Legendary Pokemon Articuno Paper Earrings

     This past weekend Pokemon GO released the first of the legendary Pokemon, including Team Mystic mascot Articuno.  Articuno is my favorite legendary bird, so I knew I had to make some craft to mark this event.  These earrings are made from cardstock, so they're not the most durable, but they're great for a costume or party favor.

Materials:
*Light blue cardstock
*Dark blue cardstock
*Ear wires
*All purpose adhesive
*Pencil
*Coin (I used a half dollar, but my earrings are pretty large, so you may want to use a smaller coin)
*Scissors
*Needle

Directions:

*Using the template below, cut out two Articuno shapes from the lighter blue cardstock.  This will work a lot better if you have a Silhouette CAMEO or other die cutting machine, but you could cut and trace.

*Trace your coin onto the darker blue cardstock to create two circle shapes.

*Cut out the circle shapes and glue the Articuno silhouettes to the circles.

*Use a needle to poke a hole in the top of each of the circles.

*Slide the ear wires through the holes.

Pokemon Vaporeon Hair Bow

 
   Whether you're planning on celebrating Pokemon GO Fest from Chicago or in your own neighborhood, make one of these adorable bows to keep your hair off your face as you play.

Materials:
*Medium blue/teal felt
*Darker blue felt
*Off white felt
*Metal hair clip
*Scissors
*Paper
*Pencil
*Metallic marker or chalk
*All purpose adhesive

Directions:

*Cut a strip of the medium blue/teal colored felt as thick as you'd like your bow to be.

*Glue together the ends of the felt.

*Sketch out Vaporeon's ears.  Alternately, you can use the template I give below, although I didn't scan it before I cut it up, so it's a bit messier than usual.  I originally tried drawing both ears on the template, but I couldn't get them symmetric enough for my liking, so I just used the half of the template that's complete.  That rectangular spot in the middle is where the bow will be tied.  Make sure when you're cutting out your ears that you include that, or else you might bot be able to tie off your bow properly.

*Cut out the entire ear shape from the off white felt and cut out only the uppermost segment from the darker blue felt.

*Glue the darker blue felt to the cream colored felt.

*Cut a strip of the medium blue/teal felt as thick as you want your bow's tie to be.

*Pinch the thick strip of medium blue/teal felt that you're using to make your bow in the middle such that it becomes a bow shape.  Center the Vaporeon ears at the center of the bow.

*Take the thin strip of medium blue/teal felt and glue one end to the back of the bow at the location of the pinch.  Carefully wind it around the pinched part of the bow and ears.  Glue down the other end at along the back of the bow.  You may also want to slip the metal hair clip piece under this strip of felt as well to better secure it in place, but I didn't think to do that.  Once you're done gluing down the thin strip of felt, your bow should look something like this:

*Cut a piece of scrap felt into the shape of Vaporeon's fin.  Make sure to round the bottom a little.

*Glue the fin onto the top of the bow.

*If you haven't done so already, glue the hair clip to the back of the bow.

A Different Kind of Scrapbook

     When I was a kid, my mom used to clip the comics from the Bangor Daily News and paste them into notebooks.  She created many volumes in this fashion.  My siblings and I got a kick out of reading them and they provided a source of comfort when we were home from school sick.  These collections of comics were a form of scrapbook.
     While many of us today associate with scrapbooking the art of preserving pictures, historically scrapbooks have been collections of "scraps" and memorabilia.  Articles, images, anything the scrapbooker thought was worth preserving could be pasted inside a book for safekeeping.  While some are themed, others, like mine, are a hodgepodge of collected tidbits.
     To get started, all you need is a notebook, a glue stick, and some "scraps" to paste into your book.  My book is still a work in progress and so far it includes comics, newspaper clippings, tear off calendar pages, cat memes, and infographics, among other things.

Materials:
*Notebook
*Glue stick or mounting squares
*"Scraps" such as comics, articles, images, etc.
*Markers or other decorating tools (optional)

Directions:
*Glue "scraps into your notebook.  Decorate as you wish with markers or other embellishments.