Bits and Bobs

Just a blog to update on a few bits and bobs.

Mario Mushroom
The first thing I ever crocheted was an Amigurumi Mario mushroom for my lovely friend lilangelsg2 (who also does lots of crafty things check her out!) It took me ages to make as I'd never picked up a crochet hook in my life. Now that I've had a bit more practice I gave it another go and made her a green one....and it's still not perfect.

Compare this to my first one and find the pattern Here. 

Recycled Plant Pot

A while back I made a DIY Recycled Plant Pot to add to the 'recycling' theme of the plant pot I used it to regrow spring onions. It's cheaper than buying more spring onions and saves you just throwing the spring onion ends away. All I did was cut the spring onions and leave about 2 inches at the base  then put them into soil (in my recycled plant pot) and after a few days they start to regrow. Just cut some off when needed, remember not to cut them down too short or else they won't regrow; there needs to be some green left as chlorophyl helps with regrowth. 

I think they look quite nice on the kitchen windowsill. 

I also recycle plastic bottles to start growing plants from seed (as you can see in the picture). Here I was starting to grow sweet bell peppers. 

DIY Hamster Bin Cage

Meet Tim my extremely 'Tim'id hamster.

I got Tim about a month ago and decided to make him a bin cage so that he had a lot of room to run and a place to burrow (and an excuse to get my craft on). I bought the biggest storage box I could find that was tall enough to fit the 11" wheel in. My boyfriend excited to use his manly drill drilled many many many holes in the box sides and lid. 

I bought a small kitchen bin to use as a burrow, the top of the bin was cut off and sanded down to fit comfortably into the cage. So that Tim could reach his burrow I bought him this Flexible tube. I think these are awesome as they bend to whatever shape you need, can be as long or short as you want and are big enough for Syrian  hamsters to use. The only downside is that they can be a bit tricky to clean due to the ridges but I definitely think it's worth it.

Here's the bin/burrow where he's made a nest right at the bottom:

I made a sand bath for him out of a takeaway tupperware box filled with chinchilla sand (important: do not use chinchilla dust, chinchilla dust is too dusty for the hamsters respiratory system). He loves to roll around and dig in this. He also uses it as a toilet which makes cleaning his cage so much easier for me. I sieve the sand everyday to get rid of any mess and once a week I replace the sand and clean the tupperware.

Here's the sand bath and mini-sieve I use:

Here's the complete bin cage:

(Just for a bit of extra space I placed my other cage on top of the lid attaching the cage to the bin cage with a tube. To do this I cut a circle into the lid that was big enough for the tube.)

I'll be updating with more inventions for Tim soon: see more hamster posts Here.

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Origami English Money

Money origami makes owing someone money, giving money as a gift, leaving a tip etc slightly more fun.

I made these as a gift:

The butterflies are so simple to make but look really good. The shirts are slightly more complicated but I wouldn't say they were difficult and neither take long to make. My Mum took the ones I made her into a shop to buy a mirror she wanted... the assistant was very amused.

Instructions for butterflies:  http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WipQCf9hgNg
(Even though in the video dollar bills are used, it's the same as using pound notes)

Instructions for shirts: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G_CMmYZv-yA

They don't even have to be made out of money; coloured paper looks good: