Beeswax Candles Two Ways

Ung.  I love the smell of beeswax.  Is there anyone in the world who doesn't?  Melting beeswax is even super yummier.  It really is such a versatile product for making handmade gifts.  I have a huge block set aside, and a bunch of different plans for it.

I made these candles a couple of days ago and they were ridiculously easy.  The dipped candles take a little more time and patience but they were still far easier to make than I'd anticipated. They'll make sweet little Christmas gifts for friends who don't mind imperfect looking candles. I might actually assist Eleanor in making the next batch, and who wouldn't want a lumpy candle that was handmade by a kiddo?!  No one, that's who.

DIY Wall Decals

I was hanging out in the school art room yesterday, and noticed these cute DIY stickers on the windows.  I stole the instructions off my workbud and today we had a go.  Not sure we have the best technique, but we had lots of fun.  Eleanor has already requested that we make more tomorrow, so perhaps we'll try and perfect them...

'Carve Your Love' Rustic Bookends DIY

This DIY (it really is easy), is also a very very basic carving lesson.  As such, the tutorial is in part written by my dad in that I am paraphrasing instructions that he gave me and would not have happened without his help and his woodcarving tools.  

Yeah, sorry about the chainsaw bit.  You could also give it a go with a handsaw, but in my dad's words, "that would take a very long time."  I suggest finding someone who is confident using one (I'm not, despite having a certificate that says I'm qualified to use one - yes really!), and getting them to help you with the first bit.

Thanks Pop!  Like many of my wood-based projects, Papa-bear helped me get started in the same way that Mama helps me with many of my yarn/fabric related crafts.  At first I wasn't sure about cutting it before carving it, but I soon realised that my Pa was right.  

Don't expect to get perfectly flat edges, but it looks more rustic this way anyway...

My dad has an awesome vice built onto his workbench and I'm not exactly sure what you would use instead of this.  The log doesn't need to be completely secure, but can just be jammed in, in a way that prevents it from moving too much while you carve.  The ropes really aren't at all necessary.  Rest easy though this is a method you could try in order to hold your wood tight.

Have you done woodcarving before?  I'm not sure if this is obvious to everyone already, or whether this is useful information to share.  I was brought up around these tools so they fit easily in my hands, but I guess maybe some of you have never seen anyone carve before...  Basically, hold your chisel (a 'V' chisel for this project) in your 'wrong' hand, and the mallet in your strong hand.  If you have some scrap wood, clamp it to your bench and have a bit of a practice first.  The key is to tap gently.  You must follow the grain of the wood as much as possible, and tap even more gently (with the mallet banging against the top of your chisel - as pictured), at any point that you find yourself going against the grain.  Wood kind of splinters and goes ugly (hows that for mean technical jargon?!) if you bash away too heavily, without 'tuning in' to the wood you are carving.  Um.  Well anyway, that's the way I feel about it.  It's kind of an intuitive thing.  You'll see.

I am right-handed so this is my 'mallet' hand - though in this picture my dad is standing in as my right hand - guess he's my 'right hand man'.  Sorry.  That was bad.

Woodcarving is also a very meditative craft.  Creating this simple project reminded me of that, and I'm actually very keen to do some more soon.  My pop is a woodcarver by trade, and he is planning to do a time-lapse woodcarving lesson sometime soon (a much more thorough and informative one that this!). I'll let you know.

You want to keep the bark in a rustic condition, which means it is pretty much impossible to pencil your design in first.  My suggestion is to carve a very light outline of your design first, and then tap away more heavily at that once you are happy.  Small mistakes can be disguised thanks to the 'rustic' look, so don't worry if your initial outline is not absolutely perfect.  For this project, I carved to the bone (that's what I call it anyway, just until you can see some white 'flesh'). 

The benefit of having cut your log first, is that you do not have to endure the stress of having to cut exactly through the centre of your heart.  Carve one side of your heart, and then mirror that design again on the other half.

This next step is not absolutely essential but depending on how 'barky' your piece of wood is, will give you a smoother surface to carve on.  Using a flat chisel, gently tap away some of the excess bark (going with the grain again, despite what the image shows!).  I tried to keep as much of the bark as possible, to give it an authentic look, but chipped off any flaky bits, or bits that had gum or small knots.

