BANANA STALK FLOWER STAMP

This is another art technique my second grade teacher taught us. I so love my teacher because she was able to hone my imagination and creativity. This can also be used in making cards just like the watercolor thread technique.

Materials:
Banana leaf stalk or Gabi (Taro) Stalk
Watercolor
White construction paper folded to into a card

Procedure:
1. Moisten water color with drops of water and dip the banana leaf stalk directly on the moistened color.

2. Stamp the banana leaf stalk on your card in a manner that you will form a flower. If the above procedure does not work, you can apply watercolor on the stalk using watercolor brush.

This is my daughter's work. She had fun stamping.

Have a wonderful day! (*-*)

WATERCOLOR THREAD FLOWERS

This is an art technique I learned from my second grade teacher, Miss Equias (Yey, I still remember her name!) I used this technique to make cards when I was small. Since Mother's Day is just around the corner, my daughter and I made a Mother's Day card for my mom using this art. 

Materials:

8.5" by 11" white coupon bond folded to be a card

watercolor

white string/thread (length is at least 12")

a thick and heavy book

Procedure:

1. First, moisten the watercolor with drops of water. Then place the threads directly on the moistened color. (Don't forget to leave at least two inches uncolored portion of the thread.)

2. After a few seconds, take the thread and lay it on the inside of the card in a manner that it has loops and curves. 

3. Next, close the card and insert it in the book. The 2" uncolored portion should be hanging out. 

4. Lastly, this is my daughter's favorite part, pull the thread. After that, you can now check the outcome.

Done! You just have to write your message on it.

Happy Mother's Day to all moms. =)

HIBISCUS (Gumamela) BUBBLES

This is a classic pastime I used to do when I was a kid. Mom taught me how to prepare Hibiscus (Gumamela) bubbles; and now I am sharing it to my little girl. She enjoyed mixing and blowing those bubbles.

My Gumamela plant

INGREDIENTS:
10-20 hibiscus leaves
2-3 tsp detergent
250 ml water

MATERIALS:
blower
mortar and pestle

Hibiscus leaves, and mortar and pestle

detergent

water

my daughter's old bubble blower

PROCEDURE:

1. First, crush Hibiscus leaves using the mortar and pestle. (I used stone when I was small)

2. Next, put crushed leaves in water.

3. Then, add detergent. Mix.

4. Lastly, let stand for 5 minutes. Afterwards, you can already enjoy your bubbles.

Little miss says it's like cooking.

It's windy; can't really catch those bubbles in photo.

Have a fun summer! =)

HOW TO DETANGLE DOLL'S HAIR

Barbie and Jem, and my little miss

Yesterday, my daughter and I kept ourselves busy with detangling Barbie and Jem's blonde locks. There is not much of a problem with Jem's hair; it just needed a bit of conditioning. Barbie's hair was the one to be rescued. 

To detangle their hair we used Johnson's baby shampoo, Surf fabric conditioner, water, towel and comb.

PROCEDURE:

1. First we gently shampooed their hair using the baby shampoo and rinsed afterwards.

2. Next, we removed the excess water in their hair by wiping it with towel.

3. Then, we applied fabric conditioner on the hair and combed it gently. The amount of fabric conditioner will depend on the severity of the tangle. We left them for an hour for the fab con to seep through; but 30 minutes is okay.

4. After an hour, we rinsed their hair with water; combed it and air dry.

I never knew before that Jem dolls are actually vintage. It was just a hand-me -down toy from my bestfriend.    I never knew her hair was really like that (punk style) until I saw it on the net; I thought my bestfriend murdered her hair. I know vintage things should be kept but not my Jem; she was playing with us since I was a kid. It's my favorite doll; love it!

COILED MAGAZINE FLOWER FOR HEADBAND

'Found a way to jazzed up my old white plastic headband using coiled magazine pages. 

Here's how I did it:

MATERIALS:

headband

coiled magazine pages 

a piece of green magazine page cut as leaf

glue

varnish

(for the procedure on how to make coiled magazine pages, please refer to http://imaginen-nen.blogspot.com/2013/04/coiled-magazine-bangle.html )

PROCEDURE:

1. Form the coiled magazine pages into a flower; use glue.

2. Glue the leaf at the back of the flower; and apply varnish to make it a bit stiff.

3. Lastly, glue the flower to your desired position on the headband.

My little girl modelling it for me. =)

Have pretty summer! =)

COILED MAGAZINE BANGLE

I made this bangle out of magazine pages. I think this could be a great summer accessory; but I haven't tried to submerged it in water though. =D

MATERIALS:
magazine pages
super glue or glue stick
cardboard
poster paint
varnish

PROCEDURE:

1. Cut strips of magazine pages about 1.5 to 1 inches in width.

2. Get a strip and roll it from the tip.

3. Coil the rolled strip from the tip. Then glue.

4. Cut a cardboard strip and roll it according to the circumference of your arm. This will serve as your guide when you glue the coiled strips together.

5. Put a rolled scotch tape on the cardboard bangle to hold the first coiled strip. Then glue the coiled strips together according to your desired pattern or design. Avoid putting glue on the cardboard.

6. Remove the cardboard and leave the bangle to dry. Afterwards, you can also paint the dried glue with your chosen color so that it will look neat. I painted mine with green poster paint. Lastly, coat with varnish for added luster and to make it stiff.

That's it! Have a beautiful summer! (*-*)