Tree of Life Banner (1)

I'm making a banner for our church, All Saints Higher Walton.  The theme of the banner is healing.  After a little research I've decided to base the design on the Tree of Life with a flowing river.

As usual, I'm up for having a go at any creative task - but doesn't mean I'm expert in any of them!  I drew out a few ideas and then went shopping with a friend for material.  I found a heavy material that looked like it'd hang well and lots of small pieces of green patterned material. 

Once'd I'd drawn out the basic idea in chalk on the material, I set to work. Looking at the material I had, I tried out a couple of different ideas until I settled on a kind of crazy patchwork look for some fields. 

I cut strips of material out and tacked them together at an angle until I thought it looked good. I then shaped each side panel and backed them onto wadding. I quilted the 'fields' onto the banner material and appliquéd  around the edges.

I found a large piece of silky blue material at home which just seemed to 'flow'.  So, I pinned the material into the gap for the river, stitching the hemmed edges of the blue material right next to the field panels and loosely gathering the rest using pins. I'm not using any particular method, just pinning and sewing until it looks right. 

To hold all the gathers in place I stitched through the gathers with silver thread and to add some sparkle I've stitched some crystal beads into most of the gathering points.

 And now for the Tree......

Alien Money Box

On our quest for things to upcycle, year 3/4 are also going to make money boxes from the infants' daily plastic milk bottles.     

We're using a decopatch type method.  

All you need is a small plastic pot, tissue paper, glue, bits and pieces to decorate.

Only two steps really:

Firstly, I've applied small pieces of tissue paper with a mix of PVA and water. There needs to be at least two layers. 

Once the glue has dried decorate your money box. We're making alien money boxes to go with our space theme, so I've made a crazy card mouth, antennae with pipe cleaners and foam (piercing the pipe cleaners through the soft plastic cap) and given him one oversized googly eye!  

Sock Owls

Class 5/6 are going to make sock animals. I'm excited about this one as it will follow on nicely from my sock rabbits and sock snowmen (tutorial for sock rabbits is on 40daysofcrafts.blogspot.co.uk). I'm having a go at sock owls using two different methods from the same sock.

Let's start with a sock - any sock will do, it doesn't have to typically owl patterned. First, I've cut the toe end of the sock off near to the heel, to a point. This will be Owl A. 

Next, using the remaining leg end of the same sock, I've made a slightly curved cut near to the heel. This will be Owl B. You can discard the heel - but keep it if you make any other sock animals as you never know when you might need it.

Owl A (left) and Owl B (right)

Owl A

You can now fill Owl A with your chosen stuffing, right up to the point. I put some rice in the bottom first to help it stand. Now, you can simply fold the triangle over and overstitch it closed, at the same time as attaching it to the stuffed sock. Or you can first stitch the point closed before folding the point over and stitching it to the stuffed sock. Yay - basic owl shape, now the rest is up to you!

Yay - basic owl shape!

Owl B

First turn the sock owl inside out and use a back stitch to stitch closed the curved end. Turn your sock the right way out - see the little pointy ears. Now, stuff the sock. 

Before sealing the owl closed I put a few tablespoons of rice on top of the stuffing (actually the bottom of the owl). I then put a running stitch through the sock cuff and pulled to closed, putting some extra stitches in to secure. My owl stands no problem - possibly the rice helps. 

So here are my two sock owl shapes ready to decorate........ 

To decorate, you could keep it sock authentic and use other sock pieces to create the wings, eyes, trims, feathers, feet etc - I used the matching sock to make wings. I cut two wing shapes for each owl, stitched them right sides together, turned them inside out and attached them to the owl body. Or you could use felt, buttons, wool or anything else you have to jazz them up.

So why not make an sock owl - it'll be a hoot! 

Mushroom Bird Feeder

This follows on from the milk bottle feeder. The mushroom bird feeder is easier. All you need is a milkshake bottle (Frijj is ideal) and 2 litre pop bottle, twigs and string.

