Second Sunny Sunday in May

It was such a beautiful day and with many plans to spoil our mums, we decided to start our day early. So early in fact that all cameras were forgotten and we had to resort to the trusty mobile phone camera (oops!)

We started the morning by spray painting our chalkboards to be. Whilst there were pots of chalkboard paint available we thought the spray paint would be faster drying (we're impatient, as you may have figured) but also provide a smoother finish for writing on. We've still got a few things to add to these before they're complete, so we left them to dry and will come back to them next week.

After making bread clay last week, we pulled it out of the fridge and got rolling and cutting. Our black dough was so tough and  impossible to roll - we're not sure if this was the result of too much glue or possibly the type of paint used (we resorted to a different acrylic brand to that used in the other doughs as it was all we had left in our paint collections). Either way, the black dough made a quick exit to the bin but thankfully, the other doughs turned out beautifully and they were super easy to roll and cut.

LD picked up a great set of cookie/fondant cutters for less than $20 and they definitely made the job a lot easier.

Veeni made these cute heart buttons that would look fabulous sewn onto her felt creations, but they could also be used for cards or gift. Not too sure how they would go through the wash, so we'd probably avoid sewing them onto clothes.

Veeni also wanted to have a go using molds and these little, old men, albeit a little creepy with their fat noses and wrinkly smiles, looked perfect for the job. Unfortunately they weren't dry enough for us to see how they worked out but we'll let you know next week.

Sticking to her accessory trend LD created some art deco inspired brooches and pendants. LD is a wee bit obsessed with the 1920s at the moment, chopping her locks into a bob and swooning over Gatsby - if only he had fallen for anyone but Daisy!

LD later varnished these up with some clear nail varnish, a multifunctional tool that can be used for so many things (see here!)

LD also made a few buttons of her own but her cat, Kit, also took a fancy to them and now most of them can't be found. Luckily, all ingredients are non toxic.

For three hours we had a pretty productive session and we definitely love the easiness of bread clay and the endless possibilities of what can be done with it.

Breadwinner

This Sunday was all about preparation. We're attempting to give ourselves a deadline each weekend e.g. 3 hours, in order to remain productive, rather than spending too much time procrastinating or chatting (although we've found we're very good at multi-tasking with that one).

Firstly we whipped out the man tools by sawing and drilling some wood pieces, LD forgot the main ingredient to this one though, so you will have to wait until next Sunday to see what this turns out to be.

We then moved on to Veeni's home-made silk screen, unfortunately the tricks for this one weren't quite right for the trade either so we will have to wait til V's dad can give us a hand with this one - stay tuned.

Lastly, we went on to a craft that LD's mum used to do with her when she was a youngen, it's called bread clay. Some of you may be familiar with this, but for those that aren't: it is a mixture made up of white bread (crusts removed), white craft glue and acrylic paint. The acrylic paint gives it a vibrant colour and the clay can be used to make almost anything from decorating photo frames to Christmas tree ornaments. It also air dries, making it a 1980s mummy's dream.

There are a number of ways to make bread clay but we thought we would try the cleanest way by preparing it all in plastic zip lock bags. The problem we found with this was that the glue doesn't get tacky easily, the mixture gets stuck in the corners and it seemed to take ages to form a ball. So, being an impatient bunch, we decided to do it the old fashioned way and get dirty. Mixing and kneading the dough saw much quicker results and, although LD had a moment of panic when she couldn't seem to get black goo off her hands (watch how much glue you use) it did eventually form a pretty, plasticine-like ball. 

Another thing worth mentioning is that though some suggest to add the paint after forming the ball, we actually found it easier to add the paint at the same time as the glue. The first batch we added the paint later on but we found it took a long time to work the colour through the mixture, you'd think it was done and then push down on the dough and see more white in the middle. Adding the paint with the glue removed this issue.

Making a few different colours of the dough took up the majority of our time but, as it can be stored in the fridge until you're ready to use, it will be great to jump straight in next Sunday.