The following blog photos for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge are brought to you by Nicole from The Madlab Post...
It’s time for Letter Play - Where DIY activities, cinema and life offline collide!
While I've had fun coming up with craft projects for the Letter Play Friday Fun Time series, I just unfortunately don't have the time to devote to continuing those tutorials on a frequent basis. A craft tutorial may be posted every now and then if the mood or inspiration strikes me. For now, however, the format of Letter Play is evolving to include photos that A to Z Challenge participants can use on their blogs during April.
It is important that all of you understand that these photos are to be used for A to Z Challenge posts ONLY and they are not to be confused with the official A to Z Challenge banners or related graphics. The purpose of these photos are to help busy or non-techie A to Z participants add images to their posts without having to search around online for royalty free images and without having to take their own photos or whatever.
Having blogged for a few years now, I know firsthand how image searches tend to take up so much time that it interferes with writing, blogging and related online activities. This is where Letter Play comes in -- if sometime during the month of April, you are participating in the A to Z Challenge and suddenly need a photo for a particular letter, just come to the A to Z Blog and search for this Letter Play series to find a photo to use in your blog post. They are still my photos and I reserve all rights to them with the exception of granting permission for bloggers to use them in any and all A to Z Challenge blog posts published in April.
Although you do not have to give me a credit, caption or byline or link to my blog if you use one of my photos, you are more than welcome to add a credit with my name and/or blog if you're so inclined to do so. Now that the introduction to this new format of Letter Play is out of the way, let's get on to playing with letters.
Last weekend, a stray cat ran across the street in front of the car I was riding in, causing my grandmother to hit her brakes. My cousin, who was riding in the car started talking about all of the stray cats running around near her apartment building after former tenants abandon them upon moving out. I told my cousin that the cat that ran through traffic looked malnourished, which brings me to the inspiration behind today's Letter M post.
For three years or so, I participated in Blog Action Day, a worldwide online event that brings awareness to one particular cause or subject, every October. Food was the subject for 2011, so I wrote about food waste -- particularly how many of us might be surprised at how much food we waste when there are millions of people around the world who lack access to nutritious food.
After trying to figure out what to take photos of for Letter M, I decided to play with food items that are either stale, expired, rarely used or all of these things combined -- so long as they have one thing in common: Flexibility for use in a fun manner. Here are three photos of cereal, hot cocoa mix and mustard shaped into Letter M for your A to Z Blogging pleasure.
M made of CerealThe box of Cheerios that I've had this summer are still good according to the box but not when they're actually eaten. I took a few out to snack on and noticed that they were very stale. Yuck! Good thing that there is only about a teaspoon or so left in the box...doesn't make me hesitate to throw it in the garbage.
M made of Cocoa Mix
The cocoa mix that I had has expired earlier this month. Wanna know how I found that out? Well, I was craving a cup and set out to make it, only to notice that my plans of a tasty up were shot to pieces thanks to the expiration date. I got over it though....you know something's fishy when the top of the box starts collecting dust, right?!!!
M made of Mustard
The store brand bottle of mustard is still good but you'd think it would have expired by now, since I have no idea when the last time that I used it was. Better to have than have not, I suppose.
By the way, I promise the the next Letter Play post won't be this long. I just had to at least explain why today's post featured photos and no craft instructions, right? RIGHT! So, there you have it :)
Happy Friday, everybody!
Sign up for the Monday Movie Meme, a weekly group blogging series that inspires discussion about entertainment in a whole new light and provides recommendations for your DVD, on-demand or theater fix. New topics are posted every Monday at The Madlab Post!
NICOLE
Also @MadlabPost on Twitter
Great idea to offer the A to Z photos.
ReplyDeleteI hate wasting food and though I try to use food before the expiration date, I do tend to have a lot of things past date. Actually a lot of those, like mustard for example, are still good long after the date.
I found a great site (can't remember the URL, but it can be googled) about things that are still good after the expiration date has passed. I typically will go by the sight, smell, and taste sample test.
Lee
A Faraway View
That's a great idea Nicole. We try not to waste food at home, but there's always something that seems to sneak up on us with an expiration date ;)
ReplyDeleteVery creative - also peppers can be cut into letters, I think. Sharp scissors will do it, and if you have used clean scissors, you can eat the letters once you have taken a photo. As long as its consumed, it's not wasted.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful of you to offer alphabet photos for the A-Z. It's always taken a long time to find photos, but the past few months it's gotten ridiculous. I'm trying to use all my own when I use a photo, but it's not easy.
ReplyDelete