03/19/2012 - Game Piece Hourglass

I was still in basket making mode, but needed a diversion, so I used up some game pieces. I need to take a moment to discuss how much I love paint pens, especially the metallic ones. They make my crafting life much easier. I love you paint pens, you are so wonderful. 

Reclaimed Material: checker pieces, splash sticks, game timer
Other/New Material: none
Tools: clippers, gold paint pen, hot glue gun

How I did it: I took the left over sticks from the splash stick earrings and cut down two more a little taller than the height of the timer (the ends fit into a crevice in the checker pieces). I painted the sticks and the checker pieces with the gold pen and let them dry. I put a dab of hot glue in the center of one the checker pieces and set the time on it. Since I didn't want the hot glue to show, I put some of the glue on a scrap of cardboard and dipped one end of each stick in the glue and tucked it into the crevice on the checker. Once all four pieces were glued things got a little tricky. I let the glue set, then dipped the other ends of the stick in the glue and put the other checker on top of them. I had to work quickly so the hot glue wouldn't dry.

What I would do differently: There is nothing to change, and I probably won't get a chance to repeat this project unless I come across another discarded game timer, if I do I need to start playing the lottery.

01/18/2012 - Tic Tac Toe Game

Sometimes things "speak to me" and this aluminum tray from a package of frozen bread seemed to be screaming to me "I want to be a tic tac toe game! I want to be a tic tac toe game!" This was fun to make and is on the refrigerator now for my family to enjoy.

Recycled Material: aluminum tray, game pieces
Other Material: round magnets, magnet sheet 
Tools: hot glue gun, multi-purpose glue


How I did it: I had some printable magnet sheets left over from a project from a few years ago and cut one of the sheets down to fit the back of this tray. I used the multi-purpose glue to affix the magnet sheet to the back of the aluminum. (Hot glue and aluminum do not play well together.) I used 10 checkers pieces (5 of each color) and hot glued a round magnet to the back of each of the game pieces. I let the magnets cool/dry and stuck it on the fridge.

What I would do differently: I have a stash of random game pieces so I used the checkers pieces, but this would be just as fun using bottle caps, milk tops or other plastic caps. I left the edge on the aluminum for easy storage for the pieces when it was taken off the fridge since the back magnet was too weak to hold the checker magnets.