DIY Dominoes Project

Image: Patent Pending Projects

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Of course we all know that Ferris Bueller quote but lets just take a look at the first part of the sentence.
Life moves pretty fast.

When I started this blog in 2011, I wrote 70 posts. In 2012, I wrote 54. Last year there was a meager 13 and so far, in 2014, if I manage to finish this one...it'll be a grand total of 3 and March is almost over.
Yes, life is moving pretty fast, with not much time for personal projects anymore like this blog - and even more so now, with a 3 and a half year old and a 10 week old puppy, who can be both found running around my ankles on a daily basis.

There's also that game we all have to play each day called 'Earning Money and Paying Bills'. A game we must unpack every morning, check that all the pieces are there, explain the rules to existing and new players before rolling the dice and either winning everything or losing it all. At the end of each day, we must pack every little card and token back into the box and put it away for the next morning when we get to play it all over again. Yipee!

Instagram Photo Cube Project

Image: Well It's Okay

I've mentioned before that my mother seems to be the only person I know who still prints out photos. What I find even more amazing is, she prints them all from her phone. I haven't printed a photo from my own camera in about 2 years, let alone one from my phone.

All I seem to do now is back them up on to a hard drive whilst foolishly muttering something to myself about 'needing to sort them out.' As Travis Bickle would say, "One of these days I'm gonna get organizized"

DIY Jet Pack Project

Image: Doodle Craft

The three greatest words any child needs to hear should be - 'I love you', but I'm pretty sure most of them (well mostly boys, probably) would easily swap them for  - 'homemade jet pack.'

If you have a young kid in your family, plus a few recycled soda bottles, then this incredibly creative idea from Doodle Craft will propel your once measly status of older brother, sister, mother, father, aunt, uncle, or grandparent into & beyond the stratospheric position of  'coolest older brother, sister, mother, father, aunt, uncle or grandparent ever'.

DIY Bowling Pins Project

My brain has turned to mush.

How do I know this? Two simple reasons.
1. It's one year to the day that I took a years leave to become main carer to my one year old son.
2. My son turns two tomorrow.

That sounds like I'm blaming him and in truth, I really am. It's okay though, he's totally unaware of it.
He's only two.

Button Monogram Project

Last Sunday I was at the Peas + Pods family market where there was some amazing stalls, wonderful people and great products on offer.

From handmade crafts to kids furniture, along with tons of children's clothes and jewelry. There was artwork and quilts and handmade cushions. But if you missed out there's no need to panic. There is another one before Christmas on December 4th. Same place: Newmarket Square. Same time: 11am - 5pm.

One of the stalls, Camilleon Kids, which is run by Agata and Stephanie, had some really lovely pieces. They had some great vintage school desks that they had restored and painted but it was one piece in particular that caught my eye which was a heart made out of buttons and mounted on a small canvas. It was really lovely and it reminded me of a tutorial by Jen Jockish I had once seen on American Crafts Studio

So I have to thank Agata and Stephanie for reminding me of this.
(By the way, you should check out their Facebook page as they have photos of their items for sale.  I think they are back at the Peas + Pods market also in December so if you see anything you like you should be able to pick it up there.)

Image: American Crafts Studio

Here's what you'll need:

(Actually, just before I tell you what you'll need there is one element to this project that is glaringly obvious. Loads of buttons. I know. The average person* doesn't have the odd one or two or possibly hundred spare buttons sitting around but you can pick up mix bags of buttons at any fabric shop like Hickeys for a few quid)

And so, on with the materials.

1. Printer

2. Scissors

3. Card stock
4. Pen or Pencil

5. Adhesive

6. Buttons and Brads

7. Frame without glass

Here are the instructions: 

To create your monogram, begin by cutting card stock large enough to fit in your frame. 

Next, you will need to print out a letter. Play around with it and print a few to find the size and font you want. (Jen ended up using Helvetica font at 700 font size. Keep in mind that you want thick lines in order to fill them up with buttons and brads.)

Then cut out your letter and place in the center of your card stock, tracing the lines onto the paper.

Image: American Crafts Studio

Start placing your large buttons and/or brads onto the card stock, keeping them as lined up with the edges as possible.  

Once you've filled up a large portion of your monogram, it's time to start doing the filler. For this, just use smaller buttons and different size brads. 

Begin with the smaller buttons, then it's time to start with your brads. You can use all different sizes of these, you just need a small spot to poke it through, and then it can overlap with the buttons which adds a lot more dimension.  

Image: American Crafts Studio

Once you've covered your letter with buttons, place it in a frame. 

Jen used an IKEA frame and just removed the glass since this isn't flat.  

Jen then adhered the piece to the frame on the back just to help keep it stable, the paper is fairly heavy once finished. 

Image: American Crafts Studio

Average person*: OK, so YOU are not an average person. You actually have bags and bags of leftover buttons from previous projects and this is a fine way to use up all of them or you really want to create this piece exactly as shown and would love to know EXACTLY what buttons were used.

Well?

Well, Jen has been very kind to provide that information which you can find below.

Variety Buttons (85509), Fabric Brads (85520), Assorted Brads (85521), Mini Pearl Brads (85516), Mini Pearl Brads (85508), Large Jewel Brads Primaries (85300), Large Jewel Brads Pastels (85301), Large Jewel Brads Metallic (85304), Large Pearl Brads Primaries (85315), Large Pearl Brads Pastels (85316), Large Perl Brads Brights (85318), Medium Jewel Brads Primaries (85218), Medium Jewel Brads Pastels (85286), Medium Jewel Brads Neutrals (85291), Mini Jewel Brads Primaries (85270), Mini Jewel Brads Pastels (85271), Mini Jewel Brads Tropicals (85272), Large Glitter Brads Tropicals (85362), Large Jewel Brads Brights (85363), Medium Glitter Brads Primaries (85345), Medium Glitter Brads Brights (85348), Medium Glitter Brads Tropicals (85347), Mini Glitter Brads Tropicals (85332), Mini Glitter Brads Pastels (85331), Mini Glitter Brads Brights (85333), Medium Brads Brights (85393), Medium Brads Tropicals (85392), Medium Brads Baby Girl (85397), Mini Brads Brights (85378), Mini Brads Tropicals (85337), Mini Brads Primaries (85375)

Cardboard Star Project

Continuing my obsession with reusing packaging I found this little idea over on grey luster girl.

Image: grey luster girl

All you need is an empty cereal box, some glue and paint colour of your choice.

I think this is a great, cheap alternative to the giant metal star (which is £120 ) that I saw over on Rockett St George, a website selling unique homeware and accessories for your home. 

Image: Rockett St George

So, here's how to make it.
On the cereal box, draw and cut out two stars.  Score both stars from their tips to the indented parts (5 times each star). Push the stars out on the score lines by the tips and push in by the indented parts. There is a tutorial on how to do that here.

Image: grey luster girl

Next, glue the stars together.

Image: grey luster girl

Image: grey luster girl

Once the glue is dry, paint them your color of choice. Distress with ink or the edge of a pencil lead to get that weathered look.

Image: grey luster girl

Not bad for an empty old cereal box.

Painted Jigsaw Project

Image: Alisa Burke

Here is a fantastic way to reuse an old Early Learning jigsaw and turn it into a fun craft project for your kids.

Start with a plain jigsaw that has run its course.

Image: Alisa Burke

Apply a base coat of white to cover the image before applying the new colour for your personalised jigsaw.
Most of these jigsaws are made on cheap cardboard so keep your paint brush as dry as possible when painting. Don't have too much water in the brush as this will cause the cardboard to warp.

Image: Alisa Burke

Once the paint is dry, take the puzzle apart to check that none of it has stuck together. Try and remember where each part goes when taking it apart as you now just have one solid colour jigsaw.

Image: Alisa Burke

Decide what you are going to draw on the jigsaw and use a permanent black marker to apply it.

Image: Alisa Burke

You can then start colouring in and painting your design any way you like.

Image: Alisa Burke

Image: Alisa Burke

Image: Alisa Burke

Once you've completed your jigsaw, you need to seal it.
You can pick up a jar of Mod Podge in most craft shops or you can use a Gel Matt Medium found in most art supply stores.

Image: Alisa Burke

And there you have it. A one of a kind kids puzzle.

Image: Alisa Burke

Image: Alisa Burke

And the great thing about this jigsaw is that when you get bored of that image you can just start the process all over again and create a new one.

Subway Art Family Rules - Shop

Rules every family should live by.

A fun way to remind the family of important house rules.

Be Honest.
Laugh, Giggle, Be Silly.
Listen.
Say I Love You.
Speak Kindly of Others.
Dream Big.
Work Hard.
Hug.

and all to be done as often as possible.

Hand painted on pine board, sanded to create a vintage feel, each piece is coated in a satin varnish and then a final coat of wax is applied to protect the wood.

Recommended for indoor use.

Available in 4 different colours.


1. Dark Green
2. Light Green
3. Tangerine Orange
4. White Linen (with Dark green text.)

 



There are sawtooth hooks attached for easy hanging but would also look great propped up on a shelf or mantle piece.

