The Tingle Factor Box

Roy Creates Easter Hardboiled Eggs

Roy loves Easter. He loves the bright colours, the way that everybody is happy, and of course he loves the Easter Bunny. He also likes chocolate and thinks chocolate eggs are a great thing to find left for you. He doesn’t only like chocolate eggs though, he also loves hardboiled eggs. I told him that when I was little his Grandma and I would make decorated hardboiled eggs for Easter and he thought this sounded like great fun. So with a little help from Grandma, Roy Creates Easter Hardboiled Eggs.

You Will Need:

• Room temperature eggs
• Food colouring
• White vinegar
• A white candle (or you could use a crayon as long as it is a wax crayon)
• Rubber bands
• Round stickers

Method:

• The first thing you need to do is hardboil your eggs. Put them in a saucepan of cold water, add a good pinch of salt and bring them slowly to the boil. Boil until they are cooked to your liking (if you want them fully hard, and don't mind the grey ring, boil for 7 minutes)
• Cool your eggs

• Now, make the designs on your eggs. Use the candle to draw wax pictures, put spots on the eggs to make polkadots or wrap the eggs with rubberbands to make random lines or anything else you like!

• Now, to dye the eggs. Use a few bowls (which will not absorb the dye!) and put enough water to half cover your eggs in the bowls. Add the food colouring (you need enough to make a good, vibrant colour) and a good splash of vinegar. Roy used two bowls and had two different colours. 

• Use a spoon to carefully lower the eggs into the dye and move them around to ensure they absorb the dye evenly.

• Remove the eggs from the water with a spoon and rinse them off to remove the excess dye. Allow the eggs to dry on a paper towel, turning them to make sure they don't sit in a puddle.
• If you like, add more spots or dye and dip the eggs into another colour. Roy made one blue and red spotty egg this way!

• Take off your rubberbands and spots and enjoy your colourful eggs! You could even give them as a gift in the Easter nest Roy showed you how to make last week!

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Roy Creates An Easter Egg Nest

Roy Creates An Easter Egg Nest

This week, with Easter nearly here, Roy has noticed that some of his friends have been wanting to make baskets or boxes to keep their eggs in, or which the Easter Bunny can leave their eggs in. Roy thinks this is a great idea, but he thinks it would be even more fun if there was a way to make a nest.  I told him about an activity which his Grandma used to let me do when I was little – making starch and yarn balls or bowls using balloons. He thought this sounded really interesting and fun, and wanted to have a go himself. He was very impressed with the results and wanted to share them with his online friends. So this week Roy Creates An Easter Egg Nest.

You Will Need:

• Flour and water paste (you want about equal parts flour and water because the paste needs to be strong!)
• Wool, yarn, or string
• A water balloon (water bomb). If you wanted to make big nests, you could use a normal sized balloon
• A cup flower pot to sit the balloon in the top of to dry.

Method:

• Blow the water balloon up so that the round end is about the size of a nest and sit the balloon in the cup or flower pot, with the rounded ‘nest’ end on top
• Cut the yarn into manageable lengths. You don’t want a whole ball  because you might get glue on it and then it wouldn’t be useful for anything else!
• To make the flour and water paste, mix the flour and water together until the mix is smooth and there are no lumps. You want a thick, glue like consistency, so add more flour or water as necessary. You can use your hands to mix the glue if you like – you’ll be getting glue on them soon anyway!

• Soak a yarn lengths in the glue, then run your fingers along the it to remove the excess glue and wind it around the end of the balloon.
• Keep going until you have a good ‘nest’.
• Put the balloon aside and let the yarn dry COMPLETELY. This might take a whole day and night!
• When the string is dry, carefully cut a slit in the balloon, near where you tied it off and let the balloon deflate. Roy didn't have to do this, his balloon deflated on its own!

• Peel the remains of your balloon out from the inside of your nest
• Now, set your nest aside, somewhere that the Easter Bunny can fill it up or fill it with eggs and give it away as a gift!

Roy Creates An Activity Which Blows - Bubble Painting

This week, with so many of Roys friends going back to school and needing to make title pages and book covers and book marks, Roy decided he wanted to share an idea to create beautiful patterned pictures. He has many painting activities which he loves, but one of his favourites is bubble painting. It is quick, easy and, when he was little, was very popular. Today many people seem to have forgotten about bubble painting, but Roy thinks it is perfect for making special book covers. So this week Roy Creates An Activity Which Blows - Bubble Painting.

