I’ve seen more than a few images floating around the internet lately of some fantastic car decals for the geek family, like the AT-AT parents and AT-ST kids. With our new geekling bundle of joy turning my husband and I into a little family of three last month, I began entertaining the idea of representing our family pride on the car… in a geeky way.

Let me back up, first, though. My husband and I have both always been against putting decals all over our car – especially the cutesy stick people family decal sets with one stick person that represents each family member. You know what I’m talking about. The adorable little stick people are cute to be sure, don’t get me wrong, and we know a lot of people that have them on their cars… but the typical stick people family representation is totally not us. So we swore off putting said family decals on the Neon.

However, things changed when we saw this set.

A Star Wars themed geek family decal set? How awesome is that?! It was an instant buy, and officially the FIRST decals the Neon has ever had, and our car is 9 years old; I bought it brand new off the lot. Really. THESE decals are worthy. I got mine from Kelly Kreations on Etsy, and after I ordered the AT-AT/AT-ST family set, I began to browse the rest of her shop and was really tickled to see some of the other geek family pride decals they have, such as Stormtrooper helms, Boba Fett helms, and even Mario Bros. family decals. Perfect for the nerd family, you really have to check them out!

Another shop that has Star Wars themed geek family car decals is over at StarWarsSpoofs.com, where decals are created by Ryan Simmons. If only he had a Rodian among his Star Wars family! (hint, hint)

The baby product industry is huge. When I was pregnant, I was overwhelmed with just how many “necessary” gadgets there were; things parents-to-be are told that they absolutely need to have. In the end, there’s a lot of fluff and all baby really needs is love, food and shelter… but I admit there were a few products that really helped me survive the first two weeks as a first time mom.

The Chicco Keyfit 30 carseat
The first thing you need is a carseat in order to bring baby safely home from the hospital. I can’t recommend the Chicco brand Keyfit 30 seat enough; we love it for its high safety rating AND ease of use. You don’t have to mess with straps or seatbelts each time you go somewhere; once you have first installed the secure, removable base into your car, the seat itself snaps in and out effortlessly when it’s time to go. Taking the seat out of the base can literally be done with one hand, which means you are able to easily take baby in and out of the car without disturbing them. Great for when daddy has driven them all over town to help them fall asleep, but doesn’t want to wake them up when coming back inside. Ask us how we know.

Baby Nanny App

© Android Market

Speaking of coming home from the hospital, we were sent home with a piece of paper that was used to track and monitor our son’s feeding and diaper changes. This helps us make sure our son is eating and being changed enough in a day, and how long its been since the last feeding. After only a few days at home in the real world, though, I realized how tedious it was to always carry around this sheet of paper and a pen. While I won’t be tracking these behaviors forever, the Baby Nanny Android app by Appulearn makes it possible for me to record all of this (and more) on my smartphone, eliminating the paper sheet completely with a few taps of the screen. SO much easier!

Book: The Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp
I am so glad I read this book. Dr. Karp explains his theory behind what’s going on in your newborn’s head and combines 5 techniques (the five “S” techniques) to help you calm and soothe even the fussiest baby. When you’ve exhausted the list of typical fuss-inducing culprits, just the right combo of soothing actions performed together is a lifesaver when it feels like baby is upset for “no reason.” I can personally vouch that it works and we’ve had success calming the geekling down and helping him drift off to sleep almost instantly thanks to this book. There are also CDs, DVDs, and a book for toddlers over at happiestbaby.com.

To go hand-in-hand with the philosophy from Happiest Baby, the following two products will help you execute soothing perfection:

Swaddling blankets
I’m not going to get picky on swaddling blankets here; we tried several of the fancy swaddle specific blankets with panels and velcro, etc. but those designer swaddle blankets can run you up to $20 EACH… and a simple, large cotton blanket works just as well if you know how to swaddle. For instructions, check out this swaddling guide by Parenting magazine. Whichever method or blanket you prefer for swaddling is totally up to you, but you you’ll definitely want to be able to swaddle. Even in the summer!

