Fishy Cupcakes

I made these for Hank’s birthday. I’m always on the hunt for cute cupcakes that require no ability to manipulate frosting.

I smooshed the Swedish Fish on with my fingers, and used tweezers to place the “bubble” sprinkles.

They’re a variation of this idea, which uses rainbow fishy crackers instead of Swedish fish.

Fishy crackers are not as delicious as gummy things. Love, Maggie.

Links

Happy Valentine’s Day! This is our heart window (Forgive the dust, we live up high and I’m not into riding my 90-year-old landlady on how often the outside windows are cleaned.) I cut the hearts out of semi-transparent Folia origami paper. Cheaper than vellum, saner than melting crayons between sheets of wax paper; recommended for all your glowy window project needs.

Fascinating Smithsonian Mag story of a family cut off from human contact for 40 years.

This vintage dress cracks me up.

This makes me all teary about kids.

A big board of amazing Sailor Valentines. I want to make one someday, but I don’t really want to own it afterward? Conundrums.

How the creators of Cards Against Humanity bought a private island, parceled it off to fans, and hid 250,000 one-of-a-kind sloth cards and a bottle of good scotch onshore.

My friend Sarah admired my scissors the other day, this is where I got them.

And speaking of Sarah, who is an interior decorator, she recently landed the most delightful gig on record.

This personalized baby rattle is such a cool idea.

This news about the Easter Island heads came out years ago, but I keep being surprised by how may of my friends don’t know. Cocktail party conversation fodder.

Some clean ($40), basic ($66) dresses ($93) on sale at ASOS.

Little bit of lux in the morning.

Solid Etsy fan art makes me happy.

Did you know you can buy balloons with LED lights in them? They light up when you pull a little tab out and blow them up.

Science Party Favors: Expanding Soap Experiment

For Hank’s class party, we did the science experiment with the expanding Ivory soap that I’ve mentioned here before.

We did the experiment in class, and made favors for all the kids to take home with a bit of Ivory soap. The tent card has instructions on how to do the experiment.

This hits all the favor buttons:

• Simple You chop a soap bar into fourths, pop it in a bag, and staple a card on top.
• Cheap A ten-pack of soap was $3 at Target, which is enough for 40 favors.
• No Candy Hank’s class doesn’t allow it.

Plus, it’s awesome and fun but only takes 35 seconds to use. Thanks, science.

That Piece is Custom

Whither the lost art of a sweet hand-painted jacket?

Some updates I came across. Eh. We failed our youth.

Thinking About Parenting

This useful NYT article came out a while ago Raising Successful Children. Some excerpts:

“In a typical experiment, Dr. Dweck takes young children into a room and asks them to solve a simple puzzle. Most do so with little difficulty. But then Dr. Dweck tells some, but not all, of the kids how very bright and capable they are. As it turns out, the children who are not told they’re smart are more motivated to tackle increasingly difficult puzzles. They also exhibit higher levels of confidence and show greater overall progress in puzzle-solving.”

“…children thrive best in an environment that is reliable, available, consistent, and noninterfering.”

So let your kid walk to the Dairy Queen by themselves, just follow at a discreet stalking distance so you can be at hand when the police intervene.

Fun Thing: Glue Guns and Takeout

We ate burritos and repaired all the old Christmas ornaments.

Maja made a friendship-bracelet scarf for the pipe cleaner stork. Hello, cozy little stork.

Today’s Fun Thing: Heading North

I found a great last-minute hotel deal, so we drove up Highway 1 for a weekend away.

Last night the rain on the roof was so loud it woke us, but tonight it dried up enough to have French fries on our mini-balcony.

Then we ordered more French fries to eat in front of the fireplace while we watch the Grammys. Gwen Stefani continues to outpace.

Today’s Fun Thing: Teddy Bear Toast

Hank woke up while it was still dark outside, so I made him hot cocoa and a teddy bear toast. Then he made one for me.

Links

I started learning to meditate this week, and the book suggested picturing yourself somewhere where you feel calmest. I like to think of this image by Wayne Levin.

Jo Goddard has a great guide to outsourcing your life if you live in a city. I use a handful of these services pretty regularly.

I bought one of these as a new go-to dress for airplane travel.

Did not buy this, but if I saw someone wearing it I’d assume they were my people.

This would be cute for Valentine’s Day in pink, and it’s on sale too.

Simple genius idea for freezing bacon portions.

Whoa! Did you know this happened in 1961? I had no idea. More from this article in The Week.

These are charming.

I’m looking at baby stuff and love this clever wooden magnetized toy.

Necklaces that pay homage to your true loves.

Grapefruit is my favorite booze flavor, and I just read about this grapefruit liquor, have you tried it?

On perfectionism: Artist Pierre Bonnard once convinced his friend Edouard Vuillard to distract a museum guard while he touched up one of his paintings hanging there. Been there, Pierre.

Bite Me, Valentine’s Day: A Gift Guide

There are upsides to being single on Valentine’s Day. No bullshit underwear, and you get to pick your own present.

Heartbeats Necklaces, $55

Damn right you like the life you live.

Guest Toothbrush Set, $12

Be prepared.

Morphologically Palo Santo Grounding Aromatic Wood, $20

You burn Palo Santo to clear bad juju, create space for good luck, and invite something new. Say, here comes something new right now. Good thing you have a spare toothbrush.