Not Inadequate

Once again, it’s time for the Pinterest Challenge.

Once again, I sort of forgot about it until the very last possible second. We moved houses again this week, and things were somewhat uncertain due to the Super Storm of Snowicanageddon of DOOOOOM, so I was behind. (I realize the hurricane did not affect my life until October 30th, but be nice and don’t point it out, please.)

So I needed something quick, easy, did not require materials that were more than 50 miles away, and could maybe even be done in a hotel room.

Some options I considered: How to make a heart-shaped hard-boiled egg.

But then I remembered that no one in my house likes hard-boiled eggs. And also that I am 41 years old and I really don’t have time to spend 15 minutes wrestling an EGG into a SHAPE.  And frankly, after spending a month with my family stuffed into a 500 square foot apartment, I am not feeling very heart-ish.

Then the DIY tanning solution caught my eye. Yes. You heard it right. Do-it-Yourself Tanning Solution.

I did not actually consider trying this.

I am 41 years old. I don’t have time to pretend I am not pasty-white. There is something ironic about eschewing chemicals to change your appearance, yet still being unable to accept your appearance; but I can’t quite put my finger on it.

There are a number of good tips in the comments, like if the tea doesn’t make you bronzy enough, then you can add food coloring or instant coffee to the solution. Or heck, just mix some cocoa powder into some lotion and smear that all over yourself. You will be pretty AND delicious!

Here’s what I want to know: Why not just run a hot bath, and steep some family-sized tea bags in there with yourself? Doesn’t that seem more efficient?

I continued searching until I found this - Hammered Leaf and Flower Art.

Awesome. How cool does that look?

Let me tell you, Michigan is lousy with leaves. All I needed was some watercolor paper and we were good to go.

I showed the fam.

Big said, “Oooh! You use a hammer!”

Jim just looked at me. ”We can’t leave here because we are riding out the edge of a hurricane. But you want to go out in the hurricane to gather leaves?”

I’m like, “okay, FIRST of all, JIM, it’s SCIENCE. Second of all, It’s for my BLOG, JIM.”

Honestly. Men.

Anyway. I got everybody rounded up and we went outside in the freezing cold wind and rain and gathered leaves. Then we went to the dollar store, which is the closest thing to any kind of shopping, and bought a cheap sketch pad.

Arrange, cover, hammer.

Verdict? It was fun, everyone got to participate, and it involved a hammer.

If I had the proper paper, it would have turned out even better. I would do this again, so I give it

I was heard to say “Big, you can’t say ‘crap,’ that is a grown-up word.” and Big was heard to say, “But mom! You said we had to beat the crap out of it!”

But let’s pretend that didn’t happen.

Check out my Twitter Pals and see how their projects went!

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