curbside treasure

from this....

to this....

so, i was driving down the road one day when i saw this dresser sitting on the curb with a "free" sign on it.

i figured, with ten people, we could always use another dresser and well...free is free

provided it's not in too terrible of a shape.

we scooped it up and took it home.

i stripped it and sanded it

took all the old ugly hardware off of it

and then painted it black

i bought new hardware for the drawers and a knob for the cabinet.

however, i had a heck of a time finding hinges for the cabinet door.

they were a specific type and they only came in a few colors.

so i ended up buying some chrome spray paint and painted the old ones.

put it together and it came out rather nicely, i think

for a free curbside treasure.

i spent $22 for the hardware and $4 on the spray paint

total cost 26 bucks.

not too shabby, eh?

i think this old thing still has a long life ahead of it....i love how it turned out.

sunshiny rainbow mobile

i saw something similar to this on pinterest and thought it was cute,

so we made one too with our own spin on it.

all you need is a paper plate painted yellow and cut in half

clothes pins, painted yellow

google eyes

streamers (or crepe paper, whatever you call it)

a ribbon to hang it from

stapler

glue

first paint the paper plates and clothes pins yellow
cut the plate in half.

when the paint is dry glue the ribbon and the streamers to the inside of the plates.

we doubled up the streamers so they would look fuller.

we turned them over and made smiley faces with google eyes and a marker

staple the two plates together and then place the clothes pins around to make a sun

super cute and easy.

the perfect summer time craft.

just a wee bit time consuming since we had to wait for the paint to dry.

fizzy sidewalk chalk paint

we recently made some sidewalk chalk paint

and to make it more interesting

we made it fizzy too.

sidewalk chalk paint is super easy to make

and there are many ways to make it.

it's also super cheap and fun entertainment.

I like to take equal parts cornstarch and water and add food dye.

I make lots of different colors to make it more fun and interesting.

we use foam brushes too, but you can use any kind of brush or even your hands.

the fizzy part comes when spray it with vinegar.

the paint gets bubbly and fizzy and if you listen carefully, you can even hear it crackle.

some little one loved the spray bottle...

you can see the difference the spray makes if you look at the first (summer) pic,

which we did not spray....and this pic that was sprayed with the vinegar.

the lettering is more thicker here, than the other one.

fizzy or not....

sidewalk chalk paint will probably always be a favorite around here.

sew what? selfie....

The Fat Quarter Shop recently launched their first ever Fat Quarter Shop T-shirt - Sew What? and to spread the love, they are hosting a Sew What Selfie Contest on social media!

The contest begins today, July 8, 2014 and to enter, all you have to do is take an awesome selfie with your Sew What shirt, hashtag  #sewwhatselfie, and tag @fatquartershop on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and/or Google+. Wherever you post, that will count as one entry, and they will find your posts by the #sewwhatselfie hashtag! 

 

Two winners will be chosen every month from July through September and the winners will receive a $100 Fat Quarter Shop gift card - how awesome is that?!?

So here's a recap on what you have to do to enter!

1. Take a selfie with your shirt using your camera, phone, ipad, or whatever you would like to use
2. Post your picture on your social media on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and/or Google+
3. Use the tag #sewwhatselfie and tag @fatquartershop , so they can find your picture!

.....but first, let me take a selfie

What??? You don't have a Sew What T-shirt yet? 

Then order yours today! 

Rainbow Milk Experiment

Nathan...."woahhh, this is awesome!!

you will need:

shallow dish

milk

food color

dish soap

and a q tip

pour some milk into a shallow dish, add a few drops of food coloring to the sides of the dish

add a drop of dish soap in the middle and watch it swirl...you can also use a q tip dipped in dish soap to make things move around and swirl them more....Nathan loved it.

Nathan loved it so much that he did this over and over using different colors.

how is works....

according to Steve Spangler's website:

Milk is mostly water but it also contains vitamins, minerals, proteins, and tiny droplets of fat suspended in solution. Fats and proteins are sensitive to changes in the surrounding solution (the milk).

The secret of the bursting colors is the chemistry of that tiny drop of soap. Dish soap, because of its bipolar characteristics (nonpolar on one end and polar on the other), weakens the chemical bonds that hold the proteins and fats in solution. The soap's polar, or hydrophilic (water-loving), end dissolves in water, and its hydrophobic (water-fearing) end attaches to a fat globule in the milk. This is when the fun begins.
The molecules of fat bend, roll, twist, and contort in all directions as the soap molecules race around to join up with the fat molecules. During all of this fat molecule gymnastics, the food coloring molecules are bumped and shoved everywhere, providing an easy way to observe all the invisible activity. As the soap becomes evenly mixed with the milk, the action slows down and eventually stops.
Try adding another drop of soap to see if there's any more movement. If so, you discovered there are still more fat molecules that haven't found a partner at the big color dance. Add another drop of soap to start the process again.

Check out Steve's website for other cool science experiments for kids.