Sleep Sheep
The cloud b Sleep Sheep is fantastic. It’s a super soft sheep stuffie that makes soothing sounds, like rain or ocean waves. Our geekling loves the white noise effect of the rain sound best. There are two Sleep Sheeps, the original and a smaller, portable one. I recommend the mini portable version because we literally take it everywhere, so the compact size is convenient, and its handy velcro strap means it can be hung anywhere you need it. That even includes my wrist, to keep the soothing sounds of the Sleep Sheep right with me when I’m rocking our newborn or on the go. At night it helps to not only lull our baby back to sleep after a feeding, but I find it pretty soothing, too. Then again, I’m also sleep deprived so it doesn’t take much for me to fall asleep these days! If you’re following the Happiest Baby technique of “shhhhhhh”, you’ll find the Sleep Sheep’s white noise does the trick without wearing you out.

copyright Arm's Reach

I mentioned sleeping, which brings me to our next favorite thing… a bassinet. We personally have an Arms Reach co-sleeper bassinet, but any close proximity sleeping arrangement that is safe, like a side-car bassinet or moses basket, works. I feel better having our son close at night; I can tend to his needs as soon as his fussing begins, before it turns into a frustrated shriek, and I don’t have to race down the hallway 100 times a night. Don’t get me wrong, our baby has a crib and will use it in his own room eventually, but for the first few months until he can roll over, the bassinet has been great. The Arms Reach co-sleeper attaches to our bed, so I can easily reach in and soothe my son back to sleep when he needs that comfort. It also makes sliding him over and back for night time feedings easy, without disturbing him too much. And yet, even though he’s literally just an arm’s reach away, he still sleeps in his own separate, safe space.

And speaking of feeding, the next three products are geared towards the breastfeeding new mom. Since we haven’t begun pumping, I don’t have any bottle feeding recommendations yet.

My Brest Friend pillow
The name is a little cheesy, (and that’s not a typo) but My Brest Friend is one of those products that works so well it can get away with a cheesy name. When I began breastfeeding, I required no less than four pillows at once to get into a comfortable position and feed successfully. Getting four pillows positioned just right was a chore, not to mention a pain when I had to switch sides during the feeding and reconfigure pillows to accommodate. Then, when on the go I of course could not carry four pillows with me wherever we went, which often meant I was at the mercy of whatever I could find if I needed to feed away from home. Every new place I fed I’d have to work out a new arrangement. We have a Boppy pillow, but it just didn’t work well. It was too soft and floppy, and hard to keep in place. Then we stumbled upon My Brest Friend. It is a firm, solid pillow that wraps around your waist and clips into place like a belt at just the right height via an adjustable strap. It has built in lumbar support for the part that wraps around your back to promote good posture, and the top is slightly contoured so that baby’s head has a natural resting place while feeding. The shape is streamlined and provides the perfect, solid (yet soft) “shelf” right where you need it to support any breastfeeding position. I love that I can twist the whole pillow around me when it’s time to switch sides instead of having to re-position four pillows. Plus it means no matter where I am, whether at home or on the go, all I need is the one pillow to feed successfully without frustration. I can’t rave enough about how this product has made my breastfeeding experience better.

Medela Lanolin cream
I’m going to make a blanket statement here: if it has to do with breastfeeding, I highly recommend anything by Medela. I’ve used the manual Medela Harmony breast pump to relieve initial engorgement and will be using a double electric Medela pump later. Medela is the brand my hospital trusts to use, and when it comes to lanolin cream and relief from beginner breastfeeding discomfort, I preferred the Medela brand Tender Care cream over Lansinoh. The texture and consistency felt better, so the application was smoother and gentler than other creams I tried, which were thick and harder to apply. However, both the Lansinoh and Medela brands are good, so it may just be a personal preference thing; try both and see what you think! Whatever your brand decision, just make sure you have some lanolin to get you through the first few weeks of breastfeeding.

Glamourmom nursing bras

copyright GlamourMom.com

Just throwing this out there in general… you’re going to want nursing bras and/or tank tops to make things more comfortable as you adjust to the changes your breasts will go through for breastfeeding. I picked up some nursing tanks at Target, but was far from impressed with their nursing bra selection; they were uncomfortable, too. I then ordered nursing bras from Glamourmom, and they are seriously amazing… specifically the Mbody starter nursing bra selections, which remind me more of a sports bra. A super comfortable supportive nursing sports bra. The sizing was easy and boasts that one bra size will support your breasts before, during, and after engorgement, and it’s true. I would imagine their tanks and other nursing clothing are equally comfortable and worth it as well.

