Recycled VHS Tape Project

I had considered writing an short paragraph explaining the reasons why I haven't kept this site updated. In truth - life just keeps getting in the way...which is kind of why I'm writing this now.

We become so caught up with our day to day dealings that we miss out on simple solutions to growing problems. In the words of Tyler Durden "Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need"...

...and as always, we are throwing away stuff we could 100% reuse.

Case in point. 
Myself and my wife popped a message on Facebook recently, asking if anyone wanted some kids shows that we had on VHS. Yes..we still have a VHS player (amongst a growing variety of other formats and machines that are slowly invading our house....see above T.Durden quote!) but our son has outgrown all of these shows, and they could easily go off to a new home but sadly, not a single person had any interest. "Why not give them to a charity shop?" some said...well guess what? We tried and even they didn't want them.

So, what do we do? Bring them to the recycling centre? 
They are just bits of plastic after all. Aren't they? It's not like we should imagine a kind of bond with them solely based on the fact that our son learnt about the 4 Seasons from Barney or about Friendship and Honesty from Thomas the Tank Engine or how to count with 'The Count' from Sesame Street. They are just tapes aren't they?

(Damn you Toy Story...you have a lot to answer for when it comes to anthropomorphizing inanimate objects!)

So what alternatives are there? Surprisingly...loads.

How about.....

                                                     An Umbrella Stand

                                                        A Pencil Case

                                                   Gift Decorations

                                                           Shelves

                                                        Photo Frames

                                 For the DIY enthusiast there's a Foosball Table

                               but most of us just want somewhere to hang our keys.

Look...the list is endless. Don't believe me? Have a look here

I'm not saying that you should keep everything and have a cluttered house. We all need to do a Spring Clean and check what we have and what we need but just because it's not useful to us - doesn't mean it's not useful to someone else.

In that spirit, I'll do my best to keep this site going. I might have outgrown it myself - but that's no reason to throw it away!

Pebble Cactus Project

Image: Craftberry Bush

If you like to have plants around the house and have the world's worst green fingers, so much so that there's a good chance you could even kill a cactus, then this project is perfect for you.

Also, if there are kids in the house, this is a great idea too as it could be a nice little craft project for them as we enter a colder season and finding 'stuff to do', while it pours rain outside, is all part of a parents daily quest.

Wednesday Website # 001 - Colouring Pages

Image: Patent Pending Projects

I have been really bad about updating this blog of late, yet I find the time to update the Facebook page on a daily basis - so new rule - update weekly.

To start things off - On my Facebook page I highlight a website every Wednesday. Most of the time it's for useful stuff like where to find great ideas for Handmade Gifts or cool websites that allow you to create Photo Booth Style Pictures with your webcam. Sometimes, I'll point you in the direction of a great Read or some great Art.

Sometimes, I just need a little break from all of it.

Today's website (and one of my favourite types of website - the FREE PRINTABLES kind) comes Colouring Page, a fantastic resource for lots of free colouring pages of characters from your favourite family friendly Movies, TV shows and Books.
Here's their Facebook Page too.

With colouring pages for Beauty and The Beast, Toy Story and Frozen to Peppa Pig, Spongebob Squarepants and Winnie The Pooh. There's something here to keep the kids entertained on the rainiest of days.

And remember - if you can, try to reuse any discarded printed paper to print the colouring pages on.
Better to have the kids scribbling on that than brand new pages, that if we're being honest, probably won't end up on the fridge 'forever'.

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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!

52 Cardboard Craft Projects

Image: ikatbag

They say when training a toddler, it takes 3 days to make or break a habit.

I'm sure there are many arguments for and against this notion but I'm here to tell you that it works.
Well, at least with my child.  I'm not so entirely sure it works on me.

Most of the time we don't even realise that we are creating bad habits - but we suffer greatly when it comes to breaking them. I constantly hear myself say "I quit smoking two years ago" - but that's mostly when I'm about to light up my third cigarette in a row.

Play Kitchen Project

Images: Baby Centre

Anytime Jaws is on TV (and I'm able to) - I must sit down and watch it.

With an incredible number of memorable scenes and quotes it's easy to understand why it's in most people's top 10 movie lists.

- The terrifying opening attack.
- The scar contest on the Orca - ‘Mary Ellen Moffit, she broke my heart’.
- The Indianapolis Speech.
- "Here's to swimming with bow-legged women".
- The zoom in/dolly out shot on Chief Brody at the beach.
- Mrs Kintner slapping Brody hard in the face.
- The chalkboard scratch.
- "We're going to need a bigger boat!".

The list could go on and on but there is one scene that will always stand out.

