elephant planter

After seeing my post about the hippopotamus planter, a friend wanted one as well, but she was hoping for an elephant. Luckily, I had one!

Click on the hippo to see the tutorial on how to make these cute planters. 

hippopotamus planter

Design Don't Panic - Dinosaurs & Succulents

So, the idea for this lovely hippopotamus planter came from Design Don't Panic, via Pintrist!

When I saw them I just had to figure out how to make these plastic toy planters, and so, I did!

So, I started by getting my lovely hippopotamus at the dollar store, my most favorite place to get craft supplies. Then, out came the knife. I started by cutting down the center the length that I wanted the opening to be. 

Next I cut the width. I did the best I could to make it as even as possible, but I had to go back and clean it up a bit at the end, but that wasn't a big deal.

 The next step was to cut off the flaps leaving the whole open. Then I did a bit of cleaning up around the edges, just to make sure they were nice and smooth. Now, on to the planting!

My hippopotamus had a small hole it from the tag. So I cut a coffee filter and folded it into the bottom to so the hole was covered. I doubt it was a big deal, but I thought it would be good just in case. Then I filled up the hippopotamus' body and planted my lovely little succulent plant.

And voilà I have a lovely hippopotamus planter! 

green scarf

presents.

I love Christmas. Giving presents, wrapping presents (not so much on the buying presents, but that's ok, it comes with the territory) Every year it seems I come up with a "new" way of wrapping presents. This year has built off of last years, in a sense, but has gone even farther.

I don't quite have everything wrapped, but these are presents that had to be done before this weekend. I think they are very pretty and wanted to share. The basic idea is from Cosmo Cricket, but hers are treat bags. But I loved the idea and like so many other things, ran with it!

Here is the tutorial from Cosmo Cricket, there is no way I could let you know how to make them any better. 

To make my bags at different sizes I had to add another step. For each present to fit snuggly, I measured the object and did lots of simple addition and subtraction.  The bottom had to be the correct size for the width and length then the height on the sides had to be just a bit above the top of the present. The real trick was getting the other two opposite sides to be tall enough that they would cover the top and have the ability to close in some way.

For example, 

if the present was 4in length by 5in wide by 5in tall. 

• First double the height
  5in + 5in = 10in
• Add the width to the doubled height
  10in + 5in = 15in

So that will give you how wide you have to cut the paper.

Next you need to figure out the length. With this you will need to add extra paper for the closer.

• To find the width you already doubled the height. So take that measurement again and add the length of the present.
  10in + 4in = 14in
• This is where you add the extra length, I really have no formula. A lot of it is how you want it to look But make sure you add at least 3in for both sides. More if it's a solid object with little to no give. 

For this present you would need to cut the paper 15in by 20in. 

For our pretend box you would want to fold 5in in on both sides for the width and 8in for the length. After folding along the lengths and width you will follow the folding instructions from the video. 

Once you have followed the folding instructions the flat paper should look something like the illustration. 

To finish the creation of your home made bag you will need to fold it all up once more. For most of the bags I used glue stick to hold the bag together, but that is not necessary. These bags can be decorated however you'd like. I would sugest decorating before glueing the bag together. 

Instead of labeling the packages I assigned a stamp to each person and their presents are all marked with it. Adds to the mystery a bit. And it was fun for me! A few of the stamps I created myself.

To close the bags I punched holes and tied each package shut, with ribbon, twine or lace. They could be stapled or taped. 

Each of my bags were individually engineered for the each present. As you can imagine, it got old a little fast. I've just got a few more to wrap... but I'll do that a little later. I need a break!

popsicle stick bracelets.

I found this project on pintrist, and backtracked it to The Pink and Blue Blog. I ended up modifying it a bit, compared to the original tutorial, but I am happy with the results.

First, I microwaved the popsicle sticks in microwavable container and water, until they were soft and pliable. I think it ended up being around 6-7 min.  

Next, I carefully (they are HOT) bent the popsicle sticks int a glass

 (They needed to be microwaved a little longer. most of the popsicle sticks broke when I tried to bend them into the glass. Some of them were because of ill placed knots in the wood, but I guess that's another story.)

After they are completely dry... and I mean completely. I left them in extra just to be sure they were good and dry. I took a few out too early and they started to flatten out again. Take them out and break out the drill. (I don't know if my cup wasn't the right size, or the popsicle sticks weren't long enough but mine won't say on by themselves. So I'm turning my into bangles.)

Make sure you have something to drill into, and a small enough bit. I cracked one because the bit was too large.

I drilled two holes in the small popsicle sticks. And one in the large ones. I'm going to make them both a little differently. I found it was easier to hold the wood and let the bracelet curve around the wood. Next time I'm going to pre-drill holes before soaking them. 

So here are my popsicle sticks ready for the next step! (The larger tongue depressors I had used in as stir sticks when I was dying some yarn. It gave them some interesting coloring.  I'm very excited to see what more I can do with them.)

I finished off my lovely popsicle stick banges with embroidery floss. 

I made each a little different. I still have a few more to experiment with. But I am very happy at how these have turned out. 

I'm in particular love with these. The dyed sticks add an additional level and give them the a uniqueness. I think the addition of the buttons is a cool look as well... But then, I'm a sucker for buttons.

hand made stamps

I love the dollar store. 

I'm not sure too much more needs to be said on that subject. The things you can find to re-porpoise are endless. 

Recently, I've been making stamps out of erasers. Some are the giant ones you can find. The ones that say "for big mistakes".  They have been very fun to design and create. I'm not going to say they are perfect, but I think they are pretty cool. 

Some I've made for a purpose, but  most are just for fun. I mean, seriously, doesn't everyone need a mustache stamp?