Quickie plastic bottle caps Tic Tac Toe

Tic Tac Toe, is the easiest doodle game one can think of when bored. All you need is a pen and paper. Four lines to form nine boxes. Circles and cross-marks. And you can go on endlessly.

As kids, we used tamarind seeds. We sanded out one side of the seed over rough cement stairs to show its beige inner layer - three to be precise, and let the other three seeds stay whole. Lemon sized granite stones heaped along street construction sites were equally handy for the game. That was then.

You can add a colourful twist to the game and keep its casual flavour and portable essence. Use bottle caps that you would throw away otherwise. Just make sure you have three each of two different colours. Else, you can simply embellish them into such colours.

The supplies for this project are simple, and available around the household usually. It's a perfect one to keep your child engaged on a rainy day. Make it, and play away.

You need:

-- a pair of scissors (paper trimmer is optional in addition to this)
-- cardstock or thick cardboard of the colour of your choice, or any cardboard from diwali gifts
-- decorative tape or duct tape, about half inch thick
-- stickers to embellish which is optional
-- six plastic bottle caps...use your discretion while choosing their size and that of your cardboard's
-- a ruler and pencil to cut the cardboard into a square


Before you get started with any of the steps, make sure to wash the bottle caps and dry them out for a while.

Firstly, use the ruler and a pair of scissors to mark your cardpaper into a square and cut. My favourite for cutting paper is a paper trimmer.
You do not need it for this project. If you have one, use it by all means.

Next step: Roughly mark out the square piece, and fix the tape spanning it at one third the width. To keep it neat, it's alright to let the tape spill over to the other side.

Gauge the left over space adjoining this tape, and run it again at the two thirds marked area. Note that the dimensions need not be accurate to the point. You need an approximate division.

Now, use the same method and run another piece of the tap across these two lines at one third and two third divisions of the cardboard.

Next on, you could embellish your bottle caps. I chose to embellish the green bottle caps with stickers, as the print on them looked tacky.  The game is ready to use.

If you are a pro at using decorative tape, you can make it a reversible sheet with the tape running on both the sides.

The piece I made is 8 and half inches wide. The tape with less than an inch came in handy. This size is perfect to get tucked into your office folder. The caps, you can tuck into a string gift bag and carry in your purse. Or simple drop them into the laptop bag. And the game is ready to go to work.

It's a game your kid can take for a school picnic too. Make sure you smooth out any sharp edges on the cap. If it's a project you do with your child, watch over the child's use of scissors.

Pictures Courtesy: Radhika M B
For permissions to use content and pictures, write to: radicreative@gmail.com

Scrubber with grocery mesh bags

What happens to those onion and garlic mesh bags once you finish using them? Ever thought of creative ideas with such produce bags?

However hard I try to avoid them, every once in a while, I end up with a plastic mesh bag and wonder what to do with it.

What I tried out has been tried a good deal by creativists across the world. It was still an experiment for me - converting them into a scrubber for use either in bath, or at the sink.

Interestingly, the quick project did not need a drop of glue at any point. Wash and dry the bags before you do any experiment.

What you need for the homemade scrubber:

-- some plastic mesh bags that come with onions or garlic, or other items
-- a pair of scissors
-- tapestry needle with a wide hole
-- plarn (plastic yarn) made from a fairly thick plastic cover
-- optional is a skein of embroidery thread

I had in my stash, plastic netted bags that were bundle-taped at one end, and also bags that were heat-compressed to make for the bottom. The advantage was that I could use the bundle-ended bags to stuff into the flat ended ones.

You will need to cut off the bundle ends. And spread the mesh bag out. Stretch it well, so you can fold it. Do it with two bags.

Fold these bags in a way that they fit into the the flat-ended mesh bag. This is trial and error. You can try out the folds in different ways.

Gently push the folded set into the flat mesh bag. Make sure that the edges of these folds do not jut out from the mesh bag.

 Now fold this bag. Thread plarn into your tapestry needle and start sewing the edges. I used button stitch for two sides and overcast stitch on other two sides.You will need to crease the plarn from time to time. It gets rough with each passing stitch too, thanks to the sharp plastic in the mesh.

Stitch any left over plarn into the existing stitches. Your homemade scrubber is ready. You may use it this way. I had another idea to make it look better.

Out came my crochet hook. Using the existing hooks in the edges, crochet a single crochet chain around the scrubber.

I crocheted two lines with the plarn. Stitching plarn on to a plastic mesh, and crocheting it, are more difficult than working them with an embroidery skein or other threads. Do not give up. Here is where you can alternatively try edging off with embroidery skein. Am not sure about how long it would last with the scrubber though.

The scrubber is ready for use. I am happy with the result. It is not perfect. It's functional. It is satisfying.

I was lucky to have a red plarn ready. If you do not, try using contrasting colours. Experimenting has no end with such projects. Tutorials to convert a plastic bag into a single plastic yarn exist on the internet. They are easy and fun. If you do not have plarn, try using the plastic thread available from thread stores. Just make sure it is not too sharp on the skin. You can add more mesh bags into the flat ones for a fluffy piece. Fine mesh bags are more suited for bathing, while the rough ones come in handy for dishes in the sink. Use your discretion. At no point should you let the piece of plastic hurt you though.

Try your hand at upcycling those plastic mesh bags and save on some scrubber bucks.

Pictures Courtesy: Radhika M B

For permission to use, write to: radicreative@gmail.com

Duct tape roll hurry stash holders for the door: How to make

That moment when you walk out the door, and realize you forgot a set of keys, either to the car, or to that office desk drawer...how often have we had those WTH moments?

You wish your house door sang out a checklist to you before you left.

