Saturday 24 August 2013

DIY wedding plaque

 A personalized present for the happy couple

Today my cousin, Ingelin is getting married to her "handsome prince" (as Little Miss Moo says) Jan Terje, and although I am not attending the wedding, I've made them a personalized wall plaque to commemorate their big day ....
I am blogging from Norway, and this is such an easy and great little DIY, I thought I'd share how I did it:

Whilst stuffing my suitcase full of clothes I will probably not wear (along with 4(!!!) pairs of shoes???) on Wednesday night, for me and Little Miss Moo's holiday in Norway....I also threw in a lump of  Polymer clay, my stamp kit and some paisley wooden laser cut card decorations....
...So arriving at my parents house in Norway, I got to work...
I simply rolled out my polymer clay to about 1/4", marked out a circle with an upturned cereal bowl, stamped on my cousin and her husband to be' s names, and the date of their wedding...then I decorated the edges by pressing my wooden paisley shapes into the clay...oh! and I used a straw to make a hole at the top of the plaque....
I cut out the circle, then used my mum's pastry cutter to neaten up the edges, before placing in the oven at 130 degrees centigrade for 15 minutes ...


As if by a miracle, I also managed to pack my polymer clay glaze and my glass paints....
I mixed up a pale shade of purple and did 2 layers of glaze...

 ...When the glaze was dried I added a black satin ribbon, and voila! My personalized wedding present was finished....all in all this took me about 45 minutes to make!!


I updated a decorative box that I had with some ribbon and a plain white tag, and decoupaged on some old-fashioned "glans bilder" to use as a gift box!!


I hope the happy couple have an amazing day, and wish them all the best for their future as a married couple!!

GRATULERER MED BRYLLUPSDAGEN INGELIN OG JAN TERJE!!

If you want to see how I've used polymer clay before, check out my POLYMER CLAY LACE PRINT PLATES ....which you can win a set of 3 of if you visit my blogpost  a celebration and leave a comment...but hurry: This GIVEAWAY draw will close tonight, and the winner will be picked at random and announced tomorrow!!

xxx
June


Wednesday 21 August 2013

THE NOSTALGIECAT SUMMER KIDS CLUB....

Session 5: ART, CRAFT AND BUBBLES

 

Welcome to the 5th and final Nostalgiecat summer kids club session.
I cant believe that the summer is nearly over, and that this is the last of my summer kids club posts...
...time flies when you are having fun, hey??
There are so many activities from my pinterest board Kids crafts and fun I would have liked to do with Little Miss Moo and her friends...but there just haven't been enough time...why don't you check it out and see if there are any activities you can do with the kids that I might have missed...

Anyway: Monday's session was another messy affair...We made some Plaster handprints, some paper mosaic pencil jars (getting ready for "back to school), we did some bubble painting and had a go at some giant bubble snakes...(I will also tell you how to make a great bubble solution for this)..
...and finally, we made an "Anything goes", giant art banner (which is more about the process than the result...he he!)


Here's what Little Miss Moo and her friends, Caleb, Ellie and Scarlett and me got up to:
We started off with the....

PLASTER 3D HAND PRINTS




YOU WILL NEED:

Square plastic container (big enough to fit your child's hand in)
Play dough
Plaster of Paris
Rolling Pin
Set of rubber stamps (optional)


I prepared the first step of this before the kids arrived, as I know the temptation of play dough is hard to resist for 4 year-olds...  
I rolled out the play dough to about 1" thick, then used the plastic container as a template to cut out a piece that would fit nicely inside it.....trying to get it to sit as flat as possible....


Then when the kids arrived, I got them to press the palm of their hands into the play dough in the container...you may have to help by gently pressing their fingers down, to ensure an even imprint...
Then We spelled out their names with my rubber stamps, and pressed it into the dough at the side of the handprint...
Confession: I forgot when doing this with the kids, that their names must be printed mirrored (as shown above) in order to come out right in the plaster...


The next step is to mix up some plaster...
Unfortunately I was unable to get hold of some proper Plaster of Paris, and used some Wickes "one coat" plaster mix instead....the result being a little more grainy than I would have liked....


