Patticrafts » Summer

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)

Flowered Tote Bag

Patti — Fri, 06 May 2011 14:16:39 +0000

Cut a 3cm diameter circle from yellow felt. Pin this to the middle of a 6cm circle of red felt and cut ‘V’ shapes from the edge of the red circle to make petals. (pic a)
Pin the flower to the middle of an 8cm circle of white felt and cut petals from this in the same way as before. (pic b)
Use embroidery thread to sew a button to the middle of the layered flower to hold it together. Make more flowers using different coloured felt. (pic c)
Pin and then sew the flowers onto one side of a coloured shoulder bag using running stitch, following the edge of the middle circle. (pic 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 ►

Lion Puppet

Patti — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:11:39 +0000

Get an adult to iron your blank puppet to remove any creases. Paint a border 2cm in from the edge of the mouth in pink and fill in. (pic a)
Paint the outside of the mouth and the rest of the puppet in bright orange and leave to dry.
Cut a strip of yellow felt 10cm by 25cm and fold in half length-ways. Use scissors to cut a fringe all along the unfolded side. (pic b)
Cut two 2cm wide strips of yellow self-adhesive felt and use these to fix the fringed mane around the neck of the lion, placing one strip on each side of the fold.
Cut a smaller fringe from yellow felt and roll into a tube. Wrap one end of a rectangle of self-adhesive orange felt around the roll, cutting the other end into a curve to fix the tail to the back of the puppet. (pic c)
Cut ears, eyes and a nose from self-adhesive felt, adding detail with a black fibre tip, and stick these to the face of the puppet.

Bird House Money Box

Patti — Fri, 07 May 2010 11:59:24 +0000

Paint the main part of the birdhouse with two coats of coloured acrylic paint.
Paint the base, perch and roof with two coats in a contrasting colour and leave to dry.
Use a fine paint brush to paint lots of white daisies on the side of the birdhouse. (pic a)
Cut lots of small rectangles from four bright colours of self-adhesive foam and, starting from the bottom of the roof, layer them on so they overlap to look like roof tiles. (pic b)
Sketch a message onto a 4cm by 5cm rectangle of yellow foam. Paint over the lettering using a fine paint brush. (pic c)
Make two small holes in the top edge of the sign and knot a loop of cord through it. Hang over the main hanging loop or from the perch.

Bird Binoculars

Patti — Fri, 07 May 2010 11:55:44 +0000

Colour the front panel of the binoculars with a red fibre tip pen. Wrap the box with a 7.5cm wide strip of brown sticky felt and trim at the sides. (pic a)
Fix a strip of red felt to a strip of blue using double sided tape and cut a fringe along one edge. (pic b)
Fix the fringe to one lip of the binoculars with a strip of red self-adhesive felt and add a yellow beak above it. Trim the feathers and cut out felt feather shapes. Glue these to the other lip and cover the ends with another strip of felt. (pic c)
Cut two large blue felt wing shapes and decorate with more feathers and a disc of felt. (pic d)
Add another fringe of felt to the top edge and glue the wings to each side of the binoculars.

Big Bugs

Patti — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:26:43 +0000

Cut the ends off two polystyrene ovals then glue them together to make a body shape.
Paint the body with two coats of brightly coloured acrylic paint and leave to dry. (pic a)
Cut a pipe cleaner into six pieces and bend each bit at the end to make tiny feet. Make six holes in the underside of the body using a pencil and glue the legs in place. (pic b)
Cut two matching wing shapes from coloured foam, making sure you leave a 5mm tab to fix into the body. Cut thin strips of white foam and glue onto the wings to look like veins. (pic c)
Cut two slots in the top of the insect’s body where the wings will sit. If necessary scoop out any pieces of polystyrene to make a clear slot.
Dab some PVA glue into the slots and push the wing tabs into place. Add a pair of wiggle-eyes to bring your bug to life. Why not make several so you have your own squadron? (pic d)

Mini Display Frames

Patti — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:18:18 +0000

Cut a 12.5cm square of coloured card and very lightly glue the ends of four craft sticks onto it in a square. (pic a)
Fix four more craft sticks over the top of the first layer, using plenty of glue this time, and making sure that the second layer overlaps the corner joins of the first.
Continue building up layers like this until you have used 32 craft sticks, and then leave to dry completely. (pic b)
Carefully peel away the card square from the back of the frame. If any sticks seem to come loose add a bit more glue.
Glue more craft sticks across the back of the frame, making sure they butt up to each other closely. (pic c)
Mix some acrylic paint with water to make a ‘colour wash’ and cover the frame to create a wood stain effect. Use a colour that will show off your picture or object to the best effect (if using coloured craft sticks then there is no need to stain the frame). Add background detail with acrylic paint if you wish.

Beach Hut Box

Patti — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:26:56 +0000

Line up 7 craft sticks in alternate colours and hold them together with two more sticks trimmed to size and glued across. (pic a)
Make three panels like this and a fourth one without the cross piece at one end. This will be the front of your beach hut.
Glue three shortened craft sticks to the centre of the front panel to make a door and add the cut off pieces either side to complete the trim. Decorate with a sandcastle cut from foam. (pic b)
Cut four pieces of card 8cm by 4cm and fold in half length-ways. Use these pieces to fix your panels together in a square. Measure the size of the square, cut another piece of card to the same size and glue to the bottom. (pic c)
Cut a piece of card 12cm by 8cm and fold in half to make a roof. Cut an 8cm square of foam into two triangles and stick these to the sides of the roof, trimming the excess pieces away.
Cover the rest of the roof with a rectangle of foam, folding under the ends to make eaves. Decorate the front apex of the roof with short pieces of craft stick. (pic d)

Brilliant Bouquet

Patti — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:02:29 +0000

Paint the inside of the flower basket with two coats of green acrylic paint. Allow to dry between the coats. (pic a)
Using the sparkle acrylic pens paint the top of the basket and two sides in yellow, the other sides and the handle in dark pink and the remaining edges in green.
Decorate the sides of the basket with assorted pink and yellow flower or butterfly stick-ons. (pic b)
To make the flowers, scrunch up small squares of yellow, pink and red tissue paper into little balls. Peel the backing off a self-adhesive foam flower and stick down the little balls of coloured tissue to make a flower head. (pic c)
Make a flower stem by cutting a pipe cleaner to approximately 14cm and bend 2cm at one end at a right angle. Attach this end to the back of one of the flower heads using a self-adhesive leaf strip or piece of foam and PVA glue. (pic d)
Finish off by arranging all the flowers in the basket with added scrunched up pink tissue paper to help hold the stems in place.