The Tingle Factor Box

Roy Creates Silver Bells Using Foil And A Lemon Squeezer

This week, with Christmas approaching, Roy wanted to make something quick and easy, but festive, to decorate his home. Roy loves old fashioned Christmas decorations, and he recalled his Grandma telling him that when she was a little girl, she would make foil bells using the foil from the milk bottle lids. Roy wondered if you could do something similar using normal foil, and enlisted Grandma’s help to find out. The results were very pretty indeed, and so Roy decided to share them. So this week, Roy Creates Silver Bells Using Foil and a Lemon Squeezer!

You Will Need:

• A lemon squeezer
• A roll of foil - use the thickest you can find. You can even use foil takeaway containers!
• A bottle or cup
• A pair of scissors (this is optional, Roy discovered you could just tear the foil)
• A wool needle
• Wool in festive colours

Method:

• Start by cutting a round from the foil. Use the bottle or cup as a guide for the circle and cut around the bottle – it doesn’t have to be neat. In fact, Roy discovered it was just as easy to tear the foil! Make your circles whatever size you like.

• Now, squash the foil over the ‘bell’ shaped section of your lemon squeezer. You will need to be a little gentle, to stop the foil from ripping

• Thread a length of wool onto the needle and carefully, going from the underside of the bell, push the needle through the foil. Tie a knot to stop the bell falling off.
• If you like, you can add extra bells to your wool – just make sure you tie a knot above each bell (by about 1 inch or more) to stop them falling down!
• Display your bells wherever you like. Roy thinks they would look very pretty outside in a tree, and being foil, they should be just fine outdoors.

Roy Creates A Fun Hopping Halloween Frog

 

 

This week, with Halloween nearly upon us, Roy decided he would like to make something simple and fun to play with, and perhaps even decorate a party. He remembered that I have a hopping frog in my room which I made many years ago, and thought this could be just the thing, and of course, lots of fun at a party, where the little paper frogs could race! He asked if I remembered how to make the origami frog, and with a bit of practice, we had a little frog hopping around. So this week, Roy Creates A Fun Hopping Halloween Frog!

 

You Will Need:

 

• Squares of thin paper in the colour of your choice. Roy decided to make his frog green, but you can use whatever colour you like. 

 

Method:

 

• Start by folding the paper in half, so you have a rectangle, with the coloured side of the paper to the outside. 

• Fold the top corners of the rectangle down, and then unfold them. Flip the paper over and repeat. 
• You should have a cross shape where the corner folds meet. Fold this down so you have a crease across the centre of the cross, and then unfold. 

• Now you want to fold the edges in along those creases so that the tip of your rectangle looks like a triangle. Look at what Roy is doing above if you need help!

• Fold the bottom corners of your triangle up so that the tips of the corners are even with the tip of the triangle. These will be your frog’s front legs. 

• Fold the base of the paper up to meet at the bottom of the frog's legs.

• Fold the sides of the paper in so that they meet in the centre, as the photo above shows. 
• Fold the bottom of the paper up so that it touches the base of your frogs legs, and then unfold again. 

• Now you have a crease along where the fold was, and you need to put your fingers behind the crease and pull so that you have two triangles sticking out the side, as shown above. 

• Now, fold the triangles down so that they meet in the centre. 

• Fold the bottom corners of the triangles out to make back feet. 

• Lastly, fold the bottom half of your frog back up, then fold half of the resulting flap back down, so you have a zig zag fold. 

• Now your frog is ready to go jumping all around. Just press your thumb down on the back of the fort gently and let go to see it jump!

Roy Creates A Colourful Paper Bag Kite

This week, Roy decided he would again like to do something crafty with his online friends. He has been enjoying his holidays, but it has been quite windy in the area where he lives. It seemed the perfect time to fly a kite, but he had none to use! He hit upon the perfect solution when he was flipping through his craft books – a paper bag kite. The resulting kite was so simple, and lots of fun to run around with and watch blowing in the wind. So this week, Roy Creates A Colourful Paper Bag Kite.

You Will Need:

• A paper bag
• Ribbons
• A hole punch
• Pencils or pens to decorate
• Wool
• Scissors

Method:

• Start by punching four holes in the top of the bag, as Roy has done.

• Next, decorate your kite! Roy coloured his in with colourful stripes

• Tie some ribbons together and use the sticky tape to attach them to the bottom of your bag
• Tie wool through the holes you punched – you will have 4 pieces of wool in total
• Tie the pieces of wool together a metre or so from the bag
• Open up the end of the bag so that the air rushes through
• Run around and watch your kite flutter behind you!

Roy Creates A Springtime Blossom Gift Tag

This week, Roy decided he had done a lot of cooking recently, and with the holidays underway, he wanted to do something a little different. He decided to look through his old craft sheets, and see if there was something inspiring to create, and found some lovely things which he plans to make in the future. With Spring underway though, he thought that this little blossom gift tag would be ideal. It is very easy to make, looks wonderful and being homemade, adds a touch of something special to any gift. So this week, Roy Creates A Springtime Blossom Gift Tag.

You Will Need:

• The template printed from the photo above
• Coloured paper. One sheet should be green to make leaves, but the other sheet can be whatever colour you prefer. Roy used a pinky purple colour
• Scissors
• Sticky tape
• A pencil to draw the outline of the flower and petal
• Roy also used a sheet of tracing paper and a cardboard box, so he could create a more durable stencil. However, you could just cut out the stencils from the sheet above and use those, if you prefer!

Method:

• Cut out the templates (or transfer them to cardboard and then cut them out)

• Trace around your template, transferring the shape of the three leaves to the green paper and the blossom to the other colour
• Cut out the shapes and set the leaves aside for later

• Start by folding the ‘A’s’ together, folding and unfolding them. You will create a folded triangle shape in the middle
• Next, do the same folds for the ‘B’s’, again, unfolding them as you go. Now you should have a hexagon shape in the centre.

• Next, fold each petal in half, with the fold facing out from the centre (as shown above)

• Push the folded petals down, one towards the other and they will sit flat as shown above. If your folds are crisp, this will be very easy to do
• Use a little sticky tape, folded into a double sided piece, or a dab of glue, to stick the flower to the leaves.
• Write a message inside your blossom and give it as a gift, or use it as a gift tag!

Roy Creates A Simple But Beautiful Paper Plate Easter Basket

Many of Roy’s friends go on an Easter egg hunt as part of their Easter tradition, and of course, they need something to collect their goodies in, but they had left it a little late to buy things to make a splendid basket with. They asked Roy if he had any ideas for how to make a simple but beautiful and practical basket for using in their egg hunt, so Roy put his thinking cap on and flipped through some of his old craft books for inspiration. Then, he came across a basket made from a a paper plate and he thought it had potential. He tried a few different ways to make the basket, and hit on one which not only gave a reasonably sized basket, but really looked quite lovely too. So this week, Roy Creates A Simple But Beautiful Paper Plate Easter Basket. 

You Will Need:

• 2 paper plates
• Scissors
• A pencil
• A stapler
• A plait or finger knitted length of wool
• Things to decorate - Roy used a stamp pad and a black pen to make Easter chicks and eggs, but you could use whatever you like.

 

Method

 

• Start by drawing a curved line across the top of your paper plate, like Roy has done in the photo above. He actually traced the line from the second paper plate!
• Put the two paper plates together and cut along the line so you have two identical shaped plates
• Flip your paper plates so that they are facing one another 

• Staple the plates firmly into place

• Slide the handle through one of the gaps between the staples, and pull the wool tight. Roy left the ends of the wool loose so they looked like tassels. 

• Now decorate your basket as you like. Roy put finger and thumb prints onto his basket, and used a black pen to make them into Easter chicks and eggs. You could use sequins, paint or glitter if you liked - whatever you prefer
• Use your basket to collect eggs during your Easter egg hunt!

Roy Creates An Easy Sew Cat From A Sock

This week, Roy was doing a big cleanup of his sock draw and came across a pair of socks which had become very thin on the sole. He wondered if there was something he could do with them, so looked through his old patterns for inspiration. He came across a pattern for a sewn cat which was very cute, but not very easy to follow. At length, he worked it out and was so pleased with the results that he wanted to share it with his friends. So this week, Roy Creates An Easy Sew Cat From A Sock.

