Showing posts with label Christmas craft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas craft. Show all posts

12.12.19

Father Christmas potato print


Really enjoyed potato printing at Halloween, so thought we'd make some festive ones!

And we've stuck to simple shapes again.

First, cut a potato in half and slice a thin sliver off the bottom, so it sits flat and is easier to work with.


Use a ruler and a sharp pencil to score a triangle - start with the base line of the triangle and take it right to the edges. Roughly mark the midpoint of the base line at the top of the potato, and score lines up to this mark.

You could draw the triangle on first with a pen if you want, and then score. 

Don't make your triangle too fat and wide.

Use some kitchen roll to remove little potato bits and moisture.





Score a line across your triangle, near the top, to define the hat, and then another one just below for the face. Use your thumb nails to pinch off a sliver of the face strip, either side, so it's not quite a wide as the hat brim.

Below the face, score an upside down triangle for the beard.


Cut away the sides of the triangle and your Santa is ready!




TIP: (To be done by an adult) Cut two wedges away, either side, at back, leaving a ridge of potato in the middle to hold onto. A sort of potato handle! Easier for little hands.



Brush pink paint on the thin face strip and red on the hat and body. Leave the beard clear.


When the paint is dry, use a black pen to draw on eyes and buttons.


Try some practice prints first, and when you're happy with the paint quantity, why not design your own Christmas paper or gift tags?

Add in a Christmas tree too if you want - another triangle, with a small square at the bottom. You could cut out a triangle and separate small square if you prefer.





11.12.18

Simple cork craft for Christmas!


...well, it is that time of year when there might be a few corks knocking about!

This is a very simple Santa craft, based on the gnomes from 'Brian the Lion goes into Space' - so if you'd like to make one, follow the step-by-step instructions for a gnome here.


The only changes are:

Paint the top part of your cork a pinky colour for the face (mix a little red with lots of white, a spot of yellow and tiny touch of blue).

Either paint the bottom part red, or use red paper. Instead of blue feet/shoes, use black paper (or colour-in some plain paper).


For a little extra detail, tease out a thin strip of cotton wool and glue it around the bottom of the cork. Use a black pen to draw a belt around his middle. Add a tiny ball of cotton wool to the top of Santa's red hat.




4.12.16

Christmas tree advent calendar

Advent calendar

Our advent calendar has grown this year... conveniently the little pegs have numbers on them and I bought them thinking they'd save time sewing on numbers (which I know from experience takes me ages), but to be honest sewing up the felt baubles took a while anyway. I've only just finished! Quite pleased to have made a dent in the pile of felt scraps I've been hoarding for years.

I drew around the top of a cup on some felt and sewed two circles together using blanket stitch, leaving an decent sized opening, so it's a sort of bauble pocket. The Christmas tree frame is made from pieces gathered up after pruning the hedge in the back garden, though you could use any straight-ish thin branches. I used some gold wire bought from Tiger to bind them together, with three smaller bits in the middle to strengthen the frame and to give me something to wrap the lights around. Then just attached pieces of wire between each section for hanging the baubles. The star on top is an old Christmas tree decoration.

I like it because it's bright and Christmassy and doesn't look half bad on the wall - the kids like it because there's room for more treats...

Linking up with Darren's My Sunday Photo