How to Make a Chef's Hat Cat in the Hat What's She's Wearing

Wondering How to Make a Chef's Hat? 

I suggest you make one for a child's costume and not for your cat. Your cat does not want to wear a hat. He doesn't want to wear it in a chair. He doesn't want to wear it over there. He doesn't want to wear it in the kitchen. No, I'm sorry, your cat doesn't think a hat is bitchin'. He doesn't want to wear a hat near the stair. Believe me, he doesn't want to wear a hat anywhere. Enjoy!

I cut ear holes so he couldn't squirm out as easily- fail. 
No animals were hurt in this post.

Cardboard Stove Tutorial for Pretend Play

I tried to hold him very still for the picture. 
The picture is bad from all the movement.

Almost.

Shaking it off. Yep, that was the hat.

"Oh geez, just get this over with, will you!"  
After three days of trying, this is the best we can do.

So, make your hat bigger for you kids.

You only need paper, scissors, and tape 
to make a Chef's hat at home. That's easy :)

She's wearing a chef hat and apron.

Not shown sparkly pink shoes and lacy dress.

For a cat's hat or doll's hat, use 8 1/2 x 11 paper. For a child's hat, use legal size paper or tape two sheets of letter size paper together. Now draw a line (or eyeball it) about 2" from the edge of the paper. Next, cut strips about 2" wide to your line. Your paper will look like giant fringe. Take the fringe and gently fold it over the edge of your 2" border. Tape it down and repeat. When all of the fringe pieces are taped down wrap the paper around your cat/child/doll's head to measure for proper fit. Tape to secure. Now you know how to make a hat for a cat  child's costume for an impromptu session of creative play! Would also make a great hat for a teddy bear.

Does your cat like to wear clothes? Here's our "Little Rascals" style KCC Kid's Video Mayhem bakes bread in the  "Sweet Shop".



Recommended Reading:

Kids Creative Chaos Cooks (Kitchen Kids Book 1)*

Or you could just... Buy a Chef's Hat for Kids Costume*






ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Monkey Valentine Conversation Hearts Sight Word Game

Conversation Heart Sight Word Game for Kids

Get crafty for Valentine's Day using Cupid's arrows and Conversation Hearts in a Sight Word game for kids. This simple activity is perfect for early childhood literacy. Store the arrows and hearts in the monkey pocket, and then mix and match to form sentences. Scroll below for printable pattern and how to play the game. Enjoy!

Make Conversation Hearts into a Sight Word Literacy Game for Kids.

Template pattern for Monkey Valentine game.

You will need:
Construction paper, markers, scissors, glue, and scrap gift bags.

How to make the game:
Cut out pieces per pattern above. Glue monkey's face together. When gluing monkey face to paper; glue only  the outermost edge. Important: do not glue the top of the paper down (between his ears). Now you have a pocket to store your game pieces. Cut out game pieces and write simple sight words on the arrows and hearts. Make sure to use lots of action words, pronouns, nouns, and verbs.

Ideas for heart words might include feeling words like happy, sad, mad, funny.

Arrow words should include words like the, boy, girl, I, a, dog, cat, was, is, could, ran, likes. Cut more than 10 arrows to make the sentences more interesting.

How to play the game: (two players)
You will need 2 dice. Place hearts upside down on table. Each player takes turn drawing for a total of 5 hearts. Hold in hands like cards or place face down on table. Each player takes a die. Youngest player rolls first. Player must roll a 3 or 6. When a 3 is rolled player draws an arrow from the pocket. When a 6 is drawn player draws 2 arrows. With each turn, the player tries to form a simple sentence. Player must pass if they cannot make a sentence. Players can work together to make sentences too. The first player to use all of their conversation hearts wins! 


Recommended Reading:

Monkey Mask Craft and Story Ideas

Monkey Snack

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed*













ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Jake's Journey in Art Mask Making 101: Phineas Mask and African Art Mask for Mardi Gras

How to make a Phineas Mask for Mardi Gras or Halloween Costume. Tip: It starts with a birthday party hat.

This latest in a series of Jake's Journey homeschool projects teaches the art of Mask Making and formal balance. We included a tutorial to make an African Art Pende Mask and a Phineas mask which is a little more fun for kids. You might also enjoy this Mardi Gras Bird Mask. Enjoy!

How to make a Phineas Mask 
for Mardi Gras, Halloween, or a Birthday Party Hat.

