Patticrafts » Winter

Happy Snowman

Patti — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:00:50 +0000

Cut out two snowman shapes from white felt and pin together. Use three strands of white embroidery thread to sew the pieces together along the edge with small running stitch. Start sewing at the base of the figure and leave a 3cm gap before you finish. (pic a)
Stuff the snowman with some fibre stuffing. Use a pencil to help push the stuffing all the way up to the hat. When the figure is full close up the gap with running stitch. (pic b)
Cut a long strip of red felt and trim each end into a fringe with scissors. Wrap the scarf around the snowman’s neck and hold in place with a few stitches of red thread. (pic c)
Cut out two hat shapes from self-adhesive black felt and stick one to each side of the snowman. Use more self-adhesive felt to decorate the snowman with black buttons, a carrot nose and other features. (pic d)

Download the Happy Snowman template ►

Snowflake Baubles

Patti — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:15:16 +0000

Cut an 8cm diameter circle from blue foam. Cut a second 6.5cm diameter circle from pink self-adhesive foam. Peel off the backing paper from the pink circle, stick a loop of blue ribbon to the edge for hanging, then fix to the middle of the blue circle. (pic a)
Use a pencil to draw a six sided snowflake design onto the back of an 8cm square of white self-adhesive foam (download our template!). Carefully cut out the shape. (pic b)
Peel away the backing paper from the snowflake and position it at the centre of the pink circle so that the points of the design slightly overlap it. (pic c)
Add extra decoration to the bauble by arranging several glitter snowflake stickers in the centre and around the edge of the snowflake. (pic d)

Download the Snowflake Baubles template ►

Tinselly Snowflake

Patti — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 11:28:19 +0000

Cut two red tinsel pipe cleaners in half and twist three of these pieces together at the midpoint to make a star shape.
Thread a coloured bead onto each wire and push down to the middle. (pic a)
Paint a dab of PVA glue onto each wire about 1cm from each bead. Thread a different coloured bead down onto the PVA glue and allow to dry.
Dab PVA glue onto the wires 1cm above the second bead then thread on a third colour. (pic b)
Cut three silver pipe cleaners into four equal pieces. Curl one end of each piece into a spiral and push the straight end into the top of the third bead on each wire. (pic c)
Allow the glue to dry then curl over the ends of the red pipe cleaners into loops, threading one of them with gold cord to hang. (pic d)

Poinsettia in a Pot

Patti — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:59:59 +0000

Draw wide stripes of red, orange and green porcelain paint down the side of a mini plant pot and leave to dry completely. (pic a)
Cut a yellow pipe cleaner in half and bend over the top by 2cm. Cut a 2.5cm by 8cm rectangle of yellow felt and snip a fringe into one long side of it.
Wrap the fringing around the top of the pipe cleaner and tie in place with a long piece of yellow thread, leaving the ends free. (pic b)
Cut several small leaf shapes from red felt, some medium sized leaves from orange and green felt, and some big leaves from green felt. Use a fine tip pen to mark vein patterns on all the leaves. (pic c)
Place two small red leaves against the stem of the pipe cleaner and wrap the thread around twice before tying to secure. Add more small leaves and repeat. (pic d)
Keep adding larger and larger leaves to build up the plant, tying the thread around them as you go to hold them in place. Trim the end of the pipe cleaner so the poinsettia sits neatly in the pot.

Penguin Scene

Patti — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:28:05 +0000

Cut a piece of A4 blue card in half. Score a line across the card 6cm from one long edge, and score two lines 4cm from each short edge with the back of a table knife.
Cut along the two short score lines until you reach the intersection with the longer one. Draw wavy lines to represent snowy hills and cut these out with scissors. (pic a)
Measure the width between the score lines and cut several rectangles of blue and white self-adhesive foam to fit. Cut these into hilly shapes and stick to the back of the scene. (pic b)
Fold along the score lines and glue the two tabs at each side of the card underneath the base of the scene to create a half box shape. (pic c)
Cut Christmas tree shapes from green foam and decorate an igloo shape with tiny squares of foam to look like ice blocks. Fix these to the scene. (pic d)
Mould a snowy slope from Model Magic and leave to dry. Glue in place and cover with PVA glue before sprinkling with sparkly snow. Add snowflake jewels and glue your penguins into position. You can easily make your own penguins by gluing two black pom-poms together and adding features with sticky foam.

