Hot glue or fabric? Not this week! Let's have fun with SCIENCE.

I was assigned some science-y themed articles a couple of weeks ago for SheKnows.com and was up to my EARS in experimenting and researching and BEGGING my 16 year old son for help. It was actually really fun. Do you have a kid that needs some science fair ideas? Well, this might be YOUR LUCKY DAY.

Have you ever wondered how antacids work? Also, learn how to make a simple universal indicator using red cabbage RIGHT HERE.

Ever thought about making your own crystals? (NOT THE ILLEGAL KIND, MOM.)

Just salt and water and food coloring and a cup. Learn exactly how (and why) it works RIGHT HERE.

What's that, you say? You've always been mesmerized by the wonder of a hovercraft? ME TOO! Check out the (basic) mechanics and a kick-ass poster idea RIGHT HERE.

And HONESTLY my fav of the bunch was this idea for a Student Council election poster. This project right here made my oldest daughter want to run for student council president :) Show your children WITH CAUTION if you don't want a politician in the family! Get the deets to make one just like it RIGHT HERE.

Are you EXCITED for science fair season or DREADING it? Me? I am that mom that seriously lets their kids do LITERALLY ALL of their own project work, solo, no matter how much crooked letters or smudges or less than perfection bugs the crap out of me. So my kids projects look like.... KIDS DID THEM. Crooked and sometimes messy. But NO STRESS and my kids learn ALL. THE. THINGS. I repeat to them, frequently, I ALREADY PASSED (insert applicable number) GRADE. At this point, they know: I am a mean mom. Are YOU a mean mom? We should start a club or something.

We heart Minecraft {or} A very Geeky Christmas

Filed under {better late than never} a recap of Christmas 2011. December was filled to the brim with two ill-conceived, last minute CRAZY OVER THE TOP sewing projects that were the brain-child of my dear, sweet, crazy, pain in the ass husband. In late November, he asked {all innocently}what I thought about sewing a few SIMPLE quilts for Cam and Bo {13 and 12 yr old sons}. I knew they had been OBSESSED with this game MINECRAFT for about 6 months and he thought they might enjoy some super geeky themed quilts. I was all game, since I had just painted them super simple cardboard masks for Halloween and the design seemed like it would be straightforward. Yeah. I was SO NAIVE.

As soon as I agreed to whip up some quilts, I promptly forgot all about it.

...

Fast forward to FOUR WEEKS BEFORE CHRISTMAS and my dear pain in the ass husband asks me if I am ready to talk about proposed quilt patterns and a Joann's shopping list. And then he shows me the pattern he made on excel and it wasn't a lap quilt. It wasn't just a 64-square creeper face.

{creeper face aka what I was expecting to recreate}

 It was  INTRICATE. It was SCARY. Yeah. Did I mention I had only ever made ONE quilt before IN MY LIFE? And that I REGULARLY question the sanity of quilters and their need to cut up PERFECTLY GOOD FABRIC only to SEW IT ALL BACK TOGETHER AGAIN? Yeah. True Story.

So, then I dove head first into these crazy projects. And while they are FAR FROM PERFECT, the recipients loved them and I think they turned out pretty damn awesome.

This is C's {Steve with an axe}

And this is B's {A zombie with a pig}

{the girls were so pleased with new dolls, they didn't notice there were no quilts for them}

I don't plan to do a full tutorial of the quilt because I am ready to put the whole, painful incident behind me. But I would be happy to share my excel pattern file and basic quilting concept {that I am fairly certain breaks EVERY SINGLE QUILTING LAW EVERY WRITTEN} with anyone crazy enough interested. Just email me or leave a comment :)  I lost the excel file in the harddrive crash of 2012 :( SORRY! Yeah, because all those blue squares? I cut apart blue fabric and then re-sewed it all back together so it looked like pixels. Hell. Yes. True story.

{Update} .. the painted couch ..

I woke up to more traffic on m' blog than the usual three hits I get a day {bestie, mom, sister} so I figured that Apartment Therapy {aka my biggest refer-er on the ol' world wide web} had mentioned my silly painted sofa again.

Yep. I was spot-on.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/hot-posts/before-after-painted-furniture-cabintery-projects-best-of-2011-163312

I also got a few new comments, asking for an update or more info. So, here is where I actually answer a question in my comments. Don't die of shock or anything.

Victoria said...

Now that you have lived with the sofa for six months, can you tell us if it has softened up? How does it wear now? Are you still happy with it?

I am still absolutely smitten with this sofa. It hasn't cracked or peeled, but it does get very dusty (disclosure: I live in Arizona right on a mountain preserve, so we have more than your average dust + wind} so I wipe it down with a damp cloth weekly monthly {I probably should weekly, but I am not the tops on housekeeping} Also, on the arms  {where you might have those slip-cover things to prevent wear?}the paint is wearing more there. I have plans to touch it up but, ya know. Life.

Overall, still a project in the success column. Except for that HIDEOUS fabric I chose for the cushions....

Yeah. Totally kidding :)