You Will Need:

• 1 adult sock (you could do this with children’s socks, but you will have a smaller cat)
• A sharp pair of scissors. Roy has a pair specially for sewing which are very sharp
• A needle and thread (Roy suggests you choose a thread which blends with your sock)
• Toy stuffing
• A piece of ribbon
• Embroidery cotton (Roy used black) and sew on eyes to make the face.
• You may also need an adult to help

Method:

• Cut the toe off the sock and then cut out the heel. Now, cut a diagonal line from the middle of the heel (on the toe side) to where the toes were, leaving a piece about 3 or 4 centimetres wide at the toe. Your sock will look like the one Roy is holding up in the photo above

• Turn the edges of the cut sides under (to make a seam) and neatly sew the sock shut, all the way from the toe to the beginning of the heel. This will for the cats tail.

• Stuff the tail with a little of the toy stuffing

• Using a doubled piece of thread, and without ‘starting off’ the thread (you are doing what is called a gathering stitch), loosely sew from half way down the tail and all around the heel. Pull the thread gently from either end to gather the tail up. Tie the end of the cotton tightly on either end to hold the gathered section in place.
• Add some stuffing to the body of the cat (the body will be about 8 to 10 centimetres tall)

• Again using a doubled piece of thread, do a gathering stitch around the neck of the cat and gently pull the ends together to close the body off. Tie the ends off tightly.
• If you like, use a couple of stitches to sew the cat’s tail to the body, so that it stays upright.

• Stuff the head and turn the very top of the sock under and sew it shut, again using neat, small stitches.

• To make the ears, pull the corners of the sock head upwards and sew from the side, up through the top of the ear and back again a few times. Shape the ears as you go.

• If you like, make some little feet for your cat from the toe section you cut off. Sew down the centre of the toe and pull the middle inwards slightly so you have two little pockets. Stuff these and sew them shut (again making sure to fold the edges under so that they don’t fray. Sew the feet (if you made them) onto the base of the cat so that they stick out slightly

• Sew the eyes onto the cat and stitch a triangular nose in embroidery cotton. You could also embroider the eyes if you preferred.
• Lastly, tie the ribbon around your cats neck!

Roy Creates Water Bomb Fireworks

This week, for Boxing Day and with Summer well and truly upon us, Roy wanted to make something fun to play with. Many of his friends love water play, and Roy can certainly understand that, especially when it is really hot (though he really hates water himself!) He wanted to make something which his online friends could enjoy, and immediately thought of water bombs. These are one of his friends favourite water play accessories, but they are timely to fill up and disappear so fast. He thought of ways he could have a similar effect and hit on the idea of using a sponge. So this week, Roy Creates Water Bomb Fireworks!

You Will Need:

• Thin sponges. Roy used three of different colours, but you will need 6 strips in total
• A pair of scissors. They will need to be sharp to cut through the sponges
• Kitchen string

Method:

• Start by cutting six strips of sponge. You will need 6 strips per water bomb. Roy cut his strips about 1 centimetre wide

• Pile the strips on top of each other, arranging them in a star shape like Roy is doing above

• Firmly tie the string around the centre of the strips to hold them together.
• Soak your bombs in water and throw them at your friends!

Roy Creates A Unique Christmas Recipe As A Gift In A Jar

 

This week, Roy decided he wanted to make something for a few of his friends as a Christmas gift. Roy has many friends though who have most of the things they want and do not want money spent on them at Christmas, so it needed to be something thoughtful and inexpensive. He has often made various baked goods for gifts, but he wanted something a little different. When he was perusing some old newspapers though, he came across an intriguing little 'recipe' which he thought might be the perfect thing to share. It was published in the Sunday Mail on December 16, 1928 and was so simple and beautiful that he had to find some way to make it into a gift. So this week, Roy Creates A Unique Christmas Recipe As A Gift In A Jar.

You Will Need:

• A jar of some sort (Roy used a small bottle)
• Pretty ribbon or string
• A piece of plain paper (you could use coloured paper, but make sure you can write on it)
• Pens (Roy used gel pens to add a bit of a Christmassy feel)
• A copy of the recipe
• A piece of material (Christmassy material is best, but use whatever scraps you have)
• A rubber band

A Christmas Recipe:

• Take equal parts of kindness, unselfishness and thoughtfulness.
• Mix in an atmosphere of love
• Add a spice of usefulness and scatter a few grains of cheerfulness.
• Season with smiles
• Stir with a happy laugh and dispense to everyone.

