Expressive Refrigerator Magnets

The carrot magnet is made of Plaster of Paris, courtesy of my brief stint in the Psychiatric Ward

I made these using cardboard (from an underwear box, because I couldn't stand it when the sales lady put each bra in a separate box), crayons, markers and magnetic tape. If you're not familiar with magnetic tape, here's a look at the one I bought at National Book Store:

You can also make your photographs stick to any magnetic surface using this tape. Magazine cutouts (laminated or the thicker pages) also make good refrigerator/bulletin board decorations.

If you have any other fun refrigerator magnet ideas, please let me know. I'd love to fill the door with kooky creations. :)

A Birthday Calendar

I was recently tasked to update the birthday calendar of the clinic. The old one was just a poster with all the months and birthdates placed in table cells... with a birthday cake in the background. The OT in me reared her creative head and I decided to make the calendar a bit more fun and dynamic and came up with this:

I used black card for the back, white card to print my design on, a paper fastener at the center of the wheel, red felt paper to make the pointer, and my trusty Dymo for the "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" on top of the red pointer. Sorry, I couldn't get clearer pics.

It took me 20 minutes to design the wheel using Photoshop, and the next 15 minutes were spent printing, cutting it out with a precision blade, and gluing/fastening all the other parts. It was an enjoyable project for me, and I'm thinking of other ways I could use this. Maybe I could make one too for my family, or make a game with this.

First post and how to recycle ice cream containers

My work as an occupational therapist prompts me to find ways to turn seemingly ordinary things into child-friendly materials. This is going to be a blog about my crafty ideas and other artsy fartsy ventures, all for the sake of my dearly beloved kids.

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Moving on to my first project, I cannot bring myself to pay for a small plastic container for my therapy supplies (scissors, crayons, pencils, eraser, sharpener, etc), and thus I looked around the house. I found a lot of ice cream containers (the oval kind), and they are just about the perfect size!

Peeling off the ugly sticker on top was a messy event indeed, and no amount of scraping or soaking could get rid of the glue residue. Instead of giving up, I found a large sheet of Php5 stickers (Naruto, tee-hee!) that don't stick to anything anymore. So with a little effort, here's what I've come up with:

Recycled Ice Cream Container for Therapy Supplies

Materials:
1 ice cream container (preferrably washed and dried)
1 pack of stickers
1 sheet of paper
1 bottle of glue (don't worry, you won't use up the whole thing)
1 pencil

Equipment:
1 pair of scissors
1 table (or any flat surface)

Instructions:

1. Turn the container (not the lid) upside down on a piece of paper and trace the oval outline using a pencil. Mark another oval slightly inside the traced outline (approximately 1/4"). No need to be exact, I love making guesstimates.
2. Cut out the paper oval. Slick some glue onto the lid and put the paper oval onto it.
   
3. Put another layer of glue over the paper oval.
4. Arrange the stickers onto the lid, applying glue every now and then to ensure that everything's nice and stuck. You can cut out the stickers into more interesting outlines to help fill the lid better.
5. Put a nice layer of glue over the stickers and let it dry. It'll take just a few hours.

Voila!

I actually made two of these, here's the other one: