They are ever more fun if you stand on a chair or table before launching them (be careful though!).

How-to

1. Cut a strip of paper. My strip measured about 20cm x 2cm but there is no need for accuracy (hurray!).
2. Cut slits at either end, as shown.
3. Make lots….everyone will want a go!
4. Bend the strip of paper and slot ends together.
5. Throw in the air and watch them spin as they come down (they are impossible to photograph so no photo for this step!).

Kate ^_^

I had intended to make a whole army of them but we’ve all has a dodgy stomach bug over the last few weeks so it put a bit of a dampner on my plans!

The neon semi-transparent beads worked really well against the opaque white beads and the jars look really pretty with the light shining through them.

I was going to write a proper how-to but there is a really fantastic bead weaving tutorial here which is better than anything I could put together.

Hints and tips:

♥ You will need some shirring elastic, a darning needle and some hama/perler beads.
♥ I would say that hama bead weaving is too fiddly for little kids and best aimed at teenagers or grown ups!
♥ Threading the first few rows is pretty fiddly so don’t be put off by this. After that it’s a piece of cake.
♥ I have found it easier to sketch a design first, rather than trying to figure one out along the way. With this in mind I have put together a printable design sheet here!
♥ You don’t need fancy candles…just use an old glass jar and stick a tea-light inside.
♥ If you don’t fancy candle holders then you can make bracelets, baskets and coasters using the same method. You can also use seed beads to create some stunning jewellery. Inspiration here!

If you have any questions then leave a comment and I will get back to you.

Happy Monday all!

So…I put an article together for this months issue of Handmade Living on easy rubber stamps. (I actually wrote this article about three months ago….it’s taking me a while to get used to the print ‘time-lag’ thing).

These stamps are made from erasers, using a craft knife and ruler. If you stick to straight lines then carving is easy and you don’t need any specialist tools!! Perfect for decorating your own wrap, cards and fabric etc. Great also for your kids to play with.

If you want to see how hand carved stamps are done the proper way then check out this ace tutorial at Geninne’s Art Blog. Her hand carved stamps are nothing short of amazing.

Hama bead weaving tutorial on its way early next week! More tummy-bugs/throat infections in our house this week so not much in the way of spare time! Booo!

You can pick up a copy of Handmade Living from Morrisons, Asda, Sainsburys, Martins, WH Smiths, Hobbycraft plus a number of independent shops and newsagents. Internationally, the magazine is available from Barnes and Noble in the US and newsagents in Australia.

My computer died just before Christmas and it’s taken my hubby and I a while to bring it back to life…which is why it’s been a bit quiet. I lost 3 months worth of work (new years resolution no.33 = backup files more regularly!).

Now seems like a good time to thank all you lovely lot for visiting minieco over the last couple of years. I am ever amazed at the increasing number of people who tune in! I also realise as far as bloggers go I am quite slack…only managing to get a post up every week or two. I’d like to say that this will improve……! Thanks for sticking with me through the quiet times anyhow!

In between posts I regulary use pinterest so do pop over and check it out if you haven’t already. It’s a great site for gathering together all your favourite bits of eye candy!

There seems to be a bit of a Polyhedra craze going on at the moment. It seems to me that mathematics has never been so cool.

I have put together some templates for a ‘platonic solids‘ garland. Perfect for cheering the place up now all the festive decorations have been taken down.

Simply chop, score and glue together.

Don’t forget to thread your cotton in whilst glueing the pieces together….I forgot! (I did manage to thread the cotton through afterwards but it was pretty tricky and took longer than it should have done).

I’ll try to get a better photo of it in situ…our conservatory is really bright and sunny but the rest of the house is pretty dark (especially in this miserable weather).

If you want something a bit more subtle then you could make the polyhedra white with some neon/gold thread!

If you fancy having a go you can download templates here. (There are two templates on each page!)
Cube
Icosahedron
Tetrahedron
Octahedron
Dodecahedron

Happy chopping/folding/sticking!!

Check this site out for a jawdropping collection ofpolyhedra templates. Amazing stuff!

In amongst it all I have managed to find five minutes here-and-there to try out some hama bead weaving. I’m going to work on a few projects over Christmas and will put some tutorials on my site in the new year. I am very inspired by these hama bead baskets at finelittleday and am determined to figure out how to make one!!

Hope you all have an ace holiday and enjoy hanging out with your families and friends. We are off to Scotland for christmas so getting very excited about that!

Cheerio for now
Kate
x

I ♥ this DIY advent by snug-online. (Via Celina Bailey’s Pinterest board). In reality, my kids would be unable to restrain themselves and it would all be opened on the 1st of December, nonetheless, it is lovely!

DIY Piñata Tree by blow-up. Claire + Kristin’s blog is a very happy place. Check it out!

Gold dipped bowl DIY by Capree from myadventureisyouradvantage. I wanna try!!

BTW Handmade Ryan Gosling is making me laugh out loud! (Thanks Craftzine for bringing that little gem to my attention!).

