Mini Barn Raising

Junior Carpenter

Tragedy struck our house when a rabid raccoon massacred our chickens. I'm going to spare you the details, but it was a scene straight out of the movie Saw. I kid you not. Raccoons are mean. 

I wasn't going to let that nasty beast stop me from having fresh eggs and I decided to invest in a new red barn style coop from the tractor supply store and some new chicks from the local garden center. The coop came in a lot of pieces but my 5 year old and I had our power drill and we were ready to build.

Rain Gutters

The first four pieces went up like magic. My little helper even was able to get time on the drill. Everything fit reasonably well, though the side door does have quite a gap in it, but I can fix that at a later date by drilling in an extra piece of wood. We were chugging along like Bob the Builder but then hit a complete stop when it was time to put on the rain gutters, boy was that complicated. The picture wasn't clear and I had no idea what the heck was up with these things. It took me quite a while to figure out how to put it together. After that was done, the roof went up quickly. 

The next part that had me stumped was putting together the nest box. However, I think the directions were clear and if I wasn't interrupted with some important news bulletin from my children that needed my immediate attention every three minutes, it probably wouldn't have taken as long to put together. 
 
The quality of the coop matches up with the price. It isn't as sturdy as those 1000 dollar coops that mimic sheds, but it isn't 1000 dollars either. It does not have a floor on the inside and there is no door between the run and the inside of the coop and those are things I plan to add in the future.

   

Big enough to fit 6 pullets and a human 5 year old

Grade: B  
Skill Level: Low
Difficulty Level: Moderate 
Frustration Level: Moderate 
Price: $$$ 

Yes, he did fit himself through that tiny door

Mosaic Birdhouse with Broken Tiles

Every time I see a wooden birdhouse go on sale at a crafty store I MUST purchase it. I usually just paint them, recently I experimented with doing a marble birdhouse, which turned out fabulous.  For mothers day I decided to step up my game and try broken tiles mixed with floral marbles. 

I get my creative/art side from my mom so I know that she would appreciate the effort that I put in on this gift, no matter how it turned out. I know this is the perfect Mother's day gift for her.

Materials
Unfinished wooden birdhouse
Broken Tiles
Floral marbles
Ceramic NipperMastic
Sanded grout (tinting optional)
Spatula (just for crafting, not food)
Sponge
Water

1) I had saved a bag of cracked pieces from my butterfly meadow dish collection for future tiling projects. So I just smashed the bag against the sidewalk. In hindsight, I should have used the ceramic nippers instead, it was time consuming finding all of the broken pieces and placing them together. If I didn't have the heart to break dishes and teacups, there is an estate store in my town that actually sells the broken ceramics and glass for 2 dollars a bag.  I picked up some of those too in order to give my piece some additional colors.

2)I laid out the tile pieces in a pattern on a towel to get a feel for what it should look like on the birdhouse. I used the ceramic nippers on the edge of the tile to break off pieces for a better over all shape to fit. Just don't stick ill fitting tiles next to each other, make sure they generally fit, almost like a puzzle, but you don't have to be neurotic about it.

3) I smoothed the mastic all over the birdhouse with my craft spatula (not my food one, that is gross). then placed the tiles on the mastic. Let the mastic cure overnight so that the tiles are snug on the birdhouse. DO NOT use the grout to attach the tiles to the house, they WILL fall off.

4)Mixing together sanded grout with water is like making mud pies; it reminds me of my childhood. I also applied the grout with my craft spatula to the house. I have found many uses for this 'craft' spatula. I tried using my fingers to smooth on the grout... BIG mistake with the broken tiles because now I have a nice gash in my hand. Resist the urge to rub your hands over the tile, you are asking for trouble. I used colored grout that I had left over from my kitchen floor. I think the colored grout looks so much better than the white on tile projects. It somehow gives it a more professional look.

5) When sponging off the grout, make sure the sponge is damp because a sopping wet sponge makes such a mess. I kept on rinsing and wiping, rinsing and wiping until the tiles showed through the grout.


I think my mom will love it.

Grade: A  
Skill Level: Low
Difficulty Level: Moderate 
Frustration Level: Moderate (this makes a huge mess)
Price: $ - $$  

Clay Pot Wind Chimes

Spring is in the air. FINALLY! At the first sign of spring,  I can't stop obsessing about my garden and though it its too cold for me to start planting, I can still start decorating.  My little treasures hanging from the trees and on the ground gives my garden a hint of fantasy and whimsy. No garden is complete without wind chimes.

Materials

• 3 - Different sized clay pots painted and sealed with clear coat spray
• Assortment of Pony  beads 
• 3 feet of Fishing Line (30 lb test)
• 3  - 5/8th inch washers
• 3 different sized washers the width of the bottom of each of your clay pots.
• A decorative key OR fishing weight

I decided to go with fun spring colors. One important note, remember this is going UPSIDE DOWN so make sure whatever you paint is going in the correct direction. I realized this half way through painting the pots. Lucky for me I went with shapes in different directions so it didn't matter.

The smaller washers are used to hold the pots in place and the larger ones are used to hit up against the pot and make the 'chime' sound (its is more like a clank). 

You start stringing these suckers with the middle pot. First, tie a 5/8 washer in the middle of your fishing line and double knot it. About a finger width lower, tie the middle sized washer on, DO NOT double knot it. The reason is that you want to be able to adjust it just in case it is too low or two high. You don't want it hanging too low because you want the pot to hide it.

After the two washers are tied on, you can slide your middle clay pot on the fishing line. This is when I started to get excited because it actually looked like a chime. Now you want to tie on the biggest washer above the middle sized clay pot (just once because you want to be able to adjust it). Right above that you want to tie on the 5/8 washer. Slide the large clay pot on top of your newly placed washers and you are almost there. 

Now that you have two clay pots on your fishing line, you need to finish with the last one. Slide the smallest clay pot on below the middle clay pot, then tie on the 5/8 washer, then right below that tie on the smaller of the three washers.

You may have to fool around with the fishing line to adjust the pots to be in the correct places. This is why I only double knotted the first 5/8 washer and none of the others.

Once you have your pots in the correct places you can tie a loop at the top of your fishing line for easy hanging then start sliding your pony beads on the top of the string. When I'm finished sliding my pony beads on I like to knot it to keep it secure. 

Now you can start sliding pony beads at the bottom of the string, tie on your fishing weight or decorative key (if you are lucky enough to have one) and you magically have chimes!

Grade: A  
Skill Level: Low
Difficulty Level: Low
Frustration Level: Moderate
Price: $ - $$

Its a little frustrating playing around with the fishing line to get the wind chimes in the correct place.

Geocaching Attempt 1

"Geo" -  earth and; "caching" - hiding a way for future use, are the root words that describe the new game sweeping my technologically trendy friends.  Its basically a treasure hunt where you use your phone (with the help of your phone GPS and and a 9 dollar app) you locate your treasure box and trade your old treasure for a new one. 

5 minute easy find

I bought the app, registered, stocked the kids with tiny backpacks full of toys that can fit in your pocket and off we went! I noticed that there was a location marked 'easy' in the park right by our house and only took 5 minutes to walk from our home. On the geocaching site it was labeled '5 Minute Easy Find.' They even give you hints on where you can find your cache. Unfortunately, we spent 15 minutes looking for our "5 minute easy find" and still couldn't find it. 

My husband insisted that it MUST have been moved, so we decided to hop in our car and go off to location number 2 which was also rated as an easy find. 

Nope. 

At this point the natives were getting restless. And the complaints started rolling in.

Second easy find

"I'm bored."
"This is too hard."
"My shoes are muddy."
And that was just my husband.

I insisted that we go to location 3 because mom ain't no quitter. We drive there, I'm ready to hop out of the car and my husband yells at me "ITS POSTED!!! You CAN'T go on that property, you are gonna get shot."

"But on the map it says it IS a township park." At this point I don't care if I am trespassing, I'm gonna find me some treasure and we are having a fun day dammit. 

"GET BACK IN THE CAR! If you are shot, who is taking care of the children?" My husband snorted.

"FINE."

Off to location 4. And the complaints are rolling in again about how the terrain is rough with sticker bushes and muddy. Seriously people, its outdoors. I'm not sure what my family expects outdoors to look like, but this is it. 

The hint from the geocashing app was great, so I was sure that I was standing in the exact location of where the treasure should be located, sticker bushes and all, but still no little container.  AGAIN NO TREASURE. 

Finally we gave up, I couldn't take the complaining anymore. Next time I'm leaving all the whiners at home and taking my girlfriend Cheri, she is good at finding things, and doesn't complain like men and children.


Family Ratings
Dad: D
Girl: B (my eternal optimist)
Boy: Whats a Rating?
Mom: C (because of the complaints)

The Science Fair - 4th Grade

DON'T MISS OUR CUTE VIDEO AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE

Last year's science project on the nervous system

I hear a lot of parents complain about the science fair, and I have to be honest with you, I don't get it. Maybe I have a different perspective because I've been working in medical research for 20 years so I look at it as a great way to get my children exposed to my profession. 

The way the student sets up the station for the project is a replica of engineering trade shows, science meetings and medical meetings. I would say that this project is more like a real life adult profession than anything you ever learn in elementary school.

Having fun with a crystal kit from the craft store.

