Offbeat Bride Guest Blogger

I am going to shamelessly promote my own Offbeat Bride blog post, which is now up on their website. No, I am  not getting married. I just like weddings. And blogging. The post is about providing gluten-free alternatives to cake at a wedding.

And because no blog post here on What's the Smatter is complete without one, I will now leave you with a gratuitous cute animal photo:

This is Cactus Jack the North American porcupine, just waking from an afternoon nap.

Artistic Animals

One of the best parts of my job at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium is training the animals. You might remember the slowest training session ever with Jumbo Jet the tortoise, for instance. This summer, as a fundraiser, our trainers  taught some of the animals to paint and then auctioned off their artwork at Zoobilee (PDZA's swanky black-tie event).

Herald picked up a brush to help out. His trainers (cleverly) wore thin white suits that we usually only wear when working with animals in quarantine; this kept them (relatively) paint-free during the sessions.

Stella the Abyssinian ground hornbill, as a member of a species known for intelligence and curiosity, seemed like an ideal student. However, training animals always presents new and interesting challenges. For one thing, Stella had to be taught which end of the brush to put on the canvas, which is a concept that human pupils probably already understand.

Here is Stella being rewarded for putting the correct end of the brush onto the canvas.

We use operant conditioning to train all of the animals at the zoo--specifically positive reinforcement, which is a fancy term for giving a treat when the animal does something we like. Of course that's a bit of an oversimplification, but that's the foundation for our methods.

And I'll let you in on a secret. Not only does positive reinforcement work on your dog, your cat and even your tortoise, but it works on people too! I will attempt to film and post a few more training sessions before the summer is over.

Recycled Wine Bottle Lamp Part 2

I have to say, I'm pretty proud of our most recent recycled glass and LED project. The first one was a good starting point for Jared and I to mess around with the glass etching and LED wiring.

This time, we aimed higher. We wanted to set LEDs in a wooden base and display the bottle on the base. A green bottle from some cheap red wine, a craft knife, electrical tape and etching cream led to this:

Because I didn't have a professional stencil, I covered the surface of the bottle with black tape where I wanted the design, then I carved out the shape of the tree with a craft knife. This method takes a steady hand and some concentration, but it is surprisingly forgiving because if you make a mistake (since you have to free-hand the design) you can remove the tape and try again.

For the base, we started with a plain wooden post cap from Home Depot, which we got on sale for $6.00. We drilled four holes in the top and covered it in a couple coats of wood stain.

Jared completed the next part, which was to drill a hole in one side for the jack and cord to plug in, and to drill another hole in another side to put in an on/off switch. Once those elements were in place, I helped solder the LEDs underneath the base.

Each LED has two tiny wires coming out of it, one which needs to be connected to the place power is coming from and the other that needs to be grounded. The photo was taken when only the wiring for the LED grounds were in place, so imagine the little wires doubled (to connect them to the power jack) and that would complete the wiring job.

The finished base looked like this from above. The on/off switch is on the opposite side.

Now the wine bottle had to be attached to the base, but glass is notoriously difficult to affix cleanly and solidly. We practiced using a couple of beer bottles and some plywood before discovering that carefully applied superglue held nicely and didn't interfere with the LEDs' glow coming up through the base.

I am certainly going to toot my own horn on this one: I think the lamp looks really good, considering we are amateurs who have limited experience with this sort of thing. Again, you could always use a wine bottle lamp kit to make something similar to recycle your old bottles. Look for bottles that have interesting shapes or colors to vary the style of lamp, too. You can also easily thread a strand of LED lights into a used bottle for a similar, yet simpler-to-achieve effect.

Think Thin: Satisfying Gluten-free Snack Bars

A granola bar packed with oats, seeds, dried fruits, chocolate chips or whatever tidbits you love best really hits the spot as an afternoon snack or a pick-me-up after a workout. For those of us who've gone gluten-free due to Celiac disease or gluten intolerance, these portable edibles are mostly off-limits.

Before I was diagnosed with Celiac, I loved Luna bars, Nature Valley granola bars and all things oat-y and crunchy. Sadly, Luna bars clearly state "may contain traces of wheat" and Nature Valley doesn't use gluten-free oats, so if you're strict about going gluten-free, those are out too.I tried many types of gluten-free bars only to discover they were mostly the same: nuts covered in sweet goo. I became gluten-free Goldilocks; every bar was too high in calories, too mushy, too expensive, too hard to find, or resembled bird seed too closely.

Then one day I found the Think Thin bar.

