Home Made Harry Potter Broom

So my son has been wanting a Quiddich broom from Harry Potter to play around in, but I wasn't too into all the cheap looking plastic ones, and the more realistic ones came with a pretty hefty price tag. My husband and I decided that we could make one ourselves and so we got to it.

The first thing my husband did was go out and find a large branch that was about the right size and shape of a broom. Silly me forgot to take a photo of the branch, but that would have been nice, wouldn't it? (I'm still getting used to doing these DIY tutorials so please forgive me).

Sorry.

Anyhow my husband started stripping away with his knife to get all the bark off of the tree branch and get it to some sort of shape. Once he did that he sanded it like CRAZY and got it silk smooth and to the right shape.

We were not trying to go for a prop replica.  Our son is only TEN and he will probably wear this thing out playing with it, we just wanted something similar for him to goof around with! I found  GREAT tutorial online here at Instructables, but it was WAY after we had all ready been building ours.  Anyhow, it's a great post so I recommend you check it out!

We stained it first with a dark walnut stain, then went over it with some Java gel stain.

I then went to Hobby Lobby and found some Prairie Grass for $9.99 (minus 40% off coupon) that I thought would work for the bristles of the broom.

I grabbed an old towel and curtain that I was no longer in need of to wrap it as padding and give it the shape underneath that it needed.  You could also use foam or styrofoam.  I just went for what I had on hand.

 

 

After I got the general shape of it my husband and I added the prairie grass to it and taped it.  There MAY or MAY not have been a slight argument about how to get it to stay on there properly.  I really need to stop questioning his judgment.  The man is always right.  (Please don't tell him I said that though.)

We taped it on there as a temporary hold then went and got pipe clamps to clamp the top and the bottom and screw it on tight.  My husband then COATED the thing in spray adhesive to get it to stick, cut off the top and bottom of the bristles to make it even, then wrapped it in twine.  If I had to do anything over again, it would be that I would have taken the time like the guy on Instructables did to painstakingly put on the bristles, but we were running out of time nearing Christmas eve, so we went for a quick fix.  Also, this is a kids TOY and I'm certain one day we will be replacing the bristles on it.  When we do that I may change some things up.

Next I went and added "Nimbus 2000" in gold paint on the handle.

Then last added a coat of polyurethane to the handle and it was complete!  Someday we may go back and add the footrests, but for now, he is perfectly happy with it how it is, and the total project cost us less than $10.00 to complete for a pretty awesome gift!

I think he was pretty thrilled with his gift!

Santa's Workshop: Year Two

Well we have been at it again (or should I say my husband has). This time it's for our boy. We are SUPER stoked about how these gifts are turning out this year, I LOVE LOVE LOVE making home made gifts. It's SO much fun.

Can you guess what we are making Bubby for Christmas?

Here is a hint:

 

Any ideas yet?

Ok, ok just ONE more hint.

I can't wait.  I'm just GIDDY about this gift. 

Toenails

Yes, only I could do a post titled "toenails."

So I was in the kitchen tonight when my son comes in to talk with me. I glance downward and notice his toenails are in desperate need of clipping.

Me: Dude! Look at those toenails. They are ridiculous.
Him: (nonchalant) I know.
Me: No, seriously dude, you could totally make weapons out of those things.
Him: Yeah,whatever.
Me: (joking)Is that your plan? Is that what you are going for?
Him: Nope. I'm going to be on "Ripley's Believe it or not."

Then he walks away.

The Vegetarian

So, last week my son came in the house pretty upset over finding a dead baby bird outside.  You see, my son is pretty tenderhearted about things, and this just broke his little heart.  He was wanting to get a shoebox and bury the bird, but one of the older kids parents threw it away, and this upset him that the bird didn't get a proper burial.

My husband explained the whole circle of life thing to him, and tried to calm him down and explained how we even consume animals for food.  My son told me later that night that he was going to become a vegetarian.  I giggled under my breath "Good luck with that."  You see, we are a family of total carnivores, and love nothing more than a big juicy steak.

I quickly dismissed the conversation.  The next day my son again told me after lunch (which was hot dogs) that he was a vegetarian. 

"So how was that piggy you just ate?"  (and I use the term pig loosely) I asked him.  

He smiled, "Well, I'm a vegetarian that eats pigs, but I'm not going to eat other meat."  He tells me.

"Mmmmhmmm."  I said.

That night I made home made chicken nuggets for dinner, which I bread in cornflakes and fry.  They are totally delicious, and my whole family gobbles them up.  My boy comes into the kitchen nosing around.  "What are we having for dinner mom?"  He peers over the stove and sees what I'm cooking before I have a chance to reply he exclaims "YES!  I LOVE these!"

"Too bad you can't have any since you are a vegetarian."  I reply.

"Ah, you got me," He admits defeat.  "I guess I'm NOT going to be a vegetarian."

