Cardboard monster!

I organized this paper craft a few years ago for work and it was a such a huge success with kids that I wanted to revisit it today. Anything they can create that is somewhat mechanical will be wildly popular. And this activity is additionally so simple and easy to make that it’s a win-win for all parties involved. If you are looking for something super fun and effortless to make with easily bored kids, this is the way to go. AND, you can use things that are probably already lying around the house!

material

See? How cool is that?! You only need a few things:

• 2 or 3 cardboard sheets (I used empty cereal boxes)

• A pencil

• Scissors

• A glue stick (you could also use scotch tape)

• A ruler

• A hole puncher

• Brass fasteners (at least 7)

instructions

Take a cardboard sheet and, with the pencil and ruler, draw a series of at least 6 strips, all of the same length and width. Make sure the strips are long enough or else the monster won’t be able to move! Our strips measure 3 cm x 18 cm.

Cut along the lines to obtain the desired strips.

Punch holes in the strips as shown in the photo : the first and last two strips should have a hole in the middle and on one extremity. The middle strips should have a hole in the middle and on both extremities. As much as possible, make sure the holes are all punched at the same place from one strip to another. A trick is to punch hole on one strip and use it as a reference for all others, by placing it on top of the others. That way, you’ll exactly where to punch the holes

Put the strips aside for the moment and take another cardboard sheet as well as a pencil.

Draw a horizontal line along the middle of the sheet, length wise. The ruler is not really needed here.

Draw the top half of your monster’s head above the horizontal line. That line represents its jaw line. If it has fangs, draw a zigzag on either side the horizontal line.

Cut along the lines you just drew.

Place your monster’s upper head on a sheet of cardboard to draw its second bottom half. If there’s enough space left on your cardboard, use it, or else take another sheet.

Draw a line along the top side of the monster’s neck.

Draw a line along the bottom of the monster’s neck. This is because the upper part of the head and the bottom half of the head will share the same neck so both neck should be of the same size.

Now draw the bottom half of the monster’s jaw, making sure to draw along the upper half’s teeth.

You should obtain something like this. Notice the hole on the top middle part of the lower head. All that is left to do is connect the two lines together (the upper part of the neck with the inside of the jaw).

Cut along the lines to obtain the lower half of the monster’s head.

Now that you have your monster’s full head, you can give it eyes and nostrils if you wish. I didn’t feel the need to do more, so I left it blank.

Superimpose the upper head’s neck with that of the lower head. The teeth should lock perfectly.

And punch a hole in the middle of the neck. Now you are ready to assemble your monster.

Take the first two strips. They should both have a hole in the middle and one at the right extremity.

Form an X with the 2 strips so that one middle hole is on top of the other.

Insert a brass fastener in the middle hole and open its arms on either side of the hole.

Take 2 middle strips. They should each have 3 holes on them.

Cross the 2 middle strips so that their middle holes are superimposed. Now superimpose their left holes with those of the first 2 strips, as illustrated in the photo above.

Insert a brass fastener in the holes and open their arms.

If you have more than 6 strips, continue as indicated above until you reach the final 2 strips. The final 2 strips should both have a hole in the middle as well as one on the left extremity.

Cross the final 2 strips so that their middle holes are one on top of the other, and then superimpose their left holes with those the previous strips.

Insert 2 brass fasteners where the final 2 strips meet the rest of the craft. Do not insert one in the middle hole of the final 2 strips just yet.

Take the upper half of your monster’s head, and superimpose the hole on its neck with the middle hole of the final 2 strips. Align the neck with the strip pointing upwards, and glue the strip to the upper head, as shown in the photo above.

Now do the same with lower half of the monster’s head, gluing the final strip pointing downwards to it.

Finally, insert a brass fastener in the remaining hole, and open its arms on either side of it.

And that’s it! Now have fun opening and closing your monster’s head!. You need both your hands to do so : each hand holds one strip on the left and see what happens when you pull them apart from or closer to each other!

For even more fun, play around with light and a white wall, creating shadows with your monster!

To see my cardboard monster in action, check out my in Instagram of Facebook account!

In the meantime, have fun!

The Killers : The sound of my twenties

In my late teens and during most of my twenties, I would hang out downtown almost every week, just to shop, go to the movies or simply just to walk around the mall. I liked being downtown. I enjoyed the effervescence, the stores, the restaurants. On every trip, I would unmistakably make a stop at the now closed HMV record store where I would roam around for hours, perusing the latest album and DVD releases and look for something new to listen to and/or to watch. And every time, I would excitedly walk out of that store with a list of films or TV series to rent at Blockbuster on my way home and a few CDs in my hands, most of which were usually picked at random, to listen to alone in my room. More often than not, the albums are just okay, but every now and then, I would stumble on something I would just fall in love with, songs that would stick with me for a long time. That’s how I fell in love with Arcade Fire, The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, The Shins, and so much more. That’s also how I stumbled on an album called Hot Fuss. That album by a Vegas band called The Killers, as well as its follow up, Sam’s Town, and to a lesser degree Day & Age, their third album, turned out to be the soundtrack of my twenties.