Once again, gently outline the word you are going to carve.  It doesn't matter if your rough sketch looks ugly at this stage, you can pretty it up when you go over it again.

Well... it still looks a little bit messy, but I guess we can just call that rustic!  Some of my bark chipped away from the insides of the letters, so I collected those chips to re-glue at the end.  

And an arrow as a final touch!  Carving to the bone helps your design to stand out.  I briefly considered adding paint to my carved design - a metallic gold perhaps - but decided against.  I like the rustic look more, but you might decide to add paint to yours!

I hope to share more projects like this soon.  We are making a little Woodland themed nook in Eleanor's room (sneak peek soon), so there may be a few more projects along these lines...

Tomorrow:  Giveaway the Second! x

Hidden Fairy Grotto - a tutorial

I love fairy gardens and terrariums, and I thought I would add a wee twist to this classic project.  In a darkened room, you can hold a torch to the side of this terrarium (details further into the tutorial) and peep into this hidden world through the gap at the top.  Depending on how you decorate your grotto, kids will have fun trying to spot items in this little fairy world.  Eleanor & Garland haven't yet discovered the world of fairies and all things magic, but I am ready and prepared for when that moment comes.  I think this would be a fun project to do with your kiddo, but would make kind of a neat surprise too.  

Okay so a few things.  I didn't manage to get a photo, but see those tiny pebbles up there in the ingredients list?  I used that red paint - painted 'em - let 'em dry - grabbed a tooth pick & the white paint - and added little dots to them.  Instant mini sized toadstools.  It would've been cool if I'd got a decent picture of that, but to be honest, it was a bit of a messy process and the shots I took didn't turn out well. I'll let you imagine it (you can spy these cute toadstools in some of the images in this tutorial).  Once you've painted your mini toadstools, add them to your nice mossy garden. 

I used a peanut butter jar because I wanted a plastic one that I was happy for Ellie to play with, and also  they are wide enough to decorate with relative ease.  My decorations were pretty simple.  I'm sure you could do something more fun.

Also, I flagged the fern in the end, and went with a twiggy branch.  I was too scared (it was dark, rainy and cold) to go outside and find a pretty one, so I salvaged something from our firewood pile.  Yup.   And I found it easier to arrange my grotto before painting my jar black, so that I could see what I was doing, but you can always switch around this part of the process as it suits.

I was seized by inspiration partway through, and had to wait for paint to dry anyway...  So, glittery branches appeared.

I used a small jar to mix some water with glue, before painting the inside of the jar.  Then I sprinkled glitter inside.  Ahhhh, so satisfying!  And pretty.  I guess I'm not too old for glitter...

I played around for quite awhile to get this next part right.  I found that a small hole obscured the grotto too much, and you just had no idea what you were looking at.  Having no lid worked, but kinda ruined the whole idea.  In the end this is what I went with, and I think it works fine.  Feel free to play around and decide what works best for you. Maybe it would be cool to have a sliding piece to cover the hole when you're not using it...  I don't know how you'd do it, but it would be cool right?

The purpose here is to have a space to let light in on your grotto.  I found that it worked best higher up, but again, play around and see what works.  You can always scratch a new circle, or paint over any that don't work.

When you're done, turn out the lights, hold a torch against that gap on the side of your jar, and take turns admiring the pretty little scene you have created!

UPDATE:  I just entered this competition. If you are inspired to do the same, there's still time!

DIY Vintage Style Sketchbook

Originally I had the idea that you could make this with your child's artwork and handwrite their story (in their words) on the pages, for a personalised piece of bedtime reading.  You could design (together) a new cover and hand letter the title.  Kids love that stuff right?!  But Eleanor is not quite the right age for that sort of project yet, her illustrations, though intricate and wonderful (bit of mama bias right there!) are of the impressionistic, abstract variety.  I'm saving up that idea for later, but for now I thought I'd make her a quick and easy sketchbook, that we can slip into her bag and take with us when we go away on holiday.  Come to think of it, if I left one of these in the car it would make an excellent entertainment back up, for those times we are caught short.  A bored toddler can be a dangerous toddler, am I right?

