Analog Angry Birds

 Imitation is the greatest form of flattery,  right?

Early one recent Saturday Morning, I  came across this from the Brassy Apple, while sipping coffee. I jumped up, grabbed Big Bro's hand and a couple Subway Kids meal Bags, and headed down the street and into the field. I'm not exaggerating, I knew Big Brother was going to love every bit of it. We collected a few dozen rounded rocks in specific sizes. Smallest for Split It, larger for piggies and Speed is the Essence ( or as Big Brother reads it "speed the energy") and so on.

We pulled out some newspaper and acrylic paint. We had a lot of fun painting these guys.

We made an early lunch and let them dry.

Using some old wooden blocks, we tossed our unhappy feathered friends by hand. Big Brother and Little sister spent most of the afternoon throwing rocks at blocks.

It's pretty true to the original version, those little blue guys are too wimpy by themselves, you have to throw all three at once and the red Big Brother is very powerful.

Set up, knock down. Pretty simple.

By far the best craft we tried ALL SUMMER!!!

Wait it gets even better...

First thing Sunday morning, before it got too hot, we set out for the field again. This uptime were in the market do a forked branch. we found the most perfect dried branch, baked in the sun, bark already peeling off. Layer it across the top of the stroller an headed home.

A hack saw (mine, the one I keep under the sink with my other tools) and a sanding block was all we needed to whip up one of these guys.

My poor, deprived son, 6 years old and never built or used a slingshot before. Some rubber bands and a piece of old rubber from the toolbox liner.

TaDah!

I have never seen more beautiful markings on a homemade slingshot, isn't it perfect?

What a beauty.

The icing on the cake.

We took some practice shots in the field to get the hang of it before retreating to the shady back patio.

Just pure fun!

This would be a perfect activity for an Angry Birds Party. Thank You Brassy Apple!

mini marshmallow shooter

We were at the county fair last weekend and saw boys walking around with these. Then we saw the ridiculous price when we passed the booth selling them. Clearly we were going to make these our. $4 in materials from the plumbing section ( not including the mini mallows already in the pantry )

I found simple instructions on this cub scout web page.

All you need is:

24 inches of PVC pipe 1/2inch diameter pipe

2 end caps

2 "T"'s

2 90 degree elbows

mini mashmallows

*NOTE*

We had a bag of store brand mini marshmallows, and they were actually different sizes. some were too skinny to make a tight fit in the barrel and some were too thick and got stuck. We found the "name brand" variety had uniform perfect little pluggers.

using a tape measure or ruler, mark off six 3 inch sections. the remaining length is the 6 inch barrel. cut with the hack saw. Scrape out any shavings inside the

pipe. fit together and shoot some marshmallows. Don't glue the pieces together. you can change the combination of fittings form different shape shooters and you need to be able to take it apart to wash it. Sticky and spitty will impair shooting ability.

You could paint them, we chose to keep our stay-puff white.

This will definitely score "coolest mom o the block" points

to use, place a marshmallow in the upper, open end. put that same end up to your lips and give a quich hard blow. The marshmallow will navigate the turns and exit out the long barrel.

I love the "phoooph" sound it makes when the marshmallow ejects.

your son or daughter will think you are the coolest mom on the block.

Halloween Treat Bags

These are cute, quick and easy.

Paper, printer, scissors and glue.

Martha Stewart has a fun Halloween line called "Fright Night"

I saw these treat bags and knew I had to make some.

                                                                         Source: marthastewart.com via Cristy on Pinterest

So I popped on over to *The Graphics Fairy* and found so many fantastic Halloween-y graphics, perfect for your vintage halloween projects.

Here are a couple examples, of course you have to go over and see for yourself (if you aren't already a fan), the endless possibilities...

Just print some creepyness on Parchment paper along with some text, fold into an envelope shape (fold in thirds, glue seam in center of back of envelope, fold up the bottom, seal again with glue), trim with Pinking shears and viola`.

I am so excited for Halloween this year, I have a fun decorating theme that I  have been building on over the past couple years and will grow with our family for years to come.

I can't wait to show you in October!

You may also be interested in my post about the {Finger} Food I filled these treat bags with!