Some brilliant summer crafts from Red Ted Art

Today I am delighted to welcome a guest post from Maggy at Red Ted Art with some fantastic crafty ideas. Enjoy!

HELLO! I am Maggy from Red Ted Art and I am so pleased to be here today, sharing some our favourite crafts! Thank you so much for having me and share some of crafty favourites!

Excuse the crazy photo - I made it a while back for my+ account and I can't resist using it! Anyway, I digress. Our favourite thing over at Red Ted Art is KIDS CRAFTS! We are craft crazy and we love making things as often as we can! (We do also like doing other things, btw, like cooking and gardening, but you will have to read about that over at Life At The Zoo and Theatre, Books and Movies!!!). And whilst Jennifer is have a break, we thought we would share some of our Summer favourites!



Bottle Top Stamps We love these bottle top stamps - as they are soooo simple to make. Most households have these materials to hand (or at least substitutes for these materials), the variations are endless AND once you have made them you can have a great arty crafty session. So almost a "two in one" if you wish. We have used our stamps, for creating pictures, for simply stamping and for making wrapping paper. Perfect. Check out this post for more bottle top craft ideas.

 

Saltdough (Hearts) Next up our easy salt dough recipe - in this case we made hearts to decorate Christmas and Valentine's with. But really you can make anything - use cookie cutters to make shapes and ornaments or mold it like playdough. We have added colours to our salt dough in the past, so you don't necessarily have to paint them afterwards. Find more salt dough crafts here.

 

Butterfly Cards Going to a birthday party and need a card in a hurry? What to write a thank you note to the children's teacher? Make these sweet and bright butterfly cards and you are all sorted. I share a little template over on Red Ted Art to make it easier for you too!

   

Snowglobes Yes! Another childhood "classic" of ours. Every child NEEDS to have made a DIY snowglobe at some point. A great opportunity to recycle some old jars (I particularly like using small jars e.g. from baby food) as well as some of that "plastic tat" kids get in party bags or kinder surprises.

 
Great Artists for Kids

Or how about getting Arty? I have a series of "Art with Kids" posts - some looking at Great Artists, like here Andy Warhol and creating art in the style of these artists and the others are open ended activities that promote creativity - easy to set up and do!    

Well, I do hope that that keeps you going! Some ideas to have lots of fun with. If you liked what you saw and fancy a lovely Craft Book for your kids, I have just brought out Red Ted Art, Cute and Easy Crafts for Kids! It is packed with crafty ideas to keep you busy for a long long time. This makes for a fantastic gift too, so please do check it out. Read the reviews and see how many people enjoy it already! Thank you Jennifer, for having me!

More love for Pinterest

Following on from my recent participation in the Pinterest #pinitforward campaign, I asked my sister to write me a guest post about Pinterest. You see, it was through Anna that I first discovered Pinterest, and so I have her to thank for introducing me to it! So here's over to Anna:

When I first started using Pinterest I thought it would be one of those things I'd play with for a bit and then forget about. But now I love it and go there every day. It’s a brilliant way of saving things you find as you browse the web – a recipe you’d like to try, or a craft you think the kids would like – as well as looking through the things other people have found.

I have 22 boards. They range from recipes, crafts, pattern inspiration and ideas for things to do with the girls, as well as things I think are just cool and interesting! The board with the most followers, and my favourite to browse myself, is my crochet & knitted blankets board – I love all the colours and the designs, and it always leaves me feeling cosy.

As a designer, I also find Pinterest useful for my work. Pinterest recently started allowing ‘secret’ boards – perfect for making mood boards and collecting inspiration without sharing it all with the world. And scrolling through the main page feeds is great for spotting trends and seeing what people are looking for.

Pinterest is one of those things that, once you get used to it, you wonder how you managed without it! It’s such a convenient way to organise not just pictures but online information of all kinds. Give it a try, but be warned, it’s addictive!

