Welcome to Doreen's Craft Pages

Eat-Your-Heart-Out-Fabergé Eggs & Christmas-Tree Baubles

This can be done as eggs for Easter, or Baubles for Christmas. I've done it with both Guides and Rainbows - we prepared the paper for the Rainbows.

For Christmas-Tree Baubles

You need:
Expanded-polystyrene balls
Various pretty Christmassy-coloured paper serviettes (one will cover about two baubles)
PVA glue
A long needle
Pretty thread: silver or gold is best
Extra-fine glitter

For Easter Eggs

You need:
Expanded-polystyrene eggs (chicken size is probably best)
Various prettypaper serviettes (one will cover about two eggs)
PVA glue
Extra-fine glitter

Christmas-Tree Baubles Method:

First make the hanger by using a LONG needle and pretty thread, dig the needle both ways through the bauble, and then knot the end. Now continue as for the Easter Eggs.

Easter Egg Method:

Cover table!!!
Put the PVA glue into little bowls with at least its own volume of water. Detach the extra one or two ply paper from the back of the serviettes.
Tear the serviettes into small pieces, probably about the size of a thumb nail, or a little bigger. Dip the paper into the glue and stick to the egg. I hold the eggs at the ends, and cover them last.
I also ensure my fingers are damp (and gluey), as otherwise they take the covering off. Continue until the egg is fully covered. You can make some areas more of a single-colour block if you wish.
Before the egg dries, sprinkle glitter over it, but not too much as you can overdo this. THIS MUST BE DONE OVER A TRAY, otherwise you get ALL the glitter on the floor. If it's on a tray, you can recycle it!!!
Allow the eggs to dry on a clean surface.

When my girl friend from Florida taught me this, we spent about an hour doing two eggs - so Guides will probably take longer. My Guides did two in an evening (1.75 hours) and played some games.
It's the clearing up that takes the time.

Thanksgiving Turkey

I was given a "turkey" by a Girl Scout in Oakland (near San Francisco), California that was an example of what the whole troop did for their Thanksgiving craft last year.

You will need:
A real walnut for the body
A real hazelnut for the head
A mock Maple Leaf for the tail - but I think any leaf would do
Two 2cm long pieces of yellow pipe cleaner for the feet (Chenilles in American English)
A small wooden heart for the base - I buy them in packets in the USA
A small triangle of red felt and a small triangle of orange felt for the beak and tongue
Two small google eyes, about 4mm diameter
Glue, a glue gun works well

Method:
With the two round parts of the heart facing front, stick the yellow feet on.
Then stick the walnut with its flat bottom end (not the pointy end) facing forwards.
Then stick the hazelnut on top of that with its base (lighter coloured base) facing front and at the front of the body.
Then stick the red tongue on the front, with the orange bit stuck over it, but slightly higher.
Then stick the google eyes above the beak.
Lastly stick the maple leaf, pointing upwards to the pointed end of the walnut.

Angels

Materials:
18mm Bead Head
6" Pipe cleaner (Chenille)
9" of 3" deep Metallic Ruffled Lace
6" of 1" deep Metallic Ruffled Lace
9" of 4mm deep Gold Metallic Pearls
9" of 1" deep Metallic Ribbon Lace
3 lengths of narrow ribbon for the hair
9" of 26 gauge Craft Wire
12" Metallic Thread
Tacky Glue

