Experiments in Art, Craft, and Food

I’ve always adored The Lorax, it was probably my favorite Dr. Suess book when I was little.  And what really captured my imagination as a kid were those fabulous Truffula Trees, looking like cotton candy on a stick!

So when I was invited to participate in the blog tour in promotion of the new movie coming out (in theaters March 2nd. Visit the official site for the movie preview, pictures, downloads and more!) I couldn’t resist doing a project featuring those wonderful trees.

The Truffula Tree-Shirt!

This is a simple “Freezer Paper Stencil” project. Just print out the stencil I’m providing, and follow the directions below. Any color will work for your truffula poofs, I choose Tangerine here.  Click on any of the below images to see them larger or as a slideshow.  Click Here for the Stencil.

Supplies:

• Tshirt (I used black)
• Cutting Mat & razor knife
• Freezer Paper
• Fabric Paint (I used cream and tangerine on a black shirt)
• Sponge brush
• Iron
• Printer to print out your stencil

Preparing the Stencil:

Place the Stencil.

• Heat up your iron on medium.
• Place a piece of cardboard inside the shirt to keep the paint from bleeding through.
• Attach the stencilI lined up the bottom of my Truffula image (the ground) with the bottom seam of my tshirt.
• You can clip the image to keep it in place.
• Carefully use the iron to adhere the image correctly to your tshirt.  It’s a little hard to work with this complex a stencil, so take your time. Once you’re sure everything is in place, iron the stencil in place on the tshirt.

 Paint

Want to see more The Lorax craft projects? Here’s a full list of the blog tour–go check them out, and maybe meet some new cool crafters!

Get Creative with The Lorax Blog Tour:

Feb 1 Today’s Creative Blog
Feb 2 Katydid and Kid
Feb 3 Zakka Life
Feb 6 Smashed Peas & Carrots
Feb 7 Whimsy Love
Feb 8 Little Birdie Secrets
Feb 9 Art Projects for Kids
Feb 10 Dabbled (You’re Here Now!)
Feb 13 Prudent Baby
Feb 14 Tonya Staab

Thanks to Universal Pictures for sponsoring this post!  I hope you all enjoy the project…

Check these out from @madalinaa at Duhlicious!

Get the how-to: duhlicious.com/2012/02/i-heart-you-cupcakes

My friend and local Atlanta photographer Sarah Howell (check out her new website at kimballbates.com!) had done some fabulous black and white photos of the Boy, and I figured that one of those would make a fun and striking canvas print.  And conveniently enough, and the kind folks at FedEx Office (I’ve guest blogged over there before) were kind enough to offer me a chance to try out their canvas printing service and tell you all about it.  So, perfect!  The canvas print came out really lovely, and the kind folks at my local FedEx office store spent a lot of time with me to get it just perfect.  I’d definitely recommend going into the store to order one, as I found it hard to do online.  Plus the turn around is really quick, so you could totally get one done in time for Valentines day.  (Or it would make a great Mothers/Fathers Day gift too!)

Check it out!  >>>

And FedEx Office was also nice enough to provide me with a Gift Pack to giveaway to my lovely readers…

I Heart FedEx Office Gift Pack:

Weekly/Monthly Calendar – Insert a special photo into the stylish calendar to remember your loved ones all day long and stay on track with your schedule. Calendar is lightweight and ideal to stick in your purse at 5.5 x 8 inches.

Glitter Flower Add-On Accessories – Spruce up a card or scrapbooking project with these sparkle, glitter add-on accessories.  (12 count)

Note Cards with Stripes Envelopes – Whether you’re writing a Valentine’s Day or a special note, these solid note cards with coordinating stripes envelopes are versatile and classy. (12 count)

Who Loves You Sticky Notes – A precious owl says, Who Loves You. Leave a note or a reminder with these cute stickies. (50 count)

Valued up to $25

To win, just leave a comment here and I’ll  pick a winner!  PS I’d love for you to also either follow Dabbled on twitter (@dotatdabbled) or go Like our Dabbled Facebook Page.

*In accordance with ethical blogging standards, just wanted to make sure I disclose that FedEx Office did cover the printing costs for this print.  But my opinions on it are my own!

Isn’t this a wonderful idea for Valentines day appetizers or lunchbox treats?  I was searching for photos of tomatoes on a totally unrelated topic, and came across this one… which led me back to Eye Candy (which is a very clever food site I’ve linked to before: check out the Chicken Egg Family!).

So simple and clever.. The arrow toothpick is the perfect touch!

