Punchcraft and Quilled Flowers on Handmade Photoframe

This year I have embarked on an ambitious project ..to make photo frames as christmas gifts for all 10 of my daughters teachers! My 6 year olds teachers this year are a real boost for my crafty ego as several of them thought I was a professional crafter who took classes...had to laughingly tell them I was a surgeon whose hobby was crafting!! 

So if time permits I hope to make 10 handmade photoframes[Here is the link to the photoframe tutorial].

Punchcraft roses

Jazzed up a glitter paper die cut vine using some  mulberry rose style flowers  made with  punchcraft. Here is the link to the paper rose tutorial.

Quilled flowers

After ages made some  quilled flowers.

Quilled Photoframe

The black background design is a Tim Holtz sign die over which I layered punchcraft flowers

Punch craft roses

 This type of  6 petal punch rose is the easiest punch craft rose!

Punchcraft flowers

 I am so in love with the CheeryLynn butterfly die.

Die cut Butterfly

Here is the link to the punchcraft rose tutorial

Paper roses

Supplies : Dies : Tim Holtz Sign [Itsy Bitsy],Cheery Lynn Butterfly[Priya],Cheery Lynn fanciful flourish[Priya]Marianne Leaves [Priya]Punches : Jef 6 petal, Jef 5 petal.Glitter Paper [Itsy Bitsy],Rhinestones[Gift from Romina],Corrugated Paper [Spar,Mantri Mall Bangalore]

Edited: This project came Top 3 at BGC color drop challenge

Thermocol Crafts - DIY Snowman

Thermocol craft snowman

Christmas has come a bit early to our house this year...Though I am not a Christian from childhood we have celebrated Christmas and courtesy studying abroad and in Christian schools I know more about Christmas than about some of our Hindu festivals! 

Sharing a fun and easy thermocol[Styrofoam] craft snowman

Materials required to make a super easy Thermocol craft Snowman

Thermocol Crafts

• Balls in 2 sizes:Use thermocol[styrofoam] or plastic ball
• Rhinestones/Beads/Buttons - to make the eyes,nose and body decor
• Ribbon/Paper -to make a scarf for the snowman
• Hat- optional..you can cut out a cardboard or paper hat or recycle a used toothpaste cap for it.
• Adhesive---The glue gun is fantastic to glue Thermocol.If you use the regular white glue you need to be really patient[which few little ones are]

I stuck the 2 thermocol balls using a blob of hot glue and handed it over to my kiddo to make her version of a snowman!

Thermocol Crafts

My 6 year old used sticker rhinestones to make the eyes and nose of our snowman. My daughter just had to peel it off the plastic and stick it to the thermocol balls.At the important age of 6 years it was a big deal for her that she designed her own snowman !

Thermocol Crafts

Little ones have very definite ideas and my 6 year old insisted our snowman didnt need the conventional hat!

Thermocol Crafts

This was a family project with my mom chipping in by adding the scarves for our thermocol snowman!

Thermocol Crafts

These snowmen are very very special to me not only because 3 generations [me,my kiddo and my mom] helped make it but also because they were made with gifts & winning from blogger friends[Kitty & red polka dot ribbon from Romina; red glitter ribbon from Khalindi,pearl lace from Kelli,heart stones from Khushboo,Plastic bows from Pie Lane sponsored Indira's challenge win]

Supplies: Thermocol Balls from Itsy Bitsy,Glue Gun : electrical shop in Ebrahim Street Bangalore,Rhinestones: Big Market Sahakaranagar, Bangalore

Panda Paintings

Dear friends in my last post on Panda bear foam craft I mentioned how fascinating I find Panda Bears..I was delighted that many of you share my love for Pandas.

Panda Watercolor Painting

Sharing 2 paintings of Pandas done quite some time back[before my little one was born !]This one is a watercolor painting done using instructions from a book[sorry cant remember the title]

Panda Watercolor Painting

The interesting forest background texture was achieved by painting with salt! 

