Make Stuff with Your Kid

I remember digging in my uncle Doug’s tacklebox as a kid and being mesmerized.  I was none too fond of the smell of his catfish bait, but to this day, I still love the look of those old wooden lures.  I think that some of the lures in that old brown three tray tacklebox were home made.  It is possible (and pretty fun) to make a few simple lures without expensive tools.

You will need:

• A 5/8″ dowel from the hardware store
• The smallest screw eyes you can find, also from the hardware store
• Sandpaper (60, 100, 150 grits or close would be fine)
• A wood rasp can also help speed up the shaping
• Paint of your choice (I like the inexpensive acrylic stuff from Hobby Lobby)
• An awl or sharp nail to poke starter holes
• Some split rings and fishing hooks from a sporting goods store
• A saw that will cut cleanly through a small wooden dowel

Lets get started. First, measure off a 3″ piece of your dowel and cut it off.

Not too hard so far… Next, find the center of both ends the ends of the dowel, mark it with a pencil, and poke a starter dent in the center.

Screw an eye into these dents in both ends.

Next comes the shaping. Take the screw eyes back out, lay the 60 or 80 grit sandpaper on a flat surface, and drag the dowel toward you while slowly lifting the back end up.  Rotate the dowel a bit and continue.  The idea is just to round over the dowel until it looks like a cigar.

After you have the ends of the dowel roughly rounded, pick it up, grab your sandpaper and do as much or as little as you like in the sanding.  To be honest, I do not think the fish care how beautiful your lure is. Use the finer sandpapers until you have the lure as smooth as you would like.

Here are two lures, the one from the pictures above and another that I sanded into a different shape.

I have the lures hanging from a bent up coat hanger because I like to use spray primer. When you are working with kids, you do not need to use spray paint. If you are going to use any paints, read and follow all the safety instructions.

I wanted my cigar lure to have a fish scale pattern, so I wrapped it with tulle fabric.  This is what you might make a butterfly net out of. I got mine at Hobby Lobby.

I hold the lure by one of the screw eyes with a clamp or some pliers. Next, I lightly spray paint the lure over the mesh. After the paint dries, you get a scale effect.

One other traditional way to paint lures is all white with a red head.  The trick to getting the straight line on the red is by dipping instead of brushing or painting. First paint your lure all white. I used the non-toxic acrylics for this. With the acrylics, a hair dryer can shorten the time between coats.  I would not use the hair dryer with any paints that are solvent based.

Once the lure is all white, dip the end of the lure in the red paint.

The last cool bit of the painting is the eyes. There is a great trick for painting the eyes. I use a small piece of a dowel and a small nail. You dip the dowel (or a larger nail) in white paint and make a dot where you want the eye. Let this dry and dip the smaller nail into black paint and put a dot for the pupil.

Here is a pic of the two lures after the painting is done and I have clear coated them. You can use several coats of clear spray paint or polyurethane to get that nice shiny look and help the lures last longer.  Professional lure makers use a two part epoxy to coat their lures but I am not going to get into that here.

The last step is to put on the hooks. Poke a small starter hole about 1/3 of the way back from the head on the bottom of the lure. Put another screw eye in this hole. To hang the hooks, I like to use split rings. You can get them in the fishing section of sporting goods stores. These rings let you change the hooks easily if you break them.  The split rings are a little fussy to get on.  You can buy special split ring pliers (also in the sporting goods section) or you can just pry them open with the tiny screw driver that comes in a glasses repair kit. I will say, if you are going to do several lures - spring for the split ring pliers.  They make it easier to get the hooks on without getting poked.

Here is the finished lure.

Good luck and let me know how they turn out!

Jim

It is easy to make a loaf of bread. And what an amazing thing for a kid to see yeast make the dough rise. If you have not done this before - it is easier to do than you think.  There is more waiting than anything else.

Anyway, lets get started. Unless you have a cow to milk and you want to grind wheat between two stones to make flour, you will need to go to the store and get:

• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees if you have a kitchen thermometer)
• 1 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons of sweet butter (leave it out so it gets warm) ‘Sweet’ butter is just butter without salt added
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar
• 4 1/2 - 5 cups of bread flour (right next to the regular flour - which also works if you have it)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
• oil or cooking spray

So get out a big bowl and 1/2 cup of your warm water.

I often run some hot water in the big bowl and pour it all back out just to warm the bowl up before I add the yeast bit.  On we go. Pour in the 1/2 cup of water and pour the yeast on top of it.  Do not worry if it looks like it is floating - it will take care of itself.  Really, it will.  I have seen this before and know how it ends.

We need to let that sit for a bit and get comfortable with itself - so we will go to the microwave or stove or something. Put your 4 tablespoons of warm butter into a container or pan with the cup of milk and the 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar and the last 1/2 cup of water.

