#67 Packing Peanut Turtle

I got a cool birthday present that had these nifty eco-friendly packing peanuts in the box.  I remember my kids having these things as a craft supply!  (The ones the kids had were called Magic Nuudles) They are made of cornstarch (I'm pretty sure) and stick together with a little bit of water.  They dissolve completely and go safely down the drain  when you are done with your creation. 
Today I took four of the green ones and made a turtle.

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#66 More Fun With Nailpolish

I'm having fun with the nailpolish turtles.  Did you know that they make nailpolish pens that you can draw with and that they sell nailpolish with really, really thin brushes for detail work?  I didn't!  I picked up one of the thin brush ones the other day.   I know this little turtle is a bit crooked.  I am drawing on my left pinky and I am not coordinated enough to draw straight apparently.

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#65 Turtle Ring

Ever since posting my ring a couple weeks back, I have been wondering if I could make myself one.  I suppose the answer is 'yes'.  And 'no'.  I saw one that I thought looked cool online and thought "I wonder if I could do that..."  I don't have the exact supplies but I thought I would see if I could do something similar with supplies that I already have.  I can.  But I don't like the style after all.  I've been wearing it all day and it isn't growing on me.  But now I know, right?  The ring I thought I liked had a charm dangling from it.  I have discovered that I don't like having a charm dangling on (off?) my finger.  Plus, it lines up in just such a way that my baby finger rubs annoyingly against it.  Oh well.  Live and learn.  At least nothing but the wire will be wasted.  Everything else can be put back in my stash.  I'm going to try something different once I get those supplies.  No dangles so I am pretty sure that the next idea will work better.

Here is todays effort:

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#64 Turtle Trio

These little guys just look so happy to be hatching!

I was so excited today to discover that I was on Noah Scalin's Make Something 365 blog!  Thanks so much!!

:)

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#63 Motivational Weightloss Turtle

I'm not sure how I got this idea.  It just popped into my head this morning.

I wish to lose twenty pounds.  I have already lost some, but I have twenty more to go, and have no more ambition/willpower/drive.  I thought I'd make myself a little motivational buddy.  I went back a few posts to that purple fleece stuffed turtle I had made and made a mini version.  Then I made four more shells.  Each one represents five pounds that I want to lose.  Every time I lose five pounds, I will remove a shell until I reach my cute little goal turtle. 
I figure this should give me the kick in the butt I need because I made it public and I'm not showing the other layers until I reach them!  Hopefully you guys will want to see my turtle and that will keep me motivated.  In theory anyway.

I gave titles to each layer.  But just to be clear, I don't think of myself in these terms.  No self esteem issues here,  I just needed to call the layers something.

And here is the "fat" turtle, upright, with my trusty penny for size reference.

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#62 More nailpolish fun?

I tried to do a little sideways silhouette today.  I used light green tissue paper, which might work on a different colour of polish.  I fiddled with the photo in picnik until the turtle could be seen somewhat.  Not what I was hoping for, but I can see the potential with tissue paper.  A dark coloured tissue paper.

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#61 M&M Turtle

I love M&Ms.

I don't think anything else needs to be said!
:) Pin It

#60 Silver Turtle

I didn't make this one today, but I did make it, and I took the photo today.

A few years ago my husband gave me a certificate to attend a class to learn about Art Clay Silver.  In a nutshell, you work with what looks like regular clay, make your design, fire it and when it is done, it is not regular clay at all, it is actually silver. He thought I would enjoy it (he was right!) and he also thought that it was something that I wouldn't try on my own (again, he was right!).  I knew that I wanted to make some kind of turtle pendant.  I also knew that my artistic skills are lacking, but I didn't let that stop me!  I ended up with this very ... simple... turtle.  Even though it is not professional, I love it.  So I am sharing my necklace today.

I gave it a belly too, just in case it flips over.

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#59 Finished Wooden Turtle

I finished it!

Wow.  I didn't realize that over a month had passed since I made this turtle.  (See this post, if you want a reminder) I stained him green  and gave him a couple coats of clear.  He is done now, and I have to say, I am rather proud of it! Pin It

#58 Fingernail Turtle

I didn't like the way I had done my nails yesterday so today I re-did them.  This time I tried to make a little silhouette decal to place on my nail.  It looks more like a flower than a turtle, but cutting a microscopic turtle isn't an easy task!  I just used a regular piece of paper, which I learned is far too thick, a Sharpie and some embroidery scissors.  Next time I'm trying tissue paper.  I think I need to stop taking such close pictures of my nails, they look fine normally, but every imperfection really shows up in these close-up shots! 

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#57 Nailpolish turtle

I thought I would paint my nails today.  Something I rarely do.  I foolishly thought that painting a turtle on my nail would be quick and easy.  I guess I'll never know how people paint intricate pictures on their nails.  I figured that a toothpick would be the best tool for the job so I got out my polish and a toothpick and got to work. 


This is the best that I could do.  I "decorated" my left-hand baby finger.  I am now more impressed than I ever was by people who paint their nails with pictures!  Sorry for the poor picture quality.  I could not get a good, clear picture of my own hand.  I took about a dozen pictures trying to get one.  It would also appear that I still have some green stain on the side of my nail.  Hmmm... I didn't realize that was there, I can't see that normally.  Gotta love a close up photo!

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#56 Sock Turtle

I love making sock monkeys so today I decided to try making a sock turtle.  I couldn't find anything online to help me so I totally flew by the seat of my pants.  This little guy is far from perfect, but I am proud of it because I made it completely by myself, with no instruction from anyone.  Oh, except the eyes.  I got an expert thirteen year old's assistance placing the eyes.  But other than that, this turtle is completely an Angela creation. I like the way that the seam of the toe looks like a smile.
:D

Update to yesterday's turtle.  My 17 year old daughter is offended because the tutorial I used had the turtle wearing a party hat and I didn't give it one.  She wrote this comment on yesterday's post:

"That poor, left out turtle. I think he deserves a hat too.
From, Your daughter, speaking on behalf of your turtle."

Then she went on to make him one.

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#55 Stuffed Turtle

Today I made a little stuffed turtle.  I found a tutorial here.  But I couldn't find the pattern pieces.  So I just figured them out myself.  I gave mine a tail as well.  Then as I was looking for the tutorial a second time because I didn't save it to tell you where I got the idea I found a link to the pattern pieces!  I have them saved now.  I used purple fleece because I am tired of green felt turtles.

I think he is wondering why he didn't get a party hat.

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#54 New Blog Header

Today I tried designing my own header.  I've seen other blogs where the author has their own photos up and wanted to try my own.  I found a bit of instruction online, but they all involved downloading new programs and I didn't want to do that right now.  So I muddled through figuring it out on my own using what I already have.  It was kind of fun.  I'm sure that I will be switching it up from time to time as I figure more out and get better at 'polishing' it.

Just in case you didn't notice it up top, or if time has passed and I have changed it by the time you read this, here is the header.

:) Pin It

#53 Shell bead turtle

Not much to say about this little guy.  I made him using a nifty shell bead, a crystal and some bead "rice".

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#52 Merit Badge Turtle

My merit badge came today!!!!
Back on March 2, Make Something 365 held a contest (which is over now) to earn your very own 365 merit badge.  All you had to do was make and post a video of your 365 project and end it by somehow showing the website address.  I decided to give it a shot.  I was so pleased when I was told that I qualified and that I had earned my own badge.
I turned it into a turtle!
Did you really not see that coming?????

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#51 Tealight Turtle

My 17 year old took out the tealights and announced that she was going to help me with my turtle.  I had no idea what she had in mind, but I let her.  I did help, I removed a fourth candle from the legs because I thought they were too big and I helped trim the candle wicks and light all the candles.  I give credit to my daughter for the idea and design of today's turtle.  It is not often she shows an interest in my turtley adventure.
Here it is unlit:

And here it is lit up: 

:) Pin It

#50 Rice Turtle

I was looking on the 'a snail a day!' blog and saw this fantastic idea for drawing a snail on a grain of rice.  Well I do a turtle a day, so obviously I wouldn't be completely copying because I drew a turtle!  I have managed to get names onto grains of rice before so I thought a turtle would be very easy.  How wrong I was.  It took me four tries (you can see my failed attempts in the background) and Hubby was coaching me on the last attempt.

Can you see the little turtle in there?  I decided to add some green beads and make it into a necklace.

Again with help from Hubby.  I was having glue issues.  So was he!  Haha, he almost glued himself to the lid.  Luckily, everything worked out in the end and now I have a new necklace.



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#49 Present turtles

Hubby gave me a gift certificate to my favourite bead store and took me to it too!  I knew that they were having a sale, but I thought it was a week long sale.  I am so glad I went yesterday because it is only a weekend sale.  I would have missed the boat if I had waited until Monday. I got oodles of beads, some with turtle potential, but one was an actual turtle.  I am using it as my turtle of the day because I paired it with a polished slice of stone.  Well, to give credit where credit is due, this was Hubby's idea.  We are going to secure the two pieces together soon using silicone so that I can safely take them apart in the future if I wish without damaging either piece.

Here it is, with my penny in the background.

Here is a different angle to show the size.

See, it really is a glass bead.  See the hole?  I certainly wouldn't want to string it on anything,  I'd hate to break it!

I also got this really cool cast iron turtle from Mom and Dad.

Then today my daughter presented me with this wooden one.  She rediscovered it while cleaning her closet.  Neither one of us can remember the story behind this one.  She thinks that she might have made it with her dad.  I need to ask him, I'm sure that he knows.  Either way it was a very long time ago and she doesn't want it anymore.

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#48 Pizza Turtle

I knew that I wouldn't be in "turtle mode" today so I started this one last night.  I like to do as little work as humanly possible on my birthday so I started today's lunch the night before.  One of my daughters and I made three pizzas.  Two big cookie sheet sized ones and one smaller personal turtle pizza.  (No, we aren't pigs, my parents came over for lunch!)  My personal pizza turtle didn't end up even getting eaten today so I guess he will be tomorrow night's dinner!
I took a photo of him before he went in the oven just in case he got horribly overcooked or something.

But he cooked great!

I got two cool turtles too.  But I'll post them tomorrow.  Taking more pictures today would be too much work!
:) Pin It

#47 Jell-o Turtle

I knew that I would not have a lot of time today,so I started this turtle yesterday.  It is made out of Jell-o!  I used a mold that I have had forever.  For a few minutes I thought that the turtle wasn't going to come out, but eventually it did.  *phew*  It just wouldn't have tasted the same if I had to eat it directly from the mold.

Here is the mold filled with jell-o.  It has been in there about 24 hours so it has definitely set.

Here is the mold.  I took this because I had feared that my jell-o wouldn't hold it's shape and I wanted to prove that it really started out as a turtle!

But once I finally got it out of the mold, it looked just like it was supposed to.

And tasted delicious.  Cherry jell-o, my favourite. Pin It

#46 Cake Turtle

Today my youngest turned 13. 
I am now a mom to not one, but two teenagers.  I feel so old.
I made her cake and I tend to disguise my poor icing skills with sprinkles.  I figured that I would make a turtle out of the sprinkles, then just cover the whole cake.  I shook the sprinkles out of the bag and made my turtle freehand and thought it turned out quite well! My daughter has pet turtles (see my second post if you want to see them) so I decided to leave it on the cake.  She liked it.

I can't believe she is thirteen......

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#45 Two Tiny Turtles

Today I made these little guys out of beads.  Well, the base is sort of a bead.  It is a lucite flower with a hole in the centre, which I thought looked like a turtle body, I took the flowers over to the single beads and found suitable shells.  I am partial to the raspberry one.

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#44 Tomato Turtle

Playing with food again.  This time it was the end of a plum tomato and some cucumber peels.

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#43 A Mere Shadow of his Former Self

Today I played with making a shadow on the lampshade.  I wasn't planning to keep it there, but it looks kind of neat.  If it disappears when the lamp is turned off, I think it will stay.

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#42 Balloon Turtle

Following yesterday's theme of using birthday party decorations, I made this very silly looking balloon turtle.  My drawing skills leave a bit to be desired!

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#41 Streamer Turtle

Yawwwnnnnnn...
The birthday party is now over.  What a busy day.  The funny thing is, my oldest daughter took it upon herself to plan and do most of the work for her sister's party so I shouldn't even be tired. (She did an excellent job, by the way!!) But I am completely exhausted.  The majority of the decorations are already down, but I have left some of them up with the intention of keeping them up until my daughter's actual birthday, which is Thursday.  I decided to make today's turtle with some of the streamers that I took down.  This took more concentration and effort than I had expected!  

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#40 Etched Turtle

Tomorrow is my daughter's birthday party (her birthday is still a few days away) so my mind isn't really on making turtles.  I'll get back properly soon!  So for today I took a photo of a crystal (?) cube that has turtles etched inside it.  I think it is really cool.

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#39 Puzzle Turtle

I received an amazing present today!  (Thank you!!!!!!)

I had to make it my turtle of the day.  I haven't taken it apart yet. 

I found my penny too. Pin It

#38 Disaster of a turtle

Oh my goodness.  Who knew that what looked like fairly simple paper folding could go so horribly wrong?  I did a test run of the turtle earrings that I thought I would like to make.

Hahahahahahahahahaha!

I don't think that they are going to be happening.  I can't figure out where I went wrong.  I am going to try to see if I can find different directions that explain the steps another way because clearly I did not understand the ones I had.  I give myself an 'A' for the effort though!  I'm going to keep trying.  If I get it at this size, I think I want earrings to be almost half this size.  You'll know if I am ever successful!

I have misplaced my trusty penny for size reference, but if you imagine that the shell is a square, it is about one square inch.

I'm also posting a photo of the ring that I forgot I had.  Once upon a time, this was shiny silver.  It had some sort of stone for a shell, but something that I can't remember happened to that and it was replaced with a teeny piece of brown leather.  I used to wear it all the time.  Now the only finger it fits on properly is my left ring finger but I'm not about to replace my wedding ring.  :)

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#37 Potato Turtle

Playing with my dinner again.  :)
We had potato wedges with dinner, so I carved one into a turtle before baking it.  One of his back legs was torn off (much to my horror and my daughter's amusement) when I flipped him. 

He was delicious!

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