Paper Crocodile. How to recycle toilet rolls for your children's craft projects.

So my daughter had this topic about the Ancient Egypt. We had to make amongst other things a Crocodile out of recycled materials (paper, fabric, anything) 

And as the news for this project was delivered the night before the teacher needed it we had to quickly come up with something. Here I share the step by step of how we made it.

You will need 3 spare toilet rolls, PVA glue, scissors, pen and paint.

How to make a Crocodile from toilet rolls.

1. Draw The outline for teeth and jaw on both sides of the roll.

Draw the jaw and teeth outline on both sides.

2. Cut out.

Cut out following the lines.

3. Draw the eyes on both sides.

Head ready

4. Outline the spine scales.

5. Cut out the outlined shapes.

6. Outline and cut the feet shapes.

7. Apply PVA glue on the inside of the head end. Join two parts of the body.

8. The body of the Crocodile is finished. Needs tail!

9. Draw and cut out the tail shape using the third roll.

10. Glue in place.

11. Leave to dry for an hour and paint in several shades of green, brown, terracota and yellow. We added some dark green glitter glue.

Torquay and Plymouth. Memories from a nice journey.

Torquay Marina

Torquay

Torquay 

Torquay Marina

Marina

Torquay

Plymouth. 

Plymouth

Tinside Pool. Plymouth.

Plymouth

Best ways to use the space under the staircase.

My brag post for today. Great if your home is relatively small and you need to utilize every inch. My next project is going to tackle exactly this. Will post the final result hopefully very soon. But meanwhile have a look at these great ideas. 

Marine Coral Fish tank in my living room

Here's a little sneak into my living room. My husband has this big Marine Coral Fish tank. Despite the hard work and maintenance it's all worth it. It looks amazing. Everyone who visits is drawn to it like a magnet. And my young daughter is turning into an expert Marine biologist at the age of 9.
My cotribution to this is the making of the rock structure. It was made from live rock, glued with the milliput, this structure works brilliantly. Gives fish caves to hide, creates space for placing corals and lets the water flow better so the oxigen and the bacteria spreads evenly and no pockets of stale water are left. Also I seem to get all the disasters in the tank and loose half of the fish while my husbands travels away.
Here's a list of some of the fish and corals we have:
Banana Wrasse, Sohal Tang, Lined Puffer, Chocolate Starfish, Blue Berry Gorgonia Coral, Torch Coral, Hammer Coral, Bubble Coral, Ellegance Coral, Acropora Colony, Zoas, Gold striped clove polyp Coral, Orange Silk Coral

Working with concrete.

I always had a thing for decorative concrete objects as I really like the feel of it and the modern look. I had experimented with couple of ideas of mine, however not very succesful for now. I found this amazing article about making concrete decorative objects and yes indeed - I failed because I wasn't patient. Concrete is a  temperamental  thing as it turned out.  

Hair bows

How to make hair bows

Hair bows

Few inspirational Interior ideas from my visit to Revolution Bar and Food in Bath

Here are few great inspirational Interior ideas I came accross while having lunch in the Revolution Bar in Bath few weeks ago.

1. One of my favourite finds. Featured wall made from reclaimed wood. Very clever and so eclectic. I could see nail holes, scratches and marks made over time. It had history. Love it.

Featured wall made from reclaimed wood.

2. Table made from old parquet flooring, polished and conditioned. Left all natural, it look so welcoming and homely. 

Table made from old parquet flooring.

3.  Old copper pipe suspended from the ceiling and used as a pole to carry some of the lights.

Lights suspended on old copper pipe pole.

4. Table top made with different tiles. Nice and charming. Lovely skinny Pizza as well.

Table top made with different tiles. Very charming.

5. Bold black and white floor, both retro and very trendy for the modern pattern. 

Floor pattern.

How to instantly chill and flavour your white wine.

Use frozen berries to instantly chill and flavour your white wine. After finish drinking simply eat the berries left on the bottom of your glass. Perfect finish for a nice drink.
All big supermarkets sell frozen mixed berries if you don't have a garden or don't grow berries. Here's a link for some from Sainsbury's.

Frozen berries to chill white wine.

Doll House bed - Handmade by Thea Caldwell on the base of IKEA Mydal bunk bed.

So here it is. My Daughter's "Doll House" bunk bed.

IKEA MYDAL bunk bed used as a base on which I built the "Doll House" bunk bed. Painted with VALSPAR Water Based Interior paint for wood and metal -"Sugar Coat It" colour. IKEA TROFAST used as staircase. Wood from B&Q. It took me two weeks from start to finish.

Doll House. Thea Caldwell

Doll House Bunk Bed. Thea Caldwell

Doll House Bunk Bed. Thea Caldwell

Stand for portable BBQs for your decking area.

 What do you get when you fill a large ceramic pot with concrete and stamp BBQ on the surface? You get a stand for portable BBQs and it gives you the chance to use it on a decking area without setting the wood on fire. I think it’s a genius idea.