Tag Archives: craft

Jan16

Melting Crayons

Posted on January 16, 2014 by TodayWeDid

The other evening I went through all of our drawing implements and sorted them out. We have them stored in a five drawer storage unit, a drawer for pencils, one for markers, one for crayons, one with stickers, and one with lead pencils, pens, erasers, and pencil sharpeners. I threw out any markers and pens that didn’t work. I sharpened all of the lead and coloured pencils, throwing away ones that kept breaking. I waded through the stickers, throwing out sticker sheets that actually had no stickers left on them, and rescuing some sticker sheets that had fallen down the back of the other drawers. Then I got to the crayon drawer…. there were dozens of crayons jammed in this drawer, so many that it was very difficult to shut the drawer. I took them all out and sorted the broken from the unbroken. I collected all of the broken pieces together and put them into a pencil case to deal with later.

Later came around when I decided to try and melt some of the crayons together to make a bigger usable crayon. I wasn’t sure what would happen, so I put a random selection of crayon pieces into a muffin case, and microwaved it. My microwave wasn’t particularly happy about this, and turned itself off near the end. Since I previously blew up a microwave by accidentally microwaving a pop-stick, and I didn’t want a repeat of that, I immediately removed the crayons. Luckily the microwave is just fine, it was just protesting, and given the smell the crayons gave off, I can’t blame it. However, the crayons did melt, and mixed all together, ending up brown. That was fine though, as at least I knew they could be melted.

I thought my other option would be to heat them in the oven, but with the hot weather I wasn’t keen to put the oven on. I had a bit of a Eureka moment then, when I realised that I could use the hot weather to my advantage. Nature could melt the crayons for me! So after I removed all of the paper coverings (sliced down the side with a small blade and peeled the paper off), I sorted all the crayon pieces out into piles of different colours, placing them into muffin cases in the muffin trays. I sat the muffin trays outside in the sun this morning.

Separated into like colours.

After about an hour and a half I went out to see how the crayons were going in the sun. They were melting quite well, and the trays were very hot. After about three hours the crayon pieces were pretty much all melted, and I gave them a bit of a stir to mix it together. There were a few pieces in some of them that didn’t melt, but I think they were all pieces that came out of the Crayola Twistables Crayons. I guess this sort of crayon isn’t the same as the others.

After about an hour and a half in the sun.

After about three hours in the sun.

I brought the muffin trays into the shade using my oven mitt, and once they were a little cooler, I removed the muffin cases full of melted crayon and brought them inside. I sat them on the bench to cool and harden. Once they were completely cooled, I removed them from the muffin cases. Now I have some nice chunky crayons that Baby T can use for his first drawing attempts, instead of the mostly unused broken pieces I had before.

My new chunky crayons.

Next time I have a bunch of broken crayons, I think I will melt them and then pour them into some of our metal cookie cutter shapes to cool. We have some dinosaur shapes that would make great crayon shapes.

Jan11

Jelly-fish

Posted on January 11, 2014 by TodayWeDid

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These wonderful jelly-fish were made using a paper bowl and scraps of various yarns, cotton, and ribbons. The ribbons were all collected from gifts we had been given for birthdays last year and were just sitting in the craft box awaiting their final purpose. It’s great when we can re-use something like that in our craft pursuits.

Painting the top of the jelly-fish.

We ended up making three jelly-fish. First we painted the bowls, L picked orange, A picked blue and purple. I ended up finishing off the purple one though, as A got a bit tired of using the tiny detail brush she’d decided to paint with. She chose a much thicker brush for the blue paint, which allowed her to paint the bowl more quickly and easily.

While the bowls dried we sorted out our tentacles. I thought the jelly-fish would look better with tentacles of varying lengths, so I wasn’t very particular about the length of the pieces as I cut them up. I placed the tentacles into two piles, one for each child, so that they each had a range of different tentacles to choose from. I ended up needing to cut more yarn up as we ran out before we had finished. Some of the yarn was feathers, and some was a powderpuff yarn that was fluffy. I thought these yarns looked really good on the jelly-fish, and it gave them a bit more variety and texture, than if we’d just used plain yarns.