Go there and get the directions: Struck by Cupid’s Arrow Cherry Tomatoes

Artist, and Dabbled favorite, Diana Evans has a great tutorial on making cute paper roses and a paper rose wreath.
Perfect for Valentines Day, no? I think individual flowers would be nice on 3-D Valentine’s Day cards, too.

Go check it out! Her hand drawn tutorial is adorable too…

Sorry for the inconvenience of no Dabbled yesterday, but I feel very strongly that we need to get the word out to stop the SOPA and PIPA proposals, so we joined with many other sites to go dark to highlight the problem.

More info:

• americancensorship.org/
• https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

Internet blackout day is over, but we still need to stop SOPA. Yesterday I posted this to Twitter, but since we’re back up today, I’m sharing it here too! Feel free to pirate this image for use in getting the word out!

Dabbled, like Wikipedia, Boing Boing, and many other sites today, has gone dark from January 18, 2012 at 8:00 am until January 18, 2012 at 8:00 pm to protest SOPA/PIPA and Internet Censorship.

This is important, and you need to be aware and get involved if you care about the internet and the freedoms we currently enjoy. All it takes is people who don’t understand what they are doing (ie our representatives) doing something dumb in the name of trying to stop piracy, and ruining it for everyone.

Proposed US Senate legislation — the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA)– would put Dabbled, and most other sites that link to cool stuff on the web, in legal jeopardy if we linked to a site anywhere online that had any links to copyright infringement.

This would unmake the Web, just as proposed in the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Please visit AmericanCensorship.org for instructions on contacting your Senator.

Thanks for reading Dabbled, and we’ll be back tomorrow!
Cheers,
Nancy (aka Dot), Dabbled.org

If you want to join the protest with your site – because we all have to stand together, the tall and the small – here’s a WordPress plugin that will help your site join the fight with just a small amount of setup: wordpress.org/extend/plugins/go-dark/

Learn More Here »

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has more information on this and other issues central to your freedom online.

*thx to BoingBoing as I paraphrased some of their message for this one. I don’t think they’ll mind.

Dude!  Totally love this nerdy DIY Don’t Blink Angel treetopper by The Domestic Scientist!  For the non-Dr. Who fans, this is the reference to the weeping angels.

Although I’m not really sure Dr. Who is nerdy anymore now with the modern Doctors. Old school Dr. Who is still nerdy, but I never got into that – I must admit I just love the new stuff (I started watching with Eccleston, and adored Tennant, and now Smith is just too much fun!)

Renee says:

From I made her out of Paper Clay. Best stuff EVAR! The first time I used it in making Bianca for Dragon*Con it was really fun, but I didn’t quite understand the potential it had! Underneath the clay is a skeleton of Styrofoam and wire. And a rather silly M&M Mini’s tube in the middle to keep her strong on top of the tree. But hey, I’m recycling! Here are some other, closer shots of it.

Want more DIY ideas?

 and a few more links of crafty/DIY Dr. Who:

• Tardis cross-stitch iphone case
• An amazing Don’t Blink weeping angel costume
• Duct Tape Tardis Purse
• Dalek Advent Calendar
• Dalek Smash Cake 
• Beaded Dr. Who scarf necklace
• DIY Tardis Hoodie ( you know we love freezer paper stencils)

Yesterday I reminded you about picking up your clearance Candy Canes for use in Valentines Day treats.  Today I’m reminding you that the rest of those Holiday Clearance goodies are also a bargain hunting crafter’s delight!

In previous years I’ve picked up a tablecloth which was remade into a fun and modern treeskirt, and I noticed my local Target had some pretty red and white snowflake tablecloths (a smaller print than this one from previous years)  left on clearance and marked down cheap.  If you don’t need a tree skirt, those tablecloths are a great source of holiday fabric for making anything from stockings to kids aprons to fabric ornaments…

Here is the link to my Tree Skirt tutorial, and it’s even easier if you can find a round cloth instead of the oblong one I used : A $4 TREESKIRT FROM AN ‘AFTER CHRISTMAS SALE’ TABLECLOTH

Some other things I’ve picked up in the after holiday blitz are:

• solar christmas lights (there are always project ideas that use these–like Not Martha’s Sun Jar–, and they can be pricey.
• cheap red felt tree skirts.  they are great for just using as red felt in projects!  I think the cross on the Knight costume was made from tree skirt felt!
• clearance ornaments for use in crafty ornament projects next year (like the cupcake ornaments we featured previously!)