SNake Bracelet

This was a gift a friend made. She makes all sort of jewelry designs from wire. (The snake was one of my favorites, without question.)

Camp Tales - Staff Quarters

Living at camp whether in a cabin or in staff quarters can be an intersting eperience. I never lived in a cabin as a counselor, instead I lived staff quarters or in a cabin with my dog. The upside of living in staff quarters is a certain freedom that can not exist in the rest of camp. Of course, putting five girls in one room is an experiment in social constructs. Even when living at camp where most live in jeans, shorts, t-shirts, or bathing suits there is a question of closet and drawer space.

Between the girls and the guys room next door we learned to share. We did get sick of each other at times, but we learned to deal with each other. We shared our bedrooms, a living room with a kitchenette on one end, bathrooms, and a washer and driver. Inside the staff quarters we cooked together, watched movies (we only had one or two channels on a good day), played games, and terrorized each other.

Mostly the quarters were pretty decent. Bugs and insects found a way in and there were a couple larger critters that found their way in, including a raccoon and a snake.

A Bunny Costume From Long Ago

Growing up we always had some of the coolest Halloween costumes, much of that having to do with having a mother who could sew.

A certain bunny costume was made for me when I was maybe 2 or 3, one of my earliest memories with the floppy ears and bunny tail. I remember a plastic bunny nose at least one year This costume ended up getting a lot of use, but not just for me as it was passed down through my younger siblings as one kid grew out of it and another fit into it. A lot of costumes worked that way and for years we went to the costume collection (all hand made of course) to figure out what would fit who.

Camp Tales - The Freezer

The first summer I was at camp, I started the summer off with cleaning, organizing, sorting and taking a general account of supplies. (This would become typical for the beginning of these summers at camp.) I had become begrudgedly accustomed to finding the the occasional dead furry thing amongst the boxes of yarn, fabric, popsicle sticks, old magazines, markers, beads, thread, & so on. (I had an agreement with the Head Naturalist/Environmental Ed Director that as long as I didn't freak out over the dead things or the live ones I came across, he would make one of the naturalists remove the dead animal from my space.) It was common to come across where animals had sought refuge bedding and food especially during the old months when the raft Hall was closed up. I had entire cardboard box of twine that had been so destroyed from wintering mice, that I ended up heaving into the dumpster.

As I cleaned that first summer, I found any things from summer's past as I sorted through through boxes crates, spider webs, and dirt. As I moved boxes I was prepared for things that moved, slithered, and crawled. Beneath a pile of boxes I found an old freezer. It was a smallish chest freezer, still decorated with ice cream stickers from when it had lived once in the camp store. It was not uncommon to use old freezers for storage against ravaging critters and I wondered if it still worked or if it was full of more craft supplies. I opened the lid slowly, not sure what I would find, but not prepared for what I did find. Eyes stared up at me, but not the living kind. I slammed the lid tightly, before slowly opening it again. It was a working freezer full of carefully wrapped dead birds and tiny mice and baby bunnies mostly in clear plastic. For a moment it felt like something from a horror film and I was suddenly recalling how any such films took place at a summer camp deep in the woods. I didn't scream. I didn't yell I didn't run. I quietly closed the lid and left it be until I could figure out what the heck was going on with a freezer of dead animal in my Craft Hall.

I found out later about the freezer and like with any things there was a reasonable explanation. Our camp had a full Nature enter full of stuffed animals that had died of natural causes. Some of the birds and creatures were ones that they were waiting to be taken to the taxidermy when funds were made available. We were also a Bird of Prey Rescue and the frozen mice and baby bunnies were ones that were used to be to be cut up and fed to injured birds in need of food. (It made me very glad not to be one of the Naturalists that this task often fell to.) It all made sense when explained, but looking back the explanation would have been nice to come BEFORE I opened a freezer of dead animals looking up at me.

