Baba's own room!

You know how I mentioned before that September was a bit of a nightmare month with loads to do? Well, this is the main reason why... getting the wee baba's room ready in time for his first Birthday! And here it is; it could well be a catalogue picture for Ikea because every thing in here is from there apart from the cot!

The main problem was finding a home for everything that was in there before. Since we moved into our new flat nearly 6 months ago now, this room had been used for keeping all the unpacked boxes, decorating stuff, and buggy etc. And somewhere amongst it all if you took 2 steps forwards, 2 steps to the right and then forward again, you would find my little crafty corner. No, I didn't take any before photos though I should have just so you could see the difference!

But it's great the wee man has got his own space in the house now, which is a good job judging by the amount of toys he has. We've barred the entrance as well so now it's easier to sneak off and go to the toilet/put tea on without the little pest getting up to some sort of mischief! And have to admit; Bob and I have been having a bit of fun in the room ourselves as you can see!

Caelanzilla's Monster Birthday Bash

This weekend our little monster turned one! Can't believe a year has passed already, I don't know where the time has gone! I managed to pick up this little monster suit on Ebay for a couple of quid and it gave me the great idea to do a monster themed party!

I have been really busy for the last month so I didn't have any time to start organising anything until a week ago. After doing some research online, I came up with a master (monster) plan! If you fancy doing a monster themed party yourself, I highly recommend checking out Pinterest for some great ideas! Last week we had a little crafty session where we made some monster decorations, mainly monster feet made out of craft foam by my friend Lydia and a milk jug monster (which I nicknamed Chickenzilla) for which to keep sweets in! I found a great tutorial to make a milk jug monster here.

The next step was to make the Monstrous buffet. It was quite handy the wee man's Birthday being end of September as all the Halloween goodies are out in the shops. So loads of things like gummy eyeballs and body parts sweets etc. We had food such as cocktail sausages (monster toes), candy floss (monster fur) and jelly with body part sweets (monster goo). We even had monster punch which was made up of fruit juices & green food colouring and contained lychees (eyeballs) and a monster hand which was made from putting peach juice in a latex glove and freezing it overnight!

Last but not least there was the monster cake. I am going to put up a separate post detailing how I made that but have to say I'm quite proud of my first Birthday cake attempt.

So the day was a great success. We just invited close friends and family so it wasn't too overcrowded in our flat and everyone brought Caelan great presents. We were totally exhausted by the end of the day, although not too put off the idea of hosting a Pirate themed party next year. I will leave you with a picture of mummy monster, daddy monster and baby monster Caelanzilla!

The quest for greater order

I've not posted for a few weeks now but been having a mad, crazy month! Most of which I shall blog about in the near future. Although I am afraid to say it's not all been good creative fun!  Dull, frustrating tasks such as clearing out the spare room (dumping ground) of crap! Mainly unpacked boxes, decorating stuff, prams and many other items that we can't find a home for into storage and to the skip have been taking precedence lately. After we get through this annoying part then we shall have an empty blank canvas room with which to get our son's bedroom ready in time for his 1st Birthday... in just under 2 weeks now, yikes!

Seems like we're just getting through things in little fairy steps right now. But at least things are getting there slowly but surely. While I was going through things today I found a plastic tool carrier box I had bought out of Home Bargains for a few quid. Originally intending to store beads and the like when I bought it; I thought of a much better use for it today...

I turned it into an organiser for all my fimo, yaaaay! There's a little section for each of my colours and types, a section for all my cutters and there's even a compartment bit that holds all my tools! And best of all; it's all in a case that I can carry about and I can easily find and access what I am needing at the time! You probably think I'm totally sad for getting all excited about this! But I kept thinking about when I was wee and used to love fimo but had hardly any of it, not enough to get really creative, and certainly no tools to use with it anyway. Imagine how I would have felt if I'd have known that one day as an adult (well supposed adult) I'd have all this fimo to play with! I would have been completely over the moon! That's probably why it's so good seeing all my fimo organised and in one place! And here's too many more fimo endeavours... well after the wee monster's lair is sorted out of course, hehe!

The Prometheus Party & the Giant Alien Eggs!!!

In June of this year my friend Lydia was ever so excited about the launch of the new Alien movie: Prometheus. So excited in fact that she decided to throw a Prometheus party where we all went to the cinema to see the movie and then back to hers afterwards for some drinks, face huggers and more alien movies! Well the film turned out to be a bit of a disappointment; in my opinion anyway. I have found a good Prometheus review here if you want to take a look but be warned it contains a lot of spoilers if you have not yet seen the movie. But even though the film wasn't the best, the after-party was a great success thanks to Lydia being an excellent host and some pretty cool props! Here are some photos from the night...

