Rainbow Shirt

I've always wanted to print my own patterns on my shirt. To support me, my mom bought some plain shirts from giodarno for me while they were on sale a while back. I didn't know what to print on them until now. :)

All you need is:
fabric stamp ink
stencils of your design
sponge
shirt
ruler

First, Place some scrap paper between the shirt.


Then place a ruler on your stencil, which is placed on your shirt. This way, you can align your design to the ruler to make sure your design is straight and evenly spaced.


Use a sponge to dab the fabric stamp ink onto the shirt.

Finally when you are done, iron the shirt with a piece of paper over your design to turn the ink on the shirt into a stubborn stain. :)


Now, you are your very own shirt designer! It's a good gift too! Gives the boring shirt-gifts a funky twist.

Learn with Games

As a tuition teacher, I have to crack my brains for ideas on how to make learning English interesting and engaging. It's the holidays so kids wouldn't have the motivation to open their revision books. I have come up with 4 ideas. Unfortunately, I did not take pictures for the first idea.

1)Treasure Hunt
Have some of them to draw a map of their house or classroom or garden (wherever they may be at the moment), with a legend and all.
Then have them write English questions on papers and hide them all around the place.
Mark out the places where the questions are hid.
Another group will hunt.
After they answer a right question, give them a clue to where the treasure is.

This is good to teach students or your child the names of all the things in the house and also revise on all that you have taught them so far. I had my student write questions on tenses and different kinds of sentences. This activity also engages them to write sentences, making sure that their sentences are grammatically correct.

2) Stamping.
If mundane exercises are too boring, have them stamp out the answers.



Prepare your questions first.
Then make the stamps.
Cut out alphabets first.


Stick them onto foam or bottle caps. Anything solid.(Remember to stick them the other way around so when you stamp them, it is the right way round.)
For the ink, a creative way is to use bleach.
Put a paper towel onto a plate and drip some bleach on it until it is soaked.
Have them stamp out the correct answers when you're all ready!

Even if you do not have actual stamping materials, you can use things you normally find around your house! It also saves money! :)

3) Board Game.


Help the cat find its way to either of the 3 things at the bottom.
The black arrows on red circles are the normal way you should go.
If you answer a red arrow question correctly, you can point it to the next black arrow and move on from there.
But if you answer it wrongly, you have to go to a red arrow on a black circle question. And as you can see, no red arrows lead to either of the three things for the cat.
To go back to a black arrow, you must answer the red arrow question correctly.

Cut out circles and glue the arrows on them.
Use blu tag to stick the circles onto your paper / board.
This way, you can turn the arrows.
Use foam paper to make the cat (you can have any kind of animal you want).
To prepare the questions, first print out the questions.
Glue them onto either black or red paper.

Close them up with an arrow.

Have the student pick the random card of questions.

4) Make something and write down instructions for it.

Last but not least, I bought some clay for my students and have them make something.
Then they have to write down the steps for making them.
You can also ask them to make origami birds or planes or other artsy fartsy things. :)

This activity helps them to revise on conjunctions.
After the activity, have them write what they feel about the thing that they have just made!


I hope all these ideas help with making learning fun for your student or child. It sure did make teaching them more fun for me!
YOu can even use it to teach science or math or other subjects!

Easy Cupcakes

In the mood for cupcakes recently. Here's an easy topping recepie for those of you who don't have cream in your fridge. All u need is butter, sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and of course the vanilla cupcake.

Tip!

After the cupcakes are ready, cool them upside down so that the bottom the the cupcakes don't get soggy.

Ingredients

125g butter

1 teaspppn vanila extract

1.5 cups icing sugar

2 tablespoons milk

Method

• Beat the butter and the vanilla essence with a mixer until as white as possible
• Gradually beat in the icing sugar and milk

The final mixture should look like this

You can then use this mixture to put on the cupcakes

If you want a chocolate topping, simply mix in 1 tablespoon of coaca powder into the mixture.

Decorate the cupcakes with anything u can think of!! I used pods chocolate, chocolate shavings and m&ms. Then, simply refrigerate overnight and its ready. Enjoy!

Shop Shop Shop!

