Sylvia's Super-Awesome Maker Show! - drawing

White House Science Fair & Robogames!!

TechNinja — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:27:13 +0000

White House? Yes! Robogames? Yes!! Crazy non-stop roller-coaster of life? Definitely.

UPDATE: Sylvia announces the Science Fair for the White House! And be sure to watch the live event at wh.gov/sciencefair, or at wh.gov/live, beginning at 11:30am EDT (8:30am PDT) on Monday, April 22, 2013.

Original Post:
Brentwood School STEAM Day was a blast, we saw the sights, and helped over 40 kids walk away with a brand new mintyboost, and a respect for making things with their soldering irons. Both worksheets used at the event are now available in the printables section. Wrap-up post to come.

Not long after, Sylvia was invited to a hangout to talk about the Maker movement with Tom Kalil at the White House, bringing together a bunch of other really awesome maker peeps to talk about how we can make things better in education with making things. We even managed to get the WaterColorBot to have its own video feed while it drew the White House Logo!

Then only about 3 weeks later, we got one more call from the White House: an invite to their 3rd ever Science Fair, and to bring a project of Sylvia's choice!! Though the date was only a week away. What could she possibly bring? The WaterColorBot! With a few hardware tweaks, and some software help (from Dad, and from Robotgrll for the iPad app), she thinks she's ready.

Then there was the problem of how to fund such a crazy trip with less than 4 days to do it. We asked Evil Mad Scientist Labs and they graciosly promised to match all donations up to $1,242! We then managed to pull together a funding campaign with GoFundMe in about 4 hours, and once it was launched, made our funding goal in less than 23 hours thanks to the incredibly awesome people on twitter and facebook!

You guys rock!!!

You can still donate to Sylvia and the cause here, and extra funds go towards making awesome shows, and getting young girls into tech.

So now we've made our goal, bought our tickets, and now we're ready to go.

If you're in the San Francisco area, come see Sylvia and her White House bound Watercolor painting robot at Robogames! We'll be there all day Friday and Saturday, then fly out Sunday at 3pm and head out to the White House Science Fair. No you can't join us there, but you will be able to see it broadcast live online at whitehouse.gov/live on Monday, exact time TBA.

See you out there!

All about Mod Podge

Dadmin — Fri, 20 May 2011 17:13:14 +0000

Full

Mod Podge! The amazing, dries-clear, do-it-all sealant for every craft project under the sun can make your art sparkle, your delicate scrap-booking or photos touchable and permanent, and even wood and fabric better than ever.

In today's episode, we delve into the amazing and crafty depths of Mod Podge! Showing you how to make three cool projects: A storybook puzzle set, a custom chess/draughts/checkers board, and a "you" inspired plaque.

All of them are cheap, fun and so easy you'll be crazy not to give them a try! Go on.. get out there and make something!

Links for this episode:

Storybook Puzzle:
http://sn.im/modpodge-puzzle

Custom Game Board (not a link to the thrifty chick blog post, as it's no longer available):
http://sn.im/modpodge-gameboards

You inspired Plaque:
http://modpodgerocksblog.com

Ep. Number

Season

Screen Printing made Super Simple

Super-Awesome Sylvia — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 00:48:01 +0000

Sylvia shows how to do Basic Screen Printing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyM4erwpelk

See this post on MakeZine.com

Hey everybody. Another week, another Mini Maker show! This time we make some t-shirts and little posters using super simple screen printing! I thought it was going to be harder, but after a little practice, I found it was fun and easy!

One problem might be that you need a lot of stuff to print on to make it worth spending the time on a screen, but if you want to make lots of shirts or valentines, it's a great idea!

Have fun with this one, and remember to get out there and make something!

PS - The pointer finger used in this episode is actually our finger casting from our last mini episode sanded and painted with appliance epoxy!! It's got some holes in it, but I think it's as good as the old one :)

Sylvia shows how to do Basic Screen Printing

Dadmin — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 00:27:41 +0000

Mini

Ever wanted to design your own cool t-shirt, or maybe wanted to put your awesome doodle on a bunch of different stuff like birthday cards, jackets or your backpack? Today we'll show you how you can do all of that with super simple screen printing on Sylvia's Super Awesome Mini Maker Show!

