The Craft Hub's Make and Take Club

The Craft Hub's Make and Take Club
After school craft club in Exeter for kids between 5 and 15

Monday, 21 November 2011

Little Box of Treasures - Snowy, kitschy fun with Shoe Boxes

It was a hour of snowy, glittery, kitschy fun at Make and Take Club this week. Hannah and I spent the afternoon before club making our own little boxes of fun to bring as a 'here's one a made earlier' for the kids inspiration. Oh my goodness what fun, harked straight back to childhood, when I would painstakingly cut out bits of carpet and make furniture out of old yoghurt tubs and glue. It was a Christmas theme and boy did our kids do well. Each of the finished masterpieces all had a little imprint of the childs' personality in them. India did a kitschy, colourful gypsy caravan box, Daniel's had perfect symmetry and really beautifully decorated scene complete with handmade snowmen, Ella chose to make a massive santa sleigh full of gorgeously wrapped presents with a little dog (her favourite animal) as the reindeer. Joseph, created a fantastic melty snowman with great big eyes and a wide smile in his Christmas scene and Olivia made an amazing snow and ice scene for a princess (complete with princess) very Bollywood! Violet created a snow scene with a bridge out to an area for dogs, whereas Lottie's creation was a vibrant snowy scene with a lovely handmade snowman. Olivia and her little sister created lovely colourful snow scene with loads of glitter and their mummy Libby managed a gorgeous room of her own. Last but not least was Tom with his snow scene and giant Santa Claus all ready to bear gifts. Hannah's snow scene was spectacular! She used some battery operated fairy lights to poke through holes in the back of the shoe box to warm up her Christmas scene an idea that i will be stealing for Joseph's finished creation. My room, a homage to the cosiness of Christmas, complete with flickering wood burner and a large amount of Bollywood kitsch thrown in. It was really great fun, we made a lot of mess (sorry Joey) and wow I'm just so impressed with what the children managed to make in the space of an hour. Well done. Looking forward to next week's wet felted Christmas decorations. Here is our gallery of finished masterpieces Ta-Da!








Aw two lovely sisters












That's brilliant well done

















Great Joe, loving the chocolatey mouth















Joseph's melty snowman












These are just fabulous, so colourful and christmassy












Lottie's handiwork, such a happy snowman!















Olivia's snowy fit for a princess















Violet's complex snow scene and bridge wow



















Santa's sleigh by Ella














Tom's snowy giant Santa















Daniel's snowmen and I particularly love the snow boards
in the background

















India's bollywood, gypsy carvanesque winter scene



















A gallery of treasures

















My kitschy cosy living room















Hannah magical snow scene, just love those lights











See you next week - Wet Felt Christmas Decorations xx

Monday, 14 November 2011

Finger Knitting Good!

A finger knitty fest








Well done Lucy, colourful as ever!





















Olivia listening intently



















Daniel's green snake taking shape



















Violet's pretty scarf























Knitty Snake having a ssssssip of Joey's lovely tea





Hello folks, we had a funky finger knitting fest! today at Make and Take. Whoa, I didnt realise how complicated it is to teach this really exciting skill to a bunch of eager make and takees. It is actually a really simple make, however getting your head around the cast on (start off) row was possibly the most complex bit. I have dug out the You Tube video embedded below, and noticed that she makes the beginning row far less complicated than I managed by just removing the tail completely and not knitting the pointing finger stitch on the first row. (Much easier!).


The kids were very satisfied, leaving with scarves, snakes, bangles and necklaces and all promising that they were going to do lots more at home. Hope next week our mums and dads have lots of news of how much finger knitting has been done. What have we started! eeek xx









The boys getting finger knitting fever!



















Mmm someone's done this before















OOh I've got something stuck!

Finger_Knitting

Thursday, 10 November 2011

7th November - Make and Take our very first one!!

Well what a wonderful, wonderful start to our fantastic creative endeavours. Make and Take Club, held at the Hub on the Green in Exeters Cathedral Green was a real success. The kids were lovely, the building is full of atmosphere and the parents had the chance to sit and talk to each other in a relaxed atmosphere.

We learned about colours, starting with the primary colours and secondary colour mixes, each of us made a colour wheel using the primary and secondary colour mixes.

This is when the kids took over with their own artistic flair and produced some wonderfully creative work. It was fabulous and I cant wait for next week, FINGER KNITTING SNAKES, SCARVES AND NECKLACES.








What a cutie!














Joey one of our mums did this gorgeous bunny scene
















Charlotte another mum, who is also a noted artist, wow!
































The Artists with their work




















































































Joe again

















Joe Aged 7












India Age 7














Ella










Daniel Age 7