Calming Jar…

So I read about a mind jar on http://creativelittledaisy.typepad.com I decided I’d have a go.

  Supplies:

Jar

Food colouring

glue gun

water/ glue mix or

sugar syrup

and here’s the how to (sugar syrup version):

First make the sugar syrup by heating sugar and water in a pan (equal parts eg 300g sugar to 300ml water).

Pour the sugar syrup into a clean dry jar. Add the food colouring (not too much!) and a teaspoonful of fine glitter.

Use a glue gun to seal the lid on.

It’s hard to take photos of the glitter swirling but I have tried!

It remains to be seen if it’s calming or not but he does seem to like it.

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Upcycled pencil case

Aparently the coolest thing at the moment is pencil cases made of wierd recycled looking stuff.  I’ve been saving a stack of capri sun pounches intending to make a shoulder bag. But I’ve sacrificed 8 to make a pencil case for a friends teenage daughter. The whole thing only took me about an hour and a half, even working out how to do it as I went along.

Here’s a little how to:

Supplies:

capri sun packet (I used 8)

zip (mine was 14″)

thin double sided tape

bias binding

cotton (a light colour to match cartons and one to match whatever colour binding you’re using)

needle

sewing machine needle

sewing machine

Start by working out how many capri sun packets you need to go the length of the zip. (They need to overlap by by about 1cm.)

Sew the first two packets together. I did this by eye but you could use double sided tape to hold them together first. Be careful though, it makes the sewing machine needle so sticky you’ll have to throw it away afterwards!

Keep adding packets until you have sewn one side together, repeat with the other side.

The next step is the zip. Here’s where I gave in and got the double sided tape out! Apply double sided tape along the zip.

Attach one side to the tape, close up against the zip and stitch it in place. You should probably use a zipper foot for this.

Run a second line of stitching to make sure the zip is secure.

Repeat with the other side.

The next step is to make up the pencil case.

NOTE: It might be an idea to stitch both halves together first. (I didn’t so don’t have photo to show you how.) It might help hold it all together as it was quite tricky to sew.

Tuck the ends of the zip on.

You need to use double sided tape to fix the binding around the pencil case.

Sew the binding on, when you get to the end use a hand sewing needle to thread the ends inside before tying them off.

Hurrah you’re done!

http://www.momnivores-dilemma.com/2011/09/creative-juice-38-features-and-linkup.html

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It’s a bugs life!

Here is a short ‘tutorial’ for the egg box bugs that we made this week.

You will need:

egg boxes

paint

pipecleaners

googly eyes

card for wings (ours was corregated)

scrap paper for templates

glue (we used pritt stick)

scissors

paint brushes

pencil

How to make the bugs:

First cut the ‘cups’ out of the egg box.

Now paint theOUTSIDE of the egg box cups whatever colours you’d like the box to be. (top tip: use another egg box as a paint pallette!)

  

While waiting for the paint to dry, draw yourself some wing templates and cut wings from card.

Decorate wings using whatever comes to hand and leave to dry if required. (here fun foam shapes and glitter glue)

Once dry, apply googly eyes.

Choose a colour for legs. Cut a pipe cleaner in to three. Poke holes in the bug to thread legs through.

Add the wings using pritt stick or pva.

Your imagination is now the limit!!!

http://www.iheartnaptime.net/2011/09/link-to-party-sundae-scoop.html

 

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Car Wash

So I already mentioned I’ve been gaining loads of inspiration from link parties right? Well I read about this car wash that a lady had made for her son while on holiday. I forget where I got the link to her blog from, but the blog is http://www.nouveausoccermom.com. The more I thought about this idea the more I loved it! So Oscar and I started construction!

 

Here is our take on the car wash:

 

The small box came with a delivery to work. We took off the parcel tape and label and stuck the flaps back down with double sided tape. (This is because poster paint doesn’t stick to parcel tape!) I cut the doors out (a steak knife is great for corrugated cardboard) and Oscar painted the box and a little piece of extra cardboard to be the sign and I added ‘car wash’ to it.

While they were drying we made the rollers and the floppy door curtain. (It was these that had made me love the original idea so much.) I cut the door curtain and strips to cover the rollers from a jay cloth. Oscar cut the slits in them.

We made 2 cardboard rollers (loo rolls were sadly too big) and Oscar helped staple the strips of jay cloth on. I stapled the rollers and curtain to the box and attached the sign with double sided tape and we were done.

 

 

Once we finished the car wash was immediately pressed into use, as one small boy decreed many cars to be very dirty. So much so that he created lanes from pennies to keep them all in order!

 

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