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Prior to reaching F-List celebrity status on the internet via Tuccioholic, Ken Tuccio had the #1 Blog on MySpace.com. Over a six month period Ken Tuccio's MySpace Blog was the most read blog on all of MySpace.com on over 15 different occassions, often beating out blogs from celebrities such as Kevin Smith and Zach Braff, as well as human-chihuaha hybrids such as Tila Tequila. Ken Tuccio Retro is a supplement to Tuccioholic.com, bringing those extremely popular blogs back to the internet for everyone to read. Enjoy the nostalgia, and if you haven't already added Ken Tuccio as a friend on MySpace, be sure to do so !!! Making Floam ... ( Originally Posted September 27th, 2006 ) by Ken Tuccio I've previously spoken about Floam. On a whole, I'm disappointed with the way Floam performs. Like I've stated before, I grew up with Play-Doh and after spending time playing with Floam, I was convinced that Play-Doh provided a much more enjoyable "lets make useless crap" experience than Floam did. While I walked away uninterested in playing with Floam ever again, one thing about Floam struck my curiosity, the way it was made. Floam looked like nothing more than little stirofoam beads mixed in with partially dried glue, and I was convinced I could make it myself. That brings us to today's blog. My interest in making my own homemade Floam became something of an obsession. I don't fancy myself as the most crafty person, but I was interested in this "do-it-yourself" experiment, and who knows, maybe it will turn out to be a cheap method to make Floam at home without giving resorting to Sam Walton your hard-earned dollars. So here we are, attempting to make Floam. I was convinced that Floam was a rather simple concoction, I'm also convinced that this is the first time I ever typed the word "concoction"; I feel like Egon Spengler now. Anyways, I was convinced that Floam consisted of simply of stirofoam beads and glue, so off I went to Wal*Mart to pick up the ingredients …
When I got home, before I started my Floam making experiment, I took some precautions and laid down some newspaper ...
I did this for two reasons: Reason #1 : This could get messy. Reason #2 : It looks cool. With the newspaper now laid down I believe I should show you my purchases, the two ingredients that, if all goes well, will morph together to become what we in the industry call "Homemade Floam". I'm not really sure what industry I'm speaking about, but I'm convinced that if there was an industry that was interested in my Floam making endeavors, they would call what I'm about to make "Homemade Floam". So yeah, back to the action. Like I said, there were two ingredients, glue and stirofoam beads. For the glue I went with the Elmer's Washable School Glue No Run Gel …
I chose this for two distinct reasons. The first is that it comes in an "Easy Squeeze" container, and everyone would choose an easy squeeze over a "Hard Squeeze". The second reason is that this was the only type of glue Wal*Mart had available, and I'm not about to make two stops. For the stirofoam beads I chose this …
While I'm sure that there's a craft store somewhere in Ansonia, CT that sells the mini-stirofoam beads needed to attempt to make my own Floam, I figured it would be more fun to slice open a stuffed Mickey Mouse. In admiring Mickey, it really looks like he let himself go. It doesn't say so on the tag, but I'm pretty sure that this is neither "Steamboat Mickey" or "Fantasia Mickey", this looks more like "Minnie Cheated On Me With Mighty Mouse So Now I Spend All My Time Drinking And Eating Munchos Mickey". Seriously, Mickey's put on some poundage. Now that we have all the ingredients in hand, its time to go through the process of making the Floam. After several seconds of careful consideration, I opted to go with the method of putting the beads in a cup and then putting the glue on top of it, followed by some mixing. I'll be honest, I don't know if I can go through with the whole "Mickey slicing" thing I discussed before. I mean, look at him there, he's all plump and happy … he's minding his own business, doing his own thing; I really don't know if I have it in me to cut this poor little guy up …
Okay, I'm over it. Upon slicing Mickey open I'm a little disappointed in what I found. The stirofoam beads don't really look like stirofoam beads at all; actually, it looks like Mickey's been filled with cocaine. This means one of two things; either I'm going to be getting a visit later from a Cuban drug lord named Pablo who's pissed off that I foiled his international scheme of stuffing Mickey Mouse stuffed animals with straight off the boat blow, or this Floam is going to be a lot tougher to make then I thought. Well, if the first one turns out to be true, it serves me right for slicing open an American icon; karma's a bitch. Now that I have Mickey sliced open, the only thing left to do is to try and mix the "beads" with the glue and see what happens. I figure the best way to do this is to grab a cup and go to town mixing and stirring …
