Papier Macheniacs: The Plateau Project

Has your kid ever gone to you with a homework paper that tells you he needs to submit a diorama of a land formation? Maybe. We did a week before the last day of school and we were ecstatic! Yeah, dioramas rock our boat. Uh-huh.

And just like that, it's Family Project Weekend in this household.
Land Formation: Plateau.

You might think it's easy making a diorama of a plateau --and believe me, we thought so, too. I mean, it's just a bunch of boxes, right? Yes and No. Because we Papier Macheniacs don't do anything the easy way. Wahahaha!

So after getting some old boxes together, we rolled sheet music to to create a semblance of rocks and cliffs along the side of the mountain.

Then, we paper mache'd. That's when the magic starts to happen. The moment you start slathering your rough sculpture with that glue and tissue combo, the surface you want takes shape. Now it almost looks like a plateau! Okay... maybe an ice berg at this point. :P

But we don't stop at 'surface'. We wanted 'texture'! And that's how stealing sand from the neighbor's front yard rock garden got us to this part of the project. Hehe. Pepper your wet and sticky sculpture with sand and let it sit for about half the day. As soon as the whole sculpture is dry, you can shake off the excess sand.

Now... paint!
Let me tell you now that painting on sand is tricky as heck. You should use a dabbing kind of painting style so you hit all those tiny nooks and crannies.

And there you have it --PAPER MACHE'S PLATEAU!

The kid scored the highest and now has his project on display at the school library's Geography Department. BIG JOY! I call this another win for Team Papier Macheniacs. :)

Sabangan, Laiya Love

I'll let you in on our beach bumming secret.
We go during the off-seasons --it's cheaper that way and we avoid the hectic summer crowd.
And, we insist on Sabangan Resort at Laiya, Batangas --because of its pure awesomeness.

Sabangan is a rustic, pretty, little resort nestled between vacation spot giants, Blue Coral and Aquatico.  It's a sore thumb in comparison.  It doesn't have Blue Coral's jet ski action.  And none of Aquatico's infinity pool glory.  What Sabangan simply offers is family bonding to the serene shiznit. 

It doesn't have a hotel set-up.  It gives you your own dainty, airconditioned cottage.

With cozy, native, meticulously-designed interiors.

With your very own nature-inspired front yard.

And your very own huge sandbox backyard.

You get the same upper class kind of clear waters.

And the same luxury of fine, powdery sand.

Oh and you're given your own kitchen, too.  None of those expensive restaurant prizes.  You cook your own food in the comfort of your own 'home'.

When you're done with the beach, there's the lumberrific playground.

And the open-air game area that gives a whole new meaning to the term 'shooting the breeze'.

See?  Unprecedented, unrestricted family bonding.

That's Sabangan.  My wisest decision in family vacation relaxation yet!  And that's no secret.