Angry Birds party prep, part 2 - the banner

Okay, so now here's my favorite project (at least so far): The Pin-The-Monobrow-On-Red-Bird game!  There are tons of Angry Birds images online, but none of them were anywhere near the resolution I'd need if I wanted to print something large enough to use for a game.  So I found an image I liked, printed it as large as I could, and got started duplicating it on a much larger scale.

First, I drew a grid of 1" squares over the picture, using a ruler and pen to just draw them right on the printout:

Next, I laid out my banner paper on the floor and taped it down to make a stable drawing surface.  Since my paper was only 12" wide, I needed 3 strips taped on top of one another to get the size I wanted for the project.  I cast another grid on the banner paper, this time with squares 6" on each side.  Then I spent the better part of 90 minutes copying each square from the printout onto the corresponding square on the banner.  Some of the squares had a lot going on, so I cut those squares into quarters and copied each quarter over.  It was actually much easier to do than it is to describe.

Then LazyHusband and I went insane.

But sometime before 10:30 last night, the drawing was done!

All I had left to do was erase all of the gridlines on the banner and paint the whole thing ... with watercolors ... which required a tiny paintbrush and two coats to get a decent-looking color.  Oh, well, it was done shortly after lunch today, and I couldn't be happier with the result:

Seriously, how awesome is that?  All I have left to do is make some fake eyebrows for the game and tape the strips together on the back, and it's done and wicked cool.  I mean, come on, look at the comparison:

Angry Birds party prep

LazyKid turns six years old tomorrow, and party preparations have been underway for weeks.  We're big Angry Birds fans around here, and when we saw this cake, we knew we had to do an Angry Birds party (albeit with no fancy moving-parts cake!).  Since you can't go out and buy many Angry Birds-themed items right now, it's going to be a crafty, crafty party, I thought I'd share some of our projects here.

One of the first things we decided was that there was no way that Lazy Mama was making that cake, and the edible toppers I found on etsy, while outrageously cute, were way out of our budget.  Cupcake picks to the rescue!

These were so simple, and turned out so cute!  First, I bought the 1" digital images of the pigs and birds from an etsy shop, then used a scrapbooking punch to cut them out.  Found some cardstock in colors that matched the artwork and used another punch to cut out 2 1/2" circles and 2" flowers.  I used a gluestick to attach the art to the centers of the flowers, then taped a lollipop stick to the back.  Then I used the gluestick again on the back of the flowers, which I stuck to the circles.  I found this was a little awkward with the stick in there, but it worked well if I gently bent the circle in half to make a sort of shallow trough for the stick to sit inside.

LazyKid loves balloons, so I knew we needed to have plenty of these Angry Birds balloon characters:

I blew up a bunch of balloons one day, cut out the faces the next, and we'll be sticking the things on until the party starts on Sunday, I suspect.  The balloons are hanging from a quicky swag I made using several very long strands of yarn held together and twisted together to form a loose cord.  The tails of the balloons can be slipped in between the strands to hold the balloons in place, at least temporarily ... I'd use something more secure if I was going to have this as an outdoor decoration.

Party invitations were easy - I ordered them from DigiSweets, too, then printed them at home on photo paper.  We used this design:

While all this was going on, in my spare time I was working on pieces for the Angry Birds carnival game we're going to play at the party - basically throwing stuffed birds at a tower of blocks to see if we can knock off the pigs.  There are a ton of designs for Angry Birds amigurumi on etsy and Ravelry, but I'm pretty good at winging these things, so I made up my own.  I'll have better pictures later, but I have to show off the Mustache Pig now, at least, because he's so stinking cute!

Reminds me of my old trombone teacher ... but I digress.  Anyway, in addition to the pigs and birds, we needed a tower that was larger than the wooden blocks we had on hand.  Luckily, I had been volunteering at LazyKid's school pizza day and saving the Capri Sun cartons to use as giant building blocks.  A few minutes on each one to break it down, flip it inside out so the brown cardboard was out, tape it together, and use a marker to apply a white-trash version of faux bois, and voila!  Wood blocks!

The only officially licensed Angry Birds item we've purchased for the party so far is a poster, which we found on Amazon.com.  We're using it to make a photo op where the kids can look through the hole in the poster and look like the red bird.  I used spray adhesive to stick the poster down to a piece of cardboard, then trimmed neatly around the edges to get rid of the sticky overspray.  And then I did the unthinkable:

This would have been a lot less stressful if I had remembered to do it when there was still time to have a replacement shipped if I screwed it up.  Luckily, it all worked fine:

Realizing that having somebody's hand in the picture looks dorky, I used some extra cardboard and duct tape to make handles for the back so the kids can hold them invisibly.

