How to Make a Quick and Simple Father Christmas for Crafty Projects

Something I adore about Christmas is all the crafting I get to do. I usually start around August (I just can't wait!) and make cards, gift tags and decorations for myself, my family and now my business too. One of my favourite festive characters is Father Christmas (who I actually saw on Saturday at a craft fair!) as he embodies the child like delight of the season.

I use Santa's image in lots of ways from cards and tags to felt decorations. A new and easy design I've come up with this year is the one below which I'll be using in different ways to add a jolly Christmas feel to my crafting; and I'll show you how you can make him too.

How To Make A Quick and Simple Father Christmas

You will need:

• sheets of card or paper (depending on how you're using the finished figure) in red; white; and peach
• a ruler
• scissors
• a pencil
• a black pen
• paper glue

Step one

Take the red card and use the ruler to draw a triangle on it with a curved line at the base - as in the picture below. (draw it to the size you require for what you will use the finished Father Christmas for). Use your scissors to cut this out.

Step two

a. Now take the white card and place the red triangle cut out in step one on it. Draw around the triangle.

b. Draw lines as shown in the picture below to make a beard shape and cut in out.

c. Also cut out a small circle which will be the bobble for his hat and two tear drop shapes which will be his moustache.

Step three

a. Take the white beard shape cut out in step two and draw around this onto the peachy coloured card.

b. Draw the lines as shown in the picture below to create the shape of his face.

c. Cut out this shape.

Step four

a. Using the glue, stick the white beard shape onto the red triangle where the two sides of the red and white pieces are in line.

b. Now glue the peach piece onto the white beard as shown in the picture.

c. Next stick the white circle, cut out in step two, at the top of the hat and each of the white tear drop shapes onto the peach piece as shown below.

Step five

Use your black pen to draw in two eyes and a nose as shown in this picture.

Ways to use Father Christmas...

...as a Christmas card

Simply stick your Father Christmas onto a card with any background or other decoration you'd like and add a greeting.

...as a gift tag

Make sure he's made out of card for this one. Use a hole punch to punch a hole in his hat and thread a ribbon through this to attach it to a gift. Use the back to write your message on.

... as bunting style decoration

Make a few Santas and attach them to a length of string or ribbon. You could glue them onto the string or hang them up with little pegs.

Or let your imagination run wild! However you use this cute Christmas character you're sure to make your craft project extra jolly for the holidays.

Easy Upcycled Craft Ideas for Children

I started crafting as a child - I was never happier than with a pile of colourful papers and some glitter! One thing I remember loving to do was collect lots of bits and pieces that would have been thrown away but were far too pretty or useful to do so. I collected all these to use for crafty purposes to use with the basics like glue and scissors to create tags, cards, pictures and decorations.

Of course at that time I didn't know I was upcycling; I'd never heard of the term until a few months ago! Now I know I'm upcycling and love to find ideas from around the internet. I think it's particularly great to get children involved to develop their imagination and creativity.

I still collect bits and pieces and here I'll share these with you as well as some ideas about what to collect and how children can use them.

Obviously children should have adult supervision when doing these activities. Make sure all found objects are suitable; don't let young children use anything with small pieces; supervise use of scissors and adhesives.

My upcycling craft box!

 

Ideas of items to collect

Things I collect:

• used birthday and other cards and tags
• foil sweet wrappers
• decorative panels from boxes - eg, from cakes, toiletries, chocolates
• ribbons from gifts and clothes
• used postage stamps
• interesting images from magazines and old books
• empty boxes 
• inside of used kitchen and toilet rolls

A couple of craft ideas from me

Use plain pieces of card to make gift tags. Cut them to shape and punch a hole in the top then decorate it with whatever you have on hand. On this one I used a strip of flowery card from an empty tissue box and foil from a sweet wrapper. The ribbon had been wrapped around a gift I'd received.

