The trials and tribulations of a Tooth Fairy

We're away in France at the moment and my daughter is sleeping in a room with me.

The blue patchwork quilt at the front of the photo? That's me - she's on a mattress right next to the bed, and see that small colourful set of tiny drawers on top of the white box? Well that's where she put her tooth. To keep it safe for the Tooth Fairy.

And if that wasn't bad enough, as far as tricky TF obstacle courses go, she'd balanced two tiny Sylvanian puppies on top and carefully lent a plaster of Paris fairy brooch thing against the drawers.

I had to lean right over her to get anywhere near it. If I hadn't been so blinking tired it would almost have been funny - every time she shifted about or snuffled. I froze, musical-statue-like, in an awkward hovering pose. Took AGES.

When I eventually crept into bed it was after one. 

The next morning there was a fair deal of excitement about the money....not so much for the little TF letter and envelope I'd carefully crafted and penned in my teeniest, tiniest fairy writing.

But, you know, I'm glad I made the effort, because it feels like it might be the last time. My only TF believer is losing the faith, and I doubt I'll forget this one in a hurry...

Good to go out in style don't you think?

Shell Lady part 2 - The Pram

Sounds like a rather disappointing film sequel... but hopefully nothing disappointing about this little pram!

As with the Shell Lady, all you need is a good haul of shells, some all-purpose strong clear glue like UHU or Bostik, a fine black marker pen, like a Sharpie, and one extra thing - a paper clip for the pram handle.

The main part of the pram is made from two small limpet shells - you want one to be a little smaller than the other, so it sits inside, upright, like a hood. Try a few different shells until you’re happy with the fit. Don’t glue in place just yet though.

Choose 4 similar-sized periwinkle shells for the wheels, and glue the open part to the limpet pram base. Turn over to check it sits steady and doesn’t wobble. Glue in the pram hood and leave to dry. If the hood slips a bit, use another shell to hold it in place.

Find a small winkle shell for the baby’s head, glue it in the hood part of the pram and draw a face with a fine black marker (one that won’t smudge, like a Sharpie). Look for a small cockle shaped shell for the baby’s blanket. Don’t glue it in yet - first, make the handle by cutting off a piece of the paper clip (best done by a grown up), and bending it into an even, curved shape. Ours is blue because that’s all I could find!

Glue inside the limpet shell, then stick the blanket over the top, to cover the wire ends...

...and the pram's ready to be pushed.

Shell Lady - summer crafts for kids

I love shells. Put me on a shelly beach and that's me sorted really. Helped along by happy memories of summers spent by the sea. But here's the thing, what to do with all those shells that find their way home? A lot of mine are still in a large glass bowl in the bathroom... scary to think some of the little cowries near the bottom were found on Tyrella beach almost 40 years ago. But they're not all keepers, and there are plenty of other fun things to do with shells - Red Ted Art has some great ideas here. Making little figures and animals was my thing though, so I thought I'd share a favourite. The Shell lady.

If you'd like to have a go, it might be worth reading through first, so you know what to search for on your next beach trip. They're all common UK shells - periwinkles, whelks, limpets, banded wedge shells (we called them finger nail shells - wrong apparently!), and collect a good range of sizes and colours so you can try different ones together. Look out for any tiny shells too, or colourful shiny fragments to put in the basket.

Once you've got your shells, all you need is some strong, clear, all-purpose glue, like UHU, pens for face and hair (Sharpies are great for this) - and kids need a little patience... some waiting involved!

Start with the skirt, and either use one limpet shell on its own, or find a few that fit on top of each other, to give a pretty tiered skirt effect. Glue together.

The body is a small whelk shell. You want the opening to sit on top of the limpet - keep trying different ones until you're happy, and it stays put without being held in place - then glue onto the body and leave to dry. This is important, because if you plough straight on, bits will start to slide!

While the glue's drying, make a little basket. Use a small, flatish limpet shell, spread a bit of glue inside and add some tiny shells and colourful pieces.

My daughter made a few for her Sylvanians...

The head is a periwinkle, and again you're looking for one that fits snuggly on top of the pointy bit. Glue in place.

When dry, draw on a face and hair. Use a pen that won't wipe off, like a Sharpie.

Find two similar sized banded wedge shells for arms (or small mussel shells work well). If you want her to carry the basket, just glue on one arm...

....then glue the basket on the other side where the skirt meets the body. We propped ours up with a limpet shell while it dried.

Stick the other arm just behind the basket.

If you fancy a bonnet, glue a small limpet shell to the back of the head.

We didn't varnish ours, but it does help to protect the shells and bring out their colour. If you don't have any, a good 'make do' tip is to use a coat of clear nail polish instead.

The basket-less lady is looking a little left out, so we'll make her a pram to push next time!

Egg Box Peppa Pig

Who'd have thought the Clangers and Peppa Pig had something in common? Well it turns out you can make both in a very similar way from an egg carton!  Always good when one idea leads to another...

All you'll need is:
an egg carton
red and white paint
fine black felt tip or gel pen
red/pink felt tip pen or highlighter
general purpose scissors
Straight-edged nail scissors or similar (optional) Adult supervision needed

1. Roughly cut out as much of the two middle cones as you can from the egg box. This makes them easier to work with.

2. Take one, and just above any joins at the bottom, draw a line around the cone. Cut up and along the line. This will be the body.