Meimei's craft shop is finally up! Phew! hehe
With every purchase, you can get one free clay item to be made into anything you want!

Oh, and do give us any feedbacks :) We'd like to know how we can improve.

Meatballs for Dinner!

Recently Mom fell sick so I had to cook dinner last night. I decided to try a new recipe - Meatballs!







You will need:

1 egg
2 slices of chicken breast, minced
2 slices of bread, shredded
2 cups of chicken stock
5 pieces of dried shitake mushrooms
sweet dark sauce
pepper
corn flour
soy sauce



First, season minced meat with egg, pepper, some soy sauce, and corn flour.

Mix well.





Next, shred the bread into tiny pieces and soak with water.





Use your hand to squeeze out the water from the bread and add the bread to the meat.





Use a spoon to scoop them into tiny balls and fry until cooked.


For the stock,

Boil it with the mushrooms, sweet dark sauce, some pepper and salt.

Add Corn flour to thicken the sauce to your liking.


And you're all done! Bon Appetite!

My Toaster Cover Is Inked!

Mommy has asked me to sew my sis's toaster a cover. And I inked it!





I used stencils, fabric ink and stamped on the patterns!


Here's what you need:


cloth
stencils (you can make them yourself or use a ready made one)
fabric ink
brush dauber (or what I call a sponge on a stick),(it is to apply the ink onto the cloth)


Here's how to prepare your cloth:



You need to measure your toaster first, then get the 3 dimensions and transfer that information onto your piece of cloth.
I added an extra inch so that my cover will overlap one another.
So now, you have your 2 pieces of cloth all set!


Now, to apply your design.
First, spread your cloth on top of some rough paper. This is to prevent any ink from transferring onto you table (or floor).
Then, prepare your items.

If you want, you can draw a line as a guide for your design.
For my case, well, the flowers are all on different levels. hehe.


Use the brush dauber (sponge on a stick), dab it slight (only slightly) with some ink, then dab it onto the stencil that is put nicely over your cloth.



Your finish design will look something like this.



Now you can sew it up!
First, pin up and sew up all the corners of the cloth except the top that is to be sewn to the top piece.



Align one end of your cloth half way through the shorter side of your top piece.


Pin them together then sew.


When you have secured that part of the cloth together, pin up the other sides and sew.


Sew it up one side at a time. It would be easier. :)


Turn it around and it's ready to use!


About fabric ink:
I'm using Versa Fabric Ink which should be available at art stores like spotlight, or scrap booking stores.
Iron the piece, with a piece of paper under the iron and over the inked part, to let ink sink into cloth.


About the stencil I used:
It is from the book Great Paper Crafts by Ritchie and Kilmartin, 2004.

Flowers for my Mother

It's my mother's birthday tomorrow and I wanted to give her something she likes and would never not find a need for.
So I made her tulips that will never wilt with my super duper jumping clay! :)





OKie. There are 3 parts to making this bouquet of flowers:


1) the flowers
2) the tag
3) decorating the vase.


Lets start with the flowers. Here's what you need:


Jumping clay (or any other clay that you are comfortable with)
Green coloured wire for stalks


Here's how you do it!


Firstly, take a tiny bit of green and cover the tip of the stalk with it.
Roll some (maybe 3) thin white 'snakes' to make the pollen.
Stick them onto the green.



Next for the petals.
Take some red and more white to make pink.



Take a small amount and roll it into something like a diamond, with 2 pointed edges.



Flatten it to make it look like a petal.



Roll it around the pollens.



Make a few more and keep rolling it around.

You can choose to make 2 to 3 more layers of petals.
Make a few flowers, as many as you like :)


Now for the tag.
Here's what you need:


Jumping clay (or any clay that you are comfortable with)


I got this idea off the "Cake Decorators Motif Bible" by Pageone.



First, take some black and flatten it into a rectangle.
Take some white and flatten it into a curved-bottom triange.

Use a blade (or anything flat like a ruler) to draw the lines on the white.


Take some leaf green-coloured clay and roll them into shapes of teardrops.
Flatten them to look like leaves.
Place them onto the white clay.

Once again, use the blade to make a line in the middle.


To make the roses, roll a tiny amount of red clay into thin long snakes.
Press them flat,
Then curl them up.



