If you are reading this then you are probably spending more time at home than usually. All schools are closed in the Netherlands and we are practicing social distancing. Hopefully this will flatten the curve! Our Geeklings are home 24/7, which is a challenge..  Time for crafts! It keeps us busy, is good for hand-eye coordination and also lots of fun. So this is part one of Corona crafts!

Creating designs with perler beads/iron beads is easy, time consuming, and good to practice fine motor skills. I was done with the regular shapes, so I spend some time online to find Geeky patterns to share with you! The unicorns are one of my favorites, not complex and very cute. In the end I made a unicorn and rabbit with and for Evy, and pikachu and Iron Man for Lise. I found out that Lise (four in June) is a bit to young for this craft. After playing with de beads for five minutes she just wanted to wrestle with her dad ;-)

Check out this instruction on perler beads, it's easy, but the ironing can take some tries to get it right. And please tag me in the results if you are making your own!

I saw so many amazing Geeklings at the Dutch Comic Con! Have a look at the new generation of geeks, you are awesome! Until next edition (23 and 24 november).

Recently I bought Guardians of the Galaxy figures at my local drugstore. They where an instant hit with my Geeklings. I was a bit frustrated though, I had all the figures, except for Gamora. What was that about??
Totally ready to blame the drugstore I send an e-mail about the problem. But then I did some research.. Even though Gamora is cleary visible on the package, there is no figure of her in this set! Instead of the missing Guardian, they choose to feature badguy Ronan.. No kidding..

Where is Gamora??
I am a bit late at the game, but Marvel has a habit of doing this. When the first Guardians movie came out, Gamora was also missing from the action figure set that came out. I was quite shocked when I found out. How can you dismiss her? The Guardians are a team of five, not four! The internet thought so too and #whereisgamora was born.
Personally I don't consider myself much of a feminist, but even I couldn't help but question, does Marvel have an issue with its female superheroes?

Marvels issue with female heroes
Sadly, the answer is YES. Gamora is missing from my set of figures too, and also excluded on t-shirts. The same story is true for other female heroes Scarlet Witch and Black Widow.  After Age of Ultron came out website The Mary Sue wrote: "Marvel and Disney announced all of their official Ultronmerch, and Black Widow is virtually nowhere to be found (though she’s better off than Scarlet Witch, who is literally nowhere to be found)."

Girls won't buy action figures?!
On the website Womenyoushouldknow, Contributor John Marcotte – feminist dad, web designer, writer, comics junkie, and “Award-Winning Author” – weighed in on the Gamora matter. “I bet their logic is that adding Gamora would not gain any sales to girls, but might cost them some sales to female-averse boys.” He added, “It’s a self perpetuating cycle: the toy companies say that girls won’t buy action figures so they only make them for boys. Girls who like action figures look and find absolutely nothing for girls, so they don’t buy anything. The toy companies say, ‘See? Told you. Girls won’t buy action figures.'”

Looking for Geeky toys, made out of natural materials? Check out By Knus.
Petra, the woman behind By Knus uses materials such as wood and wool, to make things like these cute Peg Dolls. Until now, she already made different Disney princesses. Such as Elsa and Anna, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Moana/Viana, Jasmine and Snow White.

A few days ago she wanted to make some new characters and had superheroes on her mind. I couldn't resist, and suggested she'd make Captain Marvel. After all, the movie is almost coming out. This is the result!

Interested? Visit her FB or Instagram and give a Pegg Doll a new home :-) She also makes cute gnomes!

It the season for cookies! A great way to entertain Geeklings when it's too cold or rainy to play outside.  The dough is like clay you can eat, and the cookies are nice too! ;-)

Geeks wouldn't be geeks without Geeky cookies cutters. I found a bunch of them on the website Wish. Especially Marvel is well represented.. I bought several versions, the more traditional cookies cutters, but also some silicone molds. The good thing about the last category is that you can use them for all kinds of things, cookies, chocolate, icecubes, and even soap. 
After the first batch I noticed that the cookie recipe is very important when you make detailed cookies like these. Otherwise the dough will flow out too much and ruin the design. So: use the best basic recipe! 
I use the recipe from this website:  150 grams white caster sugar (basterdsuiker), 50 grams vanilla sugar, 200 grams butter, 1 egg, and 400 grams of flour. It is the flour that keeps the cookies 'in shape'. Also, keep the dough in the fridge for at least an hour!
See the results above: which cookies do you prefer? I like the regulars best, for a normal cookie recipe. The silicone mold is quite deep, so the cookies get rather thick. You can make them thinner, but it's a hassle, especially for Geeklings.