Panda Glass Painting

The mamma -baby Panda pair is a glass painting ...such a soothing medium to work with.Design is a freebie from the net [lost the links as this was again done years back ]

Please do forgive the "amateur" standard of the paintings...I have no formal art  training and these were just experimental fun projects ! 

Panda Craft Tutorial

Panda Bear Crafts

Panda bears are so fascinating and we keep making all kinds of Panda bear crafts at home.Sharing how we made an easy "Panda on a Bamboo" Penstand. This one is  probably one of my all time favorite kids craft project because it was so quick and easy .

Panda Bear Crafts

Materials Required

Anything cylindrical  to recycle:Tin can , glass jar,  tissue roll,Cardboard container etc.We recycled a tin can to make  our penstand.

To make the Bamboo : Use any green/ yellowish green material to line your cylinder-Card stock / Foam / Felt or even cloth. We used foam...I find its easier to maintain when you have a forever dust accumulating roadside house!

To make the Panda:Card stock / Foam / Felt.We used foam...its a fantastic medium to use when crafting with kids as you can wipe off finger stains,glue stains,food stains and whatever else little fingers will contribute !
To cut :Scissors /Punches/Dies - Simply hand cutting would be the fun and easy way to make this project but since I have a die cutting machine I used dies to cut out oval and circular shapes to make our Panda. I let my little one decide the shapes and sizes of the body parts.

Adhesive:This is the most important factor to make a quick , easy and mess free foam craft project! You can use anything which little hands can peel off easily such as double sided foam tape,double sided adhesive tape [my favorite as its adhesive properties are much better than the foam tape] or glue drops

Panda Bear Crafts

We lined the the edges of the green foam with double sided adhesive tape [bought locally] and stuck it on the tin.I also stuck a strip of  the  double sided adhesive tape on the inner top edge of the tin and folded down the foam as shown to give a neater edge to our Bamboo penstand !

Recycling Crafts

We roughly played with our cut circles and ovals.Do ignore our scallop edges....[I only had scallop dies and not the regular circle and ovals!] My daughter complained our Panda looked like a flower!

Panda Bear Crafts

My little one assembled the face using glue drops [ glue drops are a lifesaver when crafting with kids! Nowadays they are available in rolls too which makes it even easier for little ones!].Our Panda's ears and snout are scallop circles and the black eye is actually a flower !! Proper circles and ovals would be a better choice to make a Panda !

Panda Bear Crafts

To raise the snout we layered 2 white circles on Panda's face.

Panda Bear Crafts

We wanted to raise the body off the Bamboo stand so we used sticky foam tape on the circular black body of our Panda foam craft.

Panda Bear Crafts

We used ovals for the arms and legs of our foam craft Panda.

Panda Bear Crafts

Our Panda looked glum without a smile!

Panda Bear Crafts

So my little one added a rosy red tongue and a paper umbrella.

Panda Bear Crafts

We had also made some Panda pencil toppers in a similar way using smaller parts but I think the dog ate it![Just joking...its lost somewhere in our super messy house!]

Here are links to some more Panda bear crafts

Panda Bear shaker,slider cum Pop up card 

Panda Bear Interactive Card

Panda Bear Pop up card tutorial
I hope you enjoyed this easy foam craft..do share your comments.
Supplies: Foam,Big shot[Die cutting machine],Dies:Couture creations Scallop circle,Sizzix Oval scallop,Googly eyes, Paper Umbrella -Raja Market

Festivals Of India School Project - ONAM

Onam Craft

For my International friends...India is a blend of myriad religions and cultures.This time of year we have so many festivals in India and we made this ONAM chart for my 6 year old's "Festivals of India" school project.

Festivals of India school project

The kids were each assigned different festivals & given a chart paper from school to show the reason for celebrating the festival,list the special foods eaten and the festivities. The chart paper was so small & I had to rack my brain  to incorporate all the points and finally made an interactive chart with sliding & flipping  panels. Made the swinging ONAM banner using a Sizzix flower die ,brads and twine and positioned it over our "Pookallam" made of punchcraft flowers.