We do science projects all the time at our home. Crafts stores are a great resource for science kits. If all else flails, buy a kit. No one will ever know.

I think the hardest thing about the science fair is finding your objective. What people don't realize is science is all around you. You can turn almost any interest into a science project. For example, this year my daughter was fascinated with the new addition to the family. My 9-year old daughter couldn't get enough time holding and playing with her new cousin. I showed her a few of the primitive infant reflexes and she decided Nathan would be her science project.

We looked online at the primitive reflexes and infant vision experiments then we chose time intervals to do our assessments on our subject. I helped my daughter map out a plan to her project and videotaped my daughter perform the assessments. Then we edited the video together using Windows Movie Maker. We will load the video on her Ipad and bring it to the fair. Project finished! Easy Peezy!

We hope you enjoy our 6 minute educational video!

We are still working on the spelling errors. Please excuse.

Up Cycling Clementine Crate

Winter brings clementines. These yummy treats come in a cute wood container. I had a contest with the kids that who ever ate the most clementines could have the box and pick the color it was painted. Of course the girl won, she loves fruit. The boy? Not so much.

This will show you how one simple idea will keep me up all night because I always have to take everything to the next level.

Paint

I painted the box pink with some acrylic paints (from the craft store) that I keep in the basement. The clementine crate needs 2 coats of

paint to cover up the design that is already on the box.  I was going to do 2 different color pinks, one on the inside and one on the out then leave it as is, HOWEVER, I didn't like the fact that there were holes and gaps in the bottom. I decided to get out the Modgepodge  and some craft paper and give decoupaging a try. I bought the Modgepoge for a different project and had a little left over.

I can't resist the scrap book isle at the local craft stores. If something is on sale, I buy it for later. Who knows when you need pretty paper at 9:32 at night? The most difficult part of this entire project was finding the place where I saved that paper. If you can't find your pretty paper, wrapping paper will do nicely, or you can always print something from your computer.

Measure

One thing I've learned from wood working is measure twice and cut once.  If you want to create stuff, you have to become master of the ruler. To master something you need to practice, practice, practice!! 

My ruler experience has shown me that I always measure short.  To compensate, I always cut a little long and re-measure, I can always re-cut a little to get it perfect. I thought it was just me, but apparently its a thing for left handers. IT IS!! DON'T LAUGH AT ME!

Cut

I don't bother using scissors for straight cuts any more ever since, I received a portable rotary trimmer two Christmases ago.  I am a menace with scissors. I can never find good left-handed scissors so I force myself to go right. 

When you are in elementary school and the only left handed scissors that are provided to you are mangled and dull, you learn to use the rightie scissors but never to the mastery and finesse that a rightie can handle them.  

Glue

I poured Elmers on the bottom and spread it around with a paint brush.

Fix

There were some very large gaps in the bottom of that Clementine crate, so I cut and added thick cardboard and glue to re-enforce the parts that had no backing. I don't know if this is necessary,  but I can picture my kid driving a pencil right through it so I am better safe than sorry.

Add Detail.

This is the type of thing that keeps me up all night. I didn't like the fact that the ugly staples that held together the box showed so I decided to cover them. Cutting these all these little papers and gluing them over each staple wasn't the most efficient idea. Did I mention, I hate scissors? 

I ran out of flowers so I could not cover all the staples, If I had planned this project a little better I could have made sure I had enough paper to finish the job. I still had some staples showing.

Decoupage. 

Decoupage is the easiest thing going. You MUST give it a try.  No matter how you slop this goop on, it still looks good. The only thing you have to worry about is little hairs coming out of your brush and sticking on your project, that is why it is better to do it with a paint sponge.

The more coats the better.

Since it was 11:00 by this time, I had to get this deal finished so I stopped at 3 coats. You should let it dry completely before you add the next coat, but I don't, and it still looks good. Also the more coats you add, the better it looks.

Uses

This makes a great little tray to keep your tools in, an open shadow box, keep it on a book shelf for small toys, or stack them and make them into its own book shelf. The best idea came from my daughter, the doll bed.

Grade: B 

Skill Level: Low

Difficulty Level: Easy

Frustration Level: Low

Price: $ 

 My second attempt at doing this turned out great using the little paper birds I created. You can click right here to get paper bird instructions and printables too! Make sure you check out all the different Paper Crafts so that you can decorate your clementine creates.

Minecraft Creeper Valentines Day Card - My Heart Explodes for You

Are your kids obsessed with Minecraft? Mine too. This year I made a printable Minecraft Valentines Day Creeper Card that either can be printed out with white paper on a color printer or green paper on a black and white printer. My daughter helped me cut these out. Where is my son? Playing Minecraft. 

See the printable below!

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