Friday, March 15, 2024

St. Patrick's Day Scavenger Hunt For Kids

St. Patrick's Day Scavenger Hunt For Kids At 
Grandma's House


Here is a PDF of an indoor St. Patrick's Day Scavenger Hunt For Kids.

Print out the PDF on your printer using the double sided feature. Cut out the twelve clues.  The back side of the clue tells where to hide that particular clue. The last clue is where the special surprise will be found.



Monday, March 11, 2024

A STEM PROJECT: Using Buffon's Needle Experiment To Estimate The Value of Pi

A TurtleStitch Program That Simulates Buffon's Needle Experiment to Estimate the Value of Pi

Buffon's needle is a classic probability problem named after the 18th century naturalist, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. The problem provides a way to estimate the value of π using probability and geometric principles. A needle is dropped on a plane surface that is ruled by parallel lines. The length of the needle is less than the distance between the two lines. What is the probability that the needle will fall on one of the parallel lines when the needle is thrown completely at random?

Using TurtleStitch, a block based programming language, you can recreate the Buffon needle experiment to calculate an approximation of π.  By calculating the probability of a needle crossing a line, the value of π can be estimated. The more trials that are conducted, the more accurate the estimation of π becomes. In my TurtleStitch program, change the number of needles dropped, to experiment with your estimation of the value of π. Here is my program in TurtleStitch  https://www.turtlestitch.org/run#cloud:Username=Elaine&ProjectName=Buffons%20Needle

Thanks to Bice Rapaccini for introducing me to Buffon's Needle.  I used part of her original TurtleStitch program. I randomly colorized the dropped needles and included the calculations to estimate the value of pi.

P


Wednesday, March 6, 2024

A STEM Project: Make Your Own Slice Form With A Locking Base

Circus Party With A Locking Slice Form Base  

Paper is an amazing material to create slice forms. Slice forms can only be made with pliable materials which can be maneuvered to allow for each slice to be slid into place.  Wood, metal or hard plastic will not suffice.  In this blog posting, I have created a slice form base that does not fall apart when the figure is picked up from a surface. Two of the slices have a special slit design which creates the locking mechanism. 

In this blog posting, I made a Circus Party slice form which exemplifies how to make your own design.

Looking at the above slice, you can see the locking mechanism. It is a small slit that zig zags to the top of the right slit. The lion on top of this slit spans over the slit to hold the two pieces of paper together.  In my design, front facing slices #2 and #4, have this feature. When designing your own slice form, the figure that is placed on top of the slice must be large enough to span this gap. 

There are two types of slices to make a slice form base.  There are side slices and front slices.   I recommend numbering your slices to keep everything orderly because the placement of the slices matter.

To design your own slice form, the figure is placed on top of the slice and welded to the slice using the Silhouette software in the Modify window. The special slices, #2 and #4 need to have a figure which spans the locking mechanism.The side slices can be modified but I do not recommend doing this until you have mastered the front slices.

There are five front facing slices.  Add your designs to these slices.  Cut out these slices along with the five side facing slices to make your slice form.



Here is the .Studio file.

Here is the SVG. The file goes beyond the viewable area.  Zoom out to see the entire file.

Please notice that I have numbered all of my side slices in pencil so that they can be erased after the project is completed. Slide all of the side slices onto the #3 front slice. Placement of the slices matter so make sure all of the side slices from left to right start at #1 and end with #5.

Slide the #2 front slice into place.  This may require the slice to be moved up and down and bent to be put into place.


Slide the #4 front slice into place. Repeat for the #1 front slice and then the #5 front slice.

The result is a grid like pattern which will not fall apart when picked up.

The circus party with a locking slice form base can lay flat and fit into an A4 envelope.

Saturday, March 2, 2024

Overall Pattern For An American Girl Little Bitty Baby Doll


Overall Pattern For An American Girl Little Bitty Baby Doll 

I designed an overall pattern for the American Girl Little Bitty Baby Doll.  The overalls are easy to make except for the straps.  They are hard to turn inside out once it has been sewn.  An easier method for the straps is to only sew one side of the strap, go around the curve and then sew a third of the way down on the other side of the strap.  Turn the strap right side out and then press the raw seam inward. Top stitch the entire strap. 

I have included a T-shirt pattern in the design and a dress for the Little Bitty Baby doll.  I made the dress here in this blog posting. https://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2023/07/dress-patterns-for-american-girl-bitty.html

Here is the PDF for the overall pattern. Print out the pattern with your printer.  There is a one inch square for reference if the pattern does not get printed correctly.

Here is the .Studio file for Silhouette Cameo users. Cut the pattern piece with your Silhouette.

Here is the file as an SVG. Cut the pattern piece with your Cricut or other paper cutting machine. The file goes beyond the viewable area.  Zoom out to see the entire file.


1. Sew the crotch together on both the front and back pant legs. Press the seams open. Sew the front bib onto the front pant leg. Fold the back pant leg to the same length as the front bib and press the seam that is formed. Turn the folded fabric in half to create a pocket.

2. Place the 1/4 inch elastic inside of this pocket. Insert a 4 inch piece of elastic into this pocket.Sew a seam at the bottom of the folded fabric.  Make sure that you don't sew the enclosed elastic.  Tack the elastic to the pant leg as shown on the right side of the photo.

3. Turn the hem of the pant leg twice by an 1/8 inch.  Place all of the pant legs on top of one another to make sure that they are all even. Iron the pant hems.  Sew all of these hems.