You Will Need:

• Food colouring or water soluble childrens paint
• Water
• Dishwashing liquid (or bubble bath)
• A plastic straw per person
• Large, shallow containers. Roy used pie dishes, but you could use baking dishes instead.Disposable ones are fine too.
• Paper - blank, white paper is ideal.
• Newspaper or plastic (for protecting the worksurface from spillages!)

Method:

• Cover your workspace with the newspaper or plastic.

• Place the shallow container or containers onto the paper and add a really good squeeze of the dishwashing liquid. Roy used about 2 teaspoons of dishwashing liquid, but you might have a stronger, or weaker one, so adjust the amount to ensure you get good bubbles!

• Add enough water to fill the container to about 2 centimetres deep. You need enough liquid to be able to immerse the straw.

• Add your food colouring. You want a good, strong colour so that when the bubbles pop on the paper it leaves behind the colour. Roy needed about 1 teaspoon but if your container is bigger you might need more.
• Mix the water, food colouring and dishwashing liquid together

• Use a straw to blow bubbles in the colourful, soapy water. Make sure you only blow - you don't want to get a mouth full of soapy water! If you are going this with young children, you can use a pin to make a small hole in the straw a few centimtres from the top, and this will make it harder for them to suck the liquid up.

• When your bubbles are bubbling up above your container, gently press your piece of blank, white paper down against the bubbles. You don't want the paper to touch the water, just the bubbles.
• As the bubbles pop the paper will get colourful, circular patterns.
• You can repeat the process with other colours to get more intricate designs. Roy used blue and red, and when he collected the bubbles from both colours on one piece of paper he had purple patches. He also combined the red and blue liquids to make purple bubbles.
• Let the paper dry and use it for covering books, making cards or wrapping presents!

Roy Creates Old Fashioned Christmas Tags

This week, with Christmas almost upon us, Roy decided he wanted to make something which he could use to add a personal touch to the presents he plans to give. Roy loves making his wrapping special and beautiful, and when he saw some old, paper and tinsel Christmas decorations in an antique shop he wondered if he could somehow create his own version, but as gift tags. With a little trial and error, he created something he was very pleased with and decided to share the instructions. So this week, Roy Creates Old Fashioned Christmas Tags

Roy Creates Soft Drink Bottle Christmas Decorations

With Christmas coming up, Roy wanted to create some beautiful decorations to decorate his home and garden. Earlier this year he created flowers using soft drink bottles and they have been his garden for several months and still look beautiful. He wondered if he could make decorations using the bottles too so cut out a few simple templates and set to work. He was really pleased with the results and decided to share them with his online friends. So this week Roy Creates Soft Drink Bottle Christmas Decorations.

Roy Creates A 'Housewife' Sewing Kit

This week, Roy was inspired by the Tingle Factor Item we discussed earlier this week. He had not seen such an item before and when, during our research into the history of the ‘housewife’, we came across a page which reproduced instructions for an American Civil War version (to see them click here) he had to try making one of his own. He decided he particularly liked the rolled up version which I had written up earlier in the week, so made a pattern to reproduce it. The results were fabulous, and he thought might even make great Christmas presents for sewers. So this week, Roy Creates A Housewife Sewing Kit.

You Will Need:

• Cardboard (optional)
• A washable pen or chalk pencil or lead pencil.
• Fabric. Roy used a plain white calico style fabric which he embellished with lazy daisies, but you could use a patterned fabric if you preferred.
• A Ruler
• Cotton. You can use cotton which blends with your fabric choice, or if you like choose a contrasting colour.
• Scissors
• A needle
• A piece of ribbon (Roy used a nice silk ribbon)
• Things to fill your housewife with (a little pair of sewing scissors, cottons, needles, pins, buttons etc is traditional, but it could be used for medicines or for other feminine items)
• Optional - A piece of wool felt for needles

Method:

• Cut out a rectangle 40 centimetres by 15 centimetres (or whatever size you want to make it). This measurement includes seam allowances.
• Trace the rectangle onto your fabric using a washable pen or chalk pencil.

• Carefully cut your fabric out.

• Fold the seams over as Roy has done above and pin them down. This will stop your housewife from fraying. Iron your seams flat, if desired.

• Using the needle and thread, firmly stitch the seams down. Roy just used a small running stitch.  You could do this with a machine.
• If you like, decorate the housewife before sewing the pockets. Roy used red embroidery cotton to sew lazy daisies. If you need instructions on how to sew lazy daisies, visit Roy Creates A Pillowcase Doll.

