It pays to be more efficient with time over the holiday period. I don’t know why we are all of a sudden so much busier, but I for one seem to have a catch up with everyone I know crammed in before Christmas. So to kill two birds with one stone, I promised to show you my design for a Christmas Shirt for 2012. Here is E getting into the Christmas Spirit AND the tshirt (because trying to explain the joy of giving only goes so far with a 3 yr old I thought a tshirt was the next best thing!).
This one is rather self explanitory! The only explanation I will give is why it is so LATE in the day. Photography excursion to the city. Enjoy! I also put a different one on Instagram. I am going to try to have 2 going consecutively. One through the blog and one through Instagram of things I snap with my iPhone. I like to make my life as difficult as possible, haha. Seriously, I think the best way to improve is to push your limits. At least at the end of the day I can come home and look at my Christmas tree lights.
And now to confuse my photoblog followers!
DIY Rainbow Ball Christmas Decorations
With Christmas around the corner as a mum I am looking for things that my 3 year old can make with some level of ownership. These Christmas decorations are so easy to make and look pretty effective.
You could also make them larger by using A3 card and could even make them outdoor proof by laminating the card used. You could make them elegant by limiting your colour palette and adding subtle sparkle or design. You could light them by running solar fairy lights onto them. The options are endless. This is the toddler craft version.
Here’s the How To:
First Things First, To make a medium sized ball
You will need:
Instructions
1. Let your child loose on the strips of card. I asked my 3 year old to first colour in, then stick stickers on the strips. Depending on your child’s capability level you can decorate these in any way you like. If your child is young remember to REMOVE the strips from them before they colour right through the paper or destroy them in another way! (wink)
2. Unfortunately from here the construction is an adult thing. Take the 8 strips of card and arrange them in an order that is pleasing to you in a pile. (don’t do like I did and forget that I had a green on the top AND bottom of the pile so that when they were fanned out they were together!) Using something sharp poke through all eight pieces of card to make sure that the holes are in the same place. As a guide, about 1cm in from the end and centred from either side. Repeat at the other end.
3. Starting on the coloured in side push a split pin through all eight cards. This is the bottom of your ball. Open the split slightly, but not fully yet.
4. Tie the end of the string tight around the slightly open pin and trim the end.
5. Completely and firmly open the pin over the knot securing it. At this point I cut the string at about 20cm long (a generous allowance, but you could also do it by leaving a long string (half a metre) and tying knots or using clamps at the other end, I will leave that to you.) This tutorial will cover what I did in this instance.
6. Take the new end of string and tie it around the other split pin. This is FIDDLY you may need to tie it, then slip it on and tighten it.
7. Poke the split pin with the knot through the card at the other end starting from the decorated side and push it tight to secure your knot. Then take the string from the first split pin and tie it around the slightly open split in the same way that you did before. This string should now pull taut and the card should form an arc. You can estimate how long you want the string by how you want your arc to look. Once you have tied your knot, completely and firmly open the pin to secure the knot. Trim both loose ends of the two strings neatly. You should now be able to hold your decoration by the hanging string.
8. Fan out the card pieces evenly to form a ball shape. (Note: you may notice as you start to fan that the card forms a teardrop shape, once fully fanned out this will disappear and become a ball.)
9. Take a minute to admire your handywork.
10. To hang the tinsel on the inside, just attach either end with stickytape. Move the card pieces slightly if you can’t fit your hand through and readjust them afterward.
You could also add a hanging ‘tail’ by cutting similar width, but longer strips of crepe paper to blow in the breeze. To do this you would first poke your bottom split pin through the tail before the card strips.
11. Hang them where ever you like. My son liked to watch them spin. I hope your kids do too.
Merry Christmas!
If you make these, consider leaving me a link in the comments to your photo so I can see them.
NOTE: This is the first tutorial I have written. If you have any questions or I have forgotten to add something please let me know so I can update it.
Its that time again when I think about next month’s challenge.
For anyone who follows this blog you will already know that I have been preparing for my December Photo Challenge this year by making my own Christmas themed challenge.
It had to be done.
And it can be found here.
I happened to post it on Instagram #thechristmaslist and it looks like people will be doing it there too! Because of that I then I made a facebook page called ‘The Christmas List’ for people to share links to their photos. Social Media blows my mind sometimes.
Why A Christmas List?
