Hoping to make your house smell wonderful but can't find the scents you want? I know right like really, there are so many candles and sprays out there. Well if you can't find one that fits you, you can always just make your own great smelling air freshener. So here is what you need to get started.
Ingredients:
Gelatin (4 packs, one box of knox gelatin works)
any essential oil fragrance (mix them up if you want 15 to 20 drops)
food coloring
2 tbs of salt (or more depending on concentration)
2 cups of water (divided)
Instructions.
Heat a cup of boiling water on the stove top. Add your food coloring and stir until it boils.
Once it boils take it off the heat and add in your salt and gelatin. Stir to combine (lumps will form in gelatin so make sure it melts)
After everything dissolves add in your fragrance about 15 to 20 drops. stir.
Add the second cup of water, this should be cold, and the gelatin mixture is ready to be poured. (you may use less water in this step for a stronger concentration.)
Fill any container with the gelatin mixture and place it on the counter to solidify (up to 2 days) or in the refrigerator (up to 24 hours)
So for some quick fun and a cool air resistance lesson, why not make a loop glider? It is basically the weirdest thing you might ever see soaring through the air, but it really works.
Here is how to make your own
Supplies
Index Card 3x5 in. (cut into 1x5 in strips)
A drinking straw (from any fast food place)
clear tape
scissors
Instructions:
Cut the 3x5 in index card into three equal strips. They should each be 1 in by 5 inches long. You will use these pieces to make the loops.
Take one piece of index card and bend it around so that both ends meet. Cover one end over by about 1 cm so that it makes a nice circle.
Take the two other pieces and tape them end to end and then loop one side with the other creating another nice circle. (Watch the video for visuals)
Now tape the loops onto the straw. the small loop on one side and the larger loop on the other.
Now that you are down. Test it out and see how far it goes.
I am continuing to create my very southern Louisiana Christmas tree. Today, I am making some very important accents for the tree with the help of burlap and moss.
Yes, that is me in the background duh!
Burlap Garland
My first project is the burlap garland. For this project, I used only one roll of burlap ribbon from Michaels.
The art of making these garlands is that they have to pucker in a way that makes them look full and flowing. I used a bit of yarn to create a zig-zag pattern to achieve this effect. The yarn sewing that I did is really simple and works very effectively to get a great look.
This is, however, a time-consuming process but don't worry, It looks great in the end. As a side note, you will need at least two to three rolls of burlap ribbon to create a longer piece
Moss Ornament
For the ornaments, all you are going to need is a big bag of moss, I am using the spanish moss from Michael's and some medium to large sized glass bulbs.
Before stuffing the moss in the bulbs, I cut a few pieces with scissors to make it easier to handle. Moss can get very messy and tangled. Trust me, It goes everywhere. Once everything is ready to handle, just roll up the moss and place it in the bulb. It couldn't be any simpler.
The end result looks great too. We will be spraying ours with a bit of fake snow to give it a winter-like affect. (We almost never get snow in South Louisiana)
The video below will show you exactly what I am talking about:
We are back again, making cool science experiments, or in this case, some kitchen science experiments!! Today we are making fake snot, which is pretty much amazing.
Myself playing with some homemade snot/slime
Now I know you are thinking "what is in this", "what do I have to do", "Is this stuff made with borax"
My answers are "it's fake snot" "I will tell you" and "no not at all".
So while searching the webs, I wanted to find an easy slime recipe when I stumbled upon this very confusing snot recipe. I tried making it as written and found that the ingredient lists were totally off. So after a bit of work (research on the internet) I gathered some correct ingredient amounts and made my own snot/slime recipe.
You can even EAT this science!! Although it tastes really rank. :P
Here is what you will need.
1/2 cup boiling water (put it in the microwave, when it boils take it out)
3 packets of Gelatin (I use Knox unflavored gelatin)
1/2 cup of Corn Syrup (if you use any, light corn syrup is best)
Food coloring (green makes it look like snot/slime)
a mixing bowl
a fork
for instructions on how to put it all together, watch the video below.
