Decorative Stepping stones

I wanted some decorative stepping stones to goon the barkchip in the garden, but couldn't find any I liked.

The kids and I had a big bag of air dry clay left, so we rolled it out to about 1/2 inch thickness...but you could do them thicker.
Then we used a plate and knife to get the circle.

We made words out of fridge magnets and stuck them firmly into the clay

Then we used biscuit cuttters to get shapes into the clay

 

Followed by letting them dry and  varnishing them with Yacht vanish to protect them. 

I'm unsure how sturdy they will be to stand on, but they will look good. They could also be painted, but we wanted a more natural look :)

Castle Project

I wanted toy storage for the garden, but I wanted something that looked nice.

We decided on a castle.

First we made a model and worked out measurements 

  

I decided that I actually wanted fewer "castle bits"and i did them 20cm long by 15cm deep.

 We bought boards from  East Midlands Wood recycling. They were roughly 110cm by 90cm (or this is what they were all cut to by us anyway) and £2 each (I cannot recommend the wood place highly enough! They were so informative and helpful :)

Then I got my husband to cut the shapes with a jigsaw, and I painted them with grey exterior gloss that I got for £6 a tin from a discount store. 

 

 Then I made the front. I used a sample of brick wallpaper from a DIY store, and black insulation tape to make the surround for the door and the illusion of bricks. As I planned this to be storage, I wanted a decorative front that completely folded down (as oppose to a doorway.)

Then I went over the whole thing with yacht varnish.

Then we measured out for the roof. As you can see, I put insulation tape to make bricks on the sides as well.

 

And here it is finished :) I used adhesive tiles for the roof, hinges so it folds out, and corner brackets on the inside to hold it together.

 Not the easiest thing I've ever made (wood work isn't really my forte, but lots of fun, and its not allowed to be used to store toys apparently..... lol

WELCOME

Hi, and thanks for checking out my blog. I'm Kayla, I'm 28 and I live in Derby with my wonderful family. This is where I'm going to post all my crafty stuff and maybe even tutorials.
I have several health issues, both physical and mental and I like to keep as busy as I can. Crafts is one of the ways I do this. And I can turn my hand to allsorts.....


Watch this space, more coming soon....