Saturday, September 29, 2007

Record Bowls Two Ways


Easy project, only takes a few minutes. My friend Gina told me how to do this, she says the internet told her how. Well now I am telling you. I think this one is best done when the grabby toddlers are napping peacefully, just because there's heat involved and you have to move fast.

skills:
turning oven on

Tools:
oven
baking sheet lined with foil
oven safe bowl
Two bowls- one larger, one smaller
Oven mitts

Materials:
Scratched up, thrift store records


Preheat your oven to 300. Line a baking sheet with foil. Once oven is hot enough pop a record in and let it bake for 3-5 minutes (most take 3)

When it's done baking, you can grab it with your fingers or with your mitts lay it over the larger bowl and push down with the smaller one.



You're done! Congratulations! If you hate the way it looks put it back in the oven and try again.


Okay the other way~You know all that vintage pyrex you've been collecting? Well dump that salad in a different bowl, wipe in down and pop it in the oven with a record centered on top. After 3-5 minutes it well look like the picture. Take the whole thing out of the oven, please use your mitts so you don't burn your cute little fingers! Once it's cooled (a minute or so) it's ready to be filled with candy or used as a junk catch all.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

knitting a square shaped hat





Because it's the easiest shape for me to knit & I enjoy the easy projects. I am well into the red & feeling good about this project. It may even be done before it gets cold. I am debating on whether or not I should do tassels on the two corners . I am leaning towards 'do', maybe with some cute little skull beads.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Halloween King/Queen


Easy project, finished in about 30 minutes (nap time)
I made this a Halloween crown but it also works as a birthday crown (felt number for years old) or an everyday, around the house crown. Can be made for adults and kids alike.

Skills:
cutting
small amount of hand sewing

Tools:
Scissors
Needle

Materials:
Chalk
Paper crown (optional but it helps)
Easy Felt or stiff felt for crown
Felt for embellishment
Thread same color as crown felt
Embroidery floss or a craft glue like tacky glue
other embellishments such as rhinestones, fun fur, puffy paint, sequins, beads, or anything else your little heart desires


I used a paper crown we'd gotten at the grocery store as a template. I believe you can easily find these at fast food restaurants and if you'd rather not go in to one of those places, or you're just feeling extra crafty, make your own template/design. I traced it all out with plain chalk. I had to trace this on two pieces as I could not find felt as long as the paper crown was.


Remember to trace and cut out the tab and slots, so it can be an adjustable fit or you can sew the ends together once you are finished.
Cut each piece out pretty carefully. You don't need to be perfect about it, close enough is good enough, just try your best.


Once you have all of your pieces cut you may, depending on the length of your felt, have to sew two together. When I did this, I overlapped the two pieces by a couple inches to make sure it stayed together.




Now it's just a matter of adding decorations. I kept it simple for time's sake, cut out a simple skull shape and sewed it on with bright orange embroidery floss.


hair spiders



While cleaning and organizing some of my craft supplies I come across


a tube of E600
some plain old hair clips
googely eyes
2 rubber spiders