#theneverlandstarblog

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Let the savings begin <3

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With a dreamy far off look, and her nose stuck in a book~ Check out theneverlandstarblog.wordpress.com for the know-how on this adorable Belle Bookmark & other magical disney crafts!

[theneverlandstarblog]

[theneverlandstarblog]

Adventure is out there!

Adventure is out there! Pop on over to check out how to make this Ellie approved Adventure suitcase.

This sweet little DIY (Ellie Approved) case is perfect for stashing sweet treats or adventure notes! What do you need? A mini wooden case!  I purchased mine from The Works for £1.50 Instant coffee A dark fine blend is best Paint & a paintbrush I used brown, white, yellow, blue, red, black and green Coloured gems or coloured puff paints optional PVA glue LET’S GET STARTED! As purchased, the case…

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Hop on over to theneverlandstarblog.wordpress.com to check out how to make this magical little Neverland Star Jar!  Add a subtle touch of disney to any room~ https://theneverlandstarblog.wordpress.com/blog/

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Exciting news – I’ve recently booked a holiday to Disneyland Paris! I will be posting a round up of my “Disney Luggage” closer to my departure date, but my main focus at the moment is saving up some spending money to bring home some of that bangin’ park merchandise. To stop me spending my paycheck as fast as it’s coming in, I designed this little jar to pop in my spare coins and euros – every little helps!  As a bonus, I’ve incorporated some blackboard paint into the design so you can use the mickey face to keep track of how much you’ve saved so far (or alternatively, how many days you’ve got left to save!)

What do you need?

 A Jar

Coloured Ribbon

Card

A pen

Blackboard paint

String or PVA/Hot Glue

I purchased my jar and blackboard paint for a total of £4 from Sostrene Grene but blackboard paint can also be purchased on Amazon.

  Ready to get started?

We’re going to start off by sketching the Mickey design on our Jar.  Start by drawing a circle in the centre of your jar for Mickey’s head, and then add two smaller circles on either side for his ears.

Once you’re satisfied, fill in your outline!   You may need to put on several coats of your blackboard paint to get the desired opacity, so just make sure you make for the previous layer to dry before starting the next to prevent the paint lifting.

Top Tip! Don’t worry too much about size – if you draw the circles too big, you can still remove it with some water while the paint is drying, and you can re-paint slightly outside of your outline to increase the size if required.

Once your paint is touch-dry grab your ribbon and secure it around the top of your jar.  I did this by tying mine in a bow at the back, and then trimmed the excess ribbon into points at either end.  My jar has an indentation which held my ribbon in place, but if your jar doesn’t have this you can keep your ribbon from slipping with a few small dots of hot or PVA glue around the rim.

Nearly there!  The last thing we need to add to our jar is the tag.  To do this we just need a small section of card.  Sketch out the shape of your tag and write your phrase in pencil first.  Once you’re happy with it, trace over it in pen, cut it out, and prick a small hole in the upper section so that we can attach it to our jar.

To attach it, thread a small piece of string through the hole and either

a) Tie this around the larger ribbon already on the jar. This is the easier option, though it may distort the placement of your ribbon if you tie the string too tightly.

b) Put a small dollop of glue on the end of the string and slip it underneath the ribbon, giving the illusion the tag is hanging from the ribbon itself.

In the picture below, I’ve attached my tag using option b.

And last but not least, start putting in those pennies!

If you’ve used blackboard paint for your Mickey, leave at least 24 hours for the paint to fully dry, and then put on your countdown!  When I made my jar, I had 56 sleeps left until my adventure, but as of today it is officially only 48 days – I better get saving!

TheNeverlandStar

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    Magical Mickey Money Jar Exciting news - I've recently booked a holiday to Disneyland Paris! I will be posting a round up of my "Disney Luggage" closer to my departure date, but my main focus at the moment is saving up some spending money to bring home some of that bangin' park merchandise.

[theneverlandstarblog]

With so much “Beauty and the Beast” on the brain, thanks to the upcoming release of the live action edition on DVD and Blueray on 17th July (pre-order here on the Disney store website to save £3), when I learnt how to make these cute little tassels, all I could see was Belle’s iconic yellow ball gown.

In typical crafter fashion, I decided to turn these yellow tassels into something very Belle-ish: a bookmark!

I added a little head to turn my tassel into Belle herself, but you could just as easily create the bookmark using just the tassel and enhance the Beauty and the Beast magic by attaching it onto a decorated cardboard bookmark shape, as I’ve illustrated above.

  What do you need?

Yellow wool or yarn (I purchased mine from Amazon)

A pair of scissors

A square of hard cardboard/coaster

Optional:

Wooden beads for Belle’s head and neck

Brown and black paint

Cardboard for the main body of bookmark

  Let’s get started!