Put the milk/butter stuff in the micro for 30 seconds, stir, 30 seconds, etc until the butter is mostly melted but the whole thing is not too hot.  If this is too hot (say much over 110 degrees or make your finger sad that you stuck it in there hot), it will kill all those nice little yeasts that are waiting to make this tasty bread for you.  If you get it really hot - just let it sit for 10 minutes or so until it is pleasantly warm…

Pour the milkbuttersugar (I just made up that word and I am sticking by it) into the yeast mix.

You see I have the flour on deck here. Put the 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt into the flour and mix it around. Now, go ahead - don’t be nervous - slowly pour the 4 1/2 cups of the flour and salt into the yeast, mixing as you go.  Maybe pour in a cup at a time and mix each new cupful for a few seconds.  This just makes it a little easier to stir.  When you get it all in, it is pretty hard to stir anyway. When you have it mixed up, it might just look a little like this:

Next, kneading. Smear a little flour around on your counter or cutting board and pour out the bread dough onto it. Don’t skip this part.  If you put in a few minutes here, the bread will be light and oh so much tastier. For the kneading, I will refer you to a youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWj8oHMPFm0

If watching that seems like too much trouble, work the dough into a ball, fold it in half on itself, smoosh, turn a half turn, repeat. Each half turn should be the same direction.

Now that we are past that, wash out the bowl that you mixed the dough in and spray a little non-stick spray in or spread a little oil (canola is fine) around the bowl with a paper towel or something. Put the dough in the bowl and turn it over so that it is all coated lightly with the oil.  Cover the bowl with a damp towel or a little plastic wrap.

Hang with me here - the work bits are almost over.  Put this somewhere warm and let it sit for an hour.  I often put it on top of the fridge or in the microwave to sit. After an hour, it should be twice as big as when you put it in. Take it back out and squish it flat.

Take it out of the bowl, split it into two halves.  Roll the two halves into a ball and put the seam side down into a couple of bread pans.

And - I bet you didn’t see this coming - put them back into the microwave or on top of the fridge for another hour. They will rise again and it will be GREAT! Or at least, it will be pretty good :)  In the last little bit of this hour, preheat your oven to 350 and tell it that the bread is on its way.

Here is how they look just before you bake them.

Bake them for 50 minutes or so and you will be in bread bliss.  The house should be smelling fantastic right now.  A way to check if the bread is properly done is to pop it out of the bread pans and flick the bottom of it with your finger.  The sound should be a little hollow.  If it sounds thick instead of hollow, give it two minutes or so back in the oven.  It should look like this and taste amazing:

Eat it.

Let me know how it turned out.

-Jim

Hey all, one more pic from the past.

I made this last year from plans by Warren at Jordan Wood Boats.

http://www.jordanwoodboats.com/

Warren is super nice to work with and his plans are great.

If you haven’t build any boats before, get a copy of his book too. It really helped me with a few of the curved things that I hadn’t done before.

-Jim

Hey all,

Been busy but here is a little project that I did for Christmas:

These crazily feathered arrows are called flu-flu arrows.  It’s just fun to say.

First, lets gather up the things we need to get started.

We have the started book (still clipped together), some heavy thread, and a heavy duty needle. For this tutorial, I am using red thread and a curved needle because I think they are easy to see. You do not need a curved needle. I would probably use a large straight needle if I was doing this any other day.

Start the first stitch in the top hole. I go in from the face of the book first, but it really doesn’t matter. You can adjust the last stitch at the end.

I probably pulled out 2-3 feet of thread or so to get started. That should give us plenty of extra.

Pass the thread around the spine of the book once, then around the top. It should look something like this picture.

After you have gone around the spine once, and across the top, come down the front of the book into the next hole. Take the thread through the second hole and around the back.

Continue down the book until the front looks like this.

The back should look something like this picture.

Work your way back up to the top hole, filling in all the spaces where there is no thread. After one good pass, the book spine should look something like this.

Follow your exact path back down the spine of the book until there are two strands of the binding string everywhere and you are almost done!

When you get back to the top hole in the last pass (last pass meaning you have two strands of the string everywhere), flip the book over and pull the last strand of thread to the back of the book. Pull the strand from the front under and around the threads coming out of the top hole and tie a square knot.

You are in the money!!!! You own a custom hand-made book!

Bust out your pen and get to it! Tape in some pictures. Draw a picture of your foot. Write a letter in it and mail it to me. Whatever makes you happy.

This is a great project because the pages can be blank, or anything special you already have.

Click on any of the pictures to make them larger and clearer. If you have any questions, email me at jim@makestuffwithyourkid.com.

Happy making!

It is easy to make Japanese style sewn bound books. You can make them out of any leftover paper you have around or super beautiful rice paper from the art store. I dug out a topographic map from a great hike I took and used it for the front cover. I used a thicker piece for the back page. Using stuff like a map from a trip you took can make a book like this really personal. I think that this one will become an album for pictures from that hike.