(Anna is mum to Laura (4) and Emily (2) as well as designing knitting patterns. She blogs at http://beepbeepdesigns.blogspot.com

My love for Pinterest and the #PinItForwardUK campaign

If you are a regular reader, you will know just how much I love Pinterest. I joined Pinterest almost two years ago, and I've been using it regularly ever since.

If you're not familiar with Pinterest, it's best described as a collection of visual, online pinboards of the things that you love. You can create new boards on any subject that you like, and then as you spot things on your travels around the internet you can pin an image to the board which links back to the page where it comes from. People use it for all sorts of things. I tend to use it to collect together ideas for activities that I'd like to do with the children, inspiration for crafts that I'd like to try and recipes that I want to have a go at. I have the mobile app too, so for example I can access my pinned recipes when I'm in the supermarket shopping for ingredients or the kitchen baking.

In addition, because so many people use it, Pinterest also contains a wealth of ideas and inspiration. To get the full experience you need to follow other like-minded people, see what they are pinning, and then you can re-pin all the things you see that interest and inspire you.

I have discovered so many different crafts and activities since I started using Pinterest. For example, as I wrote the other week, Pinterest introduced me to washi tape. I also try most months to take part in the PinAddicts challenge, because Pinterest can become so addictive that you end up pinning lots of things that you never actually get around to doing!

There is a brilliant social side to Pinterest too - you can comment on pins to let others know what you think and share further ideas and inspiration. One of my favourite boards is my Craft Inspiration board. It's packed full of gorgeous things that I've spotted online, mainly re-pinned from within Pinterest, that I would love to have a go at one day.


If you already use Pinterest then don't forget to follow me, you can find all my Pinterest boards here.
If this has inspired you, and you'd like to join Pinterest, you can do so easily using this registration link. I'd love to see you over there!

This blog post is a part of the #PinItForwardUK campaign. Passionate bloggers from across the UK have been selected to showcase their personal tastes, talents and inspirations. The bloggers write about a range of subjects, all representing popular categories found on Pinterest.

We will all be posting one after the other, and I would like to introduce Islay who will be posting about the campaign tomorrow. Islay writes the gorgeous beauty and style blog islaay.com - do pop by and visit!

 

A simple flower mosaic craft for children

I was really pleased with this simple flower mosaic that I made with Harry. His scissor control is really improving, and I love that as he gets older his attention span is increasing and he is able to finish more complicated projects.

I drew around a small plate on some white cardboard and let Harry cut out the circle. Then I drew a flower on some scrap paper for him to copy. We talked about what colours to use and he decided that he wanted to make a daisy. Then I helped him to cut the coloured paper into small pieces and he glued it into the pattern.

So simple, and I think it looks really good!

A simple flower mosaic craft for children

Tactile alphabet cards

This month I'm joining in the PinAddicts Challenge with a craft that appealed to me as soon as I saw it - some tactile alphabet cards which I pinned from Fairy Dust Teaching. I probably don't spend enough time working on letters with Harry at the moment, I tend to think that it is something that he'll pick up easily enough when he starts school. But I loved how bright and colourful these alphabet cards were, and it looked like something that would be a lot of fun for us to make together.

For the cards I cut up an old, sturdy nappy box. Each card measures approximately 8cm x 12cm. We painted the backgrounds in a variety of different colours, then before we started putting letters on I planned the layout in advance so that I was happy with the spread of the colours.

Then we made our letters. I drew an outline in pencil, and let Harry glue on the different things. I was a bit worried that I would struggle to think of 26 different things to use, but once I started I kept thinking of more and more ideas! I loved watching Harry's fine motor skills at work. He's also enjoying patterning at the moment, so some of the letters are made using patterns in the colours.

I used lowercase letters instead of the uppercase letters in the original pin, because those are the ones that I want him to become familiar with first. Perhaps we'll go on to make an uppercase set next!

Here's what I used for the different letters:

a - star eyelets, b - small beads, c - curtain hooks, d - sequins, e - cord , f - macaroni pasta, g - red lentils , h - gold stars, i - cotton wool, j - small stones, k - ribbon , l - lollipop stick, m - pipecleaner, n - felt , o - scraps of wool, p - large beads, q - pom poms, r - shredded paper, s - glitter , t - washi tape , u - scrap of fabric, v - lace, w - nails, x - sandpaper, y - tin foil , z - paperclips.

The cards are still loose at the moment but I'm planning on attaching them to his bedroom wall somehow, perhaps gluing them on to a larger piece of cardboard as a background.

If you would like to follow me on Pinterest I would love to see you, you can find my Pinterest boards here. If you pin a lot, why not challenge yourself to make some of those things that you are busy pinning!

Sensory play with Dinosaur Island

I've had the idea of making a Dinosaur Island small world play scene for a long time, ever since I saw this Dinosaur Island post over on the wonderful Filth Wizardry. I only just looked it up again when I was writing this post and I was surprised to see how many elements I'd included in my own Dinosaur Island - it was obviously all stuck there in my head somewhere!



Dinosaur Island sensory tray

For the base I used the lid from our sand and water tray. Something like a tuff spot would also have worked really well, although there would have been a lot more space to fill.

I made some playdough (using this simple recipe from The Imagination Tree) with plenty of black food dye for a volcano centerpiece. I used some red and yellow shredded paper left over from Easter baskets for the lava. Then I placed a shallow plate filled with water for a lake, and the rest of the island was built around that.

To fill the rest of the tray I used some black dyed rice around the volcano which was leftover from our firework sensory tub. That meant that it did have stars and glitter in it, but that didn't matter! Then I made a beach with some cheap mashed potato mix, and added porridge oats and shredded wheat to make some different areas on the tray. I put some stones at one end and some green shredded paper for vegetation. I had also bought some value noodles, so I cooked up a few and put them in a shallow bowl to one side.

The scene was finished with all our plastic dinosaurs, some of which were mine when I was little!

Dinosaur Island sensory tray

Harry played with Dinosaur Island for a long time. He was surprisingly tidy, which was nice after all my hard work. He told me that he was 'making up stories', and I eavesdropped on a few which was wonderful. His favourite part was the volcano, and he liked how he could make dinosaur footprints in the playdough.

While Harry was playing with it I occupied Mia on the floor with some of the dry materials and some pots to pour things in and out of. I didn't want to let her anywhere near it! But after a few days when Harry was finished with it I let Mia at it. She enjoyed playing with it too although the dinosaur significance was lost on her, she just enjoyed grabbing handfuls of everything, filling up the volcano and throwing it all about.

If you are interested in making sensory tubs or small world sensory play then you might like this post that I wrote on my other blog which is all about sensory tubs for toddlers and has links to lots of resources.

Cross stitch lavender bag (and cross stitching guilt)

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you will know about my never ending cross stitch sampler. I can't remember exactly how long I've been working on it, but it was a Christmas present and I definitely received it before the Christmas that I was heavily pregnant with Harry. So that puts it at around Christmas 2007, which would make sense because my previous sampler was finished in summer 2007.

The sampler is large, although not enormous, but over the years I've worked on it in mad bursts of activity before putting it down for a little while to concentrate on other projects. It has definitely taken a back seat after the birth of each child. Although I've browsed other cross stitch patterns, and I have another one in mind for when it's finally finished, I've always been a faithful stitcher and only worked on my sampler.

Until that is I bought a little cross stitch kit in the sales this year. Kits are expensive, and as it was only £2.50 I couldn't resist. It was so little, and it seemed a shame to put it aside until I'd finished my mammoth project, probably several years away. So I worked on it and finished it over several sessions.

I'm really pleased with it, I think that it's very sweet, and it felt very satisfying to have actually finished something. I can't help feeling bad about my sampler though. I'm going to need to do some serious work on it now to assuage the guilt!

