Tutorial pipe cleaner bear

I finally figured out how to show all steps in making a pipe cleaner bear.

Here are the pieces you need. The plain wire is just to show the bends. For larger images just click on the pictures.

First take the 3" body piece and fold in half. The fold is the nose.
Using needle nose pliers fold in this shape for the head.
Next fold to make the bear's rump.
For the legs take the 2" piece and fold like this
Insert legs in the fold of the rump.
For the arms take the 1.5" piece and fold like this
Insert arms into upper body and squeeze body closed tightly.
For the ears fold the 1" piece like this
Tighten the curl of the ears to hold in place once on head.
Roll the ends of the hands and feet to desired size and bend at the ankles.
All that's left now is to give him a face. Use one thread of embroidery floss to create a nose. Fold thread in half and knot.
After wrapping thread around wire the desired number of times slip needle under threads to secure and trim of excess.
Use no-hole glass beads for his eyes and glue in with tacky glue.
To make other animals just alter the length of the ears and add tails.
Be sure to use fluffy pipe cleaners so the wire doesn't show thru the fur. Glue on paw pads if desired. I punch mine out of fuzzy ribbons.

Makin Grapes

I started feeling a little better over the weekend. I'm still coughing a lot so working with feathers is out of the question. I had an urge to work on grapes. I've been playing around with different sizes and colors. I just use regular acrylic paint to color the beads before gluing. I used reindeer moss for the stems.

Years ago I ordered a Kimberly House kit Grape Vineyard off eBay but what I received turned out to be a Kimberly House Christmas tree kit in a Vineyard box. I contacted the seller and she refunded my money and told me to keep the Christmas tree kit for the trouble. She was very nice. I would still love to have the Vineyard kit but I've given up on using EBay. I always get outbid in the last 5 seconds



I just love hole less beads. I buy every color and size I can find. I weighed out 6 gram packs of beads to trade so if anyone needs hole less beads let me know. I love trading supplies.
This is just the portion of my supply I use. I've got a tackle box full to trade.

Miniature Bottles Tutorial

http://caseymini.blogspot.com/ asked how I made my miniature water bottle so I thought I would post a tutorial.


Supplies
lite-brite pegs
high speed drill
small metal files
xacto knife
cup of cold water
safety glasses
acetone nail polish remover

I found a bunch of lite-brite pegs (the old style) at a thrift store. The older ones have longer necks and work better.

I designed a jig to hold my drill on my desktop. I clamp it to my desk so it doesn't vibrate off the desk. Insert the small end of a lite-brite in the drill



These are the files I use.


The lite-brite pegs will melt if they are filed too long. The cold water helps to cool the plastic as you work. I usually just drip water on it while its spinning and only file a little at a time. I let them soak in cold water for a while before I work on them again.

Various stages of completion


Once you get the bottle the shape you want use the xacto knife to cut it off at the top. Then file down the lid flat. To remove most of the scratches where they were filed use acetone nail polish remover. Paint the lid the desired color and add labels.