Category Archives: Decorating

Dec26

Rustic Clay Wind Chime

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Rustic Clay Wind Chime

It has been entirely too long between entries.  Life gets like that though I guess. I actually made this wind chime back in May, but have not had a chance to blog about it. Pretty sad when you can’t find a spare half hour in 7 months… but hopefully I will make up for that over the next 3 weeks while my schedule is not so hectic.

I am really happy with the way this project turned out, but it may not be something everyone can make at home, as you will need access to a kiln for the baking of the clay.  I am lucky enough to have that access 🙂  The discs were made from potters clay, available from any good craft shop, about $30 for 10kg (it’s really heavy when wet!). I rolled some clay out to around 5mm thick, then cut the circles out using a metal egg ring.  I then used a variety of leaves and flowers from around the garden, laid them over the clay and rolled over gently with a rolling pin, just enough to create the patterns as you can see.

Clay craft

Clay circles with leaf and flower prints.

Once baked and cooled, it was time for assembly.  Mr 5 and Miss 6 were happy to help decorate the pieces of fishing line with some chunky transparent glass beads I had in my bead stash.

Threading beads

Threading the beads on fishing line before assembly

We then went on a hunt for the perfect stick, attached it to a chair and began assembly.  I wanted the discs to taper down, so this was not something the kids could help with.

Assembly of wind chime

Assembling

Once I was happy with the positioning of each string, I tied them in a few more knots and decorated the top hanging twine.  Cut off any loose ends and it’s done.  As simple as that.

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Each disc touches the next ever so slightly, making a lovely sound in the breeze, without being too noisy.

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Wind chime
Clay and glass bead sun catcher
Beads in the sun – sun catcher wind chime

 

 

Jul4

Egg Carton Daffodils – School Holidays Craft

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School holidays!  Woot! First cab off the rank, these simple little daffodils made from egg cartons.

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All you need is an egg carton, paint, pipe cleaners or skewers, glue.  I used split pins to attach the centres to the petals, but you could just glue them too.  One carton makes 5 flowers.

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Cut the centres first, as shown above.  Then cut out 5 of the cups to make neat little flowers.  Daffodils technically have more than 4 petals, but I just worked with 4  as the egg cups have a squarish shape and it was easier to cut that way.

Paint the middle sections inside and out.  We used orange, but you could use any colour you like.  Then paint the outers a lighter colour.

Once dry, I poked some holes through the centre of each piece and using pliers inserted a gold split pin (my fingers wouldn’t fit in there, so had to use pliers).

For the stems, pipe cleaners would have been easier, but I decided to use some skewers wrapped in green raffia.  It gave them a more natural texture.  I secured the raffia at each end with some sticky tape.

Then it was simply a case of attaching the stems to the flowers.  I used hot glue for this.

 

Apr6

Kids Craft, Easter Egg Sun Catcher / Stained Glass

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Kids Craft, Easter Egg Sun Catcher / Stained Glass

Inspiration for this project came from Alpha Moms blog. I thought I’d adjust it into an Easter themed project, given it is already that time of year.

All you need is some of the whitish milk or juice cartons.  We actually used a cordial bottle for the grass.  The stickers on the milk bottle where quite hard to remove and left a sticky residue.  I managed to remove this with some mineral turpentine.

Once you have your clean pieces of plastic, draw or as we did, trace your shapes using a black permanent marker (Sharpie etc).  Then let the kids colour as desired.  Once coloured, cut away the extra plastic and you’re done!  They turned out even better than expected.

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We attached ours to the windows using double sided tape rather than suction cups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mar19

Pom Pom Easter Wreath

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Pom Pom Easter Wreath

The girls at All Tizzies Up do love a pom pom or 700!  Here is a simple easter wreath they put together using basic craft materials and a pile of pom poms!

Card and hand made pom poms
The pom pom maker.
Trace out wreath to desired size
Cut out.
Attach pom poms using hot glue, as close to gather as possible.
Continue until wreath is completely covered.
Attach some ribbon to the back for decoration and to hang wreath
Create a bunny face from pipe cleaners and felt.
Attach to the wreath again with hot glue.