Felt name picture - Harry

It seems like a very long time ago that I blogged about the felt name picture that I made for Mia. I was (and still am) very proud of it, and it sits on her windowsill. As I wrote in that post, one of my next projects was to make a felt name picture for Harry too. I actually made the felt letters at the time, and then they and the blank frame ended up together in a plastic project bag and were forgotten about. I found them again when I was looking for a frame for my washi tape frame project, and it was only a quick job to finish off the entire name picture.

As I mentioned in the washi tape frame post, underneath it's just a cheap wooden frame from Ikea. Instead of glass it has thick plastic, which is obviously better when I'm making something for the children's rooms. The letters are cut out from felt and sewn together. I chose a font that I liked in Word (in this case emboldened Bookman Old Style, which is the font that I use in pictures on this blog) and brought them up on the screen in the size that I wanted, then traced through onto paper to make a template to cut around. Cutting out the letters was rather fiddly, you do need some very sharp scissors.



Harry felt name frame

Then the letters are just glued to a plain cotton background fabric and inserted inside the frame. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, perhaps it does look a little busy but it's bright and cheerful and Harry loves it. I'm so glad that I finally got round to finishing it for him!

Here is the felt name frame that I made for Mia:

Mia felt name frame

Washi tape butterfly box

I can't remember where I first encountered washi tape, although I suspect that Pinterest was involved. Washi tape is basically pretty patterned sellotape, and it originates from Japan. I tried to buy some in my local Hobbycraft at the end of last year, but I could only find a couple of rolls and it seemed very expensive. Then we went on holiday to Orlando and I found lots, very cheap, in Michaels, so I bought myself a few rolls to have a play with. Of course, on my next trip to Hobbycraft I found that they had suddenly started stocking it!

The tape had been sitting unused for too long while I looked for a project, when I re-discovered a blank cardboard butterfly box, another Hobbycraft purchase. I think that the box may be intended to be used in that myserious craft called decopatch which I've yet to explore, but it was very cheap (about 50p) and I knew that I could do something pretty with it.

So I present my first foray into the world of washi tape - my butterfly box! The edges are covered with two different rolls of washi tape, and the top is painted with pink acrylic paint and decorated with a cutout of a butterfly from an old greetings card. I'm not sure what I'll use it for yet, at the moment it is just sitting in the bathroom looking pretty.

Now, everywhere I look around the house I can see items that would look a lot better with a coating of washi tape! I have a few plain wooden magazine folders and drawer units from Ikea that definitely need brightening up. If you are thinking about having a go with washi tape, I've found lots of inspiration in this collection of washi tape projects from Red Ted Art, or just search for washi tape on Pinterest and you'll find hundreds of projects!

Crafting with the toddler that eats everything - a follow-up post

So the other day I posted about my crafting problems. I was having terrible trouble doing any of the crafty activities that we love with Mia, because she just kept eating everything that we were using. Thanks to the comments I was glad to see that I wasn't alone, and so I've come up with some alternatives that I've been trying out, to tide us over until she has learned that craft materials are not for eating!

Glue

Bek suggested that we could make our own glue from flour and water. I have fond memories of my parents making this for us, when we visited our Grandma who wasn't as well stocked with craft materials as we were at home. I looked about online and made up a recipe based on several different versions that I found.

I put two tablespoons of flour and one teaspoon of sugar into a saucepan, then added water gradually over a low heat, whisking continually. It thickened very quickly and became very lumpy, but by adding a bit more water I managed to make a paste. I gave it to the children with our usual glue spreaders, and to my surprise it worked really well. It stuck nicely, and would be particularly good for large scale gluing projects like papier mâché. It went lumpy as it cooled so you'd need to make it fresh each time, but it was definitely a success.

Yes, Mia did eat quite a bit of it, but I tried a little bit myself and it was actually quite tasty so I don't blame her!

