Fiery Top Hat

Sometimes we all need a little fire in our life. This hat was a plastic top hat that I painted with a combination of red, yellow, and orange paint to give a fire appearance. I'm sure I'll fine the perfect costume for it. (I always do.)

Camp Tales - Fashion

Living at camp and need something nice to wear to dinner? Why not make something out of what you have on hand... like black and white garbage bags.

One warm afternoon, while our quarters were being bug bombed, we were trying to come up with something to wear to a "nice" dinner. Lucky for us, I had a stash of plastic garbage bags in the Craft Hall. We fashioned dresses fro large black trash bags accenting them with strips of white garbage bags for bows, belts, and even hair ties. Once we were all 'gussied' up we needed needed dates to escort us with we made from balloons with drawn on faces. They were a huge hit with the campers, counselors, and other staff. You use what you have, and we had garbage bags.

Opps!

 Sometimes you get a great idea or want to try something new and it turns out great and something... it doesn't.

I'm always on the lookout for new projects, new materials, new ideas, and new ways of trying things. While looking through somethings at home I realized that the blue plastic ups we had used for some things were made from number six plastic and decided to try these for a necklace or bracelet made using shrinkie charms. I figured the colored plastic would make an interesting look to the final project and started the drawing and cutting process. I even cut a strip fro the cup that I thought might be shrunk down and bended into a ring or attach a yarn to make a bracelet. I was optimistic. I was wrong.

I followed the instructions of something I had done a couple hundred times, at the very least. My optimism was mislaid this time. The plastic curled in weird ways and wouldn't lay out flat when when I tried. The long strip I but shrunk in one direction but not the other. Most of them ended in such a weird twist not just twisting, but also changing circles into long misshapen not quite oval things. I'm not sure what happened. It might have been the process that goes into shaping the plastic into cups or the coloring process but it just did not work right.

From a pile of hopeful charms, I ended up with only one that is even usable and the rest just a pile of twisted melted plastic.

Sometimes things do not work out. Sometimes the greatest ideas end up in a pile of twisted plastic. Sometimes we spend time and effort on something that just does not work out. It doesn't mean I've given up or ever will. Sometimes the mistakes come out even better than what we thought they would as we find something new. Most times it helps us grow and learn. Art and crafting is all about learning, growing, and taking on new challenges. We learn, we grow, and sometimes it works out better than others. Through the errors we learn new things and get ready to take on new challenges. I mean, what's the worse thing that can happen, a pile of twisted, melted plastic? I've seen worse after a dinner with the family.

"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 Crafts - Part 2

Basket

In this the second installment of Camp Crafts I have a few more things to share from my camp days. Camp Crafts were a great way for me to be a positive influence in a lot of k, kids' lives and to show them the process is just as important, if not more sometimes, than just the finished project. You don't have to be an artist to make your own art.

I always wanted to kids to have lots of examples. I found that if you have only have one example then most of the kids will make their finished project look as close to that one as they can. So wanted them to see there was no ONE way. I wanted them to make it their own way with their own vision.

At a camp ground I was living and working as a Craft Hall Supervisor I was able to offer basket making. It was great for adults and teens. I even got a family with a mom, her grown daughter, and her daughter's boyfriend, who ended up being the surprise with a very nice heart shaped basket.

Paper Bag Journal

Paper bag journals were something I altered and adapted to make usable for groups and camp settings. At one camp that catered to families and various groups, they were a big hit with tweens, teens, and a few very creative Girl Scout troops. We used two colored paper bags for each, a variety of colored construction paper, markers, construction paper crayons (which are more awesome than many people might realize), yarn, and fun bits of feathers, gems, and foamies. I made ones for part of the staff at the end of the summer as a good bye present (the pockets were great for tucking in feathers, magnets, and other bits from the summer).

I've made paper bag journals with my 'Ladies Who Craft" at the nursing home, as well as for personal things. (I usually use regular brown paper bags and lunch sacks.) I made one for Christmas present for my mom as a memory book after my grandpa's death. The pockets were great for tucking in extra pictures, poetry, and a copy of his obituary. A great way to utilize scrap booking techniques for little bits.

Shrinkie Charm Bracelet

At the 4-H camp we did a lot with shrinkies (you've heard of shrinkie drinks, right?) and various knotted and braided bracelets and anklets made with colored thread. The kids loved them, both the nine-year-olds, and the teens. I tried to find ways for them to use the shrinkies they made (#6 plastic, decorated with markers or colored pencils, then heated down) other than just little melted pieces of plastic. I made a shrinkie charm bracelet with a bunch of fruit and vegetable charms and bits (I'm a vegetarian) with green and white colored thread.

Once all the shrinkies where made (decorated with holes punches) and shrunk, I set them out in the order I preferred and started to work on the bracelet itself. I used a square knot like one used in macrame with thin colored thread (think embroidery thread or something similar). The combination of colors gave a nice variance.

If the bracelet in the picture looks a bit beat up, because it is. I wore it a lot at camp and used it as an example (always with the examples).

Worry Dolls

Worry dolls made from twisty ties and embroidery floss was something I came up with. I have a few sets that I had picked up from other places, but wanted to find a way to make them myself. I was inspired by the collection of twisty ties that I could force myself to throw away, my selection of colored embroidery floss, and scraps of fabric. One of my campers even made a house for them out of a Velveeta Cheese box. It kind of resembled a mini mobile home. See More!

Macrame Butterfly

Macrame and macrame techniques were a big part of the stuff I did the kids. It seemed the more retro something was the more popular it was. Bracelets, belts, and even little macrame butterflies, like the one pictured. It was nice to experiment with different types of cord and string. The Macrame Butterfly was made from actual macrame cord that was donated (like the kind you see used in planters.)

Maybe some of these will inspire you or bring back sweet memories of summer camps gone by.