Atom Model Pins

     In anticipation of UMaine Marches for Science, our local sister march to the national March for Science, I decided to make some pins for our organizing crew.  These are relatively quick to make if you have access to a die cutting machine such as the Silhouette CAMEO, but if not you may want to try drawing or printing an atom model and gluing rhinestones to it to save time.

Materials:
*Black cardstock
*Silver glitter cardstock
*Rhinestones
*All purpose adhesive
*Pins

Directions:
*Cut out four equally sized oval shaped rings for electron orbits from the silver glitter cardstock.
*Cut out a circle slightly larger than the length of the rings from the black cardstock.
*Arrange the rings in the shape of the atom model and glue down.
*Glue a big rhinestone in the center to represent the nucleus and little rhinestones along the rings to represent electrons.  Let dry.
*Once dry, glue a pin to the back.  Set aside to dry.

Glow-in-the-Dark Valentine's Day Arrows

     Cupid's not the only one in town with arrows now.  Keep him (and zombies) at bay with these fun, glow-in-the-dark arrows.

Materials:
*Cardstock in two colors of your choice
*Glow bracelets
*All purpose adhesive
*Scissors

Directions:
*Cut out a section of cardstock at least twice the height you want your arrowhead to be.

*Fold the paper in half and cut out two isosceles triangles.

*Pinch the triangles together over the end of the glow stick, keeping the edges aligned as you do so.  This will create an indent in each triangle that will make it easier to glue them together.

*Glue one triangle to the end of the glow stick and then glue the second triangle to the first, with the glow stick sandwiched in between.  Make sure to keep the edges of the triangles aligned as you pinch them together.

*Cut out a section of cardstock twice as long as you want the end of the arrow to be.

*Fold the paper in half and cut out two shapes like the end of an arrow.

*Glue one piece of the arrow end to the end of the glow stick and then the other, following the procedure outlined above.

*Cut out a triangle area at the end of the arrow.

*Cut fringes in the end of the arrow.

*Optional: decorate with washi tape or strips of colored paper.  This will block some of the light from the glow stick, but you could always create fun patterns or shapes in the light.

Mini Clothespin Zombie Heart

Materials:
*Red cardstock
*Black marker
*Scissors
*Mini clothespin
*All purpose adhesive
*Pencil

Directions:

*Draw a small heart sized to fit along your clothespin on the red cardstock and cut out.

*Draw a zombie face on the heart.

*Cut the heart in two pieces, following the mouth line.

*Glue the two halves to the top and bottom parts of the clothespin such that when the clothespin is closed, the two halves of the heart align.  Let dry.

*Once dry, your zombie is free to begin chewing away.

Zombie Fortune Valentine's Card

     Got a friend who is always wondering when they'll find love?  Help them figure it out with this handy wheel of fortune card.  Who knows, the zombie apocalypse may come sooner than we think!

Materials:
*Pink cardstock
*Red cardstock
*White cardstock
*Brad
*Hole punch
*Pen
*Mounting tape or other adhesive

Directions:
*Come up with a list of twelve zombie apocalypse love forecasts.  I've included mine at the end of this post if you need some inspiration.

*Either type up and print or hand-write the fortunes on the inside of the card.  Include your Valentine's Day message on the opposite page.

*On the front of the card, write at the top: What will your love live be like during the zombie apocalypse?

*On the bottom of the front of the card, write: Spin the wheel and then find the corresponding number inside.

*Make sure to leave enough space between the text at the top and bottom to fit your wheel.

*To construct the wheel, print out a copy of the wheel template below on white cardstock.

*Cut out the wheel and fold it in half along one of the black lines.

*Very carefully punch out a half circle shape from the center of the wheel and then unfold and smooth out the spinner.

*Draw a spinner on red cardstock, decorating as you wish, and then cut out.  Punch a hole toward the bottom of the spinner.

*Slide the brad through the holes in the spinner and wheel and flatten out the prongs at the end, taking care not to flatten too close to the end of the brad.  You want the spinner to be able to move freely.

*Adhere the spinner to the front of your card.  Give the spinner a few test spins before you glue it down to make sure it's functioning as intended.

