Handmade Christmas - Dolly peg nativity

The 'Juleverksted' is now open. Remember my very bad sketch from last week? This is what I was thinking of - a nativity of dolly pegs..... Here's what we have done so far:

Materials used: Dolly pegs, paints, pigmapen, chenille sticks for arms and various scraps of fabrics for clothes.

Until I made Mary and the angel Gabriel, the lineup looked a little like a group of hairy hippies. Once they were dressed they looked a little more respectable and in their time... I think.

Once painted I pegged the dolls down on the side of a cardboard box to dry..
I had to provide a moderating hand for fabric selection since LP's colour of choice is mostly pink which would look more "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" than Wise Men in the desert....

We'll make some fairies with the remaining dollypegs so that she can pink up to her little 6yr old heart's content.

(Gabriel needs some hair, doesn't he?.... bald doesn't suit him)

One Crafty Mumma provided me with some inspiration with her popsickle house, and I am thinking about a design for a stable made from paddlepop sticks or tongue depressors (really big paddlepop sticks...) so there's more fun to come.

the making of a Funky Ball

or...... how to turn this:
into this:

Filling: 1/4 cup rice or sand (and we used small round balloons)

Uses: countless...... stress relief (squishing the ball is very relaxing), juggling, throwing/catching to name but a few..

Tip: when adding the second and the third balloon layer, make sure the opening to the previous layer is covered. This adds strength.

I saw, I liked, I made.... a memory board

My local bookshop is a magical place to be. Very small but with a wonderful selection of books and always some good recommendations from staff who are as passionate about reading as I. Every time I go into the village, I am drawn to it and my idea of a bliss is to first go to Kokoh for a scrumdiddliumptious hot chocolate (or iced chocolate now that summer is coming), and then on to the bookshop for a chat and a browse among the books and the handmade items that are for sale there.

The other day I went in and I spotted some beautiful memoryboards... and I thought I might get one until I saw the pricetag. Two thoughts went through my mind in quick succession.... firstly "Man, that's expensive!" and secondly "I bet I could make that..... it doesn't look that hard..."

So I made one.....

The one in the shop was made using what felt like MDF, solid and quite heavy. I decided to just use a stretch canvas. Here's how it went:

Materials: a stretch canvas, some fabric, a couple of rectangles of quiltbatting for padding, about 2 metres of ribbon for the lattice and my beloved staplegun (the most exciting thing in my craft cupboard according to the boys, and they are itching to get their hands on it!)

Optional extras are some fabric for backing (I used a plain homespun) and some ribbon to trim the edge with.

I cut the batting and fabric to size, adding enough to stretch around to the back of the canvas.
The batting can be smaller than the fabric. I decided to have the batting going around to the back - it makes for a nicer finish I think.

Then I stapled the top edge using 3 staples but staying away from the corners. The bottom edge was secured in the same way, making sure I was stretching everything nice and tight.... leaving the corners again. Then I did the sides, stretching the fabric evenly so as to not distort the weave.
After all four sides were pulled stapled down, I mitred the fabric over the corners.

That done, it was time to cut my ribbons to make the lattice shape, making sure it was symmetrical. After I had measured and cut, I stapled the ribbons around the back, making sure they were nicely stretched.

I used a strip of the border print from my fabric to make a trim (instead of more ribbon), but if the"lattice" ribbons are pulled around neatly this isn't necessary..... all a matter of preference!

That done, it was time to tidy up the back, hiding a multitude of sins by adding some backing. I used some plain homespun, and stapled it all down.

Add a picture hook to hang it up - and hey presto...... one happy little customer!

Both boys came to investigate what I was doing, but Turtle decided he didn't like the fabric... he has ordered one with snakes on it... The monster fabric was something I had put up for sale in my Grand De-Clutter Sale a couple of months ago..... good thing it didn't sell!!

Just goes to show..... de-cluttering is risky business :) I should hang on to my fabrics !!

a fairy headpiece how-to

The fairy headpieces I made for Little Possum's birthday party guests were popular, and several have made outings to show and tell at school. Being slightly embarrassed at the compliments I got for them, I made this tutorial to show just how easy they are to make! These could also be used as a headpiece for a little flowergirl as they are easy to colour coordinate!


Materials needed:

Tulle, ribbons, flowers (ribbon flowers -the kind that have wire attached) and some wire. I used 18 gauge florists wire.

• Shape the wire into a circle (I joined 2 lengths of wire together) in the right size for your child's head.
• Cut the tulle into 4cm wide strips. I used the pink tulle strips to wrap around the wire, plumping it up a little, leaving a length at the beginning and the end to tie off with. I didn't cut off the ends leaving 20cm or so to hang down, marking the back of the headpiece.
• Cut white (or the colour of your choice) tulle strips into lengths of 10-15 cm.
• Tie white tulle strips around the wire with a simple knot. The closer together the knots are, the fluffier and foofier the the end result will be.
• Trim the ends of the white tulle until they are as short as desired. They do not be of equal length, and may look a little more whimsical if uneven.

• Embellish the headpiece. I used ribbon flowers with their wires wrapped around the band. Where the flowers had no green leaves, I used a little green organza ribbon tied next to the flower just to add a little extra colour. For the sake of economy I only used 3 -4 flowers per headpiece at the party (as I was making 10 of them), but if I were to make only one, I'd probably use a lot more to make it really colourful.
  
  
  
• Lastly cut a couple of lengths of ribbon and tie to the band at the back, where the pink tulle ends were, just as an added embellishment. Other optional embellishments could be bells tied on with wire, or ribbon strips tied in between the tulle strips.
• Add a fairy costume or even just a singlet with tulle wings attached to the back with hook and loop fastener (eg velcro) and you have a little fairy!