Tag Archives: craft

Dec26

Rustic Clay Wind Chime

Posted on December 26, 2015 by thestick81

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 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 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.

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.

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

Beads in the sun – sun catcher wind chime

Wind chime

Clay and glass bead sun catcher

Dec8

Simple Christmas Card Ideas – Part 2

Posted on December 8, 2014 by thestick81

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Christmas craft that doubles up as a math lesson! Hehe.

This activity really doesn’t require much explanation. All you need is some paddle pop sticks, sharp scissors or secateurs, some craft glue and card stock. Work out how tall you want your tree. If you want to make a pattern, decide on that now too. We just went random. Measure out on the sticks 1cm, then 2cm on the next one, 3cm and so on. Cut the sticks where you have marked them. Set them out on the table then add a generous amount of glue to your card, stick them down and you’re done!

We added a little green tree trunk to ours too, but that is optional. You could also add some other little squares of stick as decorations if you wanted.

: What you need.

: Work out the height of your tree for the card.

: Measure out each stick

: Cut the sticks

: Add a generous amount of glue to your card.

: Glue the pieces down.

: Allow to dry.

: Paddle pop Christmas Tree.

Paddle pop Christmas Tree.

Nov28

Christmas Craft For Kids – Cup Cake Christmas Trees.

Posted on November 28, 2014 by thestick81

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Christmas Craft For Kids – Cup Cake Christmas Trees.

These are so easy to make and turned out super cute. Inspiration actually came form some fish scales I saw some students at school making.

All you need is some cup cake papers, cardboard (we used an old cereal box) glue stick (or paper glue) and scissors. We just used cup cake papers we had in the cupboard, the striped green is my favourite.

Draw and cut out a tree shape. For the first few, I drew lines as a guide for the rows so that Ms 5 didn’t just stick the papers all over the place. This created the layers or ‘tiers’. By the time she got to do her own at the end, she didn’t need lines anymore as she understood the process.

Just press down the flat part (the bottom) of the cup cake paper, not the corrugated part. Once the bottom line is covered, move up to the next row and repeat until you get to the top.

Ms5 decided to finish them off with a yellow paper sticking out the top like a star. Great idea!

What you need

Draw tree shape

Cut out tree

Cut papers in half then half again

Ready to stick

First row

second row

Almost done

Mr4 has a turn.

Ms5s white tree.

Rainbow tree

Now she has the hang of it.

Cupcake Tree

Toddler craft,

Christmas Craft

Easy Christmas decorations.

Cupcake Tree

May5

The Craft Cupboard Overhaul

Posted on May 5, 2014 by thestick81

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I’ll be honest, I rarely walk past a discount shop without picking up a little something for my craft stash. The only problem with this, is finding somewhere to keep it all. The side board I keep everything in was at breaking point, it had been for weeks actually. So it was time to dive in and sort everything out. It was a painful 3 hour job, but worth it!

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4 small bins worth of rubbish and a few hours later…

All tucked away neatly – what lies inside…

All the little things

Hoops, styrofoam shapes, foam frames

The evil glitter box. Have learnt the hard way to keep things in small bags.

Paint, sequins and all the little scrap booking type stuff.

Cutters, stensils and oven bake clay.

Card, tissue paper, crepe paper, left over easter things, paper lanterns.

Stamps, pompom makers and the hot glue gun.

That all fits nicely now, but it did mean my supplies have to start taking over another room.

Sewing kit, ribbon box, wool and twine box, tule, felt and glue stash.

Ohhh, looky, there is even some extra space! What ever will I fill it with? Mwahahaha!

Apr13

Easter Biscuits – Kids in the Kitchen.

Posted on April 13, 2014 by thestick81

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Much to my children’s disappointment, I am not much of a sweet tooth. So I struggle to be inspired to make sweet treats. But I figured we should do some ‘cooking’ for Easter, and this seemed simple enough for my likings. 🙂

They kids had lots of fun making mess with the icing and creating patterns on the Arrowroot biscuits. I just bought ready made icing – because yes, I am that lazy. 🙂 Mini M&Ms and snakes for the stripes.