"Chinese Take Out Swan" Favor

I'm always trying to come up with new ideas and themes for favors and gifts, especially for opening night gifts when I do theater. In a recent show there was a key reference and ongoing references to a Chinese restaurant. I was inspired to go with a Chinese Take Out theme and my tradition of some type of homemade candy. (I love to make homemade candy, something that can be both a science and an art.) I already had some mini Chinese style take out boxes on hand, but decided to add a mini aluminum swam full of candy.

For these opening night gifts, I used magic markers to add names and notes to the outside of the mini boxes and filled them with no bakes made from the crunchy noodles found in the Oriental foods aisle.

I started with a regular piece of aluminum foil. I wanted them about the size of a favor to fit in the palm of the hand, so I cut the piece of foil in half, making a rectangle. It needs to be rectangular for the swan to work. (The supplies are simple for this... aluminum foil like you find in your kitchen and something to put inside it. You don't need tape or glue to secure it, the foil will do it all by it's self.)

I placed the candy on the center of the foil, towards one side like in the picture. One end of the rectangle will be the tail (it's the short side) and the other will be the swan's head and neck (it needs to be the longer side). In this case, I used homemade candied orange peels mixed with semi-sweet chocolate chops for the inside. You want enough to give it body, but not too much or you won't be able to close it securely. (They are often dipped in chocolate, but I liked the appearance of the orange peels and chips for this case.)

I started with securing the foil by wrapping it around the candy pieces and folding into itself to keep the candy secure inside. Once again, make sure one end of the foil if longer than the other, one side for the neck & head, the other for the tail.

Roll the neck/head side to to create the elongated neck and shape into a slight hook with the neck leading to the head. Be careful not to tear the foil. (There is no need for any tape or anything else to secure. The crinkling of the foil will be enough.)

Pinch the other end (the tail end) slightly to secure the bottom end from the candy escaping. Fan out the bit of foil to create a fanned tail shape.

Just a few twists and pinches of the aluminum foil and you have a swan ready for any table setting or dressing room table. My mini swans and mini Chinese Take out boxes were a hit with my cast and crew. (The homemade candy inside was a huge hit as well.)

Anything and everything can be used as inspiration. For this I used something that might seem common place to many people, but when personalized, miniturized and filled with homemade candy it was proof that you can find humor AND inspiration anywhere to fit any theme.

A Puppy from my Past

Years ago (no need to get exact with numbers & ages), I learned a little about ceramics by making a ceramic puppy for a Girl Scout fair entry. It was exciting to make something that wasn't out of popcicle sticks or salt dough.

I got to go to the ceramic shop and pick out something, then take it back to the house where my aunt taught me how to clean up the edges and paint the eyes. I even got to learn to a painting technique of dry brushing to accent the brown with white to make it look more like fur.

I don't what or if I placed on it when I entered it in the county fair that year, but I remember it being a chance for me to take on something new and to learn new techniques. It still sits on one of my shelves, initialed and dated on the bottom.

"Unlucky" Charm Bracelet - Hapy Friday the 13th!

Friday the 13th is full of a lot of superstitious elements. It's easy to do an internet search to find out about traditions and superstitions on sites like HowStuffWorks and Wikipedia. In honor of this Friday the 13th, a day that sends dread down some, I made special Friday the 13th charm bracelet. (If you lose your sense of humor you lose everything.)

I had a theme in mind, wanting to create a number of charms for a bracelet that would celebrate things that many people see as unlucky; a black cat, a raven, a full moon, a broken mirror, a bat, an open umbrella (as in the kind opened indoors), a voodoo doll, the number 13, and an owl. To achieve this set of charms I used recycled #6 plastic (from a cookie container) to make shrinkies. You can buy shrinky dink plastic or you can just use #6 plastic often used in deli containers.

Start with # 6 plastic.

Cut shapes. ( I chose uniform circles.)

Decorate. Magic Markers work great. Also don;t be afraid to use a template to trace designs.