Size : 58 cm x 48 cm







The cost of each sign is 45 euro

Details on how to purchase over at my shop.

Nursery Wall Art - Shop

I've added a few new items to my online shop. Click here to find more details.


NURSERY WALL ART

 





Nursery wall art as an eye catching accessory to any children's bedroom or playroom.

Each piece measures 45 cm x 38 cm

 





Each piece is hand painted. Sign can be custom made to include your own sayings or quotes.

Each canvas and frame is created from reclaimed wood and receives a light sanding to acheive a truely unique vintage look.

 





3 different pieces to choose from

1. You Are Feeling Sleepy
2. Twinkle Twinkle
3. You Are My Sunshine


Click here  to jump over to the shop for more details about prices.

Shop Now Open

Jump on over to my shop to check out hand carved pieces by me.

Gift Wrap Paper Project

Sharing is caring.

At this moment in time across the Internet there is an awful lot of talk about file sharing.

If you'd like to know more about what that is then you can read about it here and one of the many possible outcomes here but in reality this article in Slate describes the future path of file sharing.

For those who don't really want to know what it is, it's mostly about downloading music and TV shows for free.

This is not a new concept.
For those of us who remember our first tape recorder coming into the house, you will remember sitting by the radio waiting for your favourite songs to come on. Index fingers poised, hovering over the record (and sometimes play button as well). The truly expert ones in this colossal piracy campaign had the foresight to already have record pressed down (and here's the trick) along with the pause button which could be lifted up in a micro second, thus getting as much of the song as possible.

Of course you never could get it perfect all of the time and therefore some of the tracks you recorded had snippets of ads or the dj's chatter. Ultimately these snippets would become a part of the very song as you remember it.  "...she used to make dartboards for a living recalled Bello the drummer in The Go Go's. She had some pretty weird jobs but that one's gotta be the weirdest". At number 4 this week, Belinda Carlisle with Heaven on Earth"

So in the spirit of 'sharing is caring' I've something to share with you.

Over on Poppytalk a Canadian based design blog founded by husband and wife team, Jan and Earl, they have decided to share some printable gift wrap paper and tags with all the people who stop by their site everyday and as I reach over 700 readers this month I share them with you.

Image: Poppytalk

Image: Poppytalk

Image: Poppytalk

image: Poppytalk

Below are the a links to the full resolution pdf files that you can download and print.
As always, these are for personal and not for commercial use.

Vintage postcard gift paper
Rodeo gift paper
Stripes gift paper
Stripes gift tags

And maybe you don't want to download these files. Maybe these files will inspired you to create your own gift paper design. All you need to do is fine some images that you like and scan them into a computer. The possibilities are limitless.

All that's left is to find a nice pressie to wrap up and give to a friend.

So happy sharing!

Calender of the Month Project

                                                                From Flat to Flight

When we were children we were constantly questioned with, "If everyone was to jump off a bridge, would you?"

But now as an adult, to be slightly different, seems to be in breach of social norms and now we are met with, "Hey, everyone is jumping off the bridge, why aren't you?"

This is kind of how I feel about Twitter.

Steve Martin recently Tweeted "Twitter over capacity! Couldn’t Tweet for 30 minutes. Forced to tell doorman that I had Cream of Wheat for breakfast. Not the same."

A clear and reasonable point, don't you think?

Of course I'm not totally hostile towards Twitter. I have been known to read a few funny tweets from time to time and I thank the hardworkingwhoevertheyare people who edit down all those numerous ramblings and present them to us in some sort of Top 10 list that's palatable and quick to read. Perfect for that 4 o'clock slump.

One such tweet came from Tom Hanks.
In an obvious jab at all these movies being shot and/or released in 3D, Hanks has said this about his new Film,
"Thinking to shoot Larry Crowne not in 3D, but 6D. May go all the way to 7- or 8D. Stand by."

Which neatly edges me towards my next point. This whole 3D revival.
I'm going to say it here now and I want to be very clear.
I don't like 3D movies. I will not buy a 3D TV and I'll never wear 3D glasses.

The closest I want to come to 3D are these incredible printable 3D calenders and I can't believe I've only found them now when we are almost half way through the year.

Released free every month by The Curiosity Group, all you need is a pair of scissors, some craft glue and nimble fingers!

Last month was a paper toy record player.

If you would still like it you can download the pdf here.

And what about March's 3D umbrella Calender.

Here's May's 3D Tiki Calender

To complete the set click here for January's Yeti

and here for February's Groundhog Calender.

And if you'd love to have that Elephant in the video at the top of this post The Curiosity Group have been kind enough to supply a pdf for that as well here.

Enjoy!