Playdough

Bek also reminded me about homemade playdough. A little while back I found a great non-cook playdough recipe from The Imagination Tree for chocolate playdough, which was easy to make and very successful. It's still quite salty, so I wouldn't want Mia to eat lots of it, but it must be better for her than the commercial alternative. You can find everything you could possibly need to know about making homemade playdough here.

Paint and edible messy play

I found these sachets of custard powder and flavoured dessert mix in Asda, they were no more than 14p per sachet. Sainsbury's also do similar versions.

I made up the custard powder with hot water as per the instructions and the dessert mix with cold water (rather than the milk that you would use if you were actually going to eat it for dessert), and I put out a selection of different things to play with it.

It didn't stay this tidy for long!

Among other things we used bits and pieces from the toy kitchen, cars, ice cube trays and paintbrushes. It kept them both entertained for a very long time, and after that they both went straight into the bath, making this a fantastic activity which kept them happily occupied for an entire morning. It was a resounding success, and an activity that we have repeated several times over the last week!

So if you are experiencing the same problem that I am, I hope that you have found something here to inspire you while you wait for this phase to pass!

Crafting problems (and a cheeky request)

I'm starting to have a bit of an issue when I do crafts with the children. We often just do some simple things - we get out the glue and stick pictures onto coloured paper or we get out the paints and mix colours and paint toilet roll tubes and boxes. I also like getting out the play dough and the cutters.

The problem that I have is that Mia just tries to eat everything. If I give her a pot of glue and a glue spreader she will eat it as eagerly as if I've given her a bowl of ice cream and a spoon. If I give her a paintbrush she has it in her mouth within seconds. If I give her a lump of play dough she nibbles at it like biscuit dough.

I remember the first time I gave Harry all these things, they went in his mouth, I said "No, not in your mouth" and he never did it again. Mia has had all these things multiple times and it just keeps going in. I'm sure that it can't be doing her much good!

It's difficult because Harry can now occupy himself for a good amount of time, and I want to join in with him. But I have to remove Mia and put her down on the floor, where she whinges and tries to climb back up, meaning that our creative sessions keep having to be cut short. Now that she no longer naps I don't have any opportunities to do these things with Harry without her being around.

Any tips? Or do I just have to wait for her to grow out of it?

In other news, the BritMums BiB (Brilliance in Blogging) Awards are now open for nominations. If you are looking for blogs to nominate I would love for you to consider Jennifer's Little World, perhaps in the Crafts or Travel categories. Thank you so much! Find out more here.

That's not lipstick...

Crochet fail

Another challenge that I wanted to tick off my Day Zero Project list was to learn crochet. Pinterest has a lot to answer for. Despite showing no natural inclination for any craft involving yarn I have rather optimistically assembled a board entitled "Blankets", stuffed with gorgeous examples of colourful granny square blankets like this one. I thought that it would be a lovely long term project.

So I enlisted my faithful Mum to take me shopping for some yarn and tasked her with teaching me to crochet. I hope I've mentioned here before how wonderful my Mum is. She found me some simple instructions to follow, she pointed me in the direction of some useful videos, and then she spent a good amount of time sitting down with me, wincing as I struggled my way through the basics. I forgot everything that she had taught me the minute she left the room, and even when she was sitting right beside me I would generally be crocheting along happily backwards or conjuring up extra stitches from nowhere.

It was quickly becoming clear that crochet was not my craft.

Thankfully once again my Mum stepped in. One thing that I can do is knit, as long as the instructions are very simple, repetitive, and use only basic knit and purl stitches. She purchased me a pattern for a knitted blanket on Ravelry, then she simplified and rewrote the pattern so that I could follow it. I've even managed to make a start on it when she hasn't been here, and I've not messed anything up yet.

I've not got much to show for it yet and there is a long way to go, so I'll save that for another post. I also can't bring myself to tick 'Learn to crochet' off the list yet. I've got some time left to give it another go, perhaps I'll attempt something a little less ambitious next time!