Happy Monday
Kate
x

It’s been six months in the making (it was meant to take three) and has been a bit of an epic adventure for me. However, I got there in the end….thanks to a very patient bunch of people from my publishers Ryland Peters and Small….and a very patient husband + family.

The book is aimed at pre-schoolers and contains 35 colourful, fun & crafty projects. It really does look ace thanks to the efforts of photographer Carloyn Barber, stylist Liz Belton and Designer Sonya Nathoo (I’ll show you some pictures in the new year). Annabel Morgan has also done a super job of helping me out with the words.

It’s due to be released in April and is available for pre-order on Amazon. I’ll also be selling copies via my site when it comes out.

So, now you know why it’s been a bit quiet around here at times.

Phew! Weight lifted!

Crackers are so easy to make…and if you don’t fancy making some for the table you can make some miniature ones to hang in the tree. They also make really cool gift boxes.

I’ve put some templates together if you wanna try. I initially drew these up for my son because he breaks up from school next week and I wanted to line up a few nice things for him to do. (I’m going to ask him to make one for each of his grandparents for Christmas – I’ll cut out the cracker and he can fill it with drawings, sweets and confetti and decorate the outside…sorted!).

Here’s how:
1) Download the pdf and print onto thin card. There is a large template and a miniature template. (Full size crackers are 25cm long and miniature crackers are 16cm long).
2) Cut around the outside with a pair of scissors.

3) Score along all the dotted lines. Compass points are great for scoring card.
4) Using a craft knife cut out all the diamond shapes.

5) Fold along all the vertical lines.
6) Fold along horizontal lines as shown. At this point you would insert a cracker bang and tape it into place at each end using sticky tape. (I didn’t use any cracker bangs for this post because I didn’t get my act together and order them in time!…If you wanna buy some, have a look on ebay).

7) Bring ends together and join using a glue stick or double sided tape.
8) Tie one end with a length of cotton/ribbon/string*

9) Wrap a gift/sweets/hat/joke/confetti* in some tissue paper
10) Pop inside cracker and tie the other end with cotton/ribbon/string*

* delete where appropriate!!

Job done!!

Hope all your Christmas or Hanukkah crafts/preparations/plans are coming along a treat.

My two boys are still a bit young to do the cutting-out so I did it for them. Their job is to go wild with the glue, glitter, silvery markers etc etc!

If you wanna print some out for your little ones to cut-out or decorate then you’ll find templates after the jump.

(My 3 year old helping me to ‘stage the shot’)

(My amazing Fiskars needlework scissors that I use for everything…and they have remained sharp for years – in spite of my constant misuse!)

(My beloved Swann-Morton knife…and no, this is not a sponsored plug…just a genuine love affair!)

Anyway, there are five templates to choose from. One contains a mix of all designs, the rest are just a single sheet of each of the designs (that way you don’t print off more than you need if you only like one of the designs). Simply cut out and decorate. When it comes to hanging thread some string through the loopy-bit with a needle (or use a small hole punch to chop out a hole first).

Happy decorating. We are doing the tree this weekend and I am super-excited!!!

minieco-decoration-mixed.pdf
minieco-decoration-baubel.pdf
minieco-decoration-star.pdf
minieco-decoration-pointy-baubel.pdf
minieco-decoration-snowflake.pdf

My paper gems were very influenced by these wonderful crayons (via Deborah’s Pinterest board).

You can use these paper gems as hanging decorations (for your Christmas tree) or you can incorporate them into a mobile or garland. I would love to make about a hundred and string them up in front of my window…however there is a limit to my patience!!

If you spray them lightly on one side they look very pretty and a bit more crystal-like! (Not very eco-friendly but I found it hard to resist). Skip below the jump for pdf templates and instructions.

If you love crystals and gems as much as I do then check out these cool projects:

Home-made rock candy
Home grown geodes

Edited to add: Check out this great advent calendar idea using my paper gems. Thanks Marta!

Kids craft coming up next week…I absolutely promise this time!

Off topic:
Huge thanks to Kathreen from whipup.net for choosing one of my images for her 2012 calendar. Be sure to check it out!

I’ve been a total slacker on email lately…but intend to catch up over the next week. So if you have emailed, sorry, you will hear from me soon!

How-to

You will need:
♥ Paper
♥ Scissors
♥ Cutting board (optional)
♥ Glue stick
♥ Silver/gold spray (optional)

1. Download the minieco-paper-gems.pdf
2. Print template onto a sheet of coloured A4 paper
3. Cut out the templates. (Cut along solid lines. Score and fold the dashed lines).
4. Stick together using a gluestick. (There is probably a better kind of glue to use…I would love to hear recommendations from any paper-crafters out there!)
5. If you want to spray the gems, lie them on an old piece of newspaper and lightly spray the top-side of the gems. (I think they look better sprayed on one side only).

!!If you want to hang your gems then thread a piece of cotton through before sticking the pieces together!!

Due to it’s fiddly nature, this project is not really suitable for kids.

Any problems then leave a comment!