An option would be to make yourself, a `doorganizer' mini-shelf. I am not talking the wood-worked and expensive variety, but one that will not cost you your purse.

All you need, is the duct tape or hardware work tape ring, in other words roll or cardboard.

This cardboard ring is thick, and can be used for a variety of projects. I have used it, to make a stash for my house keys.

This one can be used as a decorative piece too, to hold tiny toys. The materials you need:

-- Used up roll of a duct tape
-- piece of corrugated cardboard
-- some more decorative duct tape or `cello' tape
-- a pencil
-- self adhesive or double sided tape
-- a pair of scissors
-- 3-D outliners - colour of your choice
-- multi-surface craft glue
-- glue applicator or ice-cream candy stick (optional)

Method:

On the piece of cardboard, use the outer edge of the duct tape roll to draw a circle.

And cut the circle out.

Next, glue this circle to one side of the duct tape roll.

 Let the glue dry out for about an hour.

Use the other pieces of duct tape you have, to cover its inner wall. You may do this either before fixing the circular cardboard piece, or after. I did it before. This plastering may be a little tricky. Do not beat yourself up if the rough edges of duct tape show. Using scissors on this adhesive tape is a hassle too, as it sticks to the tool.

Wrap the outside of this ring, with another decorative duct tape. You can play with colours and patterns here.

After fixing the duct tape, make sure to fill the top rind of the roll with a 3-D outliner.

This will take a while to drive...anywhere between an hour to two. I tried my hand at patching up the inner edges too.

Once it is dry, fix some self adhesive tape to the rear of the base you made with that circle. You can use this for emergency coin supply.

Or,

..as a watch holder.

I fixed it on my door to hold the house keys. True that the market out there has umpteen key holders with their hooks and decor element. But nothing like a home-made shelf sitting on my door.

Alternatively, fix a pair of earrings that you may want to grab on your way out.

Tips:

This grab-it shelf is meant for smaller objects and cannot hold heavy articles. If you need a multi-use one, you will need to make more such shelves.

Wipe off any glue stains on your pair of scissors

Let the 3-D colour squeezed, dry out enough before you use it

Use sufficient double sided tape to firm up the little shelf on your door. Smooth surface doors may be a problem.


Give yourself a pat when you walk out the door the next time. Your keys are right in front of you.

Picture courtesy: Radhika M BFor permissions to re use, write to: radicreative@gmail.com

How to make polymer clay flower cane beads

Clay jewellery's popularity has grown by leaps and bounds over the last few years. And so has experimenting with not just clay, but polymer clay too.

For the uninitiated, it could be intimidating - the intricate patterning and craftsmanship involved. What you need is an Oven Toaster Grill, or the OTG oven as it is known. Sankgetha Sripathy who loves to experiment with clay and polymer clay, gives us this easy to follow tutorial to make polymer clay beads. She has used the flower cane in a beautiful combination.

Grab your tools and get set to learn.

You need:

-- an OTG oven
-- pasta making machine
-- polymer clay in a few colours
-- round cutters for the clay, or cookie cutters of different sizes
-- little silver colour balls in jewellery finings
-- a polymer clay knife
-- roller
-- head pins and fish hooks in jewellery findings
-- jewellery pliers
-- jewellery wire

STEPS:

Flatten the lumps of of clay with the roller.

2. Feed the clay into the pasta machine at Setting 8, which Sankgetha says, is the thickest setting on her machine. 

3. One colour should be rolled into a tube, while the other colours need to be used, to cover this.

4. In this picture, she has kept the lavender colour tube of polymer clay ready to be rolled over with white clay. 

Add the gold layer to top it.

5. Once done with the adding of layers, roll the tube between your palms to make it a long one, and use the knife to cut it, into five or six pieces. This, will give you smaller tubes. Here, she has used a contrast of colours for her flower beads.

Sankgetha decided to make flowers using the little tubes that she got out of the long tube. She then organized these tubes into a floral pattern.

 

Notice the piled up tubes she set aside here. The contrasting colour she chose to make the floral design, was a white, that made up her Step 8 of the process.

Step 9: She rolled the white clay into a little tube.

 

 She kept this aside and used the cookie cutters to make separate balls, with the gold coloured clay. 

To set them into the pattern, she used another sheet of the gold coloured clay to roll around the arranged tubes.

This large tube, she cut into two tubes for further slicing. But before anything further, she cut discs with the gold coloured clay.

These need to be kept aside. Using the cookie cutter, she then cut the desired discs from gold coloured clay and rolled them into balls. She sliced the flower tube into little discs that she fixed into these balls. Naturally, your gold ball size needs to be larger than these floral discs to accommodate them.

After fixing the floral diskettes into a ball, you will need to roll it between your palms to give it the perfect round shape. This will ease the cane flower discs settle well into the ball.

Make a whole bunch of such balls. Once they are ready, use tooth-picks or needles to insert holes into them and turn them into beads.

The same method can be used to make white coloured beads too.

These beads, need to be baked in the OTG Oven. Usually, baking instructions are given on the cartons of polymer clay that you buy. You will then need to cool the beads. And they are ready for use in your projects.

She used the jewellery making wire to make a necklace. You can use it or try elastic chords to make bracelets. Use the small silver colour beads as fillers. The headpins and fish hooks shall be used to make earrings.

 

Once you begin your little polymer clay projects, there is no end to your willingness to try more. If you do not have an OTG oven and pasta maker, it would make sense to tie up with those into polymer jewellery already, or get a group of friends to pool in money for one. Do so if you are serious about long term use.

The best feeling you can take away from each of these projects, is that you made your own jewellery. You may use this for gifting too.

Pictures Courtesy: Sankgetha Sripathy

For permissions to use, write to: radicreative@gmail.com