How to build a robot out of recycled materials

This morning we woke up to rain and mist and no real plans for the day. Since we're not spending any money at the moment due to our No Shopping Challenge we decided today was a perfect day to hang out at home and get creative.

Ben was given this great book by his Auntie for Christmas. It has cool ideas for making robots using odds and ends that you have lying around at home.

We didn't end up doing a project from the book but it did give us inspiration to do this:

We had an old laptop with a broken screen stored away in a cupboard and it was the perfect thing for Mr J and Benny to dismantle. Ben loved using the screw driver and taking the pieces out by himself. Pretty soon we had a big crate of wire, circuit boards, and pieces of metal.

Next came construction:

Then spray paint using some leftover car paint we had in the laundry.. and gluing the cool pieces from the lap top in place.

 This is a great up cycling/recycling project to do with your kids. Everything on "Otto Ankle" (that's what Ben named him!) was found around the house. If you'd like to make something like this yourself here are some ideas of what you may need:

• Old electrical equipment such as a stereo or computer. Make sure the battery is removed if you're taking apart a laptop and be sure to supervise your kiddies just in case as there are some sharp metal bits inside.
• Cut off cords from broken appliances
• Tin cans
• Plastic bottles and lids
• Duct tape
• Insulation tape
• Super glue
• Cardboard tubes
• Sharpie pens
• Spray paint or regular acrylic paint
• Wire
• Cardboard boxes in various sizes

We've started a collection of things of this nature for Ben to make stuff with, that way when we find something interesting it's easy to add it to the box. We're going to keep the box up high so he has to ask to use it (otherwise I foresee some 2am building sessions). Council clean up days are a great way to build up a stash of interesting building materials or ask around your friends to see if anyone has any electrical equipment they want to get rid of.

Happy building!

Day 14 - Free fun & Fimo

Today started as one of those days. The kids were sick and tired of being stuck inside following a week of weather that made it too uncomfortable to go out. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get them to agree to disagree and tempers were frayed (including mine).  Time to go out!

We had planned to do a quick trip to the park hoping that some fresh air and exercise would change their moods for the better. Then someone mentioned a walk to a cave down the road in the National Park where you can see Aboriginal hand paintings and suddenly we were on a bush walk. Half way to the cave we saw another sign to a swimming hole that we've been meaning to look at since we arrived in the mountains. Our plans changed again and we took off down some steep rocky steps.

Gosh, I'm so glad we did. We hadn't planned to visit the National Park today and we certainly hadn't planned for a swim -but with my children where there's water and a bit of sunshine someone is always going to get wet. We had the whole place to ourselves so I let them strip off to their underwear and dive in.

In seconds my tired and moody kids were happy again looking for "crystals" in the sand and splashing around in the cool water. If I'd packed sun screen and food we could have stayed all day.

With my patience restored I was in the mood for some craft this afternoon so we got out the Fimo clay and made some beads. Ben made a robot to make into a magnet.

I'm two weeks into my no shopping challenge today and we've done really well. So far we've stuck to our plan. It's been hard at times. Mornings like this morning usually make me want to go and do something with the kids - the mall, the zoo, a trip to Sydney, DVD's from the shop. Today we did get to do things together - free things - and it was just as fun.

44. Hot Water Bottle Cover made from Recycled Jumper

 

A couple of weeks ago I flew to Wellington to celebrate my mum's 60th birthday. I arrived late at night and as the terminal doors opened I was met with an icy blast to the cheeks. Nearly 3 years in Sydney has made me soft and I was ill prepared for just how cold Wellington can be in June. When we arrived back at my sister's house I saw that she had made up a cosy bed for me. Being our mother's daughter, she had popped a hot water bottle under the covers so that the bed was extra warm. Wrapped around the hot water bottle was a nifty little cover she had fashioned out of a woollen jumper. Yes, recycled crafty goodness runs in the family! As I was packing to go home again she gave me this very cute vintage wool jumper with a Panda bear on it. She had planned to use it for another project but thought my Ben might like it. As it turns out, it was a little tight on Ben, and after these photos were taken he said "Mum can I take it off right now?"  so I knew it wasn't going to be a winner.

So this morning I decided to turn it into a hot water bottle cover just like my little sis did. Here's how to make one yourself:

You'll need:

1 hot water bottle either mini sized like mine or full size
1 vintage wool jumper
Buttons
Thread

The first thing I did was lay my hot water bottle over the jumper to get the position right. Then I drew around the shape with a pen, making sure the line was at least 2.5cm away from the edge of the bottle.

