Crapty DIY geometric straw ornament

To my highschool geometry teacher:
You were right.
Triangles are really cool.
This crapt is for you.

I think geometric forms are beautiful.  Using the directions I found here and here, this week I tried to diy my own geometric ornament out of straws.

Materials:
- stirrers <-- crapt!
- scissors
- ruler
- string
- Elmer's glue

Directions:
(1) Cut your stirrers into 12 two-inch segments.
(2) Cut yourself a piece of string that's two arm lengths long.
(3) String four segments onto the string.
(4) Push the segments to the end of the string. Create a square with the straws and tie a double knot to hold the straws in place.  (Note:  Don't tie the straws too tightly together, otherwise your straws will split under the pressure. I saw this happen with my first attempt.)

(5) String two straws onto your string and then tie those straws down across from your previous knot.

(6)  String two more straws and then tie them across from your previous knot.   (At this point you should be tying a knot over the first knot you made in step 3.)

We're going to now tie more straws onto the figure, but this time we'll tie them in the middle of the figure, between each of the pairs of straws.  So, you'll have to cut your string.

I made a small loop to hang the ornament from at this point. But you could create the loop elsewhere too.

(7)  Tie a double knot in the between two straws in the middle of your figure.

(8) String a straw and then make a knot between another set of two straws.

(Note: The most difficult part about making this ornament was making sure I tied the knot in the right place.  I found it helped if I mostly tied the knot over a straw and then slid the knot into place between the straws.)

(9) Repeat step 8 with with three other straws.  Double knot at the end and cut string.  Add a drop of Elmer's glue if you're worried about the final knot coming undone.  If you don't like the colors of your stirrers, you can also spray paint the ornaments whatever color you want.

Voila!  Enjoy your ornament and make your math teachers proud.

The girl with the golden teeth

Last weekend I acquired two new trinkets to adorn our cabinets.

Yes, those are teeth.
Yes, they are painted gold.

Weirded out?  (Hubby totally was at first.)  Let me explain.

Last Saturday I visited the dentist two cavities filled.  These were my very first cavities ever, so I was nervous about what was going to happen.  Before starting, the dentist used a mold of my teeth to help  explain the procedure.  As I listened, I couldn't stop staring at my molds.  How could something look so creepy and interesting at the same time?  I don't know what came over me, but I asked him if I could take my molds home.  Surprisingly, he agreed to make another copy and give them to me.

So I brought them home and painted them gold.

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.
And when life gave me my first two cavities, I made myself some golden teeth.

Hello

Baby Chuck is currently taking a loooong nap.  He's had a rough couple of days.  He's still fighting  off a cold, yesterday he had a mild fever, and last night he had lots of problems sleeping (which meant that hubby and I also had lots of problems sleeping.  Eek... for all the parents who go to work even after long sleepless nights- I salute you!  You are troopers.  I don't think I could do it....)

While he rests, I'm taking a brief moment to write this post.

One of my best friends recently stayed with us for a couple of days.  It was wonderful seeing her again and catching up.  It was also extra-special wonderful to introduce her to the new guy in my life.

I think they hit it right off.

Hubby alters another dress

Last weekend hubby pulled out the trusty sewing machine to alter a thrifted dress.

It went from looking like a long hippy-ish nightgown 

to looking like short nightgown 

to looking like a dress that I could actually wear out

Three cheers for hubby's sewing skills!

Blue hands and feet

How was your weekend?

Good, I hope.

Hubby, Chuck, and I have been fighting a nasty bug.  I think Baby Chuck got it around Thanksgiving and then he passed it onto hubby.  My immune system fought a good fight, but I finally succumbed sometime last week.  

Blech. *Sniff sniff*

Baby Chuck and I stayed home for quite a bit, but we pushed ourselves to go to Toddler Time.  This Friday they did a hand and foot painting activity.  I think the children enjoyed being artists for a day.