Craft for the Craic - Something Green

                                                                                                                                                                                   This months challenge was to create something green - I decided to create a matchbox book and yes I cheated, I used a large matchbox as my starting point, made a cover for it from stiff card which was then covered in a soft green patterned paper. For the sides of the 'book'  I searched online for some images of the side views of books. I then printed it off the image, trimmed it accordingly and glued it to the sides. I stamped and die cut the 'Wish' sentiment, die cut the tiny butterflies for pink tissue and finished it off with a green ribbon and tiny butterfly bead. Inside the cover the book has a 1st page

Insert of the book\ box opens- to reveal a wool doll book- mark. 

 Below are some photos that show how the doll was made ( Many of you may already know how but there maybe some who need a reminder). I started with a piece of card that was 4.5 inches long - this makes a doll thats approx. 4"   Wind the wool around the card as shown 

 Repeat until the 'doll' is about the correct width ( thats a personal decision)

 Slip the card out

 Wind the wool around the centre

  And tighten it

 Measure about 1/4 way down the shank and wind the wool around tightly - at this stage head and body have been created

 I feed the scissors through the wool, pulled it to straighten it out and tidy it up

 This part can be a bit fiddley - wool needs to wound around the top of the head ( about half way down the head) this allows for the hair

 At this stage, take the piece of card, wind the wool around it,ensure its slightly less that the amount used for the body - this can be used to make the arms

 Again wind some wool arond the middle

 I used the point of the scissorsto make a gap in the body

 Feed the arms through, as shown below

 Wind some wool around the end of each arm to create the hands, and  trim the ends so they no longer form loops but are free ended. This creates hair, hands and a skirt.

 If a girl doll is required leave as shown above and finish off by adding facial features, If a boy doll is required split the 'skirt' in two equal parts and wind the wool around each leg to create the feet

 For the boy doll I glued googley eyes and stitched a mouth, For the girl doll all the facial features were stitched. To finish off - I brushed the tufts, it fluffs them out and gives it a softer feel  

I think these a cute simple project to do with smaller members of the family- they can be made in various sizes, pop a pin on the back and use as a brooch, put a loop or chain out of them and attach them to bags or keyrings, Vary the colours and use them as team mascots. Just have fun with them