I am preparing an art activity, which involves golf balls, for my pretend grandchildren.

I have been hiking in an area that is rife with wayward golf balls.  I was gifted as many as two dozen of them recently by the weed-whacking groundskeeper and the rest I found on the other side of the street relatively far from the actual golf course.

The children are my friend Elaine’s actual grandchildren and they will be visiting me next month.  They all live in Florida and are looking forward to experiencing a New York autumn.  I think it will be the first time for the littles.

I’m painting the golf balls now and they will help me finesse them into ladybugs, jack-o-lanterns, spiders and bumblebees for starters.

Then we plan to go for hikes and hide them in the woods for other children to find and enjoy.  I am certain they will love this. They will be like little Banksys – artsy stealths.  So fun!

The balls need several coats of this special acrylic paint meant for outdoor items so the prep work is…a lot.  Currently, my kitchen is a mini disaster area and I am okay with that because my prototypes are better than I thought they would be.  I need to hop over to the craft store tomorrow to pick up a few supplies.  I mean – who has a stockpile of black pipe cleaners handy?