Forgiving DIY: Gifts for Geeks

My father is, without a doubt, a computer geek. So, for his birthday this year I made him some prints of technical diagrams from important patents from computer history -- namely the vacuum tube, the transistor, and the integrated circuit. Happily, these documents are in the public domain if the patent is expired (that's the whole point of public disclosure), and the diagrams are pretty easy to find. You could do this for any of your giftee's interests related to inventions (automobiles, motorcycles, tools, cameras, food packaging, watches, airplanes, music equipment, firearms... you could go on and on!).  I aged the paper so this would also be really attractive with botanical prints, architecture, or bugs... I am really into bugs lately.

Forgiving DIY Projects: Gumball Machine Terrarium

It's been a long winter and I am dying to get out in the garden.  Since that stinking groundhog says we have another century or so of winter left, I am having to make do by potting (and re-potting) around the house.  So today we are doing another terrarium.  There is no shortage of gumball terrarium tutorials on the web, but they really are incredibly easy.  I slapped mine together a few years ago with some plastic wrap to protect the gumball machine and no drainage to speak of so I thought it high time to redo mine in a reasonable manner and to add a little variety of plants.
 I highly recommend stripping out all the innards of the machine, leaving only the base, the globe, and the top.  Then fit an old plastic container to the space in the base (a Chinese take-out soup container worked well for me) and cut it so that the top of the container sits just below the rim of the base (so that the globe will sit correctly in the base).  If you want to do this really well, you would probably seal the meeting between base, container, and globe with some sort of sealant (preferably clear).  I didn't.

Fast/Easy: Pie or Tart Crust

I used to hate the crust. Of any crusted dessert.  But when I started making them myself, and flavoring them to my taste, I really began to appreciate them.  Really.  I could almost do without the filling. Almost.

My favorites tend to be rolled crusts for pies or crumb crusts from cheesecakes and tarts but lately I have really been hankering shortbread.  And I love this crust because it is easy (you can't really overwork this dough like you can with most rolled doughs), it is super fast, and it uses ingredients I always have on hand.  There is nothing worse than getting all prepared to bake something and then realizing you are out of graham crackers or chocolate wafers.

 Ok... there's really a whole lot in the world  that is worse than that, but it still is pretty frustrating.

This is an incredibly easy recipe that yields a buttery, tender, cookie-like crust. I love it!

Avoid Road Closure Delays

It is March in Middle America after a particularly rough winter.  To me, that is not heralding spring (we've got a few more weeks here before I get to venture out into the garden), but the beginning of road construction season.  Since I drive on the interstate more than your average Joe, this is more of a self service announcement - but I will pretend that it is a public service.

We can solve the problem of construction delays WITH THE POWER OF SCIENCE!

Forgiving DIY: Pot & Pan Storage

We don't have a terribly small kitchen.  But I have a ton of kitchen stuff.  So I could always use more kitchen space.  A while ago I got really sick of unstacking ten different pots and pans (and lids!) every time I needed one so I knew I needed a hanging solution.  But the ceilings in my kitchen are pretty low, so hanging from the ceiling was certainly not an option.  We did, however, have a kind of awkward area across the island from the main work triangle area.  Normally I would use the wall space to hang pretty, pretty pictures, as I do with almost all the wall space in my house (funny story: I've been trying to do posture exercises, but I can't find any bare wall space to do them on!  I think I may have a problem...) but this turned into the perfect place to hang my pots and pans.

Forgiving DIY Projects: Succulent Terrarium

I love plants.  And I love old science equipment.  So when I saw this old desiccator (used to keep chemicals, especially powders and crystals, in a low humidity environment so they won't clump or otherwise get ruined as quickly) for a great deal at an antique store (my MIL actually bought it for me, isn't she sweet?) I knew it would make a great terrarium.  The basics of a terrarium are: container, plants that love high humidity, soil, and something to help drainage so roots don't stay so wet that they rot.  That's all I have here.  I put a layer of pebbles at the bottom, filled the remainder of the bottom with soil, and then planted some succulent plants and clippings of plants that I have on hand.  This makes a great home for my Christmas cacti that I could never keep humid enough in the furnace heated winters for them to bloom - until this year!  I put in any pieces that fall off my other plants - usually because I knock them off while watering - and they take off!

