#36 Origami Turtle

While looking for these directions, I saw that somebody has made earrings out of tiny origami turtles!  I will be looking into that soon.  I just wonder what will keep them from unfolding.  It won't be out of this pattern though.  I don't think it would hold up too well, I'd need something simpler and flatter.
Today's turtle is origami.  I even remembered that I have coloured paper.  I found directions here while doing a Google search.  It turned out larger than I expected.  (I keep this penny with my camera now!)

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#35 Bill the Turtle

Again, I got sidetracked while searching for directions to make an origami turtle.  This time I found directions to make one out of a dollar bill.  I just happened to have a $5 bill, so I got to work.

That was fun.  I'm not keeping this one.  It is going back into my wallet! Pin It

#34 Water Chestnut Turtle

I am lacking in ambition today.  Instead of being crafty and working on part two of yesterday's turtle (I got as far as taking the materials out), I played with dinner.  I present a water chestnut turtle with celery legs and head.

I added some eyes with Picnik so you can tell which way it is facing!

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#33 Felt Stuffed Turtle

This is the first step of a turtle I am making.  Since step 1 is a complete turtle itself, I thought it should count as today's turtle.  I have never done "step 2" before, so I do not think it will be ready to be tomorrow's turtle, I have a feeling that it will be a time consuming process for me.  But here is the first part:  A little turtle made out of felt.  He is even stuffed with the scraps I had left after cutting it out.  I didn't take a picture of his belly, but it is a cream colour.

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#32 Zipper Pull

There isn't much to say about this one.  I wanted a zipper pull for my coat so I made one.
:)

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#31 Cork Turtle

My first thought when I decided to make a turtle out of cork today was to make a coaster.  Since my cork was not big enough I had to come up with a different idea.
Here is what I came up with.

It turned out smaller than I had envisioned it, but I think it's cute.  I put the penny beside it so you can see how teeny it is. Pin It

#30 Earrings

After yesterday's five hour turtle I wanted to do something today that didn't take such a long time. 
I made these earrings a very long time ago.  Before I really knew what I was doing and before I had proper supplies.  They are just made on thread.

I've never been happy with them so today I finally decided to do something about it.  I know they don't look much different, but they are made much better now.

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#29 Wooden Turtle (made by MEEEE!!)

Hubby has been trying for years to get me interested in his hobby of woodworking.  He has even picked out projects that he thought I would enjoy.  A few weeks ago he hit on one that I thought I would enjoy.  I went trotting to the shop at about noon thinking I would be a couple of hours, then I could go play my (single player) video game while he was still in the shop doing his own thing.  Yeah, right.  The video game is untouched and I was in the shop for five hours.  But I have an awesome turtle to show for it.  And I did most of the work myself.

I started out by gluing the patterns onto my piece of pine.

Then it was off to the scroll saw.  I enjoyed this part.

I made lots of sawdust.  Hubby told me that I was crazy to come out there in clean black pants, but yesterday was laundry day and all I have are freshly washed pants!

After lots and lots and lots of sanding and using the Dremel tool, and more sanding,  -I am not a fan of the belt sander.  That worries me more than the saw does.   My masterpiece was finished.   All it needs now are eyes and a finish.  I am thinking I will leave it natural wood and just put some varathane on it.  I think if I try to add colour I will ruin it.

This is the best part.  It has a secret compartment!!!!  I guess it isn't a secret any more though.

Hubby helped a little with the final sanding.  I was getting very tired of sanding.  And he cut the very short dowel that the shell pivots on.  My fingers would have been far to close to the saw blade for my liking.  Other than that, he was amazingly patient with me and helpful without doing the work for me.

Thanks Hon!!!! Pin It

#28 Cell Phone Charm

Shrinky-Dinks do not make good cell phone charms. 

So I dug out my old one and put it back on and promptly lost it.  Twice.  The first time, I just happened to backtrack and see it on the ground.  I didn't even know it was missing until then!  Then I lost it for good.  :(

Not everything is a loss though, because now I have a new turtle charm! (The lost one looked like a piece of candy.)  I don't think I will be losing this one any time soon!

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#27 Beaded Turtle

I found a nice looking beaded turtle tutorial that inspired me.  I pretty much flew by the seat of my pants and made it up as I went along.  Here is what I ended up with. 

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#26 Clay Turtle, Part 2

I don't like it.
I don't like it's elephant feet.
I don't like it's head and neck.
I don't like how flat I made the shell.
It was (is?) definitely a learning process!  And I will try again.... someday.  I am staying true to my word and updating, even though I am unhappy with the results.  You have my full permission to laugh.  My daughter thinks it looks like a dinosaur. I haven't bothered to attach the tail.
Without further ado:

My youngest daughter made me a turtley Christmas present a few years ago.  She would have been 10, I think.  She made me a bunch of these tiny turtles, the shell might be the size of a dime, and put them in a box.  Inside the lid it said that if I found the golden turtles, I won a big hug.  :)  I'm including it in this post because her clay turtles turned out a lot better than mine and thought I'd share.