Take your coaster and find the end of your wool and lay it out as shown below.

(You don’t have to use a coaster, you just need something sturdy that won’t bend or break as you wrap the wool around it.  A thick piece of cardboard will do the job just as-well. )

The width of the cardboard or coaster will determine the length of your tassel, so make sure you are happy with the size of object you’re using!

Top Tip! The width of the cardboard or coaster will determine the length of your tassel, so make sure you are happy with the size of object you’re using!  Remember to pull your wool tight enough that it doesn’t immediately unravel – but don’t pull it too tight or you’ll struggle to remove it from the coaster later on.

Holding the end of wool in place with one hand, use the other to continually wrap the remaining wool around your coaster.   This is forming the main body of the tassel, so the amount of wool you want to use is completely up to you!  More wool will result in a thicker tassel, and less wool will result in a thinner tassel.

Top Tip! The width of the cardboard or coaster will determine the length of your tassel, so make sure you are happy with the size of object you’re using!

Once you are happy with the density of your wool, snip the end of your wool to separate your tassel from the main ball.

Cut another small section of wool (around 10 cm) and set it to the side ready to be used in a moment.   Carefully shuffle your tassel off of your coaster but make sure the centre of the loop remains open so you can then thread your 10 cm piece of wool through – so you should be able to hold it as shown below.   Then tie this piece of wool in a knot to secure it.

                                      Next you need to go back to your ball of wool and cut another piece approx. 20cm.  This is going to form the divide between the upper part of the tassel, and the lower part (or the divide between the “bodice” and “skirt” of the dress), so the length of this piece of string can be adjusted to match how thick you want the divide to be.  A longer piece of string will provide a thicker, clearer divide, and a shorter piece of string will provide a smaller, less evident divide.

Lay your tassel down on the table and then place the cut piece of string beneath, at the height you want to form the divide.   Tie the string around the chosen section of the tassel, and then continue to loop both ends of the remaining string tightly around the tassel to form the divide.

Once you’re satisfied with the thickness of this section, double knot the ends of the string and tuck the knot upwards underneath the divide to hide it.

Now, just one more step to create your basic tassel!

Hold you tassel up and try to separate the loops in the skirt section so you can clearly see gap through the centre, like a tunnel.  Once these are separated clearly, cut through the tunnel!

See the pictures below for guidance

  Next you’ve got a decision to make! If you want to add a head to your dress tassel, stay tuned!  If not, skip ahead to Option 2.

Option 1– Belle Boutique Tassel

To turn your tassel in to Belle, take three wooden beads.  One should be slightly larger than the other two.  On the larger bead, paint Belle’s face – don’t worry about too much detail!  Paint the back of this bead brown, to provide a base for her hair.  You may also want to paint some brown strands at the front of the bead to mimic Belle’s fringe.

For the smaller beads paint one completely brown – this will be the bun on the back of Belle’s hair, and paint one half brown – this will be Belle’s neck, with her hair flowing down onto her back.

Finally, thread the “neck” bead on to the string at the top of your tassel.  Put a small bit of PVA glue on top of this, and then thread on the “head” bead.  The PVA glue will make sure Belle’s head and neck stay lined up, no matter what way your bookmark falls!

To top it off, use a hot glue gun (or some PVA!) to glue the “bun” bead on to the back of Belle’s head – and, your Belle tassel is done!

Top Tip! If you have some, you could also use some brown wool to create Belle’s hair!  Cut some small strands of wool, and glue them onto the areas I’ve painted brown.  This would create a hair effect, and you could create her lovely long hair that falls down onto her back and dress as well, using longer pieces of string.

  Option 2 – Tassel + Themed Bookmark

If you don’t want to turn your tassel into a dress, you can still bring in some Disney magic with a themed design on the body of your bookmark!

Draw out a rectangle around 15 – 20 cm x 5 cm on a piece of cardboard.  This will be the main body of your bookmark (the bit that goes inside your book to hold your place).

Pick some of your favourite characters or quotes, and sketch out a design in your rectangle – and then use some paint or felt tips to colour your design.

Once your paint is fully dried, use a pair of scissors to cut out your rectangle, use a hole punch to punch a hole in the corner of your bookmark, and tie on your tassel!

Top Tip!  Don’t forget to paint the back of your bookmark too!  Once you’re finished, you can paint a coat of PVA glue over your design to help seal the paint and protect it from fading. 

And finally, crack open a book, and get reading!

With a dreamy far-off look, and her nose stuck in a book~

TheNeverlandStar

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    Belle Boutique Bookmark With so much "Beauty and the Beast" on the brain, thanks to the upcoming release of the live action edition on DVD and Blueray on 17th July (pre-order