Star Tree Decorations

Patti — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:25:21 +0000

Cut two large five pointed stars from pieces of festive coloured self-adhesive foam. (pic a)
Measure across the width of your stars and cut a circle of card that is 4cm smaller in diameter.
Peel away the backing from one star and place the circle on top. Bend a tinsel pipe-cleaner around the circle and hold in place against the sticky back of the star. (pic b)
Peel the backing off the other star and place over the top of the pipe-cleaner to secure the border in place.
Choose three or four different coloured foam snowflakes and glue them together in a stack so the smallest is on the top. Glue these to the centre of the star. (pic c)
Add more decoration with dots of glitter glue and tiny snowflakes in each star point. Punch a hole and hang with gold cord. (pic d)

Reindeer Tree Decoration

Patti — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 10:49:05 +0000

Twist a pipe cleaner into a loop and bend to make the head, neck and body of the reindeer. Cut a second pipe cleaner in half and use these pieces to make legs twisted onto the body. (pic a)
Cut some Mod Roc into strips about 2cm wide. Place one strip into a shallow bowl of water until it’s completely wet then drape it over a leg and begin wrapping it round.
Keep wrapping more strips over the pipe cleaner frame and smooth the fabric as you go along until the whole shape is covered. Leave to dry in a warm place. (pic b)
Use pale blue acrylic to paint the whole of the reindeer on both sides. Use two coats if necessary and let them dry. (pic c)
Paint purple swirls onto the body and the tops of the reindeer’s legs. Fill in the gaps between with spots of gold glitter glue and leave to dry before varnishing. (pic d)
Use a darning needle to make a small hole on either side of the reindeer’s head. Cut a gold tinsel pipe cleaner in half and twist both pieces into antlers. Fix these into the holes using PVA glue.

Folded Snowflake

Patti — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:43:36 +0000

Cut out six 10cm squares of white card and fold each one into quarters diagonally to make a small triangle.
Draw a line down one short side of the triangle, 5mm from the edge. Draw four lines parallel to the long edge across the triangle and then cut along these as far as the first line. (pic a)
Unfold the triangle and flatten out. Bend up alternate triangles and colour those that still lay flat with a metallic pen. (pic b)
Turn the square over and bend over the second triangle from the middle on one side. (pic c)
Fold over the opposite triangle, then repeat with the third one from the middle until all are bent over. Do this with the other five squares. (pic d)
Cut a 7cm diameter circle of card and glue the ends of the folded squares to the centre to make a snowflake. Decorate some parts of the squares with a silver glitter pen and leave to dry flat.

Festive Coaster

Patti — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 10:48:00 +0000

Use decorative edged scissors to cut an 11cm square of felt and stick this to the back of a plain coaster with double-sided tape. (pic a)
Draw a 5cm diameter circle in the middle of the tile with a soft pencil and outline this with dots of red paint from a porcelain pen. (pic b)
Add dots of paint around the edges of the tile to match the colour of felt backing.
Use a green porcelain pen to draw small holly leaves all around the outside of the dotty circle and add more red dots to make berries. (pic c)
When the green leaves are dry add small leaves behind the holly with a yellow porcelain pen, making sure the two colours don’t bleed into each other.
Paint a large blue snowflake in each corner and several small ones in the spaces left between the holly and the dotted border and surround with tiny blue spots. (pic d)

Mini Christmas Tree

dr — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:15:03 +0000

Cut 3 pieces of green A4 card in half and fold five of these down the middle. Draw half a Christmas tree and pot shape on one side of each piece of folded card and cut around the outline. (pic a)
Use this tree as a template for the four other pieces of card to make five more trees. Cut the remaining sixth piece of card into five 4cm wide strips.
Fold each strip in half along its length and glue half to the fold of each tree. Decorate each side of the tree using red, green and gold glitter glue. (pic b)
When the glue is completely dry, fold each tree in half and each strip back on itself. Glue the trees together using the strips so they open out into a fan shape. (pic c)
Join the first and last tree in the fan to create a freestanding shape with ten rows of branches. Wind gold tinsel around the tree and glue in place.
Cut a 4cm wide strip of red card, wrap around the ‘pot’ of the tree and glue in place. (pic d)