 There is nothing not to love about these products! Think Thin bars, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:
1.) Every flavor--from brownie crunch to lemon cream pie to cookies and cream is gluten-free.

2.) The full-size bars hover around 200 calories, and these treats are available in Bite Boxes where each mini-bar is only 100 calories.

3.) These bars contain very little sugar (some varieties contain none at all) and they are excellent energy boosters, especially if you try the flavors that boast 20 grams of protein.

4.) I can find these at my local Fred Meyer or even at Winco, where they sell for about 1.30 each. They are probably available elsewhere, too but if you can't find them near you, there's always Amazon!

For a gluten-free bar that is satisfying, nutritious, and very tasty, you can't beat Think Thin bars.

Chocolate Cupcake Toppers

For cake decorators, cupcakes have a versatility that large cakes lack, since each cupcake in the batch can be customized. This Father's Day I made cupcakes for my dad, who is an enormously talented musician, for my grandpa, who still rides a motorcycle at the age of 89, and my sister, who is still a Winnie-the-Pooh fan.

To please the gluten-free foodies in my family as well as the chocolate lovers, I baked cupcakes from a Betty Crocker gluten-free devil's food cake mix. I designed cupcakes to suit each of the three honorees at our party. I ordered two candy molds from Amazon: a musical instrument mold and a motorcycle mold. This seemed a little like cheating, but for two dollars, how could I pass it up?

 Using the professional molds, I ended up with cupcakes that looked like this:

And some like this:

For my sister's cupcakes, I traced three different Winnie-the-Pooh headshots in melting chocolate, which I think turned out really cute!

Considering that, with a pencil, I draw about as well as most 6-year-olds, I was impressed I could draw this well in chocolate. Not to toot my own horn--or strum my own guitar.

Additionally, my cousin graduated from the University of Washington the week before Father's Day, so I made some Husky cupcakes for her party. These were apple-cinnamon cupcakes made using a Betty Crocker gluten-free yellow cake mix plus some additions to spice it up. I'll post the yummy modified recipe sometime.

I used chocolate chips and Milk Duds (both were naturally gluten-free) for the Husky paws.

Whew, now that June is mostly over, I think my cupcake extravaganza has finally come to an end. But I enjoy making cupcakes at least as much as making full-size cakes, so there may be many more cupcake posts in the future!

Father's Day Craft: Duct Tape Decoupage Wallet

It's been used to hold bumpers on vehicles, to wrap faulty pipes, to seal broken book bindings, and sometimes it's even been used as a material to make prom dresses. It comes in standard gray or black, as well as an array of solid colors and some flashy patterns like leopard print or plaid. In a pinch, it'll remove lint from your clothes, patch a hole in your tent or to give your strapless bra some extra support. It's duct tape, of course.

This wallet was my first foray into the world of duct tape crafts, but I think it might be the first of many. I decided to try making a duct tape wallet for my grandpa for Father's Day. I also have recently seen some sleek decoupage crafts, so I had the idea to try to combine the two projects.

Using several Youtube tutorials (this one is particularly helpful), I soon had this:

which folded up nicely into this.

The wallet I chose to make is a bi-fold with two side-opening pockets, shown above. I also added another credit card pocket on the left side.

For the decoupage portion, I printed some old photos of my grandparents and my dad in black and white and then arranged them on the wallet. Mod Podge is a decoupage glue that is available at many craft stores and is simple to use. I painted several coats over the pictures on the wallet.

When it dried, it was still tacky. With any other craft, this might not have been an issue, but a wallet will have to be folded so two of its surfaces touch each other--the tackiness made the surfaces stick to one another. So I added a layer of sealant over that didn't cover the shine of the Mod Podge, but eliminated the stickiness.

I will admit I don't really know how practical this craft will end up being. Will it be durable? Is it even something cool enough for an awesome grandpa like mine to carry? We will have to wait and see.

Sloth and Tortoise in Action: Slowest Videos Ever

With over 1,000 school children on grounds some days, with all the new staff who need to be trained, and with exciting events like the arrival of clouded leopard cubs, Point Defiance Zoo can be a pretty hectic place in the busy season. Fortunately, there are animals at the Wild Wonders Outdoor Theater who just never rush.

First there's Siesta, the two-toed sloth. Despite all the action around her, Siesta is always in the mood for a relaxing nibble on some leafy greens.

Another animal who knows how to take things slow is Jumbo Jet the radiated tortoise. Mr. Jet is a veteran member of the cast for the zoo's show, but even experienced actors need to brush up on their performances. A "quick" training session for Jumbo will keep him sharp for showtime.