Porodična jelka - A Family Christmas Tree

Saradnja među blogerima je divna stvar! Putem ovog bloga upoznala sam autorku bloga Mama, hoćemo nešto da pravimo i započela je super saradnja. Jednom prilikom mi je M. rekla da je u prodavnici u svojoj blizini naišla na penastu gumu i da se setila mene, te se ponudila da mi kupi nekoliko komada i pošalje. Zahvaljujući mojoj prezauzetosti, a i obilju ideja u vezi sa ovim materijalom, tek sada smo stigli da ga iskoristimo (zajedno sa šljokicama koje su takođe bile u paketu).

Iako smo samo Ema i ja pravile ove jelkice (više Ema nego ja), praktično su učestvovali svi članovi porodice, makar time što su nam ostavili otisak svoje šake. Jelke možete da okačite na svoju pravu novogodišnju jelku kao ukras, da ih zalepite na čestitku i tako ih poklonite nekom, da ih zalepite na ulazna vrata (mi smo onu najveću, sa četiri šake, zalepili na vrata stana) i još mnogo toga. Sve što vam je potrebno je šaka, olovka, makaze, penasta guma (mada možete upotrebiti i filc ili hamer ili kolaž papir), lepak, šljokice i to je to!

 

 



 Cooperation between bloggers is a wonderful thing! During my blogging, I have met a fellow blogger (Mom, let's make something), a very creative mother of two. She came accross these craft foam sheets in a nearby store and thought of me. She offered to send me a few sheets and a some glitter, but due to my busy life and the huge quantity of ideas with this material, they remained unused until now.

 

Even though only me and Ema (well, mostly Ema) worked on this project, the whole family was involved in a way, even though only by leaving a handprint. You can use these Christmas trees as ornaments for your big Christmas tree, you can glue them on a sheet of paper and make Christmas cards, you can use them to decorate your flat, or glue them to your front door (as we did with the biggest one, with all four handprints). All you need are some handprints, a few sheets of craft foam (you can also use fleece, cardboard or whatever you like), scissors, glue, glitter and that's it!

 

Tačka, tačka, tačkica... - Happy dots

Još jedan maratonski projekat je završen! Počela sam u martu 2013. i završila u julu 2014. Naravno, u međuvremenu se svašta drugo izdešavalo, ali mislim da mi je ovo zaista rekord. Ćebe je rađeno od St. George pamuka, po ovoj mustri. Veoma je jednostavno i verujem da i početnici u heklanju neće naići na neke veće poteškoće. Ovaj projekat je bio zamišljen kao nešto što ću da radim u pauzi između drugih projekata, kao i nešto što mogu da radim dok ćaskamo na pletačkim druženjima, pošto mi se čini da tu više param nego što pletem :)

My second loooong project is finished. I started it in March 2013 and finished in July 2014. Of course, lots of things have happended in the mean time, but still this is my longest running project. The blanket was made using St. George cotton and this pattern. The squares are quite easy and very interesting to make, so I think that even beginner crochethers would have fun with them. I planned to do these squares in between other projects and during our knitting group meetings, because it seems that I do more frogging than knitting while we laugh and talk :)

 

U potrazi za blagom - Treasure hunting

Ema strašno voli da traži skriveno blago i prati uputstva ili mape. Zimus smo pravile fosile dinosaurusa i skrivali ih po stanu sa pisanim uputstvima (pogledajte ovde) što je naišlo na ogromno oduševljenje. Tu igru često igramo opet.

Letos smo proveli nekih desetak dana na planini, između igranja fudbala sa drugarom, ljuljanja na ljuljaškama, puštanja zmaja, planinarenju po brdima i vulkanskim stenama, ostalo je vremena i za traženje blaga.

Nacrtala sam jednu uprošćenu mapu našeg dvorišta i grafitnom olovkom sa „X“ označila gde su sakriveni gorepomenuti fosili. Deca su se naoružala baterijskom lampom i dobrom voljom i krenula u potragu. Kada su ih sve pronašli, izbrisali smo oznake, pa krenuli iznova. Zatim su se dogovorili da će jedno od njih da sakriva fosile, a drugo da traži, pa da se menjaju. A možete im i organizovati takmičenje.

Sve u svemu, super igra da vežbate snalaženje u prostoru i praćenje uputstava, a i da se deca fizički aktiviraju. Ukoliko nemate dvorište, možete se igrati i u stanu ili parku ili gde god želite. Uživajte :)

* * *

 

My daughter really likes looking for hidden treasure by following instructions or maps. This winter we made dinosaur fossils and played a game where she had to find them following textual instructions (see here). She enjoyed that very much and we play that game often.

This summer we spent about ten days in the hills. After playing football with her friend, swinging on the swings, flying a kite, hiking in the hills and volcano rocks there was some time left for treasure hunting.

I made a pretty simple map of our back yard and marked the spots where those fossils were hidden with a pencil. The kids found a flashlignt, took the map and headed off to look for the treasure. When they found the fossils, we erased the „X“ marks on the map and started all over again. Then they made a deal that one of them will hide the treasure and that the other would look for it on their own, and they would later switch parts. And you can also organize a competition and give each of them a map with different hidden treasures.

All in all, this is a great way to practice spacial awareness and following instructions and it's also a cool way to get your kids to move around a bit more. If you do not have a back yard, you can play at home, or at the park or wherever you wish. Have fun :)

 

Crtež u prirodnoj veličini - A lifesize drawing

Vrlo je jednostavno - veliki list papira (ja sam uzela natron papir, možete i hamer) stavite na pod, dete legne i postavi se u pozu koju želi, vi opcrtate oblik i pustite mašti na volju. Crtež možete

„obući“ kako god želite (gusar, vila, astronaut, itd.), odeću možete obojiti ili lepiti tkaninu, papir, šljokice, šta god vam padne na pamet. Mi smo bojile voštanim bojicama i to je prilično dugo trajalo, tako da smo crtež završile iz dva puta. Ukrašavanje je bilo najzanimljiviji deo - Ema sad uživa u crtanju cvetova, leptirića i pčelica, pa tako imamo i prolećnu haljinu.

It is very simple - put a large sheet of paper on the floor, get the child to lie on top of it, posing how he/she wishes, draw a line around the body and let your imagination run wild. You can "dress" the drawing any way you like (make a pirate, a fairy, an astronaut, etc.), you can colour the clothes using crayons or decorate it by using scrap fabric, other types of paper, all kinds of embelishments, what ever you can think of. We used crayons and it took a while, so we finished the drawing in two afternoons. Ema likes drawing flowers, butterflies and honeybees now, so the dress had a "spring time" theme.

 

 

Snovi o moru - Dreaming about the sea

Već dugo vremena listam knjigu Doodle Stitching autorke Aimee Ray i maštam o tome kako da ostavim svoj život po strani i izvezem sve njene motive (a ima ih preko 400 i sve jedan lepši od drugog). Eh, kako to jako teško može da se izvede, svela sam svoje snove na motive mora. Imala sam jedan beli čaršaf za bebeći krevet, bez ikakvih ukrasa, pa sam odlučila malo da ga osvežim. Ovo je prvi put da prenosim motiv na platno, pa je to zahtevalo malo dodatnog truda i logistike. Ovako je to izgledalo u mojoj izvedbi, korak po korak.

 

Prvo sam izmerila gde želim da se motivi nalaze i grafitnom olovkom povukla liniju koja će prolaziti kroz sredinu motiva (slika 1). To je jako važno ako motive slažete jedan ispod drugog, kako vam ne bi otišli ukrivo.

 

Potom sam fotokopirane stranice knjige washi trakom zalepila na prozor i flomasterom podebljala linije na papiru (slika 2). Platno sam naslonila na prozor i vodoperivim flomasterima precrtavala motive (slika 3). Flomaster se posle oprao bez problema. Ako se bojite da boja neće izaći, probajte nešto da nacrtate na ivici platna pa operite.

 

I evo i krajnjeg rezultata (slika 4).

 

Uzgred, knjiga je odlična ako ste početnik u vezu, ali i ako ste naprednija vezilja. Sadrži detaljna uputstva o koncima, iglama, platnima, kako preneti uzorak na platno, vrstama bodova, opšivanju ivica, itd. Sadrži i disk sa svim motivima koji se nalaze u knjizi, a koji su prelepi i prikladni za različite prilike. Hvala bensedinart na pozajmici :)

 

 

I've been browsing through the book Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray for a while now, wondering how to put my life on hold and embroider each and every motif she gives (there are 400+ motifs, each cuter than the previous one). Since that is highly unlikely to happen any time soon, I scaled my dreams down to the seaside motifs. I had a plain white bedsheet for a crib, so I set off to give it some spark. I have never transfered a motif to a fabric before, so I needed to put in some extra effort and planning. This is what it looked like, step by step.

 

First I measured where I wanted my motifs to be and used a pencil to draw a line that would pass through the middle of the motifs (picture 1). This step is very important if you want your motifs to be in a straight line.

 

Then I put up the photocopied pages of the book to the window (used some washi tape) and made the lines thicker with a black marker (picture 2). I put the fabric over the page and copied the motifs using washable markers (picture 3). The marker came out without any problems. If you are sceptic about it (as I was), try out the marker on a corner of the fabric and give it a wash before starting the project.

And in picture 4 you can see the final result.

 

The book is simply amazing. It is great for a beginner, but also for more advanced crafters. It contains detailed instructions on needles, threads, fabrics, stitches, ways to transfer a motif onto a fabric, etc. It also has a CD with all the motifs printed in the book, and they are amazingly cute and appopriate for so many uses.

 

Papirna rođendanska torta - Paper birthday cake

Približava se Emin peti rođendan, pa ćemo ga proslaviti i u vrtiću. Kako nije dozvoljeno nositi pravu tortu, roditelji obično prave papirne i napune odgovarajućim slatkišima. Prošle godine smo slatkiše složile u jednu lepu ukrasnu kutiju, ali Ema je ove godine želela da ima baš tortu. Pošto je njen rođendan vrlo blizu Uskrsa i uglavnom smo u velikoj gužvi oko svega u ovo doba godine, nisam imala vremena da napravim one klasične parčiće torte koji se poslože u krug i čine tortu. Pronašla sam ovo rešenje - kutija u obliku rođendanske torte sa svećicama. A što je najbolje, možete je napraviti za sat vremena (isprobano, i to u noćnoj smeni - danju bi sigurno bilo i brže). Sad još samo da je napunimo i sutra je nosimo u vrtić!

 

Link do detaljnijeg uputstva je ovde. Torticu možete napraviti i tako da bude manja, pa u nju staviti nečiji rođendanski poklon ;)

 

Ema's fifth birtday is coming up and she is celebrating it at kindergarten, too. Our kindergarten does not allow parents to send real cakes (due to the fear of allergies), so we usually make do with paper ones, filled with the approved types of candy. We put the candy in a decorative box last year, but this year Ema wanted a real cake. Since her birthday is very near Easter and we are mostly crazy busy this time of year, I didn't have time to make those paper cake pieces that form a birthday cake. I found this much simpler solution - it is a decorative box in a shape of a cake and with candles on top. And the best thing is that it takes about an hour to make (it took me that long during the night, in daytime it probably gets done faster). All that is left is to fill it with candy and take it to the kindergarten tomorrow morning!

 

 You can find the link to the instructions here. You can make the box smaller and put somebody's birthday present in it ;)

Olimpijska medalja - Olimpic medal

Završile su se Zimske olimpijske igre, a sa njima i Ravelenske igre. U timu NS Needles učestvovalo je 22 takmičara, a provod je bio sjajan! Diskusija na forumu je bila vrlo živopisna, sa nepunih 1000 postova, tako da smo se osećale kao da smo prava ekipa!

Ovo su moje medalje, osvojene u dve kategorije - Sidecountry challenge (izazov koji sami sebi postavite, u mom slučaju čarape) i Single Skein Speed Skate (isplesti nešto od samo jedne štrenice prediva).

A evo i radova našeg tima:

The winter Olympics are over, and so are the Ravellenics. Team NS Needles consisted of 22 contestants and we had loads of fun. We had a very lively discussion on our forum with almost 1000 posts, so we felt like a real team.

I have posted photos of the medals I've won, in two categories - Sidecountry challenge (where you had to give yourself a challenge, mine was to knit a sock) and Single Skein Speed Skate (to knit something out of only one skein).

I have also posted a photo showing the work of all our team members. Go NS Needles!