Apr6

Kids Craft, Easter Egg Sun Catcher / Stained Glass

Posted on April 6, 2014 by thestick81

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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.

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

Mar19

Pom Pom Easter Wreath

Posted on March 19, 2014 by thestick81

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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.

Mar14

Make Your Own Easter Head Bands

Posted on March 14, 2014 by thestick81

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The girls at All Tizzied Up had a busy weekend doing Easter craft. Their first creations were these cute little hand made head bands.

Mum has taken step by step photos that do all the explaining themselves.

Felt, plain headband, ribbon, scissors and pipe cleaners.

Trace around your ear shape

Cut out

Do the same again with your ear centre.

Cover the head band with ribbon in your choice of colour.

Twist pipe cleaners

Once in position, glue the 2 sides of the ear together,

glueing ear.

Add the centre

And there you have some easy bunny ears

Some other Easter themed variations.

Easter Chicks

Preview

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Mar3

Make Your Own Bottle Top Stamps

Posted on March 3, 2014 by thestick81

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Here’s a super quick and easy activity to put together to keep your toddlers and preschoolers entertained. All you need is some bottle caps and foam stickers (available from most $2 shops and craft stores). If you don’t have a stamp pad, you can spread out a thin layer of paint on a plate or add a few drops of water to a water colour tray like we have.

Preview

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Mar2

Cardboard Roll Easter Chicks – Kids Easter Craft.

Posted on March 2, 2014 by thestick81

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Cardboard Roll Easter Chicks – Kids Easter Craft.

I’d like to say I came up with this all on my own, but that would be a lie. Ms5 and I made some owls inspired by this post from Kerrys Craft Blog. It was from this concept that I came up with these easter Chicks. I thought the fact you can hold eggs or treats in them was ideal for an easter craft project.

All you need is some coloured paper, cardboard rolls, tape and glue. You can make them just as cute without the feathers, goggly eyes and pipe cleaners, but if you have some of those handy, you could use them like we did too. The main difference between these and the owls is that the top and bottom folds are in opposite directions to each other, so the head comes to a peak in the middle rather than making two ears like the owls have. The rest of the instructions can be found by running your curser over or clicking on the photos below.

This is how you fold the ends in, but first, cover your roll with coloured paper.

If you are adding legs, secure them in before folding the bottom in, with tape or hot glue.

Attach the head feather to the inside of the top of the roll before folding it in.

Ms5 cutting out the paper circles using a 1″ punch.

Starting at the bottom, run some glue or double sided tape along and attach your first row of paper circles.

Work your way up in layers with the paper feathers then attach eyes and a beak. We made this beak from pipe cleaner, but paper looks good too.

Cut down some feathers to make little wings.

Attach the feather wings with hot glue or double sided tape

We also attached a tail to the back.

Cut a small sec on of pipe cleaner then twist it around let to make a foot shape.

Fill with eggs or just use as decorations.

Easter Chicks. Paper craft.

Feb28

Bugs and Bees and Butterflies! So Sweet!

Posted on February 28, 2014 by thestick81

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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!

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

Feb27

Soup Mix Scale Creatures, Sensory Craft

Posted on February 27, 2014 by thestick81

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I actually stole this idea from Mr3s current favourite show, Mister Maker. We used soup mix, but you could use lots of different things, dry lentils, rice, couscous, anything that is going to give you a unique texture and that is fun to run through your hands.

I just printed out some basic shapes from the internet. Keep them simple as you’re going to cover up any detail anyway. Smear the area with some craft glue and attach an goggly eye. Then let the kids sprinkle the mix over the rest of the glue area to completely cover it. Gently shake off any excess into the bin. These took about 24 hours to dry. Once fully dry, cut out. We created a simple background with some coloured paper and put them in $2 Ikea frames.

Feb2

Kids Valentine Craft – Stained Glass Hearts

Posted on February 2, 2014 by thestick81

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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!

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.

Feb2

Ribbon Roses, Valentine Craft

Posted on February 2, 2014 by thestick81

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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.

