Friday, December 30, 2016

Mould & Paint: Sea Life

Ever since my son got a Mould and Paint: Safari kit from my sister (I'll post about this soon), I've been obsessed with buying similar kits.



Today's crafting activity with the kiddo is Mould & Paint: Sea Life. This kit contains a mould, two packs of plaster powder, a strip of magnet with adhesive, two pins, five small tubs of paint, and a paint brush. The mould has six designs: a turtle, two starfishes in a coral, an angel fish, a seahorse, two clown fishes behind a coral, and another fish that I have no idea what type it is. The available colors for the paint are: blue, yellow, white, pink, and purple.



We did the moulding a few days before. Just mix one pack of the plaster powder in 30-70 mL water. Pour the mixture onto the mould and wait for it to set and dry. You have to keep an eye on them because you'll be adding the magnet, pins, or a string (not included in the kit) before it completely dries up.

These are some of the dried up designs. We wanted to try making these into a fridge magnet (using magnets, duh), a badge (using the pins), and an ornament (using strips of string). I didn't use the magnet strip provided but used my own magnet, don't know what it's called, but it's the small, round ones.


I let the kiddo paint on his own. Since he loves pink right now (because of Jigglypuff, don't ask), he painted most of his work with pink. I painted one, the one with the two starfishes because I got frustrated with his clown fish painting. If you find the clown fish I'm referring to, then good for you. 😜

Sorry about the backdrop, we were still letting it dry when I took a picture.

So there you go. I have three more boxes of these Mould & Paint kits, four if I were to include the one my sister gave the kiddo. Hopefully we'll be able to make more these beauties.

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Boxy Fox Amigurumi Keychain

I made this Boxy Fox Amigurumi to give as a gift to one of my book buddies. It was easy enough to follow, and fun to make! What I love the most about this pattern is that there is no need to sew most of the parts.


In the pattern, this was supposed to be a big toy, but I used a small thread and hook to make it the right size for a key chain. I also didn't use safety eyes and nose, as I do not have them on hand, and used a cross stitch instead to make the eyes and nose. My original plan was to switch colors where the nose and eyes should be, but it was ugly and it'd ruin everything. Plus, the wonderful ladies from the Facebook group that I belonged to suggested to just sew/embroider the eyes and nose. And the result was wonderful!

original plan with the nose

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Primrose & Proper Cowl

I made this cowl as a token to my husband's Aunt in the US. I got the pattern on Ravelry (link to pattern) for free. It was really easy to make, it took me at most an hour to make this. I followed the length on the pattern, but soon found out that it was a tad bit smaller than I wanted, so I changed the position of the buttons. I will definitely make this again, probably in a different color and make it bigger.


Useful tip for the pattern: the pattern did not indicate the weight/thickness of the yarn used. So work the length of the base chain according to your preferences.

Friday, December 2, 2016

Rose Pencil Topper

I made this rose pencil topper months ago. The rose that I used here was rolled and sewn. Although it's prettier and fuller, I cannot recreate it anymore. And if memory serves me right, I had a hard time sewing the tube, or the cylindrical body of the topper, to the rose itself. 



So I searched for a no-sew rose pattern. This is the best that I've seen so far: No-sew Ruffle Rose Pattern

It's easier to sew on the body, and I think I can even do these toppers without sewing or doing the two pieces separately. I'll try to do that next time.


How to make the topper:
  1. Make the rose using the pattern above.
  2. Make the body/tube/whatever that part is called. Pattern below.
  3. Sew together.
Pencil Topper Body or Tube:

Chain 10. Slip stitch to first chain. You will work in rounds.
Rows 1-10: Chain 1. Single crochet on each stitch. Sl st to first stitch.

You can change the base chain and the height of the body by increasing or decreasing the rows.