Patticrafts » Autumn

Family Tree

Patti — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 10:01:54 +0000

Glue two sides of a cereal packet together and cover one side with orange card. Trim to fit. Use double sided tape to fix a length of ribbon to one long edge to make a hanging loop. Cut four 1.5cm wide strips of sticky foam and place around the edges of the board, covering the ends of the ribbon. (pic a)
Draw a tree design on the back of a piece of purple sticky foam (use our template). Cut out and peel away the backing paper. Fix the tree to the middle of the board. Cut a strip of green sticky foam to look like grass and place at the bottom of the tree trunk. (pic b)
Cut out lots of small leaf shapes from green, yellow and red card. Write the names of your family members on each of the leaves with a gold pen and ‘leaf’ to dry. (pic c)
Fix the leaves to the tree with glue dots. Starting with yourself on the trunk of the tree, place your parents above you and theirs above them, branching out from the trunk with each generation. (pic d)

Download the Family Tree template ►

Corn Plait Bookmark

Patti — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:32:02 +0000

Cut a piece of yellow foam into a rectangle, 3cm by 21cm. Cut along the length into three equal strips – use a pencil and ruler to mark out if you want - leaving 1cm uncut at one end. (pic a)
Make the three strips into a neat plait by crossing one strip over the other – left over right, right over left, and so on. Make sure the plait is not too tight or it will curl up. Secure the ends of the plait with double sided tape. (pic b)
Fix a narrow piece of self-adhesive foam onto the back of the plait to help keep it flat. Use double sided tape to stick three orange foam leaf shapes to the tops of the plaited strips. (pic c)
Turn the bookmark over and layer lots of small orange sticky foam triangles onto the leaf shapes to make them look like ears of corn. (pic d)

Harvest Basket

Patti — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:30:27 +0000

Choose a pale colour to paint a woven wooden basket, and give it two even coats. Leave to dry then fix double sided tape over the handle and around the top of the basket. Stick a length of ribbon over the handle and a longer piece around the basket. Tie the ends in a bow. (pic a)
Cut several leaf shapes from yellow, green, red and orange foam sheets. Fix the leaves around the edge of the basket using double sided tape. Scrunch up a piece of tissue paper and place in the bottom of the basket. (pic b)
Roll some green clay into a ball. Make a dent in the top and push a green foam leaf and a small brown foam stalk into the top to make an apple. Make blackberries by sticking lots of tiny balls of dark purple clay onto a larger disc of clay. (pic c)
Make a pine cone by snipping into a ball of brown clay with scissors. Create a ladybird from a disc of red clay with black spots fixed to the front and on its back. Allow the clay shapes to dry overnight, then arrange in the basket fixing the ladybird to a leaf with double sided tape. (pic d)

Download the Harvest Basket 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 ►

Leaf Garland

Patti — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:00:22 +0000

Trace around the large card leaf shapes onto sheets of autumnal coloured foam then cut out – you will need at least eight leaves. Arrange the leaves on a flat surface and mix up the colours. (pic a)
Write ‘autumn’ onto sticky green foam in bubble writing. Cut out all the letters and stick them to the middle six leaves in your arrangement. (pic b)
Use 3D glitter pens to draw vein patterns onto the leaves, avoiding the letters. Leave to dry for a couple of hours. While you’re waiting, cut out several 5cm diameter circles from foam – you’ll need about 18. (pic c)
Fold the circles in half and cut two slits in the middle of each one approx. 15mm apart. Cut more slits in the stalks of each leaf. Cut a long piece of brightly coloured ribbon and thread this through the slits, alternating leaves and circles to make a banner. (pic d)

Leaf Printed Tote Bag

Patti — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 10:57:01 +0000

Stick a square of self-adhesive foam on top of another square the same size.
Draw a maple leaf shape on the backing paper of the second square and cut out with scissors. (pic a)
Stick the double thickness leaf onto another square of foam and fix this to a piece of thick card to make a stamp.
Place a large piece of card inside the bag. Paint the leaf with orange and yellow acrylic and press firmly onto the bag without smudging the design. (pic b)
Repeat this to cover the bag in leaves and let the paint dry completely before taking the card out.
Outline the leaves with a neat running stitch using different colours of embroidery thread. (pic c)

Felt Owl

Patti — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:53:15 +0000

Cut out an owl body shape from orange felt and one wing from green. Stitch the wing to the body with a small running stitch using three strands of embroidery thread. (pic a)
Use pattern scissors to cut some 1cm wide strips of red felt and sew these across the body, trimming the ends to fit. (pic b)
Cut a figure of eight shape from pink felt and two small blue circles for eyes. Sew the eyes to the pink felt by stitching from the edge of the disc to the centre so the thread looks like spokes of a wheel. (pic c)
Stitch the completed eye-piece to the head of the owl and add a small yellow beak below it.
Cut a second body shape from green felt and pin to the decorated piece. Sew around the edge with running stitch leaving a gap at the head. (pic d)
Fill the body with stuffing packed in firmly and sew the gap closed to finish.

Autumn Tree Picture

Patti — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 14:30:02 +0000

Coat a small canvas with two coats of yellow acrylic paint and leave to dry. (pic a)
Cover the edges of the canvas with a length of red ribbon stuck on with double-sided tape. (pic b)
Use a pencil to draw a simple tree trunk shape and add several different sized circles.
Paint the trunk of the tree brown and let the paint dry completely.
Colour in each circle with red, pink or orange paint. Use a fine brush so you don’t go over the pencil lines. (pic c)
Choose several small foam leaf stickers and place these on the largest circles and around the base of the trunk.

Animal Keyrings

Patti — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:25:55 +0000

To make a hedgehog shape, flatten a small ball of brown clay and mould a pointed nose shape. Mark a mouth with a cocktail stick. Add tiny eyes from white and black clay.
Mix more brown clay with a quarter part black to make a darker shade. Roll into an oval and mark spines all over with a cocktail stick.
Press the head onto the body and place on a baking tray. Push a small screw eye into the middle of the back before baking for 30 minutes at 110°C. Varnish when cool.
For the squirrel make two balls of brown clay and squeeze one side of the smaller ball to make a snout. Fix the head onto the body by using half a cocktail stick pushed into the body.
Roll out a sausage of orange clay and taper the ends. Bend into an ‘S’ shape and mark the fur with a cocktail stick before pressing into the back of the body.
Add eyes, nose and tiny ears to the face and push a screw eye into the top of the head before baking for 30 minutes at 110°C. Varnish when cool.

Acorn Pincushion

Patti — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 08:18:01 +0000

Cut two oak leaf shapes from green felt. Use three strands of pale green embroidery thread to sew a vein pattern onto one leaf in back stitch or running stitch.
Place the two leaves together and pin. Oversew all around the edges to join the two pieces together. Add some stuffing to each bump of the leaf as you go and fill the centre of the leaf before you finish sewing.
Cut three small circles of yellow felt. Stitch two pieces together around half of the circle. Sew the third piece to the remaining halves to make a ball shape. Stuff with filling before finishing the stitching.
Cut a piece of brown felt 8cm by 2.5cm and stitch around the middle of the yellow ball, overlapping the ends. Gather up the other side of the brown felt with a running stitch and pull tight to make the cup of the acorn.
Cut a tiny oval of orange felt and sew a semi-circle of black felt to one end. Stitch down the centre of the oval and make small spots on either side of this line.
Place the ladybird on the leaf and carefully sew around the edge to secure. Sew the stalk of the acorn cup to the stalk of the stuffed leaf with neat stitches to finish.