Engagements have become big public productions with hidden videographers to record it all. Weddings were already over the top, but now they aren't complete until you take pictures of the wedding party running away from dinosaurs or monsters. And when you find out you're going to have a baby, that calls for even more imagination. And a video.
Brandon Pitts and his wife made a horror movie to let friends and family know what's going on. It's pretty creepy up until the twist. -via Buzzfeed
What do you get your one year old baby if you want to make sure they'll actually remember the present when they get older? How about a great set of photos that put him in the lead role of some of today's top video games.
The pics were taken by proud geek papa Ben Stirling, who obviously loves gaming almost as much as he loves his little baby boy.
They're kind of like those photos we saw last month showing the baby starring in top films only this time the parents aren't there and the pics are all photoshop, no actual props -which makes more sense for gaming anyway.
Sophie, a 7-year-old girl in Queensland, Australia, wrote a letter to the Australian national science agency CSIRO. She asked for a dragon.
Hello Lovely Scientist
My name is Sophie and I am 7 years old. My dad told me about the scientists at the CSIRO. Would it be possible if you can make a dragon for me. I would like it if you could but if you can’t that’s fine.
I would call it toothless if it was a girl and if it is a boy I would name it Stuart.
I would keep it in my special green grass area where there are lots of space. I would feed it raw fish and I would put a collar on it. If it got hurt I would bandage it if it hurt himself. I would play with it every weekend when there is no school.
Over the past 87 odd years we have not been able to create a dragon or dragon eggs. We have sighted an eastern bearded dragon at one of our telescopes, observed dragonflies and even measured body temperatures of the mallee dragon. But our work has never ventured into dragons of the mythical, fire breathing variety.
And for this Australia, we are sorry.
But that's not the end of the story! The agency's additive manufacturing facility in Melbourne went to work, and created a titanium 3D-printed dragon named Toothless in Lab 22.
Playing a game of hide and seek as a child usually involved hiding from the other little kids who were hiding along with you and would give away your position by talking, either that or finding a hiding spot so ultimate that nobody ever came looking for you and you eventually had to pack it in and say "I'm off to guzzle a juice box-game over!"
An article at the Daily Beast entitled Fail Fast, Fail Often: How Losing Can Help You Win explains how doing something over and over, even though you make numerous mistakes, is better than sweating over every detail of fewer attempts. The secret is learning from your failures, which you can't do if you never fail.
The ad Proctor & Gamble produced for the Sochi Olympics illustrates exactly that point. It's the practice and the failures that get you to the top. Get a hankie, since it may make you go all verklempt inside. You'll probably see a shorter version of this on TV quite a bit over the next month. -via Uproxx
There’s a new children’s book out there which is both classically simplistic and totally cutting edge, a book that explains 3d printing to children.
It’s called Leo the Maker Prince by Carla Diana, and kids not only learn how to print out objects in 3d when they read this charming tale of Carla, the accountant who wants to be an artist, and Leo, the 3d printing robot that will make her dreams come true, they can print out models of the main characters- if they have a 3d printer on hand.
If not, then they’ll discover another facet of the 3d printing revolution- buying a printer for yourself is still too darn expensive, and if you go to a printing service they will charge you an arm and a leg!
Eleven-year-old Trinity Rhoades of South Jordan, Utah, played a game of hide and seek with her sister and cousins Tuesday. Trinity decided to hide in the washing machine, but once in, she couldn't get out.
Her sister and cousins tried remedies they recalled from cartoons. First they used butter to lubricate her legs. Then they tried using peanut butter. Then they resorted to ice, which only left the girl cold, so they then poured warm water over her. The children finally called Trinity's mom, who called emergency services. They found the girl not only stuck in a washing machine, but "wet, cold, and covered with condiments."
They eventually had to cut the dryer from the top of the combo unit, and Trinity was freed. She has some bruising on her legs, but is otherwise uninjured. -via Arbroath
Playgrounds tend to look pretty similar with some slides, swings and assorted other equipment, but occasionally you can find one that's really special. Chile's Children's Bicentennial Park is a great example of a playground that kids can love and adults can appreciate for its beautiful design.
The park, designed by Elemental, features a rounded swingset that allows kids to look at each other while swinging, a whole mountain side covered in slides and a fence that is actually a giant obstacle course.
You can see more pictures of the fantastic park over at Homes and Hues. And if you like kid-friendly design, you'll love these great Disney inspired rooms.
Kids everywhere love Disney movies, so they'll pretty much all love these amazing Disney-inspired rooms in our newest article on Homes and Hues. From Tinker Bell to Dumbo, films from all eras are represented in these rooms.
While there are some absolutely amazing princess rooms, I'm a particularly big fan of the Pixar ones, like the Nemo one above, designed by experts at HGTV, and this Toy Story one byLiving Lullaby Designs.
Dad walks in to see that his toddler son Solomon found the diaper rash cream and had fun putting it on everything. I guess every kid does something like this at least once, but a few take the damage to greater heights. Turn on the closed captioning when you watch this video, because the dialogue is in Dutch. -via Daily Picks and Flicks
If you have children obsessed Santa Claus and his annual whirlwind trip around the globe, Google has an online tracker that keeps up with his journey. Since we are well into nighttime Christmas Eve in the Eastern Hemisphere, the tracker is going strong! When I took these screen caps, he was through with Australia, and was zipping between Indonesia and The Philippines, delivering gifts and laying tracks at lightning speed. Of course, when he gets near your location, it will be time for good little boys and girls to be in bed, dreaming of sugar plums or game consoles or such.
Every parent wants to capture every moment with their baby, but your baby's pictures probably aren't all that fascinating to everyone else you know no matter how many likes you get on Facebook. On the other hand, Lilly and Leon — of Cardboard Box Office figured out a clever way to make their baby's pictures entertaining to just about everyone.
That's because they recreate famous movie scenes with their baby and household objects and the resulting images are both adorable and hilarious. Seeing little Orson take on the role of Tom Hanks in Castaway, Mark Hamill in Star Wars and Bruce Willis in Die Hard is simply fantastic and a lot more entertaining than all the baby photos you are probably used to seeing.
Christmas is a great time to spend time with your family -especially your kids. If you're looking for some classy decor that you can actually make with your children, you won't want to miss our newest Homes and Hues article.
Aside from some great decorations to class up your home, there are also a few cool ways to teach your kids about science. For example, these fire and ice lanterns by Mad in Crafts can teach your youngster about science and how water will freeze from the outside in.
If you're having people over for the holidays, don't miss our post on 10 Easy Last-Minute Thanksgiving Centerpiece Ideas. While they're pretty focused on Fall, you could easily switch out the leaves and squashes for candy canes, pine branches and holly.
Photographer Michael Clinard wanted to come up with a project that involved his 2 year old daughter Tala, a project that was created simply for their own amusement and showcases how much he loves being a dad.
The result is Three Depictions Of Fatherhood, a video that truly takes the cake in terms of cuteness! Michael plays three different fictional fathers in the short, each more adorable than the last.
Cave Daddy teaches his daughter about rockcycle safety and how to fish for her her own food. Lion Daddy shows her how to take down unsuspecting deer from the bushes, and look cute while tearing into prey. And last but not least Vampire Daddy, who teaches Tala that blood is good food and getting locked in a coffin is scary.
Toys are as intrinsic to the holiday season as eggs are to the nog, and for the last fifty years toys have been a big deal in the consumer market, fueling a frenzy that results in over 30 billion toys being sold each year.
This year's hottest items seem to be a tossup between next gen gaming consoles xbox one and the ps4, but in years past kids went crazy for Zhu Zhu Pets, Furbys, Rubik's Cubes, Robosapiens, and a creepy guy named Elmo that really wanted to be tickled. Here's an illustrated list of the "most popular holiday toys from the past 50 years" by Abby Ryan, may you have a very nostalgiac and happy holidays!