You need a cardboard birthday party hat, a cereal box, egg carton, gift bag, and construction paper. First, draw Phineas' hair (think reindeer antler.) Cut two sections, glue  a red gift bag (as pictured) or construction paper pattern onto the cardboard, let dry, and cut out. Cut a 2" slit in the center of the base of each hair piece, and slide them into each other. Next, cut about 1" off the top of the party hat. 

Draw pattern as pictured on paper folded in half.

It should look like this, cut two.

Take the hair piece and insert it into the hole in the top of the hat. Secure on the inside with tape.  Now, take your birthday party hat and wrap it in pink construction paper and tape with clear tape where it overlaps. Grab a second piece of pink construction paper and holding it in a cone shape, insert it inside the base of the party hat and attach with tape. For this step, it is helpful to have another set of hands. Push the interior cone to the front and attach a hairband inside the hat. Cut out two egg holders from the egg carton, color the center for eyes and attach (hot glues works best) to the front of your hat/mask.  Place the headband on your head as shown in the above picture. Voila!

You might also like to make a Perry the Platypus costume from a cardboard box. 

Make your own Phineas and Ferb Mask 
for a Costume from a birthday party hat.

Masks are a great way to teach the art of formal balance when both sides are exactly alike. Mask can look like animals, humans, or your favorite cartoon hero such as Phineas above. Make these masks to celebrate Mardi Gras.

Many tribes in African countries still use masks as part of their special occasions, or ceremonies.  Examples of Tribal African Mask  Jake chose the Pende Mask, "Panya Ngombe," which was hung above the door of the Chief's dwelling. It is a combination of human and buffalo features with incised triangular grids creating a checkerboard effect. 

Since, Jake seemed to enjoy this project, and the focus was on balance, I didn't split hairs when it came to neatness and creativity (always choose your battles).  Read more about Jake's Journey as a reluctant artist.  Anything to do with mythology, tribes, dinosaurs, he's all over it and loves to learn as much as possible, even if it means doing art!

Pende Mask.

Right click to print the Pende Mask Pattern Printable 
(Fold your paper in half).

Mayhem's "Cat/Person" African Mask.

Recommended Reading:

Timothy Hubble and the King Cake Party

How to make Mardi Gras Masks

Mardi Gras is Shrove Tuesday

Winter craft ideas for Kids: How to Make Snow for Pretend Sensory Play in Ice Age and Christmas Village

Make Fake Snow with Wax Paper

This winter craft idea for kids focuses on how to make snow for your Ice Age Dinosaurs. In this DIY, you'll use wax paper. Enjoy!

Ice Age creative play with Dinosaurs, Diego, and
wax paper snow activity for kids.

We've shared many sensory activities for kids, but this winter one is the cat's meow! So, I've been saving a a bag of snow since my Grandmother passed away.  I inherited it with a few pieces of her snow village.  A few years ago, I used store bought snow for my village, as I wasn't ready to use hers or risk losing it around the cats and little ones. This year, I pulled it out and dumped it around my village.  It was as remarkable as I remembered. Enjoy!

 Winter Preschool Activity

And then, it wasn't... 

The cat kept climbing in it spreading it all over the floor. During the holidays, I brushed it under the table to clean up later. Later came, I began carefully picking up the pieces preparing to place them in a baggie for next year, when somehow the glistening bits of fake snow appeared more familiar than I'd ever known. This wasn't fake snow at all.  It was tiny pieces of shredded wax paper!  I made a collage with snowy scenes around my house so you can see how natural it looks.

Make Fake Snow out of Wax Paper.

Ice Age Dinosaurs, Sensory Snow Play.

Grandma's fake wax paper snow village versus real snow
covered pine trees in the landscape.

Sneaky Grandma, surprising me from the grave. I hadn't realized she was so creative. One year, on my parents twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, she volunteered to get SILVER vases for the table centerpieces.  She brought them just before the guests arrived, and I was astonished to see plastic glasses of some sort wrapped in aluminium foil. Not her crafty-ist moment. It felt a little tacky for what I had planned, but certainly creative. 

And now, the snow.

What an easy project for your snow globes, snowman in a jar, I -spy Christmas ornaments, or just for an ordinary day of creative play with plastic animals or Legos.  We decided to play Ice Age with ours.  I'll save Grandmas, just thinking how she took the time to craft it makes me smile.

