Kooky crafting day

 What to do on an autumn day but craft with a good friend who shares your interest in the weird and wonderful. When you love mooch around your friend's book shelves and treasures. 

I came home with a list of folklore, church and graveyard books. Lovely. 

Also lots of ideas for crafting as my good friend is very talented and makes models from papier mâché. There is a style that I know as being called primitive folk art and when I mentioned it, my friend produced a magazine full of that style. 
 So we had a lovely afternoon chatting about curious things and merry olde England and she taught me how to start crafting figures with paper and glue. Candles flickered, we had warming soup and some Halloween cakes, what could be better. 

Lucia Day #Bostik Bloggers

The latest Bostik Bloggers theme is Christmas and influenced by the Swedish tradition of Lucia Day we have made a candle crown and star wand. You can read all about the St Lucy celebrations here. 

We used:

Twisty green foliage wires
Shiny gold pipe cleaners
Blu Tack fine & wide glu pen
Red felt
Scissors
Twist the green wired together into a ring to fit your head. Then fold a sheet of red felt over length ways and then fold again so you have a strip of folded felt. Now cut into squares of about 5 inches, each of these then are rolled up to be the candle.

 Before rolling up and fixing with Blu Tack fine & wide glu pen, push the gold pipe cleaner through until the top is poking through by about half an inch -these is the candle flame, The rest of the pipe cleaner is used to wrap around and secure to the green wreath. Then cut off what is now required and use to make the other candles. I made 4 but could fit more onto the wreath if I wanted.

The final St Lucia wreath/crown.


Then we made a star boy wand, these are the boys who accompany St Lucy and her handmaidens in the Lucia Day procession. They have decorated conical star hats and star wands.

We used:

Gold card
Pen/pencil
Scissors
A star template (actually used a Christmas decoration)
Lolly sticks
Blu Tack fine & wide glu pen
Draw around the star template and cut out two gold stars.

Attach the stars using Blu Tack Fine & wide glu pen to the lolly sticks to make your wand.

Last month we did Snow crafts.

The craft box was provided to me by Bostik as part of the Tots100/Bostik Craft Bloggers Club

Snow crafts #BostikBloggers

It's getting a bit chilly now and with snow forecast in some parts of the UK this week it seems fitting that this month's Bostik Bloggers challenge is indeed that - SNOW! 

I actually made a couple of lanterns for Martinmas last week with the craft box and here is what I did.

Firstly a jam jar lantern using:

Bostik White Glu
Clean jam jar
Transparent paper
Fallen leaves out of the garden
Glittery snow stickers
Grey wool
Scissors

The leaves were stuck on the jar and then the transparent paper wrapped around, cut to size and glued with the Bostik White Glu. Wool was wrapped around the top to decorate and them embellished with the glittery snowflake stickers. Pop a battery tealight in and you have a frosted wintry lantern.


We then made a lantern from some sparkly white card. Fold the card in half, then cut into the bent over edge, just by an inch so it creates a fringe. Open up the card and make into a cylinder, fold over the base and glue. Punch two holes at the top so you can thread ribbon or string through to make a handle. We then places a colour changing tea light in and hung in the window to brighten up the early dark evenings.

 Finally we made a winter decoration using:

Blu Tack Foam Pads
Blu Tack White Glu
A plastic hoop
Fluffy blue and white pom poms
A foam snowflake
Pearly buttons
Blue Ric rac

Using both the Blu Tack Foam Pads and White Glu we stuck the pom poms and buttons around the plastic hoop and used the ric rac to hang it from on our pinboard.


The craft box was provided to me by Bostik as part of the Tots100/Bostik Craft Bloggers Club

The corn dolly workshop

 The special workshop of Raymond Rush who for many years has made corn dollies to adorn the inside of All Saints Church at Siddington, Macclesfield. 

The corn dolly dates back to pre-Christian times when the Spirit of Fertility was worshipped. At harvest time when the corn was cut, the spirit would be in the last sheaves which were then crafted into dollies and shapes so the spirit would live on.

The corn dolly would be taken into the home, a protection against evil spirits and in the spring would be taken into the fields and broken open so the new grain would grow.
 Raymond Rush is now in his eighties and can be found still making corn dollies here. You are welcome to turn up at the farm beside the church and purchase. He has been making them since he was a young newly married man and saw the corn dolly that you can see in the top picture on the left hand side with the red ribbon. He taught himself how to make them and kept practising. 
 Raymond is also a writer of all things around the countryside, folklore and traditions - I recommend his books the Countrywise series. Still busy, with a new one to be published very soon he told me, so there will be six wonderful compendiums of customs through the 
ages. 

A thoroughly genuine man and his enthusiasm is a joy. Absolutely if your journey takes you to Cheshire, Ray's workshop and the church are little gems to visit that will stay in your heart and mind forever.

{I'll be posting my pictures of the harvest church full of corn dollies in the next few days}

Halloween crafting #BostikBloggers

 A whole box of Halloween coloured crafting delight - ribbons, felt, embellishments, black, white, orange. Now step in and mind my broomstick, lets weave a crafting spell......To make a black pumpkin plate decoration we used:

1 black paper plate
Bostik Blu Tack Glu Dots
Scissors
White foam sheet
1 white pipe cleaner
Green ric rac
Sticky tape

Cut triangles of white foam sheet for the eyes and nose. Then cut a jaggedy mouth.
Glue to the black plate using the Blu Tack Glu Dots. Cut out some circle for freckles and glue them on to to make a pumpkin face.

Loop the white pipe cleaner and attach to the back of the plate with sticky tape to make a hook to hang the pumpkin decoration from.

Tie a short piece of green ric rac around the pipe cleaner, a little pumpkin stalk.
Next for a spooky jester's stick (or maybe a pumpkin wand)

Orange felt
Black felt
Selection of pipe cleaners
Polystyrene egg
Black and green ric rac
Orange pumpkin ribbon
Scissors
Blu Tack Blu Stick

Twist several pipe cleaners together to make a firm handle for our wand (leave one aside) Place the egg in the centre of the orange felt, place the pipe cleaner handle under the egg and scrunch it around and then secure with a pipe cleaner tie.

Cut out eyes and mouth for the pumpkin from the black felt. Glue on using the Blu Tack Blu Stick glue. 

Tie the ribbon and ric rac around the wand

Cast a spell

Owl decoration

Silk leaves
Owl embellishment
Black feathers
Black felt
Bostik Blu Tack Glu Dots
Blu Tack Blu Stick
wooden dolly peg

Using the Blu Tack Glu Dots fix the silk leaves together into a rosette.
Stick the owl embellishment into the centre. 

Onto the back, stick the feathers with the Glu Dots and a small piece of felt over the dolly peg. Secure with extra Blu Stick. 

 Happy Halloween!

Last month was not back to school crafting.
The craft box was provided to me by Bostik as part of the Tots100/Bostik Craft Bloggers Club

Not Back to School #BostikBloggers

 The latest Bostik Bloggers theme was back to school but with home educating we decided it would be our not back to school project. As we go to the library as part of our home school week, we have made a library book bag. We used:
Quarters of patterned material
A pen
Ric-rac
Colourful foam sticky letters
Bostik Glu & Fix, clear extra strong - great for fabric
A plain cotton bag

 Draw the letters onto the back of the material with a pen, my son's initials for his own little book bag.
Glue the material letters on.
 Then make a design with ric-rac and the foam letters. My son picked out the colours of ric-rac that he liked and then we found the letters of the alphabet so it was a great learning activity for him too. All were glued on into a design underneath his initals.
 Ta da! A cute little personalised cotton bag for our library trips or for mummy to use to avoid a 5p charge on a little shopping trip!Last month was holiday crafting.
The craft box was provided to me by Bostik as part of the Tots100/Bostik Craft Bloggers Club

Holiday craft #BostikBloggers

 Time for some crafting and this time the theme is holidays. We may have just had the summer holidays but in fact we are yet to go on ours as we go right at the very end of summer so soon! With home educating we are able to go when it is quiet and most other children are back at school.

Summer crafting #BostikBloggers

We are late! Too many trips out so we finally got to crafting last week. Our Bostik Bloggers box had an outdoors theme and was filled with flowers and greenery. As soon as we saw the twisty wire, a summer door wreath sprang to mind and my son helped pick out all the flowers and got sticking with the glue. 

Crafting and friendship at Re-creation London

` Stepping off the tube at Borough I wasn't prepared to find the most gorgeous crafting location set in this vibrant area of the City. Re-creation Artroom London is a crafter's paradise. A place for parents to bring their children, for friends to meet and do arty things and natter or just to come and enjoy whatever art or craft you desire. It is for everyone and you will be welcomed by the friendly gang who will help and advise and most of all put a big smile on your face.

Monster in my house #BostikBloggers

A little late due to the little heat wave meaning that my energetic 5 year old just wanted to race around the garden, jump in the paddling pool and generally turn into a little monster.

As soon as the rain started to fall I still couldn't get my boy in but as the rain kept falling I literally had to scoop him up and say enough. Still full of energy, it was time to occupy him with some crafting and luckily for us out latest Bostik Bloggers box was sat on the dining room table.
In fact, it's contents had already been investigated by my son and we had some thoughts around our monthly project  - Monsters!  How appropriate.