Currently...

Baby Chuck's two favorite things in the world are keys and buttons.

Is this a stage that all kids go through?

Crapty cardboard cereal box elephant

Dear Long-time reader,

I'm no longer only crapting on Fridays.  Now that I've unleashed my craptiness, I'm just going to upload crapts any time I feel like it.  Hope that's ok with you.

-Me

Ok, now that that's over with, let the crapt begin!

Last week, a mommy friend showed me Muji's super cute cardboard animals.  She made herself a little giraffe and I was inspired to try making something too.  I had a lot of fun making my cardboard animal trophy head awhile back.  This time I ventured into new territory because I had to make my own template from scratch.

Eek.

So after many tries and fails, I finally came up with an animal that stands and a pattern that other people can use (although please note that it's far from perfect!)

So please meet Ella, my little cereal box elephant.

Isn't she cute?  

And this is what little Ella looks like naked (aka sans paint):

If you'd like to try making your own elephant, you'll just need these few materials:
- free elephant template
- scissors
- pencil or pen
- cereal box
- paint or markers (optional)

Then, you simply
(1)  Cut the shapes out.

(2)  Trace the shapes onto a cereal box.

(3)  Cut those shapes out again.

(4)  Optional- Decorate the shapes
Note:  If you paint the shapes, be sure to save a bit of the paint to fix up the scratch marks that will appear after you assemble the pieces.  If you look carefully at Ella, you'll notice that there's a bit of white by her nose.  That's where my paint chipped off.  Or, maybe you could protect your paint by coating your pieces with modpodge?  Not sure...

(5) Assemble the pieces
Note:  I tried my best to make sure that the pattern works as is... however... it's not perfect.  So you'll probably have to adjust the lengths and widths of the slits and various pieces, especially if you painted them.

(6)  Fix up any little scratch marks that assembling

Thanks for reading this tutorial.  I hope this little elephant project provides you and your family a bit of cheap and creative fun.  If you try it out, I'd love to see your results. :)

  

Homemade Green Tea Matcha Mask

Hubby's been working long hours lately, so I've been feeling kind of tired.  Last night I thought I'd relax by treating myself to a homemade facial.  

The last time I did a DIY facial, I made this chocolate face mask.   That was fun, but this time I wanted to try something new.  To continue with the foodie theme, this time I tried out Delighted Momma's green tea mask recipe  She said that it would "stimulate dead skin cells and improve tired, dull skin," which sounded perfect to me.

This is me trying to do a glam shot... haha

Ingredients:

- Matcha green tea powder 

- water

Directions:

(1)  Mix 1 tsp of green tea powder with a couple of drops of water.  

(2)  Stir until you get a thick green paste.

(3)  Smear paste onto your skin  

(4)  Wait 20 minutes (or until your face feels like it's been super botoxed)

(5)  Wipe off the mask with warm water and a wash cloth    

(6)  Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize

Now, I'm not sure if this mark worked... but I have to say that it smelled really really delicious when it was on.  Afterwards I kept having the urge to eat green tea ice-cream and bake some green tea mochi cakes... mmm yum.

Have you tried any good homemade facials lately?  

Liberty Science Center

This year my Christmas gift to hubby was a trip to nearby Liberty Science Center.  Before going, I was a bit worried that Baby Chuck wouldn't find the experience very fun.

It turns out I shouldn't have worried at all because he loved it.  There were tons of knobs, doodads and thingamajiggers for him to yank, twist, and push.

Baby Chuck conducting some serious experiments

Solar powered race cars

Hubby being animated at the animation exhibit

Score!  Two thumbs up for this wall of buttons!

Look ma!  I'm touching germs

We also loved these twisty knobs

DIY coat hanger iPad stand

A couple of months back, hubby's sister generously gave us an iPad.  It's sleek and gorgeous and we love using it.  Hubby especially likes using it to watch videos when he rides his bike in our apartment.  But, he's never quite sure how to hold it up so that he can ride and watch at the same time.

Well, hubby, look no further.  A couple of nights ago I took matters into my own crapty hands.  After a quick search online, I was able to make iPad stand using a coat hanger and my bare muscles.

Yes!  It's true.  And you can do it too!  Learn how by watching this awesome CNET video.

In case you don't believe me, here's a photo showing that my coat hanger stand actually does work.

Holding an iPad vertically is no small feat!

Ok... so you're probably thinking... this is too good to be true.

Well, the stand does work.

But, I do have one small disclaimer.  My crapted stand looks a bit.... well... take a look for yourself:

Ooh.

 I know what you're thinking.  It looks like a piece of wire bent by a deranged person.... and I totally agree.  But, I just can't deny the facts.  Ugly as this thing is, it does its job and costs nothing to make.

It's as strong as it is ugly.

 So what do you think?  Amazing?  Or amazingly ugly?