Kids craft
Watermelon bunting (+ template) // 3D fruit!
Hello! I’ve been working on some fruity gift-boxes for the new book. While I was putting the templates together I thought the watermelon design would make nice bunting!
I have 10 days left to finish all the projects for my book. (Hurray! Phew! Eek!)
Hope you are all doing well.
If you fancy making a watermelon garland you will find the template at the foot of the post.
Watermelon garland template: Click to download PDF
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Off topic: I have finally joined twitter (although I must be the quietest tweeter that walked the earth – however I am tweeting when I add a new post). I have also claimed my blog through bloglovin. I’ve only started using bloglovin today but it seems like a handy tool if you struggle to keep track of the blogs you like.
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DIY word search gift wrap
Hello to everyone. Hope you have all had a lovely Easter (that’s if you celebrate it of course!).
I saw this wrapping paper a while back and thought it was pretty cool.
There are loads of ‘wordsearch generators’ available online so it’s really easy to make your own personalised word search gift wrap. You don’t even need much in the way of supplies…just some white paper and some highlighter pens (or you can use highlighter strips).
I created my word search using puzzlemaker.com. My grid contained 20 columns and 24 rows. This fills an A4 sheet. Make sure you only print the first page out though…the second page just contains the words you have added.
I also put each word into the wordsearch generator about 6 times (as some words appear backwards or aren’t in the right place after wrapping the present).
Instead of wrap you could make some wide gift ribbon to wrap around a present. You could also make some nice cards, envelopes or small gift-bags!
After a quick google I found another DIY word search gift wrap tutorial here so you may wanna check that out for more tips.
Happy word-searching ^_^
Mini paper medallions {hello 2013!}
Hello everyone! I hope you’ve all had a lovely Christmas and New Year. We took our decorations down a few days ago which is always a bit sad :-/ so I made a few new decorations to hang up in their place.
Paper medallions have been around for aeons. I remember making them when I was a kid. I’ve seen a few pinned on Pinterest lately so I think they are making a bit of a comeback.
The medallions I made are quite dinky (about 6 – 10cm in diameter). They look really nice hung up in a group…..and they also make fabulous gift toppers.
All you need is A4 paper, scissors, glue and thread so you don’t even need to go to the craft store (not sure whether that is a good or bad thing!). If you fancy making a few then check out the how-to below.
YOU WILL NEED:
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+ A4 Paper
+ Scissors
+ Ruler
+ Needle (for scoring)
+ Thread
+ Double sided tape/glue
+ Printable templates (all files are at the bottom of the post)
HOW TO
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1. Print the template onto A4 paper. You can make four medallions from each sheet of A4 paper. Cut out.
2. Using a needle, prick holes in the template, where marked.
3. Using a needle and ruler score along all straight lines.
4. Fold the piece of paper up (accordion fold).
5. Cut out the diamond shapes.
6. Cut a length of cotton (I cut about an arms length).
7 & 8. Start threading the cotton through all the holes (apart from the first hole and last hole).
9. Stick one end of the paper to the other end. I used double sided tape but you can also use glue (I would wait for the glue to dry before finishing the rest of the steps).
10. Thread the cotton through the last hole.
11. Pull on the ends of the cotton until they are tight and then press down on the medallion to flatten….be careful at this point as the medallion will spring back up if not held in place.
12. Weight the medallion and tie a double knot in the thread. This part is quite tricky as the knot needs to be tight in order for the medallion to stay flat. If you have someone around who can help you then do ask!
You can of course make bigger medallions. Just make sure that the length of the paper is at least eight times longer than the width.
Kaleidocycle {aka folding paper toy!}
Have you ever made a kaleidocycle before? They are pretty fun. All you need is some glue, paper and 5 or 10 minutes!
There is an animated gif at the bottom on the post so that you can see what they do.
There are also instructions & a template below too ^_^
YOU WILL NEED:
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- Template
- Paper or thin card
- Glue
- Scissors
- Ruler and needle for scoring
HOW TO:
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1. Print your template and cut it out.
2. Using a ruler and sharp point (compass or needle) score all the lines on your template.
3. Fold along all vertical lines.
4. Fold along all diagonal lines.
5. Fold your template over so that the three tabs tuck under the stripy part of the template. Glue into position (a glue-stick works well) and leave your model to dry for a few minutes.
6. Bend the kaleidocycle round as shown.
7. Tuck the remaining tab into the other end of the kaleidocycle. I found it easier to put a little tape over this join (rather than glueing)…
8. Play!
The animated gif is a bit shaky. I was alone in the house so had to use my chin to press the button on the camera (whilst the camera was attached to tripod). High-tech indeed!
By the way, check out this free download (courtesy of my cousins band) which contains: trick or treat poster, DIY ‘creeps’ mask, high quality MP3 and exclusive video art.
And, Helen, from Curlybirds just put together a ‘vintage Halloween costume‘ post on her site. Do have a look….it’s pretty funny 
Printable wrap {halloween edition!}
Do you give people presents at Halloween? If so, here is some printable wrap you might like to use. The templates are A4 so only suitable for small presents. (As you can see I hijacked pacman again ^_^)
We have had a terrible year in the UK for rain…it has been coming down by the bucket-load for months on end…hence the raindrop sheet!
The templates are at the end of the post. Have a great week ^_^
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TEMPLATES
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Raindrop wrap
Pacman wrap
Lightning wrap
Ghost treat boxes
Just a bit of housekeeping before I begin. I have been making a few changes to the layout of the site so, if this page looks odd, right-click and select reload. (If you are still having problems please email me, or leave a comment, and I will get back to you).
I saw these ghost milk bottles and thought they were very cute and easy…however I couldn’t get hold of little milk bottles so made some milk cartons instead which I’m going to stuff with Halloween goodies for the kids (& my hubby!).
There are seven simple designs in all (including a few pac-man inspired ones) so you can print out your favourite one/s.
HOW-TO
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You will need:
// White paper or thin card
// Glue stick or double sided tape
// Scissors
// Something to score your paper with. I use a needle and metal ruler.
// Treats to fill your box with
STEP-BY-STEP
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1. Print out one of the following templates then cut, score and fold along all the lines (see the ‘cutting/scoring plan’ below for more details).
Design 1, Design 2, Design 3, Design 4, Design 5, Design 6, Design 7
2. Cut and score along all the lines (see the ‘cutting/scoring plan’ below for more details).
3. Fold into box shape and secure tabs with a gluestick or sticky tape.
4. Carefully press the sides of the carton in to create the tetra-pak style top.
5. Fill your boxes with treats, confetti and even a spooky joke!
6. Tape the top closed. I used washi tape but you can use a paper-clip, split pin or anything that comes to hand.
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SCORING/CUTTING PLAN
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- Cut along solid lines
- Score and fold along dotted lines
Hope you all have a fab weekend ^_^
I ♥ marbling
I saw these chocolate wrappers on Oh Joy ages ago and they completely changed my mind about marbling (I always used to think marbled paper looked a bit dull and assumed you needed loads of equipment).
It turns out it’s not so hard…and the results can be really colourful (Yay!).
HOW-TO
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You will need:
// Marbling paint. I used Marabu Easy Marble (not a sponsored plug!)
// A tray (I used a recycled foil food container)
// Paper (make sure it fits inside your tray)
// Water
// Cocktail sticks (a twig will do!)
// White spirit for cleaning up (or cooking oil…see comments section below for details)
// Newspaper
// An old top or Apron
STEP-BY-STEP
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1. Fill your foil container with some water….a few inches is fine. Then pop some drops of marbling paint onto the water. Limit your palette to three or four colours.
2. Give the water a swirl with a cocktail stick.
3. Shake a few more drops into the water if you fancy!
4. Once you are happy with the pattern gently lower your paper on top of the water and leave it for a few moments.
5. Then carefully lift the paper off the surface of the water.
6. Pop your design, face up, on some newspaper to dry.
HINTS & TIPS
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- Use a scrap of cardboard to ‘scrape’ the top of the water in-between each go. That will get rid of any paint residue from your previous attempt.
- I used coloured paper. Because of this, one of the marbling colours I chose was a transparent colour (crystal clear), that way you get to see the colour of the paper too.
- If you are doing this with kids I would definitely recommend using some gloves and an apron…it gets a bit messy.
- Have fun!! I found marbling incredibly relaxing so grab a bit pile of paper before you start…you will get through it.
- When your paper has dried, press it under some heavy books to make it flatter & smoother! Make sure you sandwich it between greaseproof paper just in case it leaves a mark.
- If you want some more inspiration then check out my Pinterest marbling board ^_^
- This particular marbling paint is oil-based so you will need white spirit to clean up any spills.
- All I need… (my mum's blog x)
- Arvindgupta Toys
- Beci Orpin
- Chez Beeper Bebe
- Colossal
- Craftgawker
- Crow roosters crow
- Curly Birds
- diy or die
- Fine Little Day
- Handmade Charlotte
- Hello Kiddo
- IDN Magazine
- Kickcan & Conkers
- Kireei
- le dans la
- LMNOP
- Lullatone home orchestra
- misako mimoko
- Officers (my cousins band)
- Papercrave
- Piles of washing
- Poppytalk
- Red Ted Art
- Sausage Jar
- Swiss Miss
- Tattly
- Wabi-sabi wanderings
- What I Made
- Whipup