So, grab your wax paper.  Do not cut it. Tear it into tiny shreds and store in a Ziploc bag for your kiddos. So easy, so fun and perfect for SENSORY PLAY!  Thanks, Grandma!

What will you pretend?


Recommended Reading:

National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Dinosaurs (National Geographic Little Kids First Big Books)*

Dinosaurs! by Gail Gibbons*

ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

'Twas the Night Before Christmas in Our House...

The Night Before Christmas Poem: At Our House

We wish you a Merry Christmas! Hope you all have a Christmas Eve filled with warm memories and  stockings full of happiness. Here are a few photos from around our new house (old farm houseand a poem about our night before Christmas. 

We'll celebrate with a Christmas Eve children's service and then our older children and close family friends will stop by on the eve of Jesus birth for a gift exchange. Christmas day, we'll make the trek over the river and through the woods to Grandma's house. Enjoy!

Stockings hung by the piano with care.

'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house,
every creature was stirring except for the mouse.

The stockings drooped from the piano with flair,
hanging onto their reindeer hooks with special care.

Droopy stockings on heirloom piano.

The children wrestled each other banging heads,
while double vision sent them straight to their beds.

Snowy day play! We were blessed with a white Christmas.

A

nd, Mom with her nurturing and Dad with his crap
Tried to settle us down with Angry Bird Apps.

When from the kitchen there arose such a clatter,
I stopped playing to see what was the matter.

Snowy Christmas Village courtesy of my Grandmother.

My small sister shot past me like dynamite
Knocking me into the wall causing a fight

Shattered glass and spilled milk were on the clean floor
And crumbs fell from kitty's mouth as he cried for more.

When what to my wandering eyes should appear ~

Oops, Grandma got tun over by a reindeer.

Waving his finger in the air, a red suited man
stood in a fog standing next to the trash can.

With his furrowed white eyebrows and crumpled red nose
I knew in an instant it must be St. Nick.

More rapid ranting than Mommy's his reprimands came
And he pointed and shouted and called us by name.

Now Jake, now Mayhem, now Tigger please listen...

Santa and the Misses.

Why aren't you sleeping? Are those bumps on your head? March up those stairs and climb into your warm beds.

A tiny tornado erupted inside

lifting the cat's mess and tossing it aside.

My heirloom talking tree courtesy of my Grandfather. 
He sings and scares!

So, up to our bedrooms sister and I flew
with thoughts of toys and fears of Santa too.

And then in a twinkling, I heard on the wall
the kneading and pawing of each little claw.

As, I covered my eyes listening to the sound
up the stairs my bad kitty lept with a bound.

An heirloom "robot" Santa.

Santa cleared his throat and his belly it rumbled
He tripped on the cat and on the floor he tumbled.

The bundle of toys he had flung on his back
flew out onto the floor emptying his red sack

Santa Claus?

I s

nuck out to spy on old Mr. Kringle
His cheeks were flushed and his smile had lost its jingle

He surveyed the damage and gritted his teeth
And the cat, it encircled his feet like a wreath.

Santa Bunny got covered in snow.
Hey, at least it's not a duck.

Covering my face and trying not to laugh
I saw St. Nicholas twitch his nose at my cat.

He flew up landing next to the Elf on the Shelf.
And I laughed when I saw it inspite of myself.

Infamous heirloom Elf on the Shelf.

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon led me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word but went straight to his work
collecting the toys then he turned with a jerk.

And laying his hand under the kitty's back
he scooped it up giving its head a light pat.

Heirloom elf ousting the angel.

Shaking from side to side he gave a little laugh
And said, "Listen naughty cat, it's time you had a bath.

Instead of punishment, he handed me the cat
At least without our cookies he's a little less fat.

Grandma recovered from her reindeer incident.

And I heard him exclaim as he disappeared from sight,
Merry Christmas to all and to me... 

A cat-free night!


Recommended:

Decorate Christmas Bags

Get Your Own Elf on the Shelf

Countdown to Christmas Gift Advent Calendar with Toilet Roll Tubes and Wrapping Paper

Toilet Roll Cardboard Tube Advent Calendar for Kids

Make an Advent calendar from recycled cardboard tubes and wrapping paper. It is an Easy Christmas craft for kids. Enjoy!

Easy Preschool Advent Calendar from cardboard tubes.

So, we save our toilet tubes. Yes, I am one of those people (I save my jars too) here is a post from one who is not, it made me LOL. Just imagine the possibilities?

