Pipe Cleaner Fun

Friday Flowers: Cupcake Flowers

Good news: the grocery store finally started carrying giant chocolate bunnies.

You know what that means?

~~Giant chocolate bunny for dinner~~ Spring is finally here!

It’s been a while since I did a Friday Flower post. This winter has been too cold and gloomy to think of such pleasantries. But things are different now and I’m in the mood for flowers!

Y’all know how much I love me some cupcake liners. And even though there are some seriously nifty cupcake flowers out on the internet already (this one from Iceing Designs is my particular favorite!)…I thought I would do my own version. These are very easy, kid-friendly, and they scream HELLO EASTER!

Materials

Various cupcake liners. Or muffin liners. Or nut cups. Or candy cups. Or coffee filters. Any ruffly cup things will do the job.
Pipe cleaners.
Beads with holes large enough to easily accommodate pipe cleaners.
Faux flowers. You could snip from fabric if you are anti-faux flower.
Something pointy like an extacto knife or an awl.

Disassemble the faux flowers, exposing the hole in the center (or snip your own, just be sure it is fabric, not paper –you need something fabric as a buffer between the bead and the paper liners or they will tear too easily. Don’t worry, this will make sense in a minute.)

Stack up three cupcake liners in order of size, then use something pointy to make two small holes, roughly 1cm apart.

Thread the pipe cleaner through the bead, followed by the flower, then the two holes in the cupcake liner, pulling all the components together.

On the reverse, pinch the base of the flower and give it a good twist. The fabric flower in teh middle should stabilize it enough to prevent the liners from ripping, but don’t get too aggressive. Cupcake liners like to be handled nicely 🙂

use one of the pipe cleaner stems to wrap around the base, then secure with a twist.

That’s it! Gently pull back the petals, working from the outside inward.

Fluff and repeat! You can churn out a bunch of these in no time at all. Wrap the flowers around wires or dowels to display in a vase, or just use the wire to wrap them around everyday objects. I keep a couple tied onto the wire basket I use to store onions.

And listen, if my onions like these cupcake flowers, I’m pretty sure someone you know will like them too. Try them out for yourself!

Stay Tuned…Monday I’ll show you my Cupcake flower Easter basket. Wahoo!

Pipe Cleaner Crowns: Heck Yeah!

by PEACHES 12 Comments

Internet: meet Bernadette. If y’all were neighbors (lovely thought) you would know her already. She sits in my window all year round, never changing her gaze or location. The one thing that does change is her head gear. In fact, it changes all the time. Bernadette is kind of like those plastic geese with the seasonal costumes that were so popular a few years ago. Whatever happened to those geese anyway? I haven’t seen one in ages….

Like Lola, Bernadette loves her hats; snow caps and earmuffs for the winter, delicate vintage hats and Easter bonnets in the spring, sunglasses and visors in the summer, not to mention birthday part hats, witches hats, Statue of Liberty tiaras, etc.. Come fall, she is all about leaves. Last year’s leaves were paper, this year it’s pipe cleaners!

I have been just crazy about pipe cleaners since this ring craft at my BFF’s bridal shower. It has trickled into every corner of my life. Y’all will have to wait and see the turkey extravaganza I’m planning come November.

This is a great craft for kids: quick results, zero mess, and a great addition to any dress-up cupboard. Pipe cleaners are such a flexible material (no pun intended). You can make all kinds of goodies with them, but I think crowns and tiaras are a great place to start. There are thousands of variations on these, but I’ll show you a basic crown and let you take it from there. The sky is the limit!

Let’s get this party started!

Note: From here on in, when you read “twist” I mean twist the pipe cleaners together so they are jointed together. Test your joint with a swift tug. For me, this means physically twisting them around at least twice. For children, or those with a delicate touch, three or four times might be better. You decide for yourself.

Materials
Pipe cleaners, at least 12, depends on head size
Drinking straws, cut in half (no longer than 5”)

Directions
1. Use two green pipe cleaners to form a circle around your head.
2. Twist loose ends smoothly around the circle.

3.    Twist the end of one orange pipe cleaner to your circle.
4.    Slide two straws on the orange pipe cleaner.
5.    Twist the other end of the orange pipe cleaner onto the green circle, roughly two inches down. A careful woman would measure for consistent results. Me, um, not so much 🙂
6.    Slide the straws to the base of the circle leaving a loop of exposed pipe cleaner at the top.

7. Twist the exposed orange pipe cleaner, forming a loop.
8. Repeat steps 3-7 until you cover the entire green circle.

9. After pushing up the orange loops, you will essentially have a crown. Yay! you can stop now, or, add some reinforcement with a second set of triangles running all the way around (highly suggest taking this step if kids plan to play with the crown more than once). start by attaching a red pipe cleaner to the green circle, making sure the joint is halfway between two straws.
10. Identify the “halfway point” on your red pipe cleaner (by bending it) and twist to attach to the green circle, exactly half way in-between the next set of straws, weaving it in-between the straws as you go. The weaving really helps to reinforce the crown shape. Repeat all the way around.

