Completed Potted Felt Roses

Little bit of kiwi ingenuity meant recycled materials rather than buying polystyrene balls! Worked a charm I think!

Felt Roses

Ingredients:

Felt (I make 6 roses out of 1 sheet)

Round things

Scissors

Glue

& Patience!

I used three round things to trace circles which made three different sizes.  The CD ended up being 5ish cm, the cup ended up 4 cm and the egg thing were 2ish cm.

Choose anywhere and cut the circle into a swirl.  I did this quickly which meant the width changed and the roses had a little more character.  I also tried starting thin and getting wider which worked well.  Wide to thin, however, did not work so well! (See if you can spot that one!)

Grab the end you first cut and start rolling.  Follow the line you cut and try to keep one end flat, often this doesn't work but it doesn't matter so much.  Roll it quite tight.

Plop some glue on the side and the bottom and stick the koru style end over the whole bottom.  You can cut it off if you want, but I didn't see the point.

Cut some random shaped leaves and wrap around the rose before you glue to make sure you like it.  Curved, rather than straight, lines on one side works best.  I make them random because leaves are all different! It's a very good way to use up those little scraps of felt!

Glue & wrap.

On some I went under, rather than around, the rose.  Just for something different!

The final product!

I have painted a couple of pots and plan to buy a round polystyrene ball to sit in them.  Then I will use long pins with coloured balls on one end to pierce through the centre of the rose and stick to the ball.

The end result should be potted felt flowers... in theory!  Will post a picture when it's finished!

Be Well!

New Life, New Revamp

I made this DVD shelf three years ago and painted it a multitude of fluorescent colours... Needless to say it was time for a change!!

I particularly like the chalkboard sides, just need artistic motivation! :)

Be Well

Coffee Table Mosaic

We hate our coffee table... and we have a lot of old CD's.

So we put the CDs in a pillow slip and whacked them with a hammer.

Except for our favourite ones which we laid out in a preplanned pattern of our musical paths.

Glue, glue, glue... apparently it's best to leave it dry a little until it's sticky!

We went for the 'pick a colour and start sticking stuff' method

Glue, glue, glue... turns out that wood glue warms when you put, say, a hot coffee on it.  So we're also going to put a sealing spray thing on it... when we buy one.

TA DAA

Be Well!

The Latest Felt Stories

Yes... my addiction to felt continues!

Ingredients: 

Felt, scissors and imagination (or templates if your that way inclined)!

As promised, the completed firefighters and their truck.  First you start with the red truck and as you sing "the wheels on the truck.." etc, you put them up!  The competition winner was the firewomen, and my faithful competitor!

We are in the middle of a massive obsession with buildings at work.  After hours of scanning the internet for a felt house and song I ended up having to make one myself.  As with the fire engine you sing a song and build the house as you go.

Song:

Let's build a house lets build one, let's build a house today

We'll build a house we'll build one, we'll build one for our play

build, build, build a house, build, build, build a house, build a house

First we need some walls and we will need a floor

next we'll need some windows, let's not forget a door

build, build, build a house, build, build, build a house, build a house

Next we need a roof, and a chimney too

what about a garden, and of course we need you!

build, build, build a house, build, build, build a house, build a house!

Another work related creation... I keep finding bugs, the most recent being a little moth caterpillar starting a cocoon.  This off course must lead to the Hungriest Caterpillar story, and because it's me it's come in the form of felt!  If only the little caterpillar didn't look so evil!

The best thing about finding bugs is that you can show children how special they are.  The children in my room even protect the ants they come across!

Maybe these will give you ideas for your own stories, or perhaps the motivation to create!

In either way, Be Well and Choose Happiness!

Firefighter Competition 2012

 So I might have started a Firefighter craze at work when I started a mat time dedicated to the "Get Down, Get Out" slogan.  This has resulted in children harassing their parents about their smoke alarms and escape plans... I'm sure the parents will like me again in awhile!

It has also meant a lot more stories and songs about Firefighters and, more specifically, firetrucks!  So I created one from felt.  The downside to felt you ask?  You have to draw (or glue) finer details... hence the Firefighter Competition of 2012!

Ingredients:

Two templates, one male, one female (of course)

Two felt cut outs

One fabric pen

Two eager contestants!

Ready, set, DRAW

I tackled one... although I won't say which!

My competition tackled the other

The final results... You choose the winner!

I took a picture of the final product, complete with firetruck and accessories which i'll upload once google realises it's on my phone! 


 Look out for The Hungriest Caterpillar and the Build A House felt set in my next blog!


Be well, and choose happiness!

Felafel & Flat Bread

So I've started working at a vegetarian centre and found myself married to a vegetarian... how convenient!  The smells from my work kitchen are the most incredible ever, and I get to bring home the recipes and share them with you all!  So enjoy!

Felafel 

Mash 1 can of chick peas and combine with:

1 finely chopped onion

2 crushed cloves of garlic

parsley (But i didn't have any!)

2 teaspoons of curry powder

1 egg (or some sour cream)

1 teaspoon of salt and pepper

1 tablespoon of lemon juice (although I didn't have any either)

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 tablespoon of olive oil (... never have this so i used butter)

1/2-1 cup of breadcrumbs (little bit at a time till patty type consistency)

Then fry or bake (200C) for 10 mins each side!

Flatbread

3 cups flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of baking soda

2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons of oil (but of course I use butter)

Put all in a bowl and mix with iced water until a nice dough, roll out into flat circles, prick the surface and fry in an oiled griddle until brown!  YUM

Dips

Onion:

Caramelise onion, add a clove of crushed garlic and some worcestershire sauce then cool.  Add 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise and 3 tablespoons of sour cream.

Aioli:

Mayonnaise, garlic, lemon juice and curry powder... in whichever quantity you desire!

It's also awesome with yoghurt and mint dip!!

Be Well!