I heart peeps (freezer paper stencil)

Ok, ok, you got me.  I have a thing for freezer paper stenciling... but it's just so easy to make cute, customizable shirts for the holidays.

Take this "I heart peeps" shirt, for example:

I just used the same freezer paper technique that I used for St. Patrick's day and my "left" and "right" pants.  The results are always so clean and neat.  Here are some photos of the process:

Hooray! Now Chuck has something to wear for Easter.

Hrmm... and since we're talking about peeps, now I've got a hankering for a large pink rice krispy peep treat... yumm...

Make a Cardboard Bunny Tissue Box Holder

With Easter just around the corner, bunnies, chicks, and carrots seem to be  popping up everywhere.  Since I had some practice crapting a whale tissue box holder, I thought I'd try making a bunny tissue holder for Easter.

Meet Pinky.  

This little rabbit is my newest cardboard animal creation.  

She's super girly and cute.

And bonus- her tail provides comforting tissues when you sneeze.

Chuck can't resist pulling on her tail...

Want to crapt your own?  Read on!

Materials:
- cardboard (not bent, in good condition)
- pencil
- exacto knife
- self healing cutting mat
- scissors
- packing tape
- ruler
- paint
- paint brushes
- Sharpie markers
- Mod Podge

Directions:
Step 1:  Measure and cut out your pieces from cardboard.  (See pdf below) You'll need:
a.  1 long rectangular piece (15 3/4 inches x 5 1/2 inches)
     - folded lengthwise every 5 1/4 inches
     - with two tiny, thin rectangular holes cut out from middle section (for ears)
     - with two rectangles cut out from each side (for feet)

b.  2 identical ear pieces (about 4 1/2 inches tall)
     - bent 1/2 inch from bottom
     - two tabs cut at bottom (tape tabs down to attach ears)

c.  1 bottom piece (5 1/4 inch x 5 1/2 inch)
     - sides will probably be trimmed down and corners rounded when you assemble pieces

d.  1 front and 1 back piece (5 1/4 inch x 5 1/4 inch)
     - rectangle cut out from bottom of both pieces (for feet)
     - circle (approx 1 1/2 inch in diameter) cut out from back piece (for tissue tail)

Bunny Tissue Holder Measurements

Step 2:  Bend the long piece into three equal 5 1/4 inch parts.  (I found that it helped if I first scored the cardboard with my ruler or scissors).

Step 3:  Carefully tape front piece in front of your bent piece  (It was easier to maneuver smaller pieces of packing tape.  Try your hardest to make sure that the tape sits right against the cardboard.)

Step 4:  Attach bottom piece with tape.  Before taping, make sure that your tissue box fits into your construction.  You may need to trim the edges of the bottom piece and round off some corners to make sure that it fits.  (Honestly, I wish I trimmed a bit more off my bottom piece.  It's still slightly too wide and it pushed the sides out in a funny way.  So, I ended up taping them down from the outside... which ruined the effect a bit... )

Step 5:   Place your tissue box into the cardboard container.  Then, attach the back piece with packing tape.  (First I taped the top of the back piece to the bent long piece.  This created a nice hinge effect and the back piece could open and close.  I could have left it like that, but with Chuck on the loose it was safer if I taped the feet portions together too.)

Step 5:  Paint your piece.  (Honestly, I liked the au natural look.  But, pink just felt more spring-y, so I went with it.) To protect the tissue tail, push a plastic bag into your hole.  Pull it out when you're done.  Don't forget to use Mod Podge to protect your paint job.

And there you have it- some bunny to hand you tissues when you need them.  (Har, har, har.... )

Make shrinky dink charms (out of number 6 plastic)

Can you believe that these charms were once take out sushi lids?

Well, it's true.  I've been saving number 6 plastic containers for awhile because I wanted to make shrinky dinks.  (Number 6 plastic is usually found in takeout containers.  You know it's number 6 because it has a "6" printed in it.)  This past weekend I finally had enough plastic lids, so I took the crapty plunge.

Want to try this crapt out too?  If so, read on:

But first, a cautionary note:
Most craft bloggers seem to say that it's ok to melt this plastic in the oven.  However, there are a few who worry about toxic fumes being released.  I went with the majority's opinion and tried out the  craft.  I just wanted to put that out there....