11. To turn loops into triangles, just pinch.
12. Looky there!

13. TaDa!

Note: Keep in mind, even if you want a solid color crown (everyone seems to wants gold and silver) I suggest you use different color pipe cleaners the first time. I can tell you from experience, even with “big kids” it just makes the explanation and learning process a whole lot easier for everyone 🙂

This project is just a basic structure, but as you saw with the drinking straws, you can thread stuff on to the pipe cleaners before threading them to incorporate all kinds of fun;
* Beads
* Feathers
* Ribbon
* Silk flowers (take them apart to find the hole in the center…I’ll show ya’ll some I made another occasion)
* Dry pasta (a manicotti crown!)
* Sequins
* Buttons
* Christmas tinsel
* Foam shapes
…oh the places you will go!

Be sure to check out these matching rings.

This project is linking to Craft School Sunday at www.creativejewishmom.com

Pipe Cleaner Cocktail Rings: Liberace Style

by PEACHES 9 Comments

Y’all have heard about my obsession with Liberace. Not only could the man play the piano, he did it wearing rings the size of club sandwiches! Honestly, who doesn’t love a big fat cocktail ring? Especially when it was made by loving little hands.

Must give credit where credit is due: I learned about these rings at my BFF’s bridal shower, from Masha, who saw this clip on the Martha Stewart Show. Martha’s guest, The Pipe Cleaner Lady (that’s really her name!), breaks it down nicely. You can tell she has shown thousands of people how to do it. Be sure to check out her website for all kinds of cool ideas.

My fall themed variation is a little different. I found that twisting two pipe cleaners together made them thicker, stronger, and less likely to snag. Try it out and see for yourself!

Materials:

12 pipe cleaners, but I suggest you get more. Once you make one of these babies, you will want to make more in a hurry!

Instructions:
1. Twist two pipe cleaners together making one long strand. I chose warm colors similar in tone, but you have fun and pick for yourself!
2. Repeat process four more times, resulting in 5 double strands of pipe cleaners.

3. Take two green pipe cleaners and twist together 2” in the middle. This will leave four long ends.
4. Bend the green pipe cleaners in half and insert the ring finger of your non-dominant hand, forming a loose “X”
5. Pinch and twist the green pipe cleaners around several times. The end result should be a ring around your finger with a helicopter propeller on top.
6. Use the green pipe cleaners to attach the five double stands you previously twisted. Note: TWIST HARD on this one. This particular twist is important and your final ring will go all loosey goosey if this juncture is not secure. Little hands may need help with this part.

7. Take the tip of a double strand and pinch it in toward the center.
8. Continue your pinch and roll up the double strand similar to a snail, winding as tight as you can.
9. Repeat on the other strands until your petals are done. Arrange as you see fit. I like the asymmetrical look, but some prefer to cup them toward the center, similar to a rose or a dahlia. Y’all have fun with that.

10. For stems, take the four green pipe cleaners and loop them back toward the center/under the petals. Twist to secure.
11. Pinch and twist the green loops together forming the stems.
12. And there you have it! I dare you to make just one of these. Once you conquer the flower ring, move on and experiment…sparkle rings, bracelets, cat hats…the sky is the limit!

This is a super fun party project for kids and adults. It can be simplified or expanded in so many ways. I made these at an annual picnic with hundreds of kids of all ages, and everyone caught on pretty quick. I did a couple demonstrations and then the ripple effect took place….before you knew it the older kids started showing the younger ones and so on and so on. Don’t you love it when that happens?

Side note: look, I am not advertising for anyone here, but I spent a good deal of time researching deals on pipe cleaners and this appears to be it. Of course, you can always buy cheaper at the craft store with a 40% off coupon (you know who I’m talking about!)…but if you are buying large quantities for a party, this online source has quality stuff at a decent price. Feel free to do your own research; I’m just trying to save some time.

Cat Hat: A Cinematic Adventure

by PEACHES 11 Comments

You know a movie is good when it inspires you to make a hat for your cat.

Have you seen Labyrinth? If you did, it’s probably been a while. Like, twenty years, right? Unlike most of my childhood obsessions (HELLO NKOTB), this movie has stood the test of time. On the surface level, Labyrinth is a visual feast with a classic story and a few dozen goblin Muppets, not to mention David Bowie in marvelously tight pants…but as an adult, you look at it a little deeper, start thinking…before you know it some unexpectedly personal and powerful things come out of the woodwork. Movies can be funny that way.

Jim Henson was a genius. Design*Sponge did a Living In feature on another one of his movies, The Dark Crystal, last week and it got me all aflutter thinking about Labyrinth. Of course I had to watch it asap and oh boy, it sparked all kinds of creative output, including, drum roll please: a cat hat.

Now, Lola loves her hats. As you can see form the look on her face, she really enjoys dressing up. So while we were watching and I was busy making tiaras with pipe cleaners (more on that tomorrow)…I was so taken aback by this one scene, that, without realizing it, before you knew it, she had a new hat!

It sprouted out of this scene featuring the Chilly Down song by a group of amazing Muppets called the Fire Gang (if you know the part I’m talking about, you will get a kick out of seeing how they made it back in the day before CGI technology). The Fire Gang is bit endearing a petrifying at the same time. They seem so cute and cuddly, but also know they could reach out and snap your neck at any moment. Just like my Lola!

…but I digress.

Bottom line: next time you need some inspiration, or a headdress for your cat-child, please take my advice–treat yourself and look into Labyrinth!

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