Bits and Bobs

I have been doing some de-cluttering and tidying up around the house recently.  You know the type I mean, properly going through boxes and all the bits and bobs that I keep hold of because I'm a hoarder. Whilst doing this I found one of the little monster packages I talked about here.  It had been hanging around for a while and the playdough was no longer usable, but you can see the little kits we created and all the bits and bobs that were inside it.

I also found some things that the kids and I had used the marbling technique I talked about here and here.  I love that they didn't always marble their items, sometimes they just created the colours on the top of the water and dipped their item in.  It gives a totally different design.  

We plan to make some necklaces out of the washers.  I do think that this would make an awesome craft for a party, I'll just have to see if I can fit it into the party idea we come up with this year.

The pegs were going to be Christmas presents (may still use this idea at some point) with magnets on the back so they could be attached to fridges to hold lists/letter/important info.

We also moved a whole load of CDs which were on display into boxes and put something much prettier on display instead.  This wasn't even my idea, but my Husband's.  I love it, the kids call it the "wall of wool" which makes it sound so much more impressive.  Isn't it pretty?!

And yes, in case you're wondering I did keep all the above bits and bobs, though the crafty bits were returned to the crafty drawers we have, the marbled items are still awaiting somewhere to live.  Sigh.  Never mind if I'm depressed about my lack of de-cluttering skills I can always look at my wall of wool...

More Monsters

As well as the crocheted monsters we made photo props of monster mouths.  We saw the idea here, but decided to make our own.  It was surprisingly easy.  We just drew out our shapes and coloured them in bright felt tips, cut them out, laminated them and stuck them to straws.  We all made some, but I think the kids ones were my favourites as they were more "out there".  Each guest had their photo taken with a monster mouth and then we used those pictures on their thank you notes.

I loved the idea of the playdough monster pots, but budget didn't really allow us to provide that at their parties, so we made a playdough pack for each guest as part of their party bag.  We made home made playdough and used a variety of colours for each batch we made.

We split the home made playdough into a small pot that we had bough in packs of eight from Poundland, and added a few bits and bobs to design their monster - cut up pipe cleaners, googly eyes, pom poms, foam hands and feet, feathers etc.  

We then packaged all that up in a clear card bag like these with a little note suggesting that their new owner created them and then stored them under their bed/in their wardrobe, 'cos obviously that is where all monster live. 

I'm sure the parents appreciated soggy playdough being put under their children's beds!!

The playdough recipe I used is one my Mum always used when I was little.  The only change I made was to use food colouring pastes to make the colours brighter.  I've also added various essences (vanilla/strawberry flavouring/peppermint etc) to make the playdough smell.  I did try adding glitter to the mixture once.  It looked pretty, but it went everywhere.... you've been warned!  This recipe makes a slightly squishier playdough than the bought stuff, the longer you cook it the less squishy it gets, but cook it too long and you get dry flaky bits.  It lasts a while in an airtight container, but not forever, you'll be able to tell as it goes sort of slimy.  urrggh.

Playdough Recipe:

2 cups (you can use a mug instead of a cooking "cup") of plain(all purpose) flour

2 cups of water

1 cup of salt

2 tablespoons for oil

2 teaspoons of cream of tartar

Few drops of food colouring

Cook the mixture in a pan over a medium heat

Stirring all the time to prevent sticking

Remove from thee heat when the mixture comes away from the sides of the pan

Knead well and store in an airtight container