Maker Faire 2009

Last year I started reading about an event called Maker Faire. It only happens in a few places a year, one of those is the Bay Area. I was pregnant last year and did not want to try and go, however this year there was nothing to stop me. Katie and I loaded up and were on our way this last Saturday. (It was her first time riding in her stroller without the carseat)

There were lots of crazy creations there.

Giant drivable cupcakes

Very colorful things

There were lots of robots. The people who created Wall E, R2 D2 and many more. There were robots that drew and moved and all sorts of crazy things.

And the Legos! They had a city, a huge lego cake, robots, train tracks running through a lego city/country and much, much more.

There were a lot of hands on exhibits, to make and take. Lots of different craft. This one was to take apart and redo barbie. It reminded me of the YA library program where you pretty much do the same thing.

This was a giant version of that board game Mousetrap, it was huge!

There was lots of metal work

Things that shot flame

The diet coke & mentos guys of youtube fame did a show

There was also a craft show, swap-o-rama, gardening area and just way more than I can describe here. It is a very interactive experience designed to inspire people of all ages to create. Katie did good up until we were listening to Adam Savage from Mythbusters speak, she lost it and I knew it was time to go home. I cant wait for next year!

The Dress

I bought the book Little Stitches by Amy Butler right after it came out last year. With a little one on the way I was excited to make her some stuff. The first thing I attempted was a dress. I cut it out and started sewing it but then passed it off to my Mom to finish. One thing led to another and it was eventually finished a few weeks ago.

Here is the main fabric which I really liked.

I used some maroon fabric I had for the top portion of the dress.

It has the little bloomers too.

The top is closed with two buttons which are on the back of the shoulders.

Here Katie is modeling it.

While it came out very cute it may have taken us too long to finish it. The fabric on the top has no give and I could barely get it on or off of her. Needless to sat this is the only time she will be able to wear it, but she doesn't seem to mind.

Planting the Garden

Next in the gardening saga is putting the plants in the dirt. I set them out to get an idea of spacing and where I wanted them. I worked pretty quickly since it was cold and windy.



Here are some tomato's.



Here are some corn and squash.



I am still looking for a better way to water them but they are looking good so far!

The Garden Bed

Our plants are getting bigger and bigger which means we needed to get to work on our raised garden bed. The bed will be located on the side of our house and will measure 19 ft by 37 inches and 12 inches high. The plan had been to build it last week but it turns out its hard to get long pieces of wood when you don't have a truck. Mike's friend Brian has access to a truck and agreed to help us this last weekend. First though we needed some dirt. I priced buying soil for our bed but that was way out of our budget so I turned to Craigslist. A guy named Joe who called himself Joe Dirt had what we wanted and Mike and Brian headed out to get a load of dirt. When they got back they unloaded it.

Here you can see the area where we will be putting the bed and the pile of dirt.

Today despite the cold, windy weather we were determined to get it built. Katie has to be bundled up of course but she was ready to work.

We got started by putting together L shaped pieces in the garage since it was a little less windy there.

Once they were done we moved them outside. I had picked 20 ft long board but apparently you cant drive with those hanging out the back of the truck so they were cut to 19 ft and the extra foot will be used to join the lengths together.

Mike had to get creative here because the screws were not long enough, eventually they went in at an angle.

Once it was together I laid down newspaper which is supposed to be a weed barrier. Mike had to follow along and put dirt on it right away to keep it from blowing away. 

Katie watched, giving her support. 

After the newspaper it was time to move dirt, a lot of dirt.

At about the half way point we added a bag of garden soil.

Then I put down some egg shells, ash from the fireplace and fertilizer then of course more dirt.

Once it was fill of all the dirt (somehow we ended up with just enough) we added two more bags of garden soil.

The finished product.

A little close up.

Herbs

Last weekend I bought some herbs to supplement the basil that I had growing. I got some parsley and cilantro. Using some pots that were left at the house by the previous owners and some potting soil I got things going. 

I used potting soil which made things really easy.

My Mom, brother and Caramel the dog were visiting so I had their help along with Katie relabeling our other seedlings.

Using permanent marker to make labels is working out so much better.

I cant wait to start cooking with the herbs, I did use a tiny bit of the cilantro other night in dinner.