How To Make a Fairy Wand

I recently purchased a Tinkerbell Costume for my daughter at the Thrift Store. My daughter felt it was missing something, a wand to be exact. So I came up with a wand fit for a fairy. It's easy to make and is made of basic materials. Simple directions below.

Supplies:
Fake flowers
Styrofoam ball with a 2 inch diameter
Hot Glue
Wood dowel
Ribbon
Fabric Glue

Glue wood dowel inside styrofoam ball (refer to picture).

Hot glue flowers to the styrofoam ball. The hot glue can melt the styrofoam so I recommend placing the glue on the back of the flower, let it cool a few seconds and then place it on the ball. Make sure to glue the flowers close together so none of the styrofoam shows.

When you're done it should look something like the picture above. You'll notice I added a couple leaves at the bottom too.

Starting at the top, adhere the ribbon to the dowel with fabric glue. To hold it in place, secure it with a clothespin. Wind the ribbon all the way down the dowel to the very end. Glue in place and secure with another clothespin. When dry remove clothespins and tie a bow around the top of the dowel. Done.

If you haven't purchased a costume yet, I highly recommend checking out the secondhand stores. The costumes are inexpensive and are usually in good condition. The Tinkerbell costume above only cost three dollars!

When I was putting this post together, I remembered that I was in an article about thrift store Halloween costumes. At the time, my mother worked at the Sonoma Index Tribune so I got to be in a couple photos for the paper.

Here I am holding up a pilgrim costume. I think the costumes were picked over at this point. Because really, what teenager wants to be a pilgrim for Halloween. The title of the story was "When a Batman mask is not enough".

Here's a picture of my friend Alyssa modeling a fairy costume. I guess the fairy costume is a classic.

Happy Monday

This makes me smile every time. Hope you enjoy it too.

Elmer's Craft Supply Giveaway

Elmer's sent me all these craft supplies to giveaway to one lucky winner! Included in the supplies are the Painters that I used for Thing 1 & Thing 2. You can click on the picture to see everything that's included.

This contest has been moved to another site. Click here, to enter. If you left a comment here earlier, you are entered in the contest. I'll post the winner on both sites.

Craft Project: Thing 1 & Thing 2

Thing 1 & Thing 2 Peg People

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities. Dr. Seuss

Picture from the book "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss

A glimpse into my crafty crazy mind:

looking at clothespin "peg person"

looking at pom pom "looks like hair"

placed pom pom on top of clothespin "looks like clown hair"

"gasp, it looks like thing1 & thing 2!"

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. So if you would like to make a Thing 1 & Thing 2 set of your own, simple directions below.

Supplies:
Glue
Blue pom poms
Wood clothespins or wood peg people - both are inexpensive and can be found at the craft store
Red & white acrylic paint or paint markers - I actually used both for this project but not necessary
Paint brush
Black fine point pen - I used a Micron 03
Acrylic Gloss



If using a clothespin, you'll want to saw off the bottom it so it will stand on it's own. To prevent the clothespins from falling over when painted, place a folded index card in the slot of the clothespin (refer to picture). Paint head, neck and circle on stomach with white paint. You'll want to do 2 or 3 coats so it's opaque.

Paint the rest of the body red. For this part I used a red painter's marker (painters) by Elmer's. The company sent me the paint markers to test out. I was surprised how they actually write like markers, the paint does not come out thick at all. I also liked how there was no brush strokes. If you click on the picture, you'll notice that the red paint is very smooth compared to the white paint.


Once the paint is completely dry, add the details. I used a fine point pen to draw the face and stomach details. I've made a lot of peg people and I've found this method works best over using black paint. Let dry for at least a half hour. Apply 2 coats of acrylic gloss.

Apply glue to the top and back of head. Place pom pom on top. Hold in place for a minute to secure. Done.

Come back Saturday for a fun crafty giveaway.

Easy Japanese Curry Recipe

It's beginning to feel like fall around here. In just a matter of days the temperature dropped by twenty degrees. And with the cold weather, I'm starting to crave comfort food such as spaghetti, shepherd's pie and Japanese curry. I never thought I would think of Japanese curry as a comfort food but some how it won over my heart or should I say stomach?

Japanese Curry Recipe
adapted from the S & B recipe
makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
4 cubes of Golden Curry sauce mix
2 cups of bite sized carrots
1 onion chopped into bite sized pieces
1 lb of chicken chopped into bite sized pieces
2 Tb of cooking oil
3 cups of water

1. In a large pot fry chicken and onions in oil till chicken is browned and onions are translucent.

2. Add carrots and water and bring to a boil for about 10-15 minutes or when chicken is cooked.

3. Take pot off heat. Add 4 cubes of the curry (half of 8.4oz box). Mix until the curry cubes are dissolved.

4. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

5. Serve over rice.

* Optional - we like to eat our curry with raisins, pickled ginger, and chopped apples. If you're the adventures foodie type, you might want to try this.