Pinewood Derby Season is Coming

Hey everyone!  Happy Thursday.  Today I want to share with you a fun project I made.  Lots of talk these days with friends about scouts, seeing all their cub scout photos, remembering our scouting days.  Anyway that got me to thinking....I love playing with electricity and circuits (thus the reason I am working with Chibitronics)...what if I lit up a pinewood derby car?

Well, after years of Cub Scouts and Y-Guides, I had quite a few cars to choose from.  I chose to go with the fire engine that Brighton made oh so many years ago (maybe 10?).  Anyway, what would be more fun than adding flashing lights, just like a real fire engine.

So, here is the fire engine that Brighton made all those years ago.

I began by placing my Chibitronics Copper tape in parallel across the top and wrapped it under the body of the fire engine.

I added three lights, two red and one white.  Chibitronics chibi lights come in a variety of colors, and if you want you can even color them with Sharpie for a custom color.

Well, a car that lights up is pretty cool, right...but this is a fire engine, those lights need to blink.  lol  So I added in the twinkle effects sticker.  There are a total of four effects in the pack, I did the blinking before on a gift bag, so I decided to try the twinkle.  Now, this car has seen its days racing down the track.  If you wanted to do this for a real race, you would want to hollow out the area where the battery sits so that it doesn't come into contact with the track.

Outrageously Cute Owls - Coredinations

Hi everyone!  Hope you are having a great week.  Today I wanted to share with you a project I did a while ago for Core'dinations.  I love the dot papers that Core'dinations makes, such a fun texture.  These little pillowboxes are just so cute and fun.

I had my niece Lili and one of her friends over for a playdate so that we could create these.  The girls of course loved it.  They then proceeded to fill their little pillow boxes with other diecuts they had made.

Owl Box Supplies:

• Core'dinations Core Basics Patterned Papers 1 Sheet per Owl
• Core'dinations Core Basics White Cardstock
• Core'dinations Core Basics Black Cardstock
• Core'dinations Tillie Dot 12x12 Papers 1 Sheet 12x12 to coordinate with Patterned Paper, and Orange
• Core'dinations Sand it Gadget
• Pillow Box Tool, Cut File, or Template
• Assorted Circle Punches and dies

Step 1: Cut pillow box.  I chose to make my owl 6 3/4 inches by 4 1/2.

Step 2:  For added interest, sand the box with your Sand it Tool.  At this time I assembled the box so that I could see where the owl "parts" would go.

Step 3:  Begin cutting Owl "parts".  Two white circles approximately 2 inches wide for eyes.

One three inch circle, cut in half, for the wings.  Again, sand this piece for extra texture and interest.

One two inch circle and a small triangle for the feet and beak.  Feel free to sand if you like.

Two black one and 1/2 inch circles for the pupils,

Sixteen or so one inch circles for the feathers.  Don't worry if they don't punch perfectly, we are going to layer them so you can hide your mistakes.  hee hee
Step 4:  Time to assemble.  Begin applying the "feathers" in rows across the box.  Be sure to not place the feathers where your box will fold up.  Add orange "feet" on top.

Step 5:  Add wings and the whites of the eyes next.

Step 6:  Finish with the pupils and beak.

This project is so fun and easy to make; and the owls are totally outrageous.  The new Core Basic Patterns create the most adorable feathers and coordinate beautifully with the Tillie Dot papers.  I hope you give them a try, my littles did.

Hugs

Outrageously Fun Owls

Hi everyone!  Just wanted to stop by and let you know that I have a project up over at Core'dinations!  These cute little paper owls!

Just love these little guys.  And they are so easy that when my niece and her friend came over we made them for them to carry some little treats (did I mention they are a pillow box?)

Be sure and check out the complete tutorial.

Hugs.

Pinecone Turkeys- Kids Craft Tutorial.

Hi everyone!  Happy almost Thanksgiving!  I wanted to share with you today a fun project you can do with your littles for Thanksgiving.  I originally made this for Core'dinations, and you can see it here.

Pine Cone Turkey Supplies:

• Core'dinations Vintage Collection 6x6 Paper pad
• Core'dinations Core Basics White Cardstock
• Core'dinations Core Basics Black Cardstock
• Pinecone
• Google Eyes
• Red and Yellow Chenille Stems
• Brown Acylic Paint
• 2 Inch Foam Ball
• Gold Glitter
• Scissors
• Glue

Step 1: Paint foam ball with brown acrylic paint.  Helpful hint: insert a skewer or small stick into the ball to keep fingers out of the way.  You can even keep the ball on its stick while it dries.  

Step 2: While paint dries, trace and cut out two hand prints on Core'dinations Vintage Collection papers.  I let my little friends cut their own hand prints out...good practice with the scissors, but keep some tape handy...jic.  lol

Step 3: Glue handprints to the stem end and foam ball to the top of the pinecone to create  the basic turkey shape.