One final gem of a suggestion is the Baby Bargains book by Alan and Denise Fields. The most recent edition is set to hit shelves next week, in fact. This book not only helps you find the best deal on baby products, but it helps you navigate the baby product consumer maze and determine what things you need and which products out there you can skip. Brands and models of the most popular baby items are compared to help you make the best decision for your family, and the authors are backed by experience, research, and an impressive following of parents who share their opinions and experiences in the Baby Bargains online community. This book helped save us money as we prepared for our geekling, and it’s worth the read!

And there’s my personal list of the things that helped us survive the first two weeks (and beyond) with our newborn. Remember, I am not an expert or anything. This is my first child. As of the time of this writing, my son is only a little over 2 weeks old and I won’t even begin to pretend I suddenly know it all. Far from it! These were just a few things that made my transition into motherhood easier, and maybe the list will help you, too. Best wishes!

copyright to Jessie Mansbacher of Pterodactyl Pants

I’ve been wanting to start a somewhat regular post category for a bit now to show off neat links I come across over the course of a week, all in one post. With a new baby on board, I may not be able to keep up the category faithfully every week, but here’s the first attempt at sharing a collection of geektastic links I found or had recommended by readers this week.

First up are the whimsical creations over at Pterodactyl Pants Plush, in case you’ve always been searching for something cute and creepy to squeeze. These original plushes being sold on Etsy are handmade by Jessie Mansbacher, and you can follow her and her line of fun soft toys on Twitter: @PteroPantsPlush

copyright Mimoco

Tired of using the same old boring flash drive? Tote around your important files in geeky style with these Mimobot USB flash drives! The Mimoco thumb drives come in a wide variety of familiar characters; there’s easily something to satisfy every interest. Why carry around a plain thumb drive when you can use a Mimobot drive that reflects your nerd pride?

copyright Williams-Sonoma

Ooohhh.. new from the exclusive Star Wars bakeware collection at Williams-Sonoma (Which I’ve previously written about) are these awesome Star Wars cupcake stencils! Now you can easily stencil in an edible way on your baked goods to make them that much more delicious. These would seriously make spicing up everyday cupcakes a heck of a lot easier.

copyright Marie Darby as posted at ashleyannphotography.com

And finally, a DIY project idea with loads of geeky potential! In Marie Darby’s photo collage lampshade tutorial, she explains how you can turn precious memories into a photo collage lampshade. The idea paves the way for all kinds of other possibilities, though… for example, instead of using family photos like the tutorial suggests, why not create a collage of your favorite comic book character or sci-fi series? Can you imagine a Batman or Star Trek lamp? The instructions are so easy that you could easily make several different shade covers and transform ALL of the lamps in your home into something fantastic. (Who says this would be a kids room only item?) Have a kid whose interests change frequently? Not a problem with this project. A custom geek lampshade could also  be a great gift idea for a friend or family member.

Hope you enjoyed this week’s links. If you have suggestions for future Geek Links of the Week you think I should check out and include in a future post, recommend it!

It’s been a bit quiet around here, and rightly so… the geekling has arrived! This geeky mama is trying to get settled in with a newborn, but we’ll be back to your regularly scheduled programming here real soon. :)

Our geekling was born on Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 9:18pm. He weighed 8lbs, 3 oz and was 22 inches long. His name is Liam, and  I may be  bit biased, but he’s the most beautiful, perfect baby boy ever in all the world. He’ll be on his way to learning the ways of the Force in no time.

Check back soon – I have been working on a post for celebrating geek family pride with a neat product I’ve tracked down (and ordered) – I just need to find time to sit down and finish the post and take some pictures for you!  Until then…

P.S. Yes, Liam is pictured with baby’s first Cthulhu, made by Ruth of cthulhuchick.com – get your own!

Cover art, Game of Thrones Book 1 by George R. R. Martin

I need some advice.

I’ve been watching HBO’s Game of Thrones from the beginning. While normally I read books BEFORE I watch movies or TV series, I came late to the Game (see what I did there?) and saw the season premiere and began watching the series before I had time to read. Ok, so I was busy reading baby books and have this weird need to finish a book before starting another one… but that’s not the point.

Once my husband and I began watching and enjoying the series, I knew I had to read the books by George R. R. Martin. I felt a little guilty for not reading first, but then I kept seeing all of these awful reviews on my Twitter feed; friends of mine were attempting to read the first book and having difficulty. I saw things like “dry” and “slow” and even “harder to read than Tolkien.” (Which was relevant to me since I’d read the Lord of the Rings trilogy before watching the movies.) This was also off-putting, and with a baby on the way, I decided to finish my baby books before digging in to Game of Thrones.

