Loopdedoo Bracelets for Girls, Dolls, Paper Crafting ..and Goodbye to Baer Fabrics

One of the gifts I gave my daughter this year, in an attempt to give her a new, fun, creative craft outlet this winter, was a Loopdedoo.  I went to the store to pick up a friendship bracelet kit I had seen- a different brand in fact- but the cool packaging and sticker announcing that this was a Toy Of The Year Finalist caught my attention instead.

What makes it super easy to use-- even for an 8-year-old like my daughter, is that the spinning tool turns the core threads as you cover them with wrap threads.  It turns manually-- no batteries or noisy motor! They tie off with a simple knot, leaving the end threads exposed. In a matter of minutes, my kiddo can complete a bracelet herself. Learning was so easy with the how-to videos created by the company (no searching Youtube, hoping other crafters have supplied instructions like so many other craft tools).  My kiddo has made tons of bracelets for herself, some for friends...and even some for her dolls!  (They also have just created an advanced video for making Loopde strands longer than 8-1/2" long.  So far, she hasn't needed anything that long!)

To tell you that she has been bitten by this bug is an understatement!  It is easy to use and comes with everything you need to get started--although I did donate an extra pair of embroidery scissors to the cause!  It came with 18 skeins of embroidery floss, but that went pretty fast once she started cranking them out.  I found bulk packs of embroidery floss at a nearby craft store (super cheap with a coupon) and then we scavenged my crafty space for bakers twine, ribbon floss, perle cotton, and crochet thread.  No fiber was safe!  We even tried using charms and beads.

She makes a 7" Loopde strand to make a bracelet for her wrist. The company makes charms on a strand that can be twisted into the bracelet, but we found adding a charm from my stash is easy enough to do one at a time.

She decided to make some for her American Girl dolls.

We learned that American Girl doll hands are different on each side.  The right hand is slightly more open, requiring a larger bracelet to get it over the right hand than the left!  For bracelets to be worn on the doll's right-hand wrist, my kiddo twisted a 4-1/2" Loopde.  For bracelets for the left-hand doll wrist, she twisted a 4" Loopde.  For doll ankle bracelets, she twisted a 5" Loopde!

I helped her to make a tiny attachment loop.  The directions say that the attachment loop should be a finger's width away from the hook.  For a doll bracelet, we made the attachment loop about two doll fingers width.

Making the attachment loop this small meant that we had to use a crochet hook to help tie off the finished bracelet!

It is even easier with a helper!

My daughter used three lengths for the core and 4 lengths for the wrap threads.  Three skeins of embroidery floss will make two doll bracelets and one doll anklet!

So, as I helped her and tried a few of my own for fun, I started to be reminded of a tool we used to sell at a fabric store I worked at that helped a seamstress easily twist fibers together to make trims.  It made me think of using the Loopdedoo spinning tool to make cording, frogs, and trims on accessories!  I think it is a great tool for paper crafters too!  I made a button closure for an envelope I am using in a journal.

I am still using the bulk bakers twine that I got from Country Clean Paper Supplies.

I used only two fibers for this:  embroidery floss and bakers twine.  I wanted a closure that was thicker than just bakers twine alone and this worked perfectly.  I measured out three lengths for the core and 2-1/2 lengths for the wrap.  I twisted a 6-1/2" Loopde strand (alternating between color block and swirl looping styles) and cut the core threads to finish at 7-1/2".  (The paper envelope was cut from Cricut Artiste at 3-1/2"-- page 33.  I cut off the scallop edge).  I glued the shank buttons on with E6000 plastic adhesive, catching the small attachment loop under the top button before gluing.

The Loopdedoo kit turned out to be a great purchase.  My daughter loves using it to make things for herself, for her dolls, and for quick gifts for her friends!  I found this one at a local Meijer store for about $29.  If you think this might be a fun tool for your kiddo, I would suggest also picking up a pair of embroidery scissors and a couple sizes of crochet hooks-- a small one for tiny attachment loops and a big one for chunky fibers!  They fit perfectly in the drawer under the tool.  The drawer is too small for the instruction booklet and all the embroidery threads and other fibers your kid will be sure to acquire so a little sewing basket or box is helpful too!

