Patticrafts » Animal

Lovely Bug

dr — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:58:31 +0000

Use our template to cut out a bug shape from yellow card. Trim a large heart motif from red paper and fix this to the centre of the back with the point towards the head of the bug. (pic a)

Bend the legs downwards where they join the body and check the bug stands up without tipping over. If necessary trim a little off the bottom of the legs to balance it. Cut tiny red hearts and glue these down each leg. (pic b)

Fold rectangles of green and orange paper in half and cut out four pairs of wings. Open out the folds and glue the wings together in the middle so the colours alternate and they overlap slightly. (pic c)

Add a pair of wiggle-eyes to the head of the bug. Cut a fringe in two small squares of red paper and curl up to make eyelashes. Glue these over the tops of the eyes. Fix the wings to the back of the bug and bend up. (pic d)

Use our template to cut out a bug shape from yellow card. Trim a large heart motif from red paper and fix this to the centre of the back with the point towards the head of the bug. (pic a)
Bend the legs downwards where they join the body and check the bug stands up without tipping over. If necessary, trim a little off the bottom of the legs to balance it. Cut out tiny red hearts from paper and glue these down each leg. (pic b)
Fold rectangles of green and orange paper in half and cut out four pairs of wings. Open out the folds and glue the wings together in the middle so the colours alternate and they overlap slightly. (pic c)
Add a pair of wiggle-eyes to the head of the bug. Cut a fringe in two small squares of red paper and curl up to make eyelashes (ask an adult to help you). Glue these over the tops of the eyes. Fix the wings to the back of the bug and bend up. (pic d)

Download the Lovely Bug template ►

Cheerful Caterpillar

Patti — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:39:40 +0000

Select several square sided wooden beads – you will need about 14 for a 20cm long caterpillar. Paint the beads in different colours but make sure that three beads are the same colour, as these will form the head. (pic a)
Cut out 4cm diameter circles from several different colours of felt. You will need about four circles of six different colours – 24 in total. (pic b)
Make the head of the caterpillar by tying two beads of the same colour together at the end of a long piece of thread so they sit side by side. Pass one end of thread back down through the first bead, through a third and back up the second bead before knotting again. (pic c)
Use the long thread attached to the head, and sew through alternating felt circles and beads. Carry on until you have used half the thread and then sew back up the length of the body before knotting near the head and adding wiggle eyes. (pic d)

Westie Dog Bag

Patti — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:35:29 +0000

Draw a Westie dog design onto a piece of white sticky foam. Cut out, including the rough hair around his tail and legs. Make a collar from a small piece of red sticky foam and add a black nose and a small wiggle-eye. (pic a)
Cut out a dog coat shape from yellow sticky foam. Use permanent markers to draw a checkered tartan design on the coat. Blot off any excess ink with a tissue and leave to dry before sticking to the dog. (pic b)
Cut two bag shapes from green foam, one with a 5cm long tab sticking up from the middle of the top edge. On the other piece use a ruler to mark all around the sides and bottom edges at 5mm intervals: these will be your stitching guides. Fix a long piece of ribbon to the sides of the first bag piece using double sided tape. (pic c)
Place the marked bag piece over the top and over-sew all around using the dots as a guide. Secure the ribbon ends with the stitching at the same time. Use some Velcro as a closure and stick the dog to the front. (pic d)

Download the Westie Dog Bag template ►

Owl Frame

Patti — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:03:25 +0000

Use pale acrylic paint to cover the front of a large craft photo frame, then leave to dry. Use our template to cut out the bottom of the owl from pink sticky foam and fix to the base of the frame, leaving the aperture clear. Cut out six small orange talons and stick in place. (pic a)
Cut out two green wings from sticky foam, making sure they are a mirror image of each other. Cut lots of small triangles from paler green sticky foam and place these on each wing in a feather pattern. Place the wings on either side of the frame’s aperture, above the base. (pic b)
Cut out two 5cm diameter circles of orange sticky foam. Cut several very thin strips of purple foam and use these to make a spoke pattern on the circles, trimming neatly. Cover the centre of the spoke with a smaller yellow circle and add a wiggle-eye to the middle. (pic c)
Cut a blue head piece and add the completed eyes to it, along with a red beak. Fix the head to the top of the frame. Add lots of dots and spots to the owl using 3D metallic pens in coordinating colours and leave to dry. (pic d)