Once I began reading, though, I had a hard time putting it down. I’ve read Tolkien, and I gotta say… I don’t find Game of Thrones dry, slow, OR harder to read than Tolkien. Quite the contrary. But is that because I had seen the series already and I liked it? Is it because I knew I enjoyed the series and so I was having fun digging for deeper meaning in the books? Would I have felt the same way had I not seen the series first? I was reading daily on the treadmill or elliptical machine, and I’d even get up at 3am to get in another chapter or two. Of course, that wasn’t as difficult or obsessive as it may sound since I don’t sleep well these last weeks of pregnancy anyways, but still.

The Game of Thrones season finale was Sunday night, and at the time I had about 20% left of the first book. I purposely slowed at the end to be consistent; so far I’ve watched first and read later and decided to finish out the season that way. I didn’t want to “spoil” the season finale. Let’s just say that my husband and I were both shocked, excited, and wishing aloud that it were already Spring 2012 so that we could start season 2 already.

This is where my dilemma comes in. I have the rest of the books on my Kindle, loaded and ready to go. But… do I read ahead now or not? A lot of my friends have, and I normally would, except… I know that my husband won’t read ahead. He’s been enjoying the process of watching and then partaking in forum discussions the next day with those who are comparing the episode to the book to glean that deeper context, and he and I talk about what I’ve read, too.  He’ll be reading the first book as soon as he gets a chance for himself now that the first season is over, but he won’t read ahead even though we have the books.

What to do? If I read ahead, I may spoil that weekly excitement that my husband and I look forward to. A TV series isn’t quite like a movie; you don’t get the whole thing in one shot, it gets dragged out over a season and you only get a piece each week that keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting more and looking forward to next week’s episode. I’ve enjoyed experiencing that with my husband, especially since we rarely watch much TV unless it’s the Food Network or hockey. This is the ONE series we watch faithfully each week. I’ve liked not really knowing what was going to happen next, so we share true surprise, outrage, and lots of other emotions over the turn of events together. BUT… I may not be able to wait until next season to find out what happens next!

So here I am, stuck. Part of me wants to read ahead because I prefer books to film 9 times out of 10, and I almost always read before watching an adaptation of a book if possible. I appreciate the additional depth and understanding that a book provides that doesn’t always get explained as well in a film adaptation. I also want to read ahead because the suspense is killing me, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed book 1 and imagine I’d feel the same about the rest of the series, too.

However…

If I don’t read ahead, I won’t spoil that weekly excitement that my husband and I share, nor will I accidentally slip or give too much away as I read in a household where one person is most definitely NOT reading ahead. I also won’t sit there on the couch each week and spend all of my time nit picking at details or saying/thinking things like, “Well it wasn’t QUITE like that in the book,” instead of just purely enjoying the show for what it is. While the series has been pretty true to the book thus far, I always hate tearing a movie apart over little discrepancies from the book that distract me from the purpose of entertainment. I’m always prepared for a book to give me more details than film, which is one of the reasons I like to read first, but if too much strays next season it’ll be a huge distraction each week.

I guess I always have the option to read along; perhaps an episode or two behind, just to have the details fresh and pick up more insight from the book as I go. Normally I’d not give it a second thought and just read, but now that I’ve spend the first season watching first then reading second… I’m not so sure how I want to continue with future seasons and books.

What would YOU do? Would you “spoil” what’s going to happen next season by reading ahead or wait it out and read along later? If you’ve read ahead… how are you able to keep from discussing (or hinting at things; I don’t want to be “that guy”) around those who haven’t read ahead, and does it ruin the suspense of the weekly episodes?

my Meet-Meme social trading card order

Any convention-going geek parents in the house? I am super excited to share my experience with Meet-Meme’s Social Trading Cards, something you never knew you needed until now, and trust me… you won’t be able to live without once con season begins.

With a large part of our lives being online these days, especially if you’re someone like me who networks with her small geeky business(es) and attends conventions, the concept of social trading cards is genius. Meet-Meme not only pulls off this genius concept, but does so professionally. Last year my husband and I attended a couple of cons, (one to sell geeky soap and one to relax and bask in the geek awesome,) and social trading cards would have been fantastic to have had back then! By now you’re wondering… ok but what ARE social trading cards and why do I need them?! Allow me to blow your mind.