Tools:
A pair of scissors
Side Cutters
Pliers

Method:
Head:	Cut chenille into 1.5" (4cm) and 4.5" (12cm) lengths, glue one end into the head bead
Gown:	Using 9" wire, make a small eye in one end by folding back about 1cm. Insert eye into the binding of the 1" ruffled lace, this will be the "neck", and push the lace to the other end. Using pliers, place the two naked parts of the wire together, cut off the excess (with the eye still on it) and twist to secure. Thread the neck onto the chenille (with the head on it). Repeat with the 3" ruffle to make the gown. Bend the end of the chenille.
Wings:	Using the lace ribbon, make a bow, with no streamers, and secure with a piece of wire. Attach to back of neck, using either the wire, glue, or the end of the halo (see later for this).
Hair:	Using the scissors, pull the ribbon across the sharp edge to curl it. Put some glue on top of the angel's head, also put some glue in the middle of a piece of hair, and attach to the head. Repeat with the other two pieces of hair.
Halo:	Twist the 4.5" chenille into a halo, leaving 1 cm free to attach it to the neck. Put some glue around the outside edge of the halo and attach some of the length of gold beads to it, cutting off the remainder. Attach the halo to the neck of the angel.
Bow:	Use the remainder of the metallic beads to make a small bow, tie this at the centre of the metallic thread to secure the bow, and then tie the bow to the front of the angel's neck, leaving enough thread to make a hanger with the ends.

Boxes

You will need:
A pretty greetings card, or two sheets of paper, one coloured, one white
A ruler and pencil
Scissors or a guillotine

Method:
Cut the greeting's card front, or the coloured sheet square. This will be your box top.
In a similar manner, cut the greeting's card back or white sheet square. This will be your box base.
Now, by eye, cut about 1 or 2 mm from two sides of the white sheet, to keep it square.
On the inside of each piece, draw faintly both diagonals.
On both pieces, fold each corner into the centre, and make it a definite fold (thumbnails are good for this)
One at a time, fold the outer edge into the middle, and make it a definite fold.
You now need to make four cuts on each piece. These cuts are either in a line or parallel to each other.
There is one on each side of a corner, along the nearest fold; that's the first two Each goes one third of the way across at that point; so each is one quarter of the whole diagonal.
The other two cuts are on the opposite side of the piece.
Now you need to fold your box. Make folds to the middle on the two sides that are parallel to the cuts.
Fold up the sides to the next folds. Put the end flaps inside to form the box, and fold the last two corners over them.
The white part should be very slightly smaller than the coloured part, so that the coloured part forms the top of the box.

To see this described pictorially, visit Dianne's Site

Dianne's Christmas Crafts

Visit the craft part of Dianne's Site

Rotating Snowflakes

Visit this part of Dianne's Site

Saint Bridgit's Cross

Materials:
Twelve (or 16) real or Art straws
Matching raffia, or thread
Four rubber bands to hold the four arms of the cross while making it
The description of the cross at the end of this section

Tools:
Pinking shears to cut out the description
A single hole punch to punch a hole in the description before tying it to the cross

Method:

Traditionally this cross is made from straw, it is a cross with equal length arms. Each fold should be in about the centre of the straw, but rather than a true "V" shape, it should be a narrow "U" shape so that the base of the "U" folds round the other straws.
Fold two straws, loop their "U" ends together, and arrange so that the arms are at right angles to each other.
Take a third straw and fold it. Position it round both arms of one of the first straw, and pointing in the opposite direction from the second straw.
Take a fourth straw and fold it. Place it around the third straw, and pointing in the opposite direction to the second straw.
This forms the first "round" of the cross.

For the second round, take four straws and fold them in a "U" shape in the middle. It may be necessary to use small rubber bands to hold the arms in position together.
Place the first one around one arm of the cross, parallel to an inside one, and facing in the same direction.
Place the next straw over the two straws, facing round the cross
Do the same with the third and fourth straws, but slip the final straw through the "U" of the first straw (rather like threading aneedle)
The third, and if required, fourth, rounds of the cross are done in exactly the same manner as the second round

Tie raffia or thread round the arms to stop the cross falling to pieces
Print out the description of the cross, a suitable Celtic font may be downloaded to make this more authentic. Cut the desription out using pinking shears (or ordinary scissors, or a neat tear). Make a hole near one corner using the hole punch, and tie the description to the cross


First Round of Cross	Start of Second Round of Cross	Completed Second round of Cross

Celtic Font This is the font to use for the words that describe Saint Bridgit's Cross. Right click on your mouse to download it, select "Save Target As" and put it in your Windows\Fonts directory. Then you may select the font "Celticmd".