The neck was left straight because we're going to use a cuff for the neck part later on. Once it was cut out I turned it inside out (right sides together) and overlocked it all around, leaving the neck and bottom edge open. Then I stitched it on my normal sewing machine for extra strength.

The neck piece is made from one of the cuffs. I cut it off and overlocked the edge before sewing it around (again, right sides together). The bottom was closed using three buttons that were on the jumper but you could insert the hot water bottle and hand stitch the opening closed, or use ties if you like.

Mr Ben was pretty happy with it. This project took around 15 minutes to complete, perfect for a quick craft on a winters day.

34. Home Made Gifts

It was my lovely sister's birthday yesterday and a few weeks ago I set myself the challenge of handmaking her present.  There are so many great craft websites these days that inspiration is easily found.  One of my favourites is Craftgawker where you can find all sorts of fun things to make at home.

After an evening browsing the Internet and bookmarking pages I found a few craft projects that I thought my sis would like. Here's how I got on.

Headbands with Felt

I saw a similar idea to these headbands on Craftgawker. They're really easy and quick to make.  All you need is a plain headband or a piece of elastic cut to size with the ends sewn together. Then choose your design and hand stitch it on using embroidery thread and a large needle, or you could use a sewing machine if you prefer.  The top headband has felt circles that are cut in towards the centre to make little flowers. The second one has three overlapping felt leaves.

Hair Combs

All you need is two plain combs and some different coloured embroidery thread. Start at one end and wind it around the edge then secure the thread at the end put weaving it back through with a darning needle.

Beads 

My two kids made these clay beads using Fimo oven bake clay for their Aunty.  All of their playdough rolling skills came into play as they made lots of little balls for the beads. We thread them onto some bamboo skewers before baking them in the oven. When they're cool pull them off the bamboo and you have yourself some beads! They really loved making this necklace themselves and were very keen to show their Aunty their favourite bead.

Gold Leaf Brooch

I made this brooch from some gold Fimo clay. I rolled it very thin then pressed a leaf into it before cutting it out.  Before baking it I secured a safety pin to the back with another small piece of Fimo.

Hope you're having a good week - happy crafting everyone!

13. Origami Wallet

Cost: Under $10
Time: 1 hour tops

My lovely husband bought me a pressie the other day. It was the crafty book Sew La Tea Do by Melbourne author Pip Lincolne. I spotted this book at Borders a few months ago and mentally put it on my wishlist. There are 24 beautiful sewing projects in this book and it comes with an envelope full of patterns to help get you started.

Today I found myself with a quiet empty house and thought I'd get out my ragbag to see what was inside. I found some blue and white gingham and the remnants of the tablecloth I used in my Retro Library Bag post so I decided to have a go at Pip's sweet Origami Wallet.

Materials:
1 fat quarter of cotton fabric cut to 46cm x 50cm (18 inches x 20 inches).
1 x 22cm x 22cm (8 3/4 inch x 8 3/4 inch) square of heavy-weight fusible interfacing
10 cm (4 inches) hat elastic
1 large button

Here we go:
Fold your fabric wrong sides together lengthwise and press firmly with an iron.

Open it out again and place your square of interfacing shiny side down on the bottom left corner of the wrong side of your fabric as below:

Iron the interfacing onto the fabric using a medium - hot iron (no steam), press down firmly.

Next with wrong side facing up fold in 1cm (3/8 inch) along all edges and press firmly with an iron.

Fold the rectangle right sides together, matching all edges. Pin into place and press. Sew around all edges of the rectangle and press again. Well done!

Lay your rectangle out, interfacing at the top. Fold up the bottom edge 12cm (4 3/4 inches) and press.

Now get the new bottom edge, fold it up so that it sits 1cm higher than your original edge. Now bring this fold back down so that it sits in line with the bottom of your rectangle. Confused? Have a look at the picture below:

The idea is to create a 'concertina' pocket for the cards in your wallet. If you're confused try it out with some paper until you get the hang of it. Make sure you press everything firmly so you can see where to fold each section.

Unfold your card pocket and stitch along the bottom pocket edge (the dashed line above) so that it sits nicely. Refold your pockets and pin into place.

