No Sew Lion Fleece Pillow

Continuing with my March is Wild theme I decided to finally try and make a Lion Pillow using fleece and tying the edges into knots for the Mane.  

I have seen the fleece blankets using the knot tying technique and also a lion pillow using this technique, but I hadn't tried it yet.

I created a pattern with brown kraft paper using 2 half circles.  The larger one is to cut the yellow and brown fleece on a fold, and the other is to center on top of the cut fleece and use to cut the strips around the fleece.  I unfolded the yellow and brown cut fleece circles and put the yellow on top of the brown just like the pillow would be.  Then I placed the smaller circle on half and cut the strips to the pattern about one inch wide.  When I finished the first half I moved the pattern to the other half and cut the rest of the strips.  Try and cut the two layers together so they are identical.

Next I tied the yellow and brown strips together with a simple knot around the edges.  When they are all tied except for about 4-5 stuff the pillow with fiberfill.  Then finish tying the knots.

Now you can use the pattern I made to cut the felt face.  I used dark brown, light brown and white.  I used black yarn for the whiskers, folding it a few times and tying a knot in the center. Any color combo will work - I thought about using bright pink or blue etc... with the yellow too.

I used fabric tack to glue the nose on first, then the whiskers, then the muzzle over the whiskers, the tip of the nose, the mouth and finally the big googly eyes.

Now your lion is ready to be a cuddly friend.

I have updated this project a little bit, using another method to cut and tie the edges and adhesive felt 

For more info go to this link:

http://kathy-angelnik.blogspot.com/2016/06/emoji-face-no-sew-pillow_28.html

Painted Pachyderms

I am going to do a Wild Animