Science Board Sweet Shop

My children attend a school where all the kids participate in the school science fair from Kindergarten on. My children do not like to throw anything away. Ever. So I find myself in the midst of spring cleaning this year stumbling upon multiple science fair board stashed in the back of closets, shoved behind the piano, and generally just all over the house, outliving their usefulness by several years. A fold-able science board has a lot of potential for creative reuse. I decided to transform my daughter's research project, "Does Playing Music Affect Your Grades?" into something new and fun.

A typical science board is made of nice strong cardboard and stands on its own. Ours came from Staples and cost about $5. It really could be made into all sorts of simple pretend play structures. I was going to make a puppet theater until I remembered that my kids never play with cute puppet theaters we make. I thought I would make it into a store. I came very close to going with a "French Bakery" stand but then at the last minute decided to give my kids a surprise and make a sweet shop. My directions are going to be general, IE I don't tell you how many inches to measure for the window. I think most people will come up with their own store ideas and just use my idea as a jumping off point.

What I did:

• First I needed to cut a window/counter where business transactions can be conducted. I used an Exacto knife, I reinforced the window by gluing and duct taping some long pieces of  fabric binding from behind the board to under the counter. This will prevent the window from opening too far.
  
  

•  I needed to cover all of the writing on the board and the spots where the binding is attached. I used inexpensive white fabric for the majority of the board and felt for both sides of the counter. I used tacky glue for most of this but also sometimes used some duct tape to stretch stuff around the front of the board.
• I needed some felt candy to decorate the shop. I made 2 spiral lollipops, a hard candy with crinkly wrapper, and candy dots, The candy was really fun to make. I got my ideas from searching "classic candy" and looking at the images that came up on the internet.
• I made a sign, also out of felt.
• I got lucky and found an old piece of fabric with pom poms that I had hanging in a doorway one time so I used duct tape and glue to put it across the top.
• I glued the sign on top of the border.
• I went to the candy store and bought lots of candy. This was really excellent. I love candy but I have terrible teeth from a childhood spent overindulging so I don't often go to the store and buy 9 bags of awesome candy!
• I used buckets that I had from Oriental Trading (I purchased them for a school fun fair thinking they were way larger) to hold the candy.
• The buckets hang over the edge of the board with bent wire. I used a roll of beading wire but I think you could also use some wire coat hangers or even purchase those hooks that go over the back of doors.

Time for the debut of the Sweet Shop. In Chicago this year the kids are still in school. We will be there until June 24. As you might imagine, morale is pretty low around our house after dinner when we are trying to do homework and it is summer outside. Last night I told the kids that after homework they could come to my craft room and purchase an item from a new store that I had opened.  They needed to bring a nickle. They had not seen the Sweet Shop while I was making it so they were so thrilled. Plus they don't get to eat a lot of candy so this was like the absolute last thing they expected from me. I am thinking about using it as an incentive for these last 6 days of school, then employing it at my son's birthday party when it is time for the kids to leave. He can man the shop and have them pick candy out to put in their goody bag.
I think you could use these boards for lots of creative shops. The thing that took me the longest was covering the old writing. If you bought a blank board it would not take too long to quickly turn it into something with the barest additions. Corinne made a little wild west centerpiece a few weeks back and it would be fun to get several boards and set up a wild west town for a party. You could have a jail, a bank, a saloon, etc. The best thing is it all folds up when you are done and you can stick in in your closet or behind your piano and save it for a later day.

 

Birdhouse pocket game

Sarah had this great idea to make these little pocket games. I remember these as a kid,  rolling the ball

around to get it in that tiny indented spot it belongs in. 

I have no idea what these games are called, if anyone knows, please tell me! But I do 

remember getting these sort of things at carnivals, and especially our dentist office.

We always had a giant treasure box of plastic toys to pick through after getting our teeth cleaned, as 

a reward for no cavities!

So here is our version. I used my own birdhouse print, and you try to get the ball into the birdhouses.

You could use an image found in a magazine, a favorite children's book, (although I could never bring myself to cut a book up!), draw one yourself or even use a picture of someone you know. 