It may not look too bad, but it's all I managed after several hours of tuition

Creative Creatures blog book tour

Today, I am hosting the Creative Creatures blog book tour! Creative Creatures by Donna Wilson is Donna's first children's book, containing lots of fun and inspiring crafts to make both for and with children. I was asked to choose a craft from the book to make, and I chose the Sock Monster - a fun way to use up one of the many odd socks that we have lying around our house! I also knew that I would be doing the making myself, so I wanted to choose something that Harry would have fun playing with.

Our socks unfortunately aren't as pretty as the ones in the book, but I do have plenty of colourful felt around. This version is the sock in his second incarnation - Harry decided that my first version was too scary. You will notice that he doesn't have arms like the one in the book, this is because Harry runs around chasing Mia with him and I thought that the arms might be a bit hazardous!

This is a lovely book, all the crafts can be made with things that most crafty types have around the home, and you only need very basic skills to complete them. The book contains all the patterns and instructions that you need, as well as being illustrated with some gorgeous photographs and some lovely little stories about all the creatures. I did all the sewing for the sock monster but I let Harry choose the colours to use - older children would perhaps be able to get more involved and do some of the making by themselves.

You can see the other bloggers that are taking part below, do pop by to see the crafts that they have been making from the book!

I received a copy of the book to review, but I made the sock monster all by myself. Links to book are affiliate.

PinAddicts Challenge for February - Altered book pages

In those long, empty days before children I used to enjoy having a go at altered books. They combine all sorts of crafts, and in particular two that I enjoy - collage and painting. I completed one small board book, lots of pages in a larger hardback book, and bought a third hardback book to make a new, themed one.

Then the children came along, and it has taken me until now to pick the craft up again. The book that I am using is called "Three" (purchased from the "Withdrawn for sale" shelf at the library) and I quite like the idea of theming some pages around the number three and things that come in threes. I'd been putting off working on the book for a long time as I was a bit stuck for inspiration, so I did a bit of searching on Pinterest, and found loads of ideas to get me started. I chose two altered book page designs that I really liked, and had a go at them myself.

I couldn't find anywhere to credit the original images so I haven't linked them here, but you can see them on my growing Altered Books pinboard. The first is an outline tree and the second is a cartoon sketch of a little girl, outlined in white. They are both very different to anything that I've painted or drawn before.

I might add something to the tree as I think it's a bit bare, perhaps add some writing in and turn it into a family tree or story.

I wanted the little girl to resemble Mia, but she came out looking a bit older than I intended. She is also a bit more bright and cheerful than the original, she also appears to have been unintentionally inspired by illustrator Nick Sharratt! I used watercolour to paint her and then outlined with slightly diluted white acrylic paint.

I loved working with the watercolours, and even better I actually managed to complete some of the painting while I had small children about, either occupied elsewhere or doing some painting of their own. Both pages were very quick and satisfying to finish.

Now I'm going to carry on with the book, but start to incorporate some of my own ideas. I really like the idea of drawing another girl, so I might try her out again on a different page, and maybe put a little boy in there somewhere too. I'd like to have a go with some collage too.

If you enjoy using Pinterest for inspiration, why not check out the PinAddicts Challenge and see what everyone has been making this month!

Valentine's Day toilet roll tube gift boxes

I love crafting with toilet rolls. For sweet little Valentine's Day gifts I took an idea which I used to make toilet roll Easter Bunnies and toilet roll Easter Chicks and made some little Valentine's Day bug gift boxes.

They are so easy to make, and even young children can help. Simply paint a toilet roll red (I used one whole roll and one cut in half). Then stick on some collage bits - scraps of tissue paper, coloured paper, lace and ribbon. The heart cut outs were left over from making our wedding invitations - six years ago!

Glue a heart shaped piece of red card to the bottom to make feet and a base. Then fill with sweets - chocolate hearts, or anything in red or pink paper or foil. Don't forget the googly eyes, and top with some shredded red paper to be the hair. This would be a great little gift if you were making them in large numbers for a whole class, and when the sweets have been eaten they can be used to store small treasures or pens.

