Arts & Crafts: Four Things to Make Using Those Annoying Turf Balls From the Field

Pinewood Upper Campus’ fields are infamously home to some of the most annoying creations known to humankind: thousands upon thousands of tiny, green plastic turf balls. For weeks on end, these turf balls invade our shoes and latch on to our clothes, antagonizing us when we should be calmly learning. Making art with the turf balls is a positive way to reclaim spoiled school days.

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Bead Curtain: Due to the volatility of fads, you can never be sure what your peers will find cool. One reliable constant, however, is a bead curtain. Channel your inner hippie by gluing the turf balls along lengths of string. Once complete, tape your strings to the top of your bedroom windows or doorway for a unique take on a popular decorative accent.

Baby Rattle: Welcome a newborn into the world with a homemade rattle. For this thoughtful gift, fill one-half of a plastic Easter egg with turf balls before snapping it shut. Glue a leftover dowel rod from the gender reveal cake to the bottom of the egg to serve as your handle. When finished with the structure of the rattle, paint it with bright colors to make any baby squeal with joy.

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Zen Garden: When the turf balls become too overwhelming, unwind with a custom compact zen garden. For the soothing sand, pack an empty plastic takeout container with your abundance of turf balls. Then, add decorations like mini drink umbrellas or pebbles from your backyard to decorate your sandbox. Now, trace patterns into your new garden for ultimate peace.

Confetti: After a long evening of extracting clingy turf balls from your shoes for creative art projects, use the excess to throw yourself a party. The size and shape of the turf balls are perfect for convenient confetti. Grab a handful of the balls and toss them into the air! They might get stuck all over you again, but that’s the circle of life — you can just make new crafts with them.

Everytime I walk on campus, I feel like a fraud. Everyone knows me as Raghav Ramgopal. The academic weapon. The person who enjoys raiding the Snack Shack until all of the double chocolate chip muffins disappear. The person who enjoys eating Cheetos while chugging a refreshing, cold carton of choccy milk (yes, it’s actually good, and, no, I will not take any hate about it). But, many don’t know that I am living a lie. No one knows that I am Hannah Montana.

You see, 10 years ago, when I was a first grader exploring all that life had to offer, Billy Ray Cyrus approached me.

“Now that my little Smiley may or may not be off to college — no one is allowed to know — I want you to take her place as Hannah Montana,” Cyrus said with a deep, raspy, Tennessee twang.

So, I snatched the wig from Cyrus’s hands and put it on. Magically, I became. . . Caucasian. No one could have ever realized that a sixyear-old was going on stage in front of millions to perform some of America’s favorite hits. I truly got the best of both worlds. Every shoe in every size and color, and $134 million! Life was exciting for a while. . . until it wasn’t.

In my 10 years as the blonde, teenage, Caucasian girl that has traveled into the hearts of millions around the world, I have had so many exciting adventures. I was invited to sing at the VMAs. I was invited to sing at the GRAMMYs. I even won a couple — four, to be exact — myself. I even sang for Congress! Yes, Diane Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi enjoy my music. But, I want to do it all as myself. I don’t want to keep this secret barreled up in me any longer. The world should know Raghav Ramgopal as the four-time GRAMMY winner and chart-topper. Not some made up, magical girl.

So, here I announce my relinquishment of this blonde wig. I renounce the $134 million. I renounce the best of both worlds. I want one world to be the best: the world of Raghav Ramgopal. I will be sad not to perform for a while, but this will be a good time for me to find myself. But, VEVO, if you want to hit me up, I’m willing to sign a $134 million contract!

DUMPLINGSSSSSS!!! (kinda)

Citing the all powerful Wiki, a dumpling is “pieces of cooked dough. . . often wrapped around a filling.” So using our cupcake batter as our tasty, crusty dough and our delicious, fresh (and definitely not squishy) fruits as our delectable filling, we decided to make some truly innovative dumplings.

Why did we decide to do this?

SH: To be honest, I have no clue. I don’t know how to bake. I was just there for the experience and the free food. SK: It was my ingenious idea. I take all the credit. :D KA: I’m still really confused as to why we did this. However, I was along for the ride (and to make sure nobody burned my kitchen down)!

SY: We’ve spent so long critiquing other people’s food and cooking skills that we felt it was our turn to flex our own kitchen creations. I think we decided to start with baking because cooking is a little advanced for us.

How did you expect this process to go and how did it actually go?

SH: I expected it to be rough, harsh, and absolutely horrid. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad, mainly because Karina did all the baking. I cracked one egg, was proud of myself, and called it a day after that. ALSO SALLY DID NOT PULL ANY WEIGHT EITHER SO SHE CAN’T EVEN BE CRITIQUING ME (see below).

SK: As expected Karina was our overlord. She barked orders to us and we scurried like mice to execute them (well, only some of us pulled our weight — *cough, cough Sam*). Trusting Karina’s supreme judgment and vast wealth of fancy food knowledge, we did good?

KA: Unfortunately, I had exceptionally low expectations. I watched Sophia crack an egg horribly wrong and then I took over.

SY: I definitely didn’t expect it to go smoothly, since Karina is the only baker in the bunch and she can’t control us three crazies. Needless to say, it was definitely a wild ride from top to bottom.

How were the cupcakes?

SH: Great. Probably got diabetes from eating so many of them.

SK: Absolutely delectable. Except for ones we baked fruit into — those were soggy and leaked all over my hand. KA: Kinda hard ngl. However, the buttercream and copious amounts of sprinkles made it much better.

SY: I’m one of those people where if it’s sweet enough, it’s edible. As long as I smeared enough of Karina’s lemon buttercream frosting on the cupcake and didn’t think too hard about it, the cupcake tasted yummy!

What was your most valuable takeaway from this experience?

SH: That Sophia can’t crack an egg.

SK: Karina makes bomb buttery frosting — would highly recommend it!

KA: Cracking an egg is a life skill.

SY: I can’t crack an egg.