Showing posts with label craft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label craft. Show all posts

31.10.15

Leaf Art and a gift idea


More often than not a little collection of things finds its way home in a pocket after a walk. And there are rich pickings at the moment - conkers, pine cones, acorns and stacks of colourful autumn leaves. 
Leaves are great for simple craft projects - just don't forget to press them quickly, before they start curling and crinkling up. 

This is when I miss the old telephone directories, because they were perfect for the job. Still, a large book works fine. Put a few leaves between pages and weigh down with some other heavy books for a couple of days, until you’re ready to use them.

But what to do with your leaves? A few years ago we made bookmarks which worked brilliantly - they were useful, looked pretty good and made perfect presents. 




The thing is, just about everyone we know in the whole wide world has been given one. 

Time for something new...



..so, this is the other idea - a leaf art/collage notebook.

Make sure you’ve got a good selection of leaves - colours, sizes, shapes.

I got the plain notepads from Asda. Only 45p. They’re spiral-bound ones, but any kind would do. If there’s some writing on the front, cover with a piece of white paper cut to size (glue down with a glue stick)


Arrange your leaf design first, and when you’re happy, start sticking. We found it was best to brush a thin layer of craft glue on the back of the leaves. Lots of inspiration online or try with your own pattern.

Then cut some clear sticky back plastic - you'll only need a piece to cover the front, with a cm or so extra to fold round the 3 edges.  



Start at the bound side, peeling a little of the backing paper off at a time, and smoothing out air bubbles and any wrinkles as you go. 




Then wrap the extra sticky back plastic neatly over the edges.





Quick workshop update - it was such a full on day, with 3 sessions fairly close together and more kids than expected! And even though I wished I'd brought something like a hair dryer because it was too cold for the paint to dry quickly, and what I planned to fit into the hour was massively overambitious, everyone seemed to enjoy it - lots of impressive making anyway! For me it was just lovely seeing the animals come to life and watching the kids come up with their own ideas about how their lions/penguins/giraffes should look. Sure that's what it's all about.

I'm kicking myself I didn't take more photos - there are a few here, on the MYOZ Facebook page - I'll definitely take more at the Hay workshop at the end of November. And now I've had a bit of practice and learnt a few lessons, I'm feeling much more confident about that one!


1.7.15

Egg Box Peppa Pig

Clangers craft

Who'd have thought the Clangers and Peppa Pig had something in common? Well it turns out you can make both in a very similar way from an egg carton!  Always good when one idea leads to another...

All you'll need is:
an egg carton
red and white paint
fine black felt tip or gel pen
red/pink felt tip pen or highlighter
general purpose scissors
Straight-edged nail scissors or similar (optional) Adult supervision needed

Peppa Pig craft

1. Roughly cut out as much of the two middle cones as you can from the egg box. This makes them easier to work with.



2. Take one, and just above any joins at the bottom, draw a line around the cone. Cut up and along the line. This will be the body.

3. For the legs, cut up the middle of one of the sides, about a third of the way. Then wiggle and turn your scissors to cut across to the corner and just beyond. Do the other side too, so you've cut a sort of 'T' shape. Now repeat this 'T' shape on the opposite side of the cone.




4. To form the legs, press the cut card edges in the middle towards each other and squeeze each side into a rounded leg shape. If they're too big, snip off a small piece of card. There's no need to use glue. The legs should hold and the body should be stable. (Snip the bottom of the legs if the body is a little wobbly)



5. For the head, take the other egg box cone and use a pencil and ruler to mark about 2cm (3/4in.) from the top on all sides. Join the marks with a line. Choose which side you'd like for the face and draw small round Peppa ears here. Keep them on top - don't draw past the corners.


6. To help cut the head out, cut up the two back corners to the pencil line, fold the flap of card back and cut it off. It should now be easier to cut along the rest of the line, cutting carefully around the ears. With the little fiddly bit of card between the ears, either bend it forward and snip off or simply fold it behind so it's inside the head.

7. On the underside of the head, cut up the two back corners, almost to the end, bend back this flap of card and cut it off. Glue the head onto the body - don't push it right down onto the top of the cone - there should be a small gap between the top of the cone and the top of Peppa's head.


8. While that's drying cut a thin strip of card for the arms (about 5cm/2in. long) from the egg carton lid.

9. Painting time - paint the head, legs and arm strip pink (lots of white and a little red), and then the middle part of the body red for Peppa's dress. Don't forget to paint the top part of the cone pink at the back.

10. When dry, fold the arm strip in half and cut along the crease. Use small scissors to snip fingers in the ends if you like.

Then, either glue the arms on the sides, OR, use the nail scissors to make slots for arms either side (keep them closed, press down firmly and twist until the tip pierces through the card, then cut slots)

Wiggle the scissors in and out a few times so it's easier to push the arms in.


