I found this weathered canning jar lifter and was happily surprised to find that the milk bottles that I saved fit perfectly. Of course I thought of a vase centerpiece. The first time I tried this, I used daisies from my wildflower garden and I liked the look even better.  Regardless of the flowers: charming.

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All the pieces for this menacing yet useful guy were recycled.

Don’t turn your back on this grabby little monster: he may steal your candy.

What to put in your Robot Monster Pitcher? Robot Oil (i.e. Apple Juice) of course!

I used this at my daughter’s robot party too.

How to:

Get your hands on a second-hand coffee pot. Then gut out the innards. Clean it really well. The exterior bottom of my coffee pot was damaged by its previous owner from overheating but I think it adds character to our monster. The inside of the pot wasn’t damaged. Check the inside before bringing one home.

Eyes are burned out red Christmas light bulbs. Arms are thrift-store forks. Mouth was made from a metal shower curtain ring that I bent up using a pair of pliers.

Gluing the pieces on:

Gorilla glue worked for the arms. When the glue was dry, I used a razor blade to clean off the glue that squeezed out. A clear epoxy worked for the eyes and mouth.

Be creative and design your own scary Robot Monster Pitcher.

P.S. These posts take me a long time to develop. Don’t forget to send me a dollar once in a while so I can continue to do posts. Is it worth that to you?

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Fisherman Perc

How To:
To make a fun Coffee Pot Character you need to start with an aluminum coffee pot. I found this vintage aluminum percolator coffee pot at a local thrift store.

Fisherman Perc (a pleasant old man who enjoys the quit solitude of a day spent fishing).was made with:
Salvaged bolts for eyes. Drill a hole big enough to insert the bolt. It isn’t difficult to drill through aluminum.
Black valve knob (thing-a ma-gig) was glued on to make a mustache.
Can tabs were glued on to make the ears.
A mini aluminum pie pan with an old canning lid became the hat.
An aluminum angel food cake pan / bunt pan (the center piece) made a perfect neck/ stand.
Extras: Vintage reading glasses, fishing lures, can of “worms,” and small mint tin.

Pieces needed in the assembly of Fisherman Perc.

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What kind of cake stand do you use at a robot party? Something made from salvaged parts,… something creative…
Every party needs food so I provided our guests with robot fuel; ie cake on this industrial looking cake stand.
I combined three thrift store finds; a silver platter (silver in color, it may be silver plated, it doesn’t matter), a glass cake stand cover that lost its bottom half, and a piece of an old aluminum coffee pot (the part that was used to filter the grinds).
I glued the platter to the coffee pot piece I chose for the stand.
You could substitute anything that is metal or looks metal. Another idea is to use a large tomato can.

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Gossiping robots -These were made by two guests at party.

I designed this game because I wanted the kids to have something fun to do at my daughter’s 9th birthday party. In addition, I wanted to give out party favors but wanted to avoid the usual candy and plastic stuff.

Even the girls loved this robot building game. It generated lots of laughs and the kids liked that they could take their creation home.
Game rules
Using one dice, roll to see what number you get. Start with the birthday boy or girl and then continue around the table.
If you roll a one, pick out a body and pass the dice to the next player.
If it’s a two, pick out eyes and pass the dice to the next player.
If it’s a three, pick out a nose and pass the dice to the next player.
If it’s a four, pick out a head and pass the dice to the next player.
If it’s a five, pick out a mouth and pass the dice to the next player.
If it’s a six, pick out arms and pass the dice to the next player.
Bonus: If you roll the same number as the previous player, pick out an extra part. You might want to find something to be the ears, hair, eye brows…
Note: If you roll a two and you already have a set of eyes just pass on the die. There is no limit to the number of extras you can choose; as long as you are lucky enough to roll the same number as the previous player’s roll.
Game set up:
You will need to set up 7 trays; one for each number plus one more for extras. Find “trash” for the parts. Get enough for each player plus a few (for variety sake).
Body (one): olive oil cans, large cans…
Eyes (two): bottle caps, nuts, bolts, misc…
Nose (three): misc…
Head (four): cat food or tuna cans…
Mouth (five): misc.
Arms (six): thrift store silverware, electrical wire…
Extras: electronic wires,…

Robot Part Trays
Children have artistic freedom. If they want the eyes to be on the side of the head, they should put them there. These robots develop a personality of their own. Make up a name for each. The first person to finish gets a small prize. The game continues until all the guests finish their robot. Some of the bots look like robot people and some resemble animals, some are clown-like and others are aliens.
After the children have designed their robot, you will need to glue on the parts while the kids move on to another activity. I used a glue gun which worked with most of the parts (avoid really heavy items). I also used magnets to hold some of the pieces. (The head attaches well to the olive can with a magnet.)
If you want to restrict your pieces to things that a magnet will stick to, you can make a Mr. Potato Head -like toy (We named it Mr. Bolt or Mrs. Washer.)The fun being that you can rearrange the pieces to make different faces. Just glue a magnet to the back of each piece.

More robot fun coming soon.

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Start collecting supplies. Over the next week (more or less) keep an eye out for rocket parts. Ask friends to check their recycle bin for you.

Note: Keep an “arts and crafts junk box” for kids’ projects. Inside the box add bits and bobs of “trash” such as plastic bottles that have been cleaned out, Styrofoam trays, bottle tops, thread spools, used but clean popsicle sticks, toilet paper rolls…

This rocket was made from all recycled parts

Adjusting the circumference of your cylinder is easy.

The above rocket needed the toilet paper roll to fit snugly in the top of a paper towel tube.

The nose of a rocket can be made this way.

Design your own spacecraft. I call this The Penguin for obvious reasons.

Make a space themed mobile . Don’t forget to add a few asteroids or some silly aliens.

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