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January

Here it is, January. Because of El Nino (are you sick of that term yet?) much of Canada had a green Christmas. However, once the new year started, old guy winter blew in and by the looks of things, is here to stay for awhile! So, to honour the old goat (capricorn joke!), here are some things to do so you have an excuse not to go outside!

• Did you know you can make a pair of boots from a pair of barbie (tm) plastic roller skates, casting plaster (or another type of quick setting air curing clay), paint and string? Just fill up the boot, let set, remove from mould. Then it is a matter of cutting down the boot (taking off unnecessary bulges)and hollowing out a space for the foot, and finish with a nice paint job. Or take that same pair of boots, and modify it into a mould. Cut open, fill in all the openings you don't need, cut down the boot to where it is the correct size and shape. Cover inside of mould with talcum powder. Kneed fimo (any color) and press it into the mould. Try to make it so there is an indentation in the fimo (so there will be a hole left after curing). Do the same with the other side. Press mould together so the two halves of fimo become one. Pull mould gently apart and remove shoe (be careful not to squash!). Bake according to manufacturer's directions. Paint with acrylics. Another way to make a pair of boots involves a doll's foot/leg (can be either purchased, or you can mould one yourself out of poly clay). Cover the doll's foot in plastic wrap, and glue bits of leather to it(eventually forming a shoe). Let the glue dry, pull shoe off of doll foot.

• Occasionally the weather will turn foul, and you just can't go outside. So you need some entertainment so you don't go batty! Try your hand at making a board game. A chequer board can be made from a reduced picture, glued to a piece of cereal box cardboard, possibly varnished very thinly. Roll a thin snake of fimo and with a sharp curved exacto knife and cut off several exact sized discs. Shape the discs and bake them. Or cut several discs from a round dowel and paint.

• Perhaps you would rather read a nice book. A small pocket tome can be made from a stack of cardstock and a thin piece of leather. Cut a number of rectangles from cardstock, stack, and glue the area of the binding well. Let dry. Glue on rectangle of leather and let dry. If the book seems not quite exact at the end, carefully square it up with a sharp (like it could cut an atom in half sharp) exacto knife and ruler. If you want your book to have a title, find a small advertisement for a book you like (try magazines, they often have advertisements with this sort of thing). Glue to front center of the leather book.

• Ok, so the husband cheats at chequers, you finished your book and the library isn't open until tomorrow, so maybe you would like to watch a video? Take a piece of stock moulding that is flat and appropriately thick, cut off lengths. Prime with a few coats of varnish, let dry, then paint with black acrylic paint. If you get junk mail from some sleazy video club, they often have pictures of the most popular and current movies. Cut out these and glue onto your black box.

• So it has warmed up, and your little people want to go outside and DO something. Perhaps they want to go tobagganing? First thing to do is get a piece of thin, flexible (lengthwise, cut with the grain) wood (possibly veneer or balsa). Score wood on both sides to simulate slats, and soak the wood in warm water. Once the wood is flexible, Bend one end over an appropriately sized bottle very gently, and anchor so it doesn't uncurl. Dry wood with weights on it, so the whole thing won't warp. When done, Add cross-slats (stock moulding) and rope (string). Hmm, I wonder if this wouldn't work to make a nice pair of skis, too?

• Dang, but it was cold out there! I am going in for a cup of tea. A teapot can be made in a variety of ways. One is to acquire an appropriately sized bead. Get your evil superglue out (with the acetone so you can unstick your fingers later) and glue a jump ring to the bottom. Get some plastic covered wire, and bend a piece into a spout. Glue this to side of pot. Take another piece of PCW, and make a handle. Glue to other side. For the top of the pot you can glue on smaller beads and smaller jump rings. If you matched the PCW to the bead, you can leave everything as it is. If you wanted to make your pot match, just paint with acrylics and varnish. Decorations for the pot can come from paper cut outs, small stickers or decorative nail transfer decals. If you are are a little more frisky, or don't have a bead just now, you can make a nice pot out of a poly clay. Make a ball of clay, add a fimo rope for the spout, and one for the handle (or you can use the PCW again, or bare wire, but it will have to be put on after). The nice thing about fimo is that you can make it look metallic by adding specially made powders to it. These must be applied before baking.

• What would a pot of tea be without a nice scone? A scone, by the way, is a little sweet bun with currants that is served with jam and whipped cream (at the place I worked at, anyway!). For the scone, you will need crayola model magic, honey brown acrylic paint and a few black beads. Scones (at least here) are about 2 inches wide about an inch high, and shaped like a disc. So therefore that would translate into about 1/12th of an inch tall, 1/6th of an inch wide. They can vary a bit, though. Make a round blob of CMM, flatten a bit so it is disc shaped. Press in a few black beads here and there. Allow to set up. Paint with thinned honey brown colored acrylic for a nice browned look. Allow to dry and glue on to a nice little plate. For Jam, you will need a bit of baked fruit colored fimo chopped up, a corresponding color of acrylic glass paint. Mix fimo with the glass paint, and place a bit next to the scones or on a separate plate. For cream, an acrylic caulking medium or dimensional paint. Place either on plate of scones or a separate plate. Don't forget to add a tiny spoon or knife to the design.

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For older tips, check out the Mini Tip archive.

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