Tips n Tidbits

Stink Bug Eggs

Some of you may recognize this title from Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes. Indeed, that book was the inspiration for these. We’re big fans and highly recommend almost all of Roald Dahl’s children’s books. (The Glass Elevator was the only one that received a less-than-stellar rating from our crew.)

Other than following the typical routine for dyeing Easter eggs, there is just one trick for achieving the spider web effect on these. After boiling the eggs, tap each one gently in one or more places with the back of a spoon. Make sure they crack in each spot, for the resulting network of fissures allows the dye to reach the egg. Then proceed with dyeing as usual.

Happy Easter!

Earth Day Bee Boxes

This photo represents a good idea… and insufficient research.

After building and installing the attractive, kid-friendly bee houses on the right, we discovered that plastic straws are NOT good for the health and well being of the bees we were hoping to attract and protect. Despite our good intentions, it turns out that paper, bamboo and wood are much better options for orchard mason bee nests.

We built these two years ago and have since replaced the plastic straws with hollow twigs. If we construct any more bee boxes, they will probably be more akin to the older, straw-free one on the left.

For a fun Earth Day project—or just to learn more about these beneficial pollinators and why you’d want to build a nest suitable for attracting them to your yard—please refer to one or more of the following sites.

Siamese Saturday

Sometimes “Painting Sundays” are on Saturdays. As for the subject matter, we never know what the kids are going to choose. We used to have goldfish but never bettas, and we haven’t been around any lately, so we have no idea why they decided to paint these. I guess that’s not the point. They picked critters they were enthusiastic about and had fun bringing them to life on paper.

Matt frisketed the fish to preserve the white of the paper during background washes, but Kelly and Timmy did everything else on their own.

Kelly’s Siamese Fighting Fish (watercolor, 3/6/11)

Timmy’s Siamese Fighting Fish (watercolor, 3/6/11)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

A few years ago we started making Leprechaun traps as a St. Patrick’s Day tradition. Matt and the kids create them a week or so before the big day, running a few trials ahead of time in case some Leprechauns are casing our house early.

On the night of March 16, they bait the traps with coins, marshmallows, rhinestones and anything else that might appeal to the mischievous creatures. On the morning of St. Patty’s Day, the children head straight for the traps to see if they’ve caught anyone or anything.

Although we haven’t snagged a little guy yet, the kids have been fortunate to find treats of chocolate or tiny sparkling treasures in their traps. Unfortunately, last year’s visitor left a mess for us to clean up: a trail of leprechaun dust from the back door to various rooms all over the house, including a trip up the carpeted stairs. Faith and begorrah! Forget the Lucky Charms; we need a Hoover for this holiday!

Matt created the trap in these photos, which is tripped with any bumping or jostling of the surface it’s resting upon. I don’t know about the real things, but this LEGO Leprechaun isn’t going very far!