Materials:
- Number 6 plastic
- Permanent markers
- Scissors
- Hole puncher
- Aluminum foil
- Baking sheet
- Jump ring (and jewlery pliers to apply jump ring)
- Optional:  Mod Podge or clear nail polish (see step 7)

Directions:
Step 1:  Wash and dry your number 6 plastic containers.  Make sure to get rid of any sticky sticker residue.

Step 2:  Draw your design.  (I found some pendants from online stores that I liked and I doodled those images on paper first.  Then, I placed my piece of plastic over the doodles and traced and colored them.  All my original images were about 2 inches long.)

Step 4:  Cut out your images.

Step 5:  Hole punch your images.

Step 6:  Place your charms on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil.  Bake them at 350 degrees for about 3 minutes.  (Each charm will initially bend and curl.  But then they will flatten out and stop shrinking. If a piece isn't fully flattened when you pull it out of the oven, you can always quickly push it flat yourself.)

Step 7:  Let your charms cool.  Then, add a jump ring to each one.

Another word of caution:  You have to handle the charms with care because the ink can rub off.  I tried protecting my work with Mod Podge, but got mixed results.  Some charms seemed alright, but the color rubbed off of others.  I also tried sealing some charms with clear nail polish.  But, I noticed that the nail polish smeared some of my images and not others.  So.... I'm not really sure how to seal them so that the images last.... Hrmm.... let me know if you figure anything out...

Happy crapty shrinky dinking!  Let me know if you try this out!

St. Patrick's day photo props

Today our toddler time is holding a St. Patrick's day event for the kids.  Here are two photo props that I crapted for the event:

Both props were made out of old cereal boxes. The kids are supposed to stick their faces through the hole in the left prop and they're supposed to stand underneath the hat on the right.

Please send some good Irish luck our way.  I'm hoping that the kids will use the props and we get some super cute and silly photos.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Make an eggshell mosaic pendant

Don't toss out your eggshells!  Today's craft shows a really unique way to turn them into beautiful pieces of art!

I love vintage micro mosaic jewelry, but being a huge cheap-o, I never allow myself to buy it.  So, yesterday, armed with a bunch of eggshells and milk jug caps (thanks Tita Tina for the stash!), I made my own version of micro mosaic jewelry.  Here are my two finished pendants:

Eggshell Mosaic Pendants

What a lovely piece of crapt

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support! 

"Hello" stamped pants

Since I've been making tons and tons of stamps, I thought I'd take a short break from card stamping and decorate a pair of pants for Chuck.

They were really easy to make, but I'm just going to include the tutorial down below in case anyone feels the urge to stamp "hello" on a bunch of clothing.

Materials:
- pants
- fabric paint
- pencil
- paper
- scissors
- craft knife
- glue
- cardboard
- paint brush
- craft foam

Directions:

1.  Create your stamp.  I just wrote out the word "hello" on a piece of paper in a font that I liked.  Then, I cut out my word, traced it onto a piece of foam, and used my craft knife to cut it out  Then, I glued the word backwards (mirror-image!) onto a piece of cardboard.  Then, I just trimmed my cardboard. After letting the glue dry overnight, I had a lovely "hello" stamp.

2. I followed directions on the fabric paint bottle to properly prepare my pants for painting.  (Ooh!  Alliteration.)

3.  I slipped in a piece of cardboard into my pants leg to make sure that my fabric paint didn't go through to the other side.  Then, I painted fabric paint onto my stamp, and pressed down onto my pants.

4.  Hmm. The initial results weren't quite as bright and vibrant as I had hoped.  So, I took out my paintbrush and carefully painted over my word.

5.  Then, I just followed the directions on the bottle and laid the pants flat to dry.

We've already worn the pants once and put them through the wash.  The paint stayed put  and still looks good.  Phew!  Now Chuck has some happy and friendly pants to wear around town.  Easie-peasie.   I'd like to decorate some other clothes.... once I emerge from my card-making dungeon.  (Ack! Is anyone even going to buy my cards?  Freak out time!)

Bleach Pen Decorated Scarf

Hi everyone!

Happy Monday.

I'm semi-stressed about the upcoming craft show (ahhh! It's this Saturday!), so I won't be able to post lots of crafts this week.  However, I'll try my best to upload something every day ... (even if it's just a photo of the stamps that I'm working on) so that you'll get a glimpse into my harried card-making world.