Now grab your other interfaced edge and fold in 8cm (3 inches) and press. Sew a seam along this edge to secure it. 

Now fold your wallet in half, matching up all of the edges. Exciting!

Next up open the wallet and measure half way across your card compartment. Grab your elastic, fold it in half, and insert the two ends into the bottom fold. Have a play to make sure the elastic is a good length and trim if necessary. Sew along this bottom edge securing the elastic as you sew.

Fold your wallet back in half, stretch the elastic around the front, and mark where your button should go, Stitch it into place.

Almost there! Stitch up the sides to hold everything in place. Place a card in the card compartment, mark the size, then sew up a seam up the middle of the card pockets.

You're done!!

How about...

Stitching some vintage fabric onto the front of your wallet

Gluing a doily or piece of embroidery on the front

Sewing some vintage buttons all over the fabric

Making a patchwork wallet

Autumn Leaf Easter Basket

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
- Albert Camus (1913 - 1960)

I feel more fortunate to live in the Blue Mountains in autumn than at any other time of year.  If I ever ponder the thought of living somewhere else autumn inevitably lures me back with its showy red and gold leaves and sunshine that glistens and bounces off every surface. Cool mornings; cold nights; warm, warm days romping through fallen leaves; meeting friends for picnics; the children spending all hours in the garden. After sizzling and sweating our way through summer, these days in cool comfort feel luxurious indeed.

Autumn is inspirational. It's colours are too good to leave outside so for this post I've designed an Autumn project to bring the season indoors. I hope you'll have as much fun making this seasonal project as I did.

We're surrounded by gorgeous maple trees here in the mountains and at this time of year they're at their best. I found a website showing how to make rose buds from the leaves and since Easter is coming up this weekend I thought I'd incorporate them into an Easter basket.

Materials:
Collection of Autumn leaves
Basket
Raffia, shredded paper, or straw
Florists foam
Chocolate eggs

Here we go...

Making the rosebuds involves folding and rolling the first leaf for the centre and then folding the second and third leaves around the outside before securing it with thread.  Full step by step photos are available here. After making a posy of maple leaf roses I put them into some florists foam and then into a basket with some more leaves around the edges and in between the rose buds. Some raffia hides the florists foam and bulks up the arrangement.  Once you have your rosebuds. leaves, and raffia in place pop some Easter eggs in amongst the raffia and you're done.  Now all that's left is figuring out a way to keep little fingers from rummaging through it!

3. Matchbox Keepsakes

Time: Under 1 hour

Cost: Under $10

Have you ever popped a pretty shell in your pocket while walking along a beach?

If you're like me, you have a bowl of "keepsakes" that you can't get rid of, even if you haven't looked in there in months. Included in mine is a piece of plastic from a car headlight, salvaged after my husband, then 16, crashed his first car; a piece of black shiny obsidian rock from Auckland's One Tree Hill, collected while picnicking on a bright spring day; some Beado's that my daughter has made me as a gift; and a little grey shell that my mother in law gave my daughter on our summer holiday in Port Macquarie.

These little memories deserve better than a dusty bowl on a shelf. This project will show you how to display your treasures and record your memories, and it's so easy to do!

Materials:

Bulk pack of matchboxes - small or large or a collection of both. Around $5 from the supermarket.

Glue

Collection of nick knacks

Photos, magazine pictures, maps, and pretty papers to cover your boxes

Tissue paper (optional)

Here we go....

Arrange your nick knacks in front of you and match up any photos, pictures, maps, or postcards to each little treasure. Try to have something that makes you think of the memory that will be hidden inside the box.

Empty out the matches into an airtight jar and reserve at least one box so that you can use it to strike the matches leftover from this project.

Place your matchbox on top of the material you will be covering it with and trace around it with a pencil. Cut out the rectangle and glue it onto the front of the matchbox.

Choose a pretty piece of paper to glue on to the back in the same way. Once it's dry, write down any notes you can think of about the memory onto the back of the box. It doesn't just have to be places and dates, be creative! Funny things your children said, what the weather was like, or a quote or poem that reminds you of the event are all wonderful things to record for future years.

Lastly, put some tissue paper and your nick knack into its box.

Make as many or as few of these matchboxes as you wish and display them on a shelf, or in a pretty box. I love to display mine in a glass bowl where they invite family and friends to discover what treasured memories are hiding within.