I took a better picture of my glass and wire turtle.  I'm not sure if I should put it in this post, or add it to the original post.  I'll leave it in this post for now.  Apparently avoiding my reflection in this turtle is pretty much impossible.

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#25 Balloon Bracelet Turtle

I forget how I found this, but I stumbled across this balloon bracelet online.  Naturally I had to try it!  I wonder how long it will stay inflated.
This is pretty close up.  From nose to tail, it is about 5" long. 

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#24 Glass and Wire Turtle

Today's turtle is made with one of those pieces of glass that look sort of like a squashed marble and bent wire.  If I was smart, I would have taken a photo of it before I glued it together.  However, hindsight is 20/20, and I didn't think to take glue drying time into account.  So now my newest turtle is lying on it's back with a belly covered in wet E-6000 glue.

It is dry enough to touch, so I took a picture of it in my hand.  I will take and post a better photo tomorrow.  One without my reflection in it!

I did turn that shrinky turtle into a cell phone charm too.  Yeah, I know that I left the plastic on the screen.  It doesn't look that bad in person and my screen is still unscathed after almost a year of use.

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#23 Shrinky Turtle

Last week sometime I did a search for Do-It-Yourself Shrink Art.  Remember Shrinky-Dinks?  I wanted to make my own.  I remembered doing some years ago with the kids that had something to do with styrofoam trays, you know, the kind that meat comes on from the grocery store.  While I was searching, I learned that you can also use plastic that has the number 6 inside that recycling triangle. I found information on several different sites and didn't make a note of any of them, so I can't direct you there.  I searched "DIY shrink art".   I got my hands on some of that plastic today.  It took me three tries to make this little turtle.  My first attempt was wayyyyyy too small.  My second attempt was a bit of a better size, but the shape was all wrong.  I asked hubby for help and he suggested that I trace the bottom of the wooden turtle that he made me.  He's such a smartie!

So, here is the wooden turtle.  I traced it out onto my sheet of plastic, so you can see how large it started out!  I coloured it in with Sharpies and then I took an ordinary one-hole hole punch and made a hole in the turtle's front foot. 

Then I put it on a piece of foil and 'cooked' it in a preheated 350 degree toaster oven.  I watched it twist and curl just like I remember Shrinky-Dinks doing. Then when it flattened out again I knew it was done.  I didn't time it, but I would guess it took no longer than 30 seconds.  Here is how it turned out.

And just to give you an idea of it's size, here it is on my  hand.  I think I am going to turn it into a cell phone charm.

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#22 Floating Turtle

I saw this neat idea for a kid's craft at Jellyfish Jelly.  It was to make an underwater world in a jar.  I really like her floating fish (she has a turtle in there too!!) and decided that I would make one, a turtle of course, for my fishtank.  I didn't draw on the funfoam because I figure it would be toxic for the living fish.  I scored the foam, but it doesn't show up in the photos. (I scored a little fish into it's belly.)
In retrospect it is way too big, but a neat idea.  I may make a smaller one in green later.  I didn't have any green funfoam, that is why today's turtle is pink.

Here it is lying on the table.

And here it is floating in the fish tank!

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#21 iTurtle

I was bad and didn't make any turtles today.  So instead I'm sharing my iTurtle.  He's a speaker for an MP3 player.  His little shell lights up and raises and lowers, he bobs his little head and taps his little foot to the music.  The sound quality leaves a lot to be desired, but his cuteness makes up for it.

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#20 Scrappy Turtle

I don't like scrapbooking.

I made a photo album in January.  In 2010 I had taken at least one photo a week and called it "Project 52".  After it was finished I got all my photos printed and placed them in a photo album.  I printed out all my descriptions and glued them in beside the photos.  I decorated some of the pages with stickers and gems.
I didn't enjoy the process at all.

Today, I decided to revisit this album and add a gem turtle that I made using a circle gem, five tiny teardrops and one larger teardrop.

The little gem turtle is cute.  But it didn't make me like scrapbooking.

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#19 Papercraft Turtle

I started out doing a "Google" search for a simple origami turtle, but then I came across a cute papercraft one.  I thought I would try that one when I found a really nifty one.  I thought "I could do that".  HA!  Famous last words...
It took me at least an hour to just cut it out.  But that was okay because I was still having fun and my new turtle was going to look sooooo cool.  Well, the shell assembly went beautifully. The back legs too.  The front legs seemed fine and so did the head.  Until I went to attach the head to the front legs and the front legs to the shell. 
The instructions are in Japanese, I think I forgot to mention that. 
I don't understand Japanese. 
I tried my best to follow the pictures but when I followed them it distorted the shell and squeezed it all out of shape.  Even Hubby, who came in as I was turtle wrestling, couldn't figure it out.  So I ended up making my own tabs and putting it together my own way.  As long as you don't look underneath (I gave up on glue and trying to be neat and was just slapping tape under the shell by this time) it actually looks okay.  I have a feeling the tape will have given away by morning though.
Today was the first and last time I try a completely new craft with anything other than English instructions.  This was just an exercise in frustration.