It could be hilarious or maybe just creepy, to roll the ball, trying to fit it over the eyes!

But here is how we did it.

 I used the lid from an old pickle jar, traced the size onto my image, and also traced the lid size onto 2 sheets of acetate (found from random office supplies). Have marker, scissors and tiniest hole punch ready.

 I laid the first sheet of acetate over the image, and used marker to mark where the holes needed to 

be punched.

 Then punched the holes out.   The image is then glued into the lid and you match up to holes of acetate, and lay this on top.

I had to use a bit of clear tape, to ensure they were secure, and the acetate would not move after it was all sealed up.

 I picked some tiny beads in a cute color, to roll around for our game. 

 Take the last sheet of acetate and attach to top of lid with super glue.

I realized the edge where the acetate meets the lid looks messy, so decided to add a cute felt trim. I finished off the edge with scalloped edge scissors, this edge then folds over, covering the messy part, secured in place with a bit of craft glue!

Another handy toy to keep for those unexpected waits (an alternative to the iphone!). 

Wild West Cigar Town

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I open this post with a confession. Sort of an embarrassing one. Corinne and I came up with this project for a contest we were competing in. Crafters compete against other crafters on a weekly project and people vote. This was our audition piece. It came in LAST. Like, 12th place out of of 12 submissions! We knew we were probably not going to be in first place but we are a little humbled by our quick ouster.  So we would like to give our little town a second chance and try posting it here to see if anyone out there likes it more than the "So You Think You're Crafty" voters, who clearly were underwhelmed. 
We love reusing materials and turning them into something new and special. This old

cigar box was just begging to be reused in a vintage western scene. We were thinking it's nearly summer and people will be looking for festive table decor. This is an interactive centerpiece for a burger or chili party or to put at the drinks table or use it to keep the kid's table entertained.

We drew images of buildings (saloon, bank, jail) and cowboys and cowgirls and some cacti and tumbleweeds on paper and attached them to cardboard. You can make little cardboard stands to insert at the base. We glued a desert landscape into the top lid so you can set the pieces up right in the box bu you also can scatter them about. I think older kids might enjoy making more figures and buildings to add to the display. We Googled "old west town images" to get some ideas.

 Best of all this toy is portable, so great for the upcoming Summer car trips!

Monet's Miniature Magnetic Giverny Garden

My friend Joann is going to run with my daughter in a 5k race next week for our school's Girls on the Run program. I wanted to make a thank you gift. Joann is a really passionate gardener so I decided it would be perfect to make her a tiny magnetic garden that she could arrange and display. Then I thought about her own yard, which is inspired by traditional French gardens. It would be even more fun to model my little garden after Claude Monet's famous gardens at Giverny.
 The Claude Monet Foundation maintains the home and gardens where the artist painted some of his most famous Impressionist paintings. I highly recommend visiting their site and looking at their photographs. The text is in French but the slideshows of the gardens are amazing. Monet established a vast garden with ponds (where he painted his famous Water Lillies paintings), a bamboo grove, numerous arbors, a hedgerow maze, and masses of flowers. The inside of his gorgeous ancient pink home isn't too shabby either.

I bought some plain Shrinky Dink paper (often sold as "refill") and used an extra fine Sharpie and a large set of colored pencils to draw my garden.
Remember when you use Shrinky Dinks they are going to wind up 1/3 of the original size. Even when you know this is going to happen it is difficult to envision. The boat I drew wound up smaller than some of the flower beds. As this is an interpretation of the gardens at Giverny, not a precise recreation, I concentrated on having fun and did not worry too much about the sizes.

What I drew:

• Several green bridges, one of them with a roof
• Lily pads 
• Water lilies to glue on top of lily pads
• Various colorful trees
• Weeping willows
• Part of a hedge maze
• Water grasses
• Green rowing boat
• Many beds of colorful flowers
• An easel 

I tried to make at least 2 of every plant item. When it is time to shrink the items make sure to bake a few at a time. Some of them will curl up while they are shrinking then relax back down but you may need to reach in the oven and slap them down with a spatula  to get them really flat or try to catch them the second the get out of the oven when they are still warm and make sure they lay properly. They cool so fast you only have time for a few at a time. If a piece does wind up curled or bent you can reheat it and try again.

