Kids Crafting

Yesterday I shared our Bear in the Water Applique Block. I designed it for one of our readers whose boys are studying bears right now. Actually, they wanted a coloring page, but since I was designing that, it was easy peasy to make the applique, too. So here is our little bear getting a drink of water at the stream. NOTE: I inadvertently left off the two rings where he is lapping water. (Take a look at the applique block.) You can easily add the rings using a water proof marker or pen. As always, I ran an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of water color paper through my printer. I then used water color pencils and bad lighting to paint this pic :) Markers, colored pencils and crayons would work well, too.

The Bear in the Water Coloring Page can be found HERE. Enjoy!

[Hope the boys enjoy it, Maura!]

PLEASE NOTE: Coloring pages are copyrighted designs and are meant for personal use only. They cannot for duplicated nor can projects made from the patterns be sold without our permission.

A couple of days ago, when the crew was over for Sunday dinner, Pixie asked for a copy of our Primitive Angel Coloring Page to paint. I ran off a copy on water color paper, and she used the water color pencils to color it in.

When she was done, she asked me to draw a picture of a turtle so she could paint it. "What should the turtle be doing?" I wanted to know. She thought about it a minute, bobbed her head, and said, "Swimming".

3 minutes with a piece of paper and her swimming turtle was born. 

"Wait', Michelle said, "Don't let her paint that yet. Scan it first and put it on Wee Folk Art."

So there you have it... NOTHING is done around here without assessing its blog worthiness :)

The Swimming Turtle Coloring Page can be found HERE. Enjoy! 

PLEASE NOTE: Coloring pages are copyrighted designs and are meant for personal use only. They cannot for duplicated nor can projects made from the patterns be sold without our permission.

This week's project was building a gingerbread house. My kids were very excited to get started on this one. We braved the bitter cold and went out to buy a gingerbread form kit (ie the cookie cutters shaped to make perfect sides), but inadvertently I ended up with a pre-baked kit. What can I say, I was dragging three very bouncy children through the craft store, with check-out lines that wrapped around the store. I was preoccupied with containment of my wee ones (there were ohh so many fun things to wander off to look at)... and grabbed the wrong kit without giving it a second look. I was momentarily disappointed when I discovered my error at home... but in the end it speed up the process (for which I was actually thankful) and the kids had a blast with the decorating. BTW... Our Wilson Gingerbread House kit was packed nicely and there wasn't so much as a crumb out of place.

We did make our favorite gingerbread recipe (you can find here) for our little gingerbread men. They taste great with red hots for eyes and buttons.

Here is what came in our kit: gingerbread house pieces, icing mix, piping bag and tip, and a variety of candies. We added some extra candy too.

While I was getting the basics of the house together, the kids opened up all of the candies and sorted them into little bowls. I think there was some sampling of the candies going on too. :)

There are no photos of the build process... I was up to elbows in icing and of course was trying to hold the whole thing together... with the help of a few extra little hands here and there. There was much giggling as the sides kept shifting and tumbling. Once we got everything to hold together the kids went to town decorating the house. They worked very nicely together, dividing up the tasks and occasionally switching places.

 

 

Long after the other two had cleaned up and moved on, Pixie girl was still at it, determined to cover every inch of the icing with candy. I think she got it all!

For a long time now I've been meaning to turn some of our applique blocks into coloring pages. Well, today when Michelle and the wee ones were over, Pixie was looking for something "crafty" to do, as Pixie often does, and I thought this week's Primitive Angel Block would be a great place to start.

So I took the pattern, enlarged it, took off the stitching lines and wreath, and added some fun new lines. Pixie and I grabbed our water color pencils and got started. I think the results are beautiful! Of course you don't need to water color the pictures; markers or crayons would work just fine. Here are our directions. Enjoy!

Materials:
Copy of Primitive Angel Coloring Page
Permanent Water Proof Marker to extend lines (I love Micron's Archival Ink)
Water Color Pencils
Water Color Paper cut to 8 1/2" x 11"
Paint brushes and Water

Download the pattern HERE. I suggest you print it first on a piece of regular paper before you print on water color paper to make sure it is printing correctly.

I was able to cut a piece of water color paper to 8 1/2" x 11" and run it through my printer. The lines will not go all the way to the edges, so before you start coloring, extend the lines using your marker.


