DIY: Lava Lamp

Derek Kawakami, the Mayor of Kauai, has been posting entertaining how-to videos on Instagram TV, to "break the boredom" during this shelter-in-place order.  Today we tried to make a lava lamp following his video demonstration and it was a hit with the boys!

Here's how to make your own at home:

Add water to a clear glass bottle or vase with water - fill the bottle about 1/5 full.

Add oil (tip the jar so that the oil is added slowly to the water but doesn't "mix" in with the water (the oil will sit on top of the water). Leave some room at the top.


Add approximately 8-10 drops food coloring

Drop two effervescent tabs of Alka Seltzer into the mixture.

Watch the lava erupt!

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Tie-Dye Eggs

I may be late to the game, but I recently discovered how to tie-dye eggs for Easter!

My friend sent me the link to Mayor Derek Kawakami's demo on IGTV and it looked like a lot of fun! Best of all, no special kits are required - just hard boiled eggs, food coloring, paper towels, a spray bottle filled with water, and rubber bands (I used string which I feel works better). Gloves are optional but highly recommended!

Wrap an egg in paper towel as tight as possible, and secure it with a rubber band or piece of string (see pic above).

Add drops of food coloring (a little goes a long way) onto the paper towel. Be sure to leave some blank spaces in between your drops of food die. 

Using a spray bottle filled with water, spray the egg with water.

Let it set for at least 30 minutes or longer. Then unwrap and voila! 

A tie-dyed egg!

What's even more cool is you also get a tie-dyed paper towel!

I'm sure there are many ways to incorporate the tie-dyed paper towels into another craft project, but I am hanging them up outside as decoration.

 Have fun decorating your eggs and have a Happy Easter AT HOME!

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Magnet Wall

One of the things our family collects whenever we travel, or even when we visit local attractions, is magnets.  They've been filling up our fridge, and even our magnetic doors in our living room, but I wanted to corral them all in one space.

After searching for ideas online, I decided to make a magnet wall.

We simply bought a sheet of metal at a local hardware store, attached it to the wall with screws, and then we gathered all the magnets throughout the house and placed them on the magnet wall!

It's a great way to not only display our magnets, but also to look back at all of the fun places we've been to.

Now to find a way to display all of our travel key chains!

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