Showing posts with label how to. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how to. Show all posts

Monday, June 29, 2015

Gonna Eat This Camping Trip!: Part 2


Alright alright, the big topic I have right now is FOOD!  When going camping there are a few supplies you will always need to take with you.  When my family goes camping we make a list of what we need and go on a shopping trip to buy all sorts of goodies to take with us.  It was always one of my favorite parts.

I really don't have any food for my doll, so I decided to start with some of the staple things I figured I would want on a camping trip.  I even have some PDFs for you if you want to make some of the same things!  I will provide a colored version, along with an outlined version if you want to color them yourself.

I had a ton of fun with these and I will try to give you the tips and tricks I learned while putting some of them together!  And this is part one of two!  I made so much food I thought I would separate it into two posts!

Chocolate Bars



Colored PDF Version / Outlined PDF Version

No camping trip is complete with out some yummy chocolate bars to make some s-mores!  As you can see I chose to print the outlined version and color them myself.  I love to color and didn't have colored ink, so it worked, but if you want to use the colored version go on ahead!

I made these chocolate bars by putting a layer of clear tape over the pictures and cutting them out.  I then got some tin foil and wrapped it around a piece of dark brown foam.  I put the foil wrapped foam inside of the cover and glued it shut.  You could always tape it as well, in case you want to open later.

Graham Crackers

Here is the Graham crackers box.  I colored the template and then cut it out.  I glued it onto the paperboard and let the glue dry completely before cutting it.  I scored the edges on the inside where I was going to bend them, and then hot glued the sides together.  I then coated the entire little box in Mod-Podge to make it stronger.  I did probably three or four coats, I wanted mine to stay around for a while.


I made some paper version of graham crackers too!  For the bigger blocks of graham crackers, I started by coloring the template, and then coated it with clear tape (I found some at the dollar store!).  When taping I tried to stay clear of the small tabs.  I cut out the templates and then glued them together.  For the small single pieces, I colored, taped, and then cut out the templates.  I simply glued them together.  Easy graham crackers!

Colored PDF Version / Outlined PDF Version

Marshmallows


This was fun!  I had been trying to figure out what to make the marshmallows out of, and then I realized I had some thick white foam and thought it would be perfect.


I cut out several squares and glued two of them together.  I put some books on top of them to make sure they glued together and stuck well.  After they were dry, I just cut around the edges and made them look more circular.


To make the bag, I used the bag pattern and cut out a piece of plastic bag (Ziploc or any brand).  I folded the bag in half and taped it.  I had it so the taped edge was in the bag and taped one of the sides.  I added the marshmallows I made and taped the other side closed.  Now you have a bag of marshmallows!


Colored PDF Version / Outlined PDF Version

S-mores

Now that we have all of our s-mores supplies we need to make the s-mores!  I used foam to make them.  I cut out squares of tan foam and made indents in them.  I then cut out pieces of chocolate to look similar to the chocolate bars I made.  Then I cut pieces out of the thick foam I have and shaped it to resemble a marshmallow.

You can use the paper graham crackers as well!  I was going to make some with paper, but I didn't get around to it.

Soda Box & Cans




When I go camping we always make sure to bring enough soda.  It's our drink of choice while we out in the great outdoors, kinda silly, but tradition.  I made a box that really holds the cans!



The box was pretty easy to make, just as before with the graham cracker box, I colored the template and then cut it out, but not perfectly.  I glued it to the paper board and since this one was bigger, I put a few books on top to make it flat.  After it was completely dry, I cut it out along the lines and then hot glued the sides together.  I again Mod-Podged (or clear glue) the entire thing, with three or four coats again.


Box: Colored PDF Version / Outlined PDF Version


I made six cans, which meant I printed the template for the cans twice.  I then colored the template and coated it with taped.  Next I grabbed a toothpick and started to roll some scrap paper I had that was the height as the can templates.  I kept rolling until it was the size I needed to be able to wrap the can template around the roll.  I glued the top and bottoms of the can on with hot glue and they are complete!


Cans: Colored PDF Version / Outlined PDF Version / Colored PDF Version (This version doesn't have the extra space with color in it)

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to leave a comment!  And that is all I have for part two!  Stay tuned for part three soon!

Have a wonderday!

Monday, June 15, 2015

Have a Picnic Lunch!



What You Will Need:
Large Popsicle sticks (You can probably find these at most craft stores or in the crafting aisles)
Glue (I used hot glue to speed up the process, but I imagine most craft or wood glues would work)
Scissors

Steps:

1. Gather 12 popsicle sticks and cut the rounded end off like so:


Craft Note: When cutting your popsicle sticks sometimes the pieces fly and I know I wouldn't want to hurt anyone.  I would suggest cutting them in a bag, whether it's a Ziploc bag or grocery bag.

2. Lay them side by side one another to get a sense of how big the table will be.  If you want more than 12 then go ahead and add a bit more for an even bigger table if you prefer.  I just thought 12 would be good because it wouldn't be to big or small for storing later.


3. If you don't want to do this step, then you don't have too.  I glued the straight ends of the popsicles together to give it some extra reinforcement, but that is your choice.


4. Take 3 untrimmed popsicle sticks and lay them on top of your 12 lined up like so:


Glue them down.  Make sure to get all the small knooks and crannys.  I repeated this process on both sides of the table top.  I thought it gave it an even look.