Jar lids make great messy spoon holders, paint mixing trays, and chimes. Jars make amazing things! When I was a kid, my Dad had a glass cutting kit, and he'd make all kinds of "fancy" glasses from jars. (You know, just like Waterford Crystal.) 

Toilet Tubes are even better. They just cry out for re-purposation. Do you like that word? I just invented it. There, now I copyrighted it too. 12/2012. Maybe, I can trademark it?  "You're fired!" Wait, what was I saying? Toilet Tubes and Cardboard Tubes = Awesome craftability.

So... we save our toilet roll tubes. Except we moved, and then we didn't, so I had to start all over. I barely had enough for 25 days, and they were all different diameters and lengths. We had fun, but it wasn't perfect. Remember, it's the fun that counts.

To make our Advent Calendar tree, we took an idea from something similar we saw on Pinterest and it sparked an idea.  You know, how that goes. Hmmmmm, very pinteresting. I wonder how I can recreate it to make it my own?  

Cardboard tube Advent Calendar Tree.

Ow, my brain just exploded a little! I'm going to get my crafty blogging buddies together and make a contest. I'll call it, "The American Crafter" and we'll find something pinteresting and give everyone an assignment to make it their own and you can vote but not by phone- maybe just by comments. Copyright, Trademark, and Hashtag that please.

Digression ~ 

He digressed so often that it was hard to follow what he was saying. 

To turn aside especially from the main subject of attention or course of argument.

I do that a lot when I write on Sundays. It's my little form of meditation. So who's in? Are you up for a Voice/American Idol style Crafter contest? 

I'll make the winner a handmade, toilet tube crown with a fancy jar torch. (wink, wink)

What? You came here to make an Advent Calendar or a cute holiday decoration?  Here goes:

You will need 25 Toilet Roll Tubes minus the toilet paper, but I guess you could use the toilet rolls, now wouldn't that be pinteresting?

Tape or a Hot Glue Gun

Wrapping Paper or Scraps 
(Yes, of course, I save the little bits of paper from the previous year that aren't big enough to wrap a package. They are so pretty, I can't bare to throw them away. No, I talk about hoarding, but I'm not really a hoarder not yet anyway. My cat is alive and well, The food in my fridge isn't expired, and you can walk through the rooms of our house just fine. Well, most of them.)

Construction Paper

1.  Cut little squares of wrapping paper and roll onto your tubes. Attach with tape.

2.  Decide how many will be in each row to taper to one on top.

3.  Attach the bottom row together with a little piece of tape inside the end of two tubes.

4.  Stack the next row. Repeat step 3. Choose to glue first row to second row or use tape.

5.  Repeat.

6.  Cut out a Star or Angel from Construction Paper and glue to top of Christmas Tree.

7.  Fill each slot with little gifts or fun notes until Christmas Day.


Recommended Reading:

Holiday Party Favor Basket Ornaments

Turkey with Fall Leaves

New Year's Eve Rocket Popper

Look What You Can Make With Tubes: Creative crafts from 
everyday objects






ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

My Favorite Part of the Circus was the Cats. No, Not Lions and Tigers, I'm Talking Kitty Cats.

The Circus Cats have turned House Kitty

Circus Cats

Ringling's Amazing Animals

So, the Circus was cool with all of the typical animals, daredevils, and princesses. The clowns were silly, of course, and the dragon was exciting with his real smoke breath. I've been to other imitations recently, but this brand is the best. I captured the usual photos. What I couldn't capture a photo of, due to the incredible live action, was the domestic house cats. Kitty Cats. There were dog and pony shows that included goats, donkeys, and llamas in the three ring show of Amazing Animals.

My six-year-old kept begging me to look at the cute dog or "Mommy, look a llama, you love llamas." That I do, but I couldn't look away from the cats.

Girly Lions, Tigers, and an Awesome King of the Jungle.

Adorable cuddly, fuzzy cats climbed ladders, ran on balls, and jumped from amazing heights at the request of their trainer. Impressive, but not impossible to believe. I had a blind cat. If you put her up she had to get down. If she wanted up on a bunk bed, she'd climb the ladder or stand on the bottom bunk and grab the top bunk's rung to pull herself up. Cats do these things out of curiosity or necessity. 

