Button BUGZ!

Let's hear it.... Ladies and Gentlemen... put your hands together for..... the Button Bugz!
IF you are coming to the OCTOBER half term CRAFT CAFE in Upper Boddington - then these might be on the Craft Menu. Mwah ha ha ha - (said in a sort of 'Hallowe'en' voice)
They are creepy, crawly, buttony and sprawly.

My LittleFish and i gave the recipe a trial and error run. They came out even better than i had imagined and they leave plenty of room for a childs own artistic interpretation! (we like them to take an idea and rrrrruuunnnn with it)

This is one side of those MINI selection cereal boxes - to give you an idea of the size of body you need. Don't make it much bigger or the legs might not hold up the body. Before you start, punch a few holes down each side. I made FOUR holes on each side of the body.

I told LittleFish to keep the holes FREE of stuffs when decorating. Obviously she didn't, so i had to rummage through the body's fluffs n' stuffs to find them again.

As demonstrated by my angel (below) stick lots of great stuff on the body, including many goggly eyes. Use whatever you have? pompoms, ribbon, tissue paper, eyes, pens.... always use good strong sticky glue.

I use this glue>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> for everything. Tis fantastic! water it down a bit and use it as a varnish too.

Cut 4 PIPE CLEANERS into 8 legs.... (who smokes a pipe nowadays?) and that is: EACH pipe cleaner in HALF for those who struggle with the maths :)

Thread a button on to the end of each bendy fluffy stick. They want to try and be the same length as each other - but the world won't stop turning if they differ in length muchly.

And... thread the un-buttony end through those holes i warned you about at the beginning.

They might not stand very well till the whole body is DRY - warn your child about this when they start to cry as the bug won't stand on it's own. This will get better - later.

COOLIO! me luffs the bugz. I'll let you have this idea and use it too if you like! i love crafting with kids. I could suggest you buy your buttons through me, but if this is not your first visit to the blog, you know that by now xxxx happy bugging people x

Normal Service is resumed...

Sunshiny 'me' shot to show you this lovely denim dress / top / smock thingy - i love the frilly stand up collar. The grey cardigan is new - not colourful, i know but sometimes a little sobriety can be calming. Craft days with the SmallFish - an amazing painted collage mobile. The square item is an old threads box - with hanging tubes cut from an old toilet roll. I love this x

Then there is the birth of 'Arthur' which was very much like watching a caterpillar emerge from a cocoon ..... a toilet roll (staple craft supply) a piece of card and some 'deatils' (as SmallFish calls them) transform themselves before our very eyes...

The Pipe cleaners were my idea (i like to take a small bit of credit where i can. I can't have my daughter outshine me in all aspects of colourful crafting)

And look how 'Arthur' turned out? Stunning! and fluttering his way through the vegetable trays.

The cost was pence.

The fun was a-plenty.

The organisation was spontaneous.

The pride was IMMENSE.

Got a crafty child?.... have a go! tis so easy and fulfilling x

Things to do with your children.... Photo Shoots!!

You've gotta love photo shoot sessions, you never know who's head might get cut off... Ours often take place in the bathroom.... usually as there is great light in there BUT often because i happen to be in there... ALOT picking up wet towels and dirty clothes (a housewifes 'lot' - i used to be soooo rock n roll, tut tut)

My BigGirlFish is 5 this very week and we have very little in common....

She is sporty and socialable and loves TV - none of these things apply to me.

(Strike that pose Baby Grrl)

I love crafting and sewing and being on my own often... none of these things apply to her.

But we both love colour and fun and photography.

No, I am not actually sitting 'on' the toilet here.... i hope there are no Americans reading this? You don't like toilet humour do you, over the Atlantic....?!?

BigGirlFish took this before i was ready for my big finish.

Ahhh, photo shoots... give your kids the camera and see where they take you...

P.S loving my cowgirl boots there... hating that chunky thigh! x