Remember yesterday? I am fulfilling my blue giraffe promise! This is another tube take on a cup-based craft from a magazine published in 1966. To refresh your memory, here's the original giraffe. I have some problems with the styling of this, so I tried to make one more to my liking. Consider it an homage, or a tribute to its 1966 ancestor. Here's how to make it. Start with a cardboard TP tube, painted white inside and out. (The painting is optional, but it makes the final coat of color much brighter.) To make the neck and head, take two of the rectangles you just cut out, and overlap one with another. Secure them with tacky glue, then trim the edges so they're even. Fold up one end, and cut it into a rectangular head shape. Glue the neck to the body with tacky glue, let it dry, and then paint the cardboard all over with acrylic paint. I used turquoise-ish blue, which is what the 1966 instructions called for. Insert the ends of a 3.5-inch piece of pipe cleaner through the fronts of the holes. Next you're going to fold each pipe cleaner end into thirds. For each, at the one-third mark from the head, fold the p.c. back towards the head. At the two-thirds mark, fold the p.c. straight up. You now have two ears and two horns! Now, on to decorating! Use markers for this. I wasn't enamored of the 1966-era craft's pattern of wavy lines with dots. So I tried a slightly-naturalistic look, using a black marker, as the magazine text asked for. I didn't like the result. Luckily, I had used washable markers, and was able to wipe it all off with a damp paper towel. (It helped that my acrylic paint is actually fabric paint, which forms a nice, plasticky coat.) I started again with a white marker (this Recollections pen) (not an Affiliate link, and it's out of stock online, so link is for visual reference only). I went for a more geometric effect, using lots of triangles. You can draw whatever pattern you like, of course. Better! I continued the pattern all over the body, and added eyes. I let the marker dry before adding black pupils and a nose. Thanks for revisiting the world of 60's kids crafts with me!
xo Look at this sunny-faced feline fella! He's based on the lion in yesterday's scans of a 1966 craft magazine. To refresh your memory, here's the original lion, made from paper cups: My goal here wasn't to make a replica, but to create an inspired-by version with what I had on hand (many cardboard tubes). I read through the magazine's instructions as I went, and took what I could from it. Here's how to make my version. First, paint a tube white, inside and out. From a sheet of yellow construction paper, cut out a circle that's about an inch wider than the tube. Stand up the tube, center it in the circle, and trace around it with a pencil. Use the circle you just drew as the stopping point for the small cuts you'll be making to create the fringed mane. Here's a trick for getting fairly evenly-spaced fringe: First, make four cuts at equal distances from each other, like the four points of a compass. Then, make a cut in between each of those cuts. Repeat two more times, just eyeballing the center point between two cuts. Easy-peasy. At this point, I turned to the text of the magazine for help. I followed their illustration and instructions to get the colors and shapes I ended up with. One change is that I didn't cut the nose flap out of the circle itself; I cut a separate piece of paper for that. Here's what I ended up with: Yes, those are tiny lengths of pipe cleaner for the pupils and mouth, and no, I wasn't happy with how they were looking. Even if the pipe cleaner pieces were cut smaller, they were still a pain in the butt to work with, being tiny fuzzy round things that really wanted to roll away. So I abandoned them, and used paper instead. I glued everything down with a thin layer of tacky glue, but I only attached the top quarter of the nose piece so it could flap up a bit and add some dimension. Ahh, so much better. Now on to the body. You're going to mark a sort of oval-ish lozenge shape near one end of the tube. Here's the shape, shown in three photos taken as I turned the tube. The distance between the two ends of the lozenge is about an inch. This segment will be the front of the neck of the lion. (Is it just me, or does the faceless body on the right look really cool? Like a kid's version of a surrealist sculpture.) Run a line of tacky glue along the rim of the head ring, and press it onto the back of the paper face. Remember those pink ears, from earlier? Make a short slit into the straight edge of each, and fold the edge over a bit. Glue the folded edge to the inside of the ring. (The slit will make them conform more easily to the curve of the ring.) Now for the tail. I followed the magazine very closely for this part. Cut a 3.5-inch length of pipe cleaner. Cut a one-inch square from yellow paper, and fringe one edge about half-way in. Fold the square in half, then add tacky glue, and fold/roll the paper around the end of the pipe cleaner. Use a large needle, a pushpin, or an awl to poke a hole in the back of the lion's body. Insert a half-inch or so of the tail. Fold it down and glue it to the inside of the tube. Lookin' good, my man! Tomorrow, might there be a blue giraffe? There might. There just might.