I stuck with three colors; black, red, and silver.

I used 'unlucky' symbols such as the number 13, an open umbrella, an own, a raven, a bat, a broken mirror, a black cat, a full moon, and a voodoo doll. Punch holes BEFORE going in oven.

In preheated 350-400 degrees oven place for a few seconds. Watch. They will crinkle, curl up, shrink and then lay out as they are done.

Prep bracelet with chain & latch of desired size.

They will shrink more than half, so be prepared. Here is an example of a shrunken piece in the cut it they came from.

Attach charms with jump rings, Enjoy. Wear.

Camp Tales - A Sinking Feeling

At one camp the Craft Hall and the Nature Center worked together whenever we could to combine crafts & nature. One of our favorite shared projects was to make plaster castings of animal prints. We kept our eyes at for good spots; along the nearby river or the on-site pond served rich with tracks of animals coming in for water.

One sunny afternoon a small group of staff (including me and the toy Pomeranian that lived with me on site) took a group of kids and headed towards a creek that was fed by the river. It was rich with tracks of deer and raccoon of all sizes. There were some wonderful & delicate tiny prints from baby raccoon. To make the castings the animal print in filled in with the plaster of paris mixture, let dry, removed, allowed to dry thoroughly, and cleaned. (We always made sure to put the camp name and year on the bottom as well.) This meant you had to get to the print to fill it and then again after it set.

On this particular day, some of the kids found some great prints on the other side of the little creek, that seemed rather shallow. My five foot three frame started across the muddy space, while one of the younger staffers stayed on the bank with the kids and my 5 lb. dog. The bottom was muddy and my feet stuck a few times, but mud and dirt are a part of camp & nature. No big deal, right? I thought that, until I got stuck. It wasn't just a little stuck, I sunk and as mud and water moved up past my knees and towards my waist I wasn't able to get myself unstuck. I probably would have sunk more, but I found a hard surface on a log that had fallen into. (If it wasn't a log, I don't want to know and would rather continue to believe it was a log.) A few of the kids were worried, I was drenched, and my little dog was freaking out from his perch in the dog purse. (I know it doesn't sound very camp-like, but most of the staff had dogs on site, mine was just small and elderly.) With a little help from the fellow staffer in the muck and mud with me I was able to get freed from the mud and back to dry land. I was covered in mud from toe to waist, but the dog and the kids seemed much happier to have me unstuck.

We got a number of good castings that day and I was able to sen a younger staffer to find me a change of dry shorts from my cabin while we cleaned them up. I may have been stuck in mud up to my knees and water a bit higher, but mud is a part of life sometimes... and definitely a part of camp life.

Camp Tales - The Spider

Nature is a part of working and living at a summer camp. It is part of the challenge, the perks, the overall experience. Most of it is good, occasionally we run across things that are not so good - like when the bridge connecting the two side of camp is flooded (again), bug bites, poison ivy (not me, but others), bad cell phone service (and climbing a hill to get it), camp food (even from good kitchens staff gets sick of the constant repeats), shared living space (everyone gets pushed sometimes), and bathroom situations (at Girl Scout camp we used latrines). I expected mice. I expected snakes and bugs... I actually like a lot of them, defending & protecting the spider webs in my Craft Hall corners, but spending my days in a Craft Hall one does not expect to run across some of the same things a Naturalist might. I was a bit wrong.

