KIDS CRAFTS for holiday time.

Hi All!
I've just completed a successful week of kids crafting with some very happy and satisfied young crafters.
One of our young students, only six years old, made six memory wire bracelets and a witchy-poo card in the two-hour session!! Once she got the knack of how to hold and thread the wire with the beads she was away, there was no stopping her!
Here's some pics of the crafts Carrie (not her real name) and I made with the kids:



We made memory or remembrance wire beaded bracelets with the kids. These are not the actual ones the girls made since they took they're bracelets home with them.
What they did make was pretty spectacular.



Beady aliens. Using some glow-in-the-dark beads can add some real interest.



This is a sample of the Witchy-poo card we made. We made a simplified version with our kids; ie without the round cutout and magic spells at the front.


If you're from Melbourne, Australia, good quality memory wires are available for a good price from "Theos Discount Crafts" at 3 Macquarie Place, Boronia. Another Melbourne stockist is "Spacetraders" in St Kilda and you can order from them online.  If you're from overseas a search in Google or another search engine for "memory wire" or "remembrance wire" should bring up some stockists that will sell online to you or look out for it at your local craft supplies stockist.

The Witchy-poo card features a turning wheel held in place with a brad. Inside the little round window on the front of this card are written magic words and spells so the card can be used as a game; ie  kids can take turns turning the wheel so that a new magic spell or word appears which the child can cast or act out.

I sourced my pony beads (9mmx 6mm) for the Beady aliens online through e-Bay. The patterns for these came from a Beady kit I bought years ago. This kit, as far as I know, is no longer available unfortunately but give the kids an idea and they'll run with it creating they're very own alien beady designs. You can use scooby plastic for these but I just used some thin plastic tubing I found at a hardware shop. It's exactly the same sort of stuff just heaps cheaper.

That's it for now!
All the Best and Happy Crafting!!
CateW :0)

Pincushion rings.

How a pincushion ring is worn.

An assortment of pincushion rings.

Hi Everyone,
Here is a couple of pics of the pincushion rings we made at my last local CWA meeting. The materials are very cheap and include the lid of a P.E.T. soft drink ( ie soda pop like Coke or whatever) bottle,  a short length of hat elastic, a small circle of scrap fabric, a little bit of polyester stuffing, a little bit of braid or lace, a sewing needle, some sewing thread to match the fabric circle and some Tacky glue, and a toothpick to apply glue. Do I need to include full intructions here? I would think they could be made by looking at the photos.


I will give you a hint: stitch a tacking stitch around the edge of the circle to help gather "the cushion" in nicely before you add the stuffing. You can always adjust it by pulling on the tacking thread to tighten.


Oh, another tip: make two holes through the bottom of the plastic bottle lid with a hot metal skewer. This can be done easily if you have gas cooking top ie just stick the end of the metal skewer into the gas flame til it heats then make the two holes in the plastic lid with it.


Estimate the length of the hat elastic you'll need by wrapping a length around your finger plus allow extra for the knots. 


**** Don't forget to apply glue to the underside of the lid so that the fabric and stuffing will stay put and also glue the braid/lace onto the outside of the lid to finish.


Feel free to ask questions if you don't follow.


All the Best and Happy Crafting!!
CateW :0)