Imagine. You arrive at a convention and are eager to begin networking. You begin introducing yourself as you mingle or stand in line for panels, and present the people you meet with one of your Meet-Meme social trading cards. It’s colorful. It’s exciting. It’s got your name, your Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn details, and lists your email and website addresses. It gives a brief description of who you are and what you’re all about next to a picture of your smiling face. All in a glossy, full-color, double-sided format that attracts attention and is conveniently sized like a card straight out of any trading card game. And oh, wait, what’s that? A QR code that can be scanned to take visitors to a personalized online profile hub, where you can link visitors up to a digital version of your card, which displays ALL of your online social media accounts and personas in one place. Think it’s too good to be true? That’s Meet-Meme’s social trading cards in a nutshell.

Here’s the basic premise straight from the Meet-Meme site:

Meet – conversation starter, networking tool, personal branding
Meet-Meme is the ultimate icebreaker, providing a perfect introduction and instant basis of conversation in any situation. It’s all about YOU: Focusing on your unique individual personality, each customized trading card presents a means to connect on a deeper level than traditional business cards or newfangled high-tech devices.

Scan – QR codes on all cards, personalized URLS, access online profiles
Scan the QR code with your phone or webcam, or enter the personal URL to be instantly transported to a digital version of your Meet-Meme trading card, complete with links to connect across your preferred communication channels online and offline.

Connect – online profiles, link to any personal site, share on Twitter or Facebook
Connecting with people you meet has never been easier. Each Meet-Meme trading card is attached to an online profile with an optimize mobile site enabling people to immediately locate each other across various spaces online and offline such as Email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, FourSquare, Blogs, personal websites, telephone, snail mail, and other places you add to your profile.

My Real Life Experience

front and back side-by-side

At Gen Con and Dragon Con, I was handed so many business cards. I’d meet “Joe” for example, who runs “XYZ business” and he’d hand me a business card. At the end of the day I’d have stacks of business cards and not remember anything about each individual person that I met from their card. Traditional business cards are typically plain, and without a face to go with the business or name, I quickly forgot who they were or what they were all about, which wasn’t cool, especially since I met so many cool people that I wanted to remember to connect with after the convention for business or personal reasons. I didn’t have time to scribble down more info on the back of every business card I was handed to help me remember in the hustle and bustle of a busy convention. (Let alone find a pen.) However, the social trading cards by Meet-Meme solve that problem completely. Your personal and/or business contact info is on the card like any business card, but there’s SO. MUCH. MORE. It’s colorful and fun, plus people can put a face to the name along with your bio, special power (also for fun!), and hobbies. By scanning the QR code or typing in the short, personalized profile URL at the bottom, people are directed to your online profile hub where you’re able to share even more – you can also show people who you are and where else you can be found all over the online social media realm by adding additional links; as many as you want. (Which is great for someone like me, who has real life Alt-itis and manages way too many blogs and accounts for any one person to keep track of.) From the digital profile, people can tweet that they met you or share on a wide variety of social networking sites. Too cool!

Check out my Meet-Meme digital card for an example of what people see when they scan your QR code or enter your personal URL from the trading card! You’ll see my card pictured out to the right, (with buttons to share me on your own Twitter or Facebook) and my bio, special power, and hobbies are listed. Notice the Twitter icon, which is a clickable link that will take you to my Twitter account, and then notice all of the links at the bottom; those are the additional links I’ve added that connect you to all of my online spaces and personas in one place. I can remove, edit, or add as many additional links there as I want, anytime! This digital version of my card updates instantly when I make changes to my account, so it’s always up-to-date, even if the printed details on my card change before I order new cards. That’s the power of Meet-Meme over traditional business cards.

Price

Meet-Meme’s social trading cards are very reasonably priced. 100 cards cost $27, and shipping is just a flat $1.99 anywhere in the U.S. (Or $3.99 to Canada.) You can also buy in packs of 20 or 50 if you need less. Once you receive your cards in person and feel how sturdy and professional they are, you will agree they are completely worth every penny and more. I didn’t know what to expect when placing my first order, but when they arrived I literally squee’d in excitement – the thick, glossy cards made me feel all official; the printing is vivid and crisp. I can’t use the word “professional” enough here, people. Really. The cards are GORGEOUS.

The Design and Order Process

color choices!

