Tis the Season for Kid Craftin', Fa la la la la....

Well, despite the freezing weather (a whopping 2 degrees below zero--NOT counting the windchill!) my girlie wanted to mess with polymer clay today! Clay does not like the cold temps, so it took some effort to get it soft enough to work with. A Twitter pal later gave me the tip she had heard from professionals, to warm it up inside my bra!! Hey, it just might work!!

I think it is just great to give the kids some extra clay and see what they come up with. It is so good for them, and it makes a lasting item since it gets hard when baked! We worked together to make this kitty cat, which she has decided to give to her brother for Christmas.

This is my favorite polymer clay item made by my son when he was 4 or 5 years old. The arm broke off, so I had to hold it up there for the picture! It just makes me happy to look at--this funny dancing guy! It also reminds me of good times spent together with him.


We have worked on other Christmas gifts together. These are shrinky dink pins made by my son. I should have gotten the white shrinky dinks instead of the clear, since you can see the pins right through them!

This one (below) was a big hit with the kids!!! These are just bottle tops which they filled with white glue then added little toys, shells, whatnots and etcetera. They sprinkled with glitter. I added some clear resin just because that is my thing, but it wouldn't be necessary. They really had a good time doing it. I glued scrap magnets (sales, etc, that get sent in the mail, etc) to the back. I was worried they would be too heavy for those magnets, but it worked fine--although I did glue the magnets to the entire back, not just parts.
My girl loved the Pikachu (from Pokemon) pin that my son made from Shrinky Dinks for the pin shown above, so he made her a smaller one for a necklace in secret. I punched a hole (use a regular size punch, as the hold will shrink, of course!) and added a jump ring and ball chain. I think she will love it, and he is proud.

Part of the fun of Christmas is making gifts for each other, so maybe this will give you some ideas--leave comments if you have ideas of your own to share! I am *always* looking for new ideas to keep these guys busy!!

Shrinking Some Dinks

Well, Girlie does not have school on Fridays, so today we decided to make some Shrinky Dink ornaments. She is at that stage where she just started drawing people. I find that so charming, and will be glad to have some permanent reminders.

I purchased sheets of shrink plastic, but because I got the clear kind, I had to sand it so the color would stick to the sheets, not to my girlie's hands. This was an event where she was allowed to use my permanent markers, and she was whole-heartedly on board for that. The forbidden fruit!

So she drew 'em, I cut them out and punched a hole in the top with a regular-sized hole punch. Let the shrinking begin! They really get twisted and turned, it is hard to imagine that they will get flat again. Sometimes they need a little extra help with that. Put something flat and heavy on them while they are still hot. I like using a heat gun to shrink them for a little more control.

Viola! Ornaments (well, once we get some string or ribbon through them for hanging). Fun for all. And honestly, despite being an adult, I still get such a kick out of watching them shrink! :-)
There ARE some hazards to permanent markers with a 4-year-old--thank goodness for Mr. Clean magic erasers http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/products/eraser_extra_power.shtml!

A Paper Tip for Novices (ME!)

Well, I realized that I can't discuss my shrink plastic projects since a grandma might be reading this.... another time! :-) It worked ok. Perhaps the best part was shrinking them with the heat gun!! They writhed and twisted then shrunk and became flat. The kids really enjoyed that! :-)

What I did work on last night was finishing up the Thank You cards that my friend and I stamped. We felt they needed a ribbon or something. I said, "Hey, you scrapbookers use staples, don't you??" She said she would paint regular staples (be sure to get the sides, too, she told me). Then just use the regular stapler and viola! I think they turned out pretty well--of course they are NOTHING compared to what real Paper Talentinas come up with!! I am a mere paper pauper, my talents lie elsewhere!

Although my "Black Friday through Cyber Monday" sales have been modest, I have gotten some interest. I will be shipping some ball chain to Australia!! It is only my second international order. I shipped to Sweden once before. That is one of the things I really love about Etsy--you get to meet people from all over the world! And we all sure have a lot in common!

Friday Ramblings

Well, I don't shop on Black Friday. I am not a "crowds" kinda person--tho' I do love a bargain, so it pains me that I can't stand going out today. Also need more resin, but it will have to wait!!!

I am having a big big big sale in my etsy shop (http://tinyurl.com/6oqorg) for the weekend (FREE shipping and buy one, get one 50% off), so hopefully other people like to do their Christmas shopping on-line. I made one sale, but it was last night! I had already activated the free shipping, so she will get that part of the sale. She purchased one of my favorite items.

I listed 18 new things on etsy yesterday in preparation, and I am a little computered-out after that! :-)

So today will be a cleaning day--hopefully will get the tree up this weekend so I had better get the livingroom picked up and swept. Watch me run and do that...

My son is still sleeping (9:20am) if you can still believe it! He must've REALLY needed it, so I am glad he is getting it!

I am hoping my soldering gun will arrive today (tomorrow at the latest). I am very excited. Although I supposed I should clear a space in this all-purpose room where I do my projects!

I plan to help the kids make some Christmas presents today for Grandmas and Godmothers using shrink plastic. I'll let you know how that goes...

Happy Friday!

Slow as a Snail Saturday

Wow, I am having trouble getting motivated this morning! I don't know what it is!


Last night I went to my friend's house--a different college pal. She is the Queen of Rubber Stamps, tho' she will tell us she hasn't done it in forever. But she has a lot and loves them (they are her vice, we all have one! At least...) and spent some time stamping notes to stick in with my etsy sales. I am also running a promotion that if a buyer lets me know a purchase is a Christmas present, I will include an organza bag and blank gift tag so the wrapping is all done--so she has a tag punch and we stamped some tags. What a pal! There was lots of laughing and catching up as well. She made the BEST popcorn, I couldn't stop eating it... her secret was Orville Redenbacher's Popping and Topping Oil (http://www.orville.com/products_oil.jsp#products). I did NOT check the nutritional label (she assured me it was horrifying). Some things are best left just to enjoy... Here she is stamping for me with her daughter looking on!

She also generously is letting her heat gun live with me for a while! I have some plans with shrink plastic and embossing powder. I will elaborate when I actually get a chance to work on it! AND I got to sort through her scrapbooking scraps for my soldered pendants. She asked if there was ANYTHING ELSE from her house I wanted to take home. She is funny like that. Ha. Ha.

I have one more layer for my snowflake resin pieces. I am feeling a little nervous about popping them out... the mold seems a little resistant to the one finished one I tried to get out. I will continue. Either the plastic is not quite resin friendly--or I just need to let them cure even LONGER than I expected in this cold weather. I sure hope they work...

I realized I won't quite put the resin away, I wanted to do some sports related resin pieces for younger girls to have ready for my craft fair in mid-December. I'll have to head to Michael's to get some more resin before I start that, though. I really AM feeling ready to put it away for a while, but feel I should really finish that thought. I am planning to put little soccer ball, basket ball and ballet stickers in them. My friend mentioned above gave me the idea.

Hmmm, best get moving! All of this talk about what I need to do is getting the blood flowing (and that last dose of caffeine might have helped, too!).