Crafts Page
We enjoy doing crafts - especially at camps
and for special occasions. Here are a few we have enjoyed doing that you might like to try
out.
Use this list to jump to the crafts - or just scroll down.
| Cool Hair Clips | Easter chocolate piggies. | Fork Flowers | Cheap Chokers. |
| Cinnamon room scenters. | Pipe Cleaner Teddies | ||
To make your own totally cool hair clips you will need :
Cut out shapes with a good pair of scissors. Build up two or three layers of your flower in bright colours -
think late 60's psychedelic ! Glue layers together and then glue to the hair clip. Leave to dry completely before wearing - or it will stick to your
hair ! Note: You can also put flower shapes on to hair slides - or - put on to
stick-on Velcro and stick on to trainers, flip flops or bags.
You will need -
A Cadbury's creme egg (or any similar sized, filled, chocolate
egg)
A chocolate covered biscuit (Chocolate digestives are good but chocolate Rich Tea's are
stronger and less likely to break.)
Marzipan
Some cooking chocolate
Paintbrush for use with the melted chocolate
Cocktail stick
China bowl and saucepan for melting the chocolate
What you do -
Break up and melt the chocolate in the small china or Pyrex bowl by standing it in the bowl in some boiling hot water. Make sure that no water gets into the chocolate or it goes all weird!
Take the wrapper off the egg.
Soften the marzipan in your hands until it is pliable.
Roll out a "sausage" of marzipan and chop off four short lengths - these are for the pigs legs, so make them small and squat.
Using the melted chocolate as if it were glue, stick the legs on the egg, with the egg on its side.
So that when on its "legs" the sharper end of the egg points forward and will make the nose end.
Stick the legs on to the chocolate biscuit - using it as a stand.
Make the nose and stick it on the front point of the egg in the same way, use the cocktail stick dipped in a little melted chocolate, to make nostrils. This leaves a darker mark inside the nostril and makes it stand out better.
Use very small pieces of marzipan to make two very small piggy eyes and place close to the nose. Use to cocktail stick as with the nostrils to make pupils.
The ears are made by making two leaf shaped bits of marzipan, sticking them on, "gluing" only at the thick base and then folding the pointed top down to make a flopped over ear.
The tail is made from a very thinly rolled out sausage of marzipan which is stuck on as before, coiling it to make a curly tail.
Options.
You can make tiny piglets to stand alongside the bigger one on the biscuit. Use mini solid chocolate eggs.
Owls - Stand the egg upright an make a pair of flattish feet to stand it on (on the biscuit stand). The beak is a cone shape, make two big round eyes and owl ears if liked.
Rabbits - as piggies with long ears, pom pom tail and little snuffly nose with buck teeth. Divide the teeth with a chocolate dipped cocktail stick. You could have baby bunnies standing up as the owls. Make the front legs smaller and the back legs longer.
Mice - leave out the legs, make the ears round, the tail longer, and the nose round, tipped with little thin whiskers.
With all the above you can "paint" any bits of marzipan with melted chocolate to make it blend in - might be best with the Rabbit's legs.
Needed:
Fork
Wool
Pipecleaner
Starting at the bottom of the fork prongs, wind the wool in and out of the prongs from one
side of the fork to the other. Continue back to the other side of the fork.
Continue weaving in and out until there are about 8 lines of wool (experiment with this to
see what you think looks best once you've made the first one).
Slide the wool slightly up the prongs so there is a small gap at the bottom.
Take the pipecleaner and poke half of it through the middle hole at the bottom. Fold in
half and twist the two halves tightly together to trap the wool in.
Slide off the fork. Fan out the loops of the wool to form "petals".
Voilá - a flower.
It was suggested that, say, 3 were made, wrapped in a green felt leaf shape and then a
piece of doily wrapped round the outside to form a posy.
What you will need -
approx. 50 cms of black cord
Strips of coloured wrapping paper or magazine pages
PVA glue slightly watered down
metal washers or eyelets or similar round bits of metal
a wooden skewer or thin knitting needle
a sewing needle and some black thread~ plus ~ the bead template - Cut a piece of card about 12cms long. Make it 4cms wide at one end and taper it to form a long triangle from each edge of one end to a central point on the other edge. It should look like a long pennant type flag.
Cut two or three strips of coloured paper (depending on your design).
Starting at the widest end start to roll up the strip of paper, keeping it firmly rolled and straight.
When you are halfway stop and paint a little watered glue along the remaining strip to the end.
Continue rolling to the end.
Slide the "bead" off of the skewer and allow to dry a little.
Make all the beads like this.
Thread the sewing needle double and tie a knot at the end.
Put the needle through the washer and around the chokers cord, but do not pull right through, pass the needle through the looped thread at the bottom knot.
Pull taught and continue to pass the needle through the washer and over the cord, securing the washer in place on the choker.
Fasten off the thread and try not to leave and whispy bits hanging.
Thread a paper bead on either side of the washer, or however you want your design to look.
Cinnamon room scenters. 4 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
Mix all together in a bowl (careful to avoid making clouds of spice fly up) until it is an evenly textured dough.
Roll out to about ˝ cm thick, on a sheet of non-stick baking paper or a cinnamon floured board.
Cut out shapes with biscuit cutters, making a small hole for the ribbon (a drinking straw does this well) and place shapes on a cooling rack to dry.
Turn the shapes every few days until dry and hard.
This will happen quicker if the rack is placed in an airing cupboard or very near a radiator.
When dry, thread a ribbon through the hole and hang up.
Please note – these are NOT edible!
These little teddies are best demonstrated as they are hard to describe - but very easy to do! So the instruction diagram is on another page.
There are lots of different styles of fancy pipe cleaners around and these will look very different depending on which type you choose.
If you use stripy chenille stem pipe cleaners and use joggle eyes you can turn them into "Grem Teds" a strange and alien gremlin teddie!
They make great pin badges. You can also make tiny felt clothes that you can glue into place. You can also make whole families by using different size pipe cleaners, or cutting them in half. The only limit is your imagination!
Click here for the instructions
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