Well, this post is getting way too long, and I'm nowhere near done, so I'd better just arbitrarily end now.  Check back soon for more Angry Birds posts!

What I did on my spring break in Jamaica

I spent last week at a resort where there was a nanny to take care of my kid and I had no responsibilities other than to sit on the beach while enjoying the view and drinking Adult Beverages.  I knit an entire tank top, most of a size 13 man's sock, and 1/4 of a skirt for the kidlet.

I knit on the beach.

I knit on the balcony.

I knit on the beach again.

I knit on the balcony again.

I knit in the bar.

I did not knit on the glass-bottom boat (too wet), in the restaurant (too many nom-noms in the antipasto bar to try), or while sleeping (at least intentionally).

I also read 3 books and played a lot of Angry Birds.

It was a good week.

My daughter, the artist

The other night I traced off some of my daughter's drawings to embroider as part of an ongoing project.  The most recent one I chose is, without a doubt, my favorite drawing ever.  

Need any explanation of the awesomeness?

It's the first time she's put a body underneath the clothes (or put the girl in something other than just a triangle for a body/dress).  It's the first time she's drawn a cape.  It's the first time she's drawn eyelashes on the girl.  It's the first time she's used triangles for noses.  What really cracks me up is her saying, "I sort of messed up Lewis's eye, but I fixed it so it just looks like he's winking at me."

First carriage.  First wheels with spokes.  First time drawing people sitting in chairs.  Also, the goblets crack me up.

I think this might be Lewis's mom (on the dragon-looking horse) and little brother (in the tower).  This is awesome because, dude, it's a chick in armor on a horse with a sword and a shield, and a boy stranded in the tower.  And the tower roof has shingles.  Plus, the peace sign on the shield cracks me up.

First feathers, first attempt to draw a bird that looks anything like an actual bird.  Also, the "caw" cracks me up.

Whoa, cutest lollipops ever!

http://zakkalife.blogspot.com/2011/02/its-bird-its-plane-its-super-valentine.html

Way to go - these are awesome!  Although I have to admit, the idea of cutting out 20 little bitty masks makes my scissor hand hurt ...

A new year's gift to myself

I got a circular polarizing filter for my camera, which means that shots that would otherwise look like this:

... can now look like this:

See how I almost completely eliminated the glare by turning the filter by 90 degrees? I'm going to have so much fun with this next time I get to do photos outside in the sun.  Of course, we're supposed to get a couple of inches of snow today and tomorrow, so I may have to wait a while, but I can be patient when I have a new toy ...

Just a quick update

Check out my happy little buttoneers from last week's class!

Crafty kids + brains the size of planets + yarn and buttons = about a dozen of the world's most interestingly non-standard ways to sew buttons onto plastic canvas.  I wish I had taken pictures of some of their finished projects - it was a total hoot to see what they came up with.  And of course, good little craft teacher that I am, I told them all that as long as they were happy with the results, it looked great to me.  And it did ... as long as you didn't plan on actually using the buttons for anything!

Best use of embroidery ever

http://vintagericrac.blogspot.com/2010/12/options.html
(not exactly kid-safe, although it's not smutty, either ... just not something you want to have to explain to your kindergartener, so be warned before you click through)

What do you think - would anyone buy this on a card?

Told you I was having too much fun with those little Japanese dolls ...

So that's what I saved them for.

I was cleaning out the basement last week and found some little paper weeble-wobble dolls we bought when we lived in Japan.  

My first thought upon finding them?  Grab the camera, I bet I can sell pics of those!

Fun with Fibers, week 5: Sewing

This week we're entering the exciting world of sewing through a rather practical door - buttons!  I'm sure I'm not the only mother who seems to spend half of her free time finding buttons in the wash, finding buttons in the backpack, figuring out which buttons go where, cursing the lack of matching buttons in my button box, and finally sewing the darn things back onto my kid's clothes.  Tell me I'm not alone, people!

After today's tutorial the kids should be able to sew a button back on by themselves.  Well, okay, maybe with a little hand-holding (and needle-threading), but it's still an improvement over complete cluelessness.  And it gets them ready to sew more exciting things next week!