I’ve always considered myself a casual music listener. I usually fall in love with a song that I would obsessively listen to for a while. Rare are albums I would lend an ear to from beginning to end without skipping over at least half the tracks, and even rarer are the ones I would play over and over again, let alone throughout years. That’s why I’m writing about The Killers today. They were that exception.

A LOT of people look down on The Killers, often likening them to Bon Jovi or even Nickelback for one reason or another, but I disagree. Sure, there are probably much better bands out there, but it just so happened that I stumbled on them (or that their first album was released) at the right time in my life for them to have a lasting impact. Their music resonated with me.

The very moment I popped that red CD in my player and heard Mr Brightside play, I was hooked. I played Hot Fuss over and over for almost 2 years. It always managed to cheer me right up, after a long and frustrating day at school or at work, exorcising bad feelings, helping me clear my mind and move on with my day. Hot Fuss was released in 2004 and two years later The Killers released Sam’s Town, which I consider the best album the band has and will ever produce, even though every one at the time of its release trashed it because of how stylistically different it was from the first album. Sam’s Town is the only album I’ve ever enjoyed from beginning to end without skipping a single song. And again, I played it obsessively every chance I got. At that time, I had already moved out of the family home and I finally had cable. Being able to get channels like Much Music and the BBC solidified my attachment for the band, as I was able to watch their very weird but entertaining music videos and live performances (their Royal Albert Hall concert was one their best shows). I mention the BBC because The Killers, though an American band, was never really that popular in North America. In the UK, on the other hand, they are huge and they’ve made countless appearances at the Brit Awards. Mr Brightside spent almost 5 years on UK’s top 100, so that’s something.

In 2008, they released Day & Age. Again, there were great songs I listened to on repeat, like Human, Spaceman and Dustland Fairytale, but that album was the last Killers album I liked. They made 2 more after that, with a bunch of solo projects in between. I gave them all a casual listen and they were all okay, but I quickly came to the conclusion that their best years were probably already behind them. After some time, The Killers were progressively sent at the back of my mind, until this year.

I am writing about them today because their 6th album came out not so long ago. I didn’t want to listen to it at first because I didn’t want to be disappointed again. They had such a great presence during my twenties that I did not want to tarnish the good memories they are linked to. But, curiosity got the better of me and I played Imploding the Mirage. I did not love it at first but I did not hate it either. Something about the melodies made me go back and listen to the songs again. And again. They progressively grew on me and all of a sudden, I realized that I’ve exclusively listened to that album for the past few days. I am writing about The Killers because as I listened to Imploding the Mirage, a wave of nostalgia came over me. It brought me back to simpler times. It made me go back to their first 3 albums and their songs have played on a continuous loop on my IPhone for the past week. And all over again, I became a Killers’ fan as I rekindled with their music.

Are they over the top? Of course they are. The Killers have never been about subtlety and nuance. But they are nonetheless master song writers and their chorus are catchy as hell. Their songs were not written to be played on the radio or on Spotify. Their songs are anthemic, bombastic, grandiose, flamboyant productions meant to be performed in arenas and stadiums.

I cannot pinpoint what exactly made me love this band more than any other. Is it the music? The lead singer, Brandon Flowers’ wide vocal range? The fact that for some reason, they always seem out of place? I don’t know. All I can tell is that their music cheered me up when I was down and kept me upbeat when I am in a good mood. An emotional catharsis, if you will. And in a time like the year 2020 when everything seems to be gone to shit, and we need something to overwhelm the screaming in our heads, why not make it The Killers’ blustering music and Brandon Flowers’ soaring voice?

A short and non comprehensive album by album overview

I will only discuss the albums I liked: Hot Fuss, Sam’s Town, Day & Age and Imploding the Mirage.

Hot Fuss

Released in 2002, their first album launched the band into superstardom. Mr Brightside was the debut single that caught everyone’s attention and skyrocketed the band’s career. That song was also the first one that the band wrote. Actually, before they even met, Dave Keuning, the guitarist, had a melody he kept playing. He knew it was special but didn’t know what to do with it. Brandon Flowers, on the other hand, wrote the lyrics to a song as a reaction to a difficult breakup after he caught his girlfriend cheating on him. When they met, they put the two pieces together and out came the brilliant Mr Brightside.

Favorite songs in this album :

• Mr Brightside

• Change your mind

• Smile like you mean it

• Somebody told me

Sam’s Town

Their much anticipated second album was released in 2004. To everyone’s surprise, they did not stick with the pop/ synth wave sound that so characterized Hot Fuss and instead did a full 180 with a grittier, rock sound. While in Hot Fuss they were clean cut boys in snazzy suits singing about girls and having fun, they became, in Sam’s Town, scruffy, bearded cow boys singing about Americana and the hardships of life. Rolling Stone magazine tanked the album before its release and all other critics followed suit. That change in sound and appearance did upset quite a few people. Personally, I believe this is their best album ever. And I’m not the only one. In 2006, Rolling Stone did a survey among its readers, asking them which are the most underrated albums of the decade. Sam’s Town topped the poll at number 1. For the album’s 10th anniversary, some magazines went back on their initial review to admit that the album was in fact a lot better than their critiques let on. To this day, The Killers maintain that despite the tepid reception it got, Sam’s Town is their favorite album and the one they are the most proud of.

