Projects completed!! Yay!

I am so excited!  I finished up the last of the direction arrows today.  I love that Cricut!  I can't wait for the raise I'll get when the school year starts, I want to save up and buy myself a Sure Cuts A Lot software/cutter combo.  Nothing against the Cricut, I just need to be able to do a little bit more and not be limited to cartridges.

Remember this cute idea? 

I made a doorway today for I. Liebe Leabhar, the library gnome I've asked to come and live at the school library.

I cut the door out of foam core, so it is about 20" tall.  Then I made a matching arch for the door frame.  Since I used black foam core, I used the Elmer's Glue crackle technique to make the door look like wood.  I used a barn red paint on top of the glue, then I used a pencil eraser to make the plank lines.  I like that they are crooked, very fun.  I had the little gold hinges on hand from a previous project and those are attached with scrapbooking brads.  The doorknob is a drawer pull that my husband had on hand.  I used the crackle finish on it as well.  I'd like for this door to have a little stone walkway (laminated cut outs of "stones") and a few toadstools around it.  I'm planning to make the toadstools out of small bowls and pieces of wood, similar to this:

Mine are going to be smaller, using bowls I got at Wal-Mart.  We had a storm recently and a lot of people lost trees.  My husband snagged some wood from a tree at his parent's house and we'll use that to make a toadstool for my gnome.  The bowls are little clear condiment bowls. 

I started by gluing in paper circles I punched out of cardstock using Mod Podge.  After that dried I painted them with the same color of red paint I used on the door.  I used the vise on my husband's workbench to cut the lengths of wood to make the stems with a hand saw.  I am not allowed to use the power tools (something about cutting my own head off...)  I have a small drill I used to drill holes in the 3 small bowls and the bigger blue bowl.  Then I used screws to fix the stems in place before adding the toadstool heads.  To make it look more finished, I used hot glue to reinforce the stems and add the river rocks.  Now he has his toadstools and a place to hold his business card.

I. Liebe Leabhar

Library Gnome, Esquire

His name is actually a mix of 3 languages (English, German & Irish Gaelic) and means "I Love Books".  And I thought the Esquire just sounded fun.  I know I've seen it in books but wasn't sure what it meant.  According to Dictionary.com it means: an unofficial title of respect, having no precise significance, sometimes placed, especially in its abbreviated form, after a man's surname in formal written address. Abbreviation:  Esq.  The definition makes it even funnier!  And it might be fun to send kids to the dictionary to look it up themselves.  I don't have a gnome yet to "live" at the school.  I wonder if he should be the kind that only comes out at night...I've never even seen him.  I'm sure the kids will just love that.  I am thinking if I don't find one by the time school starts the gnome who currently lives in my yard can move to the school.

I also made a fake coin slot for the gumball machine.

 It is 2 layers of foam core, with  the only difference being the "coin slot" cut out of the top one.  I got the shape the way I wanted and then I used a ruler to push in the lines - kind of like a metal plate might have.  Then I colored the whole front piece with a gold sharpie - I'm out of gold paint.  When I painted the outside edges with blue, I put a coat on top of the top piece of foam core and wiped it away immediately.  It left blue in the ruler indentations giving the appearance of depth and aging.  The last steps were to write in the cost and then I dug through my metal junk box and found a wind up key for a music box.  It is a little smaller than I would have liked but my only other idea was to buy a can opener at the thrift store and attempt to take it apart to get the crank.  Considering I sliced my finger open just making these simple projects today, taking apart a can opener might not be a great idea for me.  I'm a bit clumsy. 

Faux Gumball Machine! Reading Challenges & Ideas

I have once again been inspired!  Check out this cute idea:

This is adorable, but looking online I found that Gumball Machines aren't cheap!  So today, being my day off, I dragged my girls to the thrift shop and found this plastic container thingy.  Yes, the technical word is thingy.  It was $0.50.  I figured, add a little paint and viola!

I painted the inside of the lid and pedestal.  I knew acrylic paint wouldn't be super durable with kids, so I worked in layers to get the look I wanted.  I started with the gold paint, since I was painting from the inside out.  You want the first thing you paint to be the first thing you see (kind of the opposite of painting on the outside.)  The plastic doesn't absorb the moisture from the paint so you have to let it dry completely between coats, otherwise the almost dry paint sticks to the wet paint brush and comes off the plastic.  Use very thin coats!  I found they dry quickly and there is less chance of the colors mixing and causing you to need to start from scratch (I did twice.)

I found the little plastic containers (called Toy Vending Capsules) on Amazon.com but I am sure you can get them on eBay or other sites, I think the 250 count on Amazon would work for me, as opposed to the 1000 count.  My other thought on this was to make lucky stars (origami).  The silly poem, joke, quote, picture sentence or book suggestion could be printed on a strip of paper and then folded into a star.  Easy-peasy and cheap! Here are some visual instructions.  I did some checking online and I found that start with a strip of paper 30cm, or 1 foot long, and about 1cm wide, or about half an inch.  I found that makes a very small star.  So I might adjust the width.

My daughter informs me that the stars are hard to unravel without tearing them, and she is almost 9 so I imagine younger hands would find it even harder.  I guess I'll go with the toy capsules.  I've been working on a list of reading challenges, here's what I have so far:

• Read a book where you share either your first or last name with the main character.
• What’s the longest book you’ve ever read?  Read one 25-50 pages longer.
• Read a book written about the years when your parents were your age.
• Read a book written about the years when your grandparents were your age.
• Read a book that rhymes (poetry!)
• Do you have a pet dog?  Read about a cat.  Do you have a pet cat?  Read about a dog.
• Read about a country that starts with the same letter as your last initial.
• Read about a country that starts with the same letter as your first initial.
• Choose a book by the cover only.
• Read a book that takes place in South Dakota.
• Re-read one of your favorite books.
• Read a mystery that has “The Secret of the....” in the title.
• Read a mystery that has “The Mystery of the....” in the title.
• Read a Newberry Award winning book.
• Read a book where you share either your first or last name with the author.
• Read a book recommended by your teacher or Mrs. O.
• Read a book about a place you have never visited.
• Read a book about a place you have visited.
• Read a book where the main character is not a person, dog or cat.
• Read a graphic novel.
• Read a book that has a dragon in it.
• Read a book that your best friend recommends.
• Read a book about someone who is being bullied.
• Read a book written at least 50 years before you were born.
• Read a book with the word “Never” in the title.
• Read a book from the 000s in the Nonfiction.
• Read a book from the 100s in the Nonfiction.
• Read a book from the 200s in the Nonfiction.
• Read a book from the 300s in the Nonfiction.
• Read a book from the 400s in the Nonfiction.
• Read a book from the 500s in the Nonfiction.
• Read a book from the 600s in the Nonfiction.
• Read a book from the 700s in the Nonfiction.
• Read a book from the 800s in the Nonfiction.
• Read a book from the 900s in the Nonfiction.
• If you are a boy, read a book where the main character is a girl.
• If you are a girl, read a book where the main character is a boy.