Cactus Craft

I keep coming across neat cactus-related ideas and thought you guys would like to check these out.

1. Paper

Simple yet fabulous-looking paper cacti project via The House That Lars Built!

2. Plastic

Plastic bottle cacti by Veronika Richterová. While she has special processes for creating her cactus art, it’d be fun to try making a simpler version of these.

3. Planters

We featured these upcycled water bottle planters by A Beautiful Mess on our Facebook page in a Try Today Friday post, but I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss them!

4. Pincushion

Sewing Lab has a tutorial for a cute stuffed fabric cactus that’s the perfect place for pins and needles.

5. Possibilities

C2C Gallery in Grand Haven, Michigan suggests using cactus seeds in artwork. What they had in mind were Helen Otterson’s botanical-inspired ceramics. (Like Succulent Blossom.) But it made me wonder about using seeds in collage to add some depth and texture.

Have you ever created something inspired by cactus or using actual parts of a cactus plant?

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Top photo taken by me at The Farm at South Mountain. Other photos via their respective sites.

April 27, 2015August 24, 2015

Michelle’s paper boat in Nashville

My friend Michelle, who recently moved to Nashville, took me up on my suggestion to make a paper boat and take photos of it in her new city.

Did you know there’s a replica of the Greek Parthenon in a Nashville, Tennessee park? Yep. And there’s an art museum and gallery space inside.

I’m glad spring finally arrived in Tennessee, and it was great to see Michelle’s boat float by!

If you make a paper boat and take a photo where you live, you can email it to hello (at) travelcraftjournal.com OR post it on Twitter with hashtag #paperboatseverywhere and mention @travelcraftjrnl. We just might share it!

March 4, 2015March 4, 2015

A Plotter and a Dreamer

In case you ever want to print some really big stuff, there’s now a plotter at Gangplank that prints on 3-foot wide rolls of paper. Not like photos, more like black-and-white line drawings. It would be great for patterns, maps, large schematics, and probably lots of things we haven’t thought of yet.

I was looking for ideas of something we could make with it during the May CraftHack meetup. I’m not sure I found anything that would work for that, but I did come across some interesting stuff.

Modified Plotter Art

XY LED Plotter (University of Illinois) – Stephen Cartwright creates abstract long-exposure photographs with an LED plotter.

Coal Drawing Machine (Belgium) – Carlos Amorales created an art installation in a former coal mine that features a modified plotter printing with charcoal.

Cardboard computer and plotter (School of Art and Design Offenbach, Germany) – In an electronic media class, students were able to use cardboard to construct a tiny working computer and plotter.

Print and fold

I wondered if we could use the plotter for printing larger versions of foldable projects like this Paris city scene or these VW buses.

Then I fell asleep and dreamed of looking for plotter crafts.

Really. In the mall, there was a store that still had a Christmas display in their window with 3 paper figures that were as tall as I was: an angel with beautiful paper cut wings, a boxy snowman, and maybe a Nutcracker. They had been printed with a plotter, cut out, and folded up (Folidify craft style). So I went to ask the store owners if they would let us have the files for our CraftHack project. They showed me this adorable little papercraft camper that was a cross between a paper VW bus I’d seen and the Fisher-Price camper I had as a kid. (Remember those?) Of course, I still don’t have the files. Because it was a dream.

But if you have any fabulous real-life ideas for projects that start with a plotter printer, let me know!

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Photos via sites as noted, except for the top one, which I took of the actual HP DesignJet 600 at Gangplank.

March 2, 2015

Fold a paper boat

papago-park-tcj-boat

One of the questions that came up on my please-ask-me-stuff post was how to make a paper hat/boat. When I made the one in my Travelcraft Journal birthday photos, I couldn’t remember how I had done it as a kid. But I found great instructions on wikiHow.

If you make one, I’d love to see a photo of you and your boat where you live!

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Microblog_Mondays

Microblog Monday: Keep calm and write on.

February 5, 2015January 7, 2021

Valentine’s DIY

I keep seeing things that would be awesome to make for Valentine’s Day. Definitely more things than I have time to actually make, so I thought I’d share a few with you.

Most of these weren’t specifically made for Valentine’s Day. They’re all fairly simple ideas that you can adapt to be romantic – or not.

1. Tiny Travel Album in a Box: I’ve been wanting to make a version of this mini photo book by Camille Styles. It’s meant to be a travel memento, but I think it would make a great Valentine’s gift with photos of a trip you took together or just fun random shots.

2. Stenciled Valentine Gift Bags: Fun idea from Martha Stewart for adding a personal touch to a small gift! Choose a stencil to fit the occasion.

3. Little self-folding envelopes: I love these colorful envelopes I spotted on Ingthings! You can fold up origami paper or repurpose whatever paper’s on hand, cutting it to size.

4. DIY Satsuma Orange Candle: I’ve been seeing this around Pinterest, and I think I found the original source: HonestlyWTF. It’s an ingeniously simple DIY, and I bet it smells nice too.

5. Seven Days of Surprises: Tuck a week full of goodies into a pill container for someone to enjoy each day! The post on The Dating Divas has printable love notes, but you could write your own or use strategically-chosen conversation hearts.

6. DIY: Lacey Clay Containers: This is a tutorial on making dishes from clay and imprinting with lace. Design Mom used the pieces she made to organize her make-up drawer, but the cup would make a great vase and the plate would be so cute topped with strawberries or Nutella brownie bites!

7. Origami Ornaments: Anne-Solange of Cachemire & Soie saw a lamp shade she loved and figured out how to re-create the look. Several of these hanging up or in a centerpiece would make a room feel so festive!

– More ideas –

2014 Valentine’s DIY roundup
Follow our Facebook for more easy ideas every week on Try Today Friday.
Learn how to make fabric flowers at CraftHack 2/9.

Let me know if you give any of these a try!

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Photos from their respective sites. (See links.)