8.9.18

Scamp! - the paper roll dog


paper tube dog


We called him Scamp because he sort of looks like he’s scampering.. think he’d be one of those dogs that never sat still! Scamp is made from cutting and folding a single toilet paper roll. Just one dab of glue at the end to stick the sides of his head together.

A narrower toilet paper tube is best - the one we used was quite narrow and about 10cm long.

It's probably easier to paint the tube first, though fine to do it after the making too. Make sure you paint inside each end of the tube before leaving to dry.

1. Press the tube flat, but concentrate only on one of the creases, pressing along it firmly with your fingers. Leave the other as a light crease.


2. Line up the two creases you've just made and press the tube flat again, and again, concentrate on pressing firmly along one of the creases, leaving the other. You should end up with tube with a flat bottom, like this.








3. On the flat side, measure and mark about 2cm in from each end. Then from each mark, roughly draw around the tube until you get back to the mark. Don’t worry if the line is a bit wobbly, it’s only a guide for cutting.




4.  At one end on the flat side, cut along the creases to the pencil line - these will be Scamp’s back legs. Halfway between these cuts, snip out a long, thin triangle, up to the line.




Repeat at the other end for the front legs, but this time snip a little bit over the pencil line, so the front legs are slightly longer.




5. At this front end, on the top of the tube, cut along the light creases to the pencil line. Fold the middle flap back and cut a ‘V’ from each corner to the middle of the line, for Scamp’s ears.




6. At the other end of the top part of the tube, inbetween the light creases, make two cuts up to the pencil line, quite close together, for the tail. (You could use the position of the ears to help position the tail). Cut away two long thin triangles either side of the tail (see below). 



7. Press the two flaps either side of the tail into the body.



8. At the head end, glue the end of the two flaps together and use a paper clip or clothes peg to hold it in place.



9. Once dry, trim if you need to, then use a black pen to draw his nose on the top corner and draw on eyes. Keep them high up, near the ears. 



10, Bend the legs down and shorten if you want to, and he's ready for a scamp!

toilet paper tube dogs

  
Walkies!!


25.8.18

Pots and pans - shoebox kitchen


This is probably the last kitchen project before we move onto another room (though there might be a bit of an animal interlude before we get going again.. ) So these are just a few accessories - plates, saucepans and a bowl of salad. 
Bottle top lids are really useful for kitchen extras! 

Plates

We cut these out of some spare cereal box card. You will need something small and circular to draw around like a bottle top lid or a coin. We used a smaller coin for the centre of the plate (5p). 


Before cutting them out, have fun with felt-tips! If you want to space your pattern evenly around the plate, start by drawing marks opposite each other, then keep making marks halfway between the previous ones until you’re happy (see pics below)








When you’re cutting out the plates, cut them out roughly first, then cut as carefully as you can around the circle, turning the card towards you, rather than trying to turn the scissors.




We then glued our favourite plates to the shelves on the wall in our kitchen.




Draw food on some plain plates to put on the table.



Saucepan

Choose a bottle top lid for the base of your pan and draw around it on some spare card (for the lid). Cut a strip of card for the handle too. 




Use a strong glue, like UHU to stick the cardboard lid onto the plastic bottle top and the handle on the side (let the glue dry before you bend the handle down, into place).

We glued a small bead on top of the lid and when the glue had set, sprayed the whole thing silver (best done by an adult or under supervision). It’s tempting, but don’t over-spray! Best to do one quick coat, let it dry, then apply another one.




Salad bowl 

Another bottle top lid, brush glue inside - cut a piece of green tissue paper and lightly scrunch it up before putting it into the lid. When you’re happy with your lettuce, use a hole puncher to punch a few small round tomatoes out of some red paper (or plain paper coloured in) and glue them on. 





Add more if you want, or put something else in the bowl. You could make some fruit out of modelling clay and have a fruit bowl. 
And if you have any little stickers why not use them to decorate a bowl.








13.8.18

Mini flowers in a vase - Shoebox kitchen

shoebox kitchen

toilet paper tube chairs and mini egg carton flowers

We’ve had a bit of a break from our homemade dolls house kitchen, but I keep thinking of little things to add to it, that could work in the rest of the house too… when we eventually get round to making the other rooms!
These little vases of flowers are tiny and sweet, and not difficult to do.

You will need:
Egg carton
Scissors
Green paper (or plain paper painted)
Coloured tissue paper (for the flowers)
Craft glue
Paint (if you want to paint the vase)

  1. Roughly cut out the middle cone from an egg carton - you need the top 3cm (1in.), so either measure from the top, mark the sides and join the marks, or draw a rough line by sight (halfway down the cone should be about right). Cut up from the open end and along the line.
2. Cut the tip of the cone off - easiest way is to squeeze the cone flat and snip across the very top of the cone. You will have to trim the corners so it sits on a flat surface.


3. For the base of the vase, cut out a small square or circle from the egg carton lid, dab some glue on the narrower edge of the cone, and stick in place.


4. While that’s drying, make the flowers. Cut a strip of green paper about 6cm long and 3cm wide. Snip all the way along the strip, just over halfway down. Keep your snips close together.



5. Hopefully the glue on the vase will be set enough now to paint. Paint any colour you like - or you could just leave it plain.

6. For the flowers, cut little square shapes from some tissue paper (about 1cmx1cm/1/2in.) A good tip is to fold your tissue paper a few times so you have several layers, cut a strip and then cut squares from the strip. (They really don't have to be perfect!) 


7. Scrunch up your little squares into your buds and blooms!



8. Brush glue inside the vase, roll the bottom part of your green strip, and put it into the vase. Let it unfurl a bit and push out and arrange your stems and leaves.

Dab glue on some of the green stems and stick on your flowers.









9. Optional - snip some of the green leaves into a more pointy shape if you want.

mini egg carton vase of flowers



DIY dolls house