A downside to parity

It's been a long, long time since the dollar closed above parity. I thought it worthy of a mention.

Thanks to Debbie for the tip about The Word on the Street (this Sunday for those of you living in Calgary, Kitchener, Toronto or Vancouver).

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Paper school

(This idea came home from school.)

Instructions for creating this Paper School can be found at Craft Day.

recipe: Sidewalk paint

We were first introduced to commercial sidewalk paint when it was given to us as a gift. Toddlers and pre-schoolers love this stuff, so I was delighted to find this easy recipe for making sidewalk paint in Andrea's post "How to play hopscotch."

Materials:

• cornstartch
• water
• food colouring (for white paint, don't use any food colouring)

Instructions:

• mix equal parts cornstartch and water
• add a few drops of food colouring
• paint!

Notes to self:

• the images shown were made with 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup cornstartch and 3 drops food colouring
• I had better luck with adding 7-8 drops food colouring for that volume of paint
• red/pink paint needs more food colouring than green
• the paint can be pretty watery to apply, but dries opaque and easily sweeps / washes off (it's not as thick, bright or wear-resistant as the commercial product)
• if you don't add enough water, you get Oobleck
  
  

  "If you quickly smack oobleck with your hand it immediately turns into a solid, instead of splashing or moving. If you slowly move oobleck it reacts like a liquid."

• Oobleck can be particularly frustrating to paint with. Although you can pour it out of its container, the minute you apply any force with a brush, it solidifies!
  

This entry is cross posted at Craft Day.

Only one week left!

To take advantage of Mabel's Labels' Ultimate Back-to-School Combo*
(tell them Nicole Lee sent you!)


The Ultimate Back-to-School Combo is the first combo to include Skinny-Mini™ labels, which are ideal for small school supplies and stationery products. This combo has been designed by customers, to provide the ideal back-to-school pack! It includes 40 Skinny-Minis™, 50 Tag-Mates™, 16 Shoe Labels and 2 Bag Tags. You may choose between our Standard Pack of red, green and blue labels, our Princess Pack™ in pink, lilac and raspberry, or the Ocean Colours of teal, purple and ocean blue! Tag-Mates™ are always either raspberry or blue on white.

* The Back-to-School Combo is available for a limited time only. All items in the combos must have the same name and be selected from the same colour scheme.

House collage

This was created at our local Ontario Early Years Centre.

Instructions for creating this House Collage can be found at Craft Day.

This one always gets us invited back

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake (Oreo crust)




I've published the recipe here.

Picture perfect

(or be careful what you wish for)

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Paper crown

(This idea came home from school.)

Instructions for creating this Paper Crown can be found at Craft Day.

Danger! High water!

The first time I posted images of stick figures, I was informed about a Flickr group called "Stick Figures in Peril."

When I came upon the sign below, I knew I had to post it to the group.


I especially like the context of the sign. Nary a drop of water to be seen!

Mobius hopscotch

(or "How to keep your kids busy for a long, long time")

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

[With thanks to Mathematical Object Exhibit for publishing the image upon which this mobius strip was based.]

Scribble-time

Like Adam, I've been doing this for as long as I can remember. A great way to pass the time when you're at a restaurant with crayons and brown paper tablecloths! (Especially with little ones in tow.)

Here’s a fun game to try: 1. Have someone draw a scribble. 2. Draw a picture based on said scribble. 3. Repeat

.

Via Drawn

Egg-strodinary

So if you do a little digging you'll find that the photo shown to the left, taken by DPChallenge user "scalvert," isn't completely original. But really, there's so little "original" left out there to do!


It's still a brilliant idea executed with extraordinary attention to detail. Read about how scalvert did it at the DPChallenge site.



(via Neatorama)

[Meme] Linky Love -the bloggy chain letter

Looking to increase your Technorati authority? Feeling the need for more incoming links? Have a go at Dani's brilliant Linky Love meme!

--
If you want to play, just cut and paste the entire message below, including all the links, and publish it on your blog. Then invite people to play along by commenting, and just add their blogs and links to the list. This should be easy, right?

***
So here’s how it works:

1. Cut and paste from this point on.
2. If you want to play along and have your blog listed, just leave a comment with your URL and your blog title.
3. I'll add everybody’s links to this master list:
   
   Postcards from the Mothership
   Tales of Life with a Girl on the Go
   Drake Update
   Humpty Dumpty House
   Lou Lou’s Views
   Lee’s Things
   most / least
   Gliding through motherhood
   mean old mommy
   
4. You copy the entire list, including instructions and the links, onto your blog. Invite your readers to comment and add their blogs to the list.
5. Lather. Rinse. Propogate.

If you want to play along, just let me know and I’ll add your blog to the list!

I'm glad I'm not the mother

Ron Mueck creates extraordinary gigantic lifelike hollow sculptures. The one above is called "A Girl."

C-section, anyone?



View the more photos from his Flickr set. (via Neatorama)

Power tools

Inspired by my friend Bob. Bob's favourite power tools for home renovation projects are: phone, Yellow Pages, pen and credit card. Thanks Bob!

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Type the sky

It's not often I can say "I've never seen anyone try that before." Well, I've never seen anyone try this before!

This series of photographs, taken by German artist Lisa Rienermann won her the 2007 Award for Typographic Excellence. The piece is called "Type The Sky." She uses building silhouettes to spell out the ABCs.

Brilliant!

(via Neatorama)

Eating out

Is it just me, or are there more wasps around this year than normal?

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

references: How to draw the head

via http://drawn.ca/2007/09/04/how-to-draw-the-head/

http://media.academyart.edu/freeclass/

Back to school

Happy Back to School!

The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.