 

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Feb28

Bugs and Bees and Butterflies! So Sweet!

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Bugs and Bees and Butterflies! So Sweet!

Check out these cute bugs the girls at All Tizzied Up put together on the weekend.  Made from pipe cleaners, pom poms, wooden pegs, goggly eyes and tulle.  So simple and so cute!

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They have kindly taken step by step photos so you can be inspired too, to create your own colouring creepy crawlies.

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Feb26

Easy Sun Catcher, Kids Craft

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Easy Sun Catcher, Kids Craft

Everyone loves a sun catcher – well according to Pinterest they do! This is basically the same concept as the Valentine Hearts  we did a few weeks back, but instead of random shapes, we used a punch to make stars and circles etc from the cellophane. Once laminated, we cut out smaller shapes and hung them from a branch with some beads.

suncatch

Ms 5 cutting out the shapes with a punch
Sprinkle over the laminating sheet,
All spread out
Ready to go through machine.
Trace out some shapes with a marker then cut out.
Cut out
Hang on fishing line or string of your choice
we added some beads for extra colour
Sun catcher kids craft.

This is yet another almost impossible thing to photograph, it looks so much more bright and colourful in real life. I don’t know why I keep doing this to myself, or maybe I just need to do a photography coarse, or even read the instructions for my DSLR…

Feb3

Kids Valentine Craft, Love Heart Entrance – Bubble Painting.

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Kids Valentine Craft, Love Heart Entrance – Bubble Painting.

We have done a bubble painting project before for Easter, it is so easy and the results are always cool, so we have tried it again this time just using pink.  We also used some pink paper as well as the white, where as last time we just used white paper.

Valentine Door Hanging,

Valentine Door Hanging,

 

Again I cheated and printed out some heart shapes, rather than drawing them all just so all the sizes were consistent.  You could obviously trace around a cookie cutter too, but hey, did I mention I am lazy?  I didn’t really measure out the ingredients for the bubble paint, it really was a squeeze of dishwashing liquid, splash of food colouring and a splash of tap water.  Then let the kids blow bubbles in the mixture until the bubbles come up over the top of the bowl.  Get them to quickly place the paper gently over the bubbles and the patterns will transfer to the paper. Instead of cutting each shape out first this time, we did the painting then cut them out after they were dry.  Then it was just a case of attaching them to some gift ribbon with tape.  I stuck them to the wall with blue tac.

Ms5 and Mr9 blowing bubbles in the solution
Bubble patterns, left to dry.
Cut out and attach to some string with tape.
Bubble painting
Valentine Craft
Hearts on a string.

doorhearts

If you wanted to make these hang in a door way, it would be a good idea to paint both sides of the paper, so they can spin and still look pretty on both sides.

Feb2

Kids Valentine Craft – Stained Glass Hearts

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Kids Valentine Craft – Stained Glass Hearts

I was determine to do some Valentine craft today with the kids before we ran out of time.  I had an idea in my head of what I wanted to do, but we couldn’t find the type of paper I needed.  While picking up some other bits and pieces from the grocery store, we found A4 laminate sheets on special and decided to grab some for the craft cupboard. I had a look around Pinterest for inspiration and then it finally came to me, lucky we grabbed those sheets!
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The steps are pretty self explanatory I think, but you can see more instructions by clicking on or running your mouse over each photo below.

Ms 5 cutting the cellophane up into squares.
I drew a large heart on the back of some silver card then cut it out with scissors.
I then cut the centre out with a Box cutter.
Ms5 placed the pieces into the laminate sheet, using the middle of the heart under to give her a rough guide of the area she needs to cover.
Mr3 having a go, not quite understanding ‘don’t crumple them up!’.
Ms5 puts the close sheet into the laminator.
Mr9 prepared the heart boarder with double sided tape.
Double sided tape on the frame.
Mr9 cuts away the excess ‘glass’ from the frame after sticking it down.
The back.
Stained glass heart window.

The similar projects I have seen on Pinterest use clear book contact, which you could also use if you don’t have a laminating machine.  The laminate sleeves give a much clearer finish though.  I was worried at first that the cellophane might melt as it went through the heat, but it was fine.

glasshearts

Feb2

Ribbon Roses, Valentine Craft

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Ribbon Roses, Valentine Craft

All Tizzied Up has taught her daughters how to make these ribbon flowers just as she did when she was a kid.  Very cute and pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

 

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All you need is some ribbon (thickness will determine how big the flower head ends up being), some felt if you would like to add leaves, styrofoam ball, wooden skewer and some pipe cleaners for the stem.  Step by step photos and instructions can be found by running over or clicking on the picture gallery below.

 

Start by folding your length of ribbon at a right angle. These ones are made with lengths of ribbon around 50cm.
Continue to fold the ribbon over itself one side at a time
You should end up with something like this!
Grab the ends and pull one side only.
Until you end up with something like this!
Secure the rosette with some hot glue or a loose stitch.
Cut ball in half,
glue to felt, to create the back of the flower.
Cut out some leaves,
glue to underside of flower. Insert skewer.
Wrap skewer with pipe cleaner for colour and texture, or you could just use a green skewer.
Ribbon Rose,

 

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Jan25

Valentine Craft, Love Heart Door Hanger Part 2

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Valentine Craft, Love Heart Door Hanger Part 2

This is another variation of our earlier Valentine Door Hanger , the main difference is rather than hanging the hearts from strings, we hot glued them to a flat ribbon.  The finer details can be found in the previous post or by hovering over the images below.

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Method and recipe for making the hearts can be found on the previous blog entry.

kneading the dough.
Bake for 2 – 3 hours at 120C
roll out to 7mm thickness and cut shapes.
Mr3 painting
Ms5 painting the hearts
Create a loop that will sit flat against the door.
Jan17

Turn Recycled Cans into Cute Garden Ornament

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Turn Recycled Cans into Cute Garden Ornament

This little piggy went to market…  And this little piggy just wants to play in the garden!  How cute is this? Made from recycled cans and a tin bucket, some pink paint, wire and a few screws!

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The assembly process was very similar to the Tin Can Men from a few days ago. You can see how they did it in the pictures below. I want one!

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This clever school holiday project is bought to you by All Tizzied Up.  If you are in Australia and in need of some bows, check out their page.

Jan14

Heart Garland, Valentines Craft Project

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Heart Garland, Valentines Craft Project

Valentines day is not a huge thing here in Australia, like Halloween (we obviously don’t have Thanksgiving or 4th of July celbertons either) but it is one bandwagon I am willing to get on for the craft side of things at least.  Also willing to accept all donations of fine jewellery and flowers, lol.

 

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I originally wanted to make these 3D, but I couldn’t work out what to use as a frame for them that could be removed late (like a balloon), so I just went with flat ones.

The whole things was a bit of an experiment for me too, as I have never played with liquid starch before (took me 6 months to even find it).  The white ones I just used straight starch, and the red ones I used a corn flour and starch mix, roughly 50/50, with a dash of food colouring.  The ones with the corn starch turned out much firmer, but the white ones were still firm enough to work with.  Once completely dry, I traced out heart shapes with a black marker using cookie cutters.  Cut the shapes out with sharp scissors and threaded them up – ready to hang.

Corn starch, (corn flour) Liquid starch, food colouring, doily or lace.
Soak doily in solution and lay on a non stick surface
Place in the sun to dry
Demonstrating how firm the dried product is.
Trace out shapes on back side, cut out.
Thread, I used coloured cotton because I couldn’t find my fishing line
Doily hearts,
Valentine Garland
Heart Garland
Valentine craft
Valentine Garland

heart garland

 

Dec19

DIY Christmas Bell Mobile

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DIY Christmas Bell Mobile

If you like working with fabric like my friends at All Tizzied Up , here’s a simple Christmas craft decoration you can put together with the kids that will last for years to come.

 

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Once you have gathered the fabric you want to use, all you need is some styrofoam bells, ribbon, hot glue and sharp scissors and you’re ready to get crafty.  The smaller kids can get working on the covering the loop while an adult does the hot glue bits.  The rest of the steps are covered in the photos below.

