Morse Code Beaded Wrap Bracelet

This simple Morse code necklace/bracelet is an easy gift to whip up for the holidays, Mother’s Day or a friend’s birthday.

Materials:

•  3 different kinds of beads: one for dashes, one for dots and one for spaces

• Bead Thread (3 ply) I used about 40” for my necklace/bracelet
• Super Glue or nail polish

If you’re creating a length that’s more than four lines of prose, you’ll need at least 50” of string but if you’re making a shorter saying, such as “I love you”, consider repeating it for the full 40”.


I chose a section from TS Eliot’s Four Quartets. Your message could say anything from “I love you” to “Hey, I made this cool thing for you!”
Regardless of what you decide to say, do a search on the internet for a Morse code translator-- there are several sites out there --then copy the code words into a word document and print it out.

Create a “needle” by covering one end of the string with super glue. It should dry quickly and stiff and the beads will slide onto the string easily.
 
Add a small bit of tape at the other end of the string so the beads don’t fall off then start  adding the beads to make the message.

I lost my place after about 10 characters; I recommend crossing the characters off in sections once they are on the string.
If the string is not full when the words are done - add the “space” beads at either end of the string before tying it off.

Leave about a .25” of extra space on the string when the knot is tied so that the beads are not under tension when the length is twisted into a bracelet later.
Tie the ends in a square knot - right over left, left over right and then add a dab of super glue to the knot to secure it and trim the ends.

The beads can be worn as a necklace or wrapped around the wrist as a bracelet. If you have more advanced jewelry making skills, add clasps and crimps on the end fastenings.

Constellation T-Shirt

We’ve been working on this T-shirt design for a couple of weeks. It was supposed to be for Father’s Day but after a total craft fail we started over – and it failed again. But we learned a few things: that bleach T-shirt thing- doesn’t work so well on black t-shirts – or maybe just not for us? 

Our first T-shirt design turned orange, the bleach pen oozed and the writing was a mess. But-come Halloween we know now how to make orange and black designs!













 



 

 

For our second constellation T-shirt attempt, I bought a Deco Fabric pen and the boy drew his design on the shirt - but there are no directions on the pen – when we put the shirt through the wash, it came out and - ta-da- the design was gone!

A trip to the Internet for directions and –finally a constellation shirt for the dad.

Use the Internet or a book to find the constellation you want to replicate or make up your own.

Elliott decided he wanted to make a “new” constellation for his unicycling dad and this is how we did it.

Wash and dry the shirt to remove sizing from the material. You might want to test the paint pen in an inconspicuous place- inside on the hem first before doing the entire design.

I also recommend doing a sketch first just so everything fits on the shirt. Elliott had a sketch he’d drawn out so we knew where to put the design and how big to make it (we actually increased the size on our printer/copier at home).

 

Place a piece of wax paper or a paper bag (or in our case a large cutting board) some kind of barrier inside the shirt between the front and back layers.

Poke holes through the design paper with a tack and use white chalk to mark where the important stars should be placed. At this point - we'd gone through our holes 3 times, skipped the chalk part and drew directly with the marker. 
However, there are many ways to transfer the drawing- You could rub white chalk on the back of the paper and then press down on the star dots to transfer the constellation design to the front side. 

 


Remove the paper design.

With the cap on- shake the pen.  Then remove the cap and depress the pen tip to get the paint flowing on an extra piece of paper.

When the paint is flowing – dab the pen over the chalked drawn design- outline the constellation connecting lines –then go to town randomly filling in the entire shirt with stars and galaxies. 

Remember to recap the pen when you're done- it will dry out if you don’t.

The directions I found said to allow the paint to dry over night, then lay a cotton cloth over the design and use an iron (with heat set to correct fabric setting) to apply heat evenly for 10 to 15 seconds to set the paint.

Elliott wanted the constellation to read “one wheel" and looked it up – roughly translated from the Latin to “una rota“ which I wrote on the bottom for him (one armed guy that he is right now). I made him a Cancer T-shirt too for his July birthday this week.

Deco Fabric pens also come in a glow in the dark- which we could put over the white to make it glow at night- might try that next.

Cork Printed Wrapping Paper

There are so many things you can print with- pretty much anything will make a print. For this project we needed fun wrapping paper- fast. And “confetti” is so:

a) fun
b) popular
c) easy to make with “wine corks”


We tested 4 cork types (not all made of real cork):
Natural, agglomerated (cork bits stuck together), a rubber cork and a synthetic cork.









The agglomerated and rubber corks were my favorites to print with but synthetic didn’t work very well at all (and I was surprised).

The natural corks printed with a lot of variations - sometimes very clean and fully filled in and others printed mottled dots.

 

We used pigment inks- which take a little longer to dry – hence hanging the paper up but they dry bright and they're what I had on hand.  
The boy twirled his cork and made some excellent patterns.














This is just a fun random project-perfect to do on a rainy day and then you have wrapping paper for the future.





















And it’s a good thing to do before you break your arm mountain biking-at the start of summer break.So sad.