I have always wanted to make this string ball lamp and decided to have a go on a sunny afternoon on our balcony. I mixed the PVA glue with water and began wrapping the balloon, glue went everywhere and it took about 1 hour to complete. I made the basic popsicle stand and fitted it with a standard light fitting. It looks great in our study room.
Lee-Kuo calls it a tree lamp
close-up showing the bulb inside
the supports for the string ball
all lit up
Posted in electronic, wood, wool | Tagged ball, balloon, lamp, popsicle sticks, string | 4 Comments »
This lamp was designed for my students, I thought I would give them an electrical project to build. It truly is very simple with just a few popsicle sticks and a piece of paper. Most of the work was making the electrical cable with a switch. The cube lamp in the pictures is my own personal version, the students made a normal flat standing cube.
the cube standing on it's corner
a wonderful ambient light
everything is made from wood
Posted in electronic, paper, wood | Tagged cube, popsicle lamp, popsicle sticks | 4 Comments »
This is something I always wanted to do with students. I have drawn parabolic designs since I was young and always wanted to create them with cotton and felt. Having a small group of home schoolers was a great opportunity to make this craft, it needed approximately 100 nails for each board which they hammered with great delight. The finished crafts were great and they were really pleased.
Lee-Kuo's 2 colour 10 pointed star design
another beautiful star design in white
a circular design in the making
a great 5 pointed star
a free form design with 400 nails
Posted in wood, wool | Tagged circle, cotton, design, felt, lines, nails, parabolic, star, thread | Leave a Comment »
This is a fantastic popsicle chest of drawers made in Taiwan as a kit. The examples here are my own cutting and sanding which I built with a student over a period of 2 semesters. It truly is a lot of work and many hours of gluing and sanding. My student was so thrilled when she finished it.
A very happy student with her finished chest of drawers
The proud teacher with his chest of drawers
the popsicle chest of drawers and the chair which fits underneath
red felt makes a lovely finishing touch
Posted in wood | Tagged boxes, chest of drawers, mirror, popsicle sticks | 1 Comment »
This craft came about because one of my students made a balloon paper măché shade in an art class. She made it so well I thought I would design a lamp stand for her, and this is what I came up with. We both made a lamp stand from popsicle sticks and I made the electrical fittings for a 15W bulb. When she switched it on she was amazed at her work. The pictures here are my lamp shade I made, I painted it yellow and red for a lovely warm glow. My wife did a waldorf colour scheme.
a quick and simple lamp for students to make
the complete popsicle stick stand
a very simple construction for the stand
this lamp shade was made by my wife
Posted in electronic, paper, wood | Tagged balloon, paper măché, popsicle lamp, popsicle sticks | 3 Comments »
This beautiful night lamp is number three in our collection of house lamps. My son Lee wanted to make this and just about completed everything except for the difficult roof section. They really are lovely and give a beautiful orange glow during the night. All the house kits are available in Taiwan from stationary shops or direct from the supplier at this address. big3
the third popsicle stick house we have made from big3
close-up of the lovely wooden details
the lovely warm orange glow during the night
close-up of the front door at night time
Posted in wood | Tagged house, kit, Lee-Kuo, night lamp, night light, popsicle sticks | 5 Comments »
A new semester is about to begin and so I designed this popsicle boat for a student. We are doing transportation and this is a lovely craft for boats. It speeds along brilliantly and the rudder gives it more control for bigger ponds. It has 4 coats of clear lacquer to protect it from the water. Let me know if you need plans then I’ll draw them up as a PDF for download.
front view showing the 2 coloured popsicle sticks
the rear view showing the rudder
side view showing the design and polystyrene pieces
wide angle front view
Posted in electronic, wood | Tagged boat, lollipop sticks, popsicle sticks, ship, submarine motor, yacht | Leave a Comment »
After many hours of folding business cards and building the cubes the 2nd level Menger sponge is complete. It really is an eye catcher, especially now that we have made it into a light. Lee-Kuo folded about 60% of the cards and I completed the rest. We folded 3456 business cards to create the sponge. Another great achievement for Lee-Kuo.
level 2 business cards Menger sponge
more from the top
Lee-Kuo through the sponge
the light inside the sponge
we use the sponge as our ambient light in the lounge, it's amazing
Posted in general, paper | Tagged 2nd level, business cards, light, Menger sponge | Leave a Comment »
After a long break from doing handy crafts my wife has made 5 of these beautiful handbags, all of them using old cloth found in the cupboard. All her friends wanted them so now they have all vanished.
a lovely example of my wife's handy work
another fine example of old cloth being recycled
Posted in general | Tagged cloth, handbag, recycle | 1 Comment »
This is the second post of photos I have taken over the years. Once again macro is a wonderful utility on these new snapshot digital cameras. I love to get close to the subject and simply click. The colours and detail in nature are beyond words so I’ll just let you look at the pictures.
the red weed from war of the worlds
a caterpillar
praying mantis
cloud
just wonderful
a wall of plants in a shopping mall in Taichung
life beginning
Posted in general, photography | Tagged caterpillar, cloud, digital camera, flowers, macro, mantis, photography | Leave a Comment »
