Day 6 - Make up a dance routine

I went to London today with Mr Pom Poms today as he had an interview down there. I went to keep him company and sing silly songs to keep him awake. He is now asleep on the couch as I write this after a long day driving. He did OK in his interview so fingers crossed!

While he was at his interview I waited in the car thinking of all the crafty things to do in my blog! This entry wont be the most exciting as my whole day was full travelling so for that I am sorry.

I am in a little group called the Crafty Chicks and its full of ladies as mad and fun as me. I am known for many things (mainly silly things) but one of them is my dancing. I love to do little dances when I'm happy. It doesn't take alot to keep me entertained! As I am always saying I am dancing, I was asked to do a tutorial for "The Sally Dance" so this is what I did while I waited in the car in a creepy car park like something from a horror story!

I had great fun drawing this and even had to act the moves to be able to draw it. I just hope none of the other drivers saw me haha! This is the only crafty thing I did today but had to share it! 

Make up your own dance routine to your favourite song and draw it so you remember it. All you need is a pen and your body! Happy Dancing!! Go on..... have a go! Wiggle that bottom!

Day 5 - Howdy Hangers

We have made loads of these today! All different types shapes and sizes! The weather has been awful so we decided to get stuck in and make something easy and fun! 

I found a pack of straws so I decided to make good use of them. This is the perfect thing to do on a rainy day and the kids love it! 

As she has an obsession with toy story, we made cowboys and cowgirls to hang on her door, on her cupboard doors, on her drawers and anywhere else they would go!

To make your own howdy hanger cowgirl you will need:

Card to make the body

String

Glue and Sticky Tape

Colouring Pencils/Pens/Paint depending how messy you want to be

Scissors

The first step is to design your cowgirl/cowboy. Draw the head and the body, then draw the hands and boots separate as these are going to be separate from the body later. If you don't have time to draw your own, here is a template for you to print and cut out. If you want her bigger, just enlarge it to size and print it off.

 

When you have designed it, colour it in and design them however you want! You can colour it or paint it, go with the flow. I had great fun designing mine shown on the left.

 

Then cut out your character carefully so you are left with something like this. 

 

When she is all cut out, turn her over. Put her to one side and cut a straw into 2 pieces. One to go across her shoulders and one to go at her waist like the picture to the left. Secure them with sticky tape as glue will take too long to set. 

 

Then cut one piece of string long enough to go through the top tube and also to fit hands on the end of the string "arms". Pass the string through and sticky tape/glue one hand on one end and one hand on the other. Then cut another Piece of string to go through the waist line tube and leave enough string for legs and to attach the boots on the end. Once you have passed the string through, stick on the boots. Then cut a small piece of sting and make a loop and fasten in to place at the top to make your hanger! 

Once its dry, hang it where you want! Don't stop at cowgirls and cowboys, make a whole load of different ones. Make Indians to go with them. Why not make an army soldier, A Builder, A Biker, and a Policeman and have the whole Village People! Have fun! We did!! 

Day 4 - Pom Pom Making

Well its now day for of my 365 A Craft A Day The Bronny Way challenge and all I have been able to do today was make pom poms! As some of you may know, I run a little facebook page called Bronny Pom Poms and with each order, I attach a little pom pom to the bag. So I have made about 50 of these today. Once you get into the swing of making them they are easy peasy!

To make your own little pom poms you will need:
Wool of your colour choice (To make one the size I do, I use 2 lengths of my arms held outwards from finger to finger)
A piece of wool to tie it with
Scissors
2 Cardboard Circles or a Pom Pom Plastic Pom Pom Maker (You can get these on eBay)




I am going to try and explain how to make them as simple as I can but I apologise in advance if I waffle.  First cut out your 2 cardboard circles if you don't have a plastic pom pom make. To do this, draw around a circular object which will be the size of your pom pom. Then draw a smaller circle inside this. Cut it out so it looks like the yellow donut circles above. Cut your wool. I pull the wool out til I get my arms length and then double it. This is to give it a manageable length. Double it over again and tie a knot in the end. This is to make it easier and not pulling though too many strands.

Place the two circles together (if you have the plastic ones, make sure the grooves are on the inside). With the knot end, place it on the circles and wrap it round on one side, then wrap it round on the other side of the strand (see picture to the right).

Keep wrapping the wool round over and over again making sure you keep it tight. If you don't keep it tight the pom pom will fall apart. When you come to the end of your wool tuck it in the previous loop to make sure it doesn't unravel. (see pic to the left)




Start again with another piece of wool and do the same as the previous piece. Keep doing these steps til the ring is completely covered in wool. Trim off any parts that are sticking out and it will look something like the picture to the right.




Make sure you have the piece of wool to tie the pom pom up with to hand before you do the next step. Take the scissors and snip through the middle of your 2 circles at the same time as holding on to the middle of the ring. If you let go of the ring then all the wool will come out. Snip carefully and take your time. See pic to the left to see what I am trying to explain.





When you have finished cutting all the way around, still holding onto the middle you should have something that looks like this on the right.





Next get your piece of wool to tie it up with, place it in between the two circles and very carefully, tie a knot. The knot has to be ties tightly to keep it all in but not too tight that it snaps. This has happened a few times to me and involves a few bad words when it does happen.... It will look like this on the left.




Once you have tied it, you can now take the circles off the wool by sliding it off like the photo to the right. This turns it into a pretty pom pom!!






When it comes out of the circles it looks a little flat, just ruffle it up and there you have your perfect pom pom like this on the left!!







Now you know how to make them, why not do them with different colours, bigger sizes or even cut them into different shapes? I have made hearts and alsorts by carefully snipping them after the pom pom is made. I have even made a strawberry!! Add it to your handbag, keys or anything laying around to snazz it up a bit! Go on, experiment and have a go!!

Day 3 - Hot Water Bottle Cover

Pinched this image from google :(

Before I start this blog I have to apologise. I ha vent made this today as I have been so busy completing orders on my crayons (check out www.facebook.com/bronnypompoms or www.etsy.com/shops/bronnypompoms if you want to see hehe) and designing my new colouring book! So here is something I made for my Mum at Christmas and thought it would be perfect to share! 

I promise tomorrows craft a day will be amazing! :)

This little water bottle cover project is a simple project that will take less than an hour. It will also make the perfect present!

You Will Need:

       Old jumper

       Hot water bottle

       Ribbon

       Scissors

       Sewing machine or Wonder web

       Material to make the flowers

       Needle and thread

       Pen

Turn your jumper inside out and draw the outline of the water bottle's bottom and sides on it. If the jumper has an elasticated bottom, use this as the top of the outline. Draw the two sides a few centimetres higher and then draw a straight line across. This will give a shape like an upside-down tombstone.

Sew, or use Wonder web with an iron, around the bottom and two sides of the outline.

To create a piped edge, turn the jumper inside out again so that it is the right side up. Stitch 1cm inside the outline for the bottom and two sides. (You can use Wonder web to do this too.)

If you want to decorate the cover, you can use ribbon, scraps of material, felt, or whatever you choose. I made little petals: cut out between five and seven petal shapes from a scrap of material. Pinch the bottom of a petal together and insert a needle with thread a few millimetres from the bottom of the pinched petal, as if creating a necklace with petals hanging off. Do this for each petal. Once all the petals are on the thread, pull the cotton together very tightly to form a flower. Use a decent length of thread so you can then stitch the flower to the water bottle cover.

Cut a long strip from your scrap material. You can use this to tie a bow around the top of your water bottle cover.

Make sure you use a thick jumper for your cover, and follow all safety advice about filling hot water bottles.

Day 2 - Mosaic Madness

Create your very own masterpiece with a fantastic and colourful mosaic! 

Follow my steps below to make this bright and colourful paper fish which will look amazing in a frame when finished! The more colourful the better! Let your imagination SWIM wild!

I had so many old magazines laying around, I just had to get rid of them. But I had to make use of them first and do a bit of upcycling!

For this craft you will need:

Old or new magazines to cut up so dont use someone elses!

Scissors

Glue (PVA or Pritt Stick)

Coloured card

Pencil or pen

First step is to get your old magazines or newspapers and cut out lots of little squares about the size of a quarter of a stamp. You can do lots of different colours and sizes like I have and sort them into piles.

Next, grab a coloured piece of card. This will be your background. With a pencil and patience, draw the outline of your fish.

When you are happy with your outline, lay out the coloured squares to see how it will look. When you are happy with your design, stick down your coloured pieces of paper with Pritt Stick or PVA glue onto the body of your fish, making sure that you use similar colours in individual areas. Do not overlap any squares to make it look like a mosaic.

 When you have finished with the body and tail, allow the glue to dry. Meanwhile, with black card or any other coloured card, cut out shapes matching the fish’s face and fins. Stick these in place as shown and wait for it to dry.

Once dry, with a silver pen, draw in the fish’s eyes and any detail you want to put on the fins.You can also do this with cut outs from your magazine.

Frame this beauty on your wall for all to admire!

I had great fun doing this and was a little bit messy as I tipped the entire lot of cut outs on the floor. I am a very clumsy person if you hadn't already guessed! So top tip would be to put your coloured magazine cut outs in a big sorting pot or tray. 

You dont have to stop at a fish either! Why not make a whole aquarium of fish, a monkey, a jungle scene or be brave and do a person!! I would love to see yours!! Go on..... get creative!!!!!! 

Day 1 - Glass Jar Beeswax Candles

So here I go with my first Craft A Day, The Bronny Way! I didn't have a clue what to start with so hope you all enjoy it and the escapade with the food colouring.

I have a tendency to collect and hoard crafty things with the thought that I am bound to use it one day! Well I collected small glass jars with the intention of filling them with pretty bright buttons. I never got round to filling them so I have made use of some of them today. I give you..... the Glass Jar Beeswax Candles!

They smell absolutely Divine as beeswax has a natural sweet aroma. They will also make the perfect little gift if you want to try your hand at handmade! 

For this project you will need:

• Glass jars (I used the small ones you get from chicken spread) and their lids
• Beeswax or any other candle way you would like to use (you could even use boring plain tea lights))
• Candle Wick (I get mine on eBay)
• A sterilised tin can (to melt the wax)
• Something to keep the wick in place - I use a kebab skewer snapped in half and then tape the end.
• Things to decorate your candles with including ribbon, glue and paint.

The first thing to do is make sure that all of your jars are clean and glue free. It took me ages to get the glue off as I didn't have a scourer so if you have one of those it will make your job ten times easier. I used the back of a dinner knife to scrape it all off after a soak in hot water.

While the jars are drying, put the beeswax (or other wax) into the sterilised tin. Pour a glass of water into the saucepan (or more if needed) and place the tin of wax into the water. This is to melt the wax without letting any water in. It's just like melting chocolate! Leave to simmer and melt.

Next you need to prepare the wick. I cheated and used the wick from a candle making set and twisted it onto a bigger piece of wick but you can buy longer wicks with a metal flat end. Dip the end of the metal plate in the melting wax just to cover the bottom. Straight away, place this in the middle of your jar and secure the 2 sticks/snapped skewer in place. I just rest mine on top like the picture on the left. Make sure it sticks in place.

Has a green hue on my camera

When the wax has fully melted, pour slowly into the jar being careful not to spill any or get any on the rim of the jar. You don't want a messy candle ha ha. Fill it just below the screw on lid bit like the photo on the right. Leave to cool and set. Sometimes a small hole will form on the top, just smooth this over with your finger and it will look perfect! 

I decided that it would be amazing to turn the wax a different colour to make different coloured candles. What ever you do, DO NOT use food colouring like I did!! I put some in to the melting wax and it curdled and spat and made very strange spluttering noises!! A bit like a mild volcano! Trying to get the disaster averted, I knocked over another candle that was cooling and went on the floor! That was fun trying to get off the tiles! So take my advice and steer clear of the food colouring! I realise now that it was because it was wax mixed with water which doesn't mix at all...... 

Now comes the fun bit!!! Decorating your candle! I just grabbed the first things I saw to decorate mine and I couldn't find the hot glue gun (as its buried in my massive craft stash.... oops) so the items aren't on as secure as I would have liked. So use your imagination and make them pretty!! I used stickers, little wooden ladybirds, ribbon, butterflies and lace to do mine. Get creative!

Pop the lids on to keep them yummy!

I also painted the outside of 2 other jars (the pink and white ones in the photos) and I will just put tea lights in these. However I didn't really think about it and the tea lights don't fit!!! So make sure they fit in the jar before you paint something. Leave to dry and then with a candle inside, it will shine a lovely warm colour. Match it to the decor in your living room or bedroom.

Why not bend an old coat hanger or some craft wire and twist it round the screw on bit and make a little handle to hang in your garden? Use your imagination and go wild! I would love to see yours when you are finished! I hope you have enjoyed reading this...... go on..... go and have a go!!

Hi Everyone! I thought I would introduce myself on my first ever blog post!

I am the mad lady from Bronny Pom Poms who is known for making creative crayons and The Window Sill Adventures. I will attach links at the bottom to other places you can find me. I love to brighten up someones day and try to make things as fun as I can!

I aim to make or do something arty crafty each day of the year to keep my crafty obsession going and to share my strange imagination with you all! So you will have to put up with me for 365 days!!

I will be doing a whole lot of arty crafty things which have been in my head for years, things that inspire me, taking snazzy photographs, drawings, puzzles and just anything creative. 

I will show you photos of what I have made which will probably include some silly ones on the way too as I just cant help myself! I will give tutorials of my makes where I can, with hints and tips thrown in for good measure.

I will hopefully make a book at the end of this and will also use some in a port folio! Please spread the word and lets get everyone doing A Craft A Day The Bronny Way!

If there is something you would love to see me make then please share your ideas! I would love to see your version of what I make too!! Happy Crafting!

The Crayon Men Planted Flowers Yesterday in Hand Decorated Flower Pots!

 

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