Because who doesn't want to make a little noise? A project using recycled potato chip canisters and duct tape. LOTS of duct tape.(And of course I also used groovy patterned duct tape!) If you need a drum mallet, click here to check out this project!

And here's the drum in action!

A video tutorial for making sweet little polymer clay flowers!  
One plain version, and one version with a cork base using a straight pin as the stem.

It's a snow day here!  We've got lots of snow, and more coming down!  Here are some projects for keeping busy while you are at home!  Click on the pictures to go to the instructions!

And a macrame basics video for using your beads!

Have Fun!  And let me know if you make any of them, I would love to see pictures!

I know, I know- Fireworks are fun!  And pretty!  And if you live in the United States, they have probably been a part of your Independence Day celebrations for most of your life.  BUT in the western U.S., many of us are facing a very dry, hot summer - and that means our fire risk is huge.  There have been devastating fires in Colorado, and we just had a very large and scary one in Idaho.  So while there may or may not be a ban on setting off fireworks where you live, these are some ideas for firework-free fun.

These are always fun, right?  And you can use food coloring to make your volcano red, white, and blue!  Click here to go to my instructions for putting together a simple one!

     There are instructions all over, (and some REALLY cool videos) of what happens when you drop some Mentos in a bottle of Diet Coke.  This was our mechanism - A hole drilled in the cap with a dowel, the Mentos on the dowel.  Theoretically, once the lid was screwed onto the bottle, we were going to pull the dowel out and thus drop the Mentos in for some fizzy fun.  What ACTUALLY happened was that we ended up having to kind of hammer the dowel down into the bottle, because we couldn't pull it out.  Either way, here's our video:

We haven't tried this one yet, but my friend suggested it, as her family made these for Easter and really enjoyed them.  They are confetti filled eggs, and you could easily fill them and decorate them with red, white, and blue for a patriotic flair!  
Click here to go to the instructions! (This will take you to a different website)

I originally made these for New Year's Eve, but how about some ribbon wands in red, white, and blue?  Or with sparkly metallic ribbon - almost as fun as sparklers but with no risk of burnt little fingers!
Click here to go to the instructions

Did you know you can get polymer clay (Sculpey) in glow-in-the-dark colors?  Make some fun beads of your own, or Click here to go to a tutorial on how to make this fireworks-inspired cane.  

If you have any other fun Independence Day ideas, please share in the comments!

This is our quick baking soda and vinegar volcano!  We made these for the Fourth of the July (Independence Day) in the US, since it has been very dry, we've had a really bad fire, and there is currently a fireworks ban in effect in our town.  

You will need:
-Paper Plates (We used the sturdier ones so we could get more than one use out of our volcanoes)
-Scissors
-Duct Tape (we used some with a cool tie-dye print.  You can get it in lots of cool colors now!)
-All-purpose permanent adhesive (we used "Quick Grip" by Beacon.)
-Small plastic condiment cups
-Baking soda
-Vinegar
-Food Coloring
-Dish Soap (optional)

Click "Read More" to go to the instructions!