Trying out Vitaj Patinas

I really like the Jax patinas, but Vintaj offers some that are more like paint for metal and I really wanted to try them out. I had engraved a few …

Halloween 2019: Knight and Dragon

After coming back from a trip to Florida, the kids were excited about the astonaut and knight costumes they saw at Disney and NASA. I pointed Doug to …

Metal Etching with the Glowforge

Warning Metal etching can be dangerous! If you’re going to try this, make sure to read all red the warning text at the bottom of the Edinburgh …

Bleach Shirts on the Glowforge

I’ve made a bunch of bleach shirts using stencil vinyl/contact paper on my cricut. But I really wanted to try it on my Glowforge, since it can cut …

Unglazed bisque ornaments: a happy accident

I was really excited about the results I got lasering on porcelain ornaments, so I tried to order a bunch on Amazon Prime. But I didn’t pay close …

Bleach Shirts with Polyester Blends

All the tutorials for making bleach shirts say to use 100% cotton. But I had some Old Navy 60% cotton 40% polyester blend shirts sitting around, and …

Halloween 2018, Part 2: Captain America Costume

Logan absolutely fell in love with Captain America over the summer, so it was the clear choice for his Halloween costume. I was really excited about …

Halloween 2018, Part 1: Lion Costume

Cole loves animals, but his brother convinced him he needed to be something scary for Halloween. After some deep thinking he settled upon a lion, …

Middle Earth Field Notes Cover

I saw these beautiful map journals and thought it would be fun to make one with a fictional map. Doug’s birthday was coming up and he loves Lord of …

Calvin Hobbes Moleskine Cover

I had a lot of fun making the Marauder’s Map Fields Notes Cover, and I wanted to try something just a little bit more complex. Plus I needed a cover …

Leather field notes cover

I really wanted to learn more about working with leather after making the Marauder’s Map bookmarks. So when I saw this field notes template on …

First Glowforge Project: Harry Potter Bookmarks

I just got a Glowforge and I’m so excited! I haven’t had time to make much yet, but it came with a sample of leather, and I thought it would be fun to …

Making bleach shirts with stencils cut on Cricut Maker

The Basics I randomly happened upon this subreddit full of bleach shirt pictures and was totally mesmerized. So many different possibilities, and such …

Porcelain Pen Ceramic Mug

Even after twenty years as a woman in tech, this article about One Direction fans and especially the Larries brought a fresh perspective. I mentioned …

Sandblasting Pint Glasses and Stemless Wine Glasses

We have been running out of glasses lately and I’ve been thinking about decorating my own. I’ve seen some cool pictures of frosted glass online and …

Etching Photos onto Metal

Warning Metal etching can be dangerous! If you’re going to try this, make sure to read all red the warning text at the bottom of the Edinburgh …

Learning to etch metal: Edinburgh etch on copper and brass stamping blanks

Warning Metal etching can be dangerous! If you’re going to try this, make sure to read all red the warning text at the bottom of the Edinburgh …

Baking Gingerbread Houses!

As kids we always made milk carton gingerbread houses, but I’ve always wanted to try making a real one. I found this set of gingerbread house cookie …

Sewing Harry Potter Hooded Towels!

I happened upon this Harry Potter Hooded Towel tutorial and both got really excited (the kids love Harry Potter and so do I!) and felt kind of dumb …

Halloween 2017: Sewing Ghost and Bunny Costumes

The kids are really excited about their Halloween costumes this year, and they’ve been in deep debate about what they should be. Logan is adamant that …

Knitting Weasley Sweaters

I’ve been doing a lot of knitting lately, and also a lot of reading Harry Potter to the boys. Logan especially loves it. I finally learned to knit a …

Halloween 2016: Ninjago!

My dad passed away this week. It’s an especially sad time of year because he always made such amazing Halloween costumes for us as kids. He and my mom …

Better GitHub labels in Gmail through Apps Script

When my team at work started doing a lot of projects in GitHub, I had trouble keeping up with all the notifications from the issue tracker in Gmail. …

Halloween 2015: Mike Wazowski Toddler Costume

This year, Logan loves his old costume and it still fit, but Cole is big enough to walk around! So I updated his Mike Wazowski costume, again with a …

Halloween 2014: Monsters Inc Sully and Mike Wazowski!

This is our first Halloween with two kids and I was excited to work on costumes for both of them. Logan loved watching Monsters Inc so I decided to do …

Making a Board Book From Photos

I’ve made a couple of books through Pint Size Productions and really liked them. When my two-year-old nephew came to visit, I wanted to take the …

Melted Crayon Easter Eggs

We did Easter eggs for the first time this year. Logan requested that they be “scary”. So Doug and I shredded some crayons and we sprinkled them on …

Homemade Cake Pops!

I got the book Cake Pops a while ago and I’ve been dying to try it out! There are a lot of recipes for spring, so I made some to take to the …

Sewing Star Wars Baby Blankets

The Ann Arbor Sewing Center had some awesome Star Wars fabric, so I picked some up. I had some extra minky fabric from Logan’s Halloween Costume, and …

Laser Etched Glass Ornaments

I’ve been having a lot of trouble getting photos to look good on ornaments, so I decided to try something else. I had a really cute set of Logan’s …

Halloween 2013: Sewing a Curious George Costume

This Halloween, Logan was obsessed with Curious George. So it was easy to pick out a costume idea for him. I picked up some brown fleece and sewed up …

Laser Etched Corian Marvel Coasters

At one point, we were considering remodeling our kitchen, and we got some Corian samples. We didn’t end up doing the remodel, but we left them sitting …

Harry Potter Shirt with Stencil Vinyl and Fabric Paint

I happened upon the Harry P font and decided it would be fun to make a quick shirt for Logan. I typed in some text and drew some footprints in …

First Time Using the Laser: Etched Wood Photo Ornaments

I got really excited after taking the laser class at Maker Works and decided to try a simple project to start. I didn’t want to worry about dithering …

3D Printed Metal Christmas Ornaments: Biodh Duil

My uncle Dick passed away this year, and it was a very sad time for our family because he was such an amazing person and we will all miss him so much. …

Mitten Christmas Tree Skirt Made with Silhouette Cameo

I just got a Silhouette Cameo and I am really excited to use it! It can cut paper, cardstock, fabric, vinyl, stickers, and even temporary tattoos into …

Logan's First Halloween Costume: Max's Wolfsuit from Where the Wild Things Are

Halloween has always been a big event in the Sullivan household, as anyone who knew my sisters and I in grade school could tell you. Every year, we …

Up Themed Nursery Decoupage

I don’t usually do movie-themed home decor, but when we moved into our new house and I was thinking about Logan’s room, “Adventure is Out There!” …

Knitting a Red Wings Hockey Jersey

My grandmother taught me to knit when I was 8 or 9 years old, and I’ve been doing knitting projects on and off ever since. I switch back and forth …

First 3D printing project: Ladybug!

My friend Kai started this amazing company called Tinkercad–you can design 3D models online and then print them out either using a 3D printing service …