Earlier in this post, I mentioned that I had worked at a fabric store a while ago.  Actually, I worked at Baer Fabrics for nearly 17 years.  I started there as a teacher, teaching teenagers how to sew at a Summer Camp.  I had just graduated high school the week I got the job, so I was a teenager too!  It was just supposed to be a summer job.  I quit for a few months, moving to New York for college.  I hated it and came home to attend the University of Louisville.  Baer's hired me right back. I was in sales for years there before being asked to do the visual merchandising for the store.  I did that for years and then was asked to manage the home decor department-- the 3rd floor of this fantasy-land for creative folks!  At some point, I took on managing the first floor as well, but when my friend who had left his job at Baer's had returned, as did several of us who left, I happily jumped to give him back the management of that floor!  (That friend, by the way, was my best friend and he later became my only attendant at my wedding.  Yes, I had a male attendant.  He and his wife -an ex-Baer employee- flew to The Venetian in Las Vegas for our wedding.  During the ceremony, to add to the strangeness of it all, we looked out and saw one of our Baer Fabrics customers watching the wedding with her family!)

I left again when I decided to just work for my husband and found out I was pregnant during my two-weeks notice.  My friends threw me another great shower; the first was my bridal shower the year before, where everyone made special keepsakes for me.  (The gifts from the bridal shower were so beautiful and all handmade-- meticulous, perfect and so impressive that my mother-in-law's best friend, who was in-attendance, jokingly lied when I opened a vase from her, telling everyone she had hand-cut the crystal.  I married into a loving, though uncrafty, family!)  It was quite a send-off!  I came back to Baer's a couple of years later when my husband sold his business, to start an Ebay department for the store.  I worked that and another full-time job at the same time, and finally quit again when my mother developed breast cancer and my husband's new business was taking off so that I could work just one full-time job, a horrible but better-paying job as a bookkeeper at a construction company.  The owner (and president) of Baer's was hard to say goodbye to and my two-weeks notice went on for months until he finally found someone to take over for me.  I considered that more than a compliment, as hard as it was.  After I finally left, while I was still at the construction company, I learned that Baer Fabrics was closing for financial reasons.  I went back to work at Baer's for the last day of business and I did so for free and without asking just so I could say good-bye to the people, the institution, and the owner who once told me I was like a daughter to him.  The folks there saw me through becoming a college graduate, through the deaths of my grandparents, through my sister's leg amputation, through my wedding, through becoming a mom, and through so many little moments too.  It felt like home.... with a dysfunctional family, but home!

I only mention this because I found out a day or so ago that the building is being prepared for demolition.  Farewell, Baer Fabrics!  I had more laughter and more tears there than in any one building my whole life.  I will miss seeing you from the expressway and from the downtown streets that always led me to you, the magic inside those walls, and the kind and generous people who worked and shopped there who made it impossible to stay away...

Thank you for checking my blog post today!  To see many of my previous projects, check My Project Gallery.  So see my previous doll clothing and accessory posts, check my Doll Clothes and Accessories page.

Secret Hollow Book Card! (and a Piper project to share)

I love hiding spots... old homes with hidden rooms, desks with secret drawers... and I love the idea of a book with a secret hollow!  That is why I fell in love with a tutorial from Tracy of 'I Wanna Build A Memory' blog and her Tracylovestoscrap YouTube channel!  In her video, she said she got the idea from the blog Wenches Kort og Papir.  I made one... and then I changed the size, added a couple of extra score lines, and figured out how to make the cover look like embossed leather!

So... on the outside, it looks like this....

But when you open it up, there's a hollowed out space, perfect for a little paper vignette!

I used my computer to print a sentiment on the end paper.  I printed it high enough to allow for space for a gift card!

I will suggest watching Tracy's video (click here) and following up with a trip over to her blog (click here).  I am also providing you with all of my changes!  My finished  book card is 5-7/8" x 4-7/8".

For the cover, I cut a piece of card stock 5-7/8" x 10-1/2".  I placed the 10-1/2" side against the top of my scoring board and scored at 4-5/8", 4-7/8", 5-5/8", and 5-7/8".  You will notice that this adds two more score lines than Tracy's tutorial. I think the extra lines allow the cover to look more like a book and it allows the card to open easily with the spine of the inside "pages" glued to the center (spine) of the cover!  Tracy did not glue her spine to the cover, but I really like mine glued.

I cut pieces to emboss for the outside of the cover from the same paper.  For each side, I cut card stock at 4-1/2" x 5-7/8" and a piece for the spine at 11/16" x 5-7/8".  I peeked at some old books we had just to get an idea of what older books really looked like and found a couple of embossing folders in my collection that would be good mimics!

I used a brown ink pad to rub over the embossing and used a sponge applicator to ink the corners and edges.

I glued the embossed pieces onto the cover with ATG tape.  The added layers made the cover more substantial too.