Taping on tentacles.

Attaching tentacles.

To stick the tentacles onto the bowl, we used sticky tape. The kids made bundles of several tentacle pieces together in some sticky tape, and then they taped that to the inside edge of the bowl. I found that it was easiest to use a longer length of tape, stick the tops of the tentacles along it, and then fold it over to form a rectangle of tape housing a number of tentacles, and then tape that section into the bowl. We continued doing this all the way around the edge of the bowl to give the jelly-fish a good coverage of tentacles.

Decorating with markers.

L and A used some permanent markers to decorate the top of their jelly-fish. We also stuck on some googly eyes to the side of the bowl.

We hung the jelly-fish up in their rooms, and they look great with their tentacles wafting about in the breeze.

Jan9

Box Construction City

Posted on January 9, 2014 by TodayWeDid

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Over the last few months we have been collecting cardboard boxes instead of recycling them straight away. There were also a number of box construction items that had come home from school, and were added to the pile for re-purposing. The pile of boxes grew and grew, until it was taking up plenty of valuable decking real estate. There were a lot of cardboard boxes, of all shapes and sizes, from jelly crystal and bikkie boxes, through to nappy and big packing or freight boxes.

And what would we do with so many boxes? Well, the answer to that is Boxtown! The end of our deck was transformed into a city this morning by L, A, Big L and myself. Baby T wanted to help, but it was nap time, so he flew off to dreamworld while the rest of us got our builders’ hats on.

Building the library.

The first large building to be built was a library (I think this must be a reflection of how much we like to read!). L made a lovely sign for the top of it, and both kids helped me tape the boxes together. A tried to attach a thin cracker box as a walkway to another building, but she never made the other building to attach it to, so it just stuck out at the side of the library. Well, at least it did until it fell off, and A didn’t notice, so I didn’t mention it.

Hospital with chopper on the heli-pad.

There was also a hospital, complete with heli-pad and helicopter. The helicopter even had a red cross on its side and rotors that could spin. Besides the hospital was an airport and runway made out of painters tape. L made some planes out of cardboard rolls to live at the airport.

Airport and runway.

There were other small buildings too, including a dental clinic made from toothpaste boxes, a restaurant made from a yoghurt container, and a doctor’s surgery made from bandaid boxes. These were chosen and made entirely by L, who sorted through the boxes until she found the appropriate ones 🙂

Office tower.

The biggest building in Boxtown was the office block. Big L helped the kids make it so big, it actually stood taller than L. It was a large skyscraper towering over the rest of Boxtown. A used markers to draw some windows and doors, and make it “pretty”, while L made a sign for it. She wrote the word ‘work’ all over the sign so we had no doubt what was supposed to occur inside the office block, though she made no suggestion as to what work her workers would be performing.

There were also a few houses. A decorated a shoe box, giving it some chimneys and windows, which I think was a house. L made a large dog house too.

This was several hours of building fun, and then some more fun playing in the city. And once the kids have finished playing with Boxtown we will recycle it and reclaim our deck 🙂

Jan8

Christmas Trees

Posted on January 8, 2014 by TodayWeDid

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These Christmas tree shapes were in the Christmas bags from Riot Art & Craft, along with a container of Christmas card embellishments. The trees were a thin foam, and there were three each to decorate.

Foam tree shapes.

Embellishment pack.

Some of the embellishments had paper backing that could be removed to reveal a sticky side to stick straight onto the tree or card. These bits of paper were very hard to remove, and in some cases, we actually pulled the sticky backing right off the embellishment along with the paper. After that we just used craft glue to stick the embellishments onto the trees.

Adding glitter glue.

Glitter glue in gold and silver added a final touch of sparkle to these great Christmas trees.

A’s trees.

L’s trees.

Once they were dry we used blu-tack to stick them on our front door.