First wash out milkshake bottle and remove sleeve. Then cut windows in each side of the bottle and pierce the lid with two holes.

Cut off the bottom off the 2 litre bottle and pierce two holes in the bottom. (If you're savvy, you could use the top for a milk bottle bird feeder). Using red metal/wood emulsion I painted the bottom of the pop bottle, left it to dry and then painted white spots on it.

Inside or outside?

I have also tried painting on the inside of the lid. This makes it a little easier to hold the bottle bottom. I quite like the texture you get when you paint on the outside. It's entirely up to you.

Simply assemble the roof and stalk by threading string through the holes you've made on the lid and the bottle bottom and screwing the lid back onto the milkshake bottle.

Add a few twigs for sills and you're done!

**Update

I have since changed the position of the twigs. Rather than sticking them on the edge, I have turned one longer one 90 degrees and pierced it through the plastic at the bottom. The birds certainly prefer this.   

***Also nearly a year on the bird feeder is still outside and the paint on plastic has survived - hurrah!

Milk Bottle Bird Feeder

Next week our school is having an upcycling week and each class will make a few items that they can sell at the end of the week. Whoopee! This has given me the ideal excuse for a range of crafty diversions as I support art in two classrooms - meaning this will be the first of at least three posts! 

In class 3/4 we've decided to make bird feeders out of plastic milk bottles and 2 litre pop bottles. Some of the examples I've seen using a small pop bottle, sticks or spoons, are good enough but don't have too much for the children to do. Instead I'm going to try using bottles which the children can paint and decorate to look a little like bird houses.

First I needed to wash out the milk bottles and cut windows in the bottom - starting far enough up for a layer of seed to go in the bottom. I've cut the top of a 2 litre pop bottle to use as a roof. You could use the top for a mushroom bird feeder - next post. Keep the milk bottle lid but you won't need the pop bottle lid (save it for something else too).

Next - painting! Plastic is notoriously difficult to paint. Many sites say don't bother - you can't. Well these aren't supposed to last forever but I'd rather the paint doesn't flake off straight away. I've decided to try using emulsion paints mainly because we have lots of tester pots at school and it is about repurposing.

I've experimented with emulsion and this is what I've found out:

Hints and Tips - Painting onto plastic milk bottles.

Tip 1 - It's a bit of trial and error!
Different paint and different plastic will give different results!
Tip 2 - Specialised paints
Thick gloopy paint for metal or wood seemed to work well (see Mushroom Bird Feeders - next post). As did Lifeproof paints - they must have something in them which makes them more flexible. Also a paint with a sheen or silk will work better than a matt emulsion.
Tip 3 - Denser plastic
Paint seems to last better on harder plastics so it is easier to paint small plastic milk bottles (1pt) where as a proportion of the bottle there is more dense plastic, around the neck and the edges. So see how easy it is to squidge the bottle (not very technical I know). 

With the 2pt/1 litre bottles the one the left has more ridges on the corners and was denser around the neck - this seemed to take the paint better  and was less 'squidgy'. 

Tip 4 - Sanding
A light sanding of the plastic definitely seems to help - you can tell the different when you apply it. However I didn't need to do this with the wood/metal paint or the Lifeproof brand.
Tip 5 - PVA
Again using PVA blended with normal emulsion paint will help the paint to adhere.
Tip 6 - Car Lacquer
Spraying with a cheap car lacquer seems to stop the paint from flaking even if it splits (not sure how safe for birds though).

So I painted my small milk bottle with some light brown Lifeproof emulsion. I've used a normal emulsion for the plastic bottle. So far that seems to be working ok (just luck?) but I would still suggest using the same tips as for plastic milk bottles.

I pierced two holes in the milk bottle lid, threaded string through it and then slipped the plastic roof on top.

Finally, I hotglued some twigs to make windowsills and used permanent marker (and a bit more paint) to add details.

Quite cute I think!