Tutorial: how to make a toy dog kennel for free.

You know how when you buy a kid a big present they often end up playing with the box? Well this is a tutorial on how to make use of spare cardboard and create a gift for free.

I have made a dog kennel but you could very easily adapt yours to make a stable, fire station, doll house, barn etc. Although you can use any old boxes I like the look of brown boxes and they worked well for the kennel. You want to try and get as big boxes as possible/necessary. I went to my local craft shop and asked them for the boxes that sheets of mount board come in, so that I had large expanses of “fold free” card. You might also try the local supermarket or any other type of shop.

 You will need: cardboard, Stanley knife, spare blades (cutting the card will blunt the blades quickly), ruler, setsquare, cutting mat(s) and a pencil.

These sketches will show you the four sides of the kennel you need to cut first of all. I have marked the sizes down but yours might be different depending on the size you want to make. The front and the back of the kennel are the same size as are the two side panels.

After cutting the 4 panels you then cut a door in the front piece.

Next you cut the slits, which will allow two pieces to be adjoined. On the four corners there must be an over lap, for strength, so do not cut too near the edge of the card (allow at least 3cm/1inch). On both sides of the side panels cut down, from the top to the bottom, approx 2/3 of the way making sure that the slit is only as wide as the card is thick. Then cut from the bottom up appox 1/3 at both sides of the front and back pieces.

The 4 pieces will then slot together to make the body of the kennel.

You then need to measure the length of the roof you want, remember you will probably want an overhang of say 3cmm/1inch so be sure to add this to the final measurement. Measure from the top of the front panel down to the side edge, add your overhang and then double it. 

Allow an overhang for the back and front also and add this to your length. The roof should be cut in one single piece and then scored down the middle allowing the piece to fold. (If you do not have a piece of card big enough you could tape 2 pieces together). The simplest way to measure where to cut the slots on the roof is to place the roof atop the kennel and mark with a pencil where the slits should go so as to fit with the up struts. 

All that is left is to fit the kennel together and decorate as necessary.

 

A sturdy Kennel, which will fold flat when not in use and when it is a little battered or no longer played with it, can go into the re-cycling bin.

Cost- Nothing

Please let me know if you make a kennel, house, garage etc 

I’d love to see them!

Fingerprint Friday

It is that time of year when we are all rushing about like headless turkeys (poor, delicious things, the turkey that is not us, well...). 

But i wanted to take a moment today to say a huge thank you to Kim at everythingetsy.com, who made this beautiful ornament, (she was my swap partner in Beki's ornament exchange), as well as everyone else who took part in the  exchange.  It is such a lovely thought that all over the word people are hanging decorations  in celebration of this special time of year and that everyone involved in the exchange gave so freely  of their time, talent and thoughtfulness.

I also wanted to say a huge thank you to Beki for organising this, i know you will all agree with me when i say she is a STAR!!!!

To view all of the fingerprint entries or to join in yourself please visit  Pampering beki

Just some lovely christmas finds on etsy right now.

Christmas cards by DotsAndDahlias

Ornament by palomasnest

Earrings by japlishdelights

fingerprint Friday

Technically it is still thursday night here in the UK but i was so  swamped last Friday i did not get a chance to blog, so though i am a little early this week at least I'm here!

Winter brings  has many down sides to it, rain, bitter cold, the flu to name but a few, however does not He always put roses amongst the thorns? The sunset are glorious, even if they are at 4 in the afternoon!

To view all of the fingerprint entries or to join in yourself please visit  Pampering beki

Fingerprint Friday

On Sunday afternoon i took the last few slices of  bread from the kitchen and went down to the rivers edge to feed a small flock of ducks. The last of the bread had gone a little stale, (it's not often food gets the chance to go off in my house but Sunday morning means croissants, right?).  Some of it was too hard for them to swallow, so they picked the pieces up in their bills and waddled into the water where they dropped them in, turning the bread from hard to squishy.

"How clever" i thought, the next time i find something too hard to deal with i must try to remember to do the same!

The sound of their wee webbed feet slapping against the wet sand as they ran back up to me made me 

laugh out loud and if i could i would share it with you, but as it is here is a picture of the river instead.

To view all of the fingerprint entries or to join in yourself please visit  Pampering beki

Whoo hooo front page joy       : )

Fingerprint Friday

This is the view from the cafe atop of one of the University buildings where i work. I was wishing that it was the view from my office but on the other hand i'd get no work done! Still the constantly changing light did make me stop and think of the Maori Proverb:

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.  

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They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

fingerprint friday

Sunday the 8th will be Remembrance Sunday here in the UK and it is wonderful to see the amount of people wearing poppies, as a symbol of humility, reverence and thanks for those who serve their country.

To view all of the fingerprint entries or to join in yourself please visit  Pampering beki

A new Linoprint today

"New York lady"

fingerprint Friday

During the winter months my friend and i meet at my mum's house for a very small knitting group where in we knit, (badly in my case), chat and eat cake. Yesterday was the first meeting since the spring and it was such good fun. We laughed a lot. Sometimes routine can be  monotonous but at other times it's good to have something to look forward to, even if it is just simple laughter.  (also cake!)

To view all of the fingerprint entries or to join in yourself please visit  Pampering beki

Wordless Wednesday

fingerprint Friday

Autumn is definitely here. 

It's cold and wet it's dull and dreary yet the colours are just lovely. 

I should accept the fact that i can't have it all. That instead of seeing this beautiful change in the season, with all it's splendor of colour, comes with a loss of daylight and a drop in temperature. I should see that although it is colder now He did give us these colours. 

(i am off to turn on the heating)

To view all of the fingerprint entries or to join in yourself please visit  Pampering beki

Fingerprint Friday

Last week, I was fortunate enough to hear Arun Gandhi speak at a public lecture. Dr Gandhi is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. He spoke about the practice of Nonviolence and of how we might achieve peace in the 21st century. He states that peace is not merely the lack of war, but can only be achieved when all humanity live in harmony through mutual respect and tolerance.

I could not help but feel that regardless of ones faith , this was a good credo to try and achieve. His lecture will stay with me.

"be the change you wish to see in the world"  Mahatma Gandhi

To view all of the fingerprint entries or to join in yourself please visit  Pampering beki

Fingerprint Friday

I do so love spider's webs, 

(not in the house as a constant reminder of my lack of house keeping!) 

but outside where i can admire the creative engineering and pattern making of these little creatures. Even more beautiful covered in rain.

To view all of the fingerprint entries or to join in yourself please visit  Pampering beki

fingerprint Friday

Recently a friend sent me a small replica of an image she had created to be hung on banners a round her neighbourhood. It is such a simple, joyous and thoughtful image i wanted to share it with you. I think it speaks for itself.

To see Helen, the illustrator's original post click here ; )

To view all of the fingerprint entries or to join in yourself please visit  Pampering beki

fingerprint Friday

It has been totally mad at work these last few weeks and even when i am not in work i am at home doing "stuff" for work. This morning i released that it had been days since i had even listened to music, my mind is so attuned to work only!

 I wasn't going to bother with Fingerprint Friday this week but then i thought 

"oh come on jen if you are too busy to recognize God then you really are in trouble!!!"

So this week my Fingerprint is you guys, all of the others who join in with FP F, especially Beki who hosts it : )  Thank you for  making me smile on a Friday.

To view all of the fingerprint entries or to join in yourself please visit the wonderful, Pampering beki

(ps sorry for the badly made image!)

I hadn't been to the cinema in ages and then last week i went twice!  (wild am i not?)

Firstly i went with Lisa to see "500 days of summer" which is a very accessible boy meets girl, boy loses girl, does boy get girl back? type story. The chronological order has been messed about with and we jump back and forward between good days and bad in their relationship. It's a kinda chick flick from a blokes point of view. (or not depending on what type of a guy you are?). It's a lot of fun and very easy going. i'd give it 6/10, Lisa, in case you were wondering, is going to be first in line for the dvd release she loved it : )

Later in the week i saw "Julie and Julia". Sometimes i cannot believe how talented and versatile Meryl Streep is, as always she shines her co-star Stanley Tucci is wonderful also! This is a tale of two women seperated by time and geography. One of them writes a cook book and the other challenges herself to produce every recipe in it within a year. One word of warning about this film  though, the food in it looks mouth watering and you are gonna want to eat afterwards! At one point a delicious looking desert gets dropped and therefor ruined, i gasped out loud!   loved it 8.5/10  : )

Fingerprint Friday

I know that this looks like a boring grey photo of the pavement but if you look closely you can see a love heart.

