droolicious : freebies

Fun Freebie: Put Yourself In a LEGO Commercial!

Aaron Burgess — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:04:00 GMT

No, your eyes do not deceive you: That's my kid stuffed into a LEGO minifigure space suit -- but don't worry; no children were harmed in the making of this image.

In fact, if you head to LEGO's Go Miniman Go! Mini You website, you, too, can convert your whole family (well, three of you) to minifigs for free and star in your own rendition of the Go Miniman Go! spot we featured here a few months back. Share your clip with us when you're done -- we'd love to see you rocking the bricks!

Freaky Freebies: Printable Activities from 'Vunce Upon a Time'

Aaron Burgess — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:04:00 GMT

Leave it to Olive, the Other Reindeer creator J.otto Seibold to conjure up a blood-sucking undead character we'd actually want to cuddle up with this Halloween. Okay, that's not entirely true about the blood-sucking stuff: See, Dagmar the vampire is actually a shy, people-fearing vegetarian, and his real weakness isn't A, B or O-positive; it's more like Almond Joy, Butterfinger and Oompas. In Seibold and Siobhan Vivian's delightful new book, Vunce Upon a Time, the candy-crazed cutie has to overcome his fear of the living to score big as a trick-or-treater.

Chronicle Kids, Vunce Upon a Time's publisher, has rolled out some Halloween-friendly treats of its own to celebrate the book, and we're happy to report that you don't need to make a donation, blood or otherwise, to enjoy 'em. Each is a printable PDF, and when you put everything together you've even got the ingredients for a party.

Check out the "Vunce in a Lifetime Halloween Adventure" site for the full-color experience, or grab the whole lot via the links below. Happy crafting, and a totally premature Happy Halloween to all!

Turn Into a Vampire in 6 Easy Steps

Vampire Jack-O-Lantern Pattern

Face Painting Template

Bat Ear Pattern

Sticker Sheets

Coloring Sheets

Spiderweb Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes Recipe

Caramel Apples and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipes

Free Download for Your Budding Engineer: LEGO Digital Designer

Aaron Burgess — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:04:00 GMT

No, that's not a new CAD software program you're seeing, although it's a good way to get any budding engineer in your family primed to handle one. What you're looking at is the interface of LEGO Digital Designer, a free downloadable program (Win/Mac) that lets you put a virtual LEGO set onto your computer's desktop.

Admittedly, while the program is 100% freeware, there is a bit of an ulterior motive on LEGO's part: Drawing from over 763 brick types, you can build your own virtual LEGO masterpiece either from scratch or from a pre-existing template. From there, you can upload the results to have a customized kit, complete with a real-life version of every brick you used, put together for purchase.

We're three days into the thing at my house, however, and so far my kids have only managed to create, delete, and overrwrite a bunch of logic-defying vehicles and robots they couldn't possibly have the motor skills to replicate in real life. The moment they do come up with a winner, though, I'll confess: I'd probably buy the blocks to help them realize it.

[LEGO Digital Designer] [Via Lifehacker]

Download a Free Vacation Planner from Time Too

Aaron Burgess — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:04:00 GMT

If you've ever tried to plan a summer vacation with kids, you know it can be a logistical nightmare that makes wedding coordination seem easy in comparison. No sooner are you 30,000 feet in the air, pumping Benadryl into the kids for some peace and quiet (did I just say that?) than you remember you forgot to water the plants, neglected to put a hold on your mail, didn't tell your next-door neighbor to keep an eye on the place while you were gone...

Well, it won't make any of the above any easier, but a new, free vacation planner from family-organization hot spot Time Too will at least help you to keep your head screwed on while you're getting ready. Available via PDF, this handy tick sheet gives you an easy way to get all your ducks in a row, and it also lets you assign duties to individual family members so you don't get stuck doing everything yourself. Plus, like we said, it's free.

Grab Time Too's free vacation checklist via the link below, and if you're wondering how you can show your gratitude, visit the company's online store for a number of other, more in-depth family- and baby-centric planners that actually require you to break out your credit card (2009 Family Trackers, here I come...).

[Free Tic Toc Checklist by Time Too - PDF download]

Free Father's Day MP3 (NSFW): Daddy's Curses

Aaron Burgess — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:35:00 GMT

For all you dads who have trouble feeling warm and fuzzy when it comes to Father's Day, I understand. But while it's easy to let a rotten childhood color your sentiment about the upcoming weekend, the irony is that if your dad was a jerk, you've probably got the most to look forward to on Dad's Day. Because no matter how many milestones he missed during your childhood, no matter how many of his own failures he tried to project onto you, your dad handed you a gift more precious than anything you'll ever find in a catalog: He sent you into fatherhood armed with the knowledge of exactly how not to raise your own offspring.

That said, I'd hate to see any of you who are still sulking head into Father's Day weekend without a smile on your face, so for all the damaged dads out there, I bring you a gift most wonderful, courtesy of my pal Henry at Chunklet: a free MP3 download of Daddy's Curses, the now-classic, completely NSFW 1987 audio document of one dad's failed, profanity-strewn attempt to repar a piano. Grab it below, and make sure you're wearing headphones if you're in polite company.

