Patticrafts » Father’s Day

Dad’s Notepad & Drawer

Patti — Fri, 06 May 2011 15:49:04 +0000

Cut a rectangle of card 14cm by 17.5cm and score 2cm in from each edge. Make one cut at each corner – but don’t cut them out! – and fold up the sides, securing with double sided tape to make a drawer. Fix a small tab of card to the bottom front of the drawer to help open it. (pic a)
Cut another piece of card 26cm by 15.5cm. Score 2cm in along one long edge, score across the rectangle at 6.5cm, 8.5cm, 18.7cm and 20.7cm. Fold on the score lines, cut at the corners and assemble to make a sleeve for the drawer (there should be one open end). Fit the drawer in the sleeve with the ‘seam’ underneath. (pic b)
Cut a piece of card 27cm by 10cm. Fold in half and then fold one side back in half again. Fix a 13.5cm by 10cm piece of card to the top small section of folded card using double sided tape. Fix the big section of folded card to the top of the drawer sleeve. (pics c & d)
Lay the pieces of card flat and decorate the top with a strip of card to make a pen holder and more stripes of coloured card above and below this. Add a message with foam letters and then open out the card to make an easel. Stick a small notepad to the big section of folded card to keep the easel in place.

Trophy Fridge Magnet

Patti — Fri, 06 May 2011 15:28:20 +0000

Roll out some yellow clay to 2mm thick and use a cutting tool or knife to cut out a trophy shape (see template). Place this onto a flat baking tray. (pic a)
Roll out some orange clay into 2mm wide strands and twist two together evenly to make a decorative braid. Use this to shape handles for either side of the trophy. Make more braid in the same way and outline the whole trophy with this. (pics b & c)
Roll out a little piece of white clay and cut into a rectangle small enough to fit onto the trophy. Add small balls of red clay above and below the rectangle before baking the trophy for 30 minutes at a low oven temperature of 110°C/230°F. (pic d)
Let the trophy cool down and remove from the baking tray. Use a permanent marker to write your message onto the white panel and fix a magnetic disc to the back of the shape.

Download the template ►

Rainbow Penpot

Patti — Thu, 05 May 2011 10:35:57 +0000

Cut an 8cm diameter circle from red foam. Use a protractor to mark points at 60° intervals around the circumference. Cut from mark to mark to make a hexagon.
Use extra strong glue to stick three red matchsticks on alternating sides of the hexagon (they should be a bit longer than the side). Glue three more red matchsticks on the other sides to make a second layer. (pics a & b)
Carry on gluing sets of three matchsticks over the previous set to create a rainbow effect (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, blue, green, etc…) until your pot is tall enough to use (approx. 12cm – 14cm). (pic c)
Let the strong glue dry completely and then cover the whole pot with a coat of PVA glue to act as a varnish and make it even stronger.

Dad’s Phone Case

Patti — Thu, 05 May 2011 10:34:37 +0000

Measure Dad’s phone and cut a rectangle of yellow foam 2cm wider and twice the length plus 2cm. Cover one side of the rectangle with black self-adhesive felt to fit.
Cut two 2cm wide strips of foam the same length as the phone, cover with black self-adhesive felt as before and cut one end of each piece into a U-shaped curve. (pic a)
Use permanent marker pens to decorate the plain side of the large foam rectangle. When the ink is dry, fold the panel in half and mark the centre. (pic b)
Use embroidery thread to sew the side panels to the case using blanket stitch. Start from the centre and work out so that the ends of the side pieces can be trimmed to the same length as the finished case. (pic c)

Tattoo Keyring

Patti — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:27:00 +0000

Roll out some red Fimo to approx. 2mm thickness and cut out two heart shapes (see template). Roll out some white Fimo to the same thickness and cut out a pair of wings. (pic a)
Place one heart on a baking tray and lay the wings across the middle. Place the second heart over the wings, gently smoothing it down to meet the first heart at the edges. (pic b)
Cut a wavy banner shape from more white clay and lay this over the top of the design. Using a cocktail stick, carefully pierce a small hole at the top of the heart (you may need an adult to help you). Bake for 30 minutes at a very low temperature of 110°C/230°F. (pic c)
When the clay has cooled, add detail and shading using yellow acrylic paint and a black permanent marker. Write ‘Daddy’ across the banner with a black marker pen then paint the heart with a coat of clear varnish. Add split metal rings to finish. (pic d)

