Friday 15 January 2016

Funky Washer Necklaces - Tutorial!

Washer necklaces

These simple Washer Necklaces are very easy to put together and our class at Mencap really loved creating their own combinations of colours and designs...

What you need...

Metal washers - an assortment of sizes - look at your hardware shop for these...

Nail varnish - we bought a cheap variety - plain colours and one with sparkles in it.

Yarn or cord or leather strips - we used a cotton/rayon yarn but use any suitable - each strip about 108mm long (43inches)

Pony beads - large hole bead

Blue or White Tack (to mount beads on, when painting)

How to make...

Mount your washer on a lump of Blue or White Tack (to raise it up from your table) and paint the top side and edges with your nail varnish.


When dry, take your yarn (you can use a single piece or two or three lengths of yarn - see photos) and fold in half. 

Thread the rounded end through the washer and loop the ends through so your washer hangs from the centre of your yarn.

Thread on beads and maybe add another washer - see our examples for ideas...








Tie the ends of the yarn together and you are done...







Easy to make and lovely to wear...!









Enjoy the fun of creating these funky Washer Necklaces...!



Wednesday 13 January 2016

Two eBooks - 41 Easy Quizzes & Simple Craft and Activities...


Quiz eBook

I have put together two eBooks to help you with your groups...
41 Easy Quizzes and Answers and Simple Crafts and Activities...
read on for more details on how to get yours...

Simple Crafts eBook

My eBook Simple Crafts and Activities is now available to buy for a nominal fee of £2.75 (Paypal only please) and then can be downloaded instantly in a PDF file format - ready to print either in total or only the pages you need for a project...

This eBook will save you hours of searching for crafts and activities - suitable for the older folk, but also many craft projects for any age...

All my tutorials have printable templates to make it easy for you...

So click here and have a look...Simple Crafts and Activities

Simple Crafts eBook

41 easy Quizzes with Answers is available if you are looking for quizzes - especially set for the older generation... Also only £2.75 and printable PDF file download.

Quiz eBook

Friday 8 January 2016

Cat Collage A4 Calendars - Tutorial!

Cat Collage Paper








We made Cat Collage A4 Calendars at Mencap this week...

What better way to start a new term in the New Year?

The choice of schemes is endless but we decided on Cats!

Enjoy making yours with your group...
What you will need...

A4 Card - we used Black Card

Strips of coloured paper - plain and/or designed

Cat pictures - cut from a book found in a charity shop

(gathered from free colouring pages)

Glue stick

Punch and string for hanging

Calendar tabs - we found ours on eBay

Doubled-sided adhesive tape

How to make...

Glue your strips of coloured paper onto the card - leave some black showing through if you like

Colour in you cats and stick them and other cut-out cats on top of your strips of coloured paper

Using double sided tape or glue - stick on the calendar tab

Punch two holes at the centre top and thread a piece of string/cord through for hanging.





Friday 4 December 2015

Christmas Bunting - Printable Templates!

Felt Christmas Bunting

A simple string of Christmas Bunting - can be made out of felt, as above, but will also be just as effective cut out of card. Mine has just five shapes, but you can make the String of Christmas bunting as long as you wish, using a mixture of the shapes or just choose one or two of them...

You will need...
Felt sheets or Card

Buttons and other embellishments

Tacky Glue

String, ribbon or tape and small craft pegs 


To make...

Print your Template of Christmas Shapes

Cut out the shapes - in felt or card

Decorate with embellishments / buttons, using fabric or tacky glue and leave to dry

Peg the shapes onto your string and hang them up...

Enjoy this exciting time of the year - have fun preparing for the Festive Season...!!