At one camp my Craft Hall was located near the Camp Office, staff quarters, a recycling shed, and down a little hill from the kitchen at the back end of the dining hall. It was a good location, convenient, but much of my own space. I liked having the Recycling Shed nearby for retrieval or disposal of things like cardboard. One quiet afternoon I had been cleaning and organizing (a constant battle in that world) and headed the short walk to the shed, a piece of cardboard in hand. As I opened the sliding metal door, I felt something fall down the side of my face, inside of my glasses, and down. I thought perhaps it was a dust ball or something, but as I looked down to my arm, I was not expecting to see a large brown spider. (About an inch to inch-and-a-half in diameter of legs.) I knew what it was, having had a Naturalist show me a large, battle scarred brown recluse that was living in a woodpile not long before. With the brown recluse resting on the edge of my three quarter sleeve, I look around me. No one was in sight and it was doubtful if anyone would hear me call out without having to yell and even then not necessarily right away. With a piece of cardboard in hand, I made a decision and with one swift movement of the cardboard I sent the spider flying and away from me. I like spiders and had no desire to kill the thing, but I did not want it on me or biting me. It just goes to show you, that even the Craft Instructor can face down the BIG bugs that can hurt you while keeping one's cool and without needing rescued. (Although, I happily took the help when it came to removing the occasional dead mouse or squirrel found among my storage shelves.)

Check Out More About the Brown Recluse

Wooden Dove

The wooden dove is from a pattern of my grandpa's. He made them and he helped us make them.The wooden dove is made from one piece of wood with a small wooden heart attached with clear fishing line. I have two that he helped me make that hang in my windows. They serve as a reminder that we need Peace on Earth everyday.

Middle School Shop Projects

Across the country school systems are struggling to keep art and shop programs. Budget cuts of arts programs are partly the cause as well as people who consider some programs obsolete. When I was in seventh grade shop was 1/3 of a life class required (along with home ec. and a language class), by the next year the seventh grade shop was replaced by a computer skills class for 1/3 of the class. A sad commentary on the changing of times. (At least in my mind.) I was one of those kids who took in both the required 7th grade class as well as the optional 8th grade class. These classes & skills are important, more important than some school officials realize & help give kids excess to skills they might not otherwise have access to.

The aluminum owl was a project from my 7th grade shop class while we were doing metal skill work. After the hot metal was poured and let to cool completely, we filed the edges to clean it up. I have memories of my  shop teacher adding aluminum cans to the melted metal, possibly using cans for the entire metal used, but I don't know or remember. Budget-wise it would have made great sense for a public school. (It hangs on my wall even now as a piece of my past.)

The scotty dog lamp was an 8th grade shop project. Often we were given an option between two projects at a time, one being harder than the other. This was the harder of one of those options, but I do not remember the other one at the time. It was a combination of wood and electric with our choice of fabric pulled over wire mesh. To turn the light on or off, you push the tail.

Don't let Middle School or High School Ssop classes be cut.

Birdhouse from Milk Jug

In honor of Earth Day, I wanted to share this project to turn an clean, empty milk/juice jug into an Earth-friendly home for local birds. I remember making them in Girl Scouts and growing up with birdhouses and bird feeders made this way in our trees.

Camp Tales - The Snake

One of my favorite camp memories is about a snake. This wasn't just any snake, this was a snake that decided to take up residence in the Craft Hall for the better part of a day.

It started as a typical tie dye day in the Craft Hall. (Tie Dye Day was always weekly must.) Before my first session I was prepping the space. I had dye ready and waiting in the buckets with rubber bands, clothes pins, masking tape, & fabric markers set out in wait for eager hands, a tie dye shirt on, and was hanging multiple examples from the rafters to help inspire them. (When working with groups, especially kids, I prefer to have a variety of examples to show them everything does not need to end up looking the same.)

Standing atop a ladder, I was about halfway across the rafter hanging shirts (from my large personal collection) when I looked up, coming face to face with THE snake. I admit, I do not know my snakes as well as I wish I did and had no idea what kind it was; only that it was very large and that it was currently only a few feet above where I would soon have a group of eager campers. I calmly stopped what I was doing, climbed down the ladder, and moved quickly to the camp office next door to find the Environmental Ed Director (or Head Naturalist) to let him know I had visitor. Excited, he came to check out our new friend, who he explained was a female rat snake, harmless to my human campers that would be arriving soon. Knowing the kids would be fine, I decided to not let them know about the new friend right above them, in an attempt to have the snake left alone.

