Image of an onion bulb epidermis as seen with an iPhone Magnifier Simple Components of a Marble Microscope Lens holder with glass marble inside, Slide carrier and a glass marble lens Simple Microscope Assembly Using a Glass Marble The microscopic world is an amazing environment to explore.  A drop of water placed on a piece of wax paper can begin your journey of magnifying objects.  The drop of water forms a round blob because of surface tension on the wax paper.  Using this water blob, you can magnify objects. In this blog posting, I use a clear glass marble from the Dolla ..read more

Stitch Markers for Amigurumi Crochet  I bought an Amigurumi crochet kit at Michaels and discovered that the kit did not include a stitch marker. I was going to purchase a medium size stitch marker but it was nine dollars!  I was astonished at the price.  I didn't want to spend that much money for a stitch marker. It looked like a safety pin and I thought, I can 3D print that. And so I did.  Here is how I did it. And I made it in two different sizes! My stitch marker project in Tinkercad. https://www.tinkercad.com/things/0wISXYdyOwp-stitch-marker-for-amigurumi-crochet ..read more

A 5 x 7 Inch Paper Picture Frame with an embroidery design created in TurtleStitch  https://www.turtlestitch.org/users/Elaine/projects/Woman%20Tambourine%20Player A 4 x 4 Inch Paper Picture Frame with an embroidery design created in TurtleStitch  https://www.turtlestitch.org/users/Elaine/projects/Draw%20Anything%20from%20Andrea! I love creating embroidery designs in TurtleStitch and I created this picture frame to display them.  I made two picture frames to accommodate the 4 x 4 inch and the 5 x 7 inch embroidery hoop size. The picture frames are cut with an electronic pap ..read more

A zoetrope is an early animation device that consists of a drum containing hand drawn or photographic images. It consists of a cylinder with vertical slits cut into the sides and a series of images or drawings placed on the inner surface. When the drum is rotated in a circular direction, and viewed through the slits, it creates the illusion that the still images are moving, creating the perception of motion. The zoetrope played a significant role in the development of motion pictures and is an early form of the motion picture projector.  Zoetrope with a box base.  The drum spins a ..read more

The Praxinoscope was invented in 1877 by a Frenchman, Charles-Emile Reynaud. The Praxinoscope was the successor of the Zoetrope.  A spinning mirrored cone creates the illusion that still images portrayed in the mirror are moving which gives the impression of animation. This was one of the early methods used for creating and viewing moving images before the advent of modern cinema. I used 65 lb. cardstock. Here is the PDF. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mELiDGDnRxvByP5D34-9d87ZFXZfiL7q/view?usp=sharing Here is the .Studio file. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DUtOfotSyNFGkYku1z876w73k ..read more

This Praxinoscope is made with ten 1 inch x 1 inch mirrors that I bought at Michael's craft store.  When the Praxinoscope is spun in a clockwise fashion, the horses appear to gallop.  Also, the design on the outside of the drum blurs, the diamonds disappear and the area where the diamonds are located, appears to look like a solid white line. I used 65 lb. cardstock. Here is the PDF. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F-QehlDANfskuuxgHzkUDRyhCkuiai7N/view?usp=sharing Here is the .Studio file. https://drive.google.com/file/d/19RHfAlW50y5J_f6aH06vJSh9llhTu-wf/view?usp=sharing  P ..read more

St. Patrick's Day Scavenger Hunt For Kids At  Grandma's House Here is a PDF of an indoor St. Patrick's Day Scavenger Hunt For Kids. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tBvedud78-901vHwasZldruC4TyHSHfS/view?usp=sharing Print out the PDF on your printer using the double sided feature. Cut out the twelve clues.  The back side of the clue tells where to hide that particular clue. The last clue is where the special surprise will be found ..read more

A TurtleStitch Program That Simulates Buffon's Needle Experiment to Estimate the Value of Pi Buffon's needle is a classic probability problem named after the 18th century naturalist, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. The problem provides a way to estimate the value of π using probability and geometric principles. A needle is dropped on a plane surface that is ruled by parallel lines. The length of the needle is less than the distance between the two lines. What is the probability that the needle will fall on one of the parallel lines when the needle is thrown completely ..read more

Circus Party With A Locking Slice Form Base   Paper is an amazing material to create slice forms. Slice forms can only be made with pliable materials which can be maneuvered to allow for each slice to be slid into place.  Wood, metal or hard plastic will not suffice.  In this blog posting, I have created a slice form base that does not fall apart when the figure is picked up from a surface. Two of the slices have a special slit design which creates the locking mechanism.  In this blog posting, I made a Circus Party slice form which exemplifies how to make your own design ..read more

Overall Pattern For An American Girl Little Bitty Baby Doll  I designed an overall pattern for the American Girl Little Bitty Baby Doll.  The overalls are easy to make except for the straps.  They are hard to turn inside out once it has been sewn.  An easier method for the straps is to only sew one side of the strap, go around the curve and then sew a third of the way down on the other side of the strap.  Turn the strap right side out and then press the raw seam inward. Top stitch the entire strap.  I have included a T-shirt pattern in the design and a d ..read more