Favorite songs in this album :

• Sam’s town

• Read my mind

• When you were young

• For reasons unknown

• Bones

Day & Age

Released in 2008, Day & Age was a lot more pop and playful than the previous 2 albums. Their lead single, Human, caused quite a stir with lyrics no one could decipher : “are we human, or are we dancer?”, causing some debate as to what the words actually mean. The album in itself received mixed reviews., but Dustland Fairytale is one of my favorite songs ever.

Favorite songs in this album :

• Human

• Spaceman

• Dustland Fairytale

• This is your life

Imploding the Mirage

For their 6th album, only 2 band members remain : Brandon Flowers (singer, keyboard) and Ronnie Vannucci Jr (drums). They had moved away from their hometown Las Vegas, collaborated with several artists such as Lindsey Buckingham and K.D. Land and although creating a Killers album without two of their original members, guitarist Dave Keuning and bassist Mark Stoermer, proved to be a considerable challenge, they have shown that truly great things can be made when facing adversity. Brandon Flowers’ talents as a lyricist and his powerful voice, Ronnie Vannucci’s epic drumming, as well as their trademark roaring crescendos, make this album an absolute pleasure to listen to.

Favorite songs in this album :

• My own soul’s warning

• Caution

• Blowback

• My God

I usually share their official music video, but since the album was put together in great part during quarantine, I thought it’d be fitting to share their rendition of Caution from their studio, filmed as part of their promotional talk show tour from home.

Alright. That’s all I wanted to say on the matter. This is probably the only music review I’ll ever do, and now I’m gonna go back to trying to find something interesting to watch on TV now. I heard Raised by Wolves and Hitmen are good…

Homemade bubble solution

With everything’s that’s been going on, I’ve been trying to keep myself busy at home. It also helps that part of my job is to find and recommend fun at home crafting activities for kids and families. I lately rediscovered a childhood favorite of mine : blowing bubbles! I used to love doing that. They would sell these colorful little bottles that come with a wand inside. I could spend hours just watching the bubbles fly away or pop.

With a little research, I found out that the bubble solution is super easy to make at home. AND, it lasts for a long time as well, which means that you could make a few bottles ahead of time and just whip them out in times of boredom.

I prepared different types of mixtures, tested them out and the next thing I know, I’ve been blowing bubbles for hours! There are a lot of different recipes out there but I found that the simplest one is the one that works best.

material

That’s right! You only need 3 basic ingredients!

• 3/4 cup water

• 1/4 cup dish soap

• 1 tbsp sugar

instructions

Well, the instructions are very simple : mix all ingredients in a bottle until everything has dissolved. That’s it!

Why is there sugar in the mixture? The sugar allows the water to thicken a bit, slows down its evaporation, thus allowing the bubbles to last longer!

It’s also better to prepare the solution at least a day in advance. In my excitement, I tried to blow bubbles right away and though I could produce a bubble or two, they usually pop very quickly. Wait a day and you get fully formed bubbles that float in the air.

For the wand, that’s another fun part of the activity. You can use whatever you have at your disposal : a stick (BBQ skewer, chopsticks, pencil, …) and attach it to any shapes you have (pipe cleaners, cookie cutters, elastic bands, …).

I used one of those wood crafting sticks, shaped a pipe cleaner into a square or a circle, and attached the pipe cleaner to the stick. Worked like a charm!

All that’s left to do is go outside, in your yard, on your balcony, or just open the window, and start having fun!

DIY cup and ball game

Like the walking paper horse or the self-walking feet, this craft also falls into the “I’ll save it for when I have the time” category. A while ago, I saw a short video of someone playing with this homemade toy and I thought how cool a game this was! It looked really easy to make as well! I then forgot about it until now and took some of my free time to test out this activity. Is it as easy to build as it looks? Is it as fun as it appears to be? Yes and yes. The only “problem”, if you can even call it a problem, is that you have to wait a bit after each step for the glue to dry. If you have a hot glue gun, that should not be an issue, but if you use white liquid glue like I did, you’ll have to be a bit patient.

Material

• 3 popsicle sticks

• 2 small popsicle stick (or cut a normal one in half)

• 4 clothespins (ideally made of wood)

• 2 bottle caps (of the same size)

• a string

• Glue

• a bead (ideally, with a hole pierced in the middle)

• Not shown in the photo : a small piece of paper sticker. This is necessary if you’re not using hot glue.

instructions

Take 2 clothespins and glue them one on top of the other. Both clothespins should face the same direction. Do the same for the other 2.

Glue a popsicle stick on top of each clothespin duo. The sticks’ extremity should not go beyond the pins’ prongs.

Apply glue along the third popsicle tick.

Carefully place each clothespin combo on top of the third stick so that they both meet at its middle, without touching each other. Leave just enough space for your string.