One of my campers, a little girl, was armed with her camara when she arrived and was happily clicking away throughout the time she spent with me (and the snake resting above). We made it through the morning without any of the campers realizing the what was right above one of the front rafters (not over any of the tables). The little girl was telling me about how much she loved nature and all sorts of creature and wanted to get as many pictures as possible. She showed no fear or nervousness over the dirt or bugs or critters that are often a part of camp life, so as most the campers were gone, leaving mostly just counselors, I asked the girl if she wanted a special photo op. She was eager and ready.... so we all thought.... until.... I pointed out my new friend. The little girl who loved nature and all critters DID NOT LOVE SNAKES and at the sight of the serpent stretched across my rafter she took off screaming on horror. Not the pretend kid of horror... the "I think it's going to eat me" horror. We did catch and calm her down (a bit anyway), but she did not return to the Craft Hall as long as my friend was perched above.

The female rat snake became a nearly instant camp celebrity as she stayed in the rafters for most of the week, whether stretched out along the rafter or curled up in the corner of them. The rest of the staff (from the Camp Director on down) asked about her at meals and some visited. I had an increase of curious boys doing crafts and spent some time on multiple occasions explaining why we were not going to chase the snake away by throwing things at her or spraying her with the hose with my constant conversations involving respecting nature and remembering that we were surrounded by woods. This was their home, we were merely summer visitors. We also had many conversations about the benefits of snakes and I had to put a line down on the floor where they could watch the snake while giving her some space. For the staff, many of the counselors and campers, the snake was an awesome opportunity to see something so beautiful so close. She was that week's celebrity.

Eventually, she moved on, hopefully, taking some of the mice form my Craft Hall with her.

Fossil Imprints

Making paperweights or just something fun can be a great way to get kids involved in exploring nature, being interested in the natural world around them, and make something they can keep. The casting pictured was from projects I did with a three-year-old I took care of one summer (I spent everyday up to 8 or more hours with her, even traveling on vacation with the family as their nanny). We collected flowers, leaves, twigs, pine cones, and other bits from nature and mixed them with seashells as a fun way to learn about nature and fossils. (We did learning projects everyday that summer.) They could be painted when dry to add another element.

We used Plaster of Paris at one of my camps to make imprints of animal tracks. Mainly we found deer and raccoon tracks near places where they went to drink.

Bleach Bottle Pig Planters

With thoughts of spring and planting...

I've making bleach bottle pig planters since my early days as a Girl Scout. We would make them in multiple sizes, depending on the available bleach bottles, then plant them with flowers to sit on porches or in flower beds.

The strip of pictures are from a Craft Day at the nursing home. (See references to 'The Ladies Who Craft.')The piigs were cut, painted, googly eyes attaches, and sprayed with an acrylic sealer. Once everything was dry the potting soil was added and ivy planted in each. Perfect for window sills.

The instructions below were written out to be used as an example for recycling projects out of everyday things that would otherwise be thrown away. They don't need any special supplies since pain and a a craft knife or scissors are both items most crafters have readily on hand and they are a nice size for most flowers, herbs, or other plants. Most important remember that the emptied bleach bottles must be thoroughly cleaned and rinsed to get rid of any lingering bleach as it WILL KILL ANY PLANTS in the planter otherwise. (Unfortunately, this was not something we were able to do at camp for lack of enough bleach bottles. It can take some time to save up enough for a group.)

You can cut the ears any way you want, just make sure they have the notched flap on the bottom to help keep them in place.

Check out on CutOutandKeep too!

Camp Crafts - Part 3

Sand Art

Yes, there are still more camp crafts to share. (Multiple summers at more than one location it's bound to happen.) Hopefully you will find inspiration or memories with at least one of these.

