Category: Crafts (Page 9 of 9)

Silk Screening

I just got Mika (and Camila) the Alex Toys Silkscreen Factory, which I will review later after we have printed more items. We just did the bandana it came with, but we’ll have to buy other (cheap) items of clothing to silk screen.
In any case, as everyone who knows me knows, I can be quite dense for things related to arts and crafts and, really, how things work to begin with. So I have a question – Why do you need the silk for silk screening? Why not just paint directly on the fabric without the silk between the paint and fabric? If anyone knows, please e-mail me or comment.

Girlfitti Magna Style Jewelry Kit

Girlfitti Magna Style Jewelry KitMy mother got this jewelry kit for Mika and she just made a necklace for herself. This kit has a very original “clasp” that makes making jewelry both fun and easy for kids. You start by passing the included string through a plastic flower clasp, which closes and keeps the string secure. This way you can avoid making knots or having to use traditional clasps. The flower clasps are light purple and not very attractive, but you’d wear them behind your neck or under your wrist (if you make a bracelet) so that should be OK. What makes it cool is that you insert a magnet both at the beginning and end of the string, which then attract each other, making it easy to “close” the necklace. That way you don’t have to deal with a difficult clasp or have to make the necklace long enough to pass over your head. I wish they had the same system for adult jewelry.
The beads the set comes with are very pretty. There are metallic cylinders, white and lilac drops, bright pinkish and purplish flowers and other things. You are supposed to intercept magnetic beads every so often to make it easier to wrap your necklace around your wrist as a bracelet or make it look like a pendant. Mika didn’t do it on her first necklace, but she ended up with a gorgeous, gorgeous necklace that looks great on her (picture below).
Necklace made from Girlfitti Magna Style Jewelry Kit
Note: The metallic bead on the top right corner of the picture is the end of one of Mika’s braids, nothing to do with the necklace 🙂
One thing to keep in mind is that the kit comes with only 4 clasps – enough for 2 necklaces. Alas, we lost one of the clasps, so the necklace above is as much as we’ll make from this kit.

Mika’s first sewing project

A couple of days ago, Mika finished her first sewing project, a coin purse from the Alex Happily Ever Crafter Kit. She/we sewed it in a couple of sessions while waiting for Camila to get out of swimming class.
I have to say that she enjoyed it quite a bit. I did help her by threading the impossible needles (and dividing the thread into several strings so that they could be threaded in the first place) and tying knots. And I did sew one of the sides for her (after we did come to the conclusion that, despite the instructions, the sides had to be sewn if you wanted to put any coins inside) – but she did pretty much everything else herself, including sewing the buttons. Her stitches are still a bit big and not too straight, but so are mine 🙂
Anyway, this is her creation:
coinpurse.jpg

Alex Happily Ever Crafter Kit – Review

Alex Happily Ever Crafter KitAs I mentioned in my sewing post, yesterday I got the Alex Toys Happily Ever Crafter kit. I bought it from JoAnne, a fabric and craft store. I paid about $28 (including shipping), but now the lowest price you can find it for is $35 at Amazon. I’m still evaluating whether it’s worth $28 – though probably the answer is yes. I’m not so sure about $35.
The kit comes with enough material to do 9 projects:

  • 1 headband
  • 3 felt bracelets (felt + buttons & felt shapes to sew on it)
  • 1 coin purse (felt + ribbon & buttons to sew on it)
  • 1 bandana (it’s unclear to me what to do with the bandana)
  • 1 stuffed dog (dog-shaped felt + stuffing)
  • 1 room sign (felt rectangle + ribbons/felt letters/buttons)
  • 1 felt broach (simple butterfly wing shaped felt)
  • 1 sewing pouch
  • 1 embroidered cloth & hoop
  • “wool” for crocheting & plastic hook

In addition you get a variety of buttons, a few felt cut-out shapes, some little beads (no idea how you’d saw these ones), some metallic shapes (id.), two needles, a bunch of thread, a bunch of pins, a small pair of scissors, a pin cushion, a threader, a thimble and practice cloth. There is a booklet of instructions for the crocheting and embroidering, but not for the sewing – though there are instructions for each project. As we make the different projects, I’ll write about them. (keep looking!)

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