While the glue dries, take the bead and the string.

Make a big knot at the end of your string. The knot should be bigger than the hole in your bead. Obviously, this step is not necessary if you do not have a hole in your bead. If that’s the case, simply glue the string to the bead, or tie it around the bead.

Insert the string inside the bead, until the bead reaches the knot. To make sure that the bead stays there, apply a little bit of glue between the knot and the bead, then apply some pressure. Set it aside to dry.

This next step is the trickiest part of the craft. Attach your string to the middle part of the bottom stick, all the while making sure that the bead reaches the lever part of the clothespins, but doesn’t go beyond that point either.

Cut off the excess string, at the bottom.

Now take your 2 bottle caps. If you are using regular white liquid glue, find 2 little pieces of paper stickers to put on the caps. Regular white glue doesn’t work well with plastic and as it dries, it will break away from the plastic. This is why paper stickers are recommended here. If you’re using hot glue, skip this step and go straight for the next one.

Apply a line of glue on the bottle cap.

Carefully place the bottle cap on top of the clothespins’ lever section, always making sure that the bead can easily go inside the bottle cap. The bead should not fall short or go beyond the cap.

Do the same for the other side.

Turn the whole thing over. Again, the glue must have dried completely.

Now glue the 2 small popsicle sticks under each bottom clothespins. The small sticks should be perpendicular to the rest of the craft.

Wait for the glue to dry completely and that’s it! You now have a cup and ball game that you’ve made yourself! You can have fun with it alone or play one on one with someone! If it’s your turn to play, place the bead inside your cup, press the lever and try to send it inside the opposite cup! Since this set is extremely light, make sure to hold the game down by applying pressure on the small sticks, coming out on each side! Otherwise, you’ll lift everything up when pressing on the lever!

Check out my Instagram and/or Facebook account to watch a short video of the game being played!

Have fun!

Book recommendations

I have a bunch of books stacked up in front of me. Books I’ve often said I’d read if I had more time. But now that we are all in quarantine and my schedule cleared, I can’t really focus long enough on anything other than TV shows and YouTube clips. On a separate post, I’ll share my favorite bingeable series, but I decided that for this one, even though I cannot find the required concentration to go through a book, I can nonetheless recommend a few titles for some of you who are looking for something to read.

I’m terrible at summarizing so I’ll provide a list, linking each title to their Amazon page, where you’ll find a more enticing synopsis. From then on, if one of the titles below seems interesting to you, I recommend that you check out your local library’s online catalog to see if there’s an electronic version that you can borrow. Don’t forget that libraries are free!

This is not a comprehensive list either, as I have realized that my memory is crap.

Mystery / Thrillers

• Think of a number, by John Verdon. This is the first of a series of novels featuring Dave Gurney, a retired NYPD homicide investigator, and it is also the best one. The followup, Shut Your Eyes Tight isn’t bad either.

• Birdman, by Mo Hayder. This first installment of the Jack Caffery series is downright creepy. If you’re into serial killers, this thriller will do the trick.

• Sleepyhead, by Mark Billingham. Billingham’s debut thriller tackles locked-in syndrome, and like Birdman, it’s actually chilling.

• The Poet, by Michael Connelly. A classic for all thriller fans.

• The Man with a load of mischief, by Martha Grimes. Pretty much the whole Richard Jury/ Melrose Plant series, up until the most recent publications, is good. They’re lighter reading materials compared to the previously mentioned titles. They’re still murder mysteries but with a touch of humor.

• The Raphael Affair, by Iain Pears. Like Martha Grimes’ books, Iain Pears’ art history crime series featuring Jonathon Argyll and Flavia di Stefano is the perfect mix of intrigue and comedy.

All the above titles are the first volumes of their series. If you enjoyed them, check out the rest!

Da Vinci Code-like novels

Don’t roll your eyes! There is nothing wrong with these novels, starting with The Da Vinci Code! They are not high literature but they are a great form of distraction and entertainment. I love these action packed, conspiracy-filled, unrealistic novels about secret societies, secret codes, and I own it.

• James Rollins’ Sigma Force series. Starting with Sandstorm, the whole series is plain ridiculous but once you’ve started reading, I dare you to be able to put the book down. James Rollins’ books are somehow catchy and whether you like it or not, you get caught up in the intrigue and want to know how it concludes. He was a bit uninspired with his latest books, but they remain nonetheless readable.

• Steve Berry’s Cotton Malone series. What I said about James Rollins can also be applied to Steve Berry. Cotton Malone’s series begins with The Templar Legacy, and though the books address some very intriguing historical notions, the latest ones are extremely boring reads. The novels are still worth it but only the first 5 or 6 of the series.

• The Dante Club, by Matthew Pearl. Pearls’ fascinating debut novel combines very successfully suspense, history and literature.

• The Rule of Four, by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason. Murder, a mysterious coded manuscript, and secrets dating back to the Renaissance. What’s not to like?

• Library of the dead, by Glenn Cooper. Ancient knowledge. Conspiracy theories. Area 51. Murder. All boxes checked.

