work best for our batik are  
     -white     -yellow     -light orange     -light green      
     -bright pink or red     
     -any light or bright colors. 

Step3:  Now comes the tough part.  No matter what colors you use you MUST push as hard as possible when applying your crayon.    Notice how the small block on the right is dark... this young artist pushed very hard to create such dark colors.  
 
Working on the crayon drawing of your batik is going to take a while, so we will finish the directions in the next issue of Etcetera...make sure you stop back!   

The most exciting part of batik work is yet to come!