I wanted to do something Christmassy because I enjoy the feeling of Christmas. For me it has always been positive and I get happy glaze just thinking about it.
I think it can be celebrated (or at least aspects of it) irrelevant of your personal beliefs on different levels. Who can resist a holiday that celebrates positivity, giving, generosity and happiness? Whether you choose to participate in religious or commercial aspects is entirely up to you.
I tried to create a list that had some easy(er) photos (we are all pretty busy this time of year) and some prompts that take a little bit more thought and provide more of a challenge. I also challenge anyone non-Christmassy to undertake the challenge interpreting the challenges in non-Christmassy ways.
I am looking forward to seeing people’s interpretations. I haven’t done a list before so I am a little bit excited! Just adds to the Christmas Spirit.
Christmas is coming up quickly and we love to celebrate a festival in this household. Its fun and it gives me a chance to get crafty.
Every year I wonder whether I should buy a Christmas shirt for my kids and sometimes for us too. Mostly my personal taste is not well represented in Christmas tshirts. So this year I have decided to design and make one with something that my whole family can wear. I have an idea in my head which I will create either by drawing or making on the computer and then I will use freezer paper to stencil it to a shirt. As a side note, in Australia you can’t just buy freezer paper. You either have to get it from a craft store or, like me, have it shipped to you from half way around the world! (I am dedicated to general craftiness) When I have finished the job I will post the results, but I encourage you, if you love Christmas, but aren’t happy with with what’s in store, have a go yourself! Freezer paper stenciling is one of the easiest craft projects around. And if you do, feel free to post me a link. I’d love to see your efforts đŸ™‚
Remember I will also be doing ‘The Christmas List’ photo a day challenge in December and you can play along with that by tagging your photos #thechristmaslist and spreading the cheer!
Ooohhhhhrrrggggg bleauggghhhh (phoenetically speaking)
That was my first thought when I saw this prompt. What makes me laugh? That might not seem like a difficult question, but what makes me laugh that I can photograph….today……and isn’t my kids……..again!
My problem is this. Most of the things that make me laugh are situational. Moments make me laugh. Things people do. And often its the unexpected nature of the moment that I find funny. That’s great!… but really hard to photograph.
The only thing I could think to take a photograph of that was in my house was my favourite comedy. It all comes down to personal taste of course. This one makes me laugh every time. Ludicrous optimism. That’s how i roll.
This is a bit early, but I finished this this evening so I thought I would put it out there for those of you who are interested to have a sneak peak. I have tried to make a photo list that has a mixture of fun, easy prompts and some that make you think a bit and may challenge you (and me). Like any photo challenge the prompts can be interpreted in any way you like. They don’t even all have to be Christmas related photos if you prefer. You don’t have to be into photography particularly to have a go. Anyone can think about a prompt and take a photo. I would love to see other people’s interpretations so I hope that people will leave a link to their photos in the comments of the prompt post of the day. I will also post the list through Instagram for people who want to use it there.
If you are going to participate and like me, you like to see other people’s photos, share this so that others know about it.
Hashtag your posts #thechristmaslist so we can find them easily.
Don’t worry, I will repost this closer to December. Its just a first look at this stage. I was that happy that I got it finished! Woohoo.
I have been thinking about what to do for my November and December photo challenges already.
As you may know if you have read my about me page, I am a stay at home mum. What isn’t on there is that I am also a Christmas Elf. I would not describe myself as being specific to any one religion, I can’t think of any that don’t have something positive to offer. I embrace what resonates with me irrelevant of it’s origin and I celebrate festivals and holidays that make me happy.
Christmas makes me happy. The song The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year sums it up for me. Positivity, family, gift giving, kindness, generosity with a generous sprinkling of festive decorations and fairy lights can’t be bad in my book.
So to celebrate Christmas I have decided to create a December Photo a Day list I’m calling The Christmas List with prompts that celebrate the festive nature of Christmas.
I thought about just doing Christmas photos, but I thought that maybe there might be other people who enjoy the festive season as much as I do and might like to join in.
If you do, I would love to see a link to your photos so I can see what you come up with. That way I can enjoy other people’s perspective on Christmas and I might even reblog a few that I love.
Even if it’s only me, at least I will have my prompts set out clearly. I am looking forward to it. I will post The Christmas List as soon as I get it organized.
I would love to hear your thoughts, feedback or ideas.
Learning the Light 