wednesday linky goodness...

Ooohh.. Way nifty cupcakes! These are just gorgeously done. By lorijohernandez on Flickr (via)

Really nifty writeup on Craftypod, a review of The Pocket Paper Engineer-- a book on how to create pop up books! These are so fun and look like some really great projects. (*adds to ever growing list...)

Betz White made this fabulous Etch-A-Sketch Laptop cover! I'm in love... When I get a new laptop, i may have to try this... (via)

Several really cool things from Hostess with the Mostess
- a Wii themed party
- Child's Candyland themed party
- Denture-like Ice Cubes - too cool and creepy, these might be good for halloween.

No Interview this Week... I'm looking for suggestions of people you guys think would be cool to interview! If you have nominations, let me know!
Previous Dabbled Interviews:

Interview 1: Diane Gilleland, of Craftypod
Interview 2: Diana Evans, Artist
Interview 3: Shannon Riffe, of Make It and Rifferaff
Interview 4: Cory Godbey, Artist and Author of "Ticket"

All Interviews

Illustration Friday - "Detach"

As promised in the Myrtle Beach review post, here is your daily dose of cute robots. I think this needs a good caption... any ideas? See, I'm making up for lost time with 3 posts within the last 24 hours!


Ink drawing, colored in photoshop.

Oh another note..
I haven't done much photography lately, but I really like this one, from the beach trip:

Hacking a toddler bed

I think this counts as both a parent-hack and an ikea-hack :)



I was browsing through the As Is section at Ikea and came across the parts to a Kritter child's bed. I wasn't really planning on getting the 3 yr old a toddler bed (his crib converted to one by taking off the front rail), but for basically $6* I couldn't resist--it's too cute! When I got it home I realized that (duh) it takes a longer mattress than a crib mattress. Well, The Boy doesn't need a longer mattress yet, he still fits fine on the crib sized one--and I really didn't want to go buy all new sheets and such anyway. So the fabulous husband modified the bed to make it fit the crib mattress, leaving a nifty little compartment perfect for stuffed animals at the end!



All he basically did was add a flat wood bottom to the end section where the mattress wouldn't reach, and use the guard rail (which we weren't needing anyway) as a divider between the box and the mattress. Easy Peasy!

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*$6 for the headboard, footboard and sides. It was missing the bottom frame, so handy husband just added some slats for the bottom.

Motivation.. and a Beach Review (Myrtle Beach SC)

It seems that it's so hard to get back in the groove when you've been away for a few days. We decided at the last minute to join the in-laws while they were at the beach, this weekend, which meant the non-trivial stress of getting the three year old up and to the airport for a 7:30 am flight* friday morning, then spending a fun, if somewhat hectic, day and a half with the doting grandparents, then flying back late Saturday. So when I got back, there's so much to do that I'm behind on, and arrrrggg I just can't seem to make myself do any of it! So, I do heartily apologize for a content free past few days.

I did do a cute robot sketch for illo friday this morning, but i'm going to color it, so it will be posted later. And I also have some crafty stuff to post once I get my act together. But, not yet. So off the subject of arts / crafts, I'll give you my quick and dirty review of Myrtle Beach, SC. I don't think I'd been to Myrtle Beach since I was a kid, and my remembrance of it was
pretty vague - an "OK" beach, pretty tourist-trappy. And hey! I think it still is! It's a really odd mix of old and new - brand new condos next to old retro looking cheapy beach hotels.

The Good: Traveling with a three year old, it's frustrating that there isn't usually a lot to do with them, on their level. They aren't quite big enough for so much of the fun stuff. We did go to Broadway at the Beach, which was mostly a big mall-like outdoor tourist trap (not even on the beach!), complete with a Margaritaville (where yes, we ate an overpriced lunch and had an overpriced margarita). But they did have a bunch of those old carnival rides perfect for that age. Mostly stuff like the cars/boats/motorcycles that spin around in circles, but also a very cool old carousel, which was divine. The Boy was in heaven. They also have a big 'lake' in the center with a free watertaxi across it, which The Boy also enjoyed riding. Elsewhere, MB also still has the old amusement park too, over by the beach, which we saw but didn't make it to, but i expect would be nostalgic fun--big old wooden coaster and ferris wheel. The fact that there were funny mini-golf places on every corner meant there were alot of things to point out to the boy when we were driving, like dinosaurs and pirate ships.

The Bad: mediocre beach--kid friendly and flat, but like many Atlantic coast beaches, brownish sand and just not that pretty. Extremely built up with hotels & condos, crowded Strand (main drag down by the beach) (we drove back down it past the tourist attractions, tons of evening traffic) Not exactly a 'quiet' beach holiday. We were staying down at the south end, which wasn't bad though for traffic.

Bottom line: Was better than I expected. Mostly because the hotel/timeshare the inlaws had was very nice with multiple pools, and we found fun activities for the little one. A lot of options of things to do (if you were staying longer than two days!) with a family--if you don't mind feeling like a constant tourist!--, but I wouldn't recommend highly unless you need lots of activities to amuse kidlets. There are much nicer beaches. We enjoyed the Outer Banks of NC more (if anyone's interested, I can write up a review of that!).