I got out my trusty paper cutter and cut front and back cover pieces to 5 inches by 7 inches (scissors do this just fine, but I feel all fancy since I have a paper cutter…). For the inside pages of the book, I used some nice stationary that I got at a garage sale. It takes fountain pen ink really well and that is what I am hoping to use to write in this book. You could also make books filled with drawings that your kids have made or other paper things that you want to keep.

The next step is to mark the paper where you want to make the holes for the binding string. I fold a piece of scrap paper that is one inch wide and as long as the height of the book. (1″ x 5″ for this example) This piece of scrap will be a template for the holes to sew through.

Here is how you lay out the marks on the template. Measure in from the ends 3/4 of an inch - both top and bottom. Then I divide the leftover space evenly. for this pattern (5″ x 7″), the end marks are 3/4 in from the ends and the two middle marks are one inch in from the end marks. I think that the most important thing when you are laying out one of these books (and you can make it any size you like) is that you first measure the outside two holes and make them equal. That will give the book the right look. If you click on the picture, it will enlarge so you can see the template better. If this is just totally confusing, email me at jim@makestuffwithyourkid.com and I will send you a template you can print.

Next, press the fold of your template paper against the left side of your book cover and make a pencil mark where each of your template marks is.

If you are making more than one of these, the template really helps speed things up and makes all the books uniform. If you plan to make a bunch, I would even make this template out of something heavier than the note card I used for mine.

Once you have the hole positions marked, stack your front cover, inner pages, and back cover together. Clip the book pages together with binder clips. This will keep things from slipping around while you punch the holes through the pages.

I use a small finish nail and hammer to make starter holes for the binding string.

Make sure you are on a sturdy surface and most importantly, do put some backing material behind the book. You might get in trouble for nailing your book to the dining table. (Even if it is really pretty…)

You can start sewing at this point if you like but I think it is a little easier to sew the book if you enlarge the holes just a little bit.

If you have a power drill (and a REALLY good backing) you can use it here.

If not, you can wrap the end of a drill bit with tape to make it easy to hold. You could also hold onto the drill bit with some vise grips.

In this picture, I am hand twisting the tape wrapped drill bit through holes I already made with the finish nail. If you go to the hardware store, ask for ‘6 penny’ finish nails. They are about the right size.

Once the holes are all enlarged, we are ready to start that really cool looking sewn binding. At this point, your book edge should look something like this:

In the next post, I will show you the sewing pattern.

I have been missing for a few days and apologize.  My day job has consumed most of my energy.

Here is a pic of the style of book that we will make this weekend.

p.s. Something knocked the mosquito trap over and licked it clean. (gross!)  I will refill, put it up on a shelf and post how that goes.

I should be able to get a new post up this weekend with a project to make with your kid but I thought I would give you a pic of something I have been doing for myself. A friend recently got me interested in target shooting with a bow and arrow. I did this some with my dad and my uncles when I was younger but haven’t thought about it in years. In normal fashion for me, I have to make all the parts myself.

Here is my first arrow:

The most fun part of this was making a jig for making custom dowels. The shaft of the arrow was a piece of an old Douglas fir 2×4 that I had in the basement. I can post a pic or instructions of the jig if anyone is interested - just send me an email at jim@makestuffwithyourkid.com

See you this weekend.

I read about this last year sometime and have been wanting to try it ever since.
We are going to make a mosquito trap from an empty two liter pop bottle, sugar, warm water, and a packet of regular bread yeast from the grocery store.

First, a trick to draw a straight line on a cylinder:
Push the cylinder (pop bottle in our case) into a corner. You can hold the pen in your hand or tape it to a heavy book if you need. Press the pen against the bottle and spin the cylinder while keeping it trapped in the corner.

Stop and feel really smart for a minute for knowing the line trick, then, (all careful like…), follow your really smartly drawn line and cut the top off. I am using a utility knife but you could use scissors or anything that will suit.

Once you have the top cut off, set it aside but don’t throw it away. It will go inside the bottle but turned upside down.

Next, off to the kitchen for the filling.

Mix 1/4 cup of sugar with 2 1/2 cups of warm water. The water should be warm but not hot.

You will need a packet of regular bread yeast to add to the water and sugar mix.

Stir the warm water and sugar until mixed and add the yeast.

Pour all this nastiness into the pop bottle and put the top part of the bottle in upside down. (Take the cap off first)

That is it. Put it outside somewhere shady in the evening and wait. The mosquitoes will fly down in thinking that the gases coming off the yeast concoction is some tasty kid to bite. They will fly in but not be able to get back out. I just put mine out in the yard. Email me and let me know how yours works.

(jim@makestuffwithyourkid.com)

Thanks for playing!