5. Next I cut the ends off 8 popsicle sticks, try to make these as much as the same size as you can.


Following that you will need to cut 8 pieces of popsicles that are about 2 inches long with an angle cut out of them.  Try to get these as close to the same size as possible.  It took a few tries for me to get there, so if at first they don't look alright, that's okay.


6. As I mentioned you cut 8 of each.  I glued 2 together of each of the pieces, so you end up with 4 long sticks with the ends cut and 4 of the smaller pieces.




 Then you will need to glue the small angled pieces to the popsicle sticks with the ends you cut off.


7. Next you will glue your four pieces you glued together to the bottom of the table.  This also takes a bit of patience, but just working on it.


8. I wanted some added support, so I cut some angles on a popsicle and glued it inside of the sticks to give it some more reinforcement.



9.  Now this part is optional, but I wanted to add some more sticks to the bottom.  I cut angled cuts off the ends of one popsicle and glued them to the bottom.  I think the picture can explain it better than I can.



10. And flip your table over and you are done!  If you wish, you can paint it, but I wanted to leave it as is.  I think I will coat it with a layer of Mod-Podge to make sure it stays together for awhile.  I took an oddly angled picture of the table next to my doll, but it's about the right size.  It is probably a bit small, but it was so much cheaper than buying one myself.  Now I just need to make a chair for my doll!

 

I hope you enjoyed the craft!  I actually burnt my finger pretty bad with the glue gun while working on this.  It took it a few days, but it finally started to heal.  So if you use a hot glue gun be careful!

Have a wonderday!

Monday, June 8, 2015

Let's Gather 'Round The Camp Fire!


Two quick notes before we get started!  
  1. This craft may need the assistance of an adult if you use certain equipment, such as a hot glue gun or sand paper.
  2. When creating my fire pit, I wanted to be able to reuse the tea light.  That is why I used two circle disks.  I wanted to be able to put one inside of the other.  If you wish to just glue a tea light to the middle of one big circle or you don't have one, then you can just cut out the big circle.  On with the show!


What You Will Need:
Paperboard/Cardboard or Lid/Lids
Glue
Paint
Scissors
Sticks
Sandpaper (optional)
Tissue paper/foam (I ended up using tissue paper, but I put foam in the picture)
Ruler (not shown)

Steps:

1. Now for my craft I used paperboard, but if you wish you could use a disposable lid from a container (a Pringles can, butter container, or anything you would think is big enough to make the fire how you want it.)

First draw two circles, I made one slightly smaller than the other so it would fit inside.  (I believe my bigger circle had a diameter of about 4 1/2 and the other was just slightly smaller.)


And then I cut out multiply copies of each circle.  I had four bigger circles and two smaller ones.

2. I glued the circles together and put something heavy on them so they would dry flat.



3. On the smaller circle draw a small circle and cut it out.  I traced the tea light I was going to use as the "flame."  If you do not have a tea light or "flame" then you can just omit this part.


4. Next is making the sides to glue onto the bottom bigger circle.  I figured out the circumference by doing some math, but you can just cut a strip and measure it that way.  I believe I made mine about an inch high, but you can make yours how ever high you would like.


I glued the two ends together making sure it was tight around the disk.  I held it together with a clothes pin until it was dry.

Crafty Note: Instead of making the strip, you could also glue some rocks around the edge for a fun nature affect.


5. Next I started to assemble the fire pit.  I glued the circle strip around the bottom edge of the bigger circle.  You can probably use any kind of glue, but I decided to use the glue gun on this part to make it faster.


6. Paint!  I painted the inside of the pit brown, along with the small disk as well (both sides!).  I then painted the outside of it a darker brown.


7. Now comes the fun part where it will finally going to start looking like a fire pit!  Take a buddy, my dog went with me, and find some sticks outside.

Crafty Note: If you don't have any available sticks that is alright, grab some Popsicle sticks or toothpicks or take the fluff off a Q-tip and paint them.  With your imagination anything is possible!


I personally sanded down my sticks.  I didn't want the particles from the dead wood getting everywhere when I stored it.  For picture taking purposes I showed myself sanding inside, but make sure you have a vented area when sanding and wear protective covering.  I went outside to really sand my down.  Again, had my buddy with me.


8. Glue your sticks onto the smaller disk with the hold cut out.  I put the tea light in the middle so I knew how I wanted it to go.  Again I used hot glue for this part, but I think I would have preferred a clear drying liquid glue.  Although I hope it will last longer with the hot glue.

Crafty Note: I wanted to be able to reuse my tea light, so I didn't glue the sticks to it.  If you would like to glue them to the tea light that is your decision.


Rearrange your sticks however you would like.  It's really up to you!

9. Now we need some flames!  Unless you like how it looks and want to stop, cool.  If not, let's keep moving forward!  As I mentioned at the top, I used tissue paper to make my flames.  

I went to my craft supplies and realized I didn't have the colors I needed, but worry not.  I had white!  I painted the tissue paper the colors I needed: red, orange, and yellow.  It looks awesome because you can't put a thick layer of paint on, so you can still see the tea light flame through it.

I took some white school glue (doesn't really matter what kind) and mixed it with some water.  I used a paint brush to put the glue on the sticks and carefully started to arrange how I wanted the fire to look.  I added the red, then orange, and finally yellow.


I did get frustrated a little when I was doing this part, but it looks great when it dried.

10.  That's it!  Add your tea light in the middle and you have a roaring camp fire!  Grab your marshmallow roasting sticks and guitar for a fun night at the camp fire!  If you have any questions leave them below and I will get to them as soon as I can!


Here is the camp fire in action!