I chose to go with a Monopoly mug for the mixing, mainly because deep down I hope that somehow this will make me rich, and everyone knows Monopoly symbolizes wealth; unless you own Baltic, in which case you're middle class. When I first mixed the two together it didn't look anything like Floam, or like anything that I would in good conscience let any child play with, but the stirring is where the magic happened …
Once I started stirring, this truly began resembling some sort of compound, and I kid you not, it resembled Floam !!! When I first started this project I was convinced that in the end I'd have simply of wasted $4 on supplies and have a mess to clean up … I mean, I wanted it to work, but I'm the guy who can't hard-boil eggs, I wasn't wagering money that I could make a "magical compound" from scratch. However, when I saw what this was beginning to resemble I started to get excited. Here, take a look …
That picture really doesn't come across all that well, the mixture is white and the flash makes it look more like a pile of Cool-Whip than it does anything Floam-y. I tried to think of a way that I could fix that, so I scurried around my cabinets looking for anything that might add to the color and the texture. Amazingly, I found these …
Cake Make Festive Fixings: Green Sugar Crystals. Why I have these lying around is beyond me. I never bake, nor does anyone else who ever steps foot here, but I'm also the guy who bought a Farm In A Bag the other day, so I don't question myself anymore. Anyways, I figured I'd mix the "Festive Fixings" in with what is somewhat resembling Floam and see what happens …
I moved the concoction to the bathroom in order to get a better picture, and I'll be honest, I'm freaking excited; this is Mother FN' Floam. Sure, it has sugar in it, but lets be honest, what doesn't nowadays? Down to the texture, if you look at this close up, it looks like Floam. Next was the touch test, would it play like Floam? Well, it was a little loose and very soft, but I figured I had to let this dry; I mean, it is glue after all. I have two options when it comes to this, I could either wait a few hours and let it dry the natural way, or I could try and Blow-Dry the SOB. Guess what I chose?
I feel like Tom Hanks in Cast Away when he finally made fire. This is Floam, Mother FN' Floam !!! Honestly, you've REALLY got to let this dry otherwise it gets all over your hands, clothes, bathroom, and company paid for digital camera; but once you let it dry it definitely seems like this will be the real deal. I didn't let mine dry all the way, mainly due to time constraints and impatience, but by simply viewing it and touching it after the small amount of time I let it dry I can tell that it will turn into a magical compound, dare I say it will be "Fun You Can Feel", I might even go as far as to call it Floam !!! Look at the comparison …
Sure, it's easy to tell which of the two is the "real deal", but anyone who grew up in a school district whose art teacher allowed you to make your own Play-Doh knows full well that the fun is not in playing with the end result, the fun's in making it. I'll be honest, this seems like a safe enough experiment to do with your kids, under supervision of course. Here's all it took … 1)
Elmers Glue It cost me $4 at Wal*Mart, and I had the sugar crystals lying around, so maybe it'll cost you $5 total. You very simply put the three in a mug, mix it together, and REALLY let it dry. The end result is a magical compound that they can play with for an hour before they get bored and go back to their PSP. I would not recommend eating this, putting it near your face or eyes, giving it to animals, throwing it at anyone, putting it in gas tanks, cooking it in your oven or microwave, lighting it on fire, or doing anything with it that you remotely think is unhealthy or dangerous; as with anything, use common sense. I really thought this would be a train wreck. I expected to have a messy room and a bunch of glue to clean up; while I still do, I also have homemade Floam, so it seems like its all worth it. Before I wrap this up, I would like to take a moment to remember those who gave their lives so that this Floam would be possible …
We love you Mickey, and rest assured, I'll keep your decapitated fabric head in a box in the corner of my bedroom, right next to the ECW Shane Douglas figure and underneath the "Super Stretch" Mr. Fantastic. On second thought, I'll probably just throw you out when I'm done writing this. It's nothing personal, it's just business.
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2008 Ken Tuccio |
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