Paper Stars

To celebrate Independence Day and because it's a "skill" I've been meaning to share, I am posting a tutorial for building a paper star. These stars can be folded to come to a peak in the middle--like the metal star decorations that seem to be so popular. Make them out of printed paper and hang them. Make them in pairs and staple them back-to-back to create 3D stars. Or just make them for fun.



1. Fold your piece of paper in half.









2. Make an angular fold with the vertex roughly centered on the first fold. Fold over the paper as shown to the 32 degree angle mark. If you don't have a protractor, make an educated guess.






3. Fold the left side up and crease it where the extra layers of paper you've folded over in the previous step start. (Just follow the pictures.)







4. I hope you're still with me. Next, you will be folding so that the "outsides" of your angular paper configuration come together. Crease along the line where the layer change begins.






5. Press the new crease down flat and cut a sharp angle from the double-layer side toward the crease. Unfold your paper and you'll have a star! If you don't like the angle of the point, refold it and cut it again.

Hello, my name is ME

I was looking for an interesting picture for an avatar, one that really screamed "me" and decided to make my own picture using my favorite art form: words. I tried to come up with all of the things about me that were true, from my perspective. I'm sure there would be other more and less complimentary things to add if I asked around.



Feel free to snag this blank one to add your own words (copy-paste away). Otherwise, it's easy enough to make a fresh tag yourself, if this isn't big enough. Any basic graphic arts program can pull off this stunt.

Alien Mutant Plants of Doom

For you elementary school teachers, homeschooling parents, or crafters with unusual tastes I'd like to direct you to my math education blog: Family Math where I have posted instructions on building alien foliage for a math puzzle called Evil Mutant Plants of Doom.

Family Math is where I get to discuss math education and encourage a dialog about mathematics problem solving between adults and children. I developed a number of math puzzles and games intended for Family Math fairs. It is a fantastic way to combine my math fandom and my crafting skills.

My Dad's Handiwork

My dad has been busy in the workshop again. He's built this unfinished pine table whose base works as a magazine rack. He has it on offer at Etsy. It would make a good end table, near an entry -- anywhere, really.

Custom Lamp Finials

I made this custom two-sided final for a tall lamp. It's built from polymer clay and faux cabochon gems. I wanted a sort of sun/moon look so I built each side as a medallion. However, more interesting, sculptural pieces are certainly possible.

First, I took the old finial to the hardware store where I found a bolt that fit inside it. I didn't need to buy the bolt but used it to find a threaded insert into which it could fit. This steel insert cost about a dollar. It's meant to be hammered into wood. There are styles with outside threading that is intended to be screwed into wood. However, I liked the fatter base and sturdy prongs of this hammer-in style.

Then I built the clay around it. I should have taken more pictures to show what I did. It was simple enough to cover the insert and then build-up the piece in layers. In this case, I covered it and shaped the top into a flat disk. Then I built medallions to fit the disk and added those on a second and third firing.

Using Paper Cones

Here are some cones made with the directions in my Paper Cone Tutorial in use. The "tree" is just three stacked cones made with the same angle cut and different slant heights.

My favorite use so far has to be the snack stands. I made the top cones as usual and snipped off the tip. Then I lined them with waxed paper for food safety. To line them, I just cut a half circle with a radius of the same slant height as the cone it went into, rolled them to fit inside, then folded over the tip. The bases were cut using an arc I drew with the compass--about 1.5 - 2 inches away from the center point. I suggest making the snack cones and their bases fairly wide so they aren't "tippy."

I plan to give specific directions on the snack stands in a later post so stay tuned. I may also be talked into making some templates for those who don't want to figure out the math.

Tutorial: Modular Paper Cone

Paper cones are versatile for crafting.
- tip down, they serve as hanging vases
- holiday paper cones can represent trees
- they make great party hats

It's simple to roll paper into a cone. But what if you want to make a cone that's a specific radius and height? What if you want the base to sit evenly on a flat surface?

Making custom cones is simple and only uses a little math. To make it more accessible (that is, to prevent your eyes from glazing over), I will simply give the instructions here. I plan to post an explanation of the calculations on my Family Math blog.


Step One: Determine the radius (r) of your base and the height. You'll use these to find the "slant height". This online calculator will do it for you: Calculator. Just enter the radius of the base and the height as the sides. The result (hypotenuse) is your slant height: s. (If you know a little geometry, this slant height is calculated using the Pythagorean Theorem.)