Download the Owl Frame template ►

Bug Box

Patti — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:30:34 +0000

Draw a head, abdomen and thorax shape around the box with pencil and paint blue sky and green grass below it. (pic a)
Colour in the whole body shape with yellow paint and add red spots using a cotton bud dipped in paint. Add a pair of wiggle-eyes to the head. (pic b)
Pierce three holes in the abdomen part on both sides of the box. Cut two pipe-cleaners into three pieces. Bend over one end of each piece to make feet and push the other end through the hole to make legs. Add two halves of another pipe-cleaner to the head as antennae. (pic c)
Cut two wing shapes from blue self-adhesive foam. Paint a vein design on each wing and remove 1cm of the backing paper from the pointed ends so they can be stuck to the top of the box. (pic d)

Birds of Paradise

Patti — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:27:44 +0000

Mix up some papier mâché powder with water and smooth the paste over the surface of a polystyrene ball. You can get an even finish by rolling the covered ball in your palms. (pic a)
While the papier mâché is still damp push a wooden skewer halfway into the ball. Roll a small ball of papier mâché and fix this to the side of the bigger ball, smoothing it in place to make the head and pinching the end to make the beak. Add a smaller ball to the other end to make the tail. (pic b)
Leave the ball on the stick to dry completely before painting it with two coats of coloured acrylic paint. Once the paint has dried add a coat of varnish. (pic c)
Cut some feathers into smaller pointed pieces and fix to the sides of the bird using extra strong glue. Cut longer pointed pieces of feather to fix to the tail area and add a pair of small wiggle-eyes to the head (for a glitzy touch, decorate with glitter pens or sequins). (pic d)

Model Giraffe

Patti — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:14:09 +0000

Bend two pipe cleaners in half and twist onto a third one to make the legs. Bend to make a body shape and head. (pic a)
Wrap strips of kitchen towel around the pipe cleaners to bulk them up. Cut the Mod Roc into 3cm wide strips. Dip a strip in water and wrap over the kitchen towel. (pic b)
Wrap the whole frame with Mod Roc and leave to dry. Mix up some papier mâché powder with water and use this to smooth over the Mod Roc, getting rid of any rough edges. Make ears and horns from papier mâché and mould onto the head.
Cover the whole giraffe with yellow paint. When dry, paint in the brown pattern with a fine brush and add the features. (pics c & d)

Pencil Toppers

Patti — Fri, 06 May 2011 12:27:00 +0000

Cut a simple fish shape from a foam sheet (see template) and fold in half across the middle. (pic a)
Cut two short slits across the fold, about 1cm apart. Open out the shape. (pic b)
Cut lots of small triangles from a different colour of self-adhesive foam and use these to make a scaly pattern on the body of the fish. (pic c)
Cut thin strips from another colour of self-adhesive foam and outline the fins and tail of the fish. Make a mouth with the strips and cut an eye shape from white and coloured self-adhesive foam. Thread a pencil through the slits in the middle of the body. (pic d)

Download the template ►

Tidy Tiger Bag

Patti — Thu, 05 May 2011 10:52:10 +0000

Cut a large tiger face from orange felt (see template). Cut two white felt cheek pieces and stitch these to the face with running stitch. (pic a)
Leave a gap in the stitching to push a little fibre stuffing in place and then sew up. Add a nose in the same way, adding a little stuffing.
Stitch a small black circle to a larger orange one, and then sew this onto a black cat’s-eye shape. Cut out white felt in the shape of the fur around the eyes and sew the eye to this. Make a second eye in the same way, and stitch both completed eyes to the face. (pics b, c & d)
Add a black felt mouth and sew some black felt stripes down the top of the head and the ears. Stitch the whole face to the middle of a felt bag using running stitch.

Download the template ►

Cheeky Chirpy Bird

Patti — Thu, 05 May 2011 10:50:24 +0000

Draw around a small plate onto a sheet of felt and cut out the circle. Sew running stitch all around the outside of the circle and gather up the stitching to make a pouch.
Before tightening the stitches completely, fill the pouch with fibre stuffing and make a ball shape. Secure the gathers, sewing across the gap to close completely if necessary. (pic a)
Cut two tail shapes from a different colour of felt (see template) and stitch together, leaving a small gap for stuffing. Make wings, a beak and feet in the same way using different colours of felt. (pic b)
Pin the stuffed shapes to the ball and over-sew in place. Stitch layered buttons to the front of the ball to make the eyes and add cute eyelashes using a fabric pen. (pics c & d)

Download the template ►