Download the template ►

Decision Die

Patti — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:24:58 +0000

Open out a photo cube and use fibre tip pens to colour in each face with a different colour. Add detail – like dots and squiggles – with glitter glue pens. (pic a)
Cut a 7.5cm square of card and use this as a template to draw a square shape with a pencil onto six 10cm squares of different coloured foam. (pic b)
Use permanent marker pens to write an activity in each foam square, staying within the pencil lines. Leave room inside the lines to draw a picture illustrating the activity. (pic c)
Use double sided tape to fix each foam square inside the photo cube, and then assemble the card to make the die. (pic d)

Jewelled Sword

Patti — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 18:03:34 +0000

Lay some newspaper out on your work surface and make sure the room is well ventilated. Spray the blade of the sword with silver paint. When dry turn over and spray the other side. (pic a)
Use red acrylic to paint the hilt of the sword and blue to paint the handle, on both sides of the sword. Apply two coats for an even coverage. (pic b)
Cut a silver doily into quarters and glue one section to the blade of the sword just below the hilt.
Cut a gold doily in half and trim away the centre part. Glue half the doily to the hilt of the sword and cut the rest into pieces to stick on the handle above. (pic c)
Trim the doilies to the shape of the sword and repeat on the other side.
Choose some large acrylic jewels and fix these to the handle to decorate. (pic d)

Rosette Mouse Mat

Patti — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:18:26 +0000

Find a plate that’s about 17cm in diameter and another that’s 4cm smaller. Draw around the larger plate onto foam and cut out. Cut a rectangle of orange foam 4cm by 21cm and cut into two different length pieces.
Cut arrowheads into one end of each rectangle and overlap the pieces so they look like the ribbons on a rosette. Cut away where they overlap at the bottom, and fit the pieces back together like a jigsaw.
Lay these ribbons onto the edge of the large foam circle and draw around them. Cut away this section from the circle so the base of the mat is completely flat. (pic a)
Draw around the big and small plates onto orange foam to make concentric circles. Cut the foam to make a ring and snip slits around the edge. Round these off with scissors to make a bumpy border. (pic b)
Glue the orange ring to the top of the mouse mat base: this will hold the ribbon tails in place in the area you have cut out. (pic c)
Draw around the smaller plate onto yellow foam and cut out. Draw your design on the front with fabric pens and colour in. Stick this circle to the centre of your mouse mat. (pic d)

Dad’s Octopus Paperweight

Patti — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 10:46:43 +0000

Mix up enough casting powder to fill a small plastic dessert or yogurt pot with a rounded bottom and leave to set for a few hours before pushing out of the mould.
Paint the plaster shape with two toning colours of acrylic paint, blending the brushstrokes together. (pic a)
Once the paint is dry, fix two wiggle-eyes to the front of the octopus’s body. (pic b)
Draw around the body in the centre of a piece of coloured foam. From this circle sketch out eight wavy legs of about the same size.
Cut around the legs and turn the foam over to hide any pencil marks before gluing to the bottom of the plaster body. (pic c)
Decorate the octopus by sticking on pretty hearts of different sizes. (pic d)

Union Jack Mug

Patti — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:28:52 +0000

Use a soft pencil to draw a simple flag design on one side of a porcelain mug.
Paint in the red crosses of the flag with a porcelain pen. Make the diagonal cross thinner than the straight one. (pic a)
Cut 2 rectangles of red and white card and one of blue. Cut crosses from the red ones and stick to the white card.
Fill in the areas between the crosses with a blue porcelain paint pen leaving white lines between the colours. (pic b)
Use a gold glass outline pen to make a flag pole on the left hand side of the flag. Write your message in blue and red paint on the other side of the mug and leave to dry.
Cut around the crosses leaving a white border and glue to the blue rectangle to make a gift tag. Write Dad on the front using a gold outline pen and tie to the mug with gold ribbon. (pic c)