Time for Craft

My son has been pestering me to buy a dog house for his pet dog, Richie, ever since he arrived at our home last November. But I just couldn't bring myself to spent on something that may bring me more work to clean up. I might also end up buying something that the little creature dislike. After all, who will be moving in to the new apartment if this happened?? So after months of playing 'TaiJi' (delaying his request) with my son, I finally found this carton box that I can turn it into a temporary yet economical dog kennel. You know about 'test the market' right? So this is the way to test a dog on how he except his new home, heex. I started out by cutting the pointed edge of the two sides of the roof. Bending the front and the back pieces of the roof to meet at the top of the roof, fixing them all together with masking tape. And next, I cut out the door and the heart shaped window... Getting the kid to do the painting make them more involved in the project he hoped...

This is one of the little DIY project with recycled stuffs I did back in the ol' days, sometime in 1997. I collected the wooden blocks and boards from grapes carton. The wood texture was quite smooth and nice, I just feel 'sayang' (in Malay it means 'a pity') not to 'tap' on its potential:> haha! Making use of the woods, I made them into a toilet roll holder with some nails, hot glue and paints. I even sticked a few decorative tiles and a plastic dog toy for an added fun. So if you're a reading this, feeling stuck to have not enough capital for your home renovation, or things have been stagnant for years in there at home, something just need to be done etc... Make use of the resources that can be found in the surrounding, tap on them to transform into the unlimited possibilties. A little at a time, you just need an eye to look at things differently to make it a great difference to your world!

As a mum with young kid, we tend to wake up in the middle of the nights checking on their safety, whether they are well undercover with a blanket or have our pet dog taken over their pillow and bolster and having a rolling good night... There're so much that we couldn't stop getting worried. To save me from fear that my boy might roll down from the bed one day, I made this bedside falling guard for him last year. We call it his guardian angel. Even though I'm not quiet confident how it will work out when I first started working on it, wondering how tolerant it will be to withstand his weight in the night, but months of quality checked - Passed!, He did not roll down- Relived! And I have more peaceful sleep all this while. These are all you need to get started: 1 huge, thick and durable carton box (I got mine free from a neighbor who bought a LCD TV) Cutter &...

I'm proud and humble both at the same time to be awarded for the craft I did in these two consecutives  year. I submitted this project for the 8th Lantern Making Competition, Primary Category (for my son) organised by Chinatown Point, the Official Mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, 福娃欢欢  as the inspiration. It takes about three weeks to make, using all recycled materials as usual. I spent less than $10 on paint, masking tape, glue and bulbs. It's quite motivating after all, cos the lantern won the 1st prize and was published on papers (晚报) the next day. This reminds me of a proverb that says: " You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standard. And when you reach your highest limits, that is real joy." Though this is yet to be the best, but as time goes, we are a better version of ourself, each time we take up a challenge and keep moving. One great tips here if you have realised, is the use of papers f...

I've collected a few pieces of  wooden wine cartons from the wine seller and thought I'd get one to put into use in this craft. What you need is a piece of muslin cloth (wide enough to cover the whole box with allowance for some thickness of sponge/cotton fibre fillings around it), some needle and thread, staple gun and bullets, and acrylic paints to add some drawing as decoration. Start it off by stapling one side of the cloth to the inner side of the box so that all staples are invisible. Lay a layer of sponge/cotton fibre around the surface of the box, just enough for the comfort when you're sitted. Cover them with the cloth you've just stapled. Now, staple the opposite to that side, pulling the cloth tight enough for the cloth to look firm and neat on the surface. Continue to work for the rest of the two other sides, making sure the loose cloth at the four corners are trimmed and tugged underneath. Some sewing is neccesary at these a...

A before and after transformation comparison. A minor makeover to this corner of my counter top wall near the kitchen. I just use a black marker to do the job, do take some precaution not to smudge if the marks are not dried thoroughly. Pretty easy and fun to play with curves and shapes.