Step Two: Determine the angle of the wedge shape you'll need to cut from paper. This another simple calculation: Angle=360r/s
(r is the radius of the base, s is the slant height from the previous step)



Step Three: You will be drawing this angle on your paper. To do this, select a point for the vertex of the angle. Draw one line that starts at the point and is length s.


Using a protractor, mark a point that makes the angle you determined from this point. Draw a line that connects the point to this line and extends beyond it for length S. At this point, you should have an angle with two legs of equal length on your paper.



Step Four: To draw the arc which will be the edge of your cone's base, you will need a compass*. Adjust your compass so the distance it spans is the same as the slant height, s. Place the point of your compass on the vertex of your angle and sketch the arc.



Step Five: Make a tab along one side of the wedge, as shown. This will be the gluing tab. I added the red lines to this picture to show the details. Notice, I cut the tab short on the point side.




Step Six: Cut out the wedge, roll into a cone and glue together.





*(You can also substitute a strip of paper a little longer than S for the compass. Place the paper to be cut onto cork board or some other surface you can pin into. Mark a line on the strip that is the same length as S. Make a small hole in one end of the line. Then pin the other end of the line through the vertex of your angle. Place a pencil into the hole and make your arc line.)

Baked Potato Salad

Every crafter, writer, parent, etc. needs good, quick kitchen tricks. After a day of projects, I was going to make burgers for three of us one evening and wanted a fast side dish. I rooted around in my fridge and found a few things that I thought would work. The result: Baked Potato Salad.

First I made a dressing by thinning (light) sour cream with (light) ranch dressing. I diced cold, leftover baked potatoes with the skins on then lightly salted and peppered the potatoes. I combined the dressing and potatoes with some bacon bits. I would have tossed in some chives or maybe green onions but I didn't have either at the time. I'm sure I'll be making this again because it went fast.

Pirate Pushpins

These are sword, dagger, and knife pushpins I made for my bulletin board. I created them because of my husband's love of "pirate culture." I was also inspired by the image of the dagger in the door when Captain Hook kindnapped Peter's kids in the movie "Hook."


They are even sturdy enough to be put into a wall and hold a small amount of weight--like a parchment ransom demand or declarations of pirate rights. This one is in my husband's office at work where it holds a little sign in full pirate style.

Candle Holder

My father just added this candle holder to his etsy shop. It's two sided--one side holds votives or tea lights and the other holds tapers. I received one like this last Christmas and just love it!

These are really versatile. I can make long, tall centerpieces by putting narrow cylindrical bud vases (less than a dollar at Walmart) in the votive holes. Then I put single flowers or bunches of small flowers in the vases. It's a really nice look.

Steampunk Princess Fairy Door

My daughter drew a concept for this door and I built it for her. I suppose it's steampunk meets fairy princess. It was difficult to stay faithful to her window details which were pretty cool. Only the most amazing fairies would live behind this door.

The "glass" was more distressed than I had anticipated, having handled and rolled the clay for it carefully. Next time I think I'll pool liquid clay over a color to get the look I'm after. It seems to be more consistent.

Making Paint on the Cheap

My tutorial about painting clean lines posted on Instructables has been so popular (over 7k hits in less than 3 days) that I thought I would redirect anyone who is interested to my only other paint advice: Penny Pincher's Paint. This is an article I've written about how to buy tempera paint (for teachers and parents) and make acrylic paint (for crafters, parents, and teachers) out of bulk purchased tempera powders.

Tutorial: Crisp, Clean Paint Lines

This tutorial was featured on Instructables.

Have you ever tried to use masking tape for its intended purpose only to discover that, no matter how carefully you apply the tape, paint bleeds under it, ruining your efforts?

Making clean paint lines between two colors doesn't have to require a steady hand or special equipment. This technique is very simple and requires only paint, brushes and masking tape. This time, however, you will be controlling the bleeding paint and using it to create crisp lines that precisely follow the edge of the tape.

Lay down the first color, extending past the area where the line will be. If you are using two layers per color, paint both layers.







Once it's dry, place your masking tape. In this case, the bottom of the masking tape marks the location where the edge between the two colors will appear.






Using the same color, paint along the tape edge. This seems strange but, there will always be some bleeding under the tape. By deliberately painting against the tape, you seal the edge with the first color, allowing it to bleed under the edge, so the second color can't do it. The edge of the tape becomes the edge of your line.




Make sure the lower edge of the paint feathers softly away so you won't see a thick ragged layer of paint later on.







When the bleed-under layer has dried, paint the second color. Make sure your paint overlaps the location of the tape line.







