More of the same

 

The oddly shaped ones

 

The birds and the bees

I needed stones for an outdoor Tic Tac Toe game. The games table still needs to be assembled out of two cable drums and a slice of wood on top, but I could start on the stones.

Art Deko paper

 

3D

 

Four parts for every colour, cut according to a template, and a hot glue gun.

Stick one half of one part to another until all are glued together. Mine are small, so I only cut 4 pieces, bigger trees could have 6 of them.

Cards

 

A quick session with glue, Japan paper, star punches and crystal beads and 6 cards were ready to motivate reluctant ladies...

Tomte

 

It has been a hot minute...4 years to be exact. There's nothing a good craft fayre at work to raise funds can't sort :D Our elderly ladies seem to have the crafting outsourced to friends, but the point of it is to get them to do something together so I thought they might need a good kickstart. Cue these guys...a picture inspired their construction: A bunch of wool, tied off at the top and pulled through a felt hat, glued at the back. A pompom nose is the cherry on the beard - finished. 

Maxing out on the Kitsch

 

I'd come across this Cherub in a pile destined for the bin/donation - no idea where it came from, but I didn't want it to end up in landfill somewhere so decided to upcycle it with a lick of paint. I had a box and some metallic gold spray and got busy.

It takes a well ventilated area, so I put the box outside on a high perch and started spraying from 25 cm away, holding the can upright.

The colour turned out classier than I had anticipated, so I am well pleased with the result.

After turning the Cherub gingerly I sprayed the backside as well and then had to wait 1 hour for the colour to be touch dry in order to do the undersides too. Completely dry within 24 hours. 

Now it's a nice little jewellery box for the mother in law who has everything.

Back in the flow

I was working through the entire Coronavirus-Lockdown as an essential keyworker, so while other people couldn't go to work or were working from home I was working overtime to cover shielding colleagues. Only recently did the situation relax enough to allow me to get back into books and to get stuck into my wool collection. It's this one that did it.:D The next winter looms on the horizon.

Golddust

(Also known as Handsanitiser-Gel, which was impossible to buy anywhere)

I have to state that I have only somewhat rudimentary medical knowledge working in health care compared to medically trained professionals, but this recipe is by an American MD.

First things first: I needed aloe Vera Gel, Rubbing Alcohol at (minimum) 70%, 99% is best but this is what I had, and an empty hand soap sterilised in boiling water.
Workspace, whisk and bowl with a spout for pouring had to be sterilised beforehand as well and I was careful never to touch the Gel with my (washed) hands.
It's ~2 parts alcohol to 1 part Aloe Vera blended really well, with 10 drops of teatree essential oil or a squirt of lemon juice added - I made up a quantity of 180ml to 60ml. I filled the soap container without touching and then left it for 72 hours to be on the safe side and to allow the alcohol to kill off any remaining germs in the bottle. 

I use it before leaving for work as an essential keyworker and when I come home, after washing my hands thoroughly with soap and water, as I work with the elderly.