Oh yes! It's recipe time. I haven't done one of these in a while, but honestly it is pretty dang delicious. I sort of just threw things together which means, you can too!
The thing to remember here is that you need an actual bar of unsweetened chocolate. If you want to use unsweetened cocoa powder for this recipe, its 3/4 cup of cocoa powder plus 4 extra tablespoons of butter (butter only).
(dutch processed cocoa is the same except you can use 4 tbsp of either butter, oil, or shortening)
You can bake your brownies in a 9x13 foil lined baking pan. Make sure it is buttered or coated with cooking spray.
These brownies come out gooey and sticky. Serve them hot or wait for them to cool. They are sinfully good!!!
Ingredients:
3/4 cup of butter
4 oz of unsweetened chocolate
3 eggs
1 tsp of vanilla
1 cup of flour
1 cup of marshmallows
1/4 cup of milk chocolate chips
5 graham crackers
For instructions on how to make these fantastic s'mores brownies, check out the video below:
So this experiment can either be a lot of fun or a really big mess so strap in and hold on.
So, you want to make Elephant toothpaste. Well, it is your lucky day because I have what you need right here.
For starters, Elephant toothpaste is not toothpaste at all and has nothing to do with elephants except the size of the reaction. So without boring you anymore, here is what you will need.
Hydrogen Peroxide (3% works fine, 8% is much better)--found at hair supply stores
Dry Active yeast (this is the catalyst for the reaction)
Dish Soap (use one without antibacterial ingredients)--degreaser only
warm water
A small bowl (for the yeast)
Food coloring (if desired)
A sheet pan to catch the mess.
It is a very long list but trust me, you need everything here. Once it comes together, it is amazingly fun, and a joy to watch!
First thing you need to do is activate the yeast with some warm water. This is just like when you make bread. I used about 3TBSP of warm water to an entire packet of yeast. Let that go for 5 min.
Next, meausre out 4 ounces of hydrogen peroxide. Whether you use 3% or 8%, it doesn't matter. You just need to make sure that if you want a stronger reaction, you get the 8% (stores sell it as 20 vol). There are recipes for this experiment that call for over 30%. Those are the explosive ones you see all over the web. Those mixes do not include yeast and should be handled with caution.
Add in 2 ounces of dish soap to the hydrogen peroxide and then (if you want) swirl in some color. Pour that mixture carefully into your bottle and set it in you sheet pan.Now you are ready to go.
Take your activated yeast and pour it into the bottle and watch for the reaction.
So What is Happening?
The yeast acts as the catalyst for the reaction between the hydrogen peroxide. It speeds up the release of oxygen and that forms the bubbles from the soap. With peroxide at higher concentrations, this reaction happens almost all at once causing violent bursts of bubbles and steam. In the end, the catalyst should be the only thing left in the bottle.
Overall it is a really cool reaction.
Here is mine that I did with only 3% hydrogen peroxide. It was easy and very safe.
So Halloween has officially ending and it is now time to think about Turkey...just kidding, it is time for Christmas!!
So I know that thanksgiving hasn't even made its way to the U.S. just yet but I mean everyone else in the world is getting ready for Christmas so, why can't we. I have a tree decorating project that I have to get done before December and I decided to share the process with the internet so, here it is:
We are going to be making Plastic Spoon Flower Ornaments!!
Oh yeah, It's going to be a creative Christmas!!
Here is what you will need
Plastic Spoons (soup spoons and dinner spoons)
Candle (any type larger the flame the more intense the heat)
Scissors
Needle nose pliers
molding tool (we use a screwdriver for this)
aluminum foil
So, This isn't the easiest project to do, and honestly, you might get a little upset over the way things are looking but don't despair. These flowers come together no matter how the spoons melt and even if there are imperfections, remember, nature never made anything without flaws.
Some tips for when you start. Make sure not to hold the spoon directly in the flame. This will result in ugly holes in the plastic spoons. Start molding the sides of the spoon first, bending them and giving each spoon some natural looking petal folds. When attaching the petals together, it is easier to do so my setting the ends you are trying to meld together on fire and attaching them.
Take a look at my video to get a full idea of what I mean.