PS: I finally got around to putting up an About Me page.

*lest you think we are wealthy jetsetters, I have flight benefits from my previous job that allow us to fly very cheaply on standby.

Back from a quick trip to the beach..

Will post tomorrow!

HOW TO: Finger Puppet Bus

As you probably know, i outsource my ideas that involve woodworking to my fabulous husband, the maker behind the Play Stove, and other cool stuff.

Previously we created a Finger Puppet Bus to store The Boy's Ikea finger puppets. After Ikeahacker linked to it, I got numerous requests for more detailed instructions. So here they are! [Note: I think it would be great to do this with homemade finger puppets as well. Here’s some great finger puppet crochet patterns from Crochet Me ]. If anyone has any cute instructions for felt or cloth or yarn finger puppets, let me know and i'll include!


Instructions (by Dameion):

Supplies
Wood (In this case, 1/2 inch MDF)
Drill
Glue
Sandpaper
Paint (yellow, black, glow in the dark yellow)
#6 screws
1/2 " Dowels


Out of ½ in. mdf cut to two 3 ½ “ x 8 “ rectangles (based on your finger puppet needs - ours holds 10 puppets)
Glue and attach together. Let dry.
Cut four 2” rounds using a hole saw for wheels (from ½ in MDF also) (You could also just buy 2 inch circles from the craft store, if you don't have a hole saw)
Sand edges well. Prime, paint black. I beveled the hub with 3/4 forstner bit so they would stay centered. (See drawing below)

After chassis is dry, mark a grid pattern for the ‘seats’
Drill holes. if you have a drill press, set the stop (depth) @ ¾”. Otherwise you can use a regular drill and use a piece of tape on the drill bit to mark the depth

I cut the “seats” from a long dowel but precut dowel pins are an option as well. Stick finger in puppet & mark bottom, placer finger and ruler on flat surface (table) to get depth. Add ¾ inches to depth measurement. Mine were ½” wide x 2 ¼ long” (depend on size of puppet;)
Bevel or smooth the top edge of each dowel section for ease of placing puppet.

Front is a scrap from when I cut the chassis. I beveled the edge 15 degrees or so and left it a little taller than the chassis (an 1/8”)

Headlights are holes made with ½ in forstner bit sunk 1/8” down (Optionally you could just paint on the headlights or attach circles for headlights). Attach front bumper & glue with nail through the center of the headlight.

Rope attachment is a kreg bit drilled from the bottom. A hole & glue from the front would probably work as an alternate.

Paint yellow (or whatever color your municipality uses for school buses). Paint it again, heck you’re giving it to a child to play with!
Head lights are glow in the dark paint.

Seal, varnish, etc.

Attach wheels by pre-drilling the holes (I used #6 in screws, so make the pilots the appropriate size) ¼” from the bottom. Any place that looks right. I did 1 ¾ from the front and back (not counting front bumper)

Attach the wheels by placing a finishing washer at the top of the screw. Next is the wheel you made then finally, 2 flat washers. Before sinking the screw, put a little wood glue on it to make it less likely to back out. DO NOT over tighten. Make sure the wheels spin, but don’t wobble.

Place pegs (you could paint these in festive and matching colors, if you want, or just leave natural) in holes with glue. Wait 24 hours, enjoy.

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Since I translated this from D's notes, I may have gotten something wrong. So let me know if anything seems weird.
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Some Cute Finger puppets I found on flickr:

Soozs's felt puppets



Made By Moxie's needle felted puppet

Robots, news ,owls, and cupcakes!

Relatively productive today, at least for a Monday. I did finish a few watercolor sketches. And did some laundry. And cleaned up the porch from Sunday's after brunch gathering. Oh, and tried to find something for The Boy to wear to a wedding in Sept, as the ringbearer. The bride gave me no real direction as to what he should wear, and I have no idea what the wedding party is wearing. And I refuse to spend a fortune on something a 3 yr old is only going to wear once. Maybe I should check out the consignment stores. Unless anyone has a ringbearer appropriate 3T outfit they'd like to sell/trade me?

I need to send out the contest prizes. It's top of my list for tomorrow. One of the prizes..


For those who wanted a tutorial on how to make the Finger Puppet Bus--I'm not ignoring you!--the hubby is writing one up for me as we speak. I'm also looking for cool felt or crocheted finger puppet tutorials to include with it, so if anyone has one, let me know.

Monday Inspirations:
- I like this - Via Drawn, a teacher's animation of 'Some Facts about Owls'. Sweet and subtle.

My husband and his work friends (Kim, Ed, etc, I'm talking to you) would love these: Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes. via.

Oh, and finally, iPhone and iTouch peeps: I followed the instructions linked to by A Little Hut to make an iPhone icon if you favorite Dabbled from your iphone or itouch. But since i don't have one, if anyone does, can you let me know if it works? If you add dabbled to your iphone favs, it should have a little 'murder girl' icon.

Cheers, caio, and prost!