Make: Book-Pumpkin

I sometimes fall into the trap of drafting a crafty to-do list that is so long I end up making nothing at all. In an effort to combat this, a few weeks ago I prioritized which projects deserve the little free time I possess. This exceedingly cute book-pumpkin quickly rose through the ranks.

I adore fall decor (as you will see in a future post) and I love books, so this guy was a no-brainer. Once finished, I kept finding excuses to walk through my dining room and look at it.

I anticipate that house guests will ask me (with shiny hope in their eyes) from what book my darling pumpkin was made. The answer is a very boring United States Code Annotated, 2011. Upon closer inspection, onlookers will find decidedly unsexy text like:

Fees,
     Attorneys, ante
     Dockets and docketing, C4R 15(a)
     Extraordinary writs, prisoners C4R 21(c)
     Transcriptions, filing, sanctions, C4R IOP 11.1

As unromantic as that is, I just could not bring myself to ruin a perfectly good book!

In case you do not know, I work in law library which means that on a weekly basis we recycle volumes of publications that have been superseded. That is to say, if anyone were to use them for legal research they would be up a creak awful fast as the information is inaccurate. I'm just throwing that out there in case someone reading this cries foul, "Oh, how can a library throw away precious books!? For shame!". So I rescued a few of these books from the recycle bin and lugged them home for a bit of a makeover.

Supplies:
Book, cover removed
Cardboard
Pencil
Scissors
Stick (my husband gallantly found me one in the yard)
Ribbon
Broom (to clean up the mess of paper shards this project will leave on your floor)

Begin by creating a cardboard stencil. Think about how large you would like the pumpkin to be and draw the vertical half of that.

Then trace this shape on the first page of your book and cut through as many pages as you can at a time.

Repeat, repeat, repeat until you have made your way through the entire book. Of course, I chose a very thick book so I had to give my little wrists a few breaks along the way.

Glue a small stick to the spine of the book while also gluing together the front and back of the book. Secure it with clothes pins while it is drying, like so:

Once you are sure the glue is dry, you can jazz up the pumpkin with a cute bit of ribbon. The texture of my book's paper was very thin (like a phone book), so it required a lot of fussing over to make it sit nicely. If you use a regular book, I'm confident it will splay out naturally.

And that's it! You can make a single large pumpkin, a set of smaller ones, or a mix of sizes.

Make: DIY Jet-Pack

I was so excited when I first came across this DIY jet-pack on Pinterest! It is a cute and wonderfully creative way to upcycle soda bottles. It was also inexpensive, something I love in a craft!

Considering that I don't have children of my own, my niece and nephews are forced to endure much of their aunt's craft-enthusiasm. I made this for my sister's son, Colin, since his 3rd birthday was just around the corner. He also went through a brief but potent Buzz Lightyear phase.

You may be wondering why I am modeling this creation, rather than my nephew. Well, right now he adamantly hates having his picture taken (he hollers "No cheese! No cheese!"). Or he is running around so fast that I can't get a clear photograph. So I strapped on that puppy and set the self-timer on my camera.

This project is straightforward and allows for much improvisation in supplies, techniques, and colors. I was able to figure it out along the way, but here is a streamlined set of instructions.

Paint two 2-liter bottles (I chose gray)
Paint a strip of heavy-duty cardboard (preferably in a color coordinating with the bottles)
Glue bottles to each other and onto the cardboard
Attach straps--I used strips of velcro so the jet-pack can grow with the little astronaut!
Cut thin strips of felt fabric, glue the ends together, and glue those ends onto the bottle caps.

Note: I used a combination of Elmer's Glue and my hot glue gun. After some consideration (of how rambunctious my nephew is) I reinforced everything with duct tape. You can use your own discretion in this.

That's it! Or is it?? Sure, you could stop now and have a plain, mediocre jet-pack. However, I decided Colin's jet-pack was lacking a certain je ne sais quoi. I saved an image of the NASA logo and inserted it into a Word document. Then, I found this great website that lets users try the official NASA font without downloading it! I copy & pasted that text-image on top of the logo. Voila! And yes, that sign is laminated--no worries about spills! I must say that I am immensely proud of this project and had to keep myself from going around Colin's party asking  people what they thought of the jet-pack.

Matthew did manage to take a slightly blurry but hilarious picture of Colin opening the gift at his birthday party. He is always making the best faces!

"Woah!"

The overall awkwardness of this picture makes me laugh.