Faux Folksy Chair Project

Image: The Inadvertent Farmer

There is a old wooden chair, comfortable tucked between two wardrobes, in a spare bedroom in my home.  I love that chair very much but - if one out of a hundred people, who enter my home, ever lay their eyes on it, they will be amongst a pocket sized group of very close friends and immediate family.

As sturdy and solid as it is, it will never be a part of our day to day lives but it has attended and participated in significant moments throughout my life.

DIY Puzzle Block Project

Image: 101 Woonideeën

About a year ago, we bought a 4 in 1 jigsaw puzzle (of a famous toy train character) in the vain hope that our 18 month old would show signs of being 'just as clever' as all the other amazing, in your face 18 month olds.

There was a 12 piece, 16 piece, 20 and 24 piece jigsaw.

Just taking the 12 piece jigsaw first and packing away the other 3 for a much later date, we were in for a big shock. Not the kind of shock that entails finding the next Garry Kasparov. Having become bored and unchallenged by a 12 piece jigsaw, our genius offspring would now attempt all 4 jigsaws at once whilst twirling his dummy on a chain in a counter clockwise motion, all the time singing the alphabet...backwards.
Next stop, Mensa.

No, it was not that kind of shock.

Lamp Shade Project #3

Image: Under The Sycamore Tree

Lets look at the rule of 3.

Good things come in 3's - as do the bad. Films, books and plays have a 3 act structure. You could be 3 sheets to the wind or as phony as a 3 dollar bill. It is always: Ready, Steady, Go and after 3 strikes, you're out. Art and photography use the rule of 3rds and any novice interior designer will gabble profusely on the benefits of grouping in 3's. Goldilocks offended and annoyed 3 bears and there were 3 blind mice, 3 wise men and 3 little pigs.

In short, 3 is the magic number. 

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'.

Homemade Art Supplies Project

Images: Chalk - minieco, Watercolour - Oh My!, Glue - minieco, Clay - Etsy{New York} Street Team

The kids are back in school.

That means your child will need to get pens and pencils and pencil sharpeners and rulers and erasers and pencil cases and folders and copy books and school books and a school bag and a lunch box and a school uniform plus a hundred and one other things, adorned with either Spiderman, Batman, Peppa Pig, Thomas the Tank, The Hulk, Dora the Explorer or Hello Kitty that magically, will somehow make your kid, in their own mind at least, amazingly cool to all of their other classmates, and for you, there is the added bonus of a headache in trying to achieve that impossible task.

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.

Cardboard Box Toy Project(s)

There is a common rule we must all recognise, that when presented with an expensive toy, a child will quickly disregard that toy and play with the box instead. Their imagination being used to portray the box as an infinite number of objects. Taking them on adventures and helping them explore imaginary places in their minds.

So why don't we just cut out the middle man.

Almost everything we buy these days comes in a box. So, whether it's small or big, here are just a few ideas for you to make if you happen to have some laying around.

Portable Cardboard Parking Garage from La Factoría Plástica

Image: La Factoría Plástica

Image: La Factoría Plástica

Superhero Project

Image: IGN

The world is full of superheroes.

Well, superhero movies.

Hollywood has spent the best part of three decades perfecting the 'Superhero Franchise' and with successful movies like X-Men, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Avengers and the soon to be released The Dark Knight Rises, Amazing Spiderman and rebooted Superman, (along with sequels to all those aforementioned movies) there seems to be no hint of slowing down.

They've hit on a successful formula, which simply put, is this. The good guy always wins.

In that case, if you can't beat them - join them.

Plastic Cap 'ABC' Magnets Project

Image: The green art classroom

Most plastic soda, water and milk bottles are made from Polyethylene terephthalate, or PET #1 plastic and their caps are most commonly made from polypropylene, or plastic #5. These two different types of plastic melt at different temperatures during the recycling process and therefore, need to be processed separately.

If you are a dedicated  recycler and find that you have a pile of bottle tops at the end of the week, then this easy craft will have you putting them to even better use and help your child learn the alphabet.

Cardboard Shape Sorter Project

This project, found over at play and grow, appeals to 3 of my ongoing obsessions.

Image: play and grow

To start with, Evengy Kudryavtsev recycles cardboard, mostly Pampers boxes which I have in abundance, into educational toys for toddlers. That's two out of three obsessions right there. Thirdly, he's Russian, which you may or may not have guessed from his name.

When I first saw this I just felt so stupid that I had not thought of it sooner for my own son. I've looked at different wooden shape sorting toys and made plans for making one myself but this is such a wonderful idea that has just been staring me in the face. I guess that's the thing with the best ideas, they're just so simple.

Playdough Project

I made a choice, when I first started this blog, that I would never post articles about food or recipes.