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,

Jan25

Valentine Craft, Love Heart Door Hanger Part 2

Posted on January 25, 2014 by thestick81

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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.

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.

Jan21

Valentine Craft, Love Heart Door Hanger.

Posted on January 21, 2014 by thestick81

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Valentine Craft, Love Heart Door Hanger.

We made 2 different variations of valentine door hangers, but both styles use the same materials. The hearts are made from salt dough, the same as those DIY Christmas ornaments you see all over Pinterest. There is plenty of recipes and methods available online. The bows are a basic bow that again you’d see on Pinterest. There is hundreds of bow tutorials all over the internet too, but I kind of made it up as I was going along.

We used the following recipe

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup fine table salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2/3 cup chilled water

Mix all ingredients as you would biscuits, using some extra flour as necessary along the way to stop it sticking. Roll out 7mm thick, cut into shapes then bake at 120C for 2.5 to 3 hrs. Once cooled, we painted them with craft acrylic paint.

The top bow feature for this one was made by cutting 4 equal lengths of ribbon, putting a small line of hot glue in the centre of one at a time, folding each end into the middle to create a single bow shape. Then doing the same with the next ribbon, pilling them up as I went. You can see this in the photos. Finished off with a button.

Then it was just a case of threading the hearts, adding some extra ribbons and glueing all together at the back.

Mr 8 in the kitchen making salt dough (he did this all by himself, it is very easy)

kneading the dough.

roll out to 7mm thickness and cut shapes.

Bake for 2 – 3 hours at 120C

Ms5 painting the hearts

Mr3 painting

Create a loop that will sit flat against the door.

Small line of glue in the middle,

fold in each end onto the glue strip.

Finish off with a button

Jan18

Sew-less Softie. Easy Craft Project.

Posted on January 18, 2014 by thestick81

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This was one of those moments I love, when something just pops into your head and you think ‘yes, yes, yes I know what we’ll do!’ and it WORKS! Originally it was supposed to be an octopus (8 legs) but Mr3 is calling it a spider and I think it looks a bit like a jellyfish, so what ever floats ya boat I suppose!

Mr8 chose green fabric, but I really wish we had used something a bit more fun. The purple and white string livens it up a bit though. Just run over or click on each photo for the steps.

All you need; Large piece of fabric, stuffing, scissors, marker, rubber bands, cotton or wool, eyes (or you could draw them)

Trace out a large outside circle and a smaller inside circle. We used a hula hoop and large saucepan lid.

Cut out the large circle only

Using a ruller or similar, make 8 sets of 3 lines around the middle circle as shown.

If they cross over a little, just split the distance as seen in picture.

Cut out the triangles in between

then cut the strops, leaving you with 24 strips around the centre circle.

Place stuffing on the lined side and gather the fabric around

Work out where you want your eyes to go and mark,

Release the stuffing and insert eyes (you need to access the back of the fabric to fasten these type of eyes.

Stuff again and temporarily secure with a rubber band. Add any extra stuffing to achieve desired shape and feel.

Once you’re happy with the body, go over the rubber band with something more permanent.

Plait the legs, I secured with more rubber bands, but you could use matching string.

Then it is just a case of decorating to make it the creature you want. I threaded some large loops through the head.

Then cut them in half and tied to each other to secure.

I also hand stitched a mouth in, but if you are not handy with a needle and thread, you could just use a permanent market or glue a button etc on instead.

Octopus softie.

Jan17

Turn Recycled Cans into Cute Garden Ornament

Posted on January 17, 2014 by thestick81

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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!

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!

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

Posted on January 14, 2014 by thestick81

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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.

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

Jan13

Tin Can Garden Men! School Holiday Project

Posted on January 13, 2014 by thestick81

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Tin Can Garden Men! School Holiday Project

I must say I am quite jealous of all the projects the girls at All Tizzie Up are doing this holidays. I have been so swamped with work and other obligations I just haven’t had the time or energy to get any of the things I wanted to done. But that will change! In the meantime, I am very happy they are helping keep my blog active! Here is some cute little tin can men they made using recycled cans, wire, paint, beads and some bells.