Punchcraft flowers

Our festival Onam is celebrated by one and all in Kerala [called God's own country because of its lush greenery and beauty] .If ever you plan to visit Kerala ...Onam is the best time to be awed as in front of each house would be flower carpets [Pookkallams]made with different flowers [to signify the harmonious blend of cultures and religions] .To hide my blunders using the MS punch around the page[I nearly always mess up], I added a punchcraft rose.

Punchcraft flower

My 6 year old proudly made the purple flowers.And I used a medium 5 petal flower punch [red rose] and the balloon punch[pink rose] to make the punchcraft flowers.

Punchcraft flowers

If you visit a Keralite's home on Onam you would be treated to a traditional feast of 15-30 dishes served on a Banana leaf...believe me food tastes so much better on it than on a plate!

Onam Craft

I cut out the banana leaf printout from the net and made it into a flip card so that we could write the names of the feast dishes underneath.

This photo shows dancers painted as Tigers..an awesome spectacle on the streets during Onam.

Onam festival

I added an accordion fold between the photos of  the Tiger dance and Masked dance so that it springs up.

Onam school project

Ladies dressed in traditional attire performing the Kaikotti kalli [such a rhythmic and mesmerizing sight] and fast paced traditional boat races are a part of Onam .

Onam school project

I added accordion folds below the photos so that they spring up easily to reveal the descriptive die cut panels underneath.

Festivals of India School project

We incorporated the story behind Onam in an interactive sliding card

Festivals of India School project

On pulling the ribbon threaded through the brad ,the image slides up to reveal the story of Onam.Here is the link to the Sliding card Tutorial.

Festivals of India School project

While making this project I kept thanking the blogging world and this crafty journey as otherwise I wouldnt have been able to churn up flipcharts ,sliders or  paper flowers!

Onam school project

Supplies: Punches: Martha Stewart double loop[the white lacey border],Jef medium leaf, 5 petal jumbo[large pink roses on border,5 petal medium [used to make the red roses],Balloon medium[Pookallam pink rose],medium daisy[white flowers],small daisy [yellow flowers].Jef starry corner punch[on Onam legend photo corner]Dies : Sizzix flower [to make ONAM tag banner and Name tag],Sizzix Bigz flourish & floral[left lower corner glittery flower and flourish],Cheery Lynn leaf [Right corner pink rose leaf],Sizzix Oval scallop [all photos and the descriptive panels] Misc: Pink center of white flower-thermocol ball! Photos courtesy: Raxa Collective ,Online Prasad,Others dont know the source to give credit as present in many sites!

Tag Game

Dear friends I am a " serious" kinda girl so I was a bit undecided when 3 of my dear blogger friends Tejal [brain behind the game], Khalindi [she is a super fun girl] and Juhi [young crafty lady] asked me to be part of this tag game of question and answer ! But I had such a laugh reading the fun answers on many blogs so doing my best to play along!

1. Where is your cellphone?.......................Wish I could send it to the moon! 
2. Your hair?...............................................Fuzzy and Demon style! 
3. Your Mother?......................................... Cant do without her! 
4. Your Father?........................................... Made me a feminist! 
5. Your favourite food?............................... Nonspicy! 
6.  Your dream last night?........................... .No dreams as didn’t sleep nursing my sick 6 year old 
7. Your favourite drink?................................Tender coconut water ! 
8. Your dream/goal?..................................... Having a house Old Mac Donald style with a couple of St Bernard doggies thrown in! 
9. What room are you in?...............................Room with computer 
10. Your hobby?........................................Name a hobby and I may very well have tried it or put it on my to do list! 
11. Your fear?........................................... Getting stuck in an elevator! 
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years?........... Anywhere as long as my family is with me & happy! 
13. Where were you last night?...................... Home [I am no party gal]! 
14. Something that you aren't?........................ Calm and serene ! 
15. Muffins?....................................................Homemade? Yes! 
16. Wish list item?......................................... St Bernard Dog + Old MacDonald’s Farm [Do you think he will give it to me ?] + Robot who cooks and cleans! 
17. Where did you grow up?......................... Africa and God’s own country Kerala! 
18. Last thing you did?................................... Postponed cooking to write this! 
19. What are you wearing?............................ Gold Bangles [after all I am a South Indian girl!]
20. Your TV?................................................ Only Masterchef Australia [No patience for all others] 
21. Your pets?............................................... A naughty Cocker Spaniel who thinks we are all put on earth to play with him! 
22. Friends?................................................... My family 
23. Your life?................................................. Happy 
24. Your mood?............................................. Happy today [my kiddo got lots of praise for a school project we made] 
25. Missing someone?..................................... My extended family in Kerala[my mom has many sisters and a bro and since I literally grew up with them miss them all] 
26. Vehicle?.................................................... Wings would be good for traffic these days 
27. Something you're not wearing?................... My fangs [left them to dry after my last outing with Dracula]! 
28. Your favorite store?.................................. 2nd hand book stores --- my idea of an adventure trip...no predicting what treasures one can discover! 
29. Your favorite color?................................I am a rainbow girl 
30. When was the last time you laughed?......... a minute back [when my dog knocked my kiddo down as she wrestled with him for his ball]! 
31. Last time you cried?................................... Any sentimental scene in a movie including cartoons can make me cry [even James Bond’s Skyfall made me bawl all over hubby’s shoulder]! 
32. Your best friend?....................................... My mum 
33. One place that I go to over and over?........ Shops --such a bore to buy rice and other mundane stuff...I should add "Robot who shops" to my wish list! 
34. Facebook?.................................................. Wary! 
35. Favorite place to eat?................................. One with no dress code [I cant bother to dress up to eat]

Passing the baton on to Diana and Melissa

Recycling Craft -Woodland Stationary set

Recycling crafts

This woodland themed stationary set was made with tons of input from my 6 year old daughter.We recycled a plastic medicine bottle,old playdough plastic container newspaper,old toy packaging and foam scraps to make it a recycled craft

Recycling craft

The tree trunk house made with corrugated card  can hold  papers, a long 12 inch scale and various knick knacks.

Recycling crafts

The faux wood penstand was made by gluing newspaper paper rolls onto a plastic medicine bottle which I had cut at a slant.I was inspired by Merry to make the paper roll recycled craft.

Recycling crafts

The faux tree trunk trough is made from playdough and we added bark lines with a sharp tool.We sized it to hold my daughter's eraser.

Recycling crafts

My daughter wanted a sign for her woodland house!

Recycling crafts

The Teddy bear is made from "paper clay" and we fashioned it in such a way that it holds a pencil!

Recycling crafts

My daughter wanted a girl teddy bear so she is holding a punccraft flower.

Punchcraft flower

The tiny paper mushrooms were made by my daughter..she punched circles and made them into a cone and we stuck newspaper rolls as mushroom stems

Recycling crafts

These mushrooms were  drawn and colored by my little girl!

Recycling crafts

We added lots of playdough roses on our house. Here is the link to the clay rose tutorial.

Clay Crafts

We lined a plastic container with corrugated card to make the mushroom stem.The mushroom head was made on the bottle lid by stitching a circle of felt over sponge.

Recycling crafts

On removing the mushroom head my daughter can put her sharpener in our mushroom container.

Recycling crafts

I had terrible computer issues which was making blogging a pain ..finally the computer crashed altogether and I have lost all my photos including all the photos of how we made this recycling project.

Recycling crafts

Linking to Amanda's thoughtful Project

Supplies:Punches:MS vine ,Jef small daisy,Jef leaf,Jef 5 petal medium,Jef circle medium.Dies:Marianne fence,Tim Holtz sign,Cheerylnn leaves,Couture creations scallop circel[itsy bitsy],Sizzix oval frame[priya colorconceptions].Clay: Amos clay,Mseal and Air dry paper clay,and Normal playdough.
Edited : This project was featured on Inspire me Fridays and Amanda's blog