Popsicle Stick Monster Decoration

Here's a quick, cheap way to package up small monsters for shipping. 

Step 1Materials and Tools

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Materials
Popsicle sticks
Green clay
Shredded newspaper
Wood glue
Letter stickers

Tools
Saw or scissors

Step 2Monster Arm

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Form a monster arm to the best of your abilities (my abilities clearly being limited).  Bake clay at 275⁰F for about 30 mnutes.

Step 3Glue Crate

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Create Crate

You'll need 2 pieces 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" and 4 pieces 2 1/2" by 6 1/2"

• Cut popsicle sticks in different lengths
• Glue together in dimensions mentioned above
• Glue sticks lengthwise along each side, about 1/4" in from the end (on all pieces except the bottom piece)
• Bottom piece - Glue a few leftover pieces along the bottom for reinforcement
• Top piece - Using a popsicle stick as a guide, stick on 'FRAGILE' letters

Assemble Pieces

• To add something to affix the sides to, glue together leftover pieces of sticks into small stacks (4)
• Glue each stack along the edges
• Affix sides to these stacks

Complete

• Place some newspaper in the box
• Hook now baked arm over front of box
• Set top piece on box with a little glue on the back corners - it should be enough to keep it in place

Place box on your desk for a cute Halloween (or anytime) decoration!

Create an X-Wing Fighter from office supplies

This should keep your Star War Fans busy. See how you can adapt it and come up with new creations:

This instructable was strongly inspired by "Build the Starship Enterprise from useless office supplies," so thank you instructables user bchafy! And if you make it, send me pictures!

Step 1You will need:

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1 chisel sharpie
4 pen lids
1 small pencil sharpener
4 2" brass fasteners
2 medium binder clips
2 large binder clips
1 defunct memory chip or similar
1 strip of staples (not pictured)
epoxy or hot glue (hot glue works a LOT better)
poster putty

Step 2Wing base

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Glue the memory chip under the clip of the sharpie. You don't actually need to use glue as the binder clips will hold it in place, but I highly recommend it for structural stability.

Step 3Wings

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Remove the legs of the binder clips. Replace the legs of the medium clips with the legs of the large clips. This takes a bit of force but it can be done!

Step 4Wing assembly

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Clip the medium binder clips to the memory card. Use some glue here too if you like to prevent future wobbling. Glue the pencil sharpener in place for the cockpit.

Step 5Thrusters

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Beginning with the underside, glue the pen lids in place for thrusters (I suppose you could use tape, but glue looks a lot nicer). Glue two of the fasteners on the bottom wings for cannons. Tape will hold them in place while the glue dries.

Step 6Finishing steps

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Glue the top two thrusters on. This is the fiddliest bit as they don't have anything to rest against. A little blob of poster putty will be your good friend here. Glue on the top two cannons, and glue a strip of staples behind the cockpit to give more body. You are done - unless you can think of some way to add an R2 unit. You can also use one of the discarded large binder bodies as a display stand.

Orange Rind Votives

Oranges would have been a rare delicacy in 1802, but as the owner of the mercantile, William Beekman would surely have been able to procure some for special occasion.

Cut orange through the middle.  Oranges are very pliable, so you can shape it into a nice sphere and also press it down on the table to flatten the bottom so that it will stand nicely when the project is done.

Use a knife to separate the meat of the orange from the rind.  We find that a grapefruit knife works best.

Use a spoon to scoop out the meat.

The cleaner you can get the rind, the less moisture and mess you’ll have later on. Be sure to save the edible part of the orange. It comes in handy for juicing - especially if the votives are for New Years Eve, as ours were. Think Mimosas on New Years morning...

Cut a hole in the center of the top of the orange to allow smoke to escape the votive.  We used a small round biscuit cutter, but stars or other cookie cutter shapes would also be festive.

Place a votive in the bottom half and then rejoin the two halves

We decorated the crown of the orange with whole cloves to match thegarland we had strung earlier.  Set the votive in the center of a plate to provide support and eliminate messes.

