A Makedo review and giveaway!

Have you heard of Makedo? If not, prepare to have your mind blown! I'm not kidding, every time we use this amazing stuff, I can't believe how cool it is and how I wished it had been around when I was younger.

So what is this Makedo stuff? "Makedo is a reusable system for creating things from the stuff around you".

 The system is really simple, a collection of clips "re-clips",  lockable hinges and a safe-saw. The safe-saw has a point on the back that you use to make holes in the cardboard (for the clips), it also does an amazing job at slicing through cardboard! The re-clip is in two parts, and can be used over and over again, you just squeeze the back to slide it off and reuse it! Genius!

an action shot - miss E and the safe-saw

I love that the kids can do most, if not all of the construction themselves, with a little help from me if needed. But without that safe-saw I would be there with scissors or a craft knife helping. I love seeing them problem solve to work out how and where they are going to clip, to make the "in their head" designs come to life.

We mainly use the system to make giant houses! Seriously take over the whole lounge type huts that have multiple rooms and spaces. The Makedo system means we aren't using a ton of sellotape to keep the structure together and we have been able to make big huts with small boxes too, something that I've attempted unsuccessfully in the past with sellotape (it's just not strong like these clips).

This morning we made this little/big house, we worked together on the main structure. I helped them form the roof, I had the height advantage there. After these photos were taken a little annex was added to the back and lots of shelves etc were added to the inside. All of the added extras were done by the kids, letting their imaginations run wild, I really love that part.

That is pretty much all you need with Makedo, imagination and perhaps a good selection of cardboard boxes! But you needn't stop at cardboard, you can use Makedo with all sorts of things, foam, plastic and fabric too.

So if you live here in New Zealand you might be wondering where you can get your hands on some Makedo, you can buy Makedo sets at the following places : Trademe, IQ Toys, Te Papa and the Auckland Muesum to name a few. You can buy themed sets, like for flowers, a play house, car etc, which include some stickers to turn your creations into something extra special. I do like the plain sets though, like the Makedo Kit for one. Makedo is also for sale on the Makedo website.

To get you inspired pop on over to the Makedo website, where they have an amazing showcase of customers creations. I would seriously love to have a go at making these bird wings over the holidays, lucky for me there are instructions!

This is not a sponsored post, but I do however have a giveaway for a lucky blog reader. I have bought a Flower set to giveaway to a New Zealand reader, because I really want more families to have some of this amazing Makedo at their own homes to pass on the joy of making something with things that you might already have at home! I really think that this is "magic" stuff.

So, leave a comment on this post telling me what you might make with Makedo! Extra entries for being a follower of this blog via GFC or Bloglovin, liking the NZ Green Buttons Facebook page, and sharing this giveaway via whatever social media you prefer! Just make sure you pop back to leave a separate comment for each extra entry.

I'll close the comments on this Friday - 4th of October. Good luck!

experimental

 I've wanted to make some fabric yarn  (spun on a spinning wheel) for a long time, but with lots of other projects on the go I haven't really had a chance to sit down and experiment. I did get a wee chance over the weekend, nothing like a rainy Autumn weekend to be nicely tucked up inside and creating.

I started out using a very soft vintage sheet that was a bit too soft to sew with. I'm not going to sugar coat it, it wasn't as easy as I had imagined. I stopped, did some online research and tried again. Still slow going! I'm not a patient crafter, ahem and that's putting it mildly if you ask my husband. SO there were some grumbles and then I decided I'd try another day, but it's been bugging me ever since as to why I couldn't get it to work how I wanted it to.

 I've heard the weather isn't going to be so great this weekend, so I might give it another try then. I've got a new idea about how I might go about it. Are you a patient crafter?

frogged

Frogged is a yarn term that I've only recently discovered. It means to unravel knitting/crochet, maybe

because you've made a mistake - or in my case, because I'm recycling! 

I found one of those enormous wrap style tops, the kind that are just a  giant rectangle with two slits for arm holes. It was just $3 and I knew that there was LOTS of yarn hiding in that rectangle. 

So I've started to unravel it, with plans of making a cardigan for Miss E, she loves the colour (me not so much though). I had in mind a tutorial to show you how to recycle yarn, but then I found this recycling yarn tutorial, so that should help you if you want to recycle too, and why wouldn't you?

Crafting can be expensive! Seriously, I think sometimes they see us crafters coming and rub their hands together with glee! Recycling yarn is a great way to keep costs down, look for big items in mostly the same colour, like jumpers or jerseys. These yield the most yarn.

I've read some pretty staggering statistics recently about how much textile waste is going to landfills around the world, kind of super scary stuff people! I know I can't change that too much by myself, but I'm determined to make a small difference how and when I can. For me personally that means trying to make careful clothing choices for my family (think quality over quantity and making the most of thrifted clothes) and I and recycle when I can! It's got to be better on the pocket too and that's always a win!