Face Cloth Easter Bunnies! Easy and Fun!

It's three years since I posted a tutorial on making up these Face Cloth Easter Bunnies! See it Here

We have made some again this year, to raise some funds for our Mencap Arts and Crafts group and instead of using ribbon around the middle bit, we have used elasticated hair bands. 

These cost less than ribbon (we bought a card of 20 for £1) and are very easy to use....And we think they make a pretty belt! 

For the Boy ones we used plain hair bands as you can see in the photo above.

So have fun making your Easter Bunnies - they make lovely gifts 

and with a face cloth to keep after the Easter Eggs have all been devoured!

...or like us you can use them to make some funds for your group!

Cat Collage A4 Calendars - Tutorial!

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

 Templates to print - Cat drawings to be coloured in and cut out 

(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.

Christmas Bunting - Printable Templates!

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...!!

Stringing Beads - a relaxing afternoon!

A big bowl of beads and charms and thread - 

what pleasure there is in stringing beads!

Easy and fun for all ages and abilities - 

we are going to try Loom Bands next...!

Printable Quiz - William and Thomas - What are their Surnames?

 So many famous people are called William or Thomas...

Here are twenty for you to work on, with your groups - ten of each name

 Quiz - William and Thomas - What are their Surnames?

If you want more of my Quizzes - all Printable with Answers, have a look at my eBook  41 Easy Printable Quizzes with Answers

Nothing better than a good quiz, over a cup of tea, to stimulate and share memories. Enjoy!

Our South African Wall Mural is finished...

Our South African Wall Mural at Mencap, Braintree is now complete...

The super-imposed flag on the map of SA was created by glueing on small screwed-up pieces of tissue paper and the ocean using flat sheets of tissue. 

Our class loved choosing and colouring-in the animals and of course Nelson Mandela had to be included - plus Rugby!

To complete the frame we strung coloured pasta "beads" in loops down the sides and across the bottom edge. 

Having just returned from a trip over there, I can say that South Africa is a beautiful, vibrant country with friendly people and so much to see and enjoy...

Thank you South Africa!

Felt Owls and Hearts for Fund Raising - Tutorials

 

As we are always looking at ways to raise funds for Mencap, I have been working on some craft and sewing that we can sell. 

If you would like to make some of the same, I have put together a tutorial.

Felt Owl

You will need...

Felt - main colour 

(2 pieces) is 14 x 13cms

Felt - Scraps of other colours for wings etc

Googly eyes (or buttons)

Ribbon - 40cms

Glue

Embroidery thread

Batting/Wadding - approx 13 x 12cms

How to make...

Cut out your felt pieces as per the pattern
 
Felt Owl Pattern      

Plus a triangle of felt for the beak (not on the pattern)

Take one of the main pieces and attach the wings, 

leaving about 1/2 cm of body showing on the edges as per below. 

Use 3 strands of embroidery thread and a  simple running stitch

 

 Stitch on the black eye "mask" and the the two circular eye patches. 

For the patches I used blanket stitch. 

Stitch the "feathers" between the wings. (see on final photo)

Cut your batting in the same shape as you body 

but about 1cm smaller all round.

Attach the back to the front body using blanket stitch 

and at the same time 

stitch in the folded piece of ribbon, between the ears.

Glue on the Googly eyes (or buttons) and glue on the felt beak

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Felt Hearts

You will need...

Felt - main colour (2 pieces) is 15 x 15cms

Felt pieces - buttons - bows - embellishments  to decorate.

Ribbon - 28cms

Batting / Wadding approx 14 x 14cms


How to make...

Cut out two felt hearts from pattern
 
Heart Template

Decorate one heart with felt flower, buttons, bows or any other bling.

Cut batting in heart shape, but about 1cm  smaller all round and lay on back heart and put front heart on top.

Stitch around edge (I machine stitched, but can be done by hand if preferred) catching a loop of ribbon into centre top.  

Trim with pinking shears for a zigzag edge if so desired!

Hope these felt crafts help you make some funds for your group...

Some Easy Card Fridge Magnets

Card Fridge Magnets

We made Card Fridge Magnets at Mencap this week - the square boards are pieces of a floor jigsaw puzzle - we just turned them over and worked on the white backs!