To the kid who surreptitiously recorded this, a hearty thanks -- here's hoping you're currently raising your own family the best way you know how. And to all you dads out there, damaged or otherwise: a happy, healthy weekend to you and yours.

[Daddy's Curses (NSFW) MP3]

Toys"R"Us Previewing Guitar Hero On Tour in Stores This Saturday

Aaron Burgess — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:04:00 GMT

We tipped you off to Guitar Hero On Tour, the upcoming portable Guitar Hero entry for Nintendo DS, a few months back, but if the kids are feeling restless this Saturday and you're looking for a way to kill some time, head to your local Toys"R"Us for a free, hands-on sneak preview of the game.

From noon to 4 p.m. local time on June 14, gamers will get to rock out with the new Guitar Hero On Tour a week in advance of the game's June 22 ship date. A refresher, for those who missed our earlier post: Unlike the console versions of the game, the fully portable, all-in-one On Tour features a unique grip controller that plugs into your DS to allow you to fret virtually, as well as a pick-style stylus for your strumming (because after all, outside of Sonic Youth, who strums a guitar with a pen?).

Besides a jones for the new controller, gamers who try out Guitar Hero On Tour during the preview will walk away with some freebies (a Guitar Hero sticker, dog tag and temporary tattoo, while supplies last), while those who preorder the game during the event will also get a limited-edition Guitar Hero pick-stylus. If you can't make it out to Toys"R"Us, no need to worry: Just hit up the preorder link to secure your own (regular-edition-stylus) copy of the game.

Friday Fun: Print Your Own Highly Disturbing Coloring Book

Aaron Burgess — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:03:00 GMT

The next time you and the kids are trapped inside on a rainy day, grab a ream of paper and a restraining order and head to Free Printable Coloring Pages. The site, which I'd swear was a parody if its categories and themes weren't so kid-oriented, packs over 2,100 free black-and-white images that you can download, print and color, and in combing through those images today, I was struck by how unintentionally twisted many of them are. Like, Silence of the Lambs/What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?-twisted.

Here, then, are 10 of the weirdest, captioned by me for your viewing pleasure. Got another favorite? Share it with the rest of us in the comments, you sick creep.

Good to see NAMBLA's loosening its restrictions on clipart.

"Wait a minute -- that ain't a tow rope..."

Who's got a fresh pint and likes melting in your mouth? This candy!

"Hey, where are all the girls going?"

Sometimes an ear of corn is just an ear of corn. Other times...

Nothing gets kids pumped for that next well-child visit like "True Stories in Head Trauma."

"It puts the bandage on its skin or else it gets the shears again."

Unleash the farking furry.

What's more disturbing: his leering or the idea that she's using crutches and can't run away?

"I see dead people."

7 Days of Getting Crafty: 1,001 Free Paper Airplanes

Aaron Burgess — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:03:00 GMT

Okay, that figure's a bit of a stretch, but if you can't spring for a book like Andrew Dewar's Simple Origami Airplanes ($11.66 from Amazon), there are tons of free online resources for practicing the art of paper-airplane-folding, Japanese or otherwise, with your junior aviators.

I've gotten many paper cuts thanks to the sites listed here, and obviously there are way more than 10 of 'em out there. Got a favorite paper-airplane destination? Drop it into the comments so we can nerd out together.

Alex's Paper Airplanes: Shows up first in a Google search, and for good reason: Divided into difficulty levels, Alex's planes are some of the most popular (1,000,000 flights to date and counting) on the Web. But for those of you who, like me, have trouble folding airplanes based on line drawings, the site's real treat is its collection of instructional videos.

Build Paper Airplanes with Christian: If Christian's designs and videos make Alex's site look light on content, then Christian's dad, who runs the site with him and provides confidence-building tips throughout, makes Mike Brady seem like Peter Griffin.

Fun Paper Airplanes: Download, print, fold and fly.

Best Paper Airplanes: Light on visuals and lighter on updates (no new content since 2006), this site still packs a lot of fun, easy-to-make and totally original airplane designs. Start with the Deltry and work your way up.

Build the Best Paper Airplane in the World: Hey, "best" is a relative term, but this plane is still worth the effort.

Sabretooth: Another single-plane design. Get ready to chase it, because this sucker can sail.

Origami Kids: From handling unique paper to mastering difficult folds, origami can be a daunting but rewarding art for little ones. This site helps to ease the learning curve with 3D instructional videos that complement its free airplane designs.

Joseph Palmer's Paper Airplanes: An intermediate-level destination for when you get past the basic dart -- as the site promises, these suckers have serious lift.

Paper Aeroplane World: Loads of unique designs, including the distance-record-setting Nemesis.

Paper Airplane Museum: Dive in here and you may not have time for any of the others: over 810 free designs as of Jan. 9. Maybe 1,001 wasn't such a high figure after all...