4.  Sew the inseam.

5. Sew the right side seam.  Pull the elastic so that the waist is 2 3/4 inches. Tack the elastic down and cut the excess elastic.  Sew the left side seam.

6. Place two dots an 1/8 inch from the side of the bottom of the remaining bib piece on the wrong side of the fabric as shown above.

7. Pin this bib piece right sides together onto the other bib piece.  Start sewing at the dot and sew a 1/8 inch hem around the top. 

8. End the sewing at the second dot.

9. Clip the corners of the bib. Turn the bib inside out.

10. Fold the bottom of the bib up 1/8 inch and hand sew this seam. Zigzag the raw edges of the pant legs.

11. Sew the two straps and turn inside out.

12.  Sew the two straps onto the back of the pants at the bottom of the elastic seam.

13.  Sew on the snaps

Front View

Back View

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

A STEM Project: Origami Stars For Polygons


 Origami Stars For Polygons
Shown above are three, four, five, six, eight and ten points stars. 
Count the points to determine the number of polygon sides.

I saw this origami star design in Cuttle. https://cuttle.xyz/@forresto/Parametric-Pinwheel-Paper-Purse-3YomdOUfLZoe and I was intrigued by it.  I recognized the design as a variation of the Puzzle Purse because the folds of the star are created by a parallelogram and a triangle.  Here is the brief history of the Valentine paper purse. https://louisamayalcott.org/virtual-valentine 

To make this design, a polygon of n-sides is placed in the center. A parallelogram and a triangle are then attached to each outer side of this polygon.  Once the design is cut out, the paper is folded whereby the parallelogram folds on top of the triangle to create a point for the star. The fold pattern is repeated for each n-side. When the figure is turned over, the original polygon is visible.

I coded the design in TurtleStitch,https://www.turtlestitch.org/users/Elaine/projects/Origami%20Stars%20For%20Polygons and then cut it out with the Silhouette Cameo. I am not offering the cut files for this design as I would like you to go to the TurtleStitch program and to execute the code with the desired number of points. Once the program is executed, save the file by going to the top left corner with file icon.  Export the file as a DXF file.  In the Silhouette software, open the file and cut it out.

To fold the star is simple.  The folding technique is the same for all polygons.  The center polygon is creased with a mountain fold and all of the points of the star are mountain folded as shown above.

  The remaining dotted lines are folded as valley folds.

The last few folds are a little difficult but perserverve.  The origami folding does work.

Friday, February 9, 2024

A Rubber Band Pop-Up Valentine Card

A Rubber Band Pop-Up Valentine Card

This cute Valentine card pops up out of its A5 envelope to surprise its recipient. A rubber band is built into the base and the stored energy in the rubber band opens the Valentine card.

I have included four different styles for the center slice. The first one is simply the heart design(not shown above), the second one is the word "Love" and the next two are flower bouquets. I have also included a bonus of these same designs.  I added a hole to the center of the heart design and they can be used as Valentine window decorations.

Here is the PDF.  I used 65 lb cardstock from Michaels in various colors.  

Here is the .Studio file.

Here is the SVG. The file goes beyond the viewable area.  Zoom out to see the entire file once the file is opened in your design space.

Make the Rubber Band Pop-Up Base

I am using the directions from a previous blog posting, https://papercraftetc.blogspot.com/2022/04/a-stem-project-making-pop-up-base-for.html to make the rubber band pop-up base. (The slice form base does not have the added heart design but the concept is exactly the same.)

There are two sides to the rubber band base. Each side is folded over to create a two-ply base. Crease the paper as shown above.  

Glue the folded sides together.

Glue the tabs together. Make sure that the slits are going in the same direction.

Slide the one inch rubber band into the slit and align the rubber band with the round hole in the base of the slit.

Apply glue to the diagonal as shown above.

Adhere the other side of the diagonal.  Make sure that the slits on the long side of the diagonal align.

Slide the rubber band onto the slit on the long side of the diagonal.

This rubber band base can now fold flat when the corner opposite the diagonal is pushed down.

Make the pop-up columns by creasing the paper into a square and gluing the tab together. Repeat for the other column.

Apply glue to the side of the column that has a tab. Attach this side to the right angle that is opposite the diagonal.  Repeat for the other column.


Make the Slice Form Base

Arrange all of the slices by size.  Take the largest slice and slide them together as shown above.

Continue sliding the pieces with the upward facing slits onto this assembly.  

Slice the downward facing slits onto the assembly to finish making the slice form base.



Assemble the Two Parts of the Pop-Up 

Apply glue to the column tabs as shown above.

Slide the slice form base onto the pop-up base.  The tabs of the columns will be glued inside the slice form  base. Flatten the base so that the glue adheres correctly. 

The slice form base is now attached at two spots.  In the photo above, it is attached on the left side.  The right side is not attached as this allows the slice form to fold flat.

Top View

Make the Valentine Heart Slice Form

Choose the center slice form and apply embellishment if so desired.

Slide the center slice together.  There are two types of slices, inward slits and outward slits.

Insert all of the outward facing slits onto the heart as shown above.

Insert all of the inward facing slits onto the heart.  Open and close the heart slice form to align all of the slits.  Apply glue to the center tab as shown above.

Assemble the Rubber Band Pop-Up Valentine 

Slide the center tabs into the base.

Adhere the tabs by closing the slice form. 
The pop-up will fold flat.
Completed Rubber Band Pop-Up Valentine