Since the beginning of 2007, I've been actively involved in my son's pre-school class teaching them craft as a form of parental involvement. As the journey from home to school takes at least 2 hours to and fro, I must as well make use of the 3 hours waiting time to do something more meaningful. I remembered the very 1st craft I taught was a goodie goodie basket made of red packets. Handling 18 kids all at one time blows up your head. They just go 'Aunty this... Aunty that... Aunty blah blah blah...' But, to see them bringing back the crafts at the dismisal hall after the day, is what you called it a fulfilment. They showed off to their parents as they approached them and walked back home with it in their hands... This is Satisfaction!  During the September school holiday, I was approached by two teachers to help in a project about traffic, a topic that they're teachi...

I am deeply in love with wood. I love wooden funiture, I like picking up dropped branches for decorations, I'll bring back nice and useful wooden board/plank that my neighbor thrash away, I'll keep my overdue pussy willow for christmas... So much so that I can't waste any single pieces not to put them in good use. This is another unused plank turned into a decorative piece again. As always, I'll spray some adhesive and wrap the wood with a canvas liked cloth. Then, I'll do the artwork. This time is a 'feather'. To create that feathery strokes, I used a type of water-based pen. With firm and steady hands, I left the pen marks on the cloth, one at a time, some lightly while some more obvious. And there you see, nice?

Didn't really have nice picture here again, but this was what I did to decorate my son's bedroom with a farmhouse motive on the wall without adding any stress to my pockets. The small little window was camouflaged with a picture cut-out from polyfoam. I collected them from the packaging that came with fridge carton box. My neighbor somewhere bought the fridge, I have the polyfoam sheets that potected it from dent, lol! I made a turnable windmill out of a recycled board dismantled from a wooden orange crates collected from NTUC supermarket here in Singapore. A perfume spray bottle cap was used as the center piece of the windmill. 5 pieces of the light weight wooden propeller were attached to it and was screwed on to the wooden board. Some stencilling was done to the wall and my boy was given the opportunity to 'scribble' the wall this time. He did some stamping on the wall with animals, farm house and tractor shaped sponge stamps. The ...

Saw a number of carved Buddha picture on sale in the market which are priced in thousands. I love the peacefulness but didn't want to pay for that price to own a piece, haha! In order for me to own one similar to that, I did a replica :P. I had a big piece of estimated A0 sized board hand-me-down from a ex-colleague, left in the store. I prepared another piece of muslin cloth big enough to cover the board. I sprayed both the board and the back side of the cloth with adhesive and stick both sides together carefully without crisp. Staple gun was used to gather those loose ends of the cloth nicely intact to the sides and back of the frame. When the frame is done, I started sketching the face of the Budhha using 6B pencil, and did the shading to give it some textured feel. Though it's quite a simple one, but the simplicity is just what I need to add some vibe to my balcony! A picture speak a thousand words, what...

I t was years back that I painted this picture as a surprise for my son (back in 2004) when he was just 3. Pooh was his favorite cartoon. I can still remember vividly how he bound while singing "I saw my piglet hopping by, hopping by'..., those were the good ol' time. And if you would like to do some mural painting too, I do have a few tips for you here. Some may have no idea where to start, what type of paint to use, and how to get so many colors and tones. Firstly, do have an end in mind (sounds familiar lol)! Know what you would like to have on your wall and the purpose or the feel that you want to create. Next, search for inspiration, of course! If you're not too confident, play with something small in size or simple for a starter. I did not purchase any new paint actually. I just made use of the left-over white wall emulsion paint from the past wall painting. I transferred and stored the remainding paint tightly in a plast...

What could be made from a wooden crate that used to contain oranges? I've dismantled the nails, separated the wood pieces and made use one of the side board to turned into this, a country styled display. I'm truly a fan of country-style decorations, so definitely a good hands-on project here! If you can find any wood lying around, have an eye to look at them differently, you can turn them into something unique!