I have to admit, looking at the picture here.  It doesn't look too bad.

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#18 Coffee Bean Turtle

As I was setting up the coffee maker today, I noticed that the beans look like little turtle shells.  I helped it along a little.

But I prefer tea, myself. 

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#17 Rockband Tattoo Turtle

While playing Rockband with Hubby last night (yeah, I'm geeky like that), I decided that my "Rockband Chick" needed a tattoo.  So today I went downstairs and made her one.  There is more to making a Rockband tattoo than I expected!

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#16 Clay Turtle, part 1

Today's title may change to "#16 The Turtle That Didn't Happen".  I am trying to make a turtle out of clay. It just isn't working.  I've never used this before and it is rather gooey and sticky and isn't really holding any shape.  I am letting it sit for a little while in the hopes that it will become more workable.  Or until my frustration dies down and I can try some more.  Hopefully I will be posting a success later.  I am thinking positive.
Here is my sticky, gooey excuse for a turtle so far.

Stay tuned.  I'll let you know what happens with/to it later this evening!  I am optimistic that it will be good turtley news.  :)

Update: Letting it sit for a while looks like it may have worked.  Part 2 will be on a different day, after it is dry and finished. Pin It

#15 Turkey Sandwich Turtle

I got these fun coloured "markers" that are made for writing on food a couple of weeks ago.  They only had two colours.  Pink and Purple.  So my colours are no where close to natural.  I have been doodling on my daughter's sandwiches ever since I got these!  I am having way too much fun with these.  Today's sandwich features a turtle.
I cannot believe that she wants me to stop once she starts her co-op placement soon.  Did I mention that my daughter is seventeen?  Maybe by then my twelve year old will be taking sandwiches again.  You just can't write on ravioli.

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#14 Pizza Crust Turtle

We are having pizza again tonight.  We enjoy making (and eating!!) pizza.  I decided that today's turtle was going to be made out of some of our home made pizza crust.  I gave it eyes and a smile and I had my turtle completed to my satisfaction, but my twelve year old daughter thought it was far too plain and decorated it's shell (with my permission). 
Here it is uncooked.

And here it is finished!  It's pretty small, it is on a dessert plate.  I didn't think to measure it. Pin It

#13 Turtle Hiding in the Pillowcase

I have been wanting to make my plain white pillowcases look a little better for a while now.  Today I finally got around to it and added a strip of navy blue around the opening.  I didn't want anything fancy, just something a little less boring than white.  I thought it would be cute to hide a little turtle in the pillowcase.

This is what the pillowcase looks like.  See, like I mentioned it's nothing fancy.  I just think it looks better than solid, plain white.  That is navy blue.  My lighting wasn't the greatest.

Here is the turtle I put on the inside.  I know it's there and that is all that matters to me.  I like it.  :)

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#12 Tiny Turtle from a styrofoam tray

While picking up some ingredients for my daughter's science project, I "saw" a turtle.  I thought that these little rubber feet looked like a possible turtle shell.  When I got home I looked around for some material for the body when I spied a styrofoam meat tray waiting to go in the recycling bin. So I coloured it green with a Sharpie and cut a turtle body out of it and coloured the edges.  I didn't give it eyes because I thought I would wreck it if I tried.  I like this little guy! I'd better just make sure to keep it away from the cat.
I took a picture of it near the computer keys for size reference.

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# 11 Broccoli Turtle

I'm playing with my food again.  Broccoli is part of dinner tonight and I thought that the floret looked a little like a turtle shell.  So I thought I would make a turtle out of it.  Thawed, previously frozen broccoli is not a great medium, it turns out, but I persisted anyway.  When I flipped my piece of broccoli over I found a bonus turtle!

I figured it would be difficult to see so I tried to kind of highlight it with a food marker.  Soggy broccoli is hard to write on so this is the best I could do.  My teenager thinks I've gone nuts.  Can you see the turtle?

So I gave up on trying to draw on the broccoli, cut that piece off and carried on with my turtle construction.  By this time I was getting a little frustrated.  I'm sure with a bit more patience this could have been a lot better.  At least I gave my daughter something to laugh at.

My intention was to add this floret to our dinner so that no food was wasted but I manhandled this poor piece so much that it went straight into the composter.  I had good intentions.

Hopefully my idea for tomorrow will work better than these last two days!

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#10 Timmy Turtle

Every day can't be a creative masterpiece.  Today I cut an empty Tim Horton's gift card  (that had been a thoroughly enjoyed birthday present!!) into a turtle shape and glued a magnet on the back.  It is currently on the fridge holding up my daughter's science project shopping list!

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#9 Catnip Turtle

My cat's catnip mice seem to have disappeared.  Well, I thought so.  My daughter knew the precise location of one when I mentioned it to her.  But I had already decided that I was making kitty a brand new toy.  A catnip turtle!  After a minor mishap, I came up with this little beauty.





My cat didn't really seem to appreciate me waking her up from her nap to give her a present, but she got over it.  :)

I think it is a success.  :)

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