Winter - Celebrate with a Wall Mural...!

We made our Winter Mural at Braintree Mencap, with strings of artificial ivy, red poinsettia and white tissue flowers. 

Then our table of members, coloured-in various winter-themed pictures, which we added, to give the mural some lovely points of interest...!

Wall Murals are fun to put together and there are endless themes you can develop. 

Try, as we did, the Seasons or maybe Holiday themes - Religious or National. 

Popular also are Sporting themes - Winter or Summer Sports. 

Geographical - work on a country, showing highlights of what that country is known for...

Whatever you decide - enjoy working together with your groups - young and old.

  

 

New Quiz - Our world... the Highest, the Longest, the Smallest etc ....See how many you know!

Take a break and try our quiz with your group, with a cup of tea of course - and a mince pie, being that time of the year!

Here it is - with all the answers in case you get stuck...! 

Highest Longest Quiz

 If you would like more quizzes, do have a look at my ebook...

 41 Easy Quizzes

Memory Wire and Bead Bracelets

We found these Memory Wire and Bead Bracelet Kits on eBay (they come in a range of colours) - what a great afternoon we had making them up in our Craft Group at Mencap. 

We placed the beads on white poly plates to make them easy to see and to pick up and then threaded them onto the memory wire coil. The best thing is, they fit any size wrist and are just so pretty...  

You do need "jewellery tools" however to make a loop at each end of the wire as it is not possible to bend by hand (this loop stops the beads from falling off, so is essential!)

Here are a couple the girls made...

Kavita

 

 

 

Jenna

An Autumn Wall Mural at Mencap

 We put together an Autumn Wall Mural at Mencap this week - with temperatures in Essex topping 30C it still felt like Summer, but now a few days later and after some very welcome, steady rainfall, we are back to normal weather - Autumn - "a season of mists and mellow fruitfulness"

 Our centre piece (Autumn Wreath) was made using an excellent tutorial from this website In the New House 

We added the wording in the centre wreath.

 Stacy insisted on the Pink Tail - as was a girl squirrel...! And why not?? Even squirrels can have fashion tints!

A Simple Little Felt Purse - Tutorial

Here is a very simple little felt purse - we will be making these at Mencap when we start the new term in September - so more photos to follow when we see what they come up with - always delights me to see their ideas and creations!

What you will need...

Felt

Embroidery thread

Charm (optional) Can use buttons or anything else as an embellishment

Magnetic clasps (we got ours on eBay)

How to make...

Cut out  your two pattern pieces and your heart (or any other shape such as a flower or something geometrical)

Felt Purse Pattern

Attach you magnetic clasps positioned as below (instructions will be with clasps)

 Stitch your charm or button to your heart shape.

Sew your heart over the back of the magnetic clasp, on the outside of the flap as below, using blanket stitch.

Join the two purse pattern pieces - again, I used blanket stitch.

 Easy to make and useful for coins, lipstick or a spare tissue!

Here is Jenna with her felt heart purse - and wearing such a pretty floral dress - Jenna is such a pleasure to sit and do craft with - always has a big smile for everyone and tackles everything with such enthusiasm...!

 

Quiz - Numbers! Printable with Answers

Time for a quiz...! 

All the answers are numbers...here is the link - printable and with answers!

Quiz - Numbers! 

If you would like more quizzes then do have a look at my eBook...

41 x 10 Easy Quizzes with Answers 

All types of subjects, printable and with answers - hours of fun with your groups - trivia specifically put together for our senior citizens...

Toby - proudly wearing his British Bandana!

Toby already has many fans, but here you see him in his latest role - wearing his Union Jack Bandana - Proud to be British...!

 

Felt Bunnies Wall Hanging - Tutorial and Templates

 A simple little felt wall hanging - here is how to make it...

You will need...

A4 sheet of felt for background

Scraps of felt for bunnies and flowers

Buttons

Pom pom or cotton wool balls for tails 

Double-sided sticky pads to attach tails 

Embroidery thread

Wooden dowel and ribbon to hang

 How to make...

Print out the Bunnies and Flower templates 

(my flowers were cut from a die on my Big Shot, but if you want to cut by hand here is a flower template to use)

Bunnies Template

Flower Template

Take your A4 sheet of felt and turn over a hem of 2cm (width of hem depends on the thickness of your wooden dowel - we used green garden stakes trimmed to size)

Stitch across leaving ends open - either on machine or by hand

Cut out your bunnies and flowers

Stitch the bunnies onto the background, using a running stitch

Using double-sided sticky pads, stick on the bunny tails

First stitch both layers of flowers, together with the button and then stitch onto the  background felt

Stitch stems with embroidery thread

Slip the wooden dowel through the hem and tie on a ribbon for hanging

 
 Here are some we made at Mencap - enjoy making yours!