Let children make their own party invites. I used a new piece of card as the base then used sweet wrapper and pieces of card from old birthday cards to create a little boat. Be creative deciding which picture to include - something that would match the party or a favourite animal maybe. Just write the details of date, time and place on the back. 

Of course, crafting offers lots of possibilities to be creative so encourage your children to try lots of different ideas! By having a selection of objects it lets the imagination develop as you have to think of new uses for them and also to plan and gain a sense of achievement at the end.

For some other ideas take at look at my Pinterest boards:

Pink Flamingo Handcrafting's board - Upcycle Recycle Repurpose

Pink Flamingo Handcrafting's board - Children's Inspirations 

My Favourite UK Crafter of the Week - Shabby Chic by Found in the Loft

I found this shop a while ago and love the shabby chic creations in it. I also contacted the owner to ask if I could share her work but didn't hear back for a little while, but with very good reason - a (very) new baby! I'd got in touch practically at the point of arrival (great timing!) so things were a little hectic over there, but it's back to business now. So as well as sharing this lovely work, I'd also like to share a 'Congratulations!'

As usual, this post is in no way sponsored or influenced. The crafter featured is genuinely a favourite of mine; all quotes are the crafter's own and the opinions are mine. So, with this in mind this week's UK Crafter of the Week is...

Found In The Loft 

I love this name. 'Found in the Loft' conjures up images of vintage treasures left forgotten for years to be rediscovered and loved again; it also suggests something connected to your family, something familiar and comforting. And that's the feeling I get looking through this lovely work. The shop is the work of Misia who got the name for it as 'the first ever items sewn by myself were made using old fabrics, cottons and buttons found in my husband's grandmother's loft.' Although Misia now uses a mix of new and upcycled fabrics, the overall tone still has this wonderful vintage feel to it. This cosmetic purse could quite easily be made out of an old family piece re-loved to become a new useful item (you could even invent your own history for it if you don't have a loft to rummage through!).

Shabby Chic Cosmetic Pouch £8.50 Found in the Loft

As well as creating her own pieces, Misia also revamps furniture giving it a shabby chic makeover. She not only offers it for sale, but also likes to make items for her own home too saying 'there's always something that needs updating in my house'. Making and repurposing your own decor gives you a feel for what's needed by others in their homes and helps the designer try different techniques to share with their customers like this beautiful coffee table painted and distressed by Misia.

French Cottage Shabby Chic Table £70.00 Found in the Loft

Found in the Loft was started in 2011 when Misia realised that her 'personalised gifts appeared to be very popular especially amongst new parents' after making them for friends and family. Looking at these adorable elephant dolls it's easy to see why! As well as making the nursery decorations, Misia makes their little outfits too and is happy to work with her customers to create them in different colours and even personalise the dolls. (Now I'm thinking of baby and elephant having matching outfits!)

Elephant Doll £18.00 Found in the Loft

Misia believes 'that handmade and personalised presents are more valuable' and I have to agree. How much more would you appreciate a gift made just for you than (even though they might be lovely) a mass produced item? Someone taking the time to find something just for you is a great gift in itself - the old saying 'it's the thought that counts' becomes truer every time I see a customised gift. I would much rather have one beautiful and thoughtful present than lots of nice things that I'm not sure where to put (although my inner child would probably disagree - shouts of 'I want lots of presents to unwrap' can still be heard on Christmas morning! But this is soon quelled when the gifts are opened). This canvas print can be made with any meaningful words you'd like and hung on the wall is a great reminder of what's important to you.

Personalised Family Canvas Print £35.99 Found in the Loft

All of Found in the Loft's work is beautiful with a vintage yet modern feel. As well as reminding me of past heirlooms, I'm sure Misia's work will become ones for the future too!

To see more of Misia's delightful work take a look here:

Shop on Etsy
Facebook
Found in the Loft Blog

Flying Bats Halloween Card Tutorial

The nights are getting longer; the leaves are turning brown - autumn is definitely on its way! And this means that Halloween isn't far away either. I love it as another reason to make spooky and fun crafts and here I show you how to make a 3D flying bats card; or it can be a stand up decoration for your own home.

This project was designed with children in mind. As scissors and small parts are used adult supervision is required at all times. It will make a fun craft activity to share with your children as the nights draw in!

You will need:

• a piece of orange card 15x15cm
• a piece of black card 5x24cm
• a piece of black card approx. 6x18cm
• a strips of acetate (or clear plastic from packaging - be careful of sharp edges). 2 measuring 1x6cm and 2 measuring 1x8cm
• silver paper
• cotton wool
• a scrap of card approx. 2.5x3.5cm
• scissors
• glue (I find a wet glue like PVA best)
• pencil
• ruler
• star punch
• circle punch or a coin to draw around

Step 1 
On the scrap of card draw a wing shape like the one in the picture and cut it out to make a template.

Step 2
Draw around this template 8 times on the piece of black card that is 6x18cm. Cut out the wings.

Step 3
Use the circle punch (or draw around a coin) to make 4 black circles using the same piece of card you cut the wings from.

Step 4
Spread a little glue onto the corner of a wing. Stick this corner behind one of the black circles. Spread glue onto the corner of another wing and stick this corner behind the black circle too but on the other side to make it look like a flying bat. Make 3 more bats in this way. You can vary the position of the wings to make it more interesting.

Step 5
Spread some glue onto the top 1cm of one of the acetate strips. Stick this to the back of one of the bats. Repeat with the other bats and acetate strips.

Step 6
Take the piece of black card measuring 5x24cm and place it in front of you with the long side running along the top and bottom (landscape). Mark lines at 2.5cm, 4.5cm, 19.5cm and 21.5cm running vertically. Fold the card inwards along these lines.

Step 7
Lay the card you've just folded down in front of you with the folded over parts sticking upwards. Spread some glue onto the bottom 2cm of a strip of the acetate with a bat stuck on top - make sure the glue in on the front of the acetate. Stick this strip to the piece of black card that is flat in front of you. Repeat with the other acetate strips.

Step 8
Turn the piece of black card over (so that the acetate strips are now underneath) and flatten out the folds so it lays flat. Spread glue along the front of the central 15cm.

Step 9
Tear and pull the cotton wool until it is thin enough to look like fog. Now stick this onto the glue on the black card.

Step 10
Use the star punch on the silver card to make about 9 stars (or however many you want!). If you don't have a star punch you could always cut them out by hand or use star stickers. Glue the stars randomly onto one side of the piece of orange card.

Step 11
Take the strip of black card with the cotton wool glued to it and place it cotton wool side down. Spread glue onto the left hand side up to the first fold line. Line this up with the bottom of the back of the orange card and stick in place. Do the same with the right hand side.

Add caption

Your decoration card is complete! If you'd like to send it as a card just write a message on the back.

You could also try:

• Add a Halloween greeting onto the orange card with the stars
• Use glitter paper of glitter glue to make stars
• Make bats in different sizes
• Use grey card instead of orange to give an even foggier feel

My Favourite UK Crafter of the Week - adorable characters from Madame Craig

Whilst browsing through my Facebook feed one day I was intrigued to see a little bear looking right back at me.  He was very cute and seemed to be inviting me to take a closer look (that's my excuse anyway for hunting out more adorable pictures!) and not wanting to disappoint such a sweet creature, I did. And I discovered a whole world of adorableness.

As usual, this post is in no way sponsored or influenced. The crafter featured is genuinely a favourite of mine; all quotes are the crafter's own and the opinions are mine. So, with this in mind this week's UK Crafter of the Week is...

Madame Craig 

As her name suggests, Madame Craig is indeed French. She has a background in architecture and up until 5 years ago work as a designer at an architecture practice in Scotland. Looking for a new career when the economic recession hit, Madame Craig (Rachel) trained as a teacher at a Waldorf School in Edinburgh and now teaches arts, crafts, architecture and technical drawing - hence the 'Madame'. She says the children and parents are her 'best clientele' and so thought Madame Craig was an appropriate name for her shop as this is how they know her! Rachel's needle felted work is inspired by her career where there is a strong element of creative play emphasised in childhood development and learning.

Wool Felted Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Madame Craig £80

Artistic expression and creative learning are key ideals within the teachings of a Waldorf education and Rachel's adorable characters certainly encourage this. I think the Goldilocks and the Three Bears story telling toys would encourage most children to use their imagination and be transported into the fairytale forest to act out the tale and learn about the actions and morals behind it. I used to be an English teacher myself and think this is a fantastic way, especially for young children, to explore stories and why they are important to our culture.

Maths Gnomes Educational Toys by Madame Craig £25

Even maths can be imaginative! (Sorry to all the mathematicians out there, I never found the subject interesting). These finger puppet gnomes are ideal for using poetry and story to encourage learning and would certainly helped me out as a youngster. Every parent knows that making learning fun is a great way to gets kids to develop with an open mind rather than the moans of 'boring' which can be heard all too often.

Needle Felted Fox by Madame Craig £23

Madame Craig's work is also appealing to adults and for decorative purposes too. This cute fox would make a lovely little ornament in your home.  Rachel found herself  'naturally attracted' by 'Waldorf crafts and colours' and you can clearly see why with the beautiful, bright orange on this fox. All her pieces are made by hand and mainly by needle felting. I think they'd also make gorgeous table decorations to create a themed scene for a special occasion (I love decorating tables!) and could even tempt the grown ups to use their imaginations too!

Waldorf Gnome Lantern Walk by Madame Craig £20

There are also seasonal characters available such as this gnome out for an autumnal walk as well as some irresistible The Snowman inspired creations for the winter. A great excuse to collect a few characters and change them around through out the year!

To see more of Madame Craig's work take a look here:

Etsy - Madame Craig

Facebook - Madame Craig

My Favourite UK Crafter of the Week - personalised nursery decor from Little Nest Box

Before I start this I have to admit, I don't have any children. That doesn't stop me looking at children's products though; I do know some children, but also because they're so cute! I love colourful objects and bright colours always catch my eye, so although I wasn't looking for children's decor, I couldn't help but stop by and take a closer look when I first saw this shop.

As usual, this post is in no way sponsored or influenced. The crafter featured is genuinely a favourite of mine; all quotes are the crafter's own and the opinions are mine. So, with this in mind this week's UK Crafter of the Week is...

Little Nest Box

Little Nest Box is the work of Charmaine who is based in London. Her shop's motto is 'Say Hello To Colour' which definitely comes across in her creations from an array of soft, warm colours to bright, primary tones. Something I admire about Charmaine's work is that although there is such a range of colours, all her pieces have a unity about them sharing the same beautiful designs. I also love that the range of colours allows customers to match the decor to their homes and needs perfectly.

Cloud Baby Crib Mobile £26.37 Etsy

Although Charmaine's work is aimed at children and decorating nurseries, I think there are a lot of her items which would appeal to adults too. The rainbow garland below would look stylish in a child's modern bedroom and  equally as good as a party decoration (with the added bonus of it being reusable as it's made of felt rather than paper which tends to get damaged when stored). Some of her prints too are fantastic quotes and aspirations for children but will grow with them and be meaningful in adult life as well. She also admits she adores 'wandering though antique and junk markets' for 'vintage finds' and these clearly influence some of her work too with an interesting mix of modern and vintage style and colour which will appeal to a wide range of ages. 

