Thursday, June 14, 2012

Perler bead bowl



Perler bead bowl, originally uploaded by a-chan.

I found this project on Pinterest, where else? It's pretty self explanitory, but the directions were in Dutch so I googled "perler bead bowl" and got a bunch of hits.  The one I kind of followed was this one.  This was easy enough for Sabrina to help me with, but I still had to help get the beads in a single layer.

Some tips I found around the net:

The oven temp does not have be be exactly at 400F.  I did a different batch at 300F and it worked just the same.

Use a butter knife or plastic scraper to get the beads out of the bowl. 

Use any dish that can go in the oven for different shapes and sizes.  I used a small IKEA baking dish for mine, Sabrina used a Pampered Chef small glass measuring bowl.  My second one was a cheap silicone dish in the shape of a heart.     

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

50 books in 1 year, 6 month update

Well, the year is about half over and I'm over half way there!  Yes, some are easy books, but some are long books, too!  And a lot are ones I've never read before.  I'm loving my Kindle Fire, it makes reading during my pumping breaks super easy.  Plus, if I finish a book while I'm at work or on the train, I always have a back-up loaded just in case.



Every couple of years I go through a Ray Bradbury stage.  I'm thinking of doing it again this year in honor of his death; maybe in October.  I was going to do the same for Arthur C. Clark but I got distrackted with other things (he has been dead for several years). 

I just started Clash of Kings, I hope it doesn't take me the rest of the month to read.  But at least I'm in a good spot in my list.

January
1   Farmer Boy - Laura Ingalls Wilder
2   Little Men - Louisa May Alcott

February
3   Jo's Boys - Louisa May Alcott
4   Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austin
5   A Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula Le Guin
6   Northanger Abbey - Jane Austin
7   Tales from Planet Earth - Arthur C. Clark
 
March
8   City of Masks - Mary Hoffman
9   Messenger - Lois Lowry
10 A Larger Universe - Gillaspy, James
11 The Black Pearl - Scott O'Dell
12 A Spell for Chameleon - Piers Anthony
 
April
13 City of Stars - Mary Hoffman
14 Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin
15 Island of the Blue Dolphin - Scott O'Dell
16 Mr. Popper's Penguins -
 
May
17 Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain
18 The Borrowers - Mary Norton
19 The Borrowers Afield - Mary Norton
20 City of Flowers - Mary Hoffman
21 The Borrowers Afloat - Mary Norton
22 The Borrowers Aloft - Mary Norton
23 Before I Fall -
24 The Borrowers Avenged - Mary Norton
25 City of Secrets - Mary Hoffman
 
June
26 City of Ships - Mary Hoffman
27 Things Fall Apart -
28 The Plague of Doves - Louise Erdrich

Currently reading: Clash of Kings - George R. R. Martin
Queue: City of Swords - Mary Hoffman (released Aug?)