Excuse Me!

If you do interrupt, even if I answer, it does not mean I was listening.

Ministry of Silly Clocks

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but I'm afriad my walk has rather sillier recently." -John Cleese, Monty Python's Flying Circus

Today just feels like a Monty Python kind of day.  If you have not seen The Ministry of Silly Walks sketch, you should do that right now. Stop reading and watch!  

I found the idea for a silly walks clock while browsing pinterest. This is the original link to the clock.  For my clock I used some different material, but I still like the outcome.

Materials:

• Wooden clock base
• Long stem clock kit (I picked mine up from Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft)
• Black sharpie
• Modge podge
• Tape
• Puff Paint
• Laminating paper of some kind
• Paint Brush
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Print out the image from the original posting.
2. Cut image out
3. Attach the back part of the clock.
4. Modge podge John Cleese's body to the clock frame with his head pointing towards the 12 o'clock position. Make sure to modge podge the whole clock base for a finished look.
5. Laminate the legs and cut out.
6. Tape the legs onto the hands on the clock. 
7. Finish putting the clock together. 
8. With the black sharpie color any pieces of the clock black to match the image.
9. Add the hour markers by adding black dots along the outside of the clock.

Simple, easy, and silly!

Maddie's Fingerless Gloves: Code Name Verity

"It's like being in love, discovering your best friend." -Elizabeth Wein, Code Name Verity

The most recent book club selection was Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.  This book was about a friendship that developed during WWII between two females, one an ATA pilot and one a spy.  Although this story was hard for me to initially get into, by the end I could not put the book down.  One of the things mentioned in the book was the fact that Maddie wished she had her fingerless gloves with her. 

At the end of the book the author gave a link to the pattern that Maddie mentioned for the fingerless gloves.  Unfortunately, the link was dead, but I was able to find pictures of the gloves.

The Pattern Book Maddie Mentions

Maddie's Gloves

Since I couldn't use the actual pattern for Maddie's gloves, I decided to try to look on YouTube for a crocheting pattern.  This pattern came from the YouTube channel SimplyHookedCrochet. I decided to make my gloves using two different colors of yarn to represent the two different friends in this story. Also, my pattern was almost double of the circumference the pattern recommended.   I stretched them out on wine bottles afterwards to make them easier to get on.  Alas, no finger covers for these gloves.

The WWII propaganda lunch box was purchased at the EAA museum. It helps add to the theme. 

Pebble Mat

"My life is full of mistakes.  They're like pebbles that make a good road." -Beatrice Wood

Back in October, I was visiting an art gallery/studio with a group of friends when we saw some pebble mats.  One of my friends really liked them, and when I told him I made a pebble mat a few years ago he recommended I post it on my blog.  I think a good story to go along with this would be stone soup.  (Then maybe you can serve soup to guests on the pebble mats!)  

This was a dollar store craft for me.  I got the pebbles and the mat from a dollar store, so if you have E6000 on hand this is a $2.00 craft!

Materials:

• Bag of pebbles
• Tan or rock colored placemat
• E6000

Directions:

1. Glue pebbles onto the mat in a single, tight layer using a generous amount of glue.
2. Let the mat dry over night.

The rocks stay on pretty well, considering this pebble mat has moved a few times.  It looks good with plants, teapots, and almost anything on it.

Fingernail Polish Pots

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." -Marcus Tullius Cicero

Patio gardening is my new pastime.  While looking for project ideas I came across a tutorial for fingernail polish pots over at Henry Happend.  Since I had a few pots I needed to decorate, I decided to give this a try.  

Of course, I learned a few things along the way:

• Have the water be the same temperature as the outside is really important.  If it is too cold the nail polish will harder before it even gets on the pot. 
• Make sure to scrub out your old pots before doing this.  Just rinsing doesn't work because some plants leave behind an oily residue that the nail polish won't stick to.  
• Use four colors tops in the projects, otherwise it is too much.  
• Remember you can get cheap nail polish at dollar stores!

I am thinking the book Small Space Container Gardens by Fern Richardson might just be what I need to read to get my patio into shape.  

Maze Runner Terrarium

"Just follow me and run like your life depends on it.  Because it does." -James Dashner, The Maze Runner

I read The Maze Runner this winter and had the idea to make a terrarium based on the book. However, I wanted to wait until spring to make it so I could get free moss. Everything in this project actually was free except for the beetle (which I got in a set of bugs).  If you haven't read The Maze Runner yet, it is about a boy who wakes up in a land blocked off by a giant maze with no memories of his past. When he arrives things start to change, and the group must find a way out of the maze.  

Materials:

• Terrarium bowl (in this case an old fish bowl)
• Moss
• Plants
• Potting Soil
• Brown or gray polymer clay
• Rock
• Plastic beetle
• Red puff paint
• Toothpicks 

Directions:

1. Fill up the bowl about a 1/3 of the way full with soil. Plant plants and lay moss on top. Water well.
2. Make two parts of a wall out of clay.  Draw lines into the clay to make it look like a brick wall.  Insert toothpicks into the wall and bake for ten minutes at 250 degrees.
3. Write "Wicked" on the beetle with the puff paint.
4. Insert the wall pieces into the terrarium.
5. Set a rock in the terrarium and lean the beetle against it.
6. Water terrarium well top soil gets dry.

Defending Jacob Thumbprint Pendent

"We must have seemed just live everybody else, which, when you get down to it, is all I ever wanted." -William Landay, Defending Jacob

Defending Jacob is a story about a father who is DA when his son, Jacob, is accused of murdering a classmate.  The evidence against Jacob includes one thumb print, found in blood on the victims   sweatshirt tag.  As more information comes to light all he can do is minimize the evidence and defend Jacob. 

Because of the thumb print evidence and Andy's love for and faith in his son no matter the evidence, I decided to make a thumb print heart necklace.  Half of the heart is made from my thumb print and the other half was made from my significant other's thumb print.  This could be done with siblings thumb prints, or even the thumb prints of a son and a father and turned into a key chain.  

Materials:

• White Polymer Clay
• Gold Paint
• Paint Brush
• Glue (E 6000)
• Cord

Directions:  

1. Create two halves of a heart out of the white clay that would equal a whole heart when put together. Smooth so their is no prints on it.
2. Have each person press their thumb print onto a half of the heart. Make a hole that goes through one section of the heart to attach cord through later. 
3. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 225 degrees. Let cool.
4. Paint with gold paint.  The less paint you use the better the print shows up. Let dry.
5. Glue heart together using E6000. Let dry.
6. Attach cord through heart.

Let's just hope these thumb prints have more luck than Andy did in this book.