Craft Corner - All About Summer

For this months craft corner, I have tried to think of crafts that are suitable for both adults and children as it is the summer holidays. Why not get children involved in making things? If the weather is good (fingers crossed) take it outside and enjoy the sun! If its raining crafting is the perfect rainy day activity.

Painted Canvas

This is a super easy craft to do with children. All you need is a canvas, some paints, brushes and masking tape.

Firstly, tape up the canvas. We decided to do lines to create sections so my daughter could paint them different colours. Make sure you press the tape down firmly so the paint doesn’t bleed underneath the tape and you get nice crisp lines. We had a little bit of paint run on one section. Next start painting. We did a colour per section, we mixed some colours together to make pink, purple and orange.

Once it was all covered, we left it to dry. As we didn’t put too much paint on the canvas, ours dried quite quickly. Next was our favourite bit… pulling the tape off. Before you start peeling the tape off, make sure the paint is completely dry so that it doesn’t run. We started at the top and pulling one off at a time but had to be extra careful when we got to a bit where two pieces of tape joined. Once all the tape is off, you can see your masterpiece. I think it is a really effective way of making art. If you wanted to do something different, you could cut a shape out of paper and stick it to the canvas and when you paint over it and lift it off, the shape will be outlined. You could even paint the underneath and then stick the shape on top so when you paint over the top, the bottom will be a different colour.

Rainbow wall hanger

This rainbow wall hanger is so lovely and easily adaptable to your colour scheme or size. Its so easy to make aswell. All you need is some wool, pompom makers, scissors and a stick (you could use a broom handle).

Firstly, find the right stick. We have used a long thick stick as we wanted to make a big hanger as a wall feature. A broom handle will also work perfectly for a big wall hanger. Next choose your wool colours. We have used rainbow colours for a nice bright summery wall hanger. It will also work perfectly in a child’s bedroom or playroom. You could use colours to match the room you are planning to display it. It would look amazing on a wall above a sofa or in a dining room. I have used crafty knit wool, mainly because if you are choosing lots of different colours, the balls are smaller so you wont have as much left over wool. After you have chosen the colours you would like, start making your pompoms. I have used pompom makers as these are so easy to use, especially if you are doing lots and lots. Next, make your tassels. I did this by wrapping some wool around a hard back book, which was roughly 30cm wide. I wrapped it around 20-30 times and then cut the wool from the ball. I then pulled the wool from the book cover, carefully trying to keep them together. Cut the wool at each end so you get 2 piles of the same length wool. You then want to put the strands together and fold them in half. Take one strand out and tie in around the top part of the tassel, leaving a little gap from the top. You will then want to take some wool and thread it through the top of the tassel to create a hanger to attach it to the stick. We have used both pompoms and tassels to show you what they both look like; you can use both ideas or one or the other. After you have made all your pompoms and tassels you can then start to attach them to the stick or broom handle. To attach the pompoms, I threaded some wool through the middle of the pompom using a needle. We have attached ours in a rainbow shape, with the colours following the colours of the rainbow but if you are using a couple of colours, you could either do them at the same length or some up, some down.

Once they are all attached, you can move them around to see how the look. We have done our tassels slightly longer than the pompoms so it makes a lovely rainbow shape, and we have them closer together so we have a good gap either side. And that’s it. You could make it with smaller pompoms and thread them down on a piece of wool then have some tassels on there. Its all down to your personal preference. Again, this is a great activity to do with children, they will love to use the pompom makers and see then result. All these activities are also great for the children to develop their fine motor skills, something that is important for learning to write.

Rainbow bird feeder

Sticking with the rainbow theme, I have made this cute bird feeder that is another activity children will love to do. All you need is glue, craft sticks, string or wool and cardboard.

First you want to start off gluing some sticks to the cardboard base. It doesn’t have to be new cardboard, just use some left over packaging or even an old cereal box. I have used normal glue to make this bird feeder but you may wish to use a glue gun to make it more secure. After you have made the base, you can start building the craft stick up to make the walls. I did them a layer at a time so that the sticks were glued to the other one in the corners. I did 5 layers, so the bird could reach the seeds easily. I also snapped a stick in half to make a little perch for the birds (hopefully no pigeons will sit on it!!). To make the hanger, I tied 4 individual pieces of wool onto each corner and the tied them all together at the top. And that’s it, such a simple craft. It could also be used as a nice quiet activity for the children to mark down how many birds use the feeder throughout the day. Instead of a bird feeder you could make a garden decoration with the sticks and beads.

Whatever you are doing this summer, we hope you have a lovely time. Don’t forget, we would love to see anything you have made using products bought from our YTC stores or website. Don’t forget to tag us in them on Instagram.