The street across from my house leads to the local primary school and while a friend was taking her children to school they spotted it and asked if they could go back and ring my doorbell so that i could come and see it too!

Now, i know that the erosion of the pavement was probably caused by rain but sometimes there are little signs of God all around us, (if not in the pavement then in the little people who spot pretty little things like this) and i for one should pay more attention. 

To view all of the fingerprint entries or to join in yourself please visit  Pampering beki

My Creative Space

These past couple of weeks have been quite mad, it is the beginning of a new academic year and i have been busy preparing new lectures, hand outs and briefs for my first year Design Studies students. 

My creative space this week has been in lecture slides.

In trying to engage the students during a lecture on "what is design" I was trying to explain visual literacy (not an easy task!) i was also aware that my visual language and the slides i was using had to be engaging. Rather than just list all the qualities that design thinking must encompass i found this wonderful website which allows you to be creative with the physical layout of words. i typed in the list of word and the site then generates this beautiful word cloud.

So much more fun than a list.

the site can be found here

pop over to Kootoyoo to view all the creative spaces this week.

Fingerprint Friday

While visiting a friend this week, i noted crocuses in her garden. "don't they come out in the spring?" i enquired. She laughed and said they were winter crocuses but that they had come up early. I smiled to think that we plant bulbs etc knowing when they will flower and then nature goes a head and does whatever she pleases. Regardless though, they are very pretty.

To view all of the fingerprint entries or to join in yourself please visit  Pampering beki

my Creative Space

This week i've been making up some jewellery and lucky me Millie decided to help too.

pop over to Kootoyoo to view all the creative spaces this week.

moonins and flumps

I stumbled upon these two Tove Jansson books in the charity shop the other day and thought "oh what a find, Moomins". Then i remembered that a a very small child there was something about one of the characters, (little My i think) which made me a slightly uncomfortable.

This got me to thinking about a television advert on British television right now for Autotrader  which use the music from the Flumps, another childhood favourite.  Am i giving my age away?   If so, keep it under your hat!

4 Moomin cards wrapped in Moomin fabric by hapsitukka  -  $12.00 

I was making up a treasury  this morning and as i had no particular title in mind i called it "leaving on a jet plane"  since that song was stuck in my head. I hope no one who opens the list is  disappointed that there is no aeroplane related items!

Saturday Shopping list

This week on Etsy i stumbled across stylegarden's shop where there is a most eclectic selection of recycled/upcycled cake stands.

 This led me search out other cake stands made in a similar vein. I love the thought of one last piece of a crockery set lurking, unloved in a charity shop somewhere when suddenly one of these creative individuals spots it's potential. 

Not only can these stands be used for cakes and fruit but think how pretty they would look displaying your favourite jewellery, for example. The last one could also be used as a decorative plinth to display a small sculpture.

Hope you enjoy visiting the following Etsy shops.

Handmade Cake Plate by stylegarden

Upcycled Mosaic Cake Stand - 3 Tier Blue Rose Flower Cake Plate or Dessert Server

 by magartsypartycrafts

Barbican Small Cake Stand by EstherCoombs

Upcycled Cake Pedestal Stand by ylheidi

To view all the Saturday Shopping List's or to participate yourself pop over to Charlotte's blog at  fancy picnic.

Fingerprint Friday

I popped out to the shop the other day and on my way back home i glanced up. The colour of this rose against the blue sky literely stopped me in my tracks. I could not help but think only He creates such beautiful colour combinations.

To view all of the fingerprint entries or to join in yourself please visit  Pampering beki

My Creative Space

This week i have been turning last weeks sketches into Linoprints.Transferring drawings onto the linoleum, cutting and printing.

 

pop over to Kootoyoo to view all the creative spaces this week.

Fingerprint Friday

Today i wanted to give thanks for friends, especially if they make yummy lemon curd.

To view all of the fingerprint entries or to join in yourself please visit  Pampering beki

My creative space

I've been working in my sketch book this week hoping to turn these drawings into linoprints very soon. also i picked up the most lovely wee silver plated spoon in an antique shop and i'd love to turn it into a piece of wearable art, any advice/suggestions?

pop over to Kootoyoo to view all the creative spaces this week.