• Now, turn the two ends over (make sure the seams are on the inside) and pin them down. Oversew the sides to make two pockets. Roy made one quite deep and one shallow, but you can make them as big or small as you like.

• Now, to fill in the rest of the area. You can sew a flap of wool felt into the area inside centre of the housewife to hold needles as Roy has done (again he used running stitch), or you might like to add some loops of ribbon which can be used to hold containers, pencils or scissors in place.

• Cut a length of ribbon (Roy used red to match his daisies). Your ribbon will need to be about 20 centimetres longer than the housewife itself
• Sew your ribbon into the centre of the outside of the housewife, as Roy has done above.
• Fill your housewife with whatever you like and then roll it up and use the ribbon to tie it shut.

Roy Creates An Orange Jack-O-Lantern

This week, Roy decided that with Halloween coming up he wanted to do something to get in the spirit. Roy doesn't celebrate really Halloween, but lots of his friends do and have been asking him for ideas of things to make and do. He liked the idea of making a Jack-O-Lantern, but thought carving a pumpkin might be a little difficult for some of his younger friends. He also thought a pumpkin might be a bit big, so he turned to something a little smaller, an orange. He wasn't sure if his idea would work, but was thrilled with the results, so this week Roy Creates An Orange Jack-O-Lantern.

Roy Creates A Colourful, Woolly Blossom Tree

This week, when Roy was going for a walk he noticed all the beautiful blossom trees in full bloom, especially the Crab Apples. Roy loves Spring, and the flowers and blossom trees which burst into life and wished he could bring a touch of the season inside. When he picks flowers though, they don't last and so he thinks they are better in the garden. Then, he found a stick in the garden which looked just like a miniature tree and thought it might be the base for a new craft activity. He had a couple of tries at making blossoms to stick on the tree and decided that tiny, wool blossoms looked fantastic. So this week, Roy Creates A Colourful, Woolly Blossom Tree.

Roy Creates Soft Drink Bottle Flowers

This week, with Spring in the air, Roy wanted to create something floral to brighten up the house or garden. He loves Spring, with all the flowers and baby animals, but being so early in the season, hasn't seen too many of these things yet. He remembered seeing a house in Mudgee (if you'd like to see it, click here) which had flowers and plants made out of soft drink bottles, and wanted to have a go at making some himself. So he collected up all the old soft drink bottles over a few weeks and tried out a few techniques. He was really happy with the results, so decided to share them with you. So this week, Roy Creates Soft Drink Bottle Flowers.

You Will Need:

• Soft drink bottles. Roy particularly liked the flowers made from 1 litre bottles, but you can use smaller or bigger bottles too.
• A knife (to make the first hole)
• A pair of scissors
• A pen
• Paint and a paintbrush
• A metal skewer
• Bamboo skewers to stand your flowers on

Method:

• There is a line around the top 3rd of the soft drink bottle, where Roy is cutting in the above picture. Use the knife to make a hole just below this line.

• Slide the scissors into the hole and then use the line as a guide to cut the top of the bottle off.

• Use the pen to draw five rough petals on the bottle and then cut them out using the scissors.You can also make lots of straight petals to make a daisy

• Bend the petals back so that the flower is open

• Use the metal skewer to bore a hole in the bottle top. You might need an adult to help you with this. When you have a hole, poke a bamboo skewer in to make a 'stem'

• Use the flower stem to hold the flower while you paint the inner petals whatever colour you like. If you plan to put your flowers outside in the rain, use waterproof paint (or varnish them when you have finished painting)
• Let the paint dry
• When the paint is dry, you can use a different colour to make spots on the petals, or just leave them plain like Roy did. Roy used 2 coats, but only painted on the inside of the bottle

• Paint the bottle tops green to look like the base of a flower bud
• Put your flowers in a big vase inside or in the garden and enjoy

Roy Creates Crazy UFO Crayons

Earlier this week, Roy was doing a bit of a clean up. He had craft supplies all over the place, and I suggested we needed to sort out what we had and throw or give away the things we didn't need or couldn't use. We found a huge container of crayons, but there were a lot of broken ones, which are more difficult to use. Roy didn't want to throw them away, but since he also had lots of whole ones, he didn't know what to do with them. His Grandma told him she had read that you could melt crayons in the oven to make new, crazy crayons and Roy thought this sounded like fun. We had to try lots of different combinations, and made lots of icky brown crayons before we succeeded, but what we created in the end was awesome. So this week, Roy Creates Crazy UFO Crayons.