Jan8

Glitter Glue Baubles

Posted on January 8, 2014 by TodayWeDid

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I went looking for some plain, smooth baubles to decorate before Christmas. This task was actually harder than I had anticipated, so many of the baubles were already covered in glitter or patterns. I finally found a pack of gold baubles in Target. They were nice and large, which was good for the kids to decorate. I bought a pack of Christmas glitter glue, which included gold, green and red. These little bottles had fine tips and were easy to control.

Plasticine ring.

I made little rings out of plasticine to place the bauble in so that it wouldn’t roll away while we painted them with the glitter glue. This was very effective, but when I asked the kids if they wanted to paint another bauble, they both told me they just wanted to play with the left-over plasticine!

A bauble sitting in its plasticine ring.

The kids each decorated a couple of baubles each, making dots, swirls, stripes, stars, trees and writing their names. A used a bit too much glitter glue on one of hers, while painting a Christmas tree. The glitter glue ran, making the tree appear as if it had melted.

The melted Christmas tree.

Painting a bauble.

I used the glitter glue to write each child’s name and the year on a bauble. Once these were dry, I turned them over and drew a star on one, and trees on the other two. The kids liked having a bauble that was made just for them. I also dotted one bauble all over with random spots of the three colours. L liked this one, and had a go at making one the same, though some of her dots were bigger, and ran a little.

Name and year on a bauble.

A spotty bauble.

The kids proudly hung up all of the glitter glue baubles on the tree once they were dry.

Nov30

Terracotta Pots

Posted on November 30, 2013 by TodayWeDid

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L’s finished pots.

The pot decoration kits we bought from Bunnings.

I went to Bunnings looking for some terracotta pots for the kids to paint and decorate. There were lots of pots in all different sizes and shapes. And then we came across some kids craft packs to decorate three terracotta pots, including paint and rhinestones. That seemed like a very easy option, so we bought two kits.

The pots were only little, but perfect for L and A to decorate. We turned A’s pots upside down to make it easier for her to paint. She also painted the bottom of each pot. There was only one small brush with each kit, so we got out enough brushes to have one for each colour. That way we didn’t have to keep washing the brush all the time (it also meant we didn’t need a cup of water on the table that A could somehow manage to knock over…) A did some lovely painting on the outside of each pot, covering the entire surface. She used some sponge brushes to paint the little saucers for each pot, making smiley faces on them. L chose not to cover the whole of the pots in paint, instead she painted pictures, swirls and letters.

A painting her first pot.

Painting the saucer.

L painting a Christmas tree on one of her pots.

Once the paint was completely dry (which didn’t take very long at all), the kids got to add the rhinestones. Oh, how they love to decorate with rhinestones! We used PVA glue to attach the rhinestones. There was a mix of shapes, sizes and colours, and they used a variety on each pot.

Adding rhinestones.

More rhinestones.

Each kit came with some foam flower press outs to make up too. These could be used as a decoration in the pots if desired, but the kids wanted to put real plants into their pots, so the fake flowers were put aside to complete later to add to the vase they made a few weeks ago.

L and A want to give their finished pots (with little plant) to their teachers for Christmas this year, as an alternative to the traditional coffee cup or box of chocolates. The kids had a great time decorating them, and we hope their teachers will like them!

A’s finished pots.

Nov14

Name Plate

Posted on November 14, 2013 by TodayWeDid

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A, Baby T and I had a little trip to Bunnings to get a couple of things….. when I left Bunnings, my couple of things had turned into about a dozen things, and we’d spent an hour just wandering about. Some of our extra purchases included a wooden board, wooden letters and a packet of rhinestones to make a name plate for A’s door.

The base board and one of the letters before painting.

I laid some newspaper on the table to protect it, and I pulled out the box of paints. When I asked A what colour she wanted to paint the base board, she answered “All of them!” So all of them it was…. a little of each in random patches to cover the entire board. She seemed to really enjoy this painting, making it a rainbow, and mixing the colours.

