Happy Halloween Peoples!!!

Happy Halloween boys and ghouls....BAHAHA!!! I love vintage postcards and just had to share this one with all of you. What says Happy Halloween more than the moon and a black cat, I ask. Ok perhaps a witch or mummy or even that crusty old man Dracula but to me these two are what pop in my head. ^_^

I do hope that if you have a black cat as a family member that you will keep him/her inside tonight. It's sad but some folks hurt our furbabies that just happen to be the symbol of Halloween. Piwacket is not fully black but she is enough so as always she will be inside. Of course, she stays inside all the time anyways so she won't know the difference. Ri iiight??

The Chazman was VERY happy when I picked him up yesterday at school. His volcano was a bubbling hit. HAHA!! He loves when they have projects where they get to make things and what's more up a boys alley than a volcano that has to erupt. I so wish I had taken pics of him working on it but he said that I couldn't, so I didn't but really wish I had. Ho hum!! I did get to take one of him yesterday though. Yea!!!

 It's "Say No to Drugs" week and they showed their team pride yesterday. RTR Babyboy!!

He didn't paint pink snow peoples..hehe. That's what happened after the lave flowed.

He did a good job, yes?  He did the work...I did "help" a little bit but he did the majority of it and was very proud of himself. I was PROUD too as he's showing that he has the artistic genes as well. I know with them he will always be able to calm himself by doing something with his hands and mind. Just hope his muse isn't as pushy and vocal as mine. Bahahaha

Like I said...I didn't get to take WIP photos but I can tell ya how he did it, just in case you might need to build a volcano one day too. (or someone you know might need a wee bit of help making one)

Materials Needed:

heavy cardboard

old pie tin

soda can

heavy duty tape

hot glue (supervise please if young hands using)

cardstock

white tissue paper

Decoupage glue

Sponge brush

Acrylic paints

paint brushes

Christmas pine tree garland

Ingredients for Lava:

Vinegar

red food coloring

liquid dish detergent 

baking powder (not soda but powder)

The Chazman started with cutting out a piece of heavy cardboard from a box we had on hand. This he used as the base for the volcano. He then took the pie tin and turned it upside down and criss crossed cut about three long slices in the center. (make sure if a kiddo is doing this that they wear gloves during this stage or you do this part...the tin can cut) The slices were then pulled under to give a nice tight fit for the soda can to rest in. Before placing the soda can in you will need to cut the top...this is where the lava ingredients will go. I added some tape around the edges so that the Chazman could work without getting cut. Now...place the can in the middle of the pie tin. Using the heavy duty tape, tape the tin to the cardboard base as well as running some of the tape down all of the sides of the can and attaching it securely to the board as well. When finished you will be able to see what looks like a pyramid with crystal clear walls but remember.....we are making a volcano THIS time. Now the FUN begins!! Chaz took the cardstock and crinkled it up and then opened it back up some and hot glued (SUPERVISED of course) it to the tape. He did this until all of the clear walls were covered. He would crinkle each piece making what looked like boulders or rocks poking out all over. Some areas he let have a smoother look.  Make sure that the hole in the top of the can is not covered while doing this step. Chaz built up around the hole like a volcano would actually be. He chose Mt Jefferson in Oregon as his inspiration and had a image pulled up to look at as he was building it. Once he was satisfied with how this part looked he took the decoupage glue using the sponge brush and begin at the top spreading the glue over the boulders. He then placed a sheet of tissue paper over it and did this all around the volcano and the base. Applying glue and then tissue paper. He would push it in certain areas to help form the mountain. Once all was covered in tissue paper he applied a thin layer of the decoupage over the entire piece. It was set aside overnight to dry.  The next day the Chazman began painting his Mt Jefferson. The reason he used the white tissue was so that he would have the appearance of snow. He used a dark green and light green on it to make the mountain look as though it was covered in trees. He used a tiny bit of brown to hit up the peaks a bit to make it look like rock sticking out from the snow. Once the green paint dried he used white paint to bring the snow down the mountain. He took the pine tree garland and cut it into small pieces (trees) and bent the bottom end up at an angle. He then hot glued these to around the base to make it look like a forest. He really thought this out and I'm sooo proud of him. 

We found the "formula" searching online and of course we had to experiment with it some to make sure it worked. HAHA!! For the size of soda can we used (12 fl oz) the final lava potion was this: (take another can to measure because if this project is being transported you do not want it in an open container. I put all the liquid ingredients in an empty bottle with a twist top...the powder I put in a baggie) 

Fill can to about 1 inch from top of can with the vinegar. Add about 4-6 drops of food coloring and then 2 tablespoons of the liquid detergent. When you are ready to make the eruption simply add about 3 tablespoons of the baking powder and the lava will begin to come up up and flow!!!!

Until next time.............Hugs,

Regi