Turn A Broken Doll Into A Classical Bust Statue

You will need:

Toy doll - I used a broken Barbie
Air Dry Clay
Decorators Caulk
Brushes
White Acrylic Paint
Rolling Pin (I use the inner tube of a roll of foil)
Hot glue or tape

Remove arms - I used some pliers

Put hair up in a bun - I also wrapped the plaits around the forehead

Secure them with some tiny elastic bands but you could use glue

Find something to use for the plinth - this used to hold a candle

I wrapped a cork in foil to fill the space at the bottom

Cut a hole in the top and stuff the doll through it

Secure with tape or hot glue

Roll out some air dry clay

Fold it over a bit to emulate pleats

Wrap it around the doll and squish until it stays in place

Wet your finger with water and smoosh any broken bits back together

I cut out a few decorative leaves from the clay

Add the decoration to front and back

Wrap the base in some clay and use a wet finger to smooth it out

Roll some clay into a sausage and wrap around the bottom

Smoosh it until it's all joined together

Cut out a piece of clay to cover the top of the plinth

Smoosh into place

Keep rubbing and smoothing until it looks better

Use a toothpick to draw lines in the plinth

Add another sausage to the top. Smoosh.

Add a little sausage to join the doll to the plinth

Smoosh

Paint the doll with caulk. Use fingers or a small brush

Use a wet brush to smooth. Wait till it drys then add another layer

And another layer

And another

Leave to dry overnight then paint with white acrylic

Admire your fancy statue!

Turn Old Christmas and Birthday Cards Into Gift Boxes

Instead of dumping all your old Christmas or birthday cards in the recycling bin, you can easily turn them into gift boxes instead.

You will need:

Old cards
Blank card (optional)
PVA glue or double-sided tape
Paperclips (optional)
Scissors
Ruler

Choose a card that has a central or reocurring image as the edge of the card will form the sides of the box.

Cut the front piece of card away from the back. You can use the back piece as the bottom box (if you don't mind there being writing on it). Otherwise you can use the front piece from another Christmas card or just use a plain piece of card instead.

Turn your card over and on the back of the card, pencil in a box shape in each corner. My boxes are 3cm square. The size of the squares will determine the depth of the box. Adjust to suit the card you have and/or the gift you want to put in the box.

Lay a ruler across the lines and use scissors to score all the way across the card (I've drawn them in below but you don't need to).

Cut the lines where indicated below.

Fold the scored edges.

Tuck in the tabs and secure with glue or tape. Use a paperclip to hold the pieces together until the glue dries.

Repeat the steps for the bottom box.

Done!