Saint Bridgid was the abbess of Kildare (the church in the oak grove) during the first quarter of the sixth century.
Her feast day is celebrated on 1st February, which is the Celtic Feast of Imbolc, which marks the coming of the light after the dark days of winter.
Legend has it that Saint Brigid was nursing her dying father, a pagan prince, and to pass the time she wove a cross from the rushes on the floor. Her father asked what the cross represented, and on being told, converted to Christianity, and was baptised before he died.
Thus her cross is said to bring happiness to the hearth where is hangs.

Nightlight Holder

Materials:
An empty can, open at one end. eg a 400g Baked bean tin is ideal
Some masking tape

To use the holder, you will also need:
A nightlight (Tea light in USA)
Matches
A pair of long-handles tongs (optional)

Tools:
A hammer
A large diameter nail
A felt-tip pen
Oven gloves or similar

Method:
Fill the cleaned, empty can with water and stand it in the freezer overnight or until the water has frozen.

In the meanwhile, think of a pattern of holes for your can. Holding the can with the oven gloves, mark your design on the can.

You may need a friend to help you to hold the can while you do the next part. CAREFULLY, bang the nail through where you want the holes. Start at the open end of the can - in case the ice melts before you have finished.

When all the holes are made, allow the ice to melt.

Now put masking tape round the raw edge of the can to prevent you from cutting yourself.

To use the holder, CAREFULLY light the night light using a match, place the night light in the holder - you may find this easier if you use some long-handles tongs.

Friendhip Knot Brooch

Materials:
Two lengths of ribbon, of two different colours, 1.0cm to 1.5cm wide, and each about 15cm long.
For 1.5cm ribbon, 18cm is probably a better length.
One small gilt safety pin
Thread to match one of the ribbon colours

Tools:
Small sewing needle
Scissors
One or two dressmaking pins

Method:
Visit: http://www.guidinguk.freeservers.com/necker.html to see how to tie a friendship knot. If you have satin ribbon, tie the knot so that the satin side is the right side. Tie the knot in the centre of the length of ribbon.
Use a dressmaking pin to secure the knot.
On the reverse side, use small stitches which do not show through to secure to knot, and remove the dressmaking pin.
Sew the pin to the back of the knot to make a brooch.
This is given to other Guides as a token of friendship.

Golden Angel Brooch

Materials:
I used J & P Coates Metallic "Knot-Cro-Sheen" in Gold/White
0.5" diameter bead or marble for the head
0.5" or 0.75" diameter gold ring for halo
9" length of 1.5" wide gold wired ribbon for bow to form wings
0.5" artificial flower with stem removed. Suitable flowers are sold in packs of about 10 in craft shops
Suitable pin to make the angel into a brooch, or thread/narrow ribbon to hang it

Tools:
2.5" by 3" piece of cardboard for wrapping the thread.
Scissors
Glue gun or glue

Method:
Body: Cut two 6" pieces of thread before you start.
Wrap the thread 75 times round the card lengthwise to form the body.
Slip one piece of pre-cut thread around the edge of the card and tie securely, this is the top of the head. The ends of the thread merge into the body of the angel, or they can become the hanger.
Cut through the threads at the other end of the card.
Slip the bead or marble head into the centre of the threads, folding the threads evenly around it. Tie the other pre-cut length round directly underneath the head.

Arms: Cut three 6" pieces of thread before you atart.
Wrap the thread 30 times round the shorter side of the cardboard to form the arms.
Slip the threads off the card.
Tie a pre-cut thread 0.25" from each end to form the hands.
Open the back body from the front body, and slip the srms iin centrally, just below the neck.
Smoothe the body together, and tie the third pre-cut thread under the arms to form the waist.
Bring hands to centre of torso, and glue in place.
Cut the stem from the flower, and glue the flower in place between the hands.

Finishing:It may be possible to slip the ring (halo) through the threads of the head before glueing it in place.
Tie the wired ribbon in a bow and glue as wings to the back of the torso. I made two loops each side, and left no end.
Trim the ends of the angel's skirt.
Either glue the pin to the back of the bow to make a brooch, or slip narrow ribbon or thread through the top of the head to form a hanger.


The Angel threads wrapped around the cardboard	The completed Angel

Return to my home page