• Codex, by Lev Grossman. A mysterious medieval codex, a buried treasure and people ready to kill for them. Intriguing and riveting.

Sci-Fi

• The Southern Reach Trilogy, by Jeff VanderMeer. Please do not watch the movie adaptation of Annihilation. Read the book instead. This trilogy (Annihilation, Authority and Acceptance) is by far among the best books I’ve read recently.

• The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury. A classic.

• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. Another classic, dubbed by many as the best sci-fi novel of all time.

• Flashforward, by Robert J. Sawyer. An origital take on the notion of time travel. It was very poorly adapted for TV a few years ago.

• World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks. Though technically a horror novel, I’ll categorize it with sci-fi because I don’t have a list for scary books, and World War Z could also be considered sci-fi since it’s about a dystopian future dealing with the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. Cold, scientific and frighteningly realistic, this book is a modern classic.

More novels

• La Saga Malaussène, by Daniel Pennac. If you speak French, this series is a must. Beginning with Au bonheur des ogres, this series is both funny and endearing.

• The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Often described as Gabriel García Márquez meets Umberto Eco meets Jorge Luis Borges, this is a book for book lovers.

• The book Thief, by Markus Zusak. A heart-wrenching tale taking place in Nazi Germany, as told by Death.

• Sophie’s World, by Jostein Gaarder. This book made me fall in love with books. It also helped me survive my drenching high-school philosophy courses!

• The Art Thief, by Noah Charney. An intrigue that will keep you on the edge of your seat as well as providing fascinating and informative facts about art history.

• The housekeeper and the professor, by Yoko Ogawa. A beautiful novel about mathematics.

Non-Fiction

• A Short History of Nearly Everything, By Bill Bryson. A fascinating book about scientific curiosity.

• Top of the Rock : Inside the Rise and Fall of Must-See-TV, by Warren Littlefield. For TV buffs, an account on the time when NBC was on top of the world.

• Bossypants, by Tina Fey. An autobiography by one the best comedy writers ever.

• Ayoade on Top, by Richard Ayoade. A brilliant and hilarious scene-by-scene study of Gwyneth Paltrow’s 2003 flop A View from the Top.

• Grace : A Memoir, by Grace Coddington. An autobiography by one of fashion’s most influential and innovative figures.

• The Feather Thief : Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century, by Kirk Wallace Johnson. The title says it all.

• Born into it : A Fan’s life, by Jay Baruchel. In order to truly appreciate this book, it’s better that you are a little bit familiar with hockey. More specifically, with the Montreal Canadiens fandom.

• For more behind-the-scenes books or about making-ofs, checkout this old post of mine.

That’s about it for now. I know for sure there a re a ton of other books I should have mentioned here but as I explained earlier, my memory is crap.

Hopefully, at least one title here that you might find interesting!

Walking paper horse!

I just LOVE easy mechanical paper crafts! It’s nice when something is pretty and all, but if it moves or does something, I have a blast. Yesterday I made a self-walking pair of feet and today, I am making walking horses! Well, they don’t actually look like horses but let’s say they’re four legged animals. Anyways. I digress.

I found a little video of this craft a while ago and thought it looked like so much fun that I had to try it out. Never really had the time to do so until now. The video I saw made it look way easier to make the animals walk, but once I figured it out, I cannot stop playing around with it!

So if you are bored and/or looking for fun stuff to do with your kids, here is the tutorial.

material

You really don’t need much to make this craft:

• A sheet of paper

• Scissors

• A pencil

• A ruler

That’s it!

instructions

With the pencil and the ruler, draw a grid on the sheet of paper. There must be 3 columns, 5 cm wide each, and the column on the left as well as the one on the right must have 3 lines of 1.5 cm of height. On each top and bottom corner, draw a mark 0.3 cm away from the border, and draw a line from that mark to the corner right above or below it. You must see a little triangle on each corner as a result.

Cut the outline of the grid.

Then cut out the tiny little triangle on each corner, and cut along the horizontal lines.

Now fold the top right leg along the vertical line, and do so for the 2 legs at the very left and right bottom and the other upper leg.

This is the result you should get.

Now fold the 2 middle parts in the opposite direction, to obtain the above result. See? Now you have four legs, a tail and a head!

Give more shape to your animal’s tail by rolling it, of twisting it.

For the head, fold the extremity a bit.

Decorate the head as you wish. I simply cut out ears but you could draw eyes, and a nose.

And that’s it! Your animal is ready to go for a walk!

On a flat surface, nothing will happen. You must put your animal on a slanted surface, give it a little tilt and watch it walk down the hill!

I must say that this last step requires a little practice. It took me some time to figure out the perfect angle for my horse, and the appropriate force with which I must tilt and push the animal for it to start walking and not just fall on the side. Sometimes, they will stop walking mid-way and will need your help to continue walking.

Nonetheless, once I got all that figured out, I had a blast!

Check out my Instagram and/or Facebook accounts to watch a little video of my horse walking down a cardboard hill!

Until next time, have fun!

Self-walking feet!