Easy Valentine's Day collage bunting

Decorating for different celebrations is a really good way to get children involved, and this bunting is so easy that as long as a child can hold a glue spreader they can join in.

First you need to cut some heart shapes from red and pink cardboard. I drew a heart free hand, but an easy way to make a heart is to use the shapes from Microsoft Word or similar and print them out. Then collect together an assortment of appropriate collage materials in red and pink - scraps of tissue paper, paper napkins, bits of lace or ribbon, coloured paper, sequins and so on.

Let the children decorate the hearts with plenty of glue. Then when they are dry string them together with some coloured ribbon or string, hang up and enjoy!

Easter craft - Easter chick egg holders from toilet roll tubes

Last Easter I shared some easy to make Easter bunny egg holders from toilet roll tubes. They were based on something that I used to make for my family when I was little as a little Easter gift, sized perfectly for a Cadbury's Creme Egg or similar. Another craft which is just as easy is these cute little Easter chicks.

They are made from a toilet roll tube cut in half and painted yellow. The feet are made from some shaped cardboard painted orange, and some wings can be glued on with yellow tissue paper. Then just add some details for the face, I used googly eyes and a triangle of orange felt.

These are so easy for young children to make, and if you let them stick on the accessories they can give each chick its own personality. They would make great Easter gifts for friends or classmates.

Here they are along with their Easter bunny friends, and of course you can't celebrate Easter without some rice crispie cakes filled with Mini Eggs!

 

 

If you are looking for more Easter crafts and activities to do with Easter chicks, have a look over on my other blog, Toddler Things - Easter Chicks.

Adventures in soap making, Hobbycraft style

Making soap was another activity that I added to my Day Zero Project list. When a new Hobbycraft opened around the corner I used a 25% off voucher to stock up on things that I needed to complete some of the tasks, and this soap making kit was one of the things that I bought. There were several different kits to choose from, and I went for the House of Crafts Handmade Soap Kit which cost me just under £10 with the discount.

I didn't realise when I was putting together my list that making real soap is rather complicated and involves dangerous chemicals, but this kit uses the melt and pour method which is very easy and doesn't require much equipment.

This is what is inside the box:

The mould is only large enough to make three soaps at a time, so you can't make the entire kit at once unless you find something else to use for moulds. This means that you need to cut the soap compound up in order to melt it, making it a bit difficult to guess the quantities. However if you do end up melting too much you can always re-use it.

I melted the soap compound in the microwave in short bursts, which probably took about a minute in total. Then you just stir in some fragrance and petals, pour into the moulds and leave it to set, which takes about two hours. These are the first soaps that I made:

Grown up soap

This kit made me 9 bars of soap, and I have plenty of petals and fragrance left over. You can buy the Melt and Pour Soap Base separately, so now I've worked my way through this batch (or distributed them as gifts amongst friends and family...) I might have a go at making some more.

While I was building up the courage to have a go at using the set (I don't know why, when it was so easy!) I asked for advice on-line and Maggy at Red Ted Art directed me to her post on Dinosaur Egg Soap. By pure co-incidence a couple of days later I was shopping in Asda and spotted a small plastic egg full of tiny dinosaur erasers, and I knew that they would be perfect for some dinosaur soap. 

So I decided that I would freestyle it a bit and have a go at my own dinosaur soap. I used some green and brown twiggy bits from the kit for leaves, and as I was impatient and having only three moulds was limiting my creativity, I also used some silicon cupcake cases (not pictured) which turned out well too. Harry helped me with some of these and loved it, he's a reluctant bather but after his bath that night I think he was the cleanest he's ever been!



Dinosaur soap

I've never been sure about buying these type of craft kits, perhaps thinking that they are cheating a little bit, but I had a lot of fun making these soaps. I also purchased a candle making kit which I'm planning on opening soon, so watch this space!