Baletska suknjica bez šivenja - Non-sew-tutu

Potrebno vam je:

• 
  til (za Eminu je utrošeno 2 m tila)
• gumena traka (ja sam koristila širinu 3,5 cm)
• makaze, igla i konac
• šljokice, ukrasne trake

Izmerite struk i isecite traku da bude nekih 15 cm duža od potrebne dužine (kasnije ćete skratiti). Izmerite željenu dužinu suknjice, pomnožite je sa dva i dodajte još 10 cm (ako želite da suknja bude dugačka 30 cm, to će biti 30 x 2 + 10 = 70 cm). Ukoliko koristite tanju gumenu traku, umesto 10 cm dodajte manje. Secite til na trake izračunate dužine (u ovom slučaju 70 cm). Moje su bile široke 10 cm, možete praviti da budu i uže i šire.

Presavijte traku od tila na pola i stavite je ispod gumene trake, tako da u donjem delu imate omču, a u gornjem dva slobodna kraja. Slobodne krajeve provucite kroz omču i zategnite, da dobijete čvor kao na slici. Nižite čvor do čvora sve dok suknja ne bude dovoljno gusta (to je prepušteno vama, možete napraviti da bude više tila, pa onda odstoji onako kao prava baletska suknjica, a možete i da bude manje tila, onda lepše pada).

Kada nanižete dovoljno čvorova, ušijte traku (dobro, lagala sam, ipak treba malo da se šije), odsecite višak i to je sve! Možete na suknjicu nalepiti ili ušiti šljokice, dodati ukrasnu traku oko struka - od volje vam!

Ovo je moja verzija te suknjice, na internetu možete pronaći još mnogo varijacija.

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You will need:

• tulle (for the skirt in the photos I used 2 m)
• elastic ribbon (mine was 3,5 cm wide)
• scissors, a needle and some thread
• glitter, ribbons

Measure the waistline and cut the elastic ribbon so that it is about 15 cm longer than the measured value (you will adjust it later). Measure the desired lenght of the skirt, multiply that value by 2 and add 10 cm (e.g. if you want the skirt to be 30 cm long, this is the math behind it: 30 x 2 + 10 = 70 cm). If you decide to use a thinner elastic band, you should add less than 10 cm. Cut the tulle into strips of appropriate lenght (70 cm in this case). Mine were 10 cm wide, but you can make them wider or thinner, it is up to you.

Now fold the tulle strips in half over the elastic band, to create a loop on one end and two tails on the other. Then make a knot over the band (pull the tails through the loop). Tighten the knot. Keep making knots untill you reach the desired fullness of the tutu (if you put more knots, the skirt will be fuller, but if you put less it will flatter).

Now sew the elastic band together (ok, so I lied, there is a bit of sewing involved), cut the extra lenght and that's it! You can add glitter to the skirt, or a decorative ribbon, what ever you like!

This is my variation of the skirt, but do google it to find more options and ideas.

 

 

 



Tri lepe stvari

Iako sam napravila pauzicu na blogu, to ne znači da se ništa nije događalo. Naprotiv - čak tri lepe stvari!

 

Počele su Zimske Olimpijske Igre, a sa njima i Ravelenske igre na sajtu Ravelry. Ekipa NS Needles ovaj put ima 22 člana, što iz Srbije, što iz inostranstva, a cilj je da u okviru izabrane discipline ispletete/isheklate projekat po želji. Ja sam izabrala disciplinu pletenja čarapa, pošto čarape u životu nisam plela (a čini mi se da sam se zaklela da nikada ni neću). To mi se oduvek činilo kao nešto užasno pipavo i komplikovano. Međutim, kako je poenta olimpijskih igara postaviti sebi izazov i ispuniti ga - eto mojih čarapa. Pronašla sam disciplinu u kojoj nije potrebno završiti ceo projekat, nego deo koji ste sami sebi odredili, tako da je moj cilj da osvojim zlato time što ću do kraja ZOI isplesti jednu čarapu. Nemojte se smejati, nije uopšte naivno, jer pletem čarapu mužu, a on ima prilično velika stopala. Uzgred, od kada je saznao da umem da pletem (još dok smo se zabavljali) tražio je da mu ispletem čarape da ponese kada bude išao u vojsku. Kako ja to nisam uradila, od onda mi vadi mast kako on nikako da dobije ono što je želeo. Dakle - dve muve jednim udarcem! Naoružala sam se super predivom, pozajmila igle br.2, skuvala čaj, uspavala decu i igre mogu da počnu!

Takođe na sajtu Ravelry, u grupi Serbia, organizovana je igra „Sending some sunshine“. Igra je organizovana tako da svako ko se prijavio dobije adresu nekog drugog prijavljenog člana i treba da mu pošalje paketić u vrednosti oko 200 din. Potrebno je da proučite profil svog para, da pretpostavite šta bi ga obradovalo i pošaljete mu paketić iznenađenja. Ja sam dobila paketić od Maje Glušice, a u njemu su se našla tri lepa konca, set ziherica, tri svećice, niz zlatnih i srebrnih šljokica (Ema je već na to bacila oko), par očiju za amigurumi (i za to je već našla svrhu), slane grickalice sa maslinovim uljem (to smo odmah pojeli) i jedno jako lepo pismo. A sve je to bilo spakovano u jednu prekrasnu i elegantnu kutiju koju je Maja sama napravila dekupažom (i veoma me zaintrigirala i za taj hobi!).

 

 

Pre nedelju dana me je veoma obradovalo jedno pisamce u inboksu. Naime Merima, autorka bloga Moj amiami, mi je poslala nagradu Liebster blog award. Ovim putem joj se puno zahvaljujem i od srca vam preporučujem da posetite njen blog ako ste fan amigurumija. A ako niste, sigurno ćete postati :)

 

 

Otisci u gipsu - Plaster handprints

Ove zime su bake i dede od Deda Mraza dobili otiske ručica svojih unuka. Ovo je super-lak porodični poduhvat, ne zahteva mnogo ulaganja ni vremena ni novca, a kao poklon ili uspomena je veoma efektan.

Prvo je potrebno da umesite „testo“ za domaći plastelin, a sastojci su sledeći:

1 čaša brašna
1/2 čaše soli
malo ulja
1/2 čaše vode (odn. po potrebi)

Za kalup koji sam koristila potrebno je napraviti četvorostruku količinu testa.

Kada umesite testo, razvijte ga oklagijom na debljinu od približno 5 cm, pa u njega utisnite neku kutiju ili šerpicu, kako bi kalup dobio oblik.

U kalup zabodite slamčice za sok na mestima gde želite da kasnije provučete tračice kojima ćete okačiti sliku.

Zatim utisnite otisak koji želite (šaku ili stopalo), pa kalup zalijte gipsom. Mi smo kupili obični zidarski gips, ali bi bilo bolje da koristite neki kvalitetniji, odn. sitniji i belji. Gips rastvorite u vodi na način naveden na pakovanju.

I to je to! Nakon par sati možete pažljivo skinuti testo sa gipsa. Gips će se kasnije još dosta dugo sušiti (u pitanju su dani), ali će biti dovoljno čvrst da sa njega skinete kalup. Testo će se malko zalepiti za gips, ali kada se prosuši možete ga skinuti četkicom.

Testo premesite, stavite u najlon kesu, pa u frižider, i moći ćete ga koristiti iznova koliko god puta želite.

Video upustvo možete pronaći na ovom linku.

This winter Santa brought our grandmothers and grandfathers these handprints. This is a super easy family project, that requires a very small amount of time and money, but makes a wonderful present or a memory.

First you need to make the salt dough, for which you will need the following:

1 cup of flour
1/2 cups of salt
a little bit of cooking oil
1/2 cup of water (though this is just an approximation)

For the mould of this size you will need 4 times the amount of ingredients mentioned above.

After you have finished with the kneading, use a rolling pin to flatten the dough, so it is approximately 5 cm thick. Then press a plastic box or any other object with flat edges to give the mould its shape.

Place one or two plastic straws into the dough where you plan to make openings for strings you will use to hang the picture.

Press the hand or the foot of the child into the mould and pour the plaster over the dough. When preparing the plaster, follow the instructions given on the package.

And that's that! After a few hours you can gently remove the dough from the plaster. It will take a lot longer for the plaster to dry (a few days), but it will be firm enough to remove the mould. The dough will stick to the plaster a bit, but when it dries use a brush to remove it.

Knead the dough again, put it in a plastic bag and place it in the fridge. You can reuse it time and time again.

You can find a video instruction here.