The Meet-Meme site is simple. You register, and go to place an order to access your card details and begin building your social trading cards. This is also how you edit info later, even when not placing an order. I loved that I had a wide variety of color choices during the design process to make my cards reflect my own personal style. (And the featured comic book theme is totally fun!) Because it was hard to choose just one color, I also liked that I had the freedom to choose as many different colors as I wanted and Meet-Meme would divide up my order between all of my color choices evenly. During the design and order process I listed a handful of additional links to put on my profile, and later on that evening thought of a few other links I wanted to include. Going back to my account and adding additional digital links in Step 2 of the “order process” (even though I wasn’t placing another order) was a snap. I didn’t have to “save” or place an order to make the changes – just add, edit, or delete links and away you go.

add, edit, or delete your additional profile links in step 3

Once I received my cards in the mail and scanned the QR code to see how my profile appeared to others, I thought of yet another link to add. (I told you I have too many online profiles!) I logged back in to Meet-Meme and went back to Step 2 and added the new link. I refreshed my profile/re-scanned my QR code and was happy to see that the new link I had literally just added was instantly reflected on my digital profile. Which means you can go in and edit your additional links anytime you want and know that your changes are immediately updated on your online profile. This makes Meet-Meme’s social trading cards dynamic; while the basic name and email address/website provided and printed on the card is static until I order new cards, if I give my cards out in August and then some of my info changes in September, I can easily go in and edit the additional digital links associated with my QR code/profile and people who have my cards from August will always be able to find me, even if things change. Like I said, genius.

Bonus points to Meet-Meme for fast shipping, too!

Final Thoughts

Meet-Meme’s social trading cards can and should be treated like a trading card game; as you mingle at conventions and meet others and exchange trading cards, you’re playing a game to build a collection of people that you will have no trouble forgetting long after the con is over. It truly is an “online you in an offline card” and the whole process from design to delivery and ongoing profile management is smooth and simple. Customer service was incredibly receptive and helpful, too! (Big plus.)

The letter from the Meet-Meme crew that came with my order hints at lots of cool stuff on the horizon, which gets me all excited, because I am looking forward to seeing this grow and evolve as social media becomes more and more a part of our everyday routine. The possibilities are endless and I can’t wait to see what else Meet-Meme will add to their social trading card functionality and where the product will go from here.  Now do you see why you can’t go to your next con without some? Con season is nearly upon us… what are you waiting for?

So with the geekling officially due in less than 2 weeks, I was given a medical recommendation to stop work a week earlier than planned. I feel like I’ve cleaned as much as I can, and I have all of this time on my hands where I’m supposed to be off my feet and resting. I’m a multi-tasker and don’t sit around doing nothing very well, so to keep me busy while on the couch I’ve been trying my hand at some fun papercraft projects, and now you can, too! (Best of all? They’re all FREE!)

Paper Box World

I may have mentioned that our geekling’s nursery theme is dinosaurs, so back when I began scouring the Internet for various dinosaur items, I had come across these great dino papercrafts by Paper Box World and saved them for a rainy day. It’s not raining today, but when you’re stuck resting it might as well be! Paper Box World has four different dinosaurs to choose from: Andrew, Morris and Sam, along with a Pepasaurus. Andrew the Triceratops gave me a little squee, so that’s what I started with. I gotta say, I love the simplicity of the instructions; Andrew was a 2 page print-out, where half of the first page was a very easy-to-follow assembly diagram that needed no other explanation. I like simple projects that yield adorable results! You’ll want to bring some scissors (the smaller and pointier the better) and perhaps an X-acto knife for the slits in Andrew’s head for his horns. Tape could be used to secure flaps, but I brought along a glue pen for more precise assembly. I printed as large as my personal printer could, at a typical 8.5″ x 11″ size, but I’ll admit some of the parts are still pretty small and detailed when you get down to cutting. (Note the spiky jagged tab edge!?) This also meant that the tabs for putting my dino together were pretty thin and small. Too small for little hands and a bottle of Elmer’s, for sure. (Flashbacks of the glue-y mess of my kindergarten teaching days ensued, where kids used half of their Elmer’s bottle to affix a single piece on their cut-and-paste project, excess glue oozing everywhere.) All in all, this provided me with lots of fun and a cute dino to put on a shelf in the geekling’s nursery. Paper Box World has several cute designs to choose from on their site.

Cubeecraft

Cubeecraft is the epitome of geeky papercraft fun, in my opinion. The site is chock-full of free papercraft toys you can make, including a pop-culture section with over 200 designs from superheroes to Venture Brothers to anime. Some of my favorites include the various Star Wars (big surprise) and 8-bit style Mario Bros cubees, but I am in love with the fact there is a Strong Bad cubee, so that’s what I made today. The pop culture references range from mainstream to obscure, so chances are you’ll find something in Cubeecraft’s various collections to tickle your geek fancy. What I enjoyed about the construction portion of cubees is that you don’t need tape or glue since the designs are composed of interlocking flaps to make it even easier to put your toy together. I also appreciate that each design has a difficulty rating that you see before you download. For example, on this Spock cubee, it rates the difficulty of the design as one pair of scissors out of a scale of five scissors. The difficulty scale lets you know if regular scissors and effort will suffice, or if you should grab an X-acto knife for more precise and tiny cutting maneuvers. More info on the scissor scale can be found in their FAQ. You may have also noticed that when you select a cubee to download, it will suggest related cubees you may be interested in, too. I think this is really helpful since the designs don’t appear to go in any kind of consistent order; you won’t necessarily find all related characters listed together on the site. As far as true difficulty, most cubees are fairly simple, but at first glance you may feel a little overwhelmed with all of the lettered “tabs” though it’s pretty easy to see how it’s supposed to fit together, and this project went together faster than the dino. While even the easiest cubees require just basic cutting, all cubees require some kind of “hobby knife” (aka X-acto knife) to cut the little slits used for the interlocking tabs, so keep that in mind!

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Both of these papercraft sites are full of fantastic afternoon fun, but aren’t necessarily small-child-friendly if you’re looking for an activity to do together with your little one. An X-acto knife is not something for little hands, and some of the tabs and details may be too small to be cut without the use of something sharper and more precise than safety scissors, which could also pose a safety hazard depending on the age of your geekling. However, slightly older kids will delight in helping with the non-X-acto parts, and all kids would love to be presented with a cute little toy that you can whip up for them in no time.

An even better idea for geeklings is to let them design their own papercraft characters that you can then put together… well, together! Matthijs Kamstra has a basic cube tutorial for making your own papercraft on his site – using his template to print the basic cube shape means kiddos of all ages can doodle their own characters and designs for endless papercraft fun! (And it’s ok, geek parents, to admit you could also use the template to make your own favorite characters, too!)

Happy geeky papercrafting!

I’m definitely a Star Wars girl, though I’m sure you’ve figured that out by now with all of the Star Wars themed posts lately! While I do love me some Star Trek or other sci-fi series, too, I grew up watching Star Wars with my dad and it holds a special place in my heart; there’s no question where my galactic loyalties lie.

But back on topic. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I’m a passionate reader. I’m also an educator, and I firmly believe that books are an incredibly important part of a child’s development. Not just to increase vocabulary or knowledge, but to foster a lifelong love of reading, too. (So that vocab and knowledge will continue to grow!)

Speaking of increasing your child’s vocabulary, I adore the Star Wars ABC book by Scholastic. It will be my geekling’s first ABC book, and I am thankful to the teacher friend of mine that gave it to me as a baby shower gift. Not only is it a board book, which means it’ll withstand practically anything, I simply can’t wait to introduce words like Jedi or Wookiee to my geekling! Fast forward to the day in kindergarten when my son’s teacher asks the class to share words that start with the letter “S.” While other kids are suggesting the words “shoes” or “sailboat”, my kid will raise his hand and offer the word “Sith” or “sarlacc” instead. (And will be able to spell them, too!) I am practically beaming with pride at the mere thought already!

Bonnie Burton’s Star Wars Craft Book is pure genius from cover to cover. I love this book for several reasons, but mostly because I’m a Star Wars loving crafting queen AND I’ll get to spend loads of quality time whipping up each and every one of these projects with my geekling. (And who am I kidding? I’ll make some extras for myself, too.) Who wouldn’t want to make a Chewbacca sock puppet or an AT-AT garden?! (And my personal favorite… a Greedo finger puppet! SQUEE!) Another plus for moms? Most of the projects require supplies that a lot of people already have lying around their home, which makes it both resourceful and economical, too. It doesn’t get much more perfect than that all rolled up into one book of awesome. This isn’t the first book by the lovely Bonnie Burton, either. Be sure to also check out You Can Draw Star Wars and Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars for even more artsy galactic fun. :)

When it comes to reading and the Star Wars universe, the sooner you introduce them to that galaxy far, far away… the better!

© DzignSpace.com

As an educator, I passionately believe that reading aloud to your child is one of the most important things a parent can do for (and with!) their children, and you can start start kindling a love for reading from day one. (I’ve read about moms who read aloud to their baby bumps, even!) I’ve been building up the geekling’s library with a few of the classic must-have children’s books throughout my pregnancy, and have been blessed to have many of my teacher co-workers and friends give us books over the past few months, too.

When I initially began asking around for suggestions on which titles should make the must-have list for my geekling, I saw Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown & illustrated by Clement Hurd offered up again and again as one I could not do without. The book is the perfect bedtime story; the main character is attempting to delay bedtime (Who didn’t do that as a kid?) by systematically saying goodnight to everything in the room first. The appeal of this easy-to-memorize, almost lyrical story must be why so many parenting books and sites suggest a similar “say goodnight to everything” ritual approach for winding down your own little sleep protester. It brings closure at the end of the day, preparing them for sleep. But this post is not about Goodnight Moon. This post is about Goodnight Forest Moon.

What do you get when you take a classic children’s book and apply a Star Wars parody? It’s called Goodnight Forest Moon by Noah Dziobecki over at DzignSpace.com, and it’s brilliant. Actually, brilliant may not be strong enough of a word to describe how much I love this. As you might guess, being a parody means that instead of a little rabbit main character trying to postpone inevitable slumber, you’ll read about a young stormtrooper preparing for sleep. Instead of saying goodnight to a variety of typical bedroom items that you’d find in the classic version, our young stormtrooper will instead point out and say goodnight individually to a wide variety of objects and characters straight from the Star Wars universe, like tauntauns and ewoks. Those of you familiar with the artwork of the original Goodnight Moon will delight in seeing the illustrations parodied perfectly, even down to the green walls of the great (metal) room. See? Brilliant doesn’t quite cut it. It’s pure genius!

The best part? Noah has generously made Goodnight Forest Moon available to you as a free PDF that you can print at home, complete with instructions on printing and assembling your very own copy of the book! Which means geek parents EVERYWHERE can add this version to their own libraries and share with generations of geeks to come. Hooray!

Honestly, books are the one baby gift I treasure above all others; they’re the gift that will keep on giving and will hopefully help to instill my own passion for reading within my geekling. And who wouldn’t want to introduce words like Sith and ewok to their young Padawan’s developing vocabulary?! I am ecstatic to have Goodnight Forest Moon in my repertoire of read alouds thanks to Noah Dziobecki, and I look forward to making it one of our little geek family’s bedtime traditions.

(Bonus: If the original is ever read aloud to your child when they’re not at home, by say… grandma & grandpa or a teacher… your child will pipe up about ewoks and tauntauns and the Force instead. Just imagining the look on my parents’ faces alone cracks me up.)

Happy reading!

When it comes to unleashing the power of the Force in your kitchen, Williams-Sonoma has got you covered with some ridiculously awesome Star Wars themed baking tools and gadgets that are sure to make any Padawan’s day.

Pancakes
Whoever said breakfast was the most important meal of the day obviously had a set of these Star Wars pancake molds. As if pancakes weren’t enticing enough, now you can make them for your geek family in classic character shapes or vehicle shapes.

Cookies
After their rigorous Jedi (or Sith) training, your young apprentice(s) will need to refuel with cookies, of course. Make their day with cookies in the shape of their favorite Star Wars characters or vehicles. Just like breakfast, only covered in icing instead of syrup! Need a recipe? AllRecipes.com has the best rolled sugar cookie recipe ever.

Flip and Store
Let’s not forget the tools in which to flip the perfect pancake or store dozens of delicious cookies! The flexible Stormtrooper and Vader spatula set will ensure your pancakes and cookies bake and transfer to the plate with ease, while the exclusive Star Wars Shop Death Star Cookie Jar is the perfect home for all of those extra cookies… if you have any leftover, that is. The dark side really does have cookies, eh? The cookie jar doubles as an ice cooler (Geek parents, it’s ok to admit you’re picturing it holding ice at YOUR next party!) or even a fashionably evil candy jar.

Of course that’s not all that Williams-Sonoma has in the way of Star Wars baking; be sure to check out their entire Star Wars bakeware collection for more ways to make helping in the kitchen a whole lot more fun for your little ones.