Category Archives: Stuff to make

Upcycled Books Round Up

Posted in Paper, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by

book mobileIn my library day job, I’ve been weeding old books from the shelves. The books aren’t in circulation any more but they’re still hardcover treasures with great illustrations about Arctic explorers and Presidential boyhoods and stuff like that. With some help from The Repurposed Library and a glue gun, I remade some of them into “bookmobiles.” (Repurposed has instructions for dismantling books to make all sorts of upcycled crafts.)

Kids think the mobiles look like birdhouses. I think they look like something that exploded and spilled over in weird loopy accretions. But I like them anyway.

Here are other great ideas for upcycled books (links below):

Row 1, left to right: Nancy Drew book purse by Rebound Designs; party favor pinwheels & keepsake box from bhg.com

Row 2: paper hearts from Too Much Time On My Hands; decorations from an Anthropologie store display; organizer from SCJohnson

Row 3: Artichoke pendant by Zipper8Lighting; book shelf by Lisa Occhipinti in The Repurposed Library; “lace” runner by bhg.com;

Mr. Bunny’s Matchbox

Posted in Free Printables, Free Tutorials, Kids, Paper, Recycled materials by

Mr. Bunny Matchbox 824

This mini-matchbox home belongs to Mr. Bunny. If you (or your kids) enjoy tiny coloring–great for fine motor skills!–here is a free printable of Mr. Bunny’s burrow. Just color and trim to fit your matchbox. Matchboxes don’t come in standard sizes so you may need to do some fancy cutting and pasting. Happy bunnies & eggs & challah bread!

Finished picnic quilt

Posted in Quilting, Sewing, Stuff to make by

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February in Florida is picnic weather–bright and sunny, no humidity and no mosquitoes. So this weekend, I am packing up some delicious fare and taking my family on a picnic. This quilt replaces a woolen picnic blanket that is far too hot and itchy for picnicking anywhere but the Scottish highlands. The backing is olive green, and I used a delicate floral for the binding–perfect for the great outdoors.

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Paper heart pouch

Posted in Holiday, Kids, Stuff to make by

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These paper heart pouches, with conversation hearts inside, are perfect for class valentines. They have  a little bit of candy, and are easy enough for kids to make before they get bored and wander off. We traced hearts using cookie cutters and taped two together with washi tape, leaving the top open. Then we punched a hole through the top and tied the opening shut with some baker’s twine. To finish them off, we taped a heart to the end of the twine for a label.

Be Our Valentine

Posted in Holiday, Kids, Paper, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by
heart wagon
heart button cork stamps
easy stitch heart
pencil heart stamps
making heart prints
tiny heart prints
stamping!
sew-a-heart

A Sweetheart candy-induced sugar rush fueled a valentine bonanza at our house this weekend. We tried out stamps that we made from heart-shaped buttons glued on wine/beer corks and tiny heart stamps carved into pencil erasers. Yes, carving a pencil eraser takes some adult fine motor skills–and I learned that a Speedball carving tool works better than an X-acto knife. We also sewed paper valentines with yarn stitches (I punched holes and my seven-year-old Zeke stitched). Zeke preferred simple stitches–the star design (above) was too tricky for him.

But when it came time for all-out valentine production for Zeke’s classmates, we kept things simple. With washi tape and construction paper, we made big, neon plaid hearts. Happy Valentine’s Day!

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