Clay Lights

We needed some nice patio table lights for the cabin so we decided to make some instead...we had been thinking about going fishing hence the fish theme for our lights.

Materials Required:

air dry clay ( I like Prang Das, strong, less cracking and dries to a nice pale shade..great for painting....I used an alternate type here and I was not very pleased with it )

small container of water

acrylic craft paint

newspaper

wax paper

tea lights





Take a palm sized lump of clay and flatten out on a piece of wax paper.





Starting at one end mold a tail




Keep the front part flat as this will be the base for the tea light. Make sure it is large enough to hold a tea light..about 2 inches.


If the clay is getting dry wet your fingers in the water and smooth over the clay.










Scrunch up a small piece of newspaper and place in the space for the tea light...this will hold up the clay you put on top while it is drying.








Flatten another palm sized lump of clay to about 1/2 inch thick.








Place on top of the newspaper....join to the bottom with by wetting your fingers in water and smoothing both pieces together.








If there is some cracking in the clay like you can see here....dip your fingers in water again and smooth out.








At first we thought we might turn this into a whale but I was worried there might not be enough air for the tea light so we opened up the hole more








You can also use foil to help hold the shape while its drying in areas where you need a bit more support than the newspaper provides.

Cut out eye holes for your fish....

We added fins but had to use another color of clay as we ran out of the grey

Leave your clay fish to dry....you will know it is dry when you touch the clay and it is close to room temperature.

When dry use acrylic craft paint and paint as desired......

We didn't add a sealer as the paint stayed pretty glossy however you can add a sealant on the outside surface only if you wish.

Put your tea lights into the center.

That's it...some colorful fish for our patio table....

that add some light to our summer evenings.

take care and see you next time

gail

Pea Pod Buddies

Yesterday I made these Pea Pod Buddies.

The kids had been asking me to make them ever since I got this book. I absolutely love this book.....its all about making dolls using gloves. There are all kinds of animals although I especially love the cat...fairies, snowmen. kimono girls, etc.

It is in Japanese but it has so many pictures that it is easy to follow along. I get my Japanese craft books from Saucy Louise as I find the postage to Canada very reasonable.

My kids also love this book which has over 100 little felt characters for them to make all about 3 inches tall.

They have learned how to transfer the pattern, cut out the felt and sew them together...all the small parts are glued on.

Check out the frog my 6yr old made yesterday.

Back to the Pea Pods....in the book they call them beans.....which is probably botanically correct as they are white but we call them peas.

You need some cotton gloves.....I hit the jackpot at Wal Mart. In the hardware section they sell a pack of 12 pairs for $5.00.

I have also used the mini gloves from the dollar store....you know the one size fits all ones.

Cut off the finger tips......you need them to be about 2.5 inches long.

Thread a needle and make a running stitch around the cut edge.

Stuff with some wool or stuffing to make a nice sized pea.

Pull the thread tight....add some stitches to try and flatten the bunched end and knot off.

Make as many as you want....next you have to add the faces. Thread a needle with some embroidery thread. I'm using 3 strands. I choose green but you can do it in any color.

Coming in from the back of the pea make the nose with a few stitches.

Add the eyes and mouth and put in some eyebrows... the eyebrows help to add different expressions....happy, sleepy, mad.

Use a red crayon to add some blush to the cheeks....you need to circle around a few times before the color transfers.

Now you need to cut out the pods.

For the open pods I used 2 different fabrics. One for the inside and one for the outside.

I used cotton quilting fabric and wool felt.

Make a pod pattern....you can click on this picture to make larger. The pod is 4.5 inches long and 1.5 inches wide at the middle. You can also make smaller pods if you wish.

The stem end is in a star shape approx. 1.5 inches wide from one point to another.

Cut your pod shape out on the fold....they should look like this when you are done.

I used the wool felt for the stem end.




Put 2 pod shapes right sides together and stitch leaving about 2 inches open for turning. I'm at the cabin so I hand stitched all mine but I'm sure the machine would be much faster!!

Turn and hand stitch the opening closed.

You can press them if you wish at this point.

You then have to add a little seam down the back of the pod.

Insert a pea and sew a pocket with a few stitches. The first one I made I actually sewed the peas in place but the kids wanted to be able to take the peas out to play with them....so from then on I just sewed in the pocket.

If you are making one where some of the pod is closed you can add some stuffing to keep that pod shape.

Add a stem end with a few stitches and you are done.

I made some plain pods, stuffed and with only 1 piece of fabric. I think they make a nice addition to the pea buddies.

I also left one pea free....the kids used him as the buddy knocking on the door to ask if the other peas could come out and play.

They also came up with names for all the peas based on their expressions.


So give it a try and sew up some pea pod buddies for your kids or get them to give it a go.

see you next time

gail

Sun Prints

Today the kids and I made Sun Prints.



















We used this kit I picked up at the ranger station at the Redwood Forest.....you can find out more about it here.

You can also make sun prints using regular construction paper. You need to choose a dark color like blue, black, or purple and you need a very sunny day.









First you need to go on a nature hike. The kids scoured the hills for some good material.
















We then placed it on the special paper and put it in the sun. With construction paper you will have to leave it for several hours. With the sun print paper this takes only minutes.










The kit included a Plexiglas plate to hold down material in the position you wanted. This also helped keep everything together in the breeze.












You then soak it in water for 1 minute. If using construction paper skip this step.












Here are our prints drying on the deck.

The paper reverses as it dries. The image becomes light and the background dark......with construction paper your image will be dark and the background light.




We then mounted ours on some watercolor paper and hung it in the cabin. The kids found this whole process fascinating and I will have to get some more of this paper.

I would love to do a series of nature prints for the hallway at home.


Still working on our tiny macrame owls....we are trying to do a Momma and a baby as a wall hanging.



we'll see you next time

gail

Macrame Owl Necklaces

Well I'm back....well not really we came home did laundry, repacked and turned around and went back to the cabin. The camping trip down the Oregon coast was terrific!!!! A good break but we had little time for crafts or painting as we moved around so much.

So now I am back at it....first up Macrame Owls. Now I remember these from when I was little only they were huge and hung on the wall...I like this tiny version better and you can wear it anywhere.

Now I used the pattern HERE by Gretchen H. Brierly. A little fussy but once you get started not too hard. I wanted my owl really tiny so I used crochet cotton instead of string.

UPDATE: The original pattern is no longer available.  Please access the large owl PATTERN HERE.  Instead of starting on a stick pin your threads to a board but make sure you leave excess at the top to create you necklace from.  Otherwise it is essentially the same pattern.  Click on the photo above to see the setup.

Everyone wanted in on the act even Tika our cockatiel.

Rather than knot the entire necklace section I alternated beads with loops.

I added a simple loop over a bead closure and that's it.

If you choose to use crochet cotton like I did you need far less string then indicated in the pattern....cut down your lengths for the owl body by half and your necklace part by a third.

It is now my daughter's favorite. She is itching to make an owl but we will try something a little larger...stay tuned for that adventure.

see you soon

gail