Cactus pin cushion&keeper : Repurpose project

Since I bought the sewing machine. Seem like I got a need for things that never have a meaning for me before; pin cushion, for example. So I designed to make one and this one should be function as pin keeper as well. Coz I plan to carry it with me to the sewing class.
And I ended up with this

I've got the original tutorial for cactus making here :

Looks simple enough for the beginner sewer, right? Let's start!

1. Cut the felt to 6 pcs of semi-circle. I used 2 tone of green to coordinated.

2. Find empty cosmetic jar, wrap it with your fabric scraps useing glue gun to attach. Cut a long rectangle piece of felt to wrap the lid if you's like. Cut a circle same size as the top of the lid. Leave the jar and circle piece wait to grow the cactus.

3. Sew a pair of semicircle together. We would got 3 semicircle caps, trim the edge of the cap and flip them inside out.

4. Sew along the center of 3 semicircle caps. Stuff each room with polyester And sew to close the rooms.

5. Sew your cactus with the circle piece. Use glue gun to attach it to the jar lid.

6. Let the cactus bloom if you'd like. I've just cut the red felt to 2 flower shape and sticked them to cactus with my pins. How lazy ^^

There you've got it! Open lid to store the pin and use the lid as the cushion. I'm love how it turned out. Hope you like it too. :)

Messy sidewalk painting

Every kids love messy art project or atleast my kid and her friends love messy play. So, this little art project was a big bang for them!

I found the recipe for the sidewalk paint via pinterest. The original formula was written  here but I adjusted it a bit.
My sidewalk paint formula is...
1 part cornstarch
1 part tap water
small amount of any coloring washable paint (I use tempera)
*optional : after washed all the messy paint I though next time I would add some detergent (dish washer, perhaps) to make it easier to wash.

Then we let the kids mixed it together. We provided them the cheap paint brushes from hardware store which perfect for this project.

This will super fun when you've got many little painter.



They were so absorp by the paint.



The older kids mixed the paint to create new color

From sidewalk paint to foot paint



It was tickle, I guess

After we made the third batch, the cornstrach was run out. The kids continue painted with sidewalk chalk.

I love this rainbow bridge

Then the kids helped in cleaning and this was fun too!

We still saw the fade color stain here and there but they gone after the heavy rain :)
So, I recommend to use only small amount of color and add a bit of detergent to the formula if you want to try this fun.