xo As I mentioned yesterday, I got a package of joss paper on Monday, and wanted to make something with it. This sewn-up heart garland can be made with other kinds of paper, of course (though I must note that my sewing machine doesn't handle card stock well; YMMV). To make it, first stack up several sheets of thin paper in various colors. Keep them stacked as you cut out a heart shape. Repeat until you have a bunch of heart stacks (I ended up using nine). Thread your sewing machine with colorful thread. I didn't have any matching pinks, so I went a bit contrasty with yellow. Sew through the center of the heart stacks one by one, spacing them out an inch or so in one continuous line. Use tacky glue to sandwich the ends of the thread between two pieces of paper. I used my one-inch hole punch for the top, and cut two free-hand circles for the bottom that were big enough to write a message on. Show off the many layers of your hearts by folding them in half, this way and that. Display your garland where a loved one will see it, or carefully slip it into an envelope or a small box and present it as a gift. I hung up my garland using a single glue dot, but a tack would be more trustworthy. Happy day to you, my Valentines!
xo I am still a proud member of the rock candy fan club, so I'm back with two quick ways to use it in Valentine's Day cards. They are so easy, you could make them for an entire kids' class. Truth. The only real "crafting" part here involves making a small container for the candy. If you have access to a craft shop with an aisle of Wilton's products, you can buy small cellophane bags there that would look perfect (though the bags at that link are a bit larger than what I create below). If you don't, or would rather not make the trip or spend the money, here's the frugal version. Cut a rectangular corner piece from a plastic bag. Fold clear tape over one of the open edges, and add a hunk of rock candy. Then, fold tape over the remaining open side to seal it. Now to make the card part. I like a simple, one-sided postcard design, because is your child really going to write a heartfelt message inside each one of these? I don't think so. I thought of two ways to use the rock-ness of the candy in the message. I made up the names, and added a bit of a love triangle, for fun (not shown: Mary confessing her devotion to Emma). First up, a card for miners. Note the semi-on-purpose, child-like scrawl. The pickaxe is made from scraps of brown and silver paper, and the candy bag is simply taped to the back. For kids who don't want a hint of romance in their cards, this one is perfect. (I must disclose that I asked my hip niece and nephew if kids still said things "rocked," and they were emphatic that they do not. Things might be swag, or "lit." At least they are in uber-hip Brooklyn.) An alternate message might be "You're ice cold," if you want to be a little mean. Or go the other way with "Facet: I love you!" (get it, 'face it, I love you'? I'll show myself out.) For this one, I used glue dots to adhere the candy and paper construction to a piece of scrapbook paper. I hope you enjoy these, my sweet readers!