Anyway, here's a fun craft that I made last week.  I finally took the plunge and tried my hand at using bleach to decorate a recycled t-shirt scarf.

Ooh.  Looks nice, right?  (And btw- can you see that pimple?  Well, it ain't the only one.  Curses, acne!)

Materials:
- Scissors (I used fabric shears)
- Old t-shirt (<--crap!)
- Cereal box (<--crap!)
- Bleach Pen
- Rubber gloves
- Pen

Directions:

Step 1:  Cut an old t-shirt horizontally under the armpits.  (This medium black shirt shrunk in the wash, so it was perfect.)  Now you should have a fabric loop.  Stretch your loop so that it's longer.  Save your unused material.

Step 2:  Doodle some possible designs.  (I debated between two designs, but ultimately chose to doodle flowers because it seemed easier and more fun to draw.)

Step 3:  Place a piece of cardboard between the top and bottom layers of your fabric loop.

Step 4:  Shake your bleach pen very well.  Then, draw on the topside of your t-shirt loop.

Note:
- You must shake the bleach pen.  Otherwise blobs of oozy bleach water will leak out of the pen.
- Even after shaking, I still found the bleach "ink" to be pretty runny.  It had the consistency of watery Elmer's glue.
- Bleach fumes are strong.  Don't work in a tiny, stuffy room.
- Be careful and don't touch the bleach.  (Yeah- I learned that one the hard way.)



Step 5:  Once you've completed one side, let your bleached fabric sit there for as long as you want.  When you get the fading that you like, put on your rubber gloves and rinse the bleach out.

Note:
- I was impatient.  Once I noticed the bleach changing the black cloth, I ran to the sink to rinse it out.  So, my flowers probably don't look as vibrant as they could.
- Rinse your cloth well.  If you don't, the scarf will slightly burn your neck when you wear it.  (Again, another lesson that I learned the hard way.)

Step 6:  Let your cloth dry.  Then, repeat Steps 3-5 with the non-decorated side.

Step 7:  Once both sides of your fabric loop have been decorated, rinsed out, and dried, cut your loop into two thinner loops.*

Step 8:  Now you're going to attach the two loops together to create the illusion of a very long infinity scarf wrapped around your neck.  (Sorry I don't have a photo of this process.)  First, you'll have to make one loop shorter than the other.  To do this, I cut apart one of my loops (making it a long strand.)  Then, I placed this strand on top of the other fabric loop, curving it to make it a shorter loop.  (Does this even make sense?  Is anyone still reading at this point?)  I tied a long thin strip of t-shirt material (taken from the discarded scraps) around the strand and the loop to attach them together.  Finally, I trimmed off any excess fabric bits so that I had a nice clean knot.

And that's how I made this scarf.

(*Psst- Want a thicker, fuller-looking scarf than mine?  Hubby and I think this scarf would have been cuter if I used two shirts.  Then I could have decorated two very thick loops and tied them together.  That was initially my plan, but my bleach pen died after drawing one loop.  So if you want to try that out, you'll need 2 bleach pens.)

Let me know if you try this craft out!   I'd love to see your results.

Make a Sharpie decorated plate

I never know what to get people as gifts.  Maybe you're like me?  I walk through the entire store several times.  Each time around, I find different treasures and then mentally debate the pros and cons of the item for several minutes.  Then, I inevitably change my mind and movie onto the next item. Then, after about 2 hours of mumbling to myself like a crazy lady, I finally leave empty handed, with only a grouchy hubby and fussy baby to show for my effort.

So when I was invited to a friend's bridal shower, I knew I was in trouble.  If buying gifts for the building's superintendent already caused me grief, buying a gift for a longtime friend should have sent me into cardiac arrest.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?), Chuck's been having a rotten time with teething, so this time around I just took the easy way out:  gift card.  Packaged money.  And honey, who doesn't want money?

As I walked towards the cash register that nagging voice started whispering in my ear, "Leslie.  Is this really the best gift?  You've known her for how long?  Isn't this a bit impersonal?"  I tried responding back, "Shush. Chuck's actually behaving nicely.  If we leave now I can get good parking.  And I don't need to buy wrapping paper."

