Our First Paperchase Project!

paper chase paper train tutorial

We’re so excited to share our news that we are now going to be working with high street stationers, Paperchase, on their recently launched blog, The Journal. We are probably the two biggest fans of Paperchase out there (we both recently bought a whole load of matching stationery from there… losers!) so to be working with them makes us really happy.

They asked us to create a half term project for kids using their Spectrascope range of paper and card. So we created a paper train to be made with the help of your little ones. For the step-by-step tutorial, check out our post over on The Journal.

LBDtrain_step8

If you like what we do and have two minutes spare, we’d love it if you could vote for us for the MADs (Mum and Dad Awards) for Best Craft Blog. Click on the picture below, enter a blog of the year first, then enter us for Best Craft Blog. Thank you!!

MADS_BADGE_EXAMPLE_NOMINATED.fw_

~ Laura & Tia xx ~

Nap time crafts: Polymer Princesses

polymer princess little button diaries 13

For another project, I’ve recently been making a lot of very cute and girly things that I haven’t been able to give to Amelie. It’s made me feel so bad, she comes into my craft room (I say craft room, I’ve basically stolen the conservatory and renamed it. Anyone else find that craft stuff seems to just breed?!), she gets all excited and I have to quickly remove her from the area before she creates damage. So I decided to make her some little princesses from fimo. I gave her some lumps too (small ones, this stuff is expensive!) and she made some grotesque looking warped princesses too.

These are really easy to make, and take about 15 minutes per doll. These ones are only tiny, about 5cm high, but you could make them any size.

You will Need (Per Princess):

  • Polymer clay (I use fimo soft) – about 1cm lump of skin tone and 2cm in your chosen dress colour
  • Super Glue
  • Embroidery thread for hair
  • black and red permanent fine liner

1. Thoroughly clean your hands and dry them on something non-fluffy. Odd as that might sound, this stuff picks up dust and fluff and quickly looks manky!! Begin by rolling the lumps you need. From pink, roll a pea sized ball for the head and two thin sausages, about 2cm long, for the arms. Then take the body lump – here I’m making Belle (obviously…) so I’ve used dark yellow. Roll the lump into a ball, then a sausage, then roll one end so that it is slightly narrower at the top. Press the bottom on the work surface to flatten and make it stand.

polymer princess little button diaries 1

2. Press the arms onto the side of the body, and the head on the top. You can learn from my mistakes here as I didn’t secure the head enough (it popped off on first play and had to be glued back), so really make sure the pieces are adhered to one another, you can use a cocktail stick or a knife to blend the edges together.

polymer princess little button diaries 2

3. Place the princess(es) on a lined baking tray and bake in the oven according the manufacturers guidelines. Whilst they cook, prepare the hair. Create a loop of embroidery thread around your fingers, about 10cm long, and wrap the thread around 6 times. Cut through the loops to create strands. Once the dolls are out of the oven and cooled, place some glue onto the back of the head and stick the strands on one by one, starting from the front and working your way down till there are no more bald bits!

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4. Tie or plait the hair however you like, then take a fine permanent pen and draw on a smiley little face.

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Here are the some of other dolls I made:

polymer princess little button diaries 10 polymer princess little button diaries 8polymer princess little button diaries 9 polymer princess little button diaries 12

Can you work out who they are?! I liked the Anna princess best – I just added a cape and rolled it in place, put a bit of white thread in her hair and plaited it. Snow White’s body was made from two lumps of clay rolled together, with red thread for the hairband.

polymer princess little button diaries 11

Tia xx

PS. If you like our blog, we would love you forever if you could take a tiny two seconds to nominate us for the Best Craft Blog at the 2015 BIB awards… click below on the picture to vote. Scroll to section 12 on the form and select us. Thank you!

craft bibs 2015

x

Kids Projects: Cardboard Tube & Egg Box Easter Animals

kids projects - cardboard bunnies and chicks

Hooray it’s Easter weekend! If you fancy getting stuck into some craft with the kids then try our cardboard tube and egg box bunnies and chicks. For our four full tutorials hop on over to Hobbycraft:

Happy Easter!

~ Tia & Laura xx ~

Kids Project: Easter Party Makes

kids easter party makes little button diaries

We’ve been busy little bees over on the Hobbycraft Blog, doing lots of tutorials for things to make for Easter. So why not (bunny) hop over to Hobbycraft to see how to make these Felt Pinwheels, Easter Bunting, little Egg Animals and a painted Mache Egg table decoration, complete with video tutorial.

~ Tia & Laura xx ~

Kids Project: 4 Simple Mother’s Day Cards

4 easy mothers day cards little button diaries

Hooray, its nearly Mother’s Day! We might get a lie in (8.15?) and everything. If your kids are looking for some easy card ideas (hint hint), why not see if they would like to make one of these super simple cards. Each one is suitable for beginners and take about an hour to complete. For the full tutorial with video, head over to our post on Hobbycraft.

And if you feel like making a little gift to go with it, why not have a go at this personalised cupcake flower frame also over on Hobbycraft.

mothers day floral art

Tia & Laura x

Kids Project: Button Mosaic Turtle

button mosaic turtle little button diaries

This little fella would be very happily hang in a little one’s bedroom. He’s super easy to make with the help of some air dry clay and a handful of coloured buttons. Hop over to Hobbycraft to see our blog post on how to make him. Complete with template and video tutorial!

HC Mosaic Turtle 7 HC Mosaic Turtle 11

Tia & laura x

Kids Project: Sunshine Paper Plate Hat

Sunshine paper plate hat

Bring a little bit of sunshine indoors on a wet afternoon with this paper plate hat. It’s easy to make with your little ones and when finished it makes a lovely addition to any dressing-up box.

Our full tutorial on this is up on Hobbycraft’s site now!

~ Laura & Tia x ~