Votives adorned the grand piano during the concert. As the votive heated the orange peel and cloves, their fragrance filled the music room.

Orange you glad you asked?

Make the best waffles ever

Ingrediants:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 egg whites

Directions:
1. In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center.

2. In another bowl beat egg yolks slightly. Stir in milk and oil.

3. Add egg yolk mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just ’til moistened (should be lumpy).

4. In a small bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight up).

5. Gently fold egg whites into flour and egg yolk mixture, leaving a few fluffs of egg white, Do not overmix.

6. Spoon waffle batter into your waffle iron, making sure not to overfill it.

7. Serve with real maple syrup and unsalted butter.

Side Note: I doubled this recipe for my family of four and we had enough for three extra Belgian waffles.

Originally published on MomAdvice, courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook

Via http://www.divinecaroline.com/45003/71189-waffles#ixzz1YmbU5HFI

How to Make Playdough

Playdough is a regular favorite with children. Need a simple, interactive activity this afternoon? Try making homemade playdough:

What You’ll Need

• ½ cup salt
• ½ cup water
• 1 cup flour
• food coloring
• glitter
• large bowl
• newspaper
• spoon
• rubber gloves (optional)

Halloween Yard Art Activity

FamilyFun.com has a great Halloween activity to decorate the yard:

General Bone E. Part

Made from plastic pipes and jugs, this bigger-than-life skeleton is easy to pose on a porch swing or step, where he can greet, and delight, trick-or-treaters. He's a snap to put together and take apart, for easy storing after the holiday.

Be sure to print out the template to refer while following the step-by-step instructions.

Materials

• PVC PIPES AND FITTINGS:
• 2 (10-foot) lengths of 3/4-inch pipe
• 4 (3/4-inch) crosses (slip style)
• 8 (3/4-inch) 90-degree elbow fittings (slip style)
• 1 (3/4-inch) tee connection (slip style)
• 6 (3/4-inch) caps (slip style)
• 2 (3/4-inch) 90-degree elbows (one end slip style and the other FPT/threaded)
• 2 (3/4-inch) female adapters (straight, with one end slip style and the other FPT/threaded)
• 4 (3/4-inch) clean-out plugs

• OTHER MATERIALS:
• Sheet of 320-grit wet/dry sandpaper
• 1 PVC saw or hacksaw
• 4 white milk jugs
• Washable marker
• Craft knife
• 1 (200-ounce) white plastic detergent jug
• White Con-Tact paper
• Black adhesive craft foam
• White duct tape

Instructions

1.  Lightly sand off any print on the PVC pipes with wet/dry sandpaper and some water. Then dry the pipes and cut them as shown in the template.
2. Fit the torso, arm, and leg pieces together as shown in the template.
3.  For each of the skeleton's hands, have a family member place her hand on the flat side of one of the milk jugs with her wrist resting just above the spout. Trace around the fingers, elongating them and adding bulges around the knuckles. Cut out the tracing, including the spout. Wash off the marker lines. Use the same method to create a pair of feet.
4. Attach each hand by inserting a clean-out plug into the spout and then screwing it into the adapter at the end of the arm. Likewise, connect the feet, screwing the plugs into the elbows at the ends of the legs.
5. For the head, cover the printing on the detergent jug with Con-Tact paper (it may take 2 layers). Then cut out eye sockets and a nose from the adhesive craft foam and attach them to the handle side of the jug. Slide the head onto the neck and secure it with white duct tape.

Superhero Behavior Charts, Free Printable Behavior Charts

Superhero Behavior Charts, Free Printable Behavior Charts

All our printables will load as a PDF file. So, you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the charts and print them off. If you don't have Adobe, you can get it for free by clicking the icon below! Please be patient as some charts may take several seconds to load!

Batman Captain America Cyclops Daredevil Flash Green Lantern Incredible Hulk

Ironman Robin Spiderman Superman Wolverine Wonderwoman

You can use the charts below to target several different behaviors throughout one week or to target one behavior at a time for five different weeks.