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Hand Made Toy Cars

I was inspired by Ayman Baalbaki’s installation at the Bluecoat in Liverpool called Destination X, it featured used cars in Lebanon, literally. It was meant to exemplify the universal experience of the migrant, and it was an old white car packed with a family’s belongings. The Bluecoat features family art projects on a Saturday that integrate the exhibit in some way. On one particular Saturday, they had kids colouring in cars and pasting images from shopping catalogues on the top. This is what gave me the idea to start making vintage cars of my own to give as gifts to friends of all ages. It uses a couple of very simple puppet making techniques but can give very polished results. To begin with you will need to create an armature of some sort, the easiest way to do this is to sculpt a car out of crumpled up newspaper and hold it together is masking tape. It will help to look at a car, either in life or in a picture as you do this. The main thing that is important is to get the under body sorted out so that you can fit wheels and axles. Now take some paste, and this can be either thinned down pva, wood glue, wheat paste or wall paper paste and coat thin strips of brown paper in it, mashing it up so it is so and glue soaked. Cover the armature in with small torn off pieces of the glue soaked paper, let it dry between layers, sand it and then paint!

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The gift for an inquisitive young mind

My nephew, Robbie, recently turned nine years old. Children grow up so quickly these days and before you know it they can have transformed themselves from a bright and bubbly boy or girl into a sullen teenager whose preferred modus operandi is sitting in glorious isolation listening to their ipods, sending semi literate text messages to equally morose friends or playing lous and violent computer games loudly and violently.
I knew that I had to get to Robbie while he is still receptive and show him how beautiful simple, traditional, well crafted items can be. He is doing very well at school and excels both in the classroom and on the sports field (an arena that unfortunately eluded me when I was small). I was looking for something that could be intellectually stimulating and visually beautiful but that would appeal to his competitive nature. I was lucky enough to find an exact match: a hand crafted, artisan made chess set.
I live near to a wonderful place called the Elsecar Heritage Centre. It contains a number of small work shops where skilled practitioners carry out their crafts as their forefathers did. You can buy beautiful rocking chairs or beds made to exact dimensions and specifications. Local artists sell their paintings, water colours and oils that depict the stunning beauty of the Yorkshire countryside. But the shop that I had in mind for Robbie was a veritable Aladdin’s cave for an inquisiteive young mind: it specialised in making traditional wooden toys.After walking him wide eyed through the shop I showed him his prize: a beautiful chess set, both the chess boards and chess pieces had been given exquisite attention to detail – the manes stood up on the horses neck of the knights and their nostrils flared as if in mid gallop. It was a thing of beauty, and a practical gift too and this is what we should always strive for when we choose a present for a young mind. We are teaching them that there is more to life than loud noises and that gifts don’t alwayshave to run on batteries to be wonderful!
Robbie loved his present. In fact last week he challenged me to a game. I had been captain of my school chess team and so felt confident. I will go easy on him I thought, and let him win! Well, I didn’t get the chance to go easy on him – his nine year old mind was too quick for me, he wiped the floor with me and soon had me in check mate! I am happy that I chose him such a memorable and well crafted present but next year I might just get him something noisy instead!

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Sweet tooth presents

Everyone has a bit of a sweet tooth; and that makes it easy to think of great home-made gifts for anyone! From boxes of fudge to the ever-popular cupcakes, personalized biscuits or even jars of preserves, there is no end to the possibilities you can create with a kitchen and bit of imagination!
I first discovered that I could make a mean lemon curd when I had a bunch of egg yolks left over after using the whites for a pavlova – another sweet speciality of mine, but not one you can really post to friends or family who live far away! I was just going to throw them away, rather than leave them congealing in a bowl, but had no idea what you could do with them. I had been browsing the web for the best conservatory prices, when I suddenly had a light bulb moment and hit the cookery sites looking for a lemon curd recipe. Sure enough; one jar of lemon curd needs exactly four egg yolks.
It’s such a simple thing to cook and you can do it in less than 15 minutes, so if you keep a few empty jars and some decorations handy, you can even make it as a last-minute present if you’ve forgotten a birthday or someone in the office gets you an unexpected Christmas gift. There’s not many foodie presents you can say that about. The ingredients are so simple too; just those pesky egg yolks, a bit of caster sugar and a whole heap of lemon juice. All stuff that most enthusiastic amateur chefs will have in their kitchen cupboards. Make up your own label to give it the personal touch and gift your uncle; a delicious gift that tastes all the better because it was made by your own fair hands!

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Handmade Printed Cards

I know what that title might make you think: “But I was rubbish at art! That sounds like far too much hassle!” But relax a minute, this tried and trusted idea is easy to do and loads of fun too! And it doesn’t have to look anywhere near as perfect as those custom signs you see with all the lettering in the exact place. The beauty of handmade is that you can tell a real person did it, not a machine.

Step 1) you need to cut up a cereal packet and stick two pieces of cardboard together to make a more rigid piece.

Step 2) now you’ve done that, think about the design you want on your card. Once you’ve got something relatively simple, cut out more cardboard in the shape of whatever you like – the thicker the better – (say, a Christmas tree) and stick this to the flat piece with strong glue such as PVA.

Step 3) Get the flat piece of card you are going to fold in half to make your card, and some paint. Cover the raised parts with the paint.

Step 4) print! Remember to press nice and hard to make a good impression.

Once you’ve done that leave it to dry then run a pair of scissors down the middle where you want the fold to be. It’s that easy to make a handmade card, and don’t worry about the imperfections: that’s what makes it look like you really tried hard!