Here you can see the giant aliens that we made with the face hugger coming out of them, not forgetting of course the Weyland-Yutani Corporation tape! And on the right a pitcher of Lydia's 'acid for blood' cocktail!

In this post I am going to show you how we made the alien eggs, which took quite a few sessions over a few weeks but it was definitely worth it as they looked great on the night! If you remember back in May I posted a tutorial about how to make a Strawberry Pinata. This is quite similar except on a larger scale. Please note that this tutorial is very time consuming and needs done over a number of different days, particularly because you have to allow time for the papier mache and the paint to dry out.

WHAT YOU NEED

• Extra Large Balloons
• Plenty of old newspaper
• PVA glue
• Old paintbrushes
• Toilet roll
• Thick card
• Masking Tape
• Scissors
• Acrylic Paints

METHOD

STEP 1

Please note that this tutorial shows you how to make 2 Alien eggs; one opened and one closed. As with the Strawberry pinata, mix up PVA glue with lukewarm water (half and half) to make a smooth paste then use this to coat the balloons with a few layers of newspaper strips. Remember to leave a gap at the top of one of them to make an opening with!

 I would advise coating the eggs with quite a few layers of newspaper then leaving at least 48 hours in a warm ventilated area to dry out. If after this your eggs still don't seem sturdy enough then repeat Step 1 again. You don't want to cause yourself problems further down the line!

STEP 2

Now to pop the balloons and make the lips! I used thick card to make flaps for the open egg and rolled up newspaper to make the lips for the closed one but you could experiment with different things. Secure everything down with masking tape.

Then cover everything with another layer of papier mache to smooth it all out and give it more strength. You will probably need to give it at least another 24 hours to dry out again.

STEP 3

Now to add some texture! We made giant 'plooks' out of bits of scrunched up toilet roll which we then dipped in the papier mache paste and stuck all over the outside of the eggs. You could add veins instead or as well as, don't be afraid to experiment. Leave to dry out again for another 24 hours!

STEP 4

Now for the fun stuff; to get messy with the paint! We mixed up browns and greens for that more yucky appeal. By this stage we were getting behind time so we roped my boyfriend Bob in to help ... and a wee cheeky glass of wine too!

STEP 5

The finishing touches. Finally we added some pink fleshy colour for the inside of the lips on our open egg and then went over it later with some white paint to make some realistic looking veins.... yuck!

Now all that is left to do is add some 'acid for blood' cocktails and a face hugger and you've got yourself an alien-themed party as our friend Zoe here demonstrates. 

On the whole making the alien eggs was great fun and it even made me consider what it would be like to get a job in the movie industry making props. Although I could imagine that after having made hundreds of them alongside HR Giger in the original alien movies would be a hard slog! So with that in mind I think I will continue to carry along my experiMENTAL creative journey, lol! Please check back again soon for more tutorials and news. Faerie love and sparkles, Nomi xxx

Back to the 80s

As most of you from up my way will know Rewind festival returns to Scone Palace in Scotland this coming weekend; a music festival celebrating all things 80s! I'm not going myself unfortunately; no festivals for me this year being a new mum, boo hoo hoo! But that doesn't mean I couldn't have a wee retro 80s extravaganza of my own... with my polymer clay that is, hehe!

I had some miniature working rubiks cubes and some retro sweeties left over from a previous project, so this combined with new handmade smiley faces, pacman and mario charms made for some fun new jewellery designs. I'm going to be putting these designs up on my Facebook page at cheap introductory prices for this week only. So if you fancy joining in on the fun or you want to get yourself all retro-ed up because your going to Rewind Festival this weekend (you lucky people) then come check out my page.

Under the Sea Mobile

I just realised with all the mayhem going on in the last few months of moving house etc. that I never blogged about the mobile that I made for Caelan. So here goes...
From a young age, even as young as a few weeks I noticed that the baba seemed to like sea creatures. He liked pictures of them in books, loved his seahorse night light and loved his rattle whale toy. So with this in mind I had decided to make him an under the sea themed mobile.

I used the frame of an old mobile I didn't want to use and made my own little creatures out of felt; a whale and seahorse obviously, but also a jellyfish, turtle and starfish. This was only my first mobile attempt so I think my sewing is pretty messy but I think I have improved a lot since then! I'm working on a couple of new mobiles which I hope to get up in my shop soon. They just take ages to make so I will not be making very many of them any time soon!

Even now the wee man still loves his mobile so I think the sea theme was a good choice. Every time I put him in his cot at night, he always looks at his mobile and smiles. He especially likes the whale. I may have a little marine biologist in the making!

My Magical 30th Birthday Bash

I've just had an amazing Birthday weekend thanks to my friends and family! On Saturday I hit the big 3-0! I had a fancy dress party on the Friday night at Braes Below in Dundee so I actually partied into my Birthday this year. It was a great fun & lots of people made the effort and got dressed up! I also performed a few songs for everyone with Bob and Andy which was cool. My mate Lydia baked me an amazing faerie castle cake ( see picture), it was just perfect I wanted to shrink myself and go live in it!!!

I got some great prezzies from everyone including lots of fimo, a flying lesson from my partner Bob and an amazing Gnome Pot head made by my good friend Strawberry Anarchy.
She also made me a really cool Pinata which I ended up totally smashing up into smithereens back at the flat! It was great fun for getting rid of all that pent up anger from my twenties and of course getting all the sweet treas, beads and stickers out of it, haha!
Everyone keeps asking if I feel older but I don't feel any different and I'm now looking forward to another decade of more faerie-tastic adventures and madness so watch this space for more cheeky updates! Hooble toodle doo for the noo!!!

STRAWBERRY PINATA

The sun has got his hat on and he's coming out to play.... the season of BBQs & outdoor parties is finally here. So why not make a strawberry pinata to complement your outdoor festivities. Great fun for all ages! Here's one I made for my friend Strawberry Anarchy's Birthday bash last year... 

The cheapest I could find a strawberry pinata for online was £15 whereas this pinata cost basically nothing to make! Plus the best thing about making your own pinata is you can put anything you want inside it! Read on for instructions on how to make your own from home...

WHAT YOU NEED

• Balloon
• An old newspaper
• Crepe paper - green, red & white (I got mine in a reduced Christmas craft pack from The Works)
• Toilet roll tube
• Wire for hanging the pinata
• PVA glue & spreader
• Masking tape
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Goodies to put in your pinata

METHOD

STEP 1

Mix some PVA glue with water (about half and half) to make a thin paste. Rip an old newspaper into strips then paste them onto a balloon. Keep doing this until the balloon is completely covered but leave a small gap at the top of the balloon, big enough to fit your hand into. I would advise doing a couple of layers around the balloon - you don't want your pinata to break too easily! 

Leave balloon at least 24 hours to dry out, I left mine for 48 hours just to be sure. When you are sure it is completely dried out then use a pin to pop the balloon. If you feel that your balloon is not strong enough then now is the time to repeat step 1 again!

STEP 2

Take a roll of red crepe paper then cut slats into about an inch apart. Using the PVA glue apply the crepe paper in layers starting from the bottom. Have each layer overlapping as well so that none of the newspaper shows through.

STEP 3

When your red crepe paper layer is drying make some seeds by ripping off small amounts of white crepe paper and scrunching them into balls. Then stick them on your strawberry using the PVA glue.

STEP 4

Now for the fun part... filling your pinata full of goodies! You can use sweeties or toys or even both. Just remember not to fill it with anything too heavy or dangerous if it falls on your head! I also bulked out the goodies by using the filling from party poppers and old paper scraps left over from making party decorations. You could also use glitter and sequins.

STEP 5

Now you need to make a frame for hanging your pinata. Using a hole punch I made four holes around the opening at the top and threaded some wire through. I then held this in place using masking tape.

STEP 6

All that's left now is to make your stalk! I made mine using green crepe paper and a toilet roll tube. Cut the toilet roll tube in half then secure it at the top of the strawberry with masking tape. Using PVA glue, cover it with the green crepe paper, also cover up the masking tape area around the top. I used some more green crepe paper to make leaves coming down the strawberry. Your strawberry pinata is now complete!

 

Blindfold everyone taking part or in this case the Birthday girl, give them something to bash the pinata with such as a wooden stick or a baseball bat, stand well back and let the fun begin!

You could also use this method to make other pinatas too providing you can get the balloon shape for it! I think that I'm going to attempt to make a pineapple pinata next time! I hope you have fun crafting your pinatas! Please send me photos of your results.