This just in: My mom is really crafty.

If you ever wondered where my penchant for crafty things came from, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. My mom has always been really good at coming up with creations with just what she has on hand! Nowadays she works in an environment where being crafty is really handy–a children’s daycare center! Whether it’s a model of the solar system or a flurry of adorable bee mobiles, my mom’s capability to pull ideas out of thin air and then see them to completion is something she’s always been good at. I mean…this is the woman who made me a strawberry costume for a parade when I was in the first grade.

Today I helped her out by finishing a project she started wherein she’s turned the fronts and backs of cereal boxes into puzzle pieces for her small students. (Well, one of them was also a Cheez-It box, bot you get the general idea.) Behold!

(Side note: I think I like this gallery view setting better than the slideshow setting.)

As you can see, it’s a fairly straightforward process. I believe my mom found a tutorial that gave her the idea. I’ll ask her if she still has the link saved and post it. If not, I’d be more than happy to throw together a quick tutorial myself using either a cereal box or even photographs!

To preserve them (because in a room full of energetic toddlers, nothing survives very long), she’ll have them laminated and then they’ll be ready for kids to play with! Simple, quick to make, and fun. I think this project gets nothing less than an A+!

Teamwork at its finest.

Cross-posted from the entry I left on The Crane Game:

I’m part of the university’s Asian culture/anime club, without whom I might not have actually re-learned how to fold paper cranes (and, thus, not have started The Crane Game in the first place). We’d kicked around the idea for a while of building a giant crane out of recycled paper squares for a while, but last Thursday we finally jumped into action and did it. I got the idea to film it on my cell phone (yay, Blackberries!) so that I could show Patricia (our president) what we were up to, because she was at home terribly sick. The voice you hear sort of narrating the whole thing is mine.

I have a feeling this attempt is only the start of something bigger.

Recycling: Not just for hippies! Arts and crafts: Not just for kids!

“That could be good for something later!” Sound familiar?

I like saving stuff that has the potential to be used for something later. Some people call that being a pack rat. I call that thinking ahead. Granted, I do know when it becomes time to prune and toss out some of the stuff that isn’t getting used, but I was definitely one of those kids who picked up on the mantra of recycling all the grownups were pressing into our squishy elementary school minds.

And it wasn’t just about recycling; it was about recycling through arts and crafts! Think about all the egg carton flowerpots and soda bottle terrariums. For Christmas one year, I learned how a wire and one or two plastic bags could equal a handmade wreath. (It’s really quite a lot of fun, and if you’ve got spray paint, even more win!) Old newspaper has a million in one uses. Chances are you have had at least one hat made out of newspaper in your life, and who here doesn’t at least resort to using old newspaper to cover their worktable during crafting time?

Recently, I’d started saving the glass Starbucks Frappuccino bottles. For those who aren’t up to date on their coffee, the bottles look like this:

Their size and shape makes them very wonderful for doing all sorts of crafty things with them, and the durability of the glass means that as long as you’re not dropping them on hard surfaces from high places, you don’t have to worry too much about them cracking or shattering (unless that’s what you’re looking for). The last time I’d two bottles, it was to make a pair of container candles for a friend’s Christmas package. Yes, they were coffee-scented, although I misjudged the amount of brown dye to use initially and wound up with mostly green candles and some brown at the top. (Lucky for me, green is her favorite color.)

I guess I meant to do the same with these new bottles, and considering this semester has been very hectic and I love coffee, I was drinking a lot of these coffees. At one point, this is what my shelf looked like, post-cleaning and removing the labels:

Yes, that is the shelf of my dorm bathroom. Lucky me, that I have a very understanding roommate.

Apparently my itch to craft could not wait until I was home with my candle maker, however, because what resulted was this:

Amazing what inspiration will toss your way, no? I’ve done several others in this fashion in the following colors: blue, gold/green, and pink with black and silver hearts. (That is to say, I drew each black and silver heart, which is the most mind-numbing thing I have done of late–and I took a math class this semester!) The red and blue I’ve sold to friends, but the rest will soon be appearing on the Etsy store. I’ll be sure to let you know when. I’m also planning to draft up a tutorial for anyone interested in learning how I do it. I promise, it’s really easy!

To close, I’d like to offer up this link to another DIY project involving Starbucks Frapp bottles, found while Googling the image of the Mocha-flavored one above. It’s direct from Maize Hutton.com by way of the Spearmint Baby blog: Starbucks Frappuccino Vases.