Take some brown and spell out the words of your choice, rolling the clay into thin snakes.



Add some flowers and leaves onto the words.



Now for the tiny bow, or ribbon, at the end of the bouquet.
Take some brown (some colour clay used for the words) and roll them into the shape of a diamond.
Flatten it.



Fold it into half.

Make 2.


Then place them onto the tag.



Take another small bit of brown clay and shape it into a square.
Put it in between the 2 triangles that make up the bow.



Do this only after you tag is dry.
Use a pen knife to make a hole at the top corner of the tag.




Your tag is done!
Now to put them all together!
What you need:


Some thin coloured paper
Strings
Small vase



Stuff some paper into the vase.
This is to make sure that the flowers stay in position.



Take another piece of coloured paper and place the vase on top.



Wrap it around the vase.



Thread the string into the tag.

Tie the string, which is attached to the tag, around the vase to secure the paper.



Voila! You're all done!


TIps!
Vase can be anything from a recycled jam bottle to an old Coca Cola bottle!
If you do not have a green wire for the stalk there are a few options:
use a satay stick and wrap it around with green paper;
use the jumping clay and roll it into a stalk (allow it to dry for about a day so that it is easier to work with);
Tooth picks!


Information about materials
Clay can be bought from ArtFriend and Popular at Bras Basar. Book "The Cake Decorator's Motif Bible" bought from Pageone.
Clay takes about a day to fully dry.
For more information about jumping clay, I found 2 websites:
www.jumpingclay.blogspot.com
www.jumpingclay.com

Laptop Wire Bag. Unplugged.

First and foremost, I would like to say that I am thrilled Ellen is going to be the new judge on American Idol! I like Paula but the humour Ellen's going to bring is one I cannot miss!


Anyway, I have been packing Lao gong's laptop for him a lot and when I pack my own laptop, I realised he had a tiny pouch to put his wires but I don't. So I decided to make my own one!






I used a different way to make the flat bottom base.I decided I needed a way of making the bag retain its squarish shape. The other box pouch (the coin pouch) only retained its horizontal shape. This one will also remain upright vertically. So look closely. You might be able to use this to make other things too! :)


There's what you need:



Here's how to prepare your cloth:



After you're done, here's what you have to do.
First, place the 2 inside and outside bag pieces together, with their back facing out.
Looking at it from a landscape view, sew only the left and right side.
Leave the top and bottom, which is the opening of the bag, unsewn.
Do not sew all the way; leave at least half a centimetre on the top.



Now, turn the cloths the right way round.
Fold the unsewn cloths down and tuck them in.
Sew.

Do this for both the top and bottom.


It should look like this.



Now, fold the piece horizontally into half. Then unfold.
All you want to do here is to make a crease.
Then, fold the top and bottom to meet each other in the centre.

Sew it up.


Next, draw squares along all for corners.
Draw on both front and back. That means you have to draw them 8 times.



Fold the tip into a triange, where the corners of the square meet.
Then, sew along the line.



Cut the excess part off.



Turn the bag the right way round and now you are ready to make the flap.


Place your wire into the bag then use the ruler to measure the length and breath of the bag.


I measured mine as 11 x 3.


Cut out a piece of inside cloth and a piece of outside cloth with the dimensions you just got.
Draw and sew the design on.



Then, use your fabric ink to stamp on the words.



Now you're ready to sew.
Place the 2 pieces of cloth together, their backs facing out.

Pin it up all around except the top.


Prepare 2 elastics.
Measure them from the bottom of the flap all the way under the bag of wires to the top of the flap.
Make sure they are not too long, or the bag would not be secure.



Sew all the way around the flap except the top.
Make sure you place the elastic bands along the bottom of the flap when sewing.

The end of the elastic band should be at the end of the cloth, like in the picture.
The elastic band should be in between both the cloths.
Here's a closer look.

Sew over the elastic band a couple of times.


Turn it the right way round.
Tuck in and pin down the top of the flap.
Then pin it onto the bag and sew it on.



With the wires in the bag, pull the elastic bad under and to the top of the flap.
Make a mark on where you want the button to be.
Sew on the buttons.




In no time, you're all packed and ready to go!