But the nagging voice continued, and I finally succumbed.  But this time a crafty idea also came to me and I took a quick trip to the kitchen section and grabbed a plate.

Because after seeing the gorgeous DIY Anthropologie knock-off mug from Home Heart Craft, I had to get into the Sharpie plate decorating market.

And after a couple of hours, I came up with this lovely plate:

I really like how it turned out.  It's beautiful, personal, quirky, useful, and *fingers crossed* long-lasting.  (I didn't try washing it... so I'm hoping the marker holds.)

Want to use Sharpie markers to unleash your creativity on some unsuspecting pieces of china?  Read on!

Materials:
- Oven
- Plate (I got mine at Target)
- Sharpie markers
- Paper
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Tape
- Q-Tip

Directions:
1.  Trace your plate onto a piece of paper and cut out the resulting shape.  Now you know how big to make your design..

2.  Come up with your design.  (This was super hard.  I knew I wanted to practice my handwriting skills and include something romantic and slightly naughty.)

3.  Turn your paper over.  On the back, rub your pencil over the back of your design.  (Guess what?  You've essentially made your own carbon paper!)

4.  Tape your design to your plate.  Trace over your design with your pencil.  Lift up your paper and you'll find a faint imprint of the design underneath.  (Magical!)

5.  Use Sharpie to trace over your design.  I have shaky hands, so I did this very slowly and carefully.  Some parts of the lettering came out a big uneven, so I retraced over parts to make sure that everything looked uniformly black.  Once my Sharpie dried, I brushed off any visible pencil residue with a Q-tip.  Feeling inspired, I also free handed a design on the back.

6.  Pop your work of art into the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.  Then, admire your handiwork and wrap it up.

(Have you ever tried to draw on plates or mugs with Sharpies?  Did the Sharpie marker stay on even after you washed the item?  I'm hoping my design stays on.  Hubby received this lovely mug decorated with Sharpie from his students last year.... and the message they wrote washed away after several rinses.  Luckily we took a photo of the mug before everything disappeared... but it was still pretty disappointing.  *Crosses fingers*)

Make Eggshell Mosaic Pots

Can you feel spring in the air?  

In honor of the warmer weather and my love for mosaics, today's post is all about decorating tiny pots with eggshell mosaics.

Mosaic Eggshell Pots

This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!

Make a Mosaic Bean Pendant

Hi everyone!

How was your weekend?   We had a pretty quiet Sunday, but our Saturday was full of fun activity.  I attended a bridal shower while hubby and Toddler Chuck visited family.  (I'll post up photos from the bridal shower later on this week.) I thought I'd start off the week with this crapty (and slightly crappy?) pendant that I made.

I think mosaics are lovely.  There's something quite special (and dare I say, possibly mathematical?) about laying pieces of varying shapes and/or colors together so that they fit a space and create a desired image or pattern.

Wanting to make a wearable mosaic of my own, I used some household materials to create this mosaic bean pendant:


Yeah.  I know what you're thinking.  Girl, that's a lot of look.  And my reply? Girl, I know.  But really, what does one wear with beans anyway?

Erm.... I'm not sure if I like the result, but I did have fun making it.  And who knows?  If you ever find yourself trapped at home with a couple of bored children, then perhaps you could whip these up for fun.

Materials:
- dried beans
- cereal box cardboard <--crap!
- craft paint
- paint brushes
- Tacky glue (I used Aleene's)
- String
- Felt
- Scissors

Making Styrofoam stamps

Hello there!

I'm on a crapting roll, so I figured I'd upload two posts today.

As you can see, I'm still working on my greeting card designs for the upcoming craft show.  Here's my newest attempt at crapting stamps:

These are the materials that I used:
- Scissors
- Craft knife
- Pencil
- Tacky glue
- Cardboard
- Styrofoam (I used one that originally held ground beef-- I know... gross when you think about it, but I promise I washed it really well)

To make these crapty beauties, I used a pencil to sketch out my designs onto the Styrofoam.  Then, I used my scissors and craft knife to cut out the different pieces.  Then, I used tacky glue to attach them to pieces of cardboard.  Once the Styrofoam was stuck on tight, I trimmed the cardboard so that it was slightly bigger than my stamp.

Instead of making a sponge ink pad, this time I used a paintbrush and painted a thin layer of craft paint onto each stamp before each use.   Here are my results:

Look!  My lettering came out the right way.  Hooray!