xo This Valentine's Day card combines two things I love: rock candy, and letter stamps. I also enjoy a card with a window, but that's more of a 'strongly like' than a 'love.' Here's how you make it! First, fold and cut a sheet of card stock into quarters. You'll need two quarters for this card. (It's more of a postcard, really.) You know that diamond shape you cut from the center? Use it as a rough template to cut out a piece of cellophane or plastic bag that's about an eight- to a quarter-inch larger on each edge. Lay the plastic shape over the hole in the card, and tape it down. Place a few rock candy crystals in the middle. I have a local 'by the pound' candy shop that sells rock candy in bulk, but if you don't have something similar near you, Amazon has it, of course. Cut another piece of cellophane or plastic that's very roughly the shape of the diamond, but a half-inch or so bigger on every side. Tape down the top edges, folding and pleating the plastic as you go to fit around the bulk of the candy. Trim the plastic as needed before taping it in place. Here's how it should look from the front. Now to add the text. I recommend trying this first on another piece of scrap paper so you get the spacing right. In general, I like to do lettering and stamping-type things on a separate piece of paper instead of right on the card, so that if you make a mistake, you can redo it without having to throw out the entire thing and start from scratch. I got these tiny letter stamps at Michael's, but there are about a gazillion different kinds out there. Note that the set doesn't come with an apostrophe (which makes editor-me sad) so I found a matching purple marker and added one later. Attach the final stamped message to the front with glue stick, then add a couple of pieces of washi tape, if you dig the look. I do. Your card is now complete, unless you wish to hide the unsightly backside with its layers of plastic and tape. You do? OK, here's how. Bring back the diamond shape you cut out from the card in the beginning, and another of the card stock quarters. Trace the diamond onto the card, but again add a border of about an eighth of an inch. Cut it out with a craft knife. (You want the opening in this card to be larger than the first so you won't be able to see it from the front.) Trim the top couple of inches from the top, just because you don't need it, and I'm paper-thrifty. Lay this over the back of the candy-filled card, and trim anything that needs to be trimmed in order to be hidden from a frontal view. Attach it to the card with double-sided tape. Here are two views of the finished back: Now you're actually done!
xo This Valentine's Day idea is perfect for a parent, or a kid in collusion with a parent, to leave as a surprise for another family member. It requires no artistic or crafting skill, though you do need to know how to make the shape of a heart. And how to recognize colors, I guess. That's it! Step one: Go around the house with a bag or a basket and collect everything you can find that's red (or close to red). My collection includes a box of staples, a pin cushion, a box of small nails, a spatula, pom-pom trim, an old name tag, and a couple of pots of lip gloss. Step two: clear off half of your dining room or kitchen table (wherever you have the room AND where the heart will be noticed immediately) and arrange your red things in a heart. Done! Optional step three: Write a message on a paper heart and place it in the center. Mandatory step four: Within 24 hours of the heart's reveal, return all of the items back where they belong! Cleaning up afterwards is part of the gift. xo!
As I mentioned yesterday, I came up with an alternative to using a styrofoam tray as a loom frame. Using cereal-box cardboard has a few drawbacks, but I think the pros (readily available; easy to cut; clean and environmentally-friendly) outweigh the cons (a tendency to buckle). Here's how to make the loom, and ultimately, the paper-weft heart you see here. It would make a sweet and special Valentine for a parent, grandparent, or teacher. First, use a square to draw a rectangle on a cereal (or similar) box. Cut it out with pinking shears. Draw a rectangle in the center of the cardboard shape — I used the width of a ruler as a guide — and cut it out with a craft knife. Make a slightly smaller rectangular frame by tracing the first one and then cutting inside of the traced lines. Glue the smaller frame to the larger one, to add strength. Tape the end of a ball of string (I used size 10 crochet yarn, which is cheap and strong) to one corner of the back of the frame. Wind the string around the frame as slackly as you can; if you pull the string too tight, the frame will bow. This string is now the warp of the loom. Here's where I attempted to weave a heart with some wooly yarn I have. It came out just o.k., and was a frustrating experience. Not really worth the fiddly, unfun work it took to make it. Still, I took a photo for you. This might have been easier, and come out better, if the loom was bigger and the warp was tighter. I un-wove the heart and tried another tack: paper. I keep happening upon crazy sales at the craft store for patterned scrapbooking paper, so I had a few pieces that were heart-worthy. Cut paper into quarter-inch wide strips. Weave them in, one by one, trimming the edges with scissors after each one is in place. OR: Cut all of your strips before you start weaving, and then weave them in. Either way works! Once your heart strips are in place, flip over the loom and use a skinny brush to dab Mod Podge onto the string-crossed strips. The Mod Podge will adhere the strings to the paper so they don't shift and fall out of the loom. Happy starting-to-think-about-Valentine's Day!
xo While making the pajaki, I refined the tissue-paper pompom-creating process to make more sense to me. Maybe it'll help you, too! Here's how to make a small, fluffy pom that's about three inches wide. I had a pack of folded, multi-colored tissue paper, which seems to me the most common way to buy it. Pull out one sheet, and cut along the fold lines to get two sections with roughly equal widths. Cut those two long rectangles in half, to make four shorter rectangles. Stack them up, aligning the edges as best you can. Starting at a short edge, accordian-fold the four sheets. Each fold should be about a half-inch wide, or a bit less. Use strong scissors to trim the ends and round them off. Mark the center of the folded-up packet by folding it in half. Loop a length of cord, string, or yarn around the center, and tie it snugly. (You can cut the ends into points instead, but I found that made the paper more prone to tearing during the fluffing part. YMMV.) Now, to fluff! Spread open both halves of the paper, like a fan. Or like two fans, to be precise. Carefully get a hold of the top layer of paper, and gently, but firmly, pull it up and away from the rest. Do this with each of the two 'fans'. Here's what it looks like after both halves of the top layer have been pulled up: Do the same with the next layer of paper. Here's how it looks after two layers have been pulled up: Repeat with the third layer, then fluff the last one by spreading and smoothing it open. I wanted a round-ish puff, so I let this last layer point downward. For a more cup-like shape, pinch the center of the flower and fluff the last layer upward. You're done! Enjoy festooning with flowers!
xo I added some swags to the bottom of my pajaki, and I'm going to call it "done for now." As you can see, I used more of the pompoms and the tissue and construction paper discs, as well as paper-covered straw sections, and rolled paper "beads." Here's how to make the paper-covered straw pieces. First, grab a handful of drinking straws from an unattended concession counter at a movie theater. Cut the straws into sections. I cut each one into five roughly equal lengths. Cut a rectangle from tissue paper that's about the same width as a straw section but a big longer than it is wide. Spread glue stick on the upper half of the rectangle. Place the straw section in the middle, then roll and press the two halves of the paper together around the straw. Cut the paper edge with pinking shears. Shredding scissors would make for great fringe, here; unfortunately, I don't own a pair. For plain, cylindrical "straws," I used tissue paper. Use a round, untapered pencil for this. I have a skinny pencil that works perfectly. Cut a rectangle of tissue paper that's about as wide as the pencil is long, and 4 or 5 inches tall. Spread glue stick onto the top inch or two of the rectangle. Place the pencil along the bottom edge, and roll it up in the paper. Push the pencil out of the cylinder, eraser-end first. Cut the tube into whatever lengths you desire. Thread a yarn needle with a length of cord. Mine was about 2.5 feet, and I had plenty of excess for tying. Clip the other end with a binder clip to act as a stopper. String your elements on the cord in a pattern. Repeat this twice to make three roughly equal strands. Tie each end to a corner of the hexagon. (I tied the second end two corners away from the first.) I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, though I can see myself adding more elements in the coming weeks, just to make it look fuller and richer. It will be my chromotherapy for the winter months.
xo ...but not yet finished. Getting there, though! I ended up using the traditional pom-pom flower method, and made six small-ish ones. I tied the centers with cord, and I left the ends long so I could tie the poms to the pipe-cleaner corners of the hexagon I made in yesterday's post. And now I will reveal what I am attempting to make: A pajaki, which is a colorful Polish decoration made of paper, straw, and yarn/string, and that seems to have no significance or religious sentiment behind it; its purpose is simply to add color to your home. Which is why I wanted to make one in January, when it is getting quite monochromatic outside. Here are a few images of traditional pajaki; click on the image to be sent to the source for each one. Totally gorgeous, yes? It turns out that the reason they cost $125 is that they take for-freakin'-ever to make. Not that I'm complaining, as I enjoy this kind of work, but I want you to know what you're getting yourself into, should you choose to attempt to make your own. I am also a fairly stubborn person who didn't want to follow another crafter's directions on a DIY version, so i mostly just glanced at a few examples (such as Martha's, Vintage Movement's, and A Beautiful Mess's), studiously avoided any how-to information, and then just started putting things together. Here's a look at where mine is at, again: It was time to string some fun fripperies onto the six cords that hold up the shape. You'll definitely want a paper punch for this, as it made everything a whole lot faster. I got mine using one of those nearly ubiquitous 40%-off coupons at either JoAnn's or Michaels. Using a paper punch such as mine on tissue paper is a recipe for frustration, as the paper just tears or gets mangled. Here's the trick to getting perfect tissue paper shapes. Sandwich two or three pieces of tissue paper between two sheets of construction (or other) paper. Stack them up all tidy, and punch out lots of circles (or flowers, or stars, or whatever you like). Now, make a bunch of mini-sandwiches with tissue paper tops/bottoms and a construction paper center. Poke a hole in the middle of each sandwich using a yarn needle. I used a piece of a styrofoam tray as a work surface for the poking; if you don't have styrofoam, try a short stack of corrugated cardboard. Anything that you can stick a large, blunt needle into will do. Cut straws into quarters (I just eyeballed it; having each segment identical in length is unnecessary). Thread your yarn needle with one of the six hanging cords, and string on straw sections, tissue paper sandwiches, and pom-poms. I had some fancy ones from eeBoo mixed in with the regular major-retailer poms. Repeat the stringing-on with the rest of the cords, using the same pattern of straw-paper-straw-pompom-straw-paper (or whatever) that you used for the first cord. Now it's starting to look like a pajaki! When I was messing with the stringing, I realized my pipe cleaner joinery needed reinforcement, so I took each joint apart, one at a time, and smeared some tacky glue on the pipe cleaner ends before reinserting them. Much better. Many of the traditional pajaki I saw had a woven center, like this one at right. I happened to have a couple of yard-long, skinny (maybe 1/8-inch) dowels on hand, so I measured the distance from the opposite corners of my hexagon and used that measurement to cut three lengths from the dowels. (Actually, I cut them a bit bigger than needed, so I could trim it to fit tightly when I was adding it to the hexagon.) I used a white pipe cleaner to sort of lash the centers together into as asterisk shape. I used washi tape to attach each end to one of the untrimmed ends of the paper pom tied to each corner. I tried to keep the end of the dowel tight against the corner. Although the process doesn't feel like an elegant solution, it seems to have worked well, and the resulting structure feels sturdy. After that, I covered the naked dowels with strips of washi tape. Note the ugly lump of white pipe cleaner in the center; we'll get to that. Now it's just a matter of weaving cord and yarn around the spokes, starting in the center. Tie an end of a ball of cord to the middle junction, and begin looping it around each spoke as you move around the "wheel." When you want to change colors, knot the ends together, and hide the knot ends in the subsequent wraps around the spoke. I might end up wrapping yarn and cord all the way to the edge of the spokes, but I was still weaving as midnight approached last night, so I simply had to stop from finishing. As you can see, I took one of the practice tissue paper flowers and tied it to the middle, effectively hiding the pipe cleaner blob. Here's how it looks, now. My next step will be to add hanging garland things to drape down from the hexagon frame. I could make more straw-section garland strands, but I have finally come to the end of my pack of paper straws, so I must find more. Or, I could make my own cylindrical beads out of rolled paper. It would be nice to incorporate my embarrassingly-large collection of toilet paper tubes. However, I think this project, like most, benefit from sticking to a limited number of materials. This is my task for the weekend, to figure out which way to go. (I love this kind of task. Love. It.)
xo! |
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March 2017
AuthorI'm Debbie Way, an artist and writer who enjoys making things. |
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