Remove the tape by pulling it at a 90 degree angle. Do this when the paint is wet, if possible.

Tah-dah! Crisp, clean paint lines!

(I hate adding a caveat but it seems warranted here: I haven't had any problems with the line when removing the tape after the second color has dried BUT other people I know have. It has to do with paint setting up and binding to itself. So, if you cannot pull the tape while it is still wet or at least soon after it dries, you might consider using a craft knife and a straight edge to score the line before pulling the tape.)

The Great Popsicle Experiment

I found these cute little rocket popsicle molds at Dollar Tree. I got a set but didn't really look at them very hard until I got them home. They are small and 1 cup of liquid fills all 8 so I thought they would be good for small, cold treats like frozen smoothies. However, I noticed that the sticks were completely smooth and imagined that they would slide right out of the popsicles when frozen. I was right--6 out of 8 came out without their frozen treats attached.

So I tried a little experiment. I drilled holes in the part of the stick that was put into the mold. I used as large a hole as I thought could work, structurally. Then I cleaned them up with a sharp knife, inserted in the hole and turned until the slivers of plastic came off. Then, I sterilized them.

I only drilled out half of the sticks, then I made popsicles. When I tried to unmold them, not one of the plain sticks held its treat. However, 3 out of 4 drilled out sticks slid out properly. I did warm the outside of the mold in both cases.

So, don't despair at poorly designed popsicle sticks. Get out power tools instead!

Improved Solar Night Light

This is an improved version of my solar night light. I put small clear flat back marbles in the base. If you are making a plastic version of this, an option would be to use opaque acrylic beads--faceted or pony beads. I like the idea of the faceted ones because they would make the light appear more fractured.

No Bake Cookies

My Instructable for these classic No-Bake Cookies was featured. Cool. We consider them the quintessential summer treat. Because they have no egg, no gluten and can be made without dairy, they tend to fit everyone's dietary requirements--except for the part that they are more candy than cookie.

Giveaway Winner

I used the random number generator at random.org to pick a winner for my fairy door giveaway. The winner is Jerri from Many Crafts.

Thanks so much for all of the great comments! I hope you come back and visit. I will consider giving away more items in the future. I was also thinking about opening an etsy shop for selling my wares.

Solar Night Light

I made one of these solar night lights for a bathroom. These would be great for a kids' room, to take camping, or probably a hundred other uses. I was inspired by this instructable for a solar jar. The nightlight is even simpler. It took just a couple of minutes to assemble.

I bought a $4 path light at Walmart. Then I took the post and shade off it. The only tool I remember using was a screwdriver. I wish I would have taken pictures to show how easy it was to take apart. Maybe I'll make another just so I can take pictures to prove the simplicity of the task.

What was left was kind of like a hockey puck with a solar panel on top and an LED protruding from the bottom. I found a glass candle holder in my candle cupboard that was the perfect size. To secure the pieces together, I used super glue. If you are worried about dropping these and breaking the glass, you could probably find a clear plastic container to use as the base.

The hardest part of using this is remembering to put it in a sunny window in the morning.

To make it more interesting, you could:
- etch the glass
- frost (faux etch) the glass
- wrap a piece of vellum around the glass
- adorn it with ribbons, etc..
- fill the glass with interesting marbles
- put star-shaped stickers on the glass, paint the glass, then carefully remove the stickers
etc.

Give Away!

I am taking part in the Sew, Mama, Sew! Blog May Giveway. To enter for a chance to win my offering you must leave a comment on this post by May 31, 2009. Make sure your comment includes a way to contact you in the event that you win. I will be using a random number generator to select a winner.

I am giving away this fairy door made of polymer clay. It's a great whimsical accent for any home and is tiny enough to go just about anywhere. The door is 3" x 4", has a recessed wire hanger and can be hung from a small nail. It features rustic wood with iron looking hardware and a glittery golden window. The door is surrounded by faux smooth river stones. It comes with its own scroll bearing my original fairy door legend.
Good luck!

Math and Crafts

I found this lovely post on Math and Crafts . I am always looking for patterns in things. Maybe it's the closet synesthetic in me, but it really gives me a thrill to see math used as an expressive form--which it kind of always has been to me.

Give Away!

This year I will be participating in the Sew, Mama, Sew! Blog May Giveaway Day on May 27th. If you are a crafter with a blog or online shop, consider participating. It's a great way for other people to see what you've got and, by visiting the participants (there will be MANY), you will discover a lot of great craft websites.