I stumbled on this crafting idea some time ago but never really got around to testing it. These weird and stressful times are the perfect opportunity to whip out all my arts and craft equipment and play around, just to clear my head, keep myself busy and distracted at home.

So here it is : the self-walking feet! This is super simple to make, yet somehow a bit creepy but so fun to play around with! It really freaked my cat out!

material

That’s really all you need, and most of these things should already be found in your home. At least, their equivalents!

• Colorful sheets of paper. You could also reuse old wrapping paper, newspapers, or old magazine pages, etc.

• A paper straw

• A pencil

• Two (2) short sticks or a long one cut in half **

• Scissors

• Glue

• A cardboard cylinder. I used an empty ribbon roll but you could also use a duct tape roll.

• Tape

** Ideally, I recommend crafting sticks because they are thicker than BBQ skewers. But if that’s all you have at home, that’ll work out just fine, but the skewers will slip out of the straw more easily, that’s all. If you have any stick that would fit just right inside a straw without being too snug inside, that would be perfect.

instructions

On the back of a colorful sheet of paper, draw a pair of feet. You could also outline the contour of your own feet, just for fun.

Cut out the feet you just drew.

Cut the paper straw in half and tape the extremity of each half under each feet, on the inner side, a little below the big toe.

If you’re working with an empty cardboard roll or cylinder, cover it with colorful paper to make it pretty. If you’re using a roll of duct tape that is still functional, better skip this step.

Tape a short stick on each side of the cylinder. Notice on the picture how the sticks are not placed at the same level. The stick on the left is taped on the lower side while the stick on the right is taped to the upper side of the roll. This will allow for the walking part of the craft.

Now place the left foot on the left side of the cylinder, and the right foot on the right side.

Insert the sticks inside the straws. And that’s it!

How simple was that? All that’s left to do is make the feet walk! Put them on a flat surface, give the roll a slight push and watch it walk away! Play around with slanted surfaces.

The sticks roll inside the straws, allowing for the walking movement. Check out my Instagram or Facebook account for a short video of the feet walking!

Alright! Have fun and stay safe.

Moving paper snakes!

I really love kids’crafts. They’re the most enjoyable to make while grownup crafts, I find, always have to be practical or related to some life hack. No. Kids’ stuff are just meant to be fun and that’s what I like.

A few years ago I started organizing kids crafting activities at work and I found out that I really enjoyed it! Since then, I’m constantly looking for and trying out new ideas, mostly for my personal pleasure, and sometimes for work. All my crafts are highly focused on upcycling (you know, to reduce waste but also to limit money spending) and, for parents out there, they really encourage kids to use their imagination to make something out of what seems like nothing, while allowing them to discover the joys of creating something with their own hands. More and more, we buy things that are ready-made and every now and then, it’s nice to develop or reconnect with this increasingly disappearing skill.

In this post, I’m sharing one of my favorite craft: the moving paper snake. I organized this activity for work, two summers ago, and it was by far the kids’ favorite as well! Anything slightly mechanical will make them jump up and down from excitement. This snake is super fun to make and to play with, but the best part is that it is also super easy to build and doesn’t require much.

Material

This is pretty much all you’ll need for this craft!

• At least 5 empty toilet paper rolls. I used 6 in this case.

• Leftover wrapping paper. Never throw them out, it’ll be a waste! Carefully unwrap the gift and keep the paper neatly in a box!

• A bunch of brass fasteners. But if you do not have any, that’s ok! You can use refolded paper clips or cut a bunch of pipe cleaners into smaller parts.

• And of course, the basic tools : scissors, glue and a hole puncher. In this case, I used a puncher that makes smaller holes but it’s also ok if you do not have one. The regular puncher will work just fine.

• Also not shown above but you can add any accessory you want to decorate the snake to your liking. I just added eyes.

Instructions

1- Cover the toilet paper rolls with wrapping paper.

2- Cut the extremities of each roll so they are pointy.

3 - Punch a hole at each extremity, on the upper point and also on the lower one.

!!! You cannot see it very well on the picture but the first paper roll is the only one that has holes on one end. All the other rolls have holes on each end.

4 - Starting with the first roll (the one that is not punched on both ends), combine 2 rolls together by inserting the brass fasteners into their punched holes. A fastener must be inserted into the upper and the lower holes

5 - Continue to combine all the rolls together, until you don’t have any rolls left.

6 - And that’s pretty much it! There’s your snake! All that is left to do is give it some life and personality!

7 - In this case, I only gave my snake a pair of googly eyes, I cut its tails a bit so that it’s pointier and gave it a tongue.

But, you can do what ever you want at this point! You could cut tiny pieces of paper and put scales on your snake!

The brass attachments allow the different parts of your snake to move independently from each other so you can pretty much spend a great deal of time playing with it, making it move which ever way you like!

Check out my Instagram account for a little stop motion video I made, playing with my paper snake!

Have fun and stay tuned for more upcoming crafting ideas!

