Thursday, October 3, 2013

First Tutorial and an apology for being away so long!

I want to start by saying sorry to any who follow my blog or have stopped in over the year+ I've been silent. A lot has changed since last time I popped in for an update. I've begun many new chapters in my life. I never have stopped crafting along the way even during those most stressful times I kept at it because it kept me sane. I only took a break after we moved into our first home early May. I'm back at it now especially since my kid has started school and I have plenty of time on my hands! She loves it but I miss her so. It's actually been good for us both. I have had a very rough time lately with a close family member dying so suddenly and so young it threw me for a loop. So I really need something to focus on to work through the pain. I've decided it's time for many changes in my life. The biggest would be to lose weight. I've always struggled with weight since I was first entering puberty and my thyroid production slowed way down and I went untreated so long. I gained a lot of weight in my teens due to being confined to a wheelchair as a teen. I was given medications that cause weight gain along with lack of hormonal treatment that only packed it on. I never really learned how to get the weight off so once I did get treatment I did all the wrong things to get the weight off such as fad and yo yo diets that only took it off and brought it right back. Its a lifestyle change completely.. My biggest problem involves being active. I have chronic pain every day. Some days I can barely get around my 1 story home other days I can get out and walk around for a bit but generally those days I push myself too far and end up worse off for the wear. I have a genetic disorder called Ehlers Danlos syndrome. It effects the collagen which is a major building block of our bodies. It can cause tissue joints and organs/vessels to be weakened hyper flexible or prone to rips/tears. I have the hypermobility type and major back conditions stemming from that along with fibromyalgia and inflammatory arthritis that go with them. I have decided that I truly need to find a way to get active even if its for 5 minutes here and there throughout the day. I cannot drive because of visual problems I have double vision in my left eye and I'm very nearsighted. So in order to get a gym membership I'd have to take a bus and change buses and spend too much.time and money to get to the gym 3 times a week. I've got a lot of anxiety about gyms and going out anyway because of the pain and social anxiety is another of my demons. So I've decided to give my shop a go again and use all proceeds to go forward to an exercise bike that is built to my weight capacity and that will work with my body. I've posted stuff to my etsy shop in order to do this so I can start saving up. I cant keep putting it off. Life is too short and there are so many things I want to do and experience in life. I also want to do it to honor my cousin's memory. He was much more like a brother we saw each other several times a week.. it was a huge loss and a wake up call.. I've got to stop wasting time. So I'm going to pour myself into my shop and try my best to achieve my goal of better health! I hope to share my journey here and on my other blog "Finding a New Tomorrow". On to the tutorial :)
I've been seeing these bats online and wanted to give my take on toilet paper roll bats. These would be perfect to do with kids I used hot glue to put mine together but you can use regular white school glue as well. I recommend using clothes pins to hold things together until they dry. You could have the kids paint all the part
Here's what you need: 
Toilet paper rolls- I cut each tube into 12 strips for the bat wings and legs and you will need 1 for the body each bat takes 10 strips so 2 rolls per each bat is a good estimate :) It's always good to have a couple extra strips just in case ;)

Paint/Markers to color your bats. A smart idea would be to spray paint the base coat after they are put together!

Glue/Hot glue gun (my preferred method but do make sure it is low temp cus ouch hot glue on your finger tips is definitely not fun!)

Paper to lay down to protect your surface if using paint ;) I just use the millions of adds we get in the mail

String to hang the bats I didnt get good pictures of this part but you attach them as your folding the tops of the head down 
A pen if you need to mark off the toilet paper rolls. I just cut each one in half and those halves in half then each of those quarters I cut into 3. 
fun extras like googly eyes or bits of fabric to make scarves or you could use pipe cleaners for legs! I'm going to break out the googly eyes for my daughter and her friends this weekend when they make some!

Step 1: gather up all your junk!


  Have a black cat cross your path ;)

 shoo away cats who've come to pester you while you work because they are *totally adorable<3* stinky butt nuggets who I love but not so much while they are getting into what I'm crafting lol
 cut strips from your TP roll by flattening it but not creasing it we want the rings to open back up neatly with 2 points. Remember divide the roll in half, then you cut those halves in half to form quarters, then each quarter into 3 12 pieces! ;)

paint the parts. you could paint then cut but I find this easier because I dont have to wait for them to dry all the way before I cut them and its not as hard to get in the middle of them or on the edges.
yes be sure to paint the insides and edges strips too (psh paint washes off I'm a messy crafter as yo can tell! However paint doesnt wash off of nail polish so if you are concerned dont go my messy route or wear gloves if you do!)
Lots of painted rings.. I actually watered my paint down a lot so the coverage wasnt as great as usual but I didn't have much left so... yep it will do! I had enough left that I went back over the lightest covered spots
take 3 strips and cut 1 of them on a crease so that the circle is broken and the other end is pointy
Glue the 2 rings together at the top and then bring that split ring down over them (like a nice little hug huh? awwww <3 )
Take 2 more rings from your pile o' black rings and cut one in half completely so that it forms 2 curved strips. The other just snip to open the ring up at the crease like the last one leaving the other crease at the top
Take one of the half rings and make the curved side bend towards the peak like pictured below put glue on both inside bottoms of the split ring and stick it together
pinch it a bit until it looks like this sorta like the star trek insignia eh? coincidence... ? oh you'll never know ^.~
now take the pointy bits and glue them together only about 1/3 the way down those sides

yep kinda like this here
so here is the top of the head now bend one side in this first side is the back of the head

now bend the front side down but dont glue in place just yet you will do that later after securing a piece of string under the flap

here is the bottom part. going in on the opposite sides and bringing the front to a point that meets in parallel to the center of the bat's head the bottom back is left less pointy than the front to leave room to glue on the legs
prefold them so they will close easier you will have to do a little forming to make it look right.
take another loop and cut it at the pointy end
now bend out the 2 bottoms to make little footies
glue this on the thicker back side point
now glue that pointy front fold over the legs neatly.
here you go the body is ready (you could paint it before folding and all that but I figure this is easier to show you)
now comes the wings! remember that part with the star trek insignia? put some glue on that bad boy! Yea right down there in the corner only about 1/2 the way up that little length
now stick it onto the bat make sure its good and stuck before folding it out!

oh and another wing! dont worry if it isnt all lined up perfectly I think it gives them some personality baby!
that unpainted one is now the purple one and I just painted the eyeballs on with some glossy white acrylic paint some pink acrylic some grey and more glossy white for the teeth.
oh yea now that everything is done remember that unglued flap at the top? tuck a string knotted into a loop under there and glue it! now its a cute batty ornament to hang wherever you'd like
I hung some on my hoopla wall! all of these hoops I got in craft swaps. :)

2 comments:

  1. Wow this is wonderful hon, I love it. This is a great first tutorial and I look forward to seeing more. All my love.

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  2. Thank you Heather! I appreciate your love and support and I'm so very thankful to have such a wonderful friend :) I hope I can come up with a new one soon! :D

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