The tiger is a sand painting that used pre-stuck templates that were peeled off one by one then covered with colored sand, color by color, until everything was filled. You can also use a paint brush and glue for the same effect with coloring book pictures or your own design. If working with younger kids you can find much simpler designs, but I love tigers and grew up with posters and pictures of them on my walls (much to my younger sister's dismay at times).

The teddy bear picture frame in the picture was decoupaged using torn pieces of tissue paper and Mod Podge with a piece of lace as a hanger. I had a stash of these that ended up painted and decorated in all sorts of ways. There are a few that hang on my mom's Christmas tree painted and with pictures of us kids. Some got ribbon or lace hangers while others had magnets attached to the back. (It still amazes how often the projects of young kids end up looking at lot a show girl to the adult eye, with feathers and glitter and splashes of color.)

Teddy Bear Picture Frame

The paper box is a simple little thing that can be made from pretty much anything. It was another one of those things I learned years ago, but shared with a lot of kids to keep trinkets, treasures, or to put gifts in. It involved two pieces of square paper, one piece slightly larger than the other for the lid, a pair of scissors to make a couple slits, and the no how to fold them. Over the years I have made them in all sorts of sizes and using various paper to make them.

The peace sign medallion was made using a woodburner to burn the letters into the slice of tree, then stained. Wood burning was a popular thing for a lot of the kids to do, but took a lot of care in making sure everyone was safe. There is something strange about basically handing a bunch of nine to 14 years old branding irons and pieces of wood and saying, "Have fun!" Yet somehow, they with careful instruction they went home unmamed and unbranded (at least from the Craft Hall). I'm a stickler for safety and wouldn't tolerate any less from my campers or the counselors that I worked with everyday. The peace medallion was probably inspired by one of the many theme weeks or a themed dance one of the camps had. ("Hey man, give peace a chance. Won't ya?")

Sushi Fish

I love finding unusual and fun things to make and to use as gifts for friends. When I found this pattern for a felt fish that turns from a fish to sushi and back. I knew I had to try it. (See Original Sushi Fish Pattern here.) Armed with a few different colors of felt, needle, thread, and the pattern printed from online I went to work. I ended up with enough for a whole sushi platter worth. (Some puns you just can't resist.)

With the aid of some mini Chinese Carry-Out style boxes from the wedding favor section of the craft department they made great gifts with an added touch of humor. I've been playing with some ideas on making some that look like clown fish per a dark inspiration from an upbeat fish cartoon and a friend who nicknamed her boyfriend after the title character (I think it would be an especially fitting gift since their break up).

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/fish_to_sushi_plushie/versions/34

The Ladies Who Craft

Turkey Hat Wall Hanging

Part of the time I volunteer my time at a nursing home doing various crafts with my aunt and a couple of older women. It started as a result of a friend of the family feeling the activities offered at her facility lacked in projects that she would enjoy. They are based around getting as many people involved as possible and often offer rather simplistic projects. In a smaller group we could give more individual attention and chose projects that were a bit more in depth, even those that took more than one day or one hour.

There have been a few goals in this endeavor:

Making Turkey Hat Wall Hangings

     (1) To take on projects that are too much for large groups with many needing special attention.
     (2) To make things that would be usable or decorative for their living space.
     (3) To keep their limited space in mind... decorative and storage needs.
     (4) To have fun.  

We have taken on many different crafts that include some of the things I have pictured here as well as card making, various painting and decoupage projects.

Making Fleece No Sew Pillows

Before Thanksgiving we took straw hats, felt, and rafia to make turkey wall hangers to be used to decorate walls or doors. (I even made one for my mom. She really gets into decorating for the holidays and didn't have have anything for the front door for Thanksgiving.)

We also made no-sew knotted fleece pillows for Thanksgiving so that they had one for their own room and one to give away to someone they were thankful to or for.

Clay Pot Scarecrows

Another fall project was scarecrows made from clay pots. The scarecrows took a couple days of of painting and decorating with straw, felt, buttons, straw hats, and little black crows, but turned out adorable.A nice center piece for rooms.