Crockpot Cookery

I'm digging out my crockpot for a more regular gig. I found this great Crockpot Cooking Blog, which chronicles a whole year of crockpot meals. It's so nice because we can learn from the poster's experiences with each recipe.

Gift in a Can

I wrote an Instructable for a Gift in a Can, featuring a pull-top can that was the former home of fire roasted tomatoes. It's a really simple concept but I thought I'd do a photo-filled tutorial for it. Just for fun, I canned my youngest daughter's chenille Easter chicks and then we released them into the wilds of her bedroom.

Super Visor

Yesterday I posted a new Instructable--a tutorial on making a woman's visor. I like the long brim on it. I think I'll try my hand at a wider brimmed visor to protect the ears as well.

I also told my daughter that I'd try to make some with interesting embellishments. I thought I could do a quasi steampunk version with black net trailing from the front arc of the brim.

Mr. Coffeepot of Doom

I have an old coffeemaker. It's perfectly sufficient for its purpose: as a nasal alarm clock (and as a brewer of the elixir of life.)

Normally, we shut off the behemoth once it's brewed it's pot. This morning, however, I didn't get it turned off right away and it's just 12 feet away from where I keep my computer. So I'm sitting here, cruising the web, and hearing, frankly, what sounds like the sound reel of a bad science-fiction thriller in which the alien bad guy is skulking around near the main cast members who are so busy masking their obvious physical attraction for each other with repeated jibes back and forth that they don't see his inept efforts at sneaking around. The hisses and low-pitched whines of steam issuing forth at irregular intervals are actually quite paranoia-inducing.

Watch out! He's right there! Oh my goodness, he's going to grab her!! Don't you see the trail of ooze!?!

Thanks for the double-whammy of awakeness, Mr. Coffeepot of Doom.

Making Your Own Custom Cording

I posted a new Instructable today, showing how to make custom cording for craft, costuming, and home decorating projects. It's made from embroidery thread which is cheap, readily available, and comes in an absolute sea of colors. The nice thing about making it yourself it that it can be the precise color, thickness, and length you need!

Tweaking An Inlay Clay Design

This is another clay medallion made with my inlay technique. Instead of using a stamp, I used a tile with a raised design as the "stamp." Because of the smooth surface on the tile, I dusted the clay with cornstarch, rather than the stamp, before pressing the design into the background clay.

It occurs to me that I could probably use multiple colors in the inlay designs. For instance, I might make this design with the flower red, the outline green, and the rest blue on a sea of terra cotta colored clay.

I have noticed that it's actually not that hard to remove the inlay before sealing it in, using an exacto knife. For instance, when I had a fingernail groove in the clay that caught the black inlay, I dug out the black and pushed in more of the gold background clay.

Tutorial: Inlay Clay Designs Using Rubber Stamps

I really like the idea of intricate clay designs embedded in clay. Not having the ability for a truly artistic attempt, I've begun to rely on rubber stamps to give me that look with little effort. Here is how I make inlay designs using rubber stamps. A more detailed tutorial is located on Instructables.com.




Roll your clay to a uniform depth using a clay pasta machine. I like to use the thickest setting for this.





Dust your rubber stamp* with a light coating of corn starch, removing the excess with a dry paint brush or cosmetic brush. I use corn starch because it dissolves in water and washes away easily.




Press the stamp uniformly into the clay. Make sure the top surface is still smooth and that the piece is a uniform thickness. (If not, run it carefully through your pasta machine again to smooth down the top.) Trim around the design as desired.



Bake the clay according to package instructions. When the clay is cool, rinse it off with cold water to clean off the corn starch. Make sure the clay is very dry before moving on.




Press the contrasting inlay color of clay into the design. Press down from the top and push out any voids.





Remove as much clay from the top as possible. Use your clay cutter to scrape off excess clay. Any clay not removed here will be manually sanded away. (I’ve had a modest amount of success removing excess clay by running the piece through the pasta maker again. I haven’t had enough success to fully recommend it.)


Rebake your piece to solidify the inlay. Once it is cool, use waterproof sandpaper and soapy water to sand away any excess clay from the top. Pay attention to the design, rinsing as you go and only sanding where it is necessary. It is possible to use progressively finer grades of sandpaper to create a glossy finish. However, I prefer to glaze over the top when the piece is finished.


* Not all rubber stamps are going to give a good inlay image and, the inlay design may not be as detailed as the stamped image. Test your image on some scrap clay and look carefully at the shapes in the smooth top surface of your clay as that will be the design of the inlay—not the deeply set detailed design that normally appears when it is used as a stamp.