I know, you are wondering why I even bothered writing a tutorial, but it was a fun excuse to play around on PicMonkey.  I still have plenty ideas for using up these books.  If you have a stash of your own to use up and want to share some ideas, leave a link here and I'll include it in my next post. x

DIY Vintage Style Puzzles here

DIY Vintage (style) Puzzles

Yesterday I unpacked a whole bunch of vintage childrens books that I'd set aside for craft projects.  I felt a brief moment of despair at the sheer quantity, unsure where to store and when I would use them etc.  My hands (filled with books) hovered over the To-The-Opshop pile, but eventually relented and stacked them in one of our bookshelves.  So last night while we snuggled up on the couch watching some Stand Up Comedy, I quietly hatched plans for some of those books.  Disclaimer: All books used in the making of these puzzles were in an unfit state to be read - pages missing/ripped/graffitied etc.

I won't insult your intelligence by bothering to write a tutorial for these DIY puzzles, though my photo essay is pretty much the equivalent of one anyway (sorry!).  I will say that if you can avoid it, don't use corrugated cardboard (though you probably already knew that...).

After I made this simple puzzle for my puzzle-mad two year old, I came up with a couple of easy variations.  I had some scraps of magnetic paper waiting for a project, so I made a fridge puzzle.

 And from the cover of a mostly destroyed (but favourite) board book, I made this Strip puzzle.  If you flip over the 11 piece puzzle, there are two smaller puzzles to complete.  Adding to the challenge (and enjoyment).

I'll be back soon with some other uses I found for my Broken Books collection.

DIY Friday

I'm not saying it's a thing, but it could be...

Anyway, this DIY friday I made a Flock of Seagulls Mobile.  I maintain that this project is worthy of a title 
:-P  So this is what the printable seagulls look like made up.  I designed these with a particular purpose in mind, but they've done their job now, and so they have become a mobile.  I won't insult your crafty intelligence by bothering with a tutorial, I'm sure you can see exactly what I've done here.  I will say that I printed these on paper, not on card (as I had intended), and it worked out fine.  I still think it would work better with a heavier cardstock, but if it's easier (and cheaper) for you to use paper, you could always back the wings with recycled card.  The bodies work fine with paper.

A very easy project, and they would look cute hovering over your dinner table...  Begging for food, as seagulls do.  Which is exactly what I used them for!  I think I'm the first person to have this idea, though you never do know.  But if you were wondering if I'm some kind of creative genius, then you would be right.  Let this be your proof!  Haha!  I'm joking, I'm joking...

I know that seagulls are not exactly a favourite bird for many people, but in mobile form the are relatively pleasant.  I'm going to design another bird mobile, with native NZ birds.  And one with swallows.  The swallows will be another free printable, so if that floats your boat, stay tuned!

This kid is determined to pull this mobile down.  She's a pretty determined lass, so there's a fairly high likelihood that she'll succeed.  She likes to chase these birds in real life too, "gon' getchu!"

Summer Series - Project #4

Last one!  It might not look the prettiest (I'm sure you could do a nicer job), but this is quite a functional item.  A camera case that your camera can wear while you take photos.  I love taking photos at the beach, but inevitably my camera comes into contact with sand and/or water - grrrr!  While this camera case won't solve the problem entirely, it will definitely help a little.

The Beachy Keen Camera Cover-up

Ta da!  You can leave it on while you take photos!

You can even look at your photos, and adjust your settings - while your camera stays nice and dry...


This was a pretty easy project, though a little bit fiddly due to its size (my impatience didn't help much either).  Still a beginners project, and I think it took me about 2 hours altogether...

You will need:

Cut your main pieces as follows (I cut each piece much bigger than I needed too, so that I could make any necessary adjustments throughout):

Now:

This was an afterthought, and very necessary I think...

I was too busy sewing to take photos of the next stages - sew your base piece to your camera bag.  I spent a little bit of time adjusting it at this point, as it was a little more roomy than I wanted.  Alternatively, you could also give your camera bag some extra padding for further protection.

 

Project #1 - here
Project #2 - here
Project #3 - here