Color your picture with water color pencils.
 

When finished use water to paint over the entire picture. You want to use a wet brush but it should not be dripping. Paint like colors at the same time and clean your brush well each time you change colors.

Allow to dry completely. You may need to weight the paper after it is dry to help flatten your work.

PLEASE NOTE: Coloring pages are copyrighted designs and are meant for personal use only. They cannot for duplicated nor can  projects made from the patterns be sold without our permission.

NOTE: Since we are reading the book The Littlest Angel for Advent this week, it seemed very appropriate to share this Wool Roving Angel now!

I can't remember a time in my life when I wasn't crafting. Whether I was knitting... I learned very early thanks to Grandma Pearl... or sewing clothes for dolls and trolls from Mom's scrap pile, I was always crafting something. One of my most special holiday memories each year was when my mom would pull out her crafting box with felt and glitter, floss and sequence, and we'd sit around for hours making Christmas ornaments. Even in college, I was forever working on a quilt or afghan, which surprisingly, seemed as enticing to men as a low cut sweater... go figure! ANYWAY... it wasn't until I was married and had my first 2 children that I discovered the joy of crafting with other women. I moved into an area where women actually got together, taught each other new skills, and enjoyed the warmth and friendship that always seems to emanate when a group of people get creative together.

I remember one of the first things I crafted with the group were these Wool Roving Angels. Depending on the size you made, they could be used as ornaments or as a tree topper, by inserting a thick paper cone under the "skirt" of the angle. As a matter of fact, for years I kept 2 of them sitting on a table in our foyer. We hope you enjoy!

NOTE: We found this project to be harder for the children to do than anticipated. Although they worked along with us and enjoyed themselves, there were many parts they needed help with. I would say this would be a good craft for 8 year olds and up.

Materials:
wool roving
thread (I used metallic gold)
transparent nylon thread of fishing line to make a loop to hang on a tree

NOTE: I am sharing directions for making approximately a 4" angel. Obviously, they can be made larger or smaller depending on the amount of roving you use. Also, you may either "blunt cut" the wings and skirt hem for a neat finished look, or leave them "whispy" for a more ethereal look. Just play with them until you get the desired look! Personally, I love the "whispy" look you get from ripping your roving instead of cutting it.

Directions: 

Cut or rip 3 pieces of roving; one 12" long and two 6" long. (The roving was approximately 2 1/2" wide.)

Tie a single knot in the middle of the 12" piece.

Fold the knotted piece in half, hiding the knot.

Using a piece of string 36" long, tie off the head. DO NOT cut the thread. This will be the back.

Take one of the 6" pieces and pull apart lengthwise. 

Loosely twist one of these pieces, then bring the 2 ends to the center and hold together. 


Use a loose piece of roving from an end and wrap it around the middle. This will hold it in place and make it easier to work with.


Lay the angel on its front side and lift the back flap.

Place the arms inside the body near the head.

Take the remaining full piece of 6" roving and set it over the arms. This will be the angel's wings.

Drop down the back part of the body you had raised.

Turn the angel over, holding it firmly under the arms and wings. 

Using the thread, criss cross the thread on the back and bring around to the front and tie at the waist. Then continue to tie front and back until the arms and wings are secure and you have a pleasing look to the angel. Finish by ending up at the waist in front. Tie in a bow leaving streamers. Tie off the streamers so they don't fray.

Cut or pull the ends of the skirt and wings to desired shape.

If you would like to add a halo, knot the end of the remaining piece of roving, divide into 3 sections, and tightly braind.



Size to the angel's head overlapping the ends 1/2". Cut off excess, and needle felt the halo into a circle.


Position the halo on the angel, and gently needle felt the halo in place in 3 or 4 spots. Be careful not to flatten the head. It does not need to be securely fastened, just enough so it doesn't fall off!


If you want the hands more defined, you can either needle felt the hands or tie them off with string. You can always position the hands together or make them holding something. This can be done by needle felting or stitching them in place.

To hang on a tree, use clear nylon thread and make a loop on top of the head. Go deep enough into the head so you aren't pulling on just a few strands of roving. If you want the angel to "fly", attach clear nylon thread to the back of the angel.

Tomorrow... Primitive Angel Applique Block