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Special Home Made Gift Ideas for Your Boyfriend

With Valentine’s Day just round the corner, it is time you wear your creative hat and come up with unique gift ideas for your boyfriend. Gone are the days of flowers and chocolates, you also do not have to spend a large amount of money to get that perfect gift for that someone special. All you need is a lot of love and little bit of thinking to come up with a special gift that would instantly put a smile on the face of your lover.

Here are some simple ideas that you could use:

· Create a scrapbook:- How about gifting your boyfriend all your special memories by preparing a scrapbook. All you need is some ribbons, glues, decorative material, professional scissors and lots of small yet meaningful souvenirs and your snaps. Stick your photographs, paste mementos and write down cute phrases that hold a special message for both of you in the scrapbook. Your boyfriend will surely enjoy going through this scrapbook as much as you enjoyed making it.

· Coupons:- Does your boyfriend love a good backrub at the end of the hectic day or is he always asking you to bake his special pizza, well you can make use of your artistic skills and gift him with a coupon book. Take your laptop and list down all the activities which he enjoy and take a printout. Now cut each of these activities carefully using scissors and create a special coupon book that could be used by your boyfriend whenever his heart desires.

· Bake cookies and cake:- The charm of homemade cake and cookies would never be lost. Call up his mom and ask for her special recipe. Give your man the surprise of his life by baking his favourite dishes. Remember a man’s heart is always through his stomach.

Try out these unique homemade gifts to make your Valentine’s Day special. And if you still have money to spare why not treat them with a unique trip to the Antartic.

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New York City’s Best Crafts Stores

New York City has some of the best craft stores in the country. These stores house everything from flowers, toys, jewelry, framing, gadgets, tin boxes, and other accessories. If you have the extra time to indulge your creative passions, check out the stores below to get some of the best craft components around.

Pearl Paint Company

Located in a six-story building along Canal Street, the Pearl Paint Company offers a wide array of art supplies such as paints and brushes. Teachers and art students get a discount so make sure to bring your ID.

Paper Presentation

The Paper Presentation is located close to Union Square, Chelsea, and Flat Iron. For those into scrapbooking, this is the place to find all of he supplies needed including papers, tags, scrapbooks, and stationeries.

Knitty City

This is a small store dedicated to all things knitting. This family-owned store features a large assortment of various yarns and needles needed for your project. The store also offers knitting classes and books to get the most out of the experience.

P & S Fabrics Corp.

Patterns, fabrics, yarns, and accessories fill the racks at this establishment located near Chinatown. The P & S Fabrics Corp has everything you need for knitting, sewing, and crocheting. The family who runs the place will answer any question you may have about this craft.

Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co.

You are creating the most epic battle in the history of mankind. All the pieces are in place but you’re missing one key component: the superhero. The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. can meet that need. The store also sells gadgets, capes, and other accessories to fight crime. A non-profit runs the store and encourages kids to get involved with creative writing. This is a must see place for anyone visiting New York City.

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Self Esteem

I’m thinking of starting a new business: Self Esteem Coaching London. I’ve no idea if it already exists or not; I’m taking a chance on the knowledge that I will be absolutely brilliant at giving people the self esteem they need to power through life in the capital city. Many things can make somebody deficient in the self-esteem department. Appearance, weight, childhood issues and indeed any sort of trauma can hold a person back dramatically. Others seem to be born with a shy disposition and are not naturally confident or outgoing but more introverted – this is fine but there are times when confidence is necessary, such as when giving a presentation or taking a driving test. Those who possess self-esteem and confidence innately are few and far between – many are full of bravado , which is a different kettle of fish entirely. What is the difference between self-esteem and confidence? Basically, self-esteem is the true opinion that one holds of oneself, deep down inside, and that can often manifest in the way we act. Confidence is much more easily achieved than self-esteem. For example, many celebrities come across as being extremely confident when in front of the camera, almost in fact as though they have nerves of steel – take Kerry Katona for instance. Once a member of a successful girl band dancing and singing in front of live audiences, then the winner of one of our most popular live television shows? Surely this is a girl with amazing confidence. Well, in a way, yes. She can be extremely confident. But what she almost definitely lacks is self-esteem. The number of documentaries, articles and features about her private life is off the scale. She clearly needs self-esteem in a big way, so hopefully I will be able to provide it!

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Running Your Own Crafts Business

Have you ever thought of starting a crafts business from home? Homemade crafts have become very popular because people would like something different and unique. Some great ideas on using your creativeness and interests and turning them into a money making home based craft business are below.

Can you be sure your craft will market? Poke around and find out. Find out what the most selling crafts are online or in local stores and see which ones that sell the most. Visit nearby craft stores to see which crafts have been in demand. Go to nearby craft fairs as well as research which craft displays are producing the most inspiration.

One particular popular crafts business is homemade candles. Consider that nearly 85% of US families use candles plus they are crafts that clients keep buying and you will recognize that there is a particular demand for this type of craft. Making candles is a blast and there are unlimited suggestions for making your candle lights special.

Homemade cards are another idea for a craft business. There are over 7 million of these type of cards sold each year. Handmade cards are unique and can be made to fit any type of occasion.

Homemade soap is another money making craft business. It’s simple and affordable to create homemade soaps and you will have a blast creating stunning soaps and cardboard packaging them up. The interest in handmade soap keeps growing all the time as individuals see the benefits of these chemical free and natural products.

Craft fairs are the ideal idea to start selling your crafts. Find a local craft fair or and farmers market and rent a new stand to sell your masterpieces. Visit community gift stores and ask if you can sell your crafts on consignment. You can even have a house party to sell your gifts and have fun while packaging them for your friends.

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