3. For the legs, cut up the middle of one of the sides, about a third of the way. Then wiggle and turn your scissors to cut across to the corner and just beyond. Do the other side too, so you've cut a sort of 'T' shape. Now repeat this 'T' shape on the opposite side of the cone.

4. To form the legs, press the cut card edges in the middle towards each other and squeeze each side into a rounded leg shape. If they're too big, snip off a small piece of card. There's no need to use glue. The legs should hold and the body should be stable. (Snip the bottom of the legs if the body is a little wobbly)

5. For the head, take the other egg box cone and use a pencil and ruler to mark about 2cm (3/4in.) from the top on all sides. Join the marks with a line. Choose which side you'd like for the face and draw small round Peppa ears here. Keep them on top - don't draw past the corners.

6. To help cut the head out, cut up the two back corners to the pencil line, fold the flap of card back and cut it off. It should now be easier to cut along the rest of the line, cutting carefully around the ears. With the little fiddly bit of card between the ears, either bend it forward and snip off or simply fold it behind so it's inside the head.

7. On the underside of the head, cut up the two back corners, almost to the end, bend back this flap of card and cut it off. Glue the head onto the body - don't push it right down onto the top of the cone - there should be a small gap between the top of the cone and the top of Peppa's head.

8. While that's drying cut a thin strip of card for the arms (about 5cm/2in. long) from the egg carton lid.

9. Painting time - paint the head, legs and arm strip pink (lots of white and a little red), and then the middle part of the body red for Peppa's dress. Don't forget to paint the top part of the cone pink at the back.

10. When dry, fold the arm strip in half and cut along the crease. Use small scissors to snip fingers in the ends if you like.

Then, either glue the arms on the sides, OR, use the nail scissors to make slots for arms either side (keep them closed, press down firmly and twist until the tip pierces through the card, then cut slots)

Wiggle the scissors in and out a few times so it's easier to push the arms in.

11. Use a pink felt tip or highlighter to draw circles for cheeks, the snout and nostrils, and a big smile. Dot two small white dots of paint for eyes on top, in front of the ears. When dry, finish the eyes with a spot of black felt tip or gel pen.

Little egg box Clangers

Lovely to see them back! Hopefully the Clangers will be just as popular this time round, so old timers like me can wallow in a bit of nostalgic childrens' telly....

To celebrate their return, we've been making mini ones from egg boxes (of course!) Their noses aren't quite as narrow and pointy as the real thing, but think there's enough of a likeness?
If you want to have a go, you will need:

An egg carton
red and white paint
fine black felt tip or gel pen
brown wool
glue
glitter
sequins
general purpose scissors
Straight-edged nail scissors (optional - adult supervision needed)

1 Roughly cut out the two middle cones from the egg box. This makes them easier to work with.

2 Take one, and just above any joins at the bottom, draw a line around the cone. Cut up and along the line. This will be the body.

3.For the legs, cut up the middle of one of the cone sides, about a third of the way. Then wiggle and turn your scissors to cut across to the corner, and just a little beyond. Do the other side too, so you've cut a sort of 'T' shape. Now repeat this 'T' shape on the opposite side of the cone.

4. To form the legs, the cut edges in the middle towards each other and squeeze each side into a rounded leg shape. If they're too big, snip off a small piece of card. There's no need to use glue. The legs should hold and the body should be stable. (Snip the bottom of the legs if the body is a little wobbly)

5. For the head, take the other egg box cone and use a pencil and ruler to mark about 2cm from the top on all sides. Join the marks with a line. Choose which side you'd like for the face and draw round Clanger ears on the corners, so part of the ear is on the adjacent side.

6. To help cut the head out, cut up the two back corners to the pencil line, fold the flap of card back and cut it off. It should now be easier to cut along the rest of the line, cutting carefully around the ears. With the little fiddly bit of card between the ears, either bend it forward and snip off or simply fold it behind.

7. Because the egg box cardboard is prone to ripping, you may need to snip into the bottom of the ears, before gently pushing them forward. Round off the pointy corner if you want to.

8. On the underside of the head, cut up the two back corners, almost to the end, bend back this flap of card and cut it off. Glue the head onto the body. Don't push it right down onto the cone. There should be a little gap at the back, between the top of the cone and the top of your Clanger's head.

9. For the arms, cut a thin strip of card from the egg carton lid, about 5cm/2in. long.

10. Painting time - mix plenty of white and just a little red to get a nice pale pink colour and paint the whole of the body and head, as well as the arm strip.

11. When dry, fold the arm strip in half and cut along the crease. Use small scissors to snip long pointy fingers in the ends if you like.

Then, either glue the arms either side after you've finished decorating your Clanger, or, use the nail scissors to make slots either side (keep them closed, press down firmly and twist until the tip pierces through the card, then cut slots)

Wiggle the scissors in and out a few times so it's easier to push the arms in. Check they fit but then leave them out while you decorate your Clanger.

12. Two decorating options - either glue on sequins (we had some large ones which were perfect), or, cover the body with an even, thin layer of glue and sprinkle glitter! (Make sure you don't get glue on the head though!)

13. For the hair tuft, cut a little piece of wool, separate the strands and stick it down between the ears. Dot eyes on top near the ears with a fine black felt tip pen of gel pen and push the arms back in place or glue them on.

18. To add a bow, fold a small piece of paper over and draw half a small bow on the fold. Cut out, open up and glue in place.

For a star-gazing Clanger, don't cut the underside of the head and simply slip it over the top of the body instead.