For the inside, I cut two pieces of white card stock at 5-3/8" x 9" and two pieces at 4-1/2" x 9".  I placed the 9" sides against the top of my scoring board and scored at 3/4" all the way across.  This follows Tracy's directions exactly.

I folded them up, accordion-style and inked the edges by rubbing an ink pad over the folds.

I assembled the folded 'pages' just as Tracy instructed and glued in place with Scotch Quick Dry Glue.

I cut a green gingham mat to place over the 'pages'.  This was cut at 4-5/8" x 5-1/2" with the inside cut to allow for a 7/8" border.  This created a frame for my vignette.

These were my cuts:

• Snowy background - Campin Critters (page 66), 2-1/4".  I used Scotch Quick Dry Glue and Martha Stewart fine glitter.
• Sky - 2-1/4" x 4-1/2" strip.  I applied it to a card stock base.

• Snowmen - Snow Folks, 1-3/4".  I cut two of the base cut in white and used the Martha Stewart branch punch for their hands.  I popped up the snowman they are building and the snowman on the right 1/8" after cutting them free from the duplicate cut.  I inked their jackets and hand-cut a scarf for the snowman on the right.  I hand cut the carrot nose and drew in the eyes for the guy on the left and colored in the nose and eyes for the guy on the right. I inked them in black.  This was popped up 3/8".

• Snowflakes - When It's Cold Outside, 1".

I couldn't find any bookbinding headband on hand (although I know I have some!), so I used bakers twine.  This is a crazy little detail that I added.

I printed the sentiment on my computer.

• Photo corners - Holiday Frames and Tags (page 44), 4".

I glued the vignette and 'pages' into the cover on the right and the sentiment sheet on the left, adding photo corners.  I glued the cover to the spine.  I used Scotch Quick Dry Glue.

So, all that's left is to apply the gift card....

I loved this project.  I have some others planned to do as well!  There are endless possibilities with this concept.  Guess who wanted to keep it for herself.....

Speaking of my little paper crafting buddy, she just finished a project of her own that I wanted to share with you!

I loved special projects when I was in school... and  if I had the internet, a Cricut, and a Bind-It-All at my fingertips, oh, how much more I would have loved those presentations!  So, when my daughter was given a history project to make a book of Americans that she considered 'great', I decided that this would also be a great time to start teaching her how to use some more of the crafty tools we have in this house.

It was the first time that either of us had used Mod Podge, but since it was in the house, and so was some chipboard, I decided that I would teach her to make a cover using those materials with decorative papers.

She used a Cricut and Mickey Font to make letters for the front.  The papers were some I won from a challenge back in the summer.  (Piper has used a Cricut many times before.  She actually has a Baby Bug and her own cartridges in her room, but we did this project in my crafty space instead).

She used my computer, finding facts for her little reports.  She took the notes from that and learned how to use a light box to write straight on linen paper placed on top of lined paper.  (Yes, there is penmanship grade tied into this.)

She got really great at using the ATG!  She taped her drawings and reports on the decorative papers.

She learned how to make a font with a shadow, something that she had never done on the Cricut before. She is a master with glue, now that she has learned how to blot off excess glue.

She learned how to punch the holes in her pages with the Bind-It-All, but had me close her o-wires for her.  I think she loved the project, even though it seemed to go on forever, swallowing weekend after weekend... so she also loved when it was done!  (So did I!)

Her great American for "w" was Walt Disney... yep, she's a kid!  After dressing up like Annie Oakley for last year's end-of-term history project, she wanted Annie to be her "a" entry.  (You can see that Cricut project by clicking here.)

Along the way on to "z", she learned a lot that they didn't teach this year including facts about the Underground Railroad and Women's Suffrage.  She also learned to decoupage, how to put patterned papers together, how to  draw creatively from historical photographs without tracing, and how to create elements that are uniform to tie a project together visually.  It was an art assignment as well as a history assignment!

Thanks for letting me show off my kiddo and her 3rd grade history project.  As much as anything, we got to do it together and she was happy with the end result.  It took a lot for me not to take over the assignment and to let her design it and figure it out.  She was so excited when I told her I would put it on my blog.

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!  

I already have a few more vignettes in mind for other secret hollow book cards... can't wait to show them to you!  For more inspiration on these, definitely visit Wenche's blog -- Google Translator worked great for me!  Start with this one:  click here.  To see many of my previous projects, check out My Project Gallery.

Edited 12/29/2012 to add:  To see a later post with more Secret Hollow Book Cards, click here.