What had me on the edge of my seat was... when the trainer opened the cat carrier, the little critters popped out with tails held high and pranced straight to the podium to start their act. I oohed. I ahhed. It happened every time. Not once did the cat get side-tracked or stop to sniff the ground. AMAZING.

Baby Elephant at the Circus.

The Circus elephants came in second. I'm sure you'll find much more to ooh and ahh about. The daredevils were crazy- that's good, right? I refused to clap. I can't applaud insanity :-)

Look for the Circus coming to your area ~ don't forget to take a picture of the Kittys for me. I couldn't find one anywhere. Maybe I only sought a saw a puddy tat.

Feld Entertainment provided the tickets for my unpartial review and giveaway.

Recommended Reading:

A Circus Wish (Magic Kitten)

Cat Hats

ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Jake's Art - Homeschool Weaving Lesson - Make your own Loom - DIY Arts and Crafts

How to make a loom for weaving scrap fiber: A Homeschool Art Lesson

Jake's Journey in Art goes under the sea in this DIY weaving Homeschool Art Lesson we learned to Renew. Enjoy!

Our loom has both warp and weft framework to better illustrate 
the concept to young children.

To weave a textile, threads (or scrap fabric) are woven on a frame called a loom. The first vertical threads on the loom are called warp threads. Threads that are woven horizontally in and out of the warp threads are called weft threads.

Cut notches in the cardboard frame to keep yarn in place.

Recycle a piece of cardboard from a cereal box or a foam tray to make your loom. You might also like Native American Paper Bag Dress

Cut small notches into the top and bottom of your cardboard(ours are about 1/2", but 1" works well). Make them about 1/2" inch apart. Alex Toys has a great PDF on weaving here.

Spongebob Fabric for Toddler bed tent.

Warp your loom with yarn or string by taking the thread and taping one end to the back middle of your board.  Now, starting with your first notch on the left, begin wrapping through each top and bottom notch without skipping a notch until you get to the right side of the board.  Only the warp frame is required.

Now your are ready to weave your weft. Cut or tear scraps of fabric into strips. Your strips of fabric should be about 1" thick and at least 12"  long. You will need about 20 strips. 

The cat enjoyed the tearing of fabric strips so much 
he needed a nap after playing with them.

For extra ease for smaller children, we added a weft frame as well. Now the scraps of fabric can be pulled through the little squares for guidance. Pull your scrap fabric under the first warp, over the next, and so on. The yarn guide will help younger children see any mistakes made.

When you have completed your weaving tie off all scraps in groups of two at the edges of your cardboard loom, then you can cut your your thread/yarn framework.

Spongebob has his eye on you.

This is an easy way to get littles started in weaving. It is also helpful to cut a piece of cardboard about 1" by 3" with a notch in the end. Attach your scrap fabric by inserting it in the notch and use as a tool to weave the fabric through the loom, this is called a shuttle.

Alex Toys Native American Bead Loom Kit for weaving bracelets.

Once you advance your skills, you can weave many beautiful projects. Alex Toys has a Native American Loom for weaving bracelets.  It is a professional quality loom that makes incredibly authentic bracelets.  We are working on our patterns and will share them soon.

Kid's room cartoon character theme (that way we don't have to worry about matching or new fads).Check out the automobile sun visor we used as a headboard. 
It is simply nailed to the wall.

Jake loved the idea of using his toddler tent cover as scrap fabric for this project. We renewed an item that was dear to his heart. It had been ripped from rowdy play and was no good as a tent, but we saved it anyway in hopes to repair it or transform it into a pillow or some other creative endeavor. The SpongeBob fabric was the perfect accent for his room. 

Yep, we need a hanging stick, but the kids love it.  
Use favorite t-shirts, pillow cases, or doll clothes for your scrap fiber.

To display your beautiful work of art weave a "weft" stick horizontally through the top row and hang on a wall.  Jake loved his creation and couldn't wait for the stick. He wanted to see how it looked right away, so we hung it by a nail. A little droopy, yes, but he loves it.

Did he love the process?  Not so much.  Much patience is a necessary requirement of weaving. So, Mommy made the loom, got it started and Jake weaved the inner pieces to gain an understanding of the process.  Mommy tied and cut it off making sure Jake watched and understood. This is somewhat time consuming, but the end results are worth it.

Mayhem saw the weaving on his wall and wanted it for her room. Score! This project journey ended on a very happy note.   


Recommended Reading:


Learning How to Weave*

Party Time: SpongeBob SquarePants*






ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)