Crapty cardboard cereal box elephant

Dear Long-time reader,

I'm no longer only crapting on Fridays.  Now that I've unleashed my craptiness, I'm just going to upload crapts any time I feel like it.  Hope that's ok with you.

-Me

Ok, now that that's over with, let the crapt begin!

Last week, a mommy friend showed me Muji's super cute cardboard animals.  She made herself a little giraffe and I was inspired to try making something too.  I had a lot of fun making my cardboard animal trophy head awhile back.  This time I ventured into new territory because I had to make my own template from scratch.

Eek.

So after many tries and fails, I finally came up with an animal that stands and a pattern that other people can use (although please note that it's far from perfect!)

So please meet Ella, my little cereal box elephant.

Isn't she cute?  

And this is what little Ella looks like naked (aka sans paint):

If you'd like to try making your own elephant, you'll just need these few materials:
- free elephant template
- scissors
- pencil or pen
- cereal box
- paint or markers (optional)

Then, you simply
(1)  Cut the shapes out.

(2)  Trace the shapes onto a cereal box.

(3)  Cut those shapes out again.

(4)  Optional- Decorate the shapes
Note:  If you paint the shapes, be sure to save a bit of the paint to fix up the scratch marks that will appear after you assemble the pieces.  If you look carefully at Ella, you'll notice that there's a bit of white by her nose.  That's where my paint chipped off.  Or, maybe you could protect your paint by coating your pieces with modpodge?  Not sure...

(5) Assemble the pieces
Note:  I tried my best to make sure that the pattern works as is... however... it's not perfect.  So you'll probably have to adjust the lengths and widths of the slits and various pieces, especially if you painted them.

(6)  Fix up any little scratch marks that assembling

Thanks for reading this tutorial.  I hope this little elephant project provides you and your family a bit of cheap and creative fun.  If you try it out, I'd love to see your results. :)

  

DIY Birdseed ornaments

Today I'll be sharing how we created these lovely DIY Birdseed ornaments.

Back in Michigan, hubby and I put up a small bird feeder to feed the birds during the winter.  Now that we live in the city, we don't have space to put a bird feeder up.  (Plus, even if we did figure out a way to do it we'd probably just attract pigeons or rats.  Ew and double ew.)

So, you might say that I was feeling a bit nostalgic after seeing this lovely tutorial from Saltwater Kids showing how to make birdseed ornaments.  Luckily we have several family members that live in nearby tree-filled suburbs, so I made a bunch of these as small Christmas gifts.  I don't know about you, but I could really just spend hours watching birds hopping or flying around.  Hopefully this gift will keep the kids (and adults) entertained as they enjoy nature.


If you'd like to make them yourself, let me just first make two notes:
(1)  The Saltwater Kids tutorial contains really lovely photos and clear directions.  I totally copied their recipe.  I'm a copycat.  I fully admit it.
(2)  I tried to be neat, but the birdseed got everywhere.  Be prepared to sweep and wipe up lots of tiny seeds and sticky birdseed mess.

Still want to make them?  Ok, here's how I did it:

Materials Needed to make DIY Birdseed Ornaments:

-3/4 C flour
- 1/2 C water
- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin (Knox)
- 3 T corn syrup (I used dark... but I'm not sure if that matters)
- 4 C birdseed
- muffin tins/ molds (or cookie cutters)
- nonstick cooking spray
- drinking straws/ stirrers
- wax paper
- ribbon

Directions to make DIY Birdseed Ornaments:

1.  Combine flour, water, gelatin, and corn syrup in a large bowl.  Stir until everything is combined and resembles sticky goo.

2.  Add birdseed.  Stir until birdseed is covered.

3.  Spray muffin tins / molds with cooking spray.

4.  Pack birdseed mixture into the molds.  Use a measuring cup to pack and smooth everything down.   (I had a bit of trouble with this, which resulted in rough edges.)

5.  Push straws or stirrers through the birdseed.  (Make sure to push them all the way through so that you have a hole to string the ribbon through.)

6.  Let your birdseed mixture sit there for three hours.  Then, take out your straws and slide/pop out the hardened ornaments out onto wax paper.  (They easily popped out of the silicone molds, but I had to use a fork to pop them out of the muffin tins.)  Flip the ornament upside down so the bottom gets a chance to harden as well.  Let them sit out overnight.

7.  Put ribbon or string through the holes and enjoy!

Merry Christmas feathered friends!

Update-  I wanted to hang up ornaments with Baby Chuck around town, so I stored some in our apartment for about a week.  Bad idea.  When I finally remembered them, I saw that they had grown fuzzy with mold.  So, make sure you use them as soon as you make them!  Otherwise you'll end up with fuzzy black ornaments.  Ick.

 

Interested in other ways to create birdseed feeders?

Create your own toilet paper roll bird feeders and ice bird feeders.

Turkey Paper plate hat

Turkey Paper Plate Hat

This Friday, Baby Chuck (wait, should I call him Toddler Chuck since he's now older than one? Hmm...)

Back to what I was saying... this Friday our local library is holding a special Thanksgiving party for the babies and toddlers.  Last month they put together such a nice Halloween party, so we're really looking forward to seeing what surprises are in store.

I wanted to help contribute to the festivities.  After finding this great paper plate hat tutorial from Alphamom, I made a whole flock of turkey paper plate hats for the kids.

Note:  This was like the only good photo that we got of Baby Chuck wearing the hat.  It's a miracle that he sat still and din't rip it off.

Kitty Litter cake

You can eat this box of dirty kitty litter.  

No, I'm not kidding.  This isn't a real box of kitty waste; it's a cake.   This edible look-a-like is made from cake mix, instant pudding, cookies, and Tootsie rolls.  Whether you find this creation extremely creative, terribly gross, or both, it's sure to be a conversation starter at your next party.


Cake first spotted on the Edible Crafts blog and recipe originates from Amanda's cookin' blog

Missing...and then found

This lovely kitty went missing in Colorado five years ago and she recently turned up in Manhattan!  Can you believe it?

Oh the stories I could tell!

To read this story, click here

Visitors and Chuck Norris

Some family members drove zillions of miles to visit us this past weekend.  It was so nice seeing everyone and feeling so loved.  Hubby and I were also inundated with TONS of baby clothes and gear from other faraway family members and friends.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  We're now officially ready for Baby Chuck Norris's* arrival.  

(*This will be baby's nickname until he arrives.)

Below are some shots from the weekend 

(along with some humorous Chuck Norris facts):

When Chuck Norris crosses the street, the cars have to look both ways.

Chuck Norris doesn't need to swallow while eating food.

Some people get lucky and kill two birds with one stone. Chuck Norris once killed four birds with half a stone.

Mother Nature used to be the boss, until the day Chuck Norris was born.

Farming fantasies

I had a wonderful time seeing my college friends this past weekend.  We laughed, cried, and ate a whole lot.

This weekend I also fell in love...
with my friend's mom's gentleman's farm.  (Gosh, that's a lot of apostrophes.)

*Sigh*  So cute

One of their roosters and his harem of chickens   (I ate their eggs for brunch.  Delicious!)

A bunch of thyme growing in their herb garden

Be still my beating heart- it's a compost pile...

Even though hubby and I live in an apartment now, hopefully one day we'll own a plot of land and I'll get to live out some of my farming fantasies.  For now I'll practice growing plants on the deck...

So blue

Charlie stopped to sniff something on the ground during our morning walk:

What is this delicate blue object?

At first I thought it was a tiny dyed Easter egg.  But who would dare to dye such delicate eggs?  A quick internet search informed me that it was a robin's egg and that they're naturally this gorgeous shade of blue.  Hubby and I are now keeping our eyes open for a nearby nest.

Evolution of a bird feeder

As many of you already know from my "flighty visitors" post, we've recently put up a bird feeder.

Here, I hung the feeder on a random nail.

Worried that our birds didn't have enough space to stand, hubby created this contraption to encourage maximum feeding:

 

The "trapeze" feeder

Then, reading somewhere that bird feeders should be about 4 feet off the ground, hubby reworked the contraption to look like this:

The "damsel tied to the railroad tracks" feeder

Are we encouraging more birds to visit our feeder?   Unsure.
Do I smile at hubby's ingenuity?  You betcha.

Flighty Visitors

A couple days ago we had some unexpected guests.

Sadly, they didn't stay very long.  Hoping to attract more feathered friends, we put out some delicious treats.
    

Our bountiful bird buffet

Soon enough, our guests returned.  Unaccustomed to my presence, many took off before I could take their photos.  Here's one guest that wasn't quite so camera shy.

Is it me or is he posing?

Letter from a reader

I recently received a letter from one of my many squirrel readers.  It just made my day.  Here's what the letter said:

****************************************
Dear Ms. Pink Stripey Socks,

My wife and I thoroughly appreciated your "Treasure Map" post.  During this terrible recession we've struggled to take care of our large family.  With eight mouths to feed, we're constantly searching for food.  Your map has greatly helped us.  Now we hope to make it through this winter.

Thanks very kindly,
Mr. Harold T. Squirrel

PS:  I've included a picture of my youngest daughter Matilda enjoying a recent treasure map find.

Treasure map

To my squirrel readers:

Lately I've seen so many of you running around and hiding your nuts.  Will you even remember all your hiding places?  I hope so.  We're expecting a cold winter here in western Michigan, so you're going to need sustenance. Just in case you forget, I've doodled this map to help you out.

Love,
Pink Stripey Socks

PS:  Please don't come by my door asking for nuts.  I won't share my pistachios with you.  Really.  I mean it this time.