Merry Christmas

Just made up some baking parcels to give away. Ages ago we bought six cane baskets on the assumption I would eventually find a purpose for them, now they are filled with baking goodies ready for a new home. Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sparkle Snowflakes

Inspired by a science book about snowflakes I decided to make some snowflake decorations. Yes I know it never snows at Christmas time in New Zealand but they are so pretty. These snowflakes were cut from cardboard then decorated with paint, glitter and glittery hot glue.

Menorah

It's finished and took me less than two days. Firstly I made the shell from four plastic cups and a long thin box ( it previously held gourmet chocolates). I placed cardboard on the bottom of three cups and in between the two layers. Everything was glued together with a industrial strength contact adhesive (used some Bostik stuff, it worked well).

Next came the paper mache. I was abit lazy and only did one layer, if you want a smoother surface I suggest doing more than one layer then applying a layer of white paper. For the candlestick holders I used bottle caps, I glued upside down drawing pins to the inside of the caps then added blue tack. Then I cut strips of cardboard and folded them around each bottle cap and sellotaped the sides together. The cardboard and bottle caps were then hot glued to the base.

Then I covered everything in white paint. When that was dry I painted it gold. Then I put in the candles, to make them stand up as straight as possible and filled the sides around the candles with tissue paper.

Hanukkah

Thinking of making a Menorah so we can celebrate Hanukkah, the husband wants donuts. Not much time, need it finished to start sunset Tuesday.

The Tree

Christmas time already?

Yip it's true! Took some time out from studying for exams and made up my Christmas wreath. The tree will have to wait a little bit longer. However, I can say it will be decorated in White and Gold, I'm thinking butterflies and doves.

Lip Balm

Anyone wanna make some lip balm? I had a recipe but can't remember exactly what it said, but the following should work.

You will need:

• Equal quantities of Honey, Vaseline and Kremelta (shortening)- about 1/4 of teaspoon of each for one lip balm.
• add in a few chocolate chips if you want chocolate flavour -you don't need much I guess 5 would do for one lip balm. Remember chips not buttons, buttons would be too big.
• Essence of what ever flavours you want

Put Honey, Vaseline, Kremelta and choc chips in a microwave safe bowl and put in microwave for about 20 seconds or until choc melts. Take out and add essence, then mix. Spoon into tin and put into the freezer for 20 minutes.

We put the lip balm into cute little tins that I'm guessing came from the $2 shop. I made a chocolate and raspberry one and it smells very yummy, only problem is I keep wanting to eat it.

Paper punches and hands

I learnt something today! I was looking at a book on paper craft and I read a section on how to maintain paper punches. If you haven't already guessed, paper punches are the things in the picture above. Anyway, the book said to sharpen the them you need to punch some holes in tin foil, then if it is sticking punch some holes in wax paper to lubricate it, wow so simple but so helpful.

OK so what does the word hands refer to?

Well I was travelling on the bus today listening to my MP3 player and the Jewel song 'Hands' came on. While I was listening to the song I was watching the some children in the seats in front of me, A little boy was waving and making different shapes with his hands and the little girl opposite him was copying him (she was really little, I'm guessing about a year old). It was really poetic, beautiful, spiritual.

Elton John/ Dame Edna/ Crazy Glasses

Here are some crazy glasses, what more do I need to say.










What you need:

• Cardboard
• Bendy Straws
• Coloured cellophane
• Coloured Paper
• Crepe or Tissue paper (crepe paper rolls are good)
• Sellotape
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Pencil
• Glitter etc

This is what you do: draw a shape for the front of the glasses and cut out of cardboard. Tape cellophane to the back of the glasses so you can see through it, then decorate the front of the glasses with whatever you want (coloured paper, glitter, whatever). Pick up a bendy straw, bend the bendy bit and put that bit behind your ear, then hold the decorated glasses up to your face to work out how long the straw needs to be so that the glasses will sit right on your face. Cut both straws the same and cover with crepe of tissue paper, I use crepe paper rolls because it's easy. Next you need to tape the ends of the straws to the back of the glasses, this can be tricky so don't worry if you need to use alot of tape to get it to hold. When finished put your glasses on and look cool like me, he he

Scrapbooking

I'm going to do some scrapbooking. This will be my second attempt, the first was our wedding album and although I didn't really know what I was doing I think it looks good. Yay scrapbooking, looking forward to spending hours cutting little pieces of paper and playing with stickers.

Buttons

I love buttons! Recently I used up two packets of assorted buttons at work, the kids used them in necklaces, bracelets, badges and earrings. Buttons are so interesting. I want more buttons, more, more, more I say.

Snowflakes and Fimo Critters

My hubby is away on business so I have resorted to one of my all time favourite pastimes to keep me busy. I love making snowflakes but my family aren't always so enthused about it. I think my mother banned me from scissors at one point because I covered the floor with tiny little bits of paper, and hubby wasn't very happy when I made snowflakes in the bed and used up his expensive post-it notes. Oh well it makes me happy and I think they are pretty.

Yesterday at work I got to play with Fimo. Fimo, also known as Du-kit is great modelling clay that bakes in the oven for just 10-15 minutes. Here's my little critters.

Personality type

You Are An INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world.Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships.It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close.But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. In love, you tend to have high (and often unrealistic) standards.You are very sensitive. You tend to have intense feelings. At work, you need to do something that expresses your personal values.You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist. How you see yourself: Unselfish, empathetic, and spiritual When other people don't get you, they see you as: Unrealistic, naive, and weak

What's" Your Personality Type?

I'm going to do some painting!