Method:

• Start by cutting a slip of paper which will fit inside your jar. Make sure it will not stick out of the top of your jar!

• Neatly copy the Christmas Recipe onto the paper. Roy labelled his recipe ‘Christmas Spirit Recipe’
• Roll the recipe up so that it fits in the jar and tie with string.

• Put the rolled paper inside the jar

• Cut a rough circle from the material, big enough to fit over the lid of the jar.
• Hold the circle of material in place with a rubber band and tie a piece of ribbon or decorative string over the top to hide the rubber band.
• Give this gift to someone who has everything they need and would appreciate some Christmas Spirit!

Roy Creates An Old Fashioned Quill Pen

This week Roy decided it was time to fulfill one of his friends requests. Roy loves being asked by his friends how to do things and when his friends became interested in making quills he was thrilled to be able to share the instructions. Harry Potter remains very popular with the children and they were interested to find out what the quills he writes with were like. So this week Roy Creates An Old Fashioned Quill Pen.

You Will Need:

• A large feather. Roy has used Cockatoo feathers in the past but one of his friends was able to supply him with some goose feathers which are very traditional. The feather needs to be very hard and you may need to cut more than one quill before you find one which writes well
• A sharp craft knife
• Paper and ink to use your quill (you could use very watery, runny paint if you didn't have any ink)

Method:

Note: making a quill will require parental assistance. Make sure to have an adult helping you!

• Start by stripping the lower feathers away from the quill. Use the knife to cut them carefully off, making sure not to damage the quill in the centre.

• Now you need to decide which way you want your quill to be held (how it sits comfortably). Roy likes the feather to sweep back over his hand. Turn the quill up the opposite way when you cut the nib. 

• Next, make the first cut. You need to lay the knife almost flat against the quill and cut diagonally down to the end to reveal the inside of the feather.

• This should have revealed the inner workings of the feather and there will probably be a fluffy substance inside. Use the tip of the knife to scrape all of this away. You need the inside of the quill to be clean.

• Now, make the second cut. To do this, hold the knife at about a 45 degree angle and cut diagonally down the quill. This should leave you with a reasonable tip area.

• Next, make a small slit in the quill. You want to have a short cut which splits the nib area of the quill and allows the ink to run down smoothly.
• If you like, shape the nib. Roy wanted a sharp point, but you can shape it so that it is a flat, wider nib for calligraphy if you prefer.

• Now, dip your quill in the ink and try writing with it. If all has gone well it will write smoothly and for about half a sentence.
• When the quill goes blunt, you will need to recut it or start again with a new feather

Roy Creates An Old Fashioned Hopping Hankie Mouse

This week, Roy was looking for something quick, simple and fun to make for his online friends. Some of his friends had been looking for a simple toy to make to play with during long car trips or even plane rides when they had nothing on hand and one of Roy’s Aunties suggested he find out how to make a handkerchief mouse. Aunty Rosemary told Roy about the handkerchief mouse her Mum used to make from Dad's handkerchief to keep her happy in Church. Roy had never heard of such a thing, but he did some research and soon found out how to make this old fashioned novelty toy. He was very happy with his cute little mouse when he finished and decided to share the instructions. So this week, Roy Creates An Old Fashioned Hopping Hankie Mouse.

You Will Need:

• 1 mens handkerchief

Method:

• Spread out your handkerchief
• Lay your handkerchief flat on the table

• Fold the corners in so you have a triangle like Roy has above

• Fold the points where the handkerchief is now folded in half in towards the middle, overlapping them a little.

• Roll the handkerchief up from the folded area towards the tip, leaving about 4 centimetres loose.

• Turn the handkerchief roll over and curve the roll around so that the ends touch.

• Fold the points over the joining fold and tuck them in

• Now, carefully roll the handkerchief like Roy is doing until the loose ends appear

• Flatten one end of the handkerchief, fold the corner back on itself so you have a flat triangle, and tie it in a knot to form a head and two little ears

• Tie a knot at the end of the other loose end to make a tail

Now you can play with your mouse. If you hold the mouse in your left hand and run your right hand along its back you can use your left hand to make it hop.