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Friday, January 25, 2013

Pin Wheel Tutorial



When my oldest was really little, she hated laying still on the changing table.  I had a small shelf above her changing station and decided one day to make a pinwheel and tie it above her head for a distraction.  I saw a really cute tutorial in a Martha Stewart "Baby" Magazine.  The tutorial showed how to make a mobile of pin wheels.  So cute!  I made the pin wheels but tied it above her head and when ever she got restless I'd just give it a spin and she was enthralled.  It was the best!

So when I brought my little guys to the dentist for their first appointment, it came to me that it might work there too.  Babies are alway a little unsure of new people.  Especially ones in a lab coat that want to look in their mouths.  Our dentist sat the baby on my lap facing me.  Then they laid him back on my legs so he was looking up at the ceiling.  The dentist would sit in a chair across from us and be in the perfect position to look in the kids mouth and "count" their teeth.

I made a few pinwheels for the office to use.  They can hold it above the kids face to distract them while they are being examined.  I kept with the woodland theme of the office.

Here is a tutorial on how I made these.  They aren't really hard but they take a little practice to get the hang of them.

Materials: Ruler, Pencil, Paper Piercer and Foam Pad, Clothes Pin, Needle, String, Three Wooden Beads (Two Large, One Small), Paper, Paper Cutter.
 Cut a square piece of paper.  I used 4" piece.  Draw two diagonal lines from corner to corner.  This will help you find the center point.
 Make a small dot at the 2" point  from each corner.  This is where you will cut up to.



Pierce the center (where your two lines intersect).  Then flip it over to the backside (not the clouds on my piece of paper) and pierce the left corner of each of the four sides of your square.  You flip it over so the direction of the pierce will be the same as the direction you will string it on your needle.  This will make your paper less likely to rip when you push your needle through.  
Thread your needle.  Thinner the string the easier it will be.

Put the small bead on your string.
 Tie the string in a knot.

Cut off the excess string.
String one corner from the underside.  
 
Thread all four corners starting with the underside (not the clouds).

 After all four, put your needle down the center on the topside (clouds).

 Pull all the way through until the wooden bead is tight on the center of your pin wheel.  You may need to shape the paper a little to get it to bend correctly.


The paper will resist being pulled tight.  You want to get it as tight as you can in the next steps.  Otherwise it will be too loose when you finish making  the knot on the back of the pin wheel. 
String one of the bigger wood beads onto the string.  
Loop the string around and put the needle back through the bead the same direction as the first time you put it in the bead.  Pull the bead tight to the back of the pin wheel before you tighten the string around the bead.  Once you tighten it around the bead it will hold in place enough for you to make a knot in your thread.  

 Once you have the bead where you want it, make another knot.



Decide how much string you want at the top, thread the other large bead and knot it.

 Cut off the extra string.
  
Take your clothes pin and measure the top face.  Cut out paper to fit on to it.
 Glue the paper on top.

 Let dry and you are done.


You can clip it to things or tie it on.  The clothes pin makes it easy to hold. 
 Here are some others I made for the dental office.  They use them with their infant patients and it works wonders to distract the babies from crying.
 I also made some as baby room decor for a friend.  I made hers with metal brads as the center.  Cute but a little harder to make sure they didn't rip through the corners of the paper.


Thursday, January 24, 2013

Oakpark Frame

We had the best Children's Dentist Office in Simi Valley, Ca.  We were very sad to move and leave their office.  I tried to bring in gifts to show the staff our appreciation.  As my parting gift I made a collage for the office.  
 It has the Oakpark name and the year the first office was established.  There are four offices now.  The four solid green squares has the name of all the offices on them.  The office has a woodland creature theme (so cute).  So I used that as my main inspiration.  Usually I find it easiest to pick one paper stack of scrapbook paper and use only those papers as they already match colors and tone.  With this I had to use two or three sources of paper but I think I did pretty well matching them up.  
I wasn't able to find a window box frame appropriate to my needs so I glued all the squares on top of the glass so I could still get the 3-D effect I love in these type of projects.  Of course pictures never really do it justice but it's so cute in person!



More Duct Tape Purses

I made this one for my niece.  I've been experimenting with felt to see if it would make the purse feel a little more substantial.  I've mostly found that the tape doesn't stick well to the felt.  It does work okay to put one strip on the bottom to help it sit better.  

 I taught the Young Women in my church group how to make them.  Here are their versions.



 And here was the one I made as I showed them how.  So much fun with these cute girls.


Love Notes for Christmas

For Christmas I decided to make these cute frames for my family.

For the last year my husband and I have kept a notepad in our master bath to leave little notes to each other.  Often times he goes to bed before me and wakes up before me.  At night before I went to bed I would write a little note like, "Have a good day!" for him to wake up to.  Then when I got up he would have left me a note in return.  We don't do it all the time but its fun to have a running conversation.

When I saw some cute frames on Pinterest we switched from pen and paper to a small frame with scrapbook paper behind the glass.  (You can change out the paper to match the holiday season or just change it up for something new.)  We use a dry erase marker to write on the glass.  It's a little prettier than scratch paper and can stand upright instead of laying flat on the counter top taking up space.

Here are a few that I made for adult family this Christmas.  Super cheap too.  1$ frames at dollar store and scrapbook paper I already had.  Add a small dry erase pen with an eraser on top and voila.  Done.  It's hard to see from the picture but the paper is really subtle tones with a little sparkle here and there.  Very pretty.  (Sorry all the pictures are sideways:)







In each families bag I included three candle holders I made out of repurposed glass jars.  I glued some of them onto a clear candle stick holder from the dollar store for height.  On Pinterest I saw the idea to glue antique lace around the outside. Find my source here.  They don't look like much during the day but when you light the candles at night it gives a beautiful glow.  


I also included a few wooden clothes pins.  On one side I added some scrapbook paper.  On the other I put glued two magnets so they could be used on the fridge.
 I made these ornaments with the Stampin' Up! Sizzix's Big Shot Lattice Die.  I found the tutorial HERE.

 Made these tags by cutting scrapbook paper into strips.  Glue them down and then trim off the edges by running it through my Big Shot machine with the Stampin' Up! Top Note Sizzix's Die.

 Made these by taking two of the Lattice Dies and laying them perpendicular to each other.  Add a little pearl to the middle of both sides.


 I decided to do the same thing for my cousins wedding.  I made a cute card and dressed up a plain paper bag.
 



 Added a small pen with an eraser.