These stamps were fun to crapt... and I feel like I'm moving in the right direction... but I definitely have a ways to go if I want to make cards that are good enough to sell.

So currently I'm going back to the drawing board and channeling the mantra of Chuck's favorite book character:  "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..."

Make a bubble snake

We don't drink much soda so when hubby finally brought a Pepsi home I snatched up his empty bottle quicker than a hungry child grabbing at freshly baked Christmas cookies.

Why?  Well, I had been dying to make a bubble snake blower. And honestly, could you blame me?  Look at the long foamy chain of bubbles I was able to blow.

Wowzers.  This photo makes my inner child squeal with delight

To blow awesome foamy snake-like bubble chains, I just needed a couple of materials:

Materials:
- empty plastic bottle
- wash cloth
- scissors
- rubber band
- dish detergent
- water
- plastic container

Directions:
1.  Cut off the bottom of the bottle.
2.  Cut a circle out of the wash cloth that's about 1-2 inches larger than the bottom of the bottle.
3.  Use a rubber band to attach your washcloth circle to the bottle.  That's it!
4.  Dip the bottle (wash cloth bottom) into dish detergent that's been mixed with a bit of water.
5.  Blow.  A foamy bubble snake will appear before your eyes.

(Warning:  Do not inhale, only exhale. Otherwise you'll end up drinking dish detergent like I did. Yuck.)

Here are some photos of Baby Chuck and I playing with our bubble snake blower.  (You may be wondering why we're in the bath tub.  Or why my bathtub is so dirty.... Hmm..  Well, we fully intended to blow bubbles outside, but it was just too cold.  The bath tub served as a nice place to try the activity out, since the bubbles created quite a sticky mess on the ground.  As for why my bathtub  is so dirty... I've neglected to clean it.... eek.)

Let me know if you try this out with your kids.  I can't wait till the weather gets warmer.  We'll definitely try blowing more bubble snakes outside.

Make you own toast stampers (Three ways to write on toast)

One of my favorite things to eat is toast.  I love feeling its rough texture on the roof of my mouth.   I love the satisfying crunch that comes with each bite.  And I love pairing it with sweet jam and melted butter.

Yum. Yum. Yum.

I'd eat toast every day if I could, but since Baby Chuck is allergic to wheat, I haven't eaten real bread in a long time.  Last weekend I had a strong hankering for toast, so while Baby Chuck slept I sneakily made some for myself and hubby.

It was delicious!

But of course, I couldn't just leave it at that.  I had another "I wonder if... " moment.  This time I wondered if I could write messages or draw images on my toast.  Here are three methods that I came up with:

(Note:  I realize that cookie cutters would have worked too.... but I don't own any.... so necessity bred invention)

Method 1:  Use a chopstick

I simply took a chopstick and drew on my toast.  I made sure to press down hard enough to get a clear indentation in the bread, without ripping through it. Then, I placed the bread under the broiler. (We don't own a toaster... but I think using a toaster should work too).  Once my bread browned enough, I quickly pulled the toast out.  Voila!  Most of the bread turned darker brown while my indented image remained white.  Easie-peasie.

Method 2:  Make an aluminum foil shape

I rolled a piece of aluminum foil into a snake-like shape.  Then, I bent the foil into my desired shape (heart).  I pressed my heart down into the bread.  This time, instead of removing the heart shape and broiling the bread, I left the foil on the bread as I placed it under the broiler.  Once my bread toasted, I pulled it out of the oven and removed my foil shape.  Voila!  A much cleaner heart image emerged. The aluminum foil protected that portion of the bread from getting toasted.  (Note:  I don't recommend leaving the aluminum foil shape on your bread if you use a toaster.)

Method 3:  Crapt a cardboard toast stamper

Step 1:  Trace the shape of your bread and your desired stamp shape onto a piece of cardboard. (If the thought of your bread touching recycled cardboard grosses you out, you could always trace your bread onto a piece of paper towel first, cut that bread shape out, and then tracing that shape onto a piece of cardboard.)

Step 2:  Trace and cut out three more cardboard copies of your desired shape.  (So all in all I cut out 4 identical hearts out of cardboard.  My bread was pretty thick, so I needed my stamp to be pretty thick too.)