Painting the base board.

When it came to painting the letters, I suggested she paint each of them a single colour to help them stand out against the colourful background. She chose the colour for each letter, and painted the tops of them, but needed some help getting the paint all around the edges. She put several coats of the paint on the letters to make the colours bolder.

One of the letters painted.

Once all the paint was dry, we had to glue the letters to the base board. A wanted them fairly straight across the board. She used a paintbrush to add glue to the back of each letter, and I placed them carefully in a line on the baseboard. Then she decorated the letters with some rhinestones, and she was finished.

Placing the rhinestones.

Gluing the rhinestones down.

Ready to hang on her door.

Nov14

Flower Picture

Posted on November 14, 2013 by TodayWeDid

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A few weeks back at playgroup the craft activity was making a banner of flowers. The stems and leaves were drawn on in crayon, and the flowers were patty pan and muffin cases. Today A made a smaller version of this flower picture at home, with the addition of some muffin case leaves.

Adding glue.

Placing the muffin cases.

A drew some stems on where she wanted her flowers to be, and then she began adding the muffin cases. We had a mix of red, blue, yellow and green cases. Some of the cases were glued to the stems whole to represent open flowers, while others were folded in quarters as budding flowers.

The open flowers received a pom pom centre and the green cases were folded into eighths to make leaves. A glued these onto some of the stems. She also added some crayon grass to the bottom of the picture to complete the scene.

Finished flowers.

Nov11

Paper Plate Santa

Posted on November 11, 2013 by TodayWeDid

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November seems to be passing rather quickly now, so it’s time to break out the Christmas craft!

This Santa uses two paper plates, one for the face, and a second cut in quarters to use for his hat and his beard. A painted one of the quarters bright red, and then we left it to dry. I glued another of the quarters to the bottom of the plate so that the edges of the quarter were against the edges of the plate, leaving a triangle to form the beard on. A painted the main plate a pale pink for skin. Once all the paint was dry I glued the red quarter to the opposite side of the plate to the beard quarter, again lining up the edges.

Painting the hat.

And now for the fun of gluing on cotton balls! A used PVA to attach cotton balls all over the bottom triangle and part way up the plate to form a white woolly beard. She continued the cotton balls up the sides of the plate for hair. She also put cotton balls along the bottom edge of the red quarter to make a furry edge for the hat. One cotton ball went onto the point of the hat too.

To finish Santa’s face, A used a light pink pom pom for Santa’s nose, and drew two green circles in texta for eyes. I added some black dots to the eyes for pupils.

Nov8

Crown Door Sign

Posted on November 8, 2013 by TodayWeDid

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This was another craft kit that was given to L for her birthday this year. There were a few bits to glue together, but most of it was painting and decorating.

The paints that came with the kit were pinks and purples, but unfortunately they had dried out so much that I was unable to revive them. So I grabbed out some paint from our paint supplies,

Painting.

and let L pick whatever colours she wanted. L has recently decided that her favourite colour is no longer pink, so she chose blue, white, yellow and orange to paint with instead. She did get a little paint on the whiteboard section, but it was easy to wipe off with a damp cloth.

Adding shapes to the crown.

The hardest part for L to do was getting the little sliding panel on. It required the small panel to be placed between the runners just so, for it to be able to slide and not fall out of the grooves. Under the panel she could place stickers from the kit, one says ‘I don’t want to be bothered now’ and the other says ‘Come in and visit me’. L can slide the panel across to display only the one she wants to show.

Decorating.

There were some little wooden shapes in the kit for decoration. L painted these and glued them on. Then she added some glitter glue, rhinestones and stickers to finish the crown off. The kit came with a pink feathery string to add to the crown’s points (you can see it on the box), but L decided it didn’t suit her blue and orange crown, so she saved it for another day.

It had a little whiteboard piece in the centre of the crown to write something on. L wrote her name on this bit before hanging it on her door.

Ready for L to write her name on and hang it up.

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