Royal Bee Pillow

One of my very first posts described my "current projects" (which, of course, are less than half of the projects I ever end up working on at any given time).   I have made significant headway on the throw pillows for our new couch though.  In fact, I have probably made too many already!  Though I have two more (embroidered G's on a navy field) in the works. 

 The centerpiece is a pillow with a cross-stitched Napoleonic Royal Bee in navy blue on an ivory field.  I have seen a similar motif screen printed a bunch but I have seen much (if any) embroidered and I really love the texture of embroidery - even if it just cross-stitch.  I couldn't find a free bee pattern that I liked a whole bunch so I printed the picture of a queen bee from ClipArt ETC  to use as the inspiration for my pattern.  I traced the pattern onto graph paper, getting rid of a lot of the detail in some places and adding more stripes and different wing patterns in others, so that the pattern would be easier to stitch.  I only did half of the bee this way and then filled in the other half so that I would have a symmetric pattern.  I used a crown from this pattern.   The wreath was modified from this pattern and if I could find what I drew, I would share it with you.

Kids' Experiments: The gravity of the matter

The first of the Kids' Experiments will focus on my wheel-house: physics.  We will start by exploring the motion of objects - beginning with those influenced by gravity.  These aren't the most exciting of experiments, but they are essential for a solid foundation so we can do the fun stuff later!

Kids' Experiments: Teach it Early, teach it often

I spent some time with my five-year old niece this weekend and, as always, I was blown away by how much she already knows about the world around her.  Of course, as her doting aunt, I think she is incredibly brilliant, but the educator in me firmly believes that most of her success in learning is because of the amazing job my brother and sister-in-law do at keeping her rapidly developing mind engaged.  While many kids have the benefit of such involved parents (and other relatives), Iz is incredibly advantaged because a.) she has a ton of science and technically savvy role models in her family (two engineers, two physicists, a med student, a linguist - and that is just my siblings and sibs-in-law!) and b.) those role models (mostly her parents) engage her in scientific thought in a way that makes it fun.

For her fifth birthday, the rooster and I (the two physicists) made a year of science experiments for Iz to do with her parents.  I want all children to have the advantage of being able to learn this stuff early (when it is much easier because you haven't convinced yourself that things work in ways that they really don't!) so I am going to make the experiments we put together for Iz available to anyone who wants them as the series "Kids' Experiments."   They will be much more extensive in detail than their original form.  Most of the document is a guide for parents/guardians/educators to learn the material well so that they can adapt the material and can guide the child in his/her scientific exploration.

In terms of time commitment, I anticipate it will be big!  My brother and sister-in-law can spend a week or more on one of these topics in terms of preliminary discussions, pointing stuff out in everyday life, and follow-up discussions (the actual experiments are generally under 30 minutes!).  It is not "all science, all the time," but Iz (and her younger brother, and other highly engaged children I know) have inquiry peppered into  life (not just at special educational times) and this is the approach I would recommend with these modules - don't just sit down and get it done all at once.

In practical terms of use, stuff in blue and instructors worksheets are for adults only and should never ever be directly told to a child.  I really love the approach of teaching science (and specifically physics) by never actually telling a student the answer but by asking guiding questions to help him/her arrive at the answer on their own (Is this the Socratic method? - teehee).  College students hate this!  Like, REALLY hate this.  But it's important for people to go through this process to really learn (and more importantly, to unlearn misconceptions!).  This is why it takes so long.  But it will be worth it when the child you love is able to make amazing extrapolations about what they have learned so far.  And the investment you make in your child learning science early will allow that child to learn more science much more easily later on (again, we are talking real science, not stamp collecting).  And just as with monetary investment, the earlier you start, the bigger the eventual pay-off will be.  Start investing today!

And as is the case with Iz, I am always happy to answer any questions that arise in the course of your experiments. I know kids ask confounding questions sometimes! Don't hesitate to ask!

Contoured Memory Foam Pillowcase

  The rooster and I both love our contoured memory foam pillows but I was tired of using ill-fitting standard pillowcases if I wanted to match my decor.  I couldn't find any tutorials for a contoured pillowcase, and this won't be much of one, but it will be an outline of an approach you can take, should you wish to make one for yourself.


There were really only two things I wanted from my pillow case: It had to be asymmetric so that there was more material on the curvy side than on the flat side (so that the case would actually fit!) and it had to have an envelope opening because I am sick of pillowcases sliding off.  If I didn't have the envelope opening, it would have been a lot easier to make.