 I mixed up the plaster with some water to a "porridge-like" consistency...(you can mix it a little more runny by adding more water, but this will increase the drying time...)
I poured the mixture into the plastic container on top of the play dough hand print, then gently knocked the container against the table top a few times, to "knock out" any air bubbles and level the mix...

 

Then Put the containers aside until the plaster has set and hardened...I had to leave ours over night (...to Little Miss Moo's dismay...) due to the plaster I used, but if you are using Plaster of Paris, it should only take a couple of hours until it is fully hardened....


 ....when you are satisfied the plaster if fully cured, tip the plastic containers upside down on a cloth (to soften the "landing"), and gently push at the back to make the plaster and play dough fall out...
Peel away the play dough to reveal the hand print....

 

Leave the plaster hand prints exposed to the air for a day or two, so that the rest of the moisture in the plaster can evaporate...then you can neaten up the edges with a file and drill a hole, so that the cast can be hung up....

A nice memento to keep forever... 

Next we made some

PAPER MOSAIC PENCIL HOLDERS



YOU WILL NEED:

Empty glass jars
tissue paper/ paper scraps
Craft glue/ mod podge
Scissors
Brushes
Glossy varnish
Washi tape and ribbon (to finish off)



 Depending on the age of the kids, and how comfortable they are using scissors, get them to cut up the tissue paper into bits....I already prepared the tissue and paper scraps before the kids arrived, as not all 4 year olds are great with scissors (The last thing I wanted was cuts, blood and tears...)


Then get the kids gluing and sticking the tissue onto the glass jars....
Kids will do their own thing, but try to encourage them to glue the tissue/paper on as flat as possible....maybe help them flatten the tissue pieces.....and to not use too much glue...
 Ellie and Caleb was very focused....


And Scarlett did a great job covering the jar in tissue....


The finished jars look great: 


Leave them to dry...(the thicker the glue on them the longer this will take)


I didn't get time to do this to Little Miss Moo's friends jars, but I then painted a layer of glossy decoupage varnish on top of the tissue on hers....


When the varnish had dried I helped Little Miss Moo finish hers off by adding some Washi tape and a ribbon...


...She loves her pencil holder, and is getting very excited about having it on her desk when she's doing her homework when back at school....

The next thing I am going to show you is how to make a great

 

BUBBLE MIX



I made this bubble mix the night before, as the longer it gets to set, the better it gets...

YOU WILL NEED:

6 Cups of water
1 Cup of Fairy liquid
4 table spoons of Glycerine

Mix it all together, and leave to set...

We used the bubble mix in our next projects....


PAINTING WITH BUBBLES


YOU WILL NEED:

Several round bowls
The bubble mixture
Watercolour paints/ tempera paints
Straws
Water colour paper


Warning!! This project requires a lot of soapy water....don't make the same mistake I did and use flimsy plastic bowls that easily tips over....heavier pyrex glass bowls are sturdier...
At one point we were literally swimming in soapy water when 3 of the bowls tipped over...
....my kitchen floor has never been so clean!! he he!



Anyway: mix up different colours with the soapy water (a dash of bubble mixture + a dash of water) in separate bowls....really whisk the colours in, until the mix starts frothing....


Then get the kids to blow bubbles (make sure you tell them to blow...not suck) in the bowls...


 Blowing bubbles are always fun....


Then lay the watercolour paper on top of the bubbles...



Here's Ellie, showing how the bubbles has "painted" the paper.... 


We found that it actually worked even better when we scooped the bubbles onto the paper and left until they had popped....repeat with the different colours on the same bit of paper for some beautiful patterns and effects....






Next we took the coloured bubble mixture (what was left, anyway) outside, to try out making some

GIANT BUBBLE SNAKES


 

YOU WILL NEED

Bubble mix in a bowl
Large, empty plastic bottle
Wash cloths
Rubber bands

 Cut off the bottom of the plastic bottles...attach the wash cloths to the bottom of the bottles using the rubber bands....


Let the kids dip the cloth-end of the bottle into the bubble mixture, tell them to take a deep breath and blow.....thousands of little bubbles will form a giant snake....
It may be tricky for little ones to blow, so show them what will happen and they will be amazed!!


