The Tea Bag Rocket

I saw this project for the first time about a week ago, but it was only today that we had time to try it ourselves.

It's very simple. Starting with a fresh, dry tea bag, not a used one, cut the top (the stapled part) off the bag and empty out the tea. Open the bag up, so that it forms a tube. set it on a fire-safe surface and light the top edge on fire. Just before the tube has burned down completely, it will shoot up into the air.

Sunday in St. Augustine

The entrance to the city:





The Mission Nombre De Dios Museum is fairly new, so this was our first time visiting.







The casket of Pedro Menendez de Aviles, the Spanish explorer who founded St. Augustine:













Sea turtle:









Our last stop in St. Augustine, before heading home, was the beach at Surfside Park. It's free and not as crowded as some of the other beaches.

The Kings Head British Pub

We just returned from a mini-vacation to St.Augustine. Friday was our 6th wedding anniversary, so we celebrated with a three-day weekend in the city we had visited for our honeymoon. This, also, was the weekend that the Cowford Steampunk Society had their outing to the Kings Head British Pub in St. Augustine. So, Saturday afternoon, Blaze, DH, and I dressed up and went out to tea with a wonderful group of steampunk people.

There was an antique store right next to the pub, which was fun to wander around as we were waiting for everyone else to arrive. We even ran into some people we knew there.




The Kings Head British Pub:













The food was very good!





The company was good, too.





Time to head back to the hotel,





 to get a little swimming in, before walking down to St. George Street.

The Inventor's Leather Apron

Blaze's steampunk character has always been described as a young airship pirate who likes explosives, modifying weapons, inventing new weapons, and playing with fire. His newest costume is for those times when he is working on his new creations.

The leather apron was purchased online for $15 a year ago.



It took me quite awhile to even start modifying it in any way and I only finished with it last week.

I wanted the apron to look like it had been used and abused by a person experimenting with some pretty dangerous things, so I tried lots of different things to give it a distressed look. I tried finding black greasy filth from our car's engine, but the car engine was remarkably clean. I tried burning the leather with the  brûlée torch, but the leather is very flame retardant. I, also, sanded small areas with an electric sander. I even let a toddler beat on it with a hammer.



What worked the best, though, was following the directions in this video, faking the dirt and wear by using fabric paint. I used a slightly lighter hand with the paint and even sanded over some of the spots where I thought the paint had gone on too dark, but the basic idea is the same.



The completed apron:




The finished outfit:

The iPod Bracer for Blaze

The thing that saved us from having to listen to a 10 year old child, complain about waiting in long lines at Dragon*Con two years ago, was a bracer I made to hold my iPod.

It's a very simple design, with three elastic straps on the underside, so that it can easily slide off and on.

The watch no longer works, so I removed it last night and replaced it with some less functional, but more decorative elements. 

Once again, we will be taking this to the convention, so that Blaze can amuse himself in line by playing Angry Birds.

Steampunk Popcorn Box

As a special treat for steampunk movie night, I made steampunk popcorn boxes.




If you would like to have your own steampunk movie night with cute little popcorn boxes, here is the pattern.





Make two copies of the pattern for each box, printed on cardstock.

I think that next time I make these, I'll cut out the top edge with pinking shears or other decorative scissors.

A Fancy Cane Made From a Curtain Rod

We did some thrift store shopping while we were in Gainesville on Monday for Blaze's neurologist appointment. Blaze and I found this curtain rod for $3.99 at the Haven Hospice Resale Shop and fell in love with the idea of turning it into a fancy cane.



We used only one half of the rod, the thicker half.

The rest of the items we used for the cane, were things we already had around the house.

We decided it would be fun if the cane lit up, so I added a tiny flashlight that screws to turn on and off and a piece of red glass, so that the light looks red and not at all like a flashlight.



The thing glued to the end of the flashlight, was part of an old curtain tie-back tassel.

The hardest part of this project was cutting through the wires on the curtain rod finials.

Finally, I added the black plastic tip from a broken umbrella.

The Toddler's Art Gallery Debut

Today was an exciting day for the little girl I babysit, at 2 1/2 years old, she had her first gallery show of her paintings.



The toddler gave us a tour of the sculptures at Railroad Square.







Then we delivered her to her moms at the Right On! art gallery, where their photography and her paintings were on display.







There was even a video that showed the artist at work.



After saying good-bye to the artists of Mandem, Blaze, DH, and I explored the rest of Railroad Square.









The teepee that was painted with Asian Indian designs: