Kids' Cheesy Cardboard Camera

Hi everoyne!  

Happy belated Earth Day!

 Today I'll share about how I made this cheesy cardboard camera for Chuck.   This crapt was inspired by his love for eating cheese and touching my camera.  Here's what the camera looks like from the front:

 And here's what it looks like from the back:

Materials:

- small metal cylinder container with lid (or you could probably use a paper towel roll)

- can opener

- small, sturdy cardboard box

- craft knife

- scissors

- self-healing mat

- drill

- pencil

- 3 caps (I used 3 baby food squeeze pack caps)

- 3 brass fasteners

- packing tape

- lanyard (or string)

- disposable baking sheet (or plastic container lid or heavy duty aluminum foil)

- glue

- craft paint

- paint brushes and foam brush

- Mod Podge

Directions:
1.  I used a can opener to remove the bottom of my small, cylinder container.  I made sure that the can opener made clean cuts so that I wouldn't cut Chuck's fingers.  This cylinder became my camera "lens."

2.   The photo below shows my original box.  It was initially too big, so I chopped off a couple of inches off the right side of the box.  I used the cut off bits to fashion a top for the camera.

 3.  I cut out two circles, one in the front and one in the back of my camera.  The circle in the front was the same size as my cylinder.  (I just traced the cylinder and then cut the circle out.) The circle in the back of the box was slightly smaller than my cylinder.  (This ensured that my lens would poke out through the front, but not slide out through the back.)

4.  I also cut a rectangle from in the top, right hand corner of the front of my camera.  This became my "flash."

5.  Hubby drilled five holes in my cardboard:
- Two holes in the back to insert my back red knobs
- One hole on my top piece to insert my top green knob
- A hole on each side of the camera to string my lanyard strap through the body

He also drilled a hole into each of my three caps.  All the holes had to be big enough so that a fastener could fit through them.

 Here's a photo showing how the pieces fit together on the inside.  (I didn't use fasteners on the sides of my camera. I just poked them through the holes to show you where the holes were)

Here's how the camera  looked like with the top piece on:

I took this photo before cutting out the rectangle hole for the flash.

6.  After making sure my camera parts fit together, it was time to paint.  I gave the cardboard parts and cylinder two coats of yellow craft paint.  I also painted on my grey circles.

 7. Once the paint dried, I attached my "knobs", "lens", and "flash."  I used the brass fasteners to fasten the knobs onto the cardboard pieces.   I cut out a rectangle from my disposable baking pan and taped it over my rectangular "flash" hole.  I used a lot of packing tape to attach my cylinder to the inside of my camera.

8. I touched up my paint job a bit. Then, I coated my camera with Mod Podge to protect the paint.

9.  I strung lanyard through the body of the camera and then used glue and packing tape to attach the top piece to the body.

10.  To further protect my paint job, I ended up putting a thin strip of packing tape on the edges of the camera. (I've noticed that paint chips off the edges first, so I made sure to protect those with tape.)  I also put some tape near the lanyard hole in case the weight of the camera pulled on the lanyard and ripped the cardboard.

Phew.  Once I was done, I couldn't help but smile a cheesy grin.  (Hee hee.)  Here are some photos of Chuck playing around with his new cardboard camera.

Say "Cheese!"

Thanks for joining me on another crapty adventure.  If you're interested in making other crapty cardboard toys, check out my cardboard guitar, cardboard rattle drum, cereal box elephant, or cereal box giraffe.

I can't believe I...

recently created an official Pink Stripey Socks Facebook page for my blog.

This was a pretty big deal for me.  You're probably thinking "Who cares? It's no big deal.  Everybody uses social media nowadays."

Urm... well... confession time- you're talking to the girl who's been hiding under a technology rock for the past couple of years.  I don't twit tweet.  I just got a personal Facebook page last October.  (I know, I know.)  And since we're airing dirty little secrets, I might as well let you know that I don't own a smart phone   or a texting plan.

I know.  *Gasp*  I'm a technological dinosaur.  Rawr!

But ever since I chose the word "try" as my word of the year, I figured I should try this newfangled social media thing out.  I really love blogging and crafting, so this seems like a nice way to connect with others and grow as a blogger.  I'm not going to lie.  I'm still nervous about creating the Facebook page because it means that I'm putting myself out there and I'm taking this whole blogging thing more seriously.  Will everything just end up blowing up in my face?  I don't know.  Not sure.  Hopefully not.  But I just have to try and see where this adventure leads.

Does this mean that you'll soon see me twittering twitting  tweeting?  Urm, probably not.  (Those hash tags really scare me.)  Or, does it mean that I'll start texting and get a data plan?  lol! omg no way :)   Baby steps, my friend, baby steps.

And since we're nearing the end of this post, I just wanted to upload this cactus doodle because seeing faces on cacti just makes me smile.

(Psst- Special thanks to Kira at Her New Leaf blog for providing lovely free social media buttons and clear, easy-to-follow instructions.  They were perfect for a techno-phobe like me.)

Use fabric paint and painters tape to paint a purse

This month is going to be a busy one for us.  Hubby's relatives are arriving next weekend and staying with us for a couple of weeks.  I'm also going to Massachusetts to attend the long-awaited, two day wedding celebration of an old college friend.

I'm super excited for both big events, but time is just passing by way too quickly.  Right now we're busy preparing our apartment and I'm still on the search for wedding appropriate clothes.  (Sadly my old dresses just don't fit.  After having the baby, my body is a whole new shape.  Moms out there... is that normal?)

Even though I have yet to find two dresses, I may not have to worry about finding a purse.  Awhile back, I acquired a lovely, gently used purse.   I really like its gold chain (not shown) and woven outer design.  Since I enjoy painting things, I thought I would paint a bunch of white stripes on it to make it a little more summery and fun.

Front:  Ooh.  I see some stripes.

Back:  Wham!  Stripey.

I'm sure you can guess how I made it.  But in case you want the details, here's what I did:

I taped stripes onto the front and back using painters tape.  I also taped the edges to protect them from paint.  Then, using a sponge brush, I covered the area with fabric paint.  After my paint dried, I gently peeled off the tape to reveal the striped design.

Overall, I like how the purse turned out.  The white lines really pop and the design is (mostly) clean and graphic.  However, I was sad that the tape slightly damaged the trim.  Boo!  If I were going to try this technique out on another purse, I would make sure to test my painters tape on a small area first.

Boo scratches!