The pieces are ready to be baked.

After the pieces were baked and cooled I needed to attach the magnets. I had a magnetic business card laying around that worked perfectly. I painted it green then I cut out lots of tiny squares and rectangles. I used super glue to attach the magnet pieces to the Shrinky Dinks. Incidentally this is the first time I have ever had a really good experience using super glue. this is because I finally read the directions! If it says "one drop" then that is all you will need. If you use multiple drops of glue, like I normally do, then it takes a long time to dry and it is harder to get it to stay in position.


I found a small rectangular tray which was a perfect size and  painted it with different shades of green and blue to designate a water area, paths and green space for the flowers and trees. I am not a very good painter so tried to channel my inner Monet and dab on the paint in a dreamy way. It actually looks pretty good but it may have been even better looking if I used a sponge to apply the paint. Also I could have prepped the tin by sanding it before painting. You may want to do that.

I would like to end this post by saying that this is a really fun way to make a tiny garden in honor of Claude Monet but it could be adapted in a million other ways. As a gift for a vegetable gardener you could draw lots of vegetable plants for someone to arrange in rows. You could make Mr. Mcgregor's garden and include the characters from Peter Rabbit. (Actually I may have to do that myself!) You could do also do other famous gardens or famous places.

Corinne and I have made several other magnetic toys. You may want to check out our Portable Pride and Prejudice, TinTin Game and Figure Skater.

Shrinky Dink Barrettes

My daughter has a crazy head of thick curls, that is in constant need of some kind of hairband, barrette or something or other to tame it. We have an endless supply here, and she is pretty bored with them all, so I 

decided to personalize some for her.

All I needed was Shrinky Dink paper, my pencils, and some felt.

I asked her some characters she would like, and her list was endless....chickens, pigs, things I 

do not even know how to begin to draw! So we settled this time, for a cute hedgehog, a red bow, and

a cute Spring flower.

I just drew the images in pencil, and added color with colored pencil.
Shrunk per instructions. 

Then using craft glue, attached them to their felt backgrounds, adding detailed edges with 

pinking shears and scalloped edge scissors.

We already had tons of those metal hair clips and hairbands lying around ( and boy do I love using what I 

already have lying around!)   Then using the hot glue gun, just attached them to the clips or band. 

I was also going to try making headbands, but the images shrunk a little too small to work on 

the headband. Still getting the hang of, just how tiny the images get!

Now every hair is in its place, (ha! not really, but we try our best) and she is ready to go!

Loch Ness Nonster in a Planter ... Part I

My son really loves the Loch Ness Monster. While trolling the internet for images of his favorite magical creature we came upon this British topiary frame. It is a huge Nessie that would fit well on a  large field or perhaps a palace lawn. Also it costs around $500. I have a small and shady Chicago yard and limited money to spend on my son's Nessie hobby so we came up with a much smaller and cheaper adaptation. I call this "part 1" because I am not really sure what to do with the thing now that it is ready. Hopefully in a month or so I will be able to add some photos of a verdant and mossy monster. For now I will provide directions on how to get started so you can make your topiary and get it planted up before summer.

Gigantic English TopiaryI found for sale.-

This is how you make a small topiary. I made mine to remsemble a sea monster. You can get creative and make a heart, a dinosaur, whatever you want, Simple is better, obviously. I used lightweight chicken wire and pliers.

Take chicken wire and form it into the shape you want. I made a bunch of tubes and attached them to each other. I added pipe cleaner ears.

When the frame is ready, fill it with soaking wet sphagnum moss. I bought a bag of this at a garden store. It expands quite a bit when it is wet (soak it for an hour or more) so a little goes a long way.

I decided to place my sea monster in an Earthbox that we are not using. You could also put it directly into your garden. I used some bent wires (picture croquet hoops) to attach Nessie to the soil and keep her standing up.

I clipped some ivy and planted it into the moss. It des not seem to be thriving but it also seems to till be alive so we will see what happens.