oooo so pretty

The Beans is a darling little monstrosity.  I mean it, people stop me all the time to tell me how beautiful he is -- most of them confusing his pretty long lashes rimming his startling blue eyes for those of a girl -- but he really has a true capacity for sheer evil brilliance.  I assure you.  Apart from the heinous bat shriek he has perfected to a degree I anticipate militarily contacting any day now, he can climb in or out of anything.  Nothing holds him safely, so much so that we actually made his bedroom door a Dutch door as opposed to dealing with the continual dismantling of a baby gate.  

I find that keeping him entertained is not only critical for his safety but also for my sanity.  So when I see anything on Pintercrack that appears to be entertaining and cheap/easy to do I am all over that.  Cue the adorably simple Time Out Jar or Calming Jar.  

from creative little daisy

Adorable, no?  I fell in love with the idea of a timer that was both entertaining and soothing.  As a kid I adored those goofy glitter wand things and would tip them back and forth watching the glitter swirl and fall ... heck, if I had one still I would do it.  This reminded me of those, so I wanted to make one.  For the baby, of course. *ahem*

But the thought of giving my child ... any child ... a glass jar ... uh, not a plan I was cool with.  

In my other obsessive wanderings on Pintercrack I had stumbled upon (and of course pinned) a homemade lava lamp (which I will do and post about another day).  Here they had used a Voss water bottle because of their nifty shape, so I figured that would be a totally awesome container to use.  

So I looked everywhere for those bottles, and when I finally found them I was floored that they nearly cost me $3.  FOR ONE!  Cuh-ray-zee.  Too in love with the idea to see reason, I bought the expensive Norwegian bottle of water anyway.  Side note: the water was tasty.  

supplies all ready to go

squish glitter glue into the bottle
... and this part takes a while

while sprinkling regular glitter into the bottle
do not drop the damn cap in there
*sigh*

lots of sparkle, and no glitter shaker cap anymore

add some water

begin mixing

and keep shaking

the glue will bubble, so I kept trying to get
the bubbles down so I could add more water

ooooo purdy

finished product
on a dirty table in my backyard

seriously, I could watch it for hours

So it was a simple craft, it was cheap all things considered even with the expensive bottle.  I will add that I super glued the cap on this bad boy.  Highly recommend that immensely critical step, or you might have a hellova mess on your hands, and floor, and furniture, and child.

In fact, it was so successful I made a second one.  It was/is blue.  It lived, then died and then lived again.


Ever so handily we have already problem solved what might happen if your monstrosity of a one year old outsmarts you and manages to make a plastic bottle a dangerous thing.  So not only can I tell you what could go wrong, but I can also tell you how to fix it.  


Tomorrow.  ;)