11. Use a pink felt tip or highlighter to draw circles for cheeks, the snout and nostrils, and a big smile. Dot two small white dots of paint for eyes on top, in front of the ears. When dry, finish the eyes with a spot of black felt tip or gel pen.




7.4.15

Easy paper flowers


We're festooned with  flowers at the moment…mostly cheery, bright cardboard and paper ones. It all started with egg box roses, daffs and snowdrops a few weeks ago, and now there are paper daisies sprinkled around the kitchen like flower confetti! 

They are really easy to make and useful for other projects too.

You will need:
Coloured paper or plain paper to paint
General purpose scissors

For the other projects:
Small scissors (like nail scissors)
Ball of plasticine or modelling clay
Pipe cleaner
White card
Paint
Buttons
Ribbon, braid, string
PVA craft glue

1.  Find things to draw around in the kitchen, like tins, jars or side plates.



2.  It's best to start with a big circle first, to get some practice. Draw around your shape and cut it out.



3  Fold the circle in half, then in quarters and then eighths.



4.  About 1cm (1/2") up from the tip, draw a line straight across and mark it in the middle.

5.  Draw a petal shape from this mark to a top corner and repeat on the other side, making sure the petals look alike.



6.  Then, cut carefully along the pencil lines, making sure the tip of both petals stays pointy - and open up your flower.




7.  When you've made a few and feel more confident, try some smaller circles, so you can build up  flowers with a few petal layers.



8.  If you'd like to make a daisy to add to a spring flower posy, put one of your cut-outs on a ball of plasticine and push the closed tip of the small scissors through the middle of the paper. Don't make the hole too big.

9.  Push a pipe cleaner up through the hole and bend the top 3cm (1") over at a right-angle - then carefully spiral the bendy wire around itself, to make the centre of you flower. Push the paper back up under the pipe cleaner centre.





Making some flower bunting or a daisy chain is another fun thing to do with your cut-out flowers.

10. Find a longish piece ribbon or something similar, and cut to the length you want for your bunting. We used quite thin sequin braid, with a bit of sparkle, but to be honest thicker is better for stable bunting that doesn't swing about too much. 

11. Chose three different sized circles - for the outer petals, inner petals and the centre. 




12. A bottle lid makes a good centre circle template - we went for yellow middles, but pick whatever colour you like. Cut out flowers from the other bigger circles, and make enough of each to space out along your ribbon (roughly 20cm (8") between our flowers). 

13. Glue the centres in the middle of the inner petals, then brush a good amount of glue all over the middle section of the biggest flower and lay the ribbon over it, a little above the halfway point, to stop it flipping over when it's hanging up.

14. Next, dab a bit more glue on the back of the inner petals and stick them down over the ribbon and position so the petals are between the ones below.



15. Repeat along your ribbon - use a ruler or tape measure to space them evenly - then leave to dry.



16. To make a daisy chain, cut out white flowers with yellow centres and glue them straight onto the ribbon. The small yellow centres can be more fiddly to cut, so, if you want just paint them on instead.



17. Smaller flowers make lovely card decorations too. My daughter made these - some with painted centres and some with buttons, which works really well. The vase is cut out from an old birthday card.



I've had a little primrose idea….

2.3.15

St David's Day cosy

This is Gwen - she likes Tom Jones, hill walking and brandy alexanders.


I raced to get her finished yesterday for St David's Day, but didn't quite manage.
Gwen has a slightly lopsided grin and extremely large hands, but apart from that she turned out pretty much the way I hoped.
She's joined the small, merry band of Saints' Day egg cosies that live on our mantelpiece.


I've thought about making more to sell at Fairs, but they take ages, and I'm not sure there's much of a market for novelty egg cosies??
  

13.2.15

Cosy Valentine

At one of the craft fairs before Christmas, I spotted some cards with lovely little knitted festive finger puppets attached to the front, and thought what a great idea…being fond of teeny tiny things, as I am.  My mini knits and tinsy decorations tend to get lost amongst all the other stuff I sell, on my menagerie of a stall, so, I'm thinking, putting a few on cards might help get them noticed. Surely a card that doubles up as a gift has got to be a bit of a winner?


So, I'm trying it out on family first, and have come up with this Valentine's idea, that sort of works, I hope! No finger puppets though, wasted on my husband - I went for an egg cosy option. Not completely convinced anyone really uses egg cosies these days, still, I like making them. This one's rather gaudy, but clashing red and pink felt right for Valentine's Day.


For the card bit, I cut an egg cup shape out of felt, making sure it was as wide as the egg cosy opening, and glued it down - then drew an egg shape sitting in the cup, pierced the card and cut along this line, so the cosy could be pulled, snuggly, over the top. Needed just a few stitches behind to hold the cosy down.
Think I could do with working on my writing…a bit scruffy looking, and quite a few smudges that I've tried to magic away. But on the whole, I'm happy.

Maybe it would work for Easter cards too?



11.2.15

New chapter, new book

Sorry this is all a bit short on detail; there'll be more to tell soon I hope, but I have news! Well, sort of a headline without an actual story…. I'm in the throws of writing a craft book, which is massively exciting and terrifying, and when the time's right, I will fill in the gaps. When I'm allowed.

It's been full on - the blog's not the only thing that's been neglected - the house is a tip (not looking); the kids eat surrounded by mountains of cardboard and paint; my eldest's trouser hems are swinging way above his ankles, and there's admin stuff sitting by the toaster that's been gathering dust since Christmas.




But that's all okay (trousers have been ordered), because I'm being pushed and challenged, and I sort of remember thinking when I started this blog that that was what I wanted.
It's been scary though; such a steep learning curve, and my confidence comes and goes like shadows.

I agreed to pretty tight deadlines too, partly because I wanted to be seen to be keen, but also because I've only ever worked to deadlines. Thing is, when I worked as a tv reporter, I didn't have 3 kids and a husband who was only home at weekends. Know your limits…think I've found mine.

Anyway, I worked flat out and just managed to get everything ready for a recent photo shoot. It was an intense few days; challenging, interesting, exhausting, and a total and utter change - like stepping into someone else's life. It's weird only being responsible for yourself when you haven't done it for a while. Weird and lovely.

I stayed with an old school friend I don't see enough; the only downer was the daily commute - the misery of squeezing onto trains, pressed up against someone's armpit. I couldn't do that day in day out, not anymore. Too old for that malarky. Still, it did put the hellish school run in a better light.

We went out for a meal one night to a really hip club. It certainly felt pretty cool, but was so fashionably moody and dark, you couldn't actually see much. What's that all about? Am I showing my age again? Everything was a shade of brown, including the food. It was so murky, one friend walked straight past us and spent 10 minutes searching various rooms, even managing to stumble into Russell Brand in the dingy gloom. She said he looked scuzzy. Such a great word.

Our table was booked for 9.30. 9.30 on a Thursday night! Nothing much is open around me at 9.30 on a Thursday night. As far as I know anyway. I'm usually getting my knitting out around about then.

And now I'm back to the knitting, frosty school runs, grumpy kids, homework, mess, and thankfully the return of the glorious GB Sewing Bee. It's like I've never been away, except the book is happening. It really is.

23.10.14

Jumper upcycling…you might warm to...

I had this favourite cashmere jumper; it was a bit baggy and shapeless, but I loved it because it was a present from my husband before he went to Afghanistan the first time.

The jumper was the thing I'd reach for when the kids were finally in bed, and I had a bit of time on my own in front of the telly with my granny squares.
I think I wore it nearly every night for those 6 months. Funny how it became such a comfort, but it did. And it was a long six months.

Anyway, probably because I wore it endlessly, it started slowly falling apart - under the arms, then an elbow, then a random hole. Eventually I just left it in the drawer, until it was time for my old friend to become something else - and no, not a rabbit, though obviously that did cross my mind! No, I wanted to make the jumper into a useful thing, and so settled on a hot water bottle cover, because I  love a hottie; and the one I'd been using has a football on the front.
.
Hand up here, because I nicked this idea from a lovely friend who used to blog, and made one out of an old cashmere scarf she'd picked up in a charity shop. It was woven rather than knitted cashmere, and possibly easier to work with, but after a few hot washes my jumper shrank quite nicely to tiny, tight proportions. So small in fact, that I was worried there mightn't be enough jumper to make the cover! In the end I opened up the non-holey sleeve.



Then I just drew around the bottle on some newspaper, added a centimetre with a ruler at points round my drawing, and joined the dots. Once I'd cut it out, I folded it lengthways to make sure it was as symmetrical as possible, snipping off any extra bits.



I cut a whole one out from the sleeve, then used the ribbing at the bottom of the jumper to cut two overlapping pieces. The top section is just over a third of the bottle, the bottom piece makes up the rest + an extra 6cm for the overlap.





Then pinned it inside out, making sure when I turned it back the top section covered the bottom, rather than the other way round - I say that, because I often forget to check…
Didn't take long to sew round, and I'm by no means a ninja with a sewing machine. I added a zigzag row to neaten the seams and stop any fraying.

Finished off with two shell buttons that fasten with loops.


It's not perfect, a bit lumpy in places, but I'm really pleased with the end result, and a rather fitting, comfy reincarnation, don't you think?


Also, a pretty easy bit of upcycling, especially when you consider this one costs £109! £109!!

Worth digging out those old jumpers?