Washer and Dryer Update

Once upon a time I had a washer/dryer set. It was a cute little matching number, white, basic. Exactly what I needed. I can be no frills about some things, ya know.

Then the dryer bit the dust. It wasn't worth fixing when the parts and labor were added up. Lucky for me, my neighbor had an extra one in her basement and she said "Here, just take this one!" Then my washer followed suit and I bought a new one.

Well, I am thrilled to just have a washer and dryer! I had to use the laundromat for a week-ish when I waited on the washer and that is just not cool. Doing 10 loads of laundry or so at once is not how I like to spend a day! But, to be honest. I  was feeling a slight tinge of embarrassment over my blah washer and dryer.

That materialistic part of me debated getting a new set, I had justified it to myself, but the realist in me knew I wasn't really going to get a new set because they don't match. I live in the real world, have kids, bills and all of that, like everyone else.

Then an idea hit me.

I had a slew of cute decals that I have hesitated to put up in my house, knowing we hope to move in the near future. These were perfect for adding a little something to my washer and dryer that made them look like a pair, despite being different years and brands.

My son is really interested in cats, he thinks they are awesome. So while he was at school I did this.

My washer and dryer are pretty cute now, my kids got a huge thrill out of noticing the kitties in the laundry room and our cat gave us the purr of approval over our choice of decals.

How do you use decals in home decorating? I would love to hear ideas from you!

Lava Jars {Hands on Science}

Last fall my son and I made a fun project together, we called them lava jars as they were inspired by lava lamps and we had a ton of baby food jars on hand. Harp was emptying out at least 6 a day back then.

I first filled the jar with half water, half baby oil. We added a few drops of food  coloring to the mixture, closed the lids tightly and watched to see what would happen.

We decided that this jar was the ocean based on color and the imagination
of a 4 year old

There was some slight bubbling, but nothing major.

We agreed the jars were neat... but what could we do to make them react differently?

We both liked the color of this jar the best.

We went inside and looked around. We found some antacid tablets and decided to introduce them into the mix to see how the oil/water jar reacted.

We started to notice bubbles forming right away. It definitely simulated a lava lamp!

I made a really short little video demonstration of the reaction of adding the antacid to the oil/water mixture.

My son had fun with this project. It was a fun challenge to see what we could do with common household products, and it was even more fun to engage him in a science project.  We think these would be fun with glow in the dark stuff inside. We hope to try this again in a few months with that idea.