Not sure what to write for your fortunes?  Here are the ideas I came up with:

1. You'll meet a partner who'll love you for your brains!

2. Someone will steal your heart - literally!

3. You'll have a fighting chance at love.

4. You'll have little trouble chasing someone down.

5. You'll be single, but it's for the best.  The pickings are slim.

6. You won’t be able to hold down a partner for long.

7. You'll bunker down with the last person you texted.

8. You'll be the most sought after person in town.  Too bad everyone sees you as a piece of meat.

9. There’ll be plenty of eye candy, but nothing lasting.

10. You’ll have lots of chances for a dinner date.

11. You’ll find someone who travels at your own pace, which is now very, very slow.

12. Your flings will be short lived.

Mini Photo Album Pendant

     What's better than a locket?  A mini photo album that you can wear.  Fit eight of your favorite photos inside this teeny album.

Materials:
*Mini album pendant with hollow inner cavity, e.g. this Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Locket Box
*8 photos fitted to the size of the album
*Printer paper
*Mounting squares or all purpose adhesive
*Scissors

Directions:
*Align the eight photos along the edge of a sheet of printer paper leaving a slight gap between the photos, as shown below.

*Cut out the photo strip.

*Fold the photo strip accordion style.  The photos on either end should be folded inward.

*Adhere the bottom of the strip of paper to the inside of the album.

*Decorate the outward facing page of the album if you wish.

*Close and latch.  When you open it, pull on the top "page" of the album to show off the photos,

DIY Pokemon GO AR Trading Cards

     One of my favorite features of Pokemon GO is the AR (augmented reality), wherein the program superimposes an animated image of the Pokemon you've clicked on over the image of your surroundings displayed by your phone's camera.  It enables you to take all sorts of cutesy or humorous photos with your favorite Pokemon.  But what can you do with these photos once you have them?  Why not fashion your own trading cards using your AR images?

Materials:
*Printed AR Pokemon photos
*Letter and number stickers (I used my Silhouette CAMEO to cut out the letters and numbers.  It was cheaper than buying packs of stickers, but gluing down every letter took quite a while)
*Blue cardstock
*Red cardstock
*White cardstock
*Black cardstock
*Mounting tape and/or all purpose adhesive
*Scissors
*Pencil

Directions:
*Attach printed photos to blue cardstock and then trim off the excess cardstock around the photo.

*Using stickers (or letter cut outs), write the Pokemon's number in the Pokedex and its name across the top (or bottom) of the photo (see e.g below).

*Print out the Pokeball template given below and cut out the pieces.

*On black cardstock, trace the large circle shape.

*On red cardstock, trace the shape corresponding to the upper half of the Pokeball.

*On white cardstock, trace the shape corresponding to the lower half of the Pokeball and the smaller circle.

*Cut out the various cardstock shapes and assemble the red and white cardstock pieces over the black circle to create the Pokeball shape.  Glue down the pieces.

*Glue the Pokeball to the center of the back side of the card.

*Using stickers (or letter cut outs), write Pokemon along the top of the Pokeball, curving with the shape, and GO at the bottom of the Pokeball.  Now you have your very own Pokemon GO trading cards!

Further tips and ideas: if you have friends or family members who are also fans of the game, you can exchange cards with one another to get your favorite Pokemon/complete your Pokedex, or you can give them out as gifts.  Wondering where to store your new trading cards?  Find a plain photo album that will fit your cards (mine I printed on 6 x 4 photo paper and then bought 12 x 12 sheets separated into 6 x 4 segments) and decorate it to look like a trading card book.

Creative Storage Solutions

     The beginning of a new year is a great time to take stock of what you have and get your house in order.  Here are some clever ways to clean up the clutter.

Shoe Organizer Makeup Storage

     Shoe organizers aren't just for shoes.  Use them to store makeup, hair accessories, socks and slippers, and any number of other items.

Jewelry Box Nail Polish Storage

     Jewelry boxes can be a good place to store nail polish and nail art tools.

Food Container Office Supply Storage

     You may already have seen my posts on organizers made from aluminum cans, ice cream tubs, pickle jars, and oatmeal tubs.  Here are some other food containers you can use to organize your space.

     This office supply container is an Andes Mint container I decorated with SpongeBob duct tape.

     Use the bottom of an empty cardboard soda 12 pack to hold colored pencils, rulers, or other supplies.  You could decorate it if you'd like, but no decorating is necessary.

Floss Organizer Perler Bead Storage

     Floss organizers are the perfect size for storing separate colors of Perler beads.  I like using the big compartments on the end for holding yet unsorted colors.