 

Christmas themed fabric in your desired colours
Cut into squares
Pinch in the middle and dab with hot glue
attach to your bell
Work your way up the bell from the bottom
One complete bell
Trace out some felt to cover the bottoms
Cut and glue on.
Bells ready to go
Cut strips of the same fabric to cover the ring
Tie in pattern
Finished ring
Cut different lengths to hang bells
Attach to bells with glue and hang from ring
Cut lengths to hang ring
Attach to ring
Secure all strings together.
There you have it!
Dec18

3 Easy Mini Christmas Tree Decorations

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3 Easy Mini Christmas Tree Decorations

 

 

 

 

 

My crafty mum friend at All Tizzied Up has been very busy putting together some Christmas Craft projects with the family.  Thought we’d share for inspiration.

 

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They created 3 different trees from styrofoam cone shapes using buttons, ribbon, felt, and every crafters favourite tool – a hot glue gun!

 

 

The felt tree was created by layering leaf shape felt pieces working from the bottom up, then decorating with plastic jewels.

 

This one is simply a case of measuring out same lengths or ribbon, fixing with hot glue, then twisting, gluing again.  Glue 2 of these together to create a flower type shape and attach to the cone.  Again, finishing with some jewels to look like ornaments.

The button one is covered in aluminium foil, before attaching buttons all over with hot glue.

So if you are wondering what to do this weekend before Christmas, maybe get out the craft supplies and get crafty with the kids.  Would make a great addition and talking point for your Christmas table on Wednesday!

 

Dec11

Christmas Craft for Kids, Snowflake Garland

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Christmas Craft for Kids, Snowflake Garland

 

We started making snow flakes from patty cake pans – as you do, they were so pretty, I figured we should use them for something more than making a mess.

 

snowflakes

 

 

I am sure everyone has made snow flakes before, so I won’t worry about elaborating on instructions.  We used the tin foil patty cake pans, then laminated them so they wouldn’t break and could be strung up easier.  I strung them up with fishing line, but any kind of string would have been fine.  Pretty Cool results I think.

 

Dec11

Easy Kids Craft – Hanging Christmas Decoration

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These are really simple to make and kids of all ages can help.  Mr8 actually showed me how to make one, then we extended on the concept to create this hanging ornament.

3dstars

It is really just 2 card board stars slotted into each other at right angles to create a ‘3D star’ as he calls them.  But we made 4 different sized and hung them form some cotton.  We covered each star with some paper from a themed wrapping pack, so they were not all exactly the same, but similar enough to ‘match’.  The whole project took about 20 minutes for 3 of us and looks pretty cool!  Further instructions available if you open or scroll over each picture.

Draw the star shapes on some card. We used cookie cutters to make it easier.
If using plain card, glue on some wrapping paper
Cut out and glue paper to the other side
Covering second side then cut out again.
Cut one star to the middle from one side, then the other star from the opposite side to the middle again.
Slot together and you have 3D stars
Hand on some string
3D Star Ornament.
Dec5

Christmas Tree Decoration

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Christmas Tree Decoration

Maybe I should rename this blog ‘101 alternate uses for Christmas Baubles’, lol.  Here is something we put together this afternoon.  It took about 45 minutes and stands over a meter tall.  As usual, I struggled to take a photo of it, I really need to learn how to use my camera properly.

Christmas Tree

The sticks are those ornamental ones you buy from home decor shops, I think these ones actually came from The Reject Shop as around $4 a bundle. We cut them to size with secateurs and  glued with hot glue, I reinforced the corners with zip ties.  The stem is glued on – it is not weight bearing!  Then starting at the top we glued the bead string to one side, worked out the length needed to reach the other side, cut the string, threaded on some baubles, and glued the cut end to the other side.  Repeat, working your way down the tree.  To create the zig zag look, the strands are 12cm/5cm apart down each side.

Once upright, I shortened each string on the baubles by just tying another knot in them.  Glued on the star (came with the pack of baubles, $8 for the lot), and we are done.

