The sail boats turned out really cute. They floated, they were bright, and while I still wished the bases were a bit more opaque, I thought they’d do quite nicely in the wave bottle.

Unfortunately, water sealed they wouldn’t stay upright. I tried a variety of things to keep them balanced, weighting the bottoms with pins and beads, cutting down the sails, but eventually I had to just give up on the sail boats. Shame. I think they’d still be a fun (and easy) craft to do with kids though, as long as you didn’t mind them not lasting.

Ender really enjoyed watching me put the bottle together. Since he’s a little too young to understand presents, I didn’t feel like I was wrecking the surprise.

He REALLY liked the bubbles caused by the oil. I think once we get around to sealing the lid (haven’t had a chance yet) the finished wave bottle will be a hit.

When the boats were in play, I’d planned to fill the whole bottle with water and oil, so it would look as much like ocean and sky as possible. Once I gave up on the boats I realized there was no reason not to leave a top layer of air, allowing another section of floats.

I have no idea why the sequins didn’t sink to the bottom of the water layer. Not a one. In the glitter bottle, they fell down along with the glitter, but having a layer of oil on top seemed to make everything sit a bit lighter in the water (the balls floated significantly higher). I have no idea why this is. I assume there is some physics-y explanation, but maybe it’s just a fluke.

The bottle didn’t turn out at all like I’d envisioned it, but I’m still pretty happy with the final product. Whenever I (or Matt) get around to sealing it, I’ll be sure to post photos of Ender so you can see what he thinks.