Leopard Print Fuzzy Dice!Feb 14 '01 (Updated Apr 14 '01) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Be creative.
This past Christmas I didn’t have much to spend on gifts. I ended up buying a lot of cheap but thoughtful gifts. But for the most important people I made thoughtful gifts. I’ll give you an example of what I did. For my friend, I thought of things that she liked. One of those things happened to be leopard print, and she happened to be getting her own car. What could be more thoughtful than making her leopard print fuzzy dice? (I also made her a box with a moon and stars on the cover, and a sun with clouds on the inside. I will get to that later.) I went to a bunch of local fabric stores. I already had a needle and thread, and soft filling for the dice. All I needed were some materials for the actual dice, the dots, and something to hang them with. I went to JoAnn Fabrics, and found some soft leopard print fabric. I only needed a small amount. I’d say I got a ¼ of a yard. But you only really need a fraction of that. I also looked at Ames and Wal-Mart, where they have fabric departments. I found some black felt for the dots, and a shoestring-like cord to hang them with. Materials: Soft leopard print fabric Black felt Black cord Fabric glue Polyester filling For the dice, I cut out twelve 3 x 3 inch squares. I sewed six of them together for each die, leaving a part unsewn so I could put the filling in and sew on the cord. For the dots, I cut out small squares, maybe less than ½ an inch, and then rounded out the edges to make circles. It’s hard to make small perfect circles by hand, so that was the best way for me. I filled them up with filling, paying attention to how it filled up. I didn’t want them to be too plump or not plump enough, or even lumpy. I then glued the dots on with fabric glue. Then I let them dry overnight. Though they probably don’t take that long to dry, I just wanted to make sure. Finally I manually sewed on the cord. I sewed it on in combination with closing up the opening. Though some of the thread is now visible from the outside, it’s not that noticeable. When I sewed the cord on the second die, I tested the length on an actual rearview mirror so it wasn’t too long. Voila! You now have leopard print fuzzy dice. Reaction: When my friend opened this, she was very pleased with it. It was the perfect addition for when she got a car, and it was her style. When she did get a car, she adorned her rearview mirror with these. I’m proud to say that I’m part of her car now! I needed to make something else for her. This couldn’t be my only present. So I thought I would decorate a box for her. I went to either Ames or a craft store and found a nice cardboard box with a lid. No, it wasn’t one of those cheap boxes you get packages in. It was one of those firm, nicely shaped boxes. This one happened to be an oval. There are other shapes as well such as an octagon, and a circle. You can also buy some flimsy wooden boxes. I also bought some paint and foam brushes, in addition to the paint I already had on hand. I thought of some ideas of what to paint. I came up with the lid having a crescent moon and stars on it, and the inside having a sun and clouds. The appearance would take some creativity. I was able to achieve fluffy white clouds, and a shining sun, moon, stars. Materials: Cardboard or wooden box Acrylic paint (blue, white, and yellow) Foam brushes Small (1/4 inch diameter) and medium (1/2 inch diameter) round brush Glitter Lots of newspaper First of all, you have to paint the box. I painted the outside opaque blue. Then I mixed that blue with white to create a light sky blue, and painted the inside. You will have to do this in various stages so parts do not stick together, or stick to your surface. And of course, put newspaper under your work. The first thing I painted was the sun. I dabbed the medium round brush to create a glowing effect, and made a filled in yellow circle under the lid. But that doesn’t look like a sun. It looks more like a moon. You then dab the small round brush around the circle, not touching it, to create the illusion of the suns rays. Use a wave effect around it, and it will look more and more like a sun until you’re finished. While the paint is wet, sprinkle bits of glitter on it, dab a bit of paint on that, and you will have a shining sun. When you turn it one way to another, the glitter that doesn’t show will show up. It’s kind of like those hologram cards. This, of course, will have to dry overnight. Next I created the clouds on the inside of the box. I used the foam brush with this because it didn’t need to be so perfect. I also used the dabbing method with these so they looked fluffy. This is the part where you get creative, and shape the clouds, as you like. It’s easy to just start with one big round circle, and add two smaller circles onto that. Or you can figure out other ways. Cover the rest of the inside with these clouds. Let this dry overnight as well. Finally I painted the crescent moon and stars on the top of the lid. I used the small round brush for this. This is kind of tricky. I carefully shaped the moon with the dabbing method. Then I used the edge of the small brush and even more carefully shaped the small stars. It’s hard to explain. If you can get a stencil for this, since they are available, that could work as well. Also, when these are still wet, sprinkle glitter on the same way I did with the sun. Blow off the loose glitter. Let this dry overnight. Now you have a celestial box! Reaction: This was also a pleaser. The dice conveniently fit into this box, and could have easily served as a dice holder between Christmas and when she got a car. She really liked how I creatively put together this box for her, and it made me feel happy. Conclusion Putting together creative ideas can be very fun, but hard work. Just start off with things he or she likes, such as a scent or a pattern, and make something up. It should prove to be one of the better gifts if you do it right, and the person will appreciate that you put your time and effort into creating something for him or her. Making items is much more inexpensive, but definitely not cheaper, than buying an impersonal gift at the store.  |
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