You can read more about the history of sewing on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewing
More about the history of buttons here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A23623616

If you happen to have a lot of buttons laying around (thanks, mom, for the 5-pound tin of yard sale buttons last summer!), there are lots of cool crafts for kids to make with them.  Some involve sewing, lots involve glue, and all of them are fun.  You can find an overview of them here: http://www.google.com/images?q=button+crafts&hl=en&prmd=i&source=lnms&tbs=isch:1&ei=UAf9TODCM8H7lweZpLyMBQ&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&ved=0CBUQ_AU&biw=1138&bih=544

A couple of my favorites:

Well, that's about it for this week.  I'd better go shovel out my driveway if I'm going to make it to school in time!

A-one and a-two ...

It's that time of year

When the handprints of felt

Start to pile up

'Round the tree ...

And this craft of mine

Takes almost no time

Leaving me

Free to say:

Merry Christmas!

May your ornaments go well!

PS - LazyHusband says if I keep making handprint ornaments much longer, they'll be so big we'll have to use them as throw pillows instead of on the tree.  He may be onto something there ...

First year - done!

I've done this for four years in a row on my personal blog, but this is the first time I've managed to pull it off on my craft blog.  Go, me!

Well, that was a line that I not just crossed, but jumped over with two feet

Two-page spread of cat photos for my Japan scrapbook - done.

I have become One of Those People.  Only most of my pages look a little different.  Today, for instance, I had to text a friend from the scrapbooking section at Joann's to complain about the lack of appropriate supplies to go along with the shots of drunken farewell parties that will be taking up half of my scrapbook pages.  Come on, must everything be babies and weddings and school memories?  Where's the paper that shows a squid on a stick and a giant beer?  The stickers that say "Irasshaimase!" in bold all caps with three exclamation points?  Rub-on transfers with love hotel slogans? Anything with Charisma man???

Gee, maybe I've found a new underserved market ... Gaijin Scrapbooking Supplies!

Fun with Fibers, week 4: Finger crochet

Today we're learning how to finger crochet, which is an easier variation of finger knitting or spool knitting.  It's exactly the same as making a regular crocheted chain, only we're using our fingers instead of a crochet hook.  The finished chain is similar to what you'd get using a lucet, a medieval device used to make cord and rope: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucet

Wikipedia has a good history of crochet, which you can find here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crochet

All crochet starts with a slipknot of some sort - you can see the technique for making one here:

The technique I'm teaching the kids in class gives you the same result as the techniques you can find online, I just think it's a little easier for the young kids to learn my method.  But if you want the "official" way, you can find a good tutorial here:
http://www.wikihow.com/Crochet-a-Bracelet-With-Your-Fingers

There are plenty of other crochet and braiding techniques that don't require tools, but I haven't tried them all (yet!).  Here are some that might be fun if your child has exhausted the potential of finger crochet:
http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/FEATfingerknitting.html
http://www.stringpage.com/braid/fl/fingerloop.html

And finally, if your child is ready to try spool knitting, you have lots of choices of "spools" or "nancies" to use.

The bottom one is the one my daughter uses.  The little arm on the side helps tension the yarn, and the part with the prongs on the top spins so you don't have to keep turning the whole thing around.

Finally, spool knitting is pretty much the same thing as the knitting looms you see at craft stores that can be used to make everything from socks to hats to scarves to blankets.  They generally come with directions, and they make great gifts if you've got a child who has a long attention span and an interest in crafts.

Only the knitters will appreciate this one

And don't try to tell me you haven't had the exact same conversation with your significant other.

Even my crusty FIL approved

The new GSees planning calendar met with approval from all and sundry at my in-laws' house this weekend, so it will be up in the shop early this week.  Mark your calendars (once you buy them from me, of course!)

Obligatory holiday knitting - complete!

Last night I finished weaving in the ends on the two gifts I'm making for LazyKid's teachers. It's a relief to be done, even if I can't post pics until after the gifts have been opened. That was all the 'required' knitting I had for this year. It's a nice change from the Great Sock Experiment of 2008 and the Cowl Christmas of 2009. Making your gifts is fun, for the first half-dozen people. After that, gift cards start looking like a really good idea!

Should I get out the needle and thread?

The sight on Pop Pop's gun was a little too close to LazyHusband's eye for the recoil. Oops.Hope that link works, since the whole flickr thing doesn't work too well on my iPod.

Nope, so here's the photo:

Trying out the new tech

Trying to blog from my iPod is fraught with difficulties, so it's a good thing I've got NaBloPoMo as a motivator. Dang, is this ever slow.