Sunday, December 28, 2014

Frozen treasure.

Water has magic powers ! Oh, yes ! Water is TOTALLY a superhero ! Why? Oh, oh, oh !!! Water can be a liquid or a solid and can go back and forth from one form to the other ! :D :D :D
Do you want to see water perform magic in our own freezer ?!?!!!
This is such a creative, educational and magical project to do with kids. And ! What kid doesn't like treasure !?! How about freezing your treasures !!!
All you have to have is water, any type of container that will fit in your freezer and lots of tiny, shiny, exciting treasures :) We used buttons, beads, mini figures and generously topped it all up with some serious amount of glitter :)
This is a great opportunity to explain your kids about winter, temperature, ice, snow. Kids get very curious following the progress of water slowly becoming ice.
So lets start with placing all your treasures in a container filled with water. Once it's done - sprinkle some glitter and place it in the freezer and start exploring freezing process.
Once all studies are done and water is frozen - it's time to search for your treasures ! It works the best in dark when you can use a torch searching for the treasure imagining that, in between bubbles, there is a frozen land where buttons are clouds, where it snows glitter over the ground of diamond pearls... !
To speed up melting process, let your kids to draw rainbows over their frozen land by pouring colour over it and adding a bit of warm water. The best is to mix colours with warm water before pouring it over the ice block.
I can guarantee that you will be as excited as your kids making this project ! Or my be it's just me....? :D

Develop pictures on a glass.

This post is for parents to have some fun creating !
I thought I will share it, it is absolutely a MUST try !!!
Instead of usual photo frames - this is a great way to funk up your place. Hang them few cm off the wall, with the shadow it looks quite impressive !
This picture is developed in a darkroom on a glass from a regular picture frame . But no worries, there are ways how you can make it without darkroom skills.
I have found few tutorials how to transfer your picture on a glass.
One of them is in this great blog!
http://www.dosmallthingswithlove.com/2013/08/photo-transfer-onto-glass.html Highly suggest to scroll around it for some more home inspirations.
Here is another pretty good description how to get your pictures on a glass or a cup or wherever you wish - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KpnpaIKkgY
And here is a link for those who knows one or two things about darkroom. This tutorial uses the classic direct liquid emulsion process.
http://www.ehow.com/how_6748790_print-photos-glass.html
Have fun !

Friday, December 26, 2014

Christmas stocking bunting.

Quick peek on our DIY Christmas stocking :) Mind the messy ott. fire place - girls felt they need to decorate it themselves.... :O
My oldest daughter picked out colours and decided what should go on each stocking. She also operated the sewing machine pedal for each and every stocking ! Absolutely amazing to see her growing into a crafty young lady !
So this is how we did it. We drew a stocking on a paper, cut it out - that was our stencil. Then we put two felt sheets together, put our paper stocking on it and cut out the shape. Then it was time to drew a snowman, deer and owl ! I want to suggest for those who can't draw - type in google silhouette of whatever you want to draw and copy that on the paper and apply to the fabric. This stocking can also be made without sewing - glue it if you don't have a sewing machine. There is no need for an opening.. It will be as good !
Then we added some Christmas ribbon on the top and attached them all to one long ribbon. Job done !

Winter in the jar.

Our winter scene.
All we had was - jars, cotton puffs, pine cones, felt wool for hair and face and felt sheets for the hat, little bit of Christmas ribbons, some penguin and christmas tree decorations from our Christmas cake. Oh ! Not to forget completely overdo with glitter :D
Our Grandma needle felted head and hair, then I made a hat for the hobbit and a crown for the angel, glued them to the pine cone and let girls to do the rest. Once all items were placed in jars, it was time for heavy glitter session :)
Then we closed jars and painted the top white and sprinkled even more glitter ! Around the edge of the jars we put ribbons just to make it look small bit fancy :D
Magic in the jar !

Christmas Cards.

We do love our clear acetate sheets!!! Super simple projects. Just paint and clear acetate sheets. Receivers were pretty impressed :D
And Mammy had some fun, too :)

Winter art.

All you need is:
a) clear acetate sheets
b) glue
c) shaving foam
d) paint & paintbrush
e) buttons (optional)
To make snowman nice and puffy, mix glue and shaving foam together. Mix it well until it's looking foamy. And that's your paint !