There are a 101 different blogs out there, that each week, mix up a measure of crafts, a dollop of DIY and a pinch of seasonal produce to create that perfect blend of delectable, guilt free, bite sized blogging content.

So you won't find any of that here.

Saying that, this post requires you to use:
1 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of salt, 1 cup of water, 2 tsp. tartar powder, 2  tbls cooking oil, 1 cup of water dyed with food coloring.

Image: Hammer & thread

Mix everything together in a Non-stick pot. (The site makes a point of saying "Seriously use non stick." so, you've been warned!)
Stir over medium heat. It will look really soupy when you start but then suddenly it will come together. When it clumps into a ball dump it onto a cutting board to cool.

If you want to try out some natural dyes and festive scents then pop over to mini eco for their great tutorials.

The link for natural dye, using raspberries, rose petals, beetroot, blueberries and turmeric can be found here.

Image: mini eco

The link for the festive scented playdough can be found here.

Image: mini eco

Doodle Duvet Project

Image: A Thousand Words

Last weekend I paid a visit to The Old Cinema on Chiswick High Road in London. A shop devoted to selling antique, vintage, retro, industrial and upcycled furniture. I could have spent hours (and every penny I have) browsing their amazing unique collection.

Some people may feel the same way about IKEA (and that's ok*)

The great thing about IKEA is that it provides a user friendly 'identikit' for home decor which is also it's greatest weakness. When choosing a rug, bedspread or curtains, you constantly run the risk of ending up in someone else's home, confused it's not your home, as everything appears almost identical in every way to yours.
Top tip - a quick scan of the reading material on the billy bookcase will usually reveal your true surroundings.

That is why, when I saw this idea, I felt a comfortable nudge back into the 'one of a kind' shaped world I live in. This idea for a doodle covered duvet comes from Jen Morris over at A Thousand Words

Image: A Thousand Words

You can have a look at how Jen created this Duvet over on her website here.

All you need are some doodles (she used some of her sons drawings) which she took photographs of and then using photoshop, she removed the colour so that all she was left with were simple black and white images. If creating your own you can just simply sketch them with a black pen.

Image: A Thousand Words

Once she had a simple drawing, Jen scaled the images up in size and printed them onto A4 sheets, ready to trace onto her blank white duvet with a felt tip fabric marker

Image: A Thousand Words

Start with your first image under the duvet and begin tracing.

Image: A Thousand Words

Repeat this process for all of your doodles and pretty soon ('soon' being a few hours) you will have a truly unique, one of a kind duvet cover.

Image: A Thousand Words

 (*I have actually wandered aimlessly around the winding paths of my local IKEA for hours and I'll admit here that I've never come out empty handed - but I will say this, I always go against the arrows!)

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Make Your Own Pencil Project

Image: Scissors.Paper.Wok

I know some of you might think I'm mad.
I know some of you might think I'm crazy.
I know some of you might think I've lost the plot, because I know you can pick up a pencil for less than 50 cent in any corner newsagents. However, here's the thing.

I've always tried to suggest a number of craft ideas that you and any young child in your family could sit down together and pass a few hours on some rainy day. I've also loved finding ways of recycling old magazines or scraps of paper that end up in the recycling bin. To me, recycling is not just about sorting objects into the right coloured bin. Recycling is also about reusing.

This little project fits those 2 criteria and that's why I'm sharing it with you,                                            courtesy of SCISSORS.PAPER.WOK (It also uses Mod Podge which rocks)

Here's what you'll need.

Image: Scissors.Paper.Wok

Here is a note on the supplies.
Paper: They recommend using 6″ origami paper but I think you could use any craft paper or magazine page that looks colourful. Why not try an old map too (you know how I feel about maps). Here is the exact product used in the tutorial in case you are a stickler for rules. Try out a few ideas as you might find the paper you use could be too thick and won't act as a skin when rolling the pencil.

Lead: Make sure you use a HB lead. If you use 2B leads or above, the lead may be too soft to roll without snapping.
I've looked around and found 12 tubes (that's 96 pieces of lead) for an unbelievable €4 plus €4 postage for sale on eBay here. That works out at about .08 cent per pencil.

Here's the How-to.

Image: Scissors.Paper.Wok

There is also this video, made by Kimanh from Scissors.Paper.Wok.

You could even try out lots of different ideas.
Try placing twine between the layers to make a hook to hang it on something.
Use an ink stick instead of pencil lead.
Try a different size or different layers. The picture below is layered with different paper to fade from red to light pink.

Image: Scissors.Paper.Wok

The possibilities with this craft are endless and knowing the weather in this country, you might need more than a few hours to pass the time on one of our rainy days.


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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)