Felt Garland - Rainbow Circles £19.78   Etsy

Before setting up her business Little Nest Box, Charmaine worked as a fashion buyer (which she says resulted in her owning a 'ridiculous number of shoes') and this eye for style and colour can clearly be seen in her designs. I love how her work will appeal to children with its simplicity and sense of colour while at the same time being modern and stylish to complement the decor of a house as a whole. Most of it wouldn't look out of place anywhere in a home; it's not just for the nursery. Many families with young children I know love the idea of including their little ones throughout the home, and I'm sure would welcome it in the form of beautiful decor rather than scattered toys!

Dream Big Print £16.48  Etsy

Another great feature is that some mobiles can be customised to fit in with bedroom decor you already have, maybe a quilt or wallpaper, giving your home a co-ordinated look. There are lots of colours and combinations to choose from and Charmaine is more than happy to help with recommendations and advice to work with her customers so they are happy with their choices (again, I'm sure her fashion buying experience comes in useful here!).

Butterfly Baby Crib Mobile £29.67  Etsy

So, if you're looking for some beautifully modern babies' and children's decor for your own home or as a gift, I'd recommend looking at Charmaine's shop.

You can see more from Little Nest Box here:
Little Nest Box blog
Little Nest Box shop
Little Nest Box on Facebook

My Favourite UK Crafter of the Week - Children's Home Decor from Button Owl

One of my favourite things about being an online crafter is the crafting community.  Wherever I look, whoever I contact, whatever I want to find there are always loads of great products, advice and ideas from such friendly people. So I thought I’d put all that research (or being nosey) to good use by featuring one of my favourite UK crafters every week.  (That’s not to say I don’t like, or won’t feature crafters from other places!).

This post is in no way sponsored or influenced.  Each post will feature shops I've found myself and genuinely admire.  The opinions are my own, the quotes are from the crafter. Here's my first favourite...

Button Owl

I first came across Button Owl one day on Facebook.  There was an adorable picture from a craft stall with the cutest animal cushions. I made a comment that this was the type of stall I’d spend my money on before I’d made any when I do craft fairs (which often happens) and followed the links to the online shops.  And I fell in love with the cute creatures! 

The cute cushions that first caught my attention.  Jungle Friends set of 3 cushions £50 Button Owl

I contacted Roz McKenzie, the talented crafter behind Button Owl, about looking for a present (no more details though, just in case the recipient is reading!) and she quickly replied with details and a friendly message.  She also told me some more about herself and how she got started by being inspired by her mother’s dress making which Roz was involved with. This experience led her to studying at the Royal School of Needlework and learning ‘traditional embroidery techniques such as the Coronation gold embroidery which is placed on the Coronation robes when a King or Queen is Coronated’ and teaching embroidery too.

I can't resist a dinosaur! Applique T Shirt £12 Button Owl

After Roz ‘diverted for a while’ working in London, she decided to start making and creating again.  This was spurred on when she had her two daughters as she ‘couldn't ever find really unique items to place in their rooms’ so decided to make them herself – and this is when Button Owl was born. 

An adorable woodland garland with fairy lights. £26 Etsy

Roz’s online shops stock a variety of adorable, handmade and colourful characters in the form of cushions, wall hangings and appliqued t shirts as well as other clothes, hair accessories and soft furnishings for children. She loves working with felts as ‘they can be moulded to different shapes and are lovely and soft in beautiful varied colours’ which I think makes her animals all the more appealing. 

 How could any little boy or girl resist? Personalised London Bus Cushion £18 Etsy

I’ve featured some of my favourites here which I think make lovely presents for children (and adults – I’m not above having an animal cushion or two around the house!) but do have a look for yourself using the links below as there are too many to feature here and I’m sure you’ll find favourites of your own. 

I’ll leave the last word to Roz, which I think will resonate with many crafters out there, ‘I absolutely love the thought of people having and loving something so unique and personal which I've handmade.’

You can visit and shop with Button Owl here:

www.buttonowl.com

www.buttonowlboutique.etsy.com

www.facebook.com/buttonowlr