Sunday, June 5, 2011
How to Make a Baby Changing Mat
1-Get yourself a meter (1m x 0.7m) of water resistant fabric, any color you like. Half a meter of thick wadding (0.9 x 0.6), some thread and you're ready to go.
2-Place the wadding on top of the fabric and fold the fabric over so you have three sides ready to stitch with one folded side. Ensure you have about 1 inch of free fabric on each side, cut down if necessary.
3-Remove the wadding and fold the fabric back over so the water resistant surface is inside. Sew along the 2 longest sides.
4-Turn the fabric back inside out so the water resistant side is now on the outside. Stuff the wadding in to create a smooth, bouncy surface.
5-With the unstitched side, pull tightly to make sure the wadding fits snug inside and sew along the seam.
6-For added effect, stitch about 2 inches in from each side to create the centre where your baby can lay down comfortably.
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Thursday, June 2, 2011
How to make love

In this instructable, new ways to make love are explored. You can make love for valentine's day. Several examples with explicit pictures are given. Enjoy!
Step 1: To make lots of love we need a pattern

The pattern for love is cut from cardstock with scissors. Just go into the word processor and pick a font, select size, outline, print and cut.
Step 2: First way to make love is with plain cardboard.

I cut these out on the bandsaw. Use the letter pattern of love to outline letters, then cut.
Step 3: Make plain love

Letters made out of styrofoam, cut on hotwire machine.
Step 4: Make your love stand out

If Love is painted in the color of your choice, it will be more enduring, and look better, too. I chose red here.
Step 5: Make Love standing up

In this shot, love is made in the upright position. This is not really practical, but is an option.
Step 6: There can be contrast in making love

Here, cardboard is shown against a white background. Quite a contrast in love.
Step 7: Bugs and bees in love!

Self explanatory....
That's how you make love :). Enjoy!
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Tuesday, May 31, 2011
A cool hand-made tool organizer

Need a simple, easy to make tool organizer? I had the thought that it would be better to have a vertical tool organizer instead of having the tools lie all over the work area. Using styrofoam and cardboard, an effective tool holder is made.
Step 1: Gather Materials

For this simple project, you will need cardboard, styrofoam (EPS foam, actually) a craft knife or box cutter, a hotwire machine if possible, some glue and a rubber band
Step 2: Prepare Foam Blanks for Cutting

Here, a piece of foam is selected to be the holder for the pair of pliers shown. With a pencil or sharpie, trace silhouette onto the foam.
Step 3: Cut Out All Tool Holders From Foam

In this step, all pieces are cut with the hotwire machine. A craft knife can be used also, you are just limited in thickness of foam. Use many strokes to cut with a knife, taking care not to tear foam.
Step 4: Glue foam to cardboard

For each tool piece, cut and glue appropriate foam piece to the pre-cut cardboard. For this project, I had four tools to organize, hence four pieces of foam and four pieces of cardboard.
Step 5: Complete Pieces for each tool.

The four tools in this project and their foam pieces cut and glued to cardboard.
Step 6: Complete Project

The final product...Note how footprint of holder is about equal to the space one tool occupies. This way you can tell at a glance if all tools are in place, and they are easily grasped for doing your work. I used a rubber band to hold the modules together, but they can be enclosed in a "box" made of cardboard, masonite, matboard, or so on. I left it at this point as I might want to add to it in the future, but don't want to make it too big.
Step 7: Tool Organizer Makeover

I decided to update, improve and decorate my tool holder....time on my hands!
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Saturday, February 12, 2011
Valentine Sucker Tutorial




First, collect your supplies:
(everything can be found at Michaels, of course!)
~cut 2 heart shapes out of felt
~embroidery floss
~oversized needle (these work better than regular handsewing needles)
~wooden stick
~polyester filling
~hot glue gun
~Valentine ribbon
~plastic sucker bag (optional)



Beginning close to the point of the heart, blanket stitch the two hearts together. (Leave a gap at the point that is large enough to place the wooden stick in)
Leave yourself enough room (about 1") to stuff polyester filling inside the heart.
Using your hot glue gun, glue a small amount of glue on the end of the wooden stick.
Place stick 1/2" inside the heart, making sure you do not glue the "points" of the hearts.
Finish stitching around the heart. (When stitching the point, you will stitch one side of the heart at a time)
As shown in the Cookie Tutorial, work the needle back and forth a few times to hide the leftover thread.
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Rose Stencil Valentine's Day Mug

Here's an inexpensive Valentine's Day gift that you can make yourself for that special someone. We provide the free, full-sized rose stencil pattern (at right) - or you could use your own romantic theme. Either way, a mug that you paint yourself is sure to please!
Rose Stencil Valentine's Day Mug
Materials List:
white coffee mug
printed rose stencil pattern (shown above, right)
Perm enamel surface conditioner
Perm enamel paints (your choice of colors)
Perm enamel gloss
sharp nail scissors or Exacto knife
rose (1K) Stencil a Valentine's Day Coffee Mug
Instructions:
Purchase an inexpensive glass coffee mug or use a solid white one that you may already have around. Clean the mug well with dishwashing liquid and water, then rinse and dry thoroughly.
With a paint brush, brush on the surface conditioner. You must let this dry, but you can usually paint on your design within an hour.
You can purchace stencil paper that is specifically manufactured for making your own stencils, but why not save the money and use plain paper and tape? Print out the pattern, put wide tape on both sides of the paper pattern, then cut out using sharp cuticle scissors or an exacto craft knife.
Put the stencil in position on the mug (not too close to the top) and keep it in place with spray stencil glue, or tape it firmly in place.
Use a makeup sponge to sponge the paint colors on the stencil. You will need two coats of paint. Make another stencil on the other side of the mug handle so that you have a picture on both sides of the mug. If you wish, try painting some small hearts at the bottom as a border, as well as down the stem of the handle.
Let dry overnight.
Paint on the perm enamel gloss with a brush, and let cure for ten days before washing. (Hint, I set mine in the oven at 225 degrees, when it was dry, for a couple of hours. The paint was fine and I was able to skip the 10 day waiting period.)
Caution:
Check the manufacturers instructions when applying paint, particularly if you are using paint on an object that will be used for serving food or drinks. Most paints should not be applied close to the lip of a cup, for instance - so please make sure you read the bottle label carefully.
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