Tag Archives: crafts

Screen Printing! Africa Day 9

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While in Burundi, East Africa visiting family last summer, my sister-in-law Joy taught me how to screen print!

I’m not sure if Burundi has screen printing shops (I imagine they exist, but probably not many), but this undertaking is an example of the ingenuity embodied by expats (and immigrants) around the world who want to recreate things from their home countries.

The table was built from scratch for the purpose of screen printing, and the other tools were ordered online and brought over by friends. We brought the shirts and the ink in our suitcases, and I’m glad the ink didn’t explode all over our clothes in the plane! At least it’s washable before it sets…

Joy’s vision was to create matching t-shirts for our huge Johnson family reunion, which would take place in Tanzania soon after. So she created a custom t-shirt design and, along with me, her three boys, and some of her employees, spent a couple of days printing about 35 shirts.

I need to stop taking on new hobbies, but this was really fun. I’m resisting the urge to get my own screen printing stuff.

We also ended up tie-dying the white shirts once everyone was together, but that is another fun and messy story for another day.

Please don’t ask me why we look like we’re waiting to be gathered up by a galactic starship in a sci fi B movie

Africa Day 1: 30 Hours in Transit

Africa Day 2: Crossing Burundi

Africa Day 3: A Dowry Ceremony

Africa Day 4: A Burundian Wedding

Africa Day 5: Gisuru School for the Deaf

Africa Day 6: How to Make Mudbricks

Africa Day 7: How to Make an African Coil Basket

Africa Day 8: Touring African Hospitals

Art in the Park and Canada!

American University of the Caribbean, Caribbean, Expats, Expats and TCKs, International Travel, Nature, Saint Martin/ Sint Maarten, Spouses Organization, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

We’re bound for Canada! But first, we’re participating in Art in the Park right here at home. One of my favorite memories of my childhood hometown is Art in the Park. Flagstaff, Arizona held it this festival annually on the lawn of the library. It’s something I missed when we moved to Phoenix. Now that we live in Sint Maarten, Art in the Park is back on the agenda!

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Some of my paintings that will be for sale at Art in the Park 

The best of SXM Art in the Park for me is that I get to be a part of a booth this time. If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that I volunteer with a local Little League team that incorporates academics into its daily program. This summer, we all get to take a trip to Canada to watch the Blue Jays play! The Rotary Club is sponsoring the trip, but of course we are teaching the boys responsibility by having them fund-raise as well.

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The kids have been working on their merchandise for a long time. Coach Tom and his wife, Lisa, came up with some great ideas. The team has a rock tumbler, and they’ve polished a couple hundred rocks over the last few months. We’ll put magnets on these and sell them for a few dollars. The kids are also making lanterns with a Canadian maple leaf on the front. I’ll be contributing some of my paintings to the fundraiser, as well.

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K. shows off one of her favorite rocks

Here’s how we made the rock magnets:

  1. The kids ran around the baseball field, gathering various little rocks.

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2. The first week, Tom tumbled the rocks with some abrasive. They came out clean, but still pretty rough. The kids washed all the gritty gray liquid off and Tom added new abrasive.

3. The second week and third weeks, the rocks were tumbled again.

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A. found an amethyst!

4. The fourth week was the last week of tumbling. This kids washed them off and shined them. We put a little lacquer on them to make them even prettier.

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5. Finally, we glued the magnets on the back. They’re ready to add some natural beauty to your fridge!

The older boys worked with volunteers to drill holes in coffee cans for the lanterns. Then everyone had a chance to paint the leaves Canada red.

Stacey and I are working on an informational display for the festival, too. All the kids and volunteers traced their hands on the background.

If you’re on Saint Martin, come visit us this Sunday (February 14) at Emilio Wilson Park in Cul de Sac between 10 and 4:30! Just head to Philipsburg, take the round-a-bout north instead of heading east to Cost-U-Less, and look for the park on your left a little past the baseball field. Let’s send these kids to Canada!

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One of our boys and Fred, a real, live Canadian! Also, note volunteer Andrea’s enthusiasm in the background. We have fun here.

 

 

 

Thanks to Stacey and Tom for providing the pictures for this post!

Handiwork in the Home

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I like handmade things in my home. Someday, I hope to paint murals on my wall and make quirky furniture of my own design. I think of myself as creative. My friend Mariah, however, is the crafty queen! She is one of those people who can take any space and, with a little paint, glue, and pixie dust, turn it into something straight from Pinterest. She really does paint her walls with murals, and she and her husband really do make their own furniture. She just finished painting all the counters in their home silver to look like stainless steel. It looks amazing, as you can see on her blog here: https://swigartabcs.wordpress.com/2015/07/21/painting-countertops-just-go-for-it/

While we’re renting, I’ve managed to make our home uniquely ours with some of my own creations on a small scale. Here are some of my favorites:

The one on the left was actually inspired by Mariah. She uses jars to hold her dish soap instead of the plastic Ajax bottle. I don’t like the bottle on my counter and while my great-grandma’s crocheted soap bottle aprons are cute, they don’t match my kitchen. A jar is the perfect solution! Goodwill has a wonderful variety for a dollar apiece, but I already had this cute little round bottle.

I found the jar soap dispenser idea on Pinterest, and since it matched my dish soap jar, I decided to go for it and add my own twist.

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HOW TO MAKE A MASON JAR SOAP DISPENSER:

1. You will need a mason jar, a plastic soap dispenser with pump, super glue, and soap.

2. Create a hole in the lid of the jar. it only needs to be big enough for the stem of the pump to go through. I used a screwdriver and a hammer. I’m sure there is a much better way to do this. Make sure any sharp edges are pointing up through the top of the lid.

3. Place the pump from the plastic dispenser into the hole. Test to make sure that the stem is not too long. If it is, cut it.

4. Lift the pump and apply glue to the jar lid. Press pump firmly and hold.

5. When the glue is dry, fill the jar with soap.

6. I like to fill my soap jars an inch or two deep with river rocks, shells, glass beads, etc. It adds interest!

After making my kitchen brighter with my soap jars, I decided that the bathroom needed a little extra charm, too.

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HOW TO MAKE A SEASHELL SOAP BOTTLE

1. You will need small shells, hemp, glass beads, a bottle, and a soap pump that can screw into the bottle

2. Fill the bottom of the jar with shells. Ours have a special memory to go with them. We gathered them by Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania, where we were engaged.

3. Fill the jar with soap. Choose a clear of blue soap.

4. Screw on the lid.

5. String glass beads onto the hemp. Wrap it around the neck of the bottle and secure. Arrange beads to your liking.

My sister-in-law gave us some organic hand soap for Christmas, so I made a matching soap dish from half a clam shell (also from Lake Tanganyika).

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HOW TO MAKE A SHELL SOAP DISH:

1. You will need half a large clam shell, two small stones, and super glue

2. Set the shell face down. Glue the two stones an inch and half or two apart on the outside edge (away from the location of the hinge) of the shell. When upright, it should be stable.

3. Let it dry well.

4. If needed, trim your soap to fit.

Painted jars are pretty! I made a jar soap dispenser for my mom and painted it with sunflowers. Most craft stores sell special paint for glass. One of my friends collect water bottle caps– she gives them to an organization that recycles them into medical supplies for African hospitals! We’ve been collecting them, and I needed somewhere convenient to let them gather. I painted this jar with One Stroke technique.

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     I’m excited to start redesigning a home on St. Maarten! Since we’re not taking much, I have the opportunity to practically start over on décor. I’ve decided on a beach house theme. I should find plenty of inspiration and craft supplies right there on the beach! I can’t wait to show you pictures of what I come up with.