Refillable Sketchbook

It's my daughter's birthday. She loves to draw--is at it all of the time. She totes around sketchbooks and goes through about one a month. So, for her birthday, I made her a rolltop solid wood refillable sketchbook. I made the top as a roll top so she could flip the cover back when it's sitting on her lap. Now I can buy her art paper by the ream to fill the book.

If you are interested in such a book yourself, you could visit my dad's etsy shop and drop him a request for a specially made one. He'll be happy to quote you a price. It took a bit of effort to figure out how to do these right and he would be happy to put that expertise to work.

Misc. Projects

We've been ill at our house, swapping germs and laying about in pajamas. I've also started to edit my NaNoWriMo story from Nov 2008. I didn't hit the 50k mark at that time but I had a lot of fun writing the second story I started (after the first flopped--in my brain at least.)


My dad retired last year and has finally found a way getting out of my mother's hair by making scrapbooks and photo albums (and stands for them) from cedar. He got the idea from a project I asked him to work on for my daughter's birthday. Now he's selling them on etsy.

Gelatin Oranges

This is a project I did for New Year's. I saw photos of similar gelatin treats somewhere on the web so I made them. They were cute and good. I juiced the oranges and reserved the juice to use in the jello. The jello was made like jigglers so it was sturdier than normal jellow. It was made with one small package jello and one envelope unsweetened gelatin mixed with two cups of boiling liquid (combo the juice and some water.)

A little hint: once you've juiced the orange halves, dig a spoon into the stem end of each half and use it scoop out the innards from there. It's a little easier that way.

Bauble

This little medallion was made using a rubber stamp. I think I'll highlight the texture of the design with a little black paint to give it the appearance of pewter. This is another use for faux gems. I'm trying to decide how to use this. It seems that I have more ideas than things to do with them. Perhaps it will make a good centerpiece to a fairy door.

Potion Bottle

I made this potion bottle from a clear glass ornament topped with a cork. It's covered in polymer clay. The ring of twisted clay at the bottom serves as its base. I also considered covering the globe completely and making it a separate stand. Perhaps I'll try that next time.

Baubles

These are some of the baubles I've recently made with polymer clay and faux gemstones. The one of the left is my favorite.

Instructable: Round Shapes for Applique

I just posted a new instructable. I'm making an easter egg table runner covered in applique eggs. I've been using aluminum foil to speed up the process of preparing applique pieces and thought I would take some photos and make a quick guide. You'll find it here: Round Shapes for Applique the Easy Way.

Canned Magic

I needed to mail a fairy door and wanted to find a small box that was quite sturdy. I remembered reading something about using a smooth-edge can opener to open a can that could be filled and resealed. So I grabbed a can of pears that had a tab top and opened it from the bottom. Once it was cleaned out, it was clearly the perfect size for the door which I placed inside with some packing material.

I sealed it using sturdy glue. Then I painted the top and spray paint and top-coated it with glittery nail polish. A computer-generated label finished it off nicely. Next time I will format the label so that the printing isn't as wide.

Now the recipient can use the pull tab-thingy to open it.

I'm Dreaming of a Green Easter

For their first few years, the Easter Bunny brought my kids buckets, plastic wheelbarrows, and such filled with goodies. Then one year he brought them each a nice wooden basket. We decided to keep these baskets instead of letting the Bunny deliver a new container each year. We shredded used paper and filled them up the night before Easter morning so the Bunny simply added the goodies. They are a permanent holiday feature like Christmas stockings. Using them is also kinda green. We thought it was a sweet tradition but it also happens to keep cheap baskets out of landfills.

Sewing Colored Eggs

I am stitching up some fabric eggs from scraps. I've been hanging on to some small brightly colored and patterned scraps hoping to find a project for them. This egg pattern from retro mama is the perfect use.

The only difference I've made to it is that, once sewn and prior to turning, I neatly squash the bottom point flat and sew directly across it. This is a trick I learned from sewing juggling balls which need some reinforced ends. Perhaps it warrants a photo. I'll take one when I finish sewing the dozen eggs I'm making later today.

Southwestern Fairy Door

I made this fairy door with a southwestern style home in mind. I really like the look of the tile roof. The stucco walls were harder to do than I anticipated because it's hard to keep it neat when I'm working with other colors and smudging them into the clay.

National Autism Awareness Month

April is National Autism Awareness Month. Having family that is "on the spectrum," I think it's very important for people to be aware of autism, its various forms and lifestyle issues. Understanding the underlying difficulties can help others recognize the challenges being faced by those with autism.