Today's guest blogger is Michele Made Me sharing
her favorite book, "When We Were Very Young" by
A.A. Milne. Michelle shows you how to make a terrific
rhythm-and-rhymes shaker using a plastic
jug and bread tags!
The boy received A.A. Milne's book of poetry "When We
Were Very Young" as a gift from his Grandma a few years
ago. This book, originally publishedin 1924, is filled with
delightful poems, some of which are nostalgic, some of
which are thoughtful, but most of which are silly and
funny. These are the ones the boy and I love best. We
read them together before bed, often clapping our hands
as we do because we just can't help ourselves. He's got
rhythm, the boy does. And Mr. Milne's poems are very
rhythmic indeed. This got me thinking about a craft that
would go along with our beloved book. Whatever could I
make? Well, a shaker springs to mind. And the
recyclables are waiting, ready to be transformed...
Are you ready? Let's shake a leg then!
Tutorial: Plastic Jug 'n Bread Tag Shaker
What you will need:
*plastic jug
*2 wooden skewers
*2 wine corks
*several bread tags
*a colourful scrap of junkmail
*pair of scissors
*marker
*ruler
*hole punch
*carpenter's glue
*Mod Podge
*paint brush
*drill with small bit
1. Start with a clean plastic jug. Using a ruler
and marker, draw a straight line somewhere
near the middle of the jug.
2. At the line, cut off the bottom of the jug.
Trim the cut edge of the top.
3. Using your hole punch, punch 2 holes in
each side of your jug top.
4. Prepare your corks.
5. Cut each cork in half. Sand down the cut
edges to make them smooth.
6. Drill a hole in the cut side of each cork piece. Go as
deep as you can without piercing the other end.
7. Cut 4 small circles out of colourful junk mail. Use
Mod Podge to glue a circle to the top of each cork piece.
8. Cut your skewers so that they are 1 inch (25 mm)
wider than the width of the opening in the plastic jug.
Divide your bread tags into two equal batches.
Place each batch on a skewer.
9. Place a skewer through the holes on either side of
the jug as shown below.
10. Put some carpenter's glue into the cork holes.
11. Place a piece of cork onto each end of the skewer.
12. Repeat steps 9 through 11 for the other skewer.
13. Let the carpenter's glue dry for a good long time.
And you have shakability!
Enjoy your utterly recycled plastic jug 'n bread tag shaker
(with a built-in handle no less). And stand back as your
child lets loose banging out the rhythm in the rhymes!
and craft my little heart out over at Michele Made Me.
The boy and I often put our heads together and happily
concoct crazy crafts most often using recyclables. For
example, we've made box chain jewelry from junk mail,
photo hearts from tissue boxes, and a 5 Senses book
from paper and fabric scraps, among many others. Feel
free to drop by for a visit anytime you like. I would love
to have you!