Hedgehogs

Thomas has been asking about hedgehogs, so we will be focusing on them for the next few weeks. It is a great theme for winter or Autumn [Fall].

I like this project and we will be doing it with clay that we will harvest from the garden [though this is a play dough craft]

Make a Play dough Hedgehog.

Colour the play dough dough brown and take a golf ball size piece. Shape a snout then use cloves for nose and eyes. Break up some spaghetti into short pieces and use to make the hedgehog spines.

Here is a great resource list from Tree hugger Mums - I adore the bread baking ideas.

http://www.treehuggermums.co.uk/articles/parenting/article.php?article=209

Here are some more great links, some that we will be using.

For a sweet little felt hedgehog that a young child can to sew up.

http://urbandebris.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/hedge1.jpg

Potato Hedgehog [? :-)]

http://www.freekidscrafts.com/potato_hedgehog-e349.html

A pine cone hedgehog

http://kiddley.com/2006/11/21/make-a-pinecone-hedgehog/

Horse chest nut shell hedgehogs

http://activityvillage.blogspot.com/2007/10/cute-hedgehog-craft.html

An e-book with info on the South African hedgehog

http://avaxhome.info/ebooks/south_african_hedgehog_2006.html

Hedgehog paper craft

http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/entertainment/papercraft/animal-global/hedgehog/pdf/hedgehog_asse.pdf

Parchment craft [scroll down

http://www.craftcreations.co.uk/pages/magazines/issues/issue8.mhtml

And of course there is the wonderful Jan Brett web site and books.

http://www.janbrett.com/

We also have quite a lot of quills [that we found on the area] whichwe will be using for various projects.

I hope these links offer you great inspiration.

Enjoy and let me know if you have any additional resources.

Making Lipbalm

Here is the blog link for the homemade lip balm

or

http://ourholisticlife.blogspot.com/2008/05/our-lipbalm-recipe.html

Hope this inspires you all, it is really easy!

Let us know if you make any and if you have any pictures for posting

Acorn Men and Tables

Linda [South Africa] has been really busy making these great Little men!

Cute Linda.

[and nice veggies ~ are they from you garden?]

I have also been making tables for the gnomes, though Thomas and Oliver are using them as chairs! Little acorn hat make great bowls. Thomas has been collecting wild grass seeds for "gnome food".

The top of the table is a slither of sanded wood [5mm wide] and the stump is a piece of raw wood of 1,5 cm. I used a small tacking nail to secure it all together.

I hope our photos inspire you all to get knitting and wood working! Oh and please remember to send us your pictures.

Mail pictures to Dehningc@gmail.com

Gnome Acorn Craft

I was inspired to make these by a posting on Welcome to Munchkinland Blog that led to Saartjeknits . Saartje knitted Korknisse ~ which are cork men knitted in 2 units [hat and coat]

My Gnome Oakies [Acorn men] are knitted all in one and take a few minutes to make.






We collected our acorns last week in Stellenbosch. We collected all shapes and sizes so they were perfect for this craft. My acorns were dry so the nut inside rattles and makes a cute noise!

Here is the pattern
I used double knit bamboo [sigh] on 3mm needles. This created a sturdy knit!

1] Cast on 15 stitches
2] Knit 5 rows
3] Purl 1 row
4] Knit 3 stitches cast off 9 stitches knit last 3 stitches.
5]Knit 3 stitches turn knitting around and cast on 9 stitches then turn knitting around again and knit last 3 stitches. = 15 stitches
6] Knit 2 rows
7] *Knit 2 Together, knit 3 stitches. Repeat from * to end
8] Purl
9] *Knit 2 together, knit 2 stitches.Repeat from * to end
10] Purl
11] *Knit 2 together, knit 1 stitch. Repeat from * to end
12] Purl
13] Knit 2 together until the end

Thread yarn through the 3 remaining stitches and sew up the Oakie.


mmmm....now you need to find the perfect size acorn, I like the Gnome Oakie to stand, so for this you need to use a slightly smaller acorn.







Any way, If you need any help, Just let me know.