What I made

1) Four flavours of dice, all decidedly dodgy!

2) Spelling it out…

3) Roman style…

4) Dots and stripes…

5) Sweet tooth…

6) Even building blocks!

I’m really enjoying ‘wonkiness’ at the moment. I think it’s a reaction to having so many Apple products in my life – an iPhone, an iPad, a MacBook Pro – they are all exquisitely designed, even beautiful, my only criticism is that they are almost too perfect. Instead, I’ve found myself beginning to rejoice in flaws and anomalies – I was even recently heard saying that it was OK that my kids had drawn on the dining room table because it gave it the ‘worn look’!

Now, of course, there’s a fine line between what’s rustic, and what’s bad workmanship, so I hope I’ve got the balance right with these ‘dodgy dice’. They were all created without rulers, and therefore have lots of gaps and cracks, they are even assembled crudely using sticky tape. The idea came from having to quickly make a dice for my son, so we could play a board game – I used the same technique described below, and found the finished result to be quite charming.

If you’d like to use one of my designs feel free to download the artwork from the link below. Go on, embrace ‘wonkiness’!

Download project files›

Includes:
1) Colour versions of artwork – just start folding
2) Collectable instructions – print them out & put them on the fridge

I thought it might be fun to gauge your love of a little wonkiness with this simple poll. Let me know which way you swing, perfect or wonky, and I’ll dedicate a project to the winning category.

1) “Hey, who put that hole there?”

2) “Boy, my arms ain’t half aching!

They say a good soldier never leaves his post, well, this is now true of a toy soldier as well (mainly because he’s bolted onto the shelf and couldn’t move if he wanted to!). The ‘War and Peace’ bookend is a great way of repurposing an old toy figure, it needs to be of a decent size, but anything from an old ‘space ranger’ to a WWF wrestler will do the trick. However, I liked the idea of using a soldier – it seemed a fun contrast, taking something associated with action and danger, and using it to hold-up some kids books..

This project first appeared on Craft:, as part of their ‘quirky craft’ series. I have now reworked the instructions and made them available for download, I hope you like them. It’s worth pointing out that the techniques are very dependent on the type of toy figure you use, the basic objective is to attach it firmly to a shelf, so feel free to improvise. If you have any question just leave me a comment.

Download project files›

Includes:
1) Collectable instructions – print them out & put them in a folder!

I must give Steph Mantis a shout out, it was here wonderful “Pack Racks” (coat racks made from plastic toy animal heads) that were the inspiration for this project. Go check out her very cool blog.

1) Espresso train

Bliss’ometer: 15 mins
Pros: Kids love trains, enough said!
Cons: Adults will need to get heavily involved

2) Table football

Bliss’ometer: 10min
Pros: Very easy, and great for more than one child
Cons: It can get a bit noisy!

3) Checker board

Bliss’ometer: 10mins
Pros: Great challenge for older kids (7+)
Cons: You need a lot of sticks!

4) Wagon wheel

Bliss’ometer: 5mins
Pros: One for the young children (3+)
Cons: You can’t take it away with you.

5) Baby sick!

Bliss’ometer: 8mins
Pros: You only need a pen…
Cons: …it needs to be a permanent marker

6) Stick house

Bliss’ometer: 10mins
Pros: The perfect starter for older kids (7+)
Cons: Some parent involvement required

I love coffee shops. I have a Latte ‘to go’, most mornings – it’s part of my commuter coping mechanism. At the weekends trips to coffee shops are more of a family affair, the kids are particularly partial to Chocolate Cream (the nearest thing to a milk shake on the Starbucks menu). But as much as the kids enjoy these trips, they become restless before I even get halfway through my Latte. So over the years I have improvised a number of activities to keep them occupied, all of them make use of the materials available in any coffee shop. I hope you find them helpful, or should I say I hope they help you to enjoy your coffee! Good luck.

I’ve recently added a newsletter to my blog, if you haven’t signed up please do! I see it as a great opportunity to send my subscribers some exclusive content, something that isn’t available on my blog.

1) I wonder if he knows he’s made from two toilet rolls…

2) …and an old plastic deodorant bottle!

Here’s a robot that’s so agile it can balance on the edge of a ruler, so strong its heart is made of steel, so clever its brain is made of cogs… and so cheap he’s made from trash!

A couple of cool additional features are the see-through head, made from the lid of a can of shaving gel and the arms that rotate up and down, revealing the robot’s steel heart. It was produced for Craft: (as part of their Summer craft series) and is the perfect project if you are looking to keep your kids busy.

I have provided full instructions below, but feel free to improvise, you can create your Steampunk inspired robot from almost anything. In fact, I’d love to see how you give your robot an individual twist, so why not send me a photo. Have fun!

Note: If you want a more detailed description of each step check out the Steampunk inspired balancing robot project on Craft:.

Download project files›

Includes:
1) Collectable instructions – print them out & put them in a folder!

If you’re interested in seeing me giving my 5-word speech at the Webby Award ceremony in New York please visit my Facebook Page (but don’t let me know what you think – ha ha!).