Tag Archives: school

Mar2

Looming Up A Storm – Our Rainbow Loom Gallery

Posted on March 2, 2014 by thestick81

If you have kids over the age of about 4 and you have not yet discovered Rainbow Loom, I highly recommend getting yourself… I mean THEM some. Even the boys in my house get into it. I won’t bother doing any tutorials because there is thousands out there already, check out youtube for videos on just about anything you can think of. We just make bracelets mainly, but you can make charms, pencil grips, animals, flowers, heaps of different things.

It will keep the kids entertained for hours. You can pick up small bags of bands from cheap shops, or bags of 600 bands from spotlight or ebay for around $5. Each bracelet requires 80 to 100 bands, so while 600 might sound like a lot, you’ll go through them quickly once you get addicted!

Here is a few of our creations.

Mar1

School Hair Clips and Hot Glue Burns.

Posted on March 1, 2014 by thestick81

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So Ms5 started big school this year and she has been wearing lovely hair bows every day thanks to the wonderful All Tizzied Up. But I figure at the rate we lose hair bands in general, she will soon be requiring more. So I thought I’d give making some a go.

I ordered a stack of plain clips from ebay, I think it was $5 for 100 or something equally ridiculously cheap. The ribbon was the only kind in the school colours that I could get my hands on at the local $2 shop. The various widths limited my design options, but I am pretty happy with the results for a first attempt.

I have been warned by the pro not to get addicted! I can see how easy that might be though! Beside the row of buttons one, they are all basically just loops or figure 8s of ribbon, glued on top of each other. The buttons nicely cover up the mess in the middle too! Might have to watch some tutorials on other kinds of bows when I get my hands on some more ribbon.

By the way, just in case anyone was not aware, hot glue burns like fire. Yep, true story, just ask my finger.

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.

Watch the slide show or click on the images for step by step instructions to make your own recycled can garden critters.

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Mar13

Home Made Chalk with an Easter Twist.

Posted on March 13, 2013 by thestick81

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I have been going to try out this home made chalk method for a while. When I picked up some new silicone moulds from Aldi last week, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to try them both out!

Ingredients and utensils.

Ideally disposable plastic cups would be the best thing to mix the plaster in, but I didn’t have any, so we just used some plastic cups we are not very attached to (IE, not Tupperware, lol). You can buy plaster of paris from any large hardware or craft shop for around $10 for a 3kg (which is heeeaaaaps, 1kg is more than enough for this project). Silicone or rubber ice cube trays, food colouring and something to stir with. Again, paddle pop sticks would have been better, but these skewers will do the trick.

: Mix the water and the colour, then add the plaster powder

: Stir thoroughly, don’t let the mix get too thick so you can still pour it into moulds.

: Ms 4 mixing in the plaster

Mix the food colouring in the water first, then add the plaster. Stir rapidly until its fully mixed, then poor into the moulds. The plaster will set in roughly half an hour, some water may rise to the top, you can just dab this away with some paper towel or tip the moulds after this time for it to run away. Then allow to fully cure in the moulds over night. We also experimented with some glitter in the chalk, for something a bit different. It actually worked quite well, although its really hard to capture the results with the camera.

Pour into the moulds

Moulds ready to set.

One of the glitter chalks.

Then simply turn out of the moulds and get drawing!

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Dec9

Teacher Christmas Gift ideas – part 2.

Posted on December 9, 2012 by thestick81

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This year, with changing schools and doing my Ed support certificate, I spent a fair bit of time hassling the ladies in the school office. They are all very lovely and didn’t mind, but I really wanted to say thank-you. Also, there is the little 2’s day care providers. They only go one day a week, but they are great staff, so I figure they deserve some token of our appreciation. I originally thought of making some sweets and wrapping them up to share around the office/centre, but after Mr7’s teacher claiming the doesn’t eat chocolate, I am damaged. So I decided to find something small, that you don’t feel obliged to keep, but you can use and most people like – a votive seemed just perfect. I shopped around all the cheap shops hoping to find something that was affordable without looking cheap and nasty, then went to Dusk and found 6 packs of Christmas themed votives for $16.95. Which was about what I had budgeted for.

I grabbed a packet of Ferrero chocolates to top them off. Then just stocked up with some Christmas ribbons and gift tags. Not really sure what was going to work. After some trial and error, this was the finished product.

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: The votives

: Adding the chocolate

: Wrapping in cellophane

: With beads, decided they were a bit too much though.

: Finished product

: Finished prodcut

: What we used (plus clear cellophane)

Nov30

Easy Christmas Craft – Mini Christmas Trees

Posted on November 30, 2012 by thestick81

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Easy Christmas Craft – Mini Christmas Trees

Inspiration for this idea came from something I saw at Spotlight. They used buttons though, which looked good, but buying enough buttons for the project would have blown the budget. I can’t believe how expensive those things are?

Anyway, What you need.

styrofoam tree shapes, sewing pins, aluminium foil, sequins and sticky tape.

Spotlight also didn’t have any of the cone shape styrofoam in stock, so I bought that from Riot Art and Craft. They are available in different sizes, I just chose 3 small ones to avoid arguments.

Wrap the foil around the cone and secure with clear tape. I crumpled up a ball of foil before spreading it out on one, to create a more rippled affect. I actually prefer how that one turned out.

Once you have the foil secured and are happy with the finish, start placing the pins! Be careful when working at the top of the cone to point them down towards the bottom as you insert, so you don’t go straight through and poke yourself on the other side. The kids managed this fine, even Miss 3. We only had one ouchy, and that was actually me!

Thread sequins onto pin and insert.

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Oct2

Halloween craft for the kiddies

Posted on October 2, 2012 by thestick81

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Another Pinterest inspired craft activity. Ours may not have turned out as well as theirs, but it was fun no less. Well, if you ignore the tonne of glitter that is brightening up the garden, house and every other surface within a 1 kilometre radius. I recommend you do this one outside!

Styrofoam balls, pipe cleaners, boogly googly eyes, pva or craft glue, black felt or card board, dress making pins to secure the wings.

Coat the balls with a thin even layer of glue using a paintbrush. Sprinkle a generous amount of glitter onto a disposable plate, roll ball until completely covered. Use a little more glue to secure eyes in desired position.

Samples of bats.

: Styrofoam balls, pipe cleaners, boogly googly eyes, pva or craft glue, black felt or card board, dress making pins to secure the wings.

: Every night sky needs a moon. We just made this with some recycled card board, glue and glitter.

: Coat the balls with a thin even layer of glue using a paintbrush. Sprinkle a generous amount of glitter onto a disposable plate, roll ball until completely covered. Use a little more glue to secure eyes in desired position.

: We just found this branch in the park near by. I would have liked to paint it black, but had no black paint on hand.

: Samples of bats.

: Gold bat

: Because 3 year old girls are not interested in making bats apparently.

Oct2

Sun Catchers – School holiday entertainment.

Posted on October 2, 2012 by thestick81

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Sun Catchers – School holiday entertainment.

I have a stupid amount of beads that I have collected over the last 20 years and the kids love playing with them. I picked up these ‘diamonds’ on ebay for just over $4 each including postage.

Sun catcher, miscellaneous beads and crystals, string or fishing line, scissors.

The kids couldn’t help themselves and had to smear their slimey little hands all over them as soon as we opened the mail. They are available in 9 different colours. I ordered these just for me and Layla, but now I have had to order another green and clear one for the boys.