Ep. Number

See this post on MakeZine.com

Favorite Comments

shihankevThat was the best screen printing lesson I've seen. Sylvia, you are awesome.
death2linkI was amazed by the pop up ninja face idea. I am actually considering making one now just for that
PyurTekI...want..that...NINJA FACE SHIRT!!!
AbusiveMeerkatHell yeah, I always wanted a Mushroom on my T-shirt
derman077DON'T PANIC. lol I'm showing this to my neice. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, best book/movie ever.
jimmykinkadeif kids learn to screen print their own t-shirts, they are going to outfit their secret tree fort clubs in uniforms.
OniLinkSword"Get out there and MAKE something!"
Yes Ma'am!
tofuninja5489i never knew hammerstaplers existed. life is awesome

Season

Sylvia makes sidewalk chalk

Dadmin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:24:02 +0000

Mini

Welcome to our third episode of Sylvia’s Super Awesome Mini Maker Show! Hey! Bored on a hot summer day? In the mood to let out your inner "van Gogh" and make something cool? Then lets make some sidewalk chalk!

For this colorful build, we will need:

Plaster of Paris
An old bowl you don’t mind mixing plaster in
Powdered Tempera paint
Warm Water
Wax paper
Some short cardboard tubes, or something else to mold the chalk in
And some wide sticky tape for sealing the bottoms of the tubes

First, take your tubes and line them with some wax paper, then seal the bottoms of each tube with tape and put them in a safe container to catch any spill when pouring. Take note: once you mix the plaster, the clock is ticking to get it poured into your mold, as it won’t want to stay liquid for long! You have about 2-3 minutes before the plaster becomes twice as hard to pour, and anything after 5 minutes is almost a paste and will be very hand to get into a mold. Be sure and have your molds completely ready before mixing. Safety first: Plaster dust is bad for you! Pour it outside, or with a breathing mask and eye protection. Always read the safety warnings on the package before working with chemicals or other potentially hazardous materials.

Now mix in ¾ of a cup of warm water with 1½ cups of plaster of paris, along with whatever colors you might want. The more the better, but not too much! If your paint has any water content it will offset the mix. We originally tried with wet tempera paint, but it never dried and turned to mush! Oh well, Failure is always an option!

Now that you're mixed, carefully pour the plaster into your molds. The mix should be enough to fill about 1 to 2 cardboard tubes, to make the other colors just repeat the previous steps. Once you’ve all poured, leave them out in the summer sun, or wait overnight and in no time they’ll be dry and ready to start drawing with.

And that’s it! Try experimenting with different colors, different molds, or different paint types, like neon or glow in the dark. There’s a million different ways to have fun with this one, just be sure that you do. And remember, get out there and make something!

Music by The Wavers - Three Minutes to Escape [CC Sharealike v2.5]

Ep. Number

See this post on MakeZine.com

Favorite Comments

10secondrideSomeones been watching mythbusters cause failure is always an option
themaxxrayIs it just me or does Sylvia have the best theme music on Youtube.
brian940808OMG when i grow up i wanna be JUST like her!!!!!!!
WambliPetaMy 5 and 7 yr old girls Love these Mini Maker vids 8-) Thank you for share'n!!
ProfessorAlaskaThat little girl is sort of epic.
MacintoshUser1986"Safety First!" Haha, that was so cute! She's an awesome little scientist!
skippygirl959its really cool that makemagazine is getting kids out there for july! great job sylvia! :)
kickercaster18Awww...She's like a scientist, only miniture!
dreamfaeiry~Thanks for the 'how to' Sylvia, thats cool and I love sidewalk chalk! I'm gonna do that with my niece and nephew! I think I'm gonna try layering different colors in the tubes, and maybe see what happens if I add a little glitter to it also! Peace, love & :) !!!~
oddsourcelol... like how you did the last bit. Dads a techninja and mom is the Paint ninja.
wurxUnbelievably great! Keep making these videos...please!

Sylvia's Super-Awesome Maker Show! - drawing

White House Science Fair & Robogames!!

You guys rock!!!

Tags

All about Mod Podge

Links for this episode:

Ep. Number

Season

Screen Printing made Super Simple

Sylvia shows how to do Basic Screen Printing

Tags

Sylvia shows how to do Basic Screen Printing

Ep. Number

Favorite Comments

Season

Sylvia makes sidewalk chalk

Ep. Number

Favorite Comments

Season