Rice Panda.

It is so nice I was able to find a friend who I haven't seen in over 20 years, and we found out we have more in common than we thought.
Last time I saw my friend Suemy was in 1994 in our graduation for our Veterinary Medicine degree, in Brazil. Now over 20 years later, I find her through Facebook, and she turns out to be an art teacher, and an incredible painter.
Now once in while she tags me on her posts, and gives me this cute ideas to make. A while ago she sent me these pictures with kawaii food.
So today I happened to have a little time, and all the ingredients to make one of her ideas. I made some pandas with rice.
And a sheet of seaweed to cut the dark shapes, using scissors.
I used sticky rice (Jasmine rice) to make the shapes by hand. One tip for the rice not to stick to your hands is wet your hands and fingers with water.

The rice was almost cold, but still tasty.
Thanks for the tip, Suemy!
And today it happens to be her birthday. Happy Birthday, Su!

Felt Ornaments.

It is a couple of days before Christmas, and I had just decided what to make for teachers, school nurse, and friends.
A cute, simple gift that I thought they would like are tree ornaments, or little winter decorations, in case they don't celebrate the same holiday.
For my kids teachers I made little schools made in felt. I even found these cute miniature cookie cutters, and mice buttons at AC Moore.
My kids also love the school nurse, so I made this gingerbread nurse.
There is also the music teacher.
And the art teacher.
My friend Diane has a dog named Sandy, so I made a little Sandy to hang in the tree.
And for Diane, who is the greatest baker in the world, I made herself. It won't hang in the tree, but maybe it can be a holiday decoration.
The figure I made in FIMO clay, and the little embellishments are buttons from AC Moore.
I hope they all like their gifts, it was so much fun to create each one of them.

Nunchuck keychains.

Fabric Flowers.

Flower Pins.

I have made a few flowers in the past, to use as a hair accessory. But when my husband's Japanese techer saw the flowers, she told me they are very popular in Japan to use as a pin, to wear in parties.
So I grabbed all my material, and bought some more, to make these pins.
I started buying more fabric, and the best for this type is organza, that I got at Joann fabrics.
I first cut a lot of pieces in the shape of petals, in different sizes. Then I used spray fabric paint to color and let dry overnight.
The next day, I took each petal and placed the edges close to the heat of a flame. The edges curl up and give a more natural look.

To start to make the rose, I use the smallest piece, roll up and sew around to keep it curled.
Then I place the next petal, and also sew with needle and thread.
And gradually add more petals around.
When I have a good number of roses, I use my hot glue and attach them to a button, a clip or a pin, and give a little finish in the back.
It is such a fun project, and the finished work is very nice.
I hope Nakazawa sensei likes them.

Thanksgiving Turkey.

Thanksgiving Paper Turkey

It is only a matter of time until my kids don't want me to make cute animals for their school party. That is why I am using all the powers (and time) I have to make colorful, cute snack bags for their Thanksgiving celebration.

So I decided to make turkeys to decorate their snack bags, and they can take home to play.
I have a lot of leftover paper from other projects, and I was also very lucky to find bag of googly eyeballs in the middle of my mess.
And to finally use all the paper punches I have been buying at Michaels.
Using circles and hearts from the punches, I could shape my turkeys. That red part on top of the beak, which I learned is called snood, was cut out with scissors. This is how the turkeys were shaped.
The feet were made using two heart shapes. And lots of heats on the tail to give more color. The part representing the tail feathers were cut out twice and attached with a folded piece of scotch tape.
So then it can stand up.
It was a few hours of my day for this work.
But to make a bunch of kids smile, is all the reward I need.