The coloured card we shaped into "Labels" and punched a hole centre top.

After decorating with stickers and bling we finished some with a name, initials and a ribbon.

On the other side of the card, we stuck strips of self-adhesive magnetic tape (we got ours from eBay) and they were ready to be popped onto the fridge for everyone to enjoy!

Try making yours!

We are also making a new Wall Mural - this time on the theme - South Africa!  Having just been there for a short holiday, visiting family, it seemed a good idea to bring some sunshine back to UK! 

So watch this Blog - will be finished in a few weeks time...

Children in South Africa enjoying paddling!

Try Volunteering to Help the Elderly and Others in Your Community

When one sets out to volunteer, the main objective appears to be, to give your time and expertise to others who need it. The remarkable thing about volunteering is the gradual realisation, that actually, this is not a one-sided affair after all.

You gear yourself up to be the "Giver" and are constantly surprised at how much of the time, you are actually the "Receiver"...

The receiver, of not just of knowledge or practical know-how, although it is inevitable that you will learn the truth of the saying "The more you teach, the more you learn".

It is also the experiencing of the completeness you feel in your existence, through sharing and in giving of yourself to others.

Volunteering seems like doing some sort of work for no pay, or any other kind of remuneration. Actually volunteering should not be related to employment at all.

Volunteering is a social, community function, which should be carried out at some time by us all...as a moral duty.

There is no getting away from the fact that we need employment in order to live our lives, house, clothe and feed ourselves and our families.

But apart from that, we need to care for each other in our community, by giving of ourselves and our time, in any way we can.

No community can thrive and grow without volunteers. There is not enough money to go around to pay someone to do every job that needs doing.

A community with no volunteers, would not have many of the facilities that we take for granted, such as Day Centres, Guides, Scouts, Sports Clubs, First Aiders, Charity Shops and many more. Have a look around your local area - talk to people, search online, visit day centres, schools, hospitals, charity shops, churches - you will be amazed at how many volunteers are needed to keep your community going.

Decide on what you would like to help with. It is far better to volunteer to help with something that interests and appeals to you.

A volunteer, with passion for what they are doing, is a treasure indeed!

The world is burdened with many problems at this time - we can't help everyone, but if everyone helped someone, wouldn't the world be a better place?

Easter Bunting to Celebrate Spring! Tutorials!

We made our Easter Bunting using different shapes as well as the traditional triangular flags. The Easter Eggs you see were made following this great tutorial Paper Strip Easter Egg  by Merrilee.

We also printed bunny pictures (loads to be found on Google) which were coloured-in and stuck on.

Below, the black flags have been decorated with Easter die cuts (found on eBay) and pom poms.

The chicks we bought ready-made and made them a "nest" with two small paper plates. See here how to do this.

For more Easter ideas click on the Easter button at the top of my Blog - have fun with your groups...

Printable Quiz - Fill in the Gaps - Capital Cities of the World...

This quiz is about Capital Cities of the World - but to help you along I have given you some of the letters in each of the city names. 

 Here is the link - Quiz and Answers!

Capital Cities of the World

If you want more quizzes for your groups have a look at my eBook - 

41 Easy Quizzes with Answers  

Loads of fun, with a variety of Quiz subjects...

Printable Easy Geography Quiz!

 Printable Easy Geography Quiz

 to test your knowledge of our wonderful world...

 

  In which US State is the Grand Canyon located?

 In which city is the statue "Christ the Redeemer" located?

 

Click on the link to download and print the 

 20 Easy Geography questions and answers

Want more quizzes???

Have a look at my 

Printable Quizzes - eBook - 41 EASY QUIZZES with Answers 

Everyone loves a quiz!

 

Butterflies and Flowers Collage in a Vase!

 Following on from making our Collage Calendar, our group made collages of vases of flowers, mounted onto black card. Some were made into calendars by adding a calendar tab and others were just a bright picture to hang on the wall!

Here are some samples of their  creations...

Even the least artistic member of the group will end up with a very pleasing picture - on A4 piece of card - cutting, sticking and enhancing with stickers, buttons, ribbon bows etc 

Have a go with your groups!