Saturday, July 29, 2023

$1 Store Mesh Watermelon Sling & Paper Pinwheel for Barbie Craft

In an effort to save space and have all of the plants play nice together, I added a trellis to the ice box watermelon plant this year. Trained the plant up and over, it went rouge and jumped into the boxes next to it, and I decided that was enough and started pinching the ends off. As of this time I can find two melons, both growing on the trellis.

The one in front gets the most sun,
therefore it's the bigger one.

I honestly don't know if the vines would be hearty enough to hold them until harvest. So I decided to add just a little insurance... We're all familiar with these small round watermelon, if lucky they might get to the size of a volleyball. So I picked up the standard mesh we can find at Dollar Tree, Walmart or any craft store. (Couldn't get green the day I shopped.) I simply made a sling the fruit rests on, weaved it through the plant and not only tied it around the trellis, there's a steel fence post behind the trellis for added support. We'll see how this plays out...

The mesh:
One of the newer Barbie playsets has a plastic pinwheel, and while it's cute, it doesn't spin. So I thought I'd whip up a small 1:6 scale paper pinwheel just for fun. My pinwheel consists of paper (thicker paper would be ideal, I used scrapbook paper), and craft wire. Does it really spin? In a good wind, yep:@) The bigger you make your holes, the better it spins. A sequin on the front and back may help it spin easier too.

A rough sketch of the pattern/idea:

✂What I did:
Cut the paper into a square, mine is 2".
Draw a diagonal line halfway to center from each point.
Cut halfway to center from each point.
Poke a hole in every other 'corner' and the center.
Cut approximate 4-6" of craft wire.
Push wire, from back to front, through center of pinwheel.
(Look at it like a flower.)
Bring one side of point towards center,
push the hole through the wire.
Do this with the other three sides.
Make a loop/circle on the end of the wire at center of pinwheel.
Make another loop/circle on the other side of the paper,
securing the pinwheel in place.
Bend wire 90 degrees creating the handle.
Bend wire around dolls hand to hold pinwheel.

A pic against the doll to show true 2" size:
Can you make them smaller?
Absolutely... 
If you have the patience of a saint😉

My inspiration:
Gold pinwheel on lower center.

Other summer crafts for Barbie play:
Curled Ribbon Headband: Tie curling ribbon onto the ring from a water bottle...

More ideas:

Have a great weekend:@)

1 comment:

  1. Aren't you smart to protect your watermelon with a sling, great insurance!

    ReplyDelete

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