Got some new paints, canvas, palette knife and brushes last night. Now I'm all ready to do some painting. Made a painting for my hubbys birthday alittle while ago and got really excited about painting again.

Peg Dolls

Made some little dolls from wooden pegs. This is a little tricky so you need some patience. You can make arms by scrunching up skin coloured paper then wrapping it in what you want to use for sleeves. I'm not going to do a big list of what you need because you can use what ever you want. Some things I would suggest however are using double sided tape, hot glue or glue dots (glue dots come in a roll, these things are great for sticking on hair). Have fun.

Paper is Beautiful

This music video really inspired me, it makes me want to make thousands of snowflakes. Paper is beautiful, go make some Art with paper.

kaleidoscope Spinners

Had a brainwave on the way to work and came up with the idea of kaleidoscope spinners. I'm sure someone has had the idea before but for now I'm saying it's mine. They are bright, colourful and they spin.

What you need:

• Straws


• Coloured paper (circles are good and wrapping paper works well)


• Spilt pins


• Sellotape

OK this is what you do: first you need a circle shape (this is where pre-cut coloured circles come in handy), now cut some more shapes of different colours and sizes but smaller than the first circle. Now you need to put a small whole in the middle of each shape including the first one. Then get your split pin and put it through all your shapes, you want the smallest shape on top and the first circle on the bottom. Don't open the split pin out, just put a little bit of tape around the ends of the pin, this to stop the paper falling off. Now just slip the ends of the pin into the end of a straw, hold the straw and spin spin spin. Another trick is if you have a bendy straw put a bit of tape around the bendy bit so it doesn't bend. You can make a number of spinners so if you get bored with one you can just pop on another. Warning excessive spinning may result in paper cuts.

At Last

I thought my blog was broken because I couldn't open it :-( However, finally with the help of my IT magician husband I'm back online. Hooray! Now I just need him to get the stuff to finish putting the dolls house together.

Lollie Cake

Yesterday I made Lollie Cake for the first time! It's a really simple recipe.

• 120g Butter
• 250g Malt biscuit crumbs
• 190g Bag of Eskimo lollies (cut into pieces)
• 1 tin condensed milk
• Coconut for coating (the person I made this for can't eat coconut so I used chocolate hail instead.)

Warm the butter and condensed milk in the microwave. Add the biscuit crumbs and Eskimos, stir mixture well. Then form the mixture into a roll and cover with coconut. Put in fridge for 4 hours. Cut into slices. Enjoy.

Split-Pin Flowers

Did one of favourite craft activities yesterday, split pin paper flowers. You can turn them into brooches or like I did yesterday hair accessories.

What you need:

• Split pins
• different coloured/patterned paper (paper circles are good)
• scissors
• badges or ribbons
• hot glue gun

First you need to cut a petal template. Paper circles make this part easier, just fold the circle in half three times then cut down the sides to make a petal shape (just like making a snowflake), then open it out and you should have a flower shape. Next you use this template to make flower shapes from different pieces of paper, using more than one template can create a good effect. When you have all the petals you want, make a small cut in the middle of each shape. Then slide the split pin through each shape then open the spilt pin at the back to hold the petals together. When you are finished you can curl the top petals inwards if you which. To turn it into a badge or hair ribbons just glue them on the back with hot glue.

Easter Already?

Went to the Kirkcaldie and Stains Easter shop today, yes it's open already. I guess this means I should start thinking about easter crafts. Mmmmmmm chocolate.

Valentines Boxes

Here is a cute idea for valentines gifts to make with kids or by yourself. Yesterday at work I decorated little pre-cut boxes with some of the children. After we had decorated the boxes we wrote little love notes, rolled then up and tied them with ribbon and a bell, then put them inside the boxes. Today I'm going to use little round boxes with lids. I'm going to take along some potpourri so they can make the boxes smell good. Will be working with the older children some hopefully they will have some great ideas.

Playing dress up

Yesterday was the Wearable Arts day at work and it went really well. For some reason everyone loves playing dress up, including me. The older girls were great making themselves complete outfits all by themselves, I was very impressed. Anyway we made some really cool masks, I love mine. Got a pack of 12 party masks from a $2 shop, they are great because they have elastic and are a good size for kids. Here are some of the materials you can use to decorate a mask of your own:

• Coloured paper (looks great if you curl it)
• wrapping paper
• tissue paper
• ribbon
• sequins
• glitter
• feathers
• cellophane

Go on, have some fun and play dress up!

Wearable Arts Day

I'm planning a wearable arts day for the holiday programme at my work. Going to get the kids to make hats, masks, jewellery and badges. At the end of each activity we will have a mini fashion show and there will be a prize giving at the end of the day. Hopefully all goes well and everyone has fun.

Hama Beads

Just thought I would post about something I really like using. Hama Beads are little beads you place on a board then iron. the beads melt slightly causing them to stick together, the board doesn't melt so the beads come off easily. These things are great as both boys and girls love them. I even gave my mum some for Christmas. You can find them in education toy shops. I suggest you get some and have a play, you can make hanging decorations, badges, fridge magnets and many other things.

Ideas, ideas, ideas

Other than my dolls house I'm not currently working on any projects so I thought I would post about some of the things I want to do in the future. Firstly the husband wants me to make him a advent calender for next Christmas, I want to make a Tapa cloth to cover our coffee table (when we get one), a pink and white top of tree decoration (for next Christmas) and a polystyrene and paper mache sculpture starfish for the bathroom. There was probably some other things but i can't remember now. Also I'm planning a wearable arts day for during the holiday programme at work. If anyone has something they want to make but don't know how to do it, let me know and maybe I can help.