Step 3:  Cover one side of your bread shape with aluminum foil.   Tape together your four identical shapes and then cover them with aluminum foil too.  (If you don't mind having cardboard touch your food, you could always skip this step.)

Step 4:  Tape your stamp shape onto your bread shape.  Give yourself a pat on the back because you made a toast stamper.

To use the  stamper, match it up to your slice of bread and push down.  Make sure your shape is deeply imprinted on the bread.  Place your bread under the broiler (or in toaster) and toast away!

Let me know if you try making these toast stampers.  I'd love to see what your toast looks like.

Make Eggshell dolls

During a recent trip to our library, I found a couple of old craft books showing how to create dolls from eggshells.  I'd never seen this type of craft before, so I was super excited to try it out.

If you're like me, you have a thing for Matryoshka dolls... and fairy tales.  (Random tangent time:  As a kid I used to read tons and tons of fairy tales.  Magical powers? Fairies?  Elves? Yup. Yup. Yup.  I loved it all.  This love for fairy tales ended up morphing into a love of science fiction and fantasy novels later on... but I digress.)

 Here are my results:

Make Eggshell Dolls

I had fun making them... but I had way more fun decorating them.  In my opinion, painting cute things is the best part about crafting.

If you'd like to make your own eggshell dolls, read on!

DIY Cardboard Whale Tissue Box Holder

Once again, I fell in love with something that I saw on Etsy:  a whale tissue box holder.  Although he was super cute, I couldn't justify spending the money.  So... I crapted my own.

Would you like to make your own whale tissue holder?  If so, read on!

Materials:
- Pen
- Ruler
- Exacto knife
- Scissors
- Tacky glue (I used Aleene's)
- Packing tape
- Paint
- Paint brushes
- Mod Podge
- Foam brush
- Cardboard  (<-- Crap!)

Directions:
1. Measure and cut out
- 2 pieces of rectangular cardboard, 3 3/4 inches x 9 1/2 inches 
- 2 pieces of rectangular cardboard, 3 3/4 inches x 5 inches

2.  Cut out the shape of a whale tail from a piece of cardboard.  Cut out a small slit at the end of your tail.  Cut out a similar slit in the center of one of your smaller cardboard pieces.  Make sure the tail slides snugly into the rectangle.  

3.  Glue your four rectangular pieces together to create the sides of your tissue box holder.   (I used tacky glue and packing tape to securely attach the pieces together.)  Then, slide the whale tale in and tape it down as well.

 4.  Measure the top of your creation and cut out another rectangular piece of cardboard to place on top.  Cut out a rectangle where your tissues usually come out.

(I made my top rectangle 5 inches by 9 1/2 inches.  It was slightly too narrow, but I used it anyway because I ran out of cardboard.)

5.  Paint your box.  Then, give it a couple of coats of Mod Podge to protect your paint job.

Enjoy!

Crapty marshmallow poppers

Did you watch the game? Wasn't it a nail biter? I'm a once-a-year football watcher and even I couldn't tear my eyes away.

Since it was Baby Chuck's first Super Bowl experience, hubby and I tried to make the experience special. We were going to have a small Super Bowl watching party, but then hubby ran into a couple problems at work... and we had to cancel. So we ended up watching the game, just the three of us.

To help make the game a bit more toddler-friendly, I crapted these marshmallow poppers. We had fun using them to shoot marshmallows across the room and at our crapted field goal.

Materials:
- Exacto knife / scissors
- Yogurt container
- Balloon
- Packing Tape
- Marshmallows

Directions:
1.  Cut out the bottoms of your yogurt containers.

2.  Cut off the top of your balloon (about 1/2 an inch), and then tie the other end into a knot.

3. Stretch the balloons over the larger opening of the yogurt container.  Use packing tape and tape the balloon down to the yogurt container.

4. Enjoy your poppers.

Now, to shoot your poppers, just
1.  Drop a marshmallow into your popper.
2.  Pull the knot back to stretch out the balloon.  Let the marshmallow roll into the indentation created in the balloon.
3.  Aim
4.  Let go of the knot and watch your marshmallow soar.

(Alternatively, you could also just use the popper to shoot air balls at each other.  It's amazing how strong these little guys are!)

Can you see the little white circle above the truck?  That's not an unidentified flying object.  It's a marshmallow!