Step 4:  Assemble the face of the turkey by inserting a 1/2 inch piece of yellow chenille stem in center of ball and wrapping a 1- 1/2 to 2 inch piece of red chenille stem around it.  Attach google eyes with glue.  Look how easy making a turkey face is.  Who knew.

Step 5:  To create the male hat cut a 3 inch circle from black Core Basics cardstock.  Draw a 2 inch circle about 3/4 of the way around and cut out.

Step 6:  Cut edges out of the semicircle and fold up to create hat shape.

Step 7:  To embellish hat cut a small piece of white Core Basics cardstock approximately 1 1/2 inches by 1/2 inch and add a little glitter to the center to create the hat band and buckle.

Step 8:  Place hat on turkey head, glue if desired.

Now, you know my little friends wanted kerchiefs for their turkeys as well, so that they could have girl turkeys.  lol

To Create the kerchief

Step 1: Cut a strip of white cardstock 2x4 inches, cut along solid lines to create the kerchief shape.

Step 2:  Fold edge of cardstock up 1/4 inch to create kerchief.

Step 3:  Poke small holes in ends of kerchief to create laces that you can then tie.  I used just a small piece of baker's twine knotted on either end.

Step 4:  Place kerchief on turkey head and tie in a bow.  I tied it loosely so my little friends could easily slip it off and on.

Don't they make the cutest little couple?

I am sure your little ones will enjoy their turkey friend for many years to come.

Core'dinations and Turkeys?

Hi everyone!  Today I am up over on the Coredinations blog with a cute project for your littles (I had my niece and one of her friends for a playdate one afternoon) this fall.  Hop on over and check it out....

I will be back later with the tutorial for the "girl" hat.

Hugs.

Pinwheel Party with Embellish by Dena - Darice

Hi everyone! Today I wanted to share with you a project I did for Darice using more of the gorgoues Little Azalea patterned papers from Embellish by Dena. These papers are so bright and cheerful, I couldn't resist making a few pinwheels for my friend's daughters to play with.

PAPER PINWHEEL SUPPLIES:

• Dena Designs Little Azalea Patterned Papers 12×12 or 6×6
• Small Brads
• Hot Glue
• Paper Straws

Step 1. Begin by selecting coordinating patterns from the Embellish by Dena Little Azalea paper pad.  I chose to mix and match a bold pattern with a subtle one and I loved how this turned out. If you are using the 12×12 pad, cut each sheet into 6×6 pieces and glue the back sides together. You want the pattern to be visible on both sides of your pinwheel. Step 2. Using a ruler, draw lines on the diagonals and cut to within a half inch of the center. Step 3. Place hot glue into the center of the papers and gently bring corners together into the center, working in a circular fashion. This will create the pinwheel.  The side you apply the glue to will be the inside of the pinwheel. Step 4. Place the brad through the center of the pinwheel, pushing through the glue. Step 5. Poke a small hole into the paper straw and insert brad from pinwheel. Note* These pinwheels can be made bigger or smaller based on the size of the paper and the length of the straw.  For a giant pinwheel, try a full 12×12 sheet of paper, a dowel and a push pin.  For a straw you can drink from, try hot gluing the pinwheel to the straw. You’re Finished! Now you can make as many pinwheels as your heart desires and watch them spin!

Pine Cone Turkey - Craft for Kids

Hey everyone!  With Thanksgiving quickly approaching I thought I would share this quick tutorial on making pine cone turkeys.  They are really quite simple, and if you use fabritac or some other strong holding glue,  you don't even have to worry about the little ones burning their hands.  (ie, they can do most of it themselves)

For this project you will need; pinecones, foam balls proportional to your pine cone (these are 2 1/2 inch soft foam, but regular Styrofoam is fine) paint to match the pinecones, google eyes, scraps of paper in fall colors (I used cardstock, but you could use crepe paper or tissue paper), yellow chenille stem and scraps of red felt.

 Begin by painting your foam balls.  While you wait for these to dry....

 Cut your paper into strips approximately 1/2 inch wide.

 Cut the chenille stem into 1 inch pieces and fold in half.

When your foam balls are dry, you can begin the assembly.

Make your turkey face using the gluing the google eyes to the front of the ball, place a small hole in the ball and insert the chenille stem for a beak, and finally glue a small piece of red felt or cardstock next to the beak for the waddle.

Here I added a piece of white cardstock to make a kerchief as well.

Glue the colored paper strips into the large end of the pumpkin trailing toward the back for the tail feathers.

For this turkey hat, I cut a three inch circle, then cut 3/4 of a concentric circle inside.  I folded the inside of my ring up and trimmed it to make a pilgrim hat shape.  A quick square out of yellow cardstock created the buckle.

These are so quick and fun to make with your kids for Thanksgiving.  

Hugs.

Nancy