 The final activity of this summers nostalgiecat kids club, is a bit of a free-for-all:

THE "ANYTHING GOES" ARTY BANNER



As the title suggests, there are no real rules to this one, all you'll really need is a roll of easel paper and some poster paints...and some imagination!

 

We used our giant bubble-snake makers and coloured bubble mix to paint with bubbles, some branches to use as "paint brushes", and I covered the kids feet with bubble wrap, so they could walk the paint all over the easel paper, that I'd rolled out in the garden...

  
I set out a paint station on a flat cardboard box, with blobs of poster paint on paper plates...but I never expected this to be a tidy activity, and very soon my entire garden patio was a multi-coloured art piece...
I used some bricks to hold down the easel paper, and even they got a paint...
This is definitely more about the process than the result....but oh so much fun!!


We had hand prints, bubble wrapped foot prints, branch marks, bubble painting and a bunch of messy, happy kids .....

The beauty of poster paint is that it washes out easily ...both from clothes (with a little stain remover) and my patio.... although I'm sure my garden will be bubbling at next rain fall with all that soapy water spilled out there...

It will be a nice reminder of this summers Nostalgiecat Kids club!

That's it folks!

I hope you've enjoyed these posts and been inspired to get creative with the kids...
Little Miss Moo and I are off to Norway tomorrow for the rest of the Summer holidays,
and I will be posting from there for the next couple of weeks....

Don't forget to visit my blogpost  a celebration and leave a comment at the bottom of the post to be in with a chance of winning a set of 3 of my lace print plates in the colour glaze of the winners choice!
There is only 3 days to go until the winner will be chosen at random....
The winner will be announced in the evening on Saturday 24th August ....

 Enjoy the rest of your summer folks!

xxx
June






 

Sunday 18 August 2013

Stormy day at the beach.....

 

....enjoying the great British summer....

 
 This weekend our little family had a mini-holiday...we went to the historical market town of Bridport, on the west coast of England to visit some good friends of ours, and we've had the most amazing time:
With great company, good food, browsing antique shops and art galleries, seeing the local carnival and a couple of trips to the beach!!
For most of the time I deliberately left my phone behind, so that I would not spend all my time taking pictures, but actually live in the moment and enjoy myself....
Memories are worth a thousand pictures!!
But I did manage to take some pictures, and today I want to share some pictures from our beach trip on Saturday. It was a stormy day and the sea was swelling with crashing waves...
...made me feel alive!!
 
 
The beautiful cliffs overhanging the beach in Bridport bay is constantly changing....eroded by the elements on days such as this... 
The things you can find, washed up on the beach.....makes you wonder!
 Little Miss Moo was soo excited to go to the beach....not sure it was exactly what she had imagined, but she loved the wind in her hair and the salt-spay on her face....(not so much the sand in her eye, though!).....and she was absolutely fascinated to watch the waves...one bigger than the other....roll in and crash onto the beach...
 
What does a 4 year old think when seeing a stormy sea for the first time....?
  The sound of the waves, the wind and seagulls squealing in delight as they were riding the wind...
...and my camera lens foggy with salt water...
Beautiful danger.... 
 
 The fishing nets and lobster crates in the harbour, and the delicious scent of the sea....
 
 
 ....made my coastal heart skip a beat...
 
 
....although the British coast is very different from where I grew up in Norway, the beauty of a practical  and sturdy fishing boat, reminded me of "home"...
 
....luckily, there is no need to get home sick, as Little Miss Moo and I are flying to Norway on Thursday....Can't wait!
But firstly we are hosting the final session of the Nostalgiecat Summer kids club today, so I better get cracking....pop back on Wednesday to see how we get on!
And on Saturday I will be posting from Norway, about the fantastic, coastal music festival,"Periferi festivalen" as well as revealing the winner of my giveaway competition.....There is still time to enter: Just leave a comment on my blogpost, a celebration (click on the link) to be in with a chance of winning a set of 3 of my lace print plates...
 
Have a great week!
xxx
June
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