27 posts tagged “craft”
My RSS Aggregator is just full of papercraft ideas thanks to a certain magazine, so if you don't mind I'm going to dump them all in here at once. Ready?
Gardening:
- My wife likes buying those little plastic trays to help seedlings grow, but perhaps this pot made out of newspaper would be a more eco-friendly way to do it.
- Of course I tend to kill any plant I touch. Perhaps it would be better if I just made one of these papercraft models of houseplants instead.
- I like to snap pictures of exemplary student work, but if it's 3D I sometimes run into the problem of having a distracting background and/or difficult to control light sources. Next time, I might just build a papercraft macro studio! (They say it's an origami studio, but I was always told traditional origami has to start with 1 square paper. This design doesn't have t o start with a square to work well.)
- My wallet that's made out of duct tape is holding up quite well, but when it's eventually worn out I might go with this simple paper wallet instead. 3 cuts and a bunch of folds is all you need! (And it's not as sticky as a wallet made out of tape, either.)
- Do you remember back when Mario didn't have to go everywhere with a cast of about 50 of his closest friends? Bring back the days of the first Super Mario Bros. game with these two papercraft models! (World 1-1 & World 1-1 End)
My Mom's birthday is tomorrow. She's already gotten a card from me, but if I had forgotten I most assuredly would have resorted to making my own.
Either that, or printing out one of these. They're a long way from that Print Shop garbage I used to play around with.
For people who want to build things on their fridge but don't care for magnetic poetry, I give you this!
I'm not sure I would want to show my students how to burn things with a magnifying lens, but this set of instructions for how to engrave things with sunlight has me wondering what items I have that might just hold up against a few char marks.
Perhaps I should be more worried about what my wife would say. ;)
Of course you can always tear/cut apart an existing envelope and trace it, but why not try out this printable template from Jessica Jones?
I like her idea of printing it on patterned paper, then cutting it out. (Hm, I've got some extra card stock lying around...) I think I might even go one step further and print it on the back of some photo paper, of course with a photo on the other side.
Every now and then I find a website that just makes me think of one of my sisters. This site, for example, made me think of how the older one has a new place. (I admit it, I want to make these shelves. I don't think Gretchen would use these, and I don't think Kelli would let me make these, myself.)
And of course, she has a soft spot for anything with skulls on it. Not my first choice of decoration for a DIY reusable fabric coffee cuff, but to each their own...
People wonder why I surround myself with empty containers. Well, you never know when you'll want to make a windmill out of a Pringles can, airzooka/smoke-ring generator out of a Folgers Coffee can (or trash can), or any one of a number of fun toys.
C'mon, you know you want to make one too...
My days as a bachelor ended almost 6 years ago, and while I don't really miss them I think it would have been cool to make some furniture out of cardboard.
... hm, I do have some large boxes ....
No, I need them to pack up our winter clothing.
Just when I was afraid that I might have too many cardboard tubes, Kids Craft Weekly posted a lesson on how to turn them into cute little sheep with a handful of cotton swabs and "Q-Tips" or their generic equivalent. (Don't tell my mom about this lesson - she's a little obsessed with sheep.)
If you scroll down you'll also find a great lesson for making "dirty dogs." I'm not sure I'd use a paper plate since I buy paper by the ream, but the idea of adding the dirt using fingerprints of glue is kind of neat.
Every now and then you need a quick and easy lesson on dinosaurs. Like this one from the Creativity Portal, for instance. Cut it out and add a couple pipe cleaner legs like they show you to get a simple sculpture, or leave it on the paper & add a cool background. It's up to you!
I have a better idea for my background though. A while ago when I was cleaning my office (don't die of shock - sometimes I actually do that) I found a box chock full of styrofoam trays. They're just like the ones kids use for lunch in my schools, except they don't smell like ketchup.
With the use of a pencil, some tempera paint, and a brayer, you can turn a chunk of styrofoam into a great printing plate. It's basically just a larger version of this video lesson.