Just what I thought.

My Creative Crazy Boy

So my son came home with his folder earlier this week that had some schoolwork in it.  Now my son is not much for schoolwork and he will just do the bare minimum to scrape by so he can go on to play or do whatever else it is that he wants to do.

Now, don't get me wrong, this kid is smart as can be, and absolutely hilarious and EXTREMELY creative in how he thinks.  You can see just a glimpse into how his mind works in some of his "artwork" for school that came home this week.

This is the first one we saw.  I noticed it looked as if he was wearing a tuxedo.  When asked about this image he replied "oh, that's the Joker, in polar bear form."

To this one he said "That's polar bear man, with his sidekick."

And last but not least...

This is "Two face the butterfly"  

My son also came home from school very upset the other day.  He was crying because he knew I was going to be mad...

"Mom, I'll pay for it myself I promise."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"I drew on the seat of the bus with ink."  He started to cry, "Part of the drawing was all ready there, there was a face, and I just wanted to make him into a French guy so I added a beret and a mustache!"

I had to compose myself not to laugh at this because even though it was VERY VERY wrong of him to deface school property, on the other hand I was laughing at his shear creative genius.  

This kid is a source of so many gray hairs and so many smiles.

Lifesaver

Yesterday my hubby and I were having a mellow afternoon, just playing games and, relaxing in front of a fire.  A scream broke through the silence of our home from upstairs.  It was that kind of scream where you know that someone is hurt.

Hubby and I ran quickly up the stairs to see what was going on.  My son was screaming hanging onto the ladder of his bed, with the cat hanging off of him.

I guess what had happened is that the dog had scared the cat onto the top of my sons loft bed.  This happens quite often in our house, the dog goes running after the cat, the cat runs and hides from the dog up high- no big deal, well, usually.

My son decided that he would "rescue" the cat from the bed by taking her down the ladder (while the dog happened to be in the room still).  The cat was still freaked and clawed onto the first thing that she could reach, which happened to be my son.

So there they both are, hanging, clawing, crying.

We pull the cats claw out of my son's belly and look at his tummy, we give him hugs and kisses, and explain that there is no need to "rescue" the cat.  We explain the cat is perfectly capable of defending herself from the suicidal beagle.

We go back downstairs to continue in our relaxing afternoon.  My son is still sobbing in tears.  He keeps pulling up his shirt to look at his "massive gaping wound" that he has.

The melodrama doesn't stop there.  He looks over at my husband and between sobs says "Thank you Dad for saving my life."

And here it is, the horrific wound that caused all the drama.

My Boy

He is as exhausting as he is funny, as ornery as he is entertaining, he is my only boy and he is turning eight today.  

I can't believe how the years fly by.  I can remember back to when I was pregnant with him.  He did somersaults in my tummy ALL THE TIME.  This obviously was quite the indication on how he was going to be.

He is so smart, and so strange, and so funny.  He loves Star Wars, Super Heros, and GI Joe.  He loves to draw pictures and read comic books.  He loves video games and anything to do with movies.  He has this genius creative mind, that I don't completely understand yet.  I think he will be a movie director when he grows up.  When he gets his mind set on something he just won't let it go.   He is persistent.

He has a short fuse but a big heart.  There is no end to how much this kid can love.  He has a tough exterior, but is full of compassion.  He argues endlessly with his sisters, but they are truly his best friends and would do anything for them.

He loves to laugh.  He has this wonderful giggle and when he laughs his eyes squint to almost closed.  He has sandy blonde hair and big blue eyes.  He is short and it doesn't bother him one bit, because what he lacks in height he makes up for in strength. 

He is a fantastic reader, but hates math.  He loves science and animals but he can't keep a pet to save his life.  His track record for small animals is two days max.  He HATES homework.

He doesn't care about what others think is cool, or what everyone else is doing.  He is a leader, not a follower and you won't convince him to do anything he doesn't want to do.

He is my boy, and I love him more than words can describe.  I'm so thankful God has given me the honor of raising him. 

Potty Mouth

Ok, so my son has had a cursing problem the past few days. We were watching Bruce Almighty with Gwen and the kids the other day (fast forwarding thru the bad scene with him and Jen Aniston)...anyhow he heard a few words on there that he repeated. Now, I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but took him in the bathroom and threatened to wash his mouth out with soap if he didn't watch his mouth. I explained to him which words are naughty words and what not to say.

So, we were watching Legally Blonde today, not a bad movie at all but he heard the word dumb ass.

He said, "I'm not going to say that word, cuz mom will wash my mouth out with soap."

Aaron turned around and said "what?"

He then in turn said, "I was going to say that word, but I'm not going to say the word dumbass because mom will wash my mouth out with soap."

Ok, so at that point the way he said it was so cute, Aaron and I started laughing and couldn't help it. Right there went all the authority that I had the other day.