THE NOSTALGIECAT SUMMER KIDS CLUB....

....Session 3: Arty nature

 

 Welcome to the 3rd session of the Nostalgiecat Summer Kids Club... todays session is inspired by nature, and I will show you what Me and Little Miss Moo's friends, Ellie, Scarlett and Caleb got up to on Monday: We made some "flower paper", marbled some plant pots we planted some seeds in, we made a beautiful "flower box" and flower-sun catchers for the window and we had fun making a large leaf-rubbing and watercolour banner...

All these activities work well for both indoors and outdoors...

Here's what we did, and how we did it:

FLOWER PAPER MAKING

 

We started off by making some "flower paper"....

YOU WILL NEED:

Paper/tissue (any non-glossy paper will work, so recycle what you've got)

White glue

Boiling hot water

Flat Wire mesh (we used a mesh splash screen from the £shop)

Cloth/ tea towels

Glitter

Dried flowers (See my microwawe flower pressing tutorial for how to make these)

 Rolling pin

A large bowl 

The first thing to do is to shred the paper...we used toilet tissue, as it will break down quicker....

Pour over some boiling hot water and leave to soak for 15-20 minutes...

 Then poor the mushi paper-mix into a blender, add 1-2 table spoons of white glue....

Blend until you get a smooth(ish) mix...

Ellie, Caleb, Little Miss Moo and Scarlett thought my blender was very noisy...

Spread the mushi mix out on the wire mesh, over a bowl, then squeeze out as much of the water as possible...flattening the paper mix in the process...

Place a tea-towel/cloth on top, then flip it over to transfer the mush onto the tea-towel, taking away the wire mesh...Place on the table, then cower with another piece of cloth, and keep pressing, and flattening the mix to get out the excess moisture....

Change the tea-towels/ cloth, then using a rolling pin, flatten the mix....

 Remove the tea-towel on the top, and add some dried flowers and glitter... 

Replace a tea-towel on the top, then use the rolling pin to press the flowers and glitter into the paper mush, thinning and flattening as much as you can in the process....

Ellie did a great job flattening the flower paper...

Leave the paper on the tea towel to dry out...

I tried speeding up the process by putting it on the oven on low, but it actually took 2 days for the paper to dry out properly...

Then I cut out round circles of the paper, using a cookie-cutter and a scalpel...

 

 ...so that the children got one  flower paper disk each...

 MARBLED FLOWERPOTS

Whilst we were waiting for the tissue paper to soak and dissolve in boiling water, we went outside to make some marbled flowerpots...

I got the inspiration for this project from henry happened.

YOU WILL NEED:

Terracotta plant pots

Nail varnishes (use old ones, revive them by adding a little acetone/nail varnish remover to the bottles and shake)

Big bucket half filled with water

+

soil and seeds for planting later....

This one may be best to do outdoors because of the fumes from the nail varnishes...

Poor 2-3 bottles of nail varnish into the water...choose some nice, contrasting or matching colours...

Let the varnish spread out on the surface of the water...use a stick(or similar) to gently swirl the colours together....

Dip the terracotta pots in, on their side, and gently rotate to pick up the varnish....

.....watch the beautiful effect the nail varnish makes...

Ellie had a great technique, twisting the pot into the water...

If needed, re-dip to cover the entire pot....adding more nail varnish as needed...

Put aside, and leave to dry!

In places, the varnish will be quite thick and lumpy, so leave to dry for at least 1 hour...

The marbled plant pots are now ready for planting in...

A bit of soil/compost, and some pansy seeds....

....and a little water...

The kids got to keep their own marbled plant pot, and now they've just got to wait for the seeds to start growing...

CARDBOARD FLOWER BOX AND SUNCATCHERS

Whilst we were waiting for the varnish to dry on our marbled flower pots, we finished making our flower paper (above) then we made a beautiful flower box and some sun catchers for the window...

I got the inspiration for this project (and the next) from artful parent, a great blog dedicated to children's art projects.

YOU WILL NEED:

Small cardboard box

Scissors(knife)

Transparent contact paper

Flowers and leaves

Cut out the sides of the box, leaving approx. 1" around the edges (as in the picture above)...

Attach sheets of contact paper on the inside of the box, sticky side out....making sticky windows in the box... 

 

  

Let the kids place flowers, leaves and petals onto the sticky back plastic...one side at the time, then cover with another sheet of contact paper....

...and there you have it: a beautiful flower box...

Little Miss Moo was absolutely fascinated by the colours  of the flowers against the light....

And we had a look at how it looked when placed (temporarily) on top of a lamp in a dark room...

...beautiful...

Scarlett and Caleb had fun putting their heads inside the box to have a closer look...

We also made some lovely flower sun catchers out of the squares we cut out from the box (waste nothing...) so that the kids could take a piece each home...

Scarlet makes a beautiful picture....

As with the box, we stuck on some contact paper to one side, then the kids placed flowers, leaves and petals onto the sticky side....

Ellie created a beautiful display by ripping the petals of the flowers before placing them on to the sticky back plastic....

Then we covered the flowers with another sheet of transparent contact paper...

Caleb was very pleased with his....

And Little Miss Moo loved the way the colours of the flowers come up when the light shines through...

LEAF RUBBING AND WATERCOLOUR BANNER

We finished of the session with some fun messy play, making a leaf rubbing and watercolour banner.. 

YOU WILL NEED:

Easel paper roll/large sheet of paper

Leaves

Crayons

Watercolours/ paint

Brushes and water

Spread the leaves out in the middle of the table...

...cover with paper.(use a bit of sticky tape to hold in place)

 Then show the kids how to bring out the shape and details of the leaves by rubbing the sides of the crayons over the paper....

 Scarlett said she would rather try to draw the leafs....

Next, we tidied away the crayons and the leaves under the paper, then we got out the paints, and I explained how, if the paint is watery enough, the wax in the crayon marks will resist the paint and make a lovely effect:

And so, they went to work...

Little Miss Moo and Scarlett just painted the same spot over and over until the paper broke...(never mind...they had fun, that's the main thing!!)....

 

.....but Ellie got the concept straight away , and Caleb was so gentle with the paint that they got some beautiful results...

 

We really did have lots of fun, and I got to recycle some paper, a cardboard box , the (dying) flowers I got for our anniversary last week and my old nail varnishes....not bad hey?

I  hope you feel inspired to try out some arty projects with your kids...

Please visit my pinterest board kids crafts and fun for more great ideas of things to do with your kids over the holidays...

Let me know what you think about todays kids club, or maybe you have a great idea for something to do with the kids over the holidays that you would like to share: Please leave a comment below...

And don't forget to visit my post:  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...

Due to a technical glitch my end with the comments section, I have decided to extend the deadline for this competition, so the draw will now take place on Saturday 24th August  and the winner will be announced on the following Monday....

Thanks for looking!

xxx

June

Happy monday...

 

...Sunday morning walk along the Thames, London...

 

Welcome to a shiny new week everyone!!

I hope you have all had a great weekend...I know I did!!

I got the train down to London on Saturday, met up with a great bunch of girls for my friend Nadia's birthday and had a girlie pub crawl...getting a bit tipsy in the process (to be fair: it doesn't take a lot these days, as I hardly ever touch alcohol anymore..) We had such a giggle!!

I stayed over at my friends house in West London, woke up early on Sunday morning and went for a peaceful walk along the Thames river...

 

This is one of my favourite places in London...its a piece of the old world, with beautiful buildings and historic places, quirky old fashioned pubs and gorgeous river front gardens...

But most of all I love being near the water and hearing the seagulls....instantly takes me back to the little coastal village where I grew up in Norway....

 

So today I want to share with you some instagram pics I snapped on my riverside stroll:

 

Hammersmith Bridge

I started off by the beautiful Hammersmith Bridge....

 

All along this part of the river there are picturesque old buildings steeped in history...

 

 

The tide was out and gave a feeling of abandonment  to the "beached" boats and barges...

 

 

It was so quiet and peaceful even the pigeons was relaxing in the early morning sun... 

 

 

...and the sky was full of promise of a lovely day ahead... 

 

 

and the song of the seagulls filled the air over the watchtower...

 

 

This lone wall has always fascinated me...one day I will find out why... 

 

 

Maybe there was a party here the night before...?

 

 

I wonder who lives here...? (lucky so and so)

 

 

And then I came across this wonderful hidden riverfront garden....how magical!!

 

 

...and the scent of lavender was carried on the breeze...

 

 

A gnarly old and twisted tree...

 

 

...and someone's favourite spot...

 

 

The things that are washed ashore...what stories do they tell??

 

 

 

In spite of my hangover and lack of sleep, this early morning stroll has filled my heart with peace and joy...and I somehow now feel fresh and ready for a new week....

It is amazing how a little "me-time" can charge your batteries....

...and it is a good thing I feel this way, as later today we have another 3 of Little Miss Moo's friend turning up for the third session of the Nostalgiecat Summer Kids Club...

Today's session is inspired by nature, and we have some fun crafts planned....

Pop back on Wednesday to see what we do and how we get on...

 

Have a great week!

xxx

June

 

Concrete and cements planters and tea-light holders...

 

This week I was tidying up my supply shed, and came across a bucket of cement and a bag of concrete mix I bought a while ago...I had a project in mind when I bought them (watch this space...)

, but as it is quite an ambitious project, I decided to play around with the cement and concrete....

I had seen these concrete planters  and some lovely tea light holders from one woman's haven  and  this was my inspiration....plus I thought this would be a great way to get to know these materials before I tackle the project I have in mind...

So I rummaged through my box of empty plastic containers and bottles (I save almost everything that I think can come in handy one day, my way of recycling...drives Mr insane...!), found some suitable shapes and sizes, and went to work....

Here's what I did:

 

 I started small: making some tea light holders out of my cement...

I had my cement at the ready: I used Wickes Rapid setting cement,

plastic containers to use as moulds, a couple of tea-lights and a bucket and spatula for mixing......

I wanted add some detail in the cement, so I grabbed some lace washi tape and stuck it into my plastic containers (these used to contain baking powder...)

...to make sure the (fabric) lace washi tape wouldn't get stuck in the cement, I dabbed a bit of cooking oil onto it once positioned in the "mould"...(taking care not to disturb the positioning..)

Then I measured out my cement using my kitchen scales....

The ratio for this particular cement mix is 0,25 litres water to 1 kg cement powder...

I mixed in the water to form a smooth, runny paste...

...poured it into my moulds...taking care not to fill them to the top, as I needed to account for the volume of the tea-lights....

Then I simply pushed the tea-light into the centre of the cement.

This specific cement will set in 20 minutes...so work quickly...

You may have to keep pushing the tea-lights down, so they don't float up, but I found  that after a few minutes, they stayed in place by themselves...

( It might have helped that this was a particularly hot day...)

Then leave to set....check after 10-25 minutes, and remove the tea-lights whilst the cement still has a bit of give to it...

I also used the cement to make a plant-pot, using a giant silicone cup-cake mould I had...

...and had a couple of plastic jelly moulds at the ready for any leftover cement mix... 

 

....again, I made sure to remove the plastic container I had used to create the cavity in my plant-pot, before the cement had set fully...

 ...this is so much easier than trying to get it out when the cement is fully set, and will also help speed up the drying time....

After 20-30 minutes...the cement is fully set, and I could peel off the silicone mould on my plant pot...

The tea-light holders were a bit more tricky to remove from the rigid plastic moulds...

...but here's a little trick I learned during my years as a mould-maker in the film industry:

The reason it is hard to remove a solid shape from a rigid mould, is because there will be a vacuum  created inside that will suck the form in...way to release this vacuum, is to drill a small hole in the bottom of the mould, then poor a little water in for lubrication....

....and simply use the back of the drill bit to gently push out the shape...

When they were out of the moulds, I peeled off the lace washi tape....

It didn't leave the detailed impression I was after, I think because it was made of fabric! Next time I will try to get hold of something else to use...

Looking a little rough around the edges...think I  am going for a rustic look!!

 Next I thought I'd play with my bag of concrete...to see how that compared to using cement...

 

I used Tarmac multipurpose concrete, a big bucket for mixing and some a cheap plastic planter from the pound shop as a mould...with a disposable plastic beaker to create a cavity....

 

I roughly measured out my concrete, by using my mould as a measuring cup...

I put the cement in the bucket, created a little dip in the middle then added water...

I pulled on my Marygold rubber gloves and got stuck in... (don't try to do this with bare hands, as the concrete will really dry out your skin and can cause dermatitis....also please wear a DUST MASK!!)

You can see the difference between the cement mix and the concrete straight away: the concrete has bits of rough gravel running through it, and makes a lumpy mix....

The concrete:water ratio can be varied...as I wanted the mix to be pourable, I added a bit more water...

 

 I poured the mix into my container...a little shy of the top, then pushed the plastic beaker into the centre...as I found that the beaker kept floating up and out of position, I filled the beaker up with concrete mix as well, to way it down...I also pushed another plastic container into this, filled this up with more concrete, then added a tea-light in the centre...(was trying to be clever and make 3in1....didn't really work here, but would have worked well with the cement mix I think...)

As I had more concrete mix leftover, I dug out the top half of my silicone cake mould, and filled this up as well...repeating the process above...

The concrete took about 2-3 hours to start setting.... 

I kept checking, and when I felt the concrete was set enough to hold its shape, I wiggled out the containers in the middle...

Then I left it for another couple of hours, before peeling back the silicone on the smaller concrete plant pot.... 

I turned it over so that it could dry out in the sunshine...

The bigger one took a little longer to set....

but after about 4 hours, I simply turned the mould over, gave it a few heavy handed taps, and the concrete just fell out...I guess it was so heavy that gravity helped....

Again, there was a few bits that crumbled off here and there...

I repeat: going for (accidental) rustic feel here!!

I put all of my concrete and cement shapes in a sunny spot to dry out and left them all to fully cure over night...

Then the next day I got my palm-sander and neatened off the tops and any rough edges....

Looking rustic, but nice for my first attempt at using concrete and cement...

 

After a quick trip to homebase, I added some suitable plants (don't ask me what they are...I have no idea...I just read the care labels in the shop, and went for plants that wound grow in rockeries and shallow ground...) I guess these would be nice for succulents as well!!

I love the contrast between the concrete/cement and the lush green of the plants...

...and I especially like the swirly,conical concrete planter (that was made by fluke, really)..

it is so unusual in that it cant stand up.....

and my little tea-light holders look nice as well!

What do you think?

Not bad for a first attempt, hey??

I had a lot of fun playing with the concrete and cement...and I've learned a lot!

I think  the cement is easier to work with, and would be my choice for the project I have in mind....

I probably will not tackle that one until  Little Miss Moo is back at school though...

I hope you will all have a great weekend...

xxx

June