What you’ll need
The tree frame
Mr8 helping glue
Glue the beads to what will be the back of the frame
Work your way down.
Christmas Tree Wall Art

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Bauble Tree.

Bauble Tree.

Dec5

Paper Plate Angel Garland – Christmas Craft

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Paper Plate Angel Garland – Christmas Craft

These are very easy to make and can be as fancy or as simple as you like.

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I usually avoid glitter when doing craft.  Sure it’s pretty, but after we use it, that stuff turns up all over the place for the next month.  ‘The herpies of the craft world’ a friend of mine called it, I think she was right.  But today I caved, because an angel needs her sparkle! Honestly, there was no template, just trial and error until I got the shape I was after.  You can see the steps in the photos below.  Double sided plates for the body would have made pretty dresses, but I couldn’t find any of those, so we stuck with white.  Of course you could get the kids to colour them or even use a different colour glitter on the body too. But I was all glittered out after the wings alone!

Cut your plate something like this, that’s right, no pattern, trial and error was all I went by
Secure with tape or staples.
Apply a generous amount of hot glue to the bauble
Place on top of the body. Tie a ribbon around the neck once glue has dried to cover any mess.
Run some glue (we just used a glue stick) along the edges and sprinkle with glitter
Once the wings are dry, attach to the body.
Hang from a string
Christmas Angels
Paper plate craft.

 

Nov28

Easy DIY Christmas Table Centrepiece

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Easy DIY Christmas Table Centrepiece

These were so quick and easy to make and I could not be happier with the results.

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I picked up this wool a while back with nothing particular in mind, I just loved the colours.  The styrofoam tree shapes are available just about anywhere at this time of year.  These came from a $2 shop.  However, there’s no reason you couldn’t just make a cone shape from cardboard and achieve similar results.

 

I tied a tight knot in one end to stop fraying, then pushed through the wool and down into the middle of the cone.  Then gently began wrapping the knit around the top of the cone, before fastening again a few rows down so that it doesn’t spin off.  Continue down the full length of the cone until you reach the bottom.  Cut with enough room left over to tie another knot, then secure with a 3rd pin.  Done!

 

What you need
Close up of the pre knitted wool
Pin fastening to the top, and again at the side
Fasten at the bottom
Wool Christmas Trees
Christmas Table Centrepiece.
Nov18

DIY Marble Effect Baubles, Family Christmas Craft

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DIY Marble Effect Baubles, Family Christmas Craft

Everyone was making all sorts of cool glass baubles last Christmas, but by the time I tried to source the actual baubles to do anything with, they were sold our or $6 each – errr, nah.  But I found some in Spotlight in August this year and grabbed them so I didn’t miss out again!

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I got the 2 different sizes available at spotlight, but for this project we just used the smaller ones.   The process really is so simple it barely requires explanation.  The beads are just plastic pony beads, you can find them in either the craft section or the ‘girls’ toy section of most variety stores.  The ones that turned out the best were about 2/3 transparent beads and 1/3 solid colours.  We did one with just transparent beads, but it ended up all kind of mixing together and turning brown, which was disappointing.  If you don’t have a well ventilated kitchen, it would be a good idea to do these outside on the bbq, but the beads surprisingly don’t let off much fumes compared to other melting plastics I have played with.   I had the oven set to just over 220c.  You will need to keep checking on them every 5 – 10 minutes and turning as desired to create the marble effect.  We used a silicone muffin and chocolate tray to position them after each turn and plastic tongs to handle them with.  I ended up adding some extra beads to a few half way through the process, and just used a tea towel to hold them while they were hot.

Glass baubles
Ms4 filling up her ‘rainbow’ bauble
Ready for the oven
Blue green and yellow combo
In the oven
The finished products
Green and Red – Christmas colours
Marbles baubles
Tie die baubles
Christmas tree decorations
DIY Christmas decorations
DIY baubles

As they cooled down out of the oven, they did make a popping sound, which I thought was the glass breaking – but it was just the plastic separating from the glass inside a few of them.  There you have it, marbled Christmas baubles.