2) Spelling it out…

3) Roman style…

4) Dots and stripes…

5) Sweet tooth…

I’m really enjoying ‘wonkiness’ at the moment. I think it’s a reaction to having so many Apple products in my life – an iPhone, an iPad, a MacBook Pro – they are all exquisitely designed, even beautiful, my only criticism is that they are almost too perfect. Instead, I’ve found myself beginning to rejoice in flaws and anomalies – I was even recently heard saying that it was OK that my kids had drawn on the dining room table because it gave it the ‘worn look’!

Now, of course, there’s a fine line between what’s rustic, and what’s bad workmanship, so I hope I’ve got the balance right with these ‘dodgy dice’. They were all created without rulers, and therefore have lots of gaps and cracks, they are even assembled crudely using sticky tape. The idea came from having to quickly make a dice for my son, so we could play a board game – I used the same technique described below, and found the finished result to be quite charming.

If you’d like to use one of my designs feel free to download the artwork from the link below. Go on, embrace ‘wonkiness’!

Download project files›

Includes:
1) Colour versions of artwork – just start folding
2) Collectable instructions – print them out & put them on the fridge

I thought it might be fun to gauge your love of a little wonkiness with this simple poll. Let me know which way you swing, perfect or wonky, and I’ll dedicate a project to the winning category.

I recently celebrated a year of blogging by exhibiting a print called Everything I made in a year at the Art Sells exhibition in London. Organised by two girls who work in a well known London advertising agency, it was open to any ‘frustrated creative’ working within the wider creative industry. I wouldn’t say I was frustrated but I liked the concept, and submitted two pieces, one being accepted. It was the first time I had exhibited any of my work, which was quite a thrill, and hopefully I can have another crack at it next year.

I’d love to know a little more about the type of craft project you’d like to see more off. And to make it easier to get your feedback I’m running my first poll! If you have time please have a go.

2) “Boy, my arms ain’t half aching!

They say a good soldier never leaves his post, well, this is now true of a toy soldier as well (mainly because he’s bolted onto the shelf and couldn’t move if he wanted to!). The ‘War and Peace’ bookend is a great way of repurposing an old toy figure, it needs to be of a decent size, but anything from an old ‘space ranger’ to a WWF wrestler will do the trick. However, I liked the idea of using a soldier – it seemed a fun contrast, taking something associated with action and danger, and using it to hold-up some kids books..

This project first appeared on Craft:, as part of their ‘quirky craft’ series. I have now reworked the instructions and made them available for download, I hope you like them. It’s worth pointing out that the techniques are very dependent on the type of toy figure you use, the basic objective is to attach it firmly to a shelf, so feel free to improvise. If you have any question just leave me a comment.

Download project files›

Includes:
1) Collectable instructions – print them out & put them in a folder!

I must give Steph Mantis a shout out, it was here wonderful “Pack Racks” (coat racks made from plastic toy animal heads) that were the inspiration for this project. Go check out her very cool blog.

2) …tall and proud.

I love making gadgety things, especially when they are engineered simply and from everyday things. This telescopic light (which first appeared in Make: magazine) is a good example, on one hand it has a counterbalanced mechanism that allows it to adjust to any height, on the other hand it’s made from nothing more than paper, cardboard, coins, a bit of wire and a string of Christmas lights.

Interestingly, during construction I was so focused on trying to get the counterbalance working I never really thought about it as functioning light. In fact, I wasn’t really sure whether the Christmas lights would even work as a light source, I thought they might be too weak. However, the effect, when I first turned it on was pretty cool. I hope you can get a sense of it from the video below.

Oh… and an added bonus was that the LED Christmas lights I was using (salvaged from the loft) came with a variety of flashing sequences, one for every mood! If you are up for a challenge try making your own one, it’s a little tricky, but the detailed instructions below should help you get there. Good luck.

Download project files›

Includes:
1) Collectable instructions – print them out & put them in a folder!

Over the years I’ve made a number of different lights, most using candles as the light source – here’s a bit of a retrospective:

No.1: Coca light!
No.2: Elegant tin can tea light holder
No.3: Marble run candlestick timer
No.4: Exhaust pipe candlestick holder

Bliss’ometer: 15 mins
Pros: Kids love trains, enough said!
Cons: Adults will need to get heavily involved

2) Table football

Bliss’ometer: 10min
Pros: Very easy, and great for more than one child
Cons: It can get a bit noisy!

3) Checker board

Bliss’ometer: 10mins
Pros: Great challenge for older kids (7+)
Cons: You need a lot of sticks!

4) Wagon wheel

Bliss’ometer: 5mins
Pros: One for the young children (3+)
Cons: You can’t take it away with you.

5) Baby sick!

Bliss’ometer: 8mins
Pros: You only need a pen…
Cons: …it needs to be a permanent marker

6) Stick house

Bliss’ometer: 10mins
Pros: The perfect starter for older kids (7+)
Cons: Some parent involvement required

I love coffee shops. I have a Latte ‘to go’, most mornings – it’s part of my commuter coping mechanism. At the weekends trips to coffee shops are more of a family affair, the kids are particularly partial to Chocolate Cream (the nearest thing to a milk shake on the Starbucks menu). But as much as the kids enjoy these trips, they become restless before I even get halfway through my Latte. So over the years I have improvised a number of activities to keep them occupied, all of them make use of the materials available in any coffee shop. I hope you find them helpful, or should I say I hope they help you to enjoy your coffee! Good luck.

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