Sunday, May 30, 2010

Over the hill and far, far, far away

I have forsaken my readers and I think they may have forsaken me! Or perhaps they just weren't that interested in the last post. Shall I try again.

I was feeling frustrated with my sewing so I have put it away and am working on my scrapbooks (will I ever catch up?) and also a few feltboards. The feltboards in part are to pack for our coming trip. (We're off to NSW for three weeks in July just for the fun of it.)


Here's my first set. This one is for Moonshine.

I used the template from http://www.dltk-kids.com/type/felt_board.htm though I shrunk it. It was a nice little sitting up in front of the heater at night project hand sewing the mother's bits.

Moonshine likes the ducks and carries them around saying "du du du". She's not so sure about the song (even though we sing it at swimming) and becomes quite agitated when the ducks go behind the hill and there is less returning each time. I end up singing it with one hand holding the hill down.
Also already one duck is missing a foot after the first time Rainbow acted it out. Such is life. They might all end up being legless ducks floating on a pond.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Poor Man's Glitter

It's been a month since I last posted. I'm not sure why I've been away so long. Many reasons - I had computer problems, Moonshine and I have been sick and partly just that I've had things sitting heavily on my mind. I'll probably share some of these (I'd actually like your input) but not today.

Instead today here's a really easy craft idea.

I'm sorry I haven't got many photos. So I'll start with the end product and then tell you about it. You use it just like glitter. You apply glue to your paper, sprinkle on the poor man's glitter. Shake the page to spread it around then pour the excess back into the jar. For the abstract design on the left Rainbow used a paint brush to apply the glue. The person was drawn using a glue stick. The following pictures were created using potato stamps stamped in glue. The stamps were made by pressing a cookie cutter into a halved potato. Then with cutter still in place cutting a line parallel to the cut surface. You're then left with a raised shape.

So what is poor man's glitter. Simply salt with a few drops of food colouring added (just a drop or two as you don't want to wet the salt). Mix well so that the colour is dispersed.

Rainbow also likes using the poor man's glitter to make potions. The great thing is because it is salt it dissolves in the water and you get to see the effects of mixing the colours. It really does make the potion magical to a three year old.

Another interesting thing is that if you leave the pictures displayed in the kitchen or bathroom over time the salt absorbs the moisture in the air and changes texture - even dribbling down the picture at times.