Making-ofs, behind the scenes and the likes

When I enjoy a movie or a TV show, I want to know everything about it. Every thing. I would rent the DVD to watch the making-of documentaries, I would scour the Internet and magazines to read everything pertaining to the reviews, critical and public reactions, I would watch late-night talk-show interviews with the actors or directors and I would eagerly purchase books that were written on how the show or movie came to be.

These details are, to me, just as interesting as the show or the film because they allow us the viewer to enjoy and appreciate the product even more. For example, I really had a great time watching Inception, but seeing how the hallway dream battle sequence was shot (no CGI, just actors strapped in harnesses inside a huge spinning tube, trying to find their footing while acting and pretend fighting) made the film even more impressive.

How did the creative team come up with such an idea? How did they cast the actors? What hurdle did they have to surmount to achieve their goal? How was such or such scene shot? These are all very valuable information that only increase the value of the show or film, in my view.

I’ve read a few behind-the-scene books over the past few years so I thought I’d make a some recommendations. I’ve always had a more profound attachment to TV shows than to films, probably because I grew up in front of my TV while movie going only came much later in life, so this list is about TV shows only. Even if you are not as TV obsessed as I am, these books are pretty interesting so you’ll be able to enjoy them anyways. And who knows, maybe they’ll make you want to watch the shows all over again and see them with whole other perspective!

Bossypants

Tina Fey

Bossypants is Tina Fey’s autobiography in which she recalls with great honestly, effortless humor and self-deprecation her childhood, upbringing, personal life and professional growth. For those of you who, for some reason, don’t know who Tina Fey is, she was once SNL’s head writer, week-end update host and incredible Sarah Palin impersonator, and she’s also the brilliant mind behind 30 Rock, one of my favorite sitcoms (Liz Lemon is my hero and spirit animal). She’s a comedian, writer, actress, producer, award-show host, name it.

What’s most interesting about Bossypants is the part about her time at SNL. We already know it’s a crazy work environment that comes with lots of pressure and an impossible deadline but it’s interesting to read about all of that from a writer’s perspective who was also in charge of a group of writers. I loved learning how she dealt with different personalities (as much with her staff as with guests), her strategies for coming up with the best possible sketches (do not team up like-minded writers, quite the opposite!). We get a look behind the curtains of one of TV’s most iconic and long lasting show and it was fantastic.

Top of the Rock: Inside the rise and fall of Must-see-TV

Warren Littlefield

Without Warren Littlefiled, there would be no Seinfeld, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Mad About You, Frasier, Friends, ER, Homicide: Life on the Street, Caroline in the City, NewsRadio, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Will & Grace or The West Wing, and much more. There would none of these iconic and groundbreaking shows.

From 1993 to 1998, Warren Littlefield was NBC’s president of entertainment. During his tenure, he transformed television history by developing the abovementioned shows and overseeing the rise of Must-see-TV, the most powerful and entertaining night of the week: thursday. A line-up of the best sitcoms of the decade, from 8 pm to 10 pm for 2 guarantied hours of laughter, followed by the one of the most innovative drama of the time, E.R. No other network could compete against NBC’s ratings.

Say what you will about Warren Littlefield (he was not universally liked by everyone!), but he had a knack for finding good and interesting ideas that would eventually become TV gold. Or at least, he knew how to find the right people to get the job done. In his book, Top of the Rock, he recalled that sweet moment when NBC was on top of the world, up until the moment he was fired. There are also a slew of testimonies from actors, writers and executives who worked under him which gives a great picture of how a network and TV shows were run. It’s fun to read about the Golden Age of television, back when shows on basic cable were still good.

I’ll be there for you: The one about Friends

Kelsey Miller

Friends celebrated its 25th anniversary in September of 2018. It’s only fitting that a book about this iconic show was published around the same time. Over the past 25 years, a lot has been said and written about friends and its cast. I thought I knew everything there was to know about it but was pleasantly surprised when I read Kelsey Miller’s book!

In I’ll be There for You, Miller describes the chronology of events that led to the creation of Friends but she also explored a few other themes such as why did Friends touch so many people’s hearts and why it resonates so much with its audience despite the fact that it’s so blatantly unrealistic. There was also an interesting discussion about whether or not Friends should be considered racist, misogynistic and/or sexist.

The most interesting part of the book was the first half. It covered how Marta Kaufman and David Crane evolved into the creative team that they became, how they had to fight to get Friends to air and the way they intended it to air as well. That first part of the book also covered where the actors came from and how they dealt with their rising celebrity and their contract negotiations. It was pretty captivating and made me want to watch the series all over again, even though I’ve seen it so often that I probably know every episode by heart!

Seinfeldia: How a show about nothing changed everything

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

I am obsessed with Seinfeld. If an episode happens to air on TV, I will watch it. I think it’s my favorite TV show of all time. Love it. Love the humor, love that there is no lesson at the end, love that the characters don’t really seem to like each other or anybody for that matter and love the universality of some of the things that happen to the characters or their actions and thoughts.

I know pretty much all there is to know about Seinfeld but I still had a great time reading Seinfeldia. There were a few facts here and there I was not aware off but the joy came from revisiting a show I grew up watching and that I still very much adore.

Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld are such peculiar individuals that reading about them and their creative process is just as entertaining as watching an episode of their show!

This is a definite must-read for all Seinfeld fans.

Pretty, pretty, pretty good: Larry David and the making of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm

Josh Levine

Larry David is the funniest grumpy man ever! In this book, we get a behind-the-scene look at one of the most cringe-worthy sitcoms there is. And to think that it was mostly improvised! I never really could watch Curb Your Enthusiasm, not because it’s not funny, but because the situations Larry David constantly finds himself in are just too embarrassing and painful to watch!

Reading this book, I had an even bigger appreciation for the actors who worked on the show. They, like the writers, are brilliant individuals. And some anecdotes are pretty damn hilarious as well!

The Daily Show: An Oral History

Chris Smith

I must admit, with some shame, that for the longest time, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart was one of my main sources of information! Though a comedy show, it seemed, at times, that it was more unbiased than the real news broadcasting. I loved the Daily Show and its by-product, The Colbert Report; it was the perfect way to end a day, before going to sleep. You learn about current events, you think about it, you laugh and go to bed in a good mood!

The book was highly informative. First of all, Jon Stewart is so intrinsically linked to the show that I totally forgot that some one else was the host before him! Craig Kilborn was the original host and the show, under him, was a lot different than the one we’re used to watching. The original version of the Daily Show was a lot more amateurish, mean and juvenile. And it also was not a success. Jon Stewart, then almost an unknown comedian, was hired to take over. The book was very interesting in that it recounts Jon Stewart’s difficult start with the writing staff and how much of a challenge it was for him to turn things around and make the show fit his vision.

His initial relationship with most of the staff was tedious and tense when he began hosting The Daily Show but he toughed it out and transformed a childish news parody into the quintessential show that it is now. From the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a slew of comedic geniuses were discovered, or at least, became household names: Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, Lewis Black, Rob Corddry, Ed Helms, Jason Jones, Aasif Mandvi, Hasan MInhaj, John Oliver, Rob Riggle, Larry Wilmore, just to name a few!

A must if you are even remotely a fan of the show!

Upcoming reads

I bought some time ago Mindy Kaling’s book Why Not Me? and Judd Apatow’s Sick in the Head but never got around to reading them. They’re on my to-do list.

One show I really wished someone wrote a book about is The Office (US edition)! We’ve been binge-watching the series lately and it is so good! The out-takes alone are worth a watch, and I’ve read so many articles about it that it is surprising noone published an oral history book about The Office. Feels like there is so much to be said about one of the best sitcoms ever!

Yarn Easter eggs

I am always on the lookout for easy but fun activities for both adults and kids because I just love crafting. It relaxes me and helps me reconnect with my 5 year old self. Since Easter is just around the corner, I am going to share one of my favorite Easter crafts: yarn eggs! They are a bit messy to make but that is half the fun!

Material

• Small balloons or water balloons
• Colorful yarn
• Mod Podge or Elmer's glue
• Water
• Optional: tiny chocolate Easter eggs

Tools

• Old newspapers
• A bowl
• Plastic tubes (or drying racks, cookies sheets, small bowls or glasses)
• A pin or scissors and a tweezer

Instructions

1. Blow as many balloons as you like. Do not blow them too much, make sure they are blown just enough to be shaped like an egg. If you want to gift your yarn eggs with little chocolate ones inside, insert the treats in the balloons before blowing them. Tie the end of each balloon so it doesn't deflate.
2. Make sure that you have protected your workstation with old newspapers!
3. In a bowl, mix the Modge Podge (or white liquid glue) with a bit of water. Not too much water, though, or the yarn will not stick. Just enough to water the glue down a tiny little bit. The glue still has to be a bit thick.
4. Now dip your yarn in the glue mixture. You can either use a very long string if you want one color for your egg, or, if you want colorful eggs, use shorter threads. Just dip them one at a time or else they will form one big messy knot.
5. Once the yarn has soaked the glue mixture, pull it out and remove the excess.
6. Then, simply wrap the yarn around your egg. Let yourself go, there is no rule here! If there are little chocolate eggs in your balloons, just make sure that there are no big holes in the yarn pattern as you wrap it around the balloon. This will prevent the chocolates from falling out of the yarn eggs.
7. Once you are satisfied with the result, put the egg aside to dry and move on to another egg. I used small plastic tubes to dry my eggs but you can use whatever you have at your disposal: cookie sheets, small bowls, drying rack... 
8. Let your eggs dry overnight.
9. Once the yarn has dried completely, take a pair of scissors or a pin to pop the balloons.
10. The balloons will deflate and all you will have left is an egg shaped ball of yarn! How cool is that?
11. Retrieve the deflated balloon with a tweezer.
12. If you have treats inside the balloons, use the scissors to carefully cut the deflated balloon into pieces and, with a tweezer, delicately remove the little bits of balloon and extract the chocolate eggs.

These eggs are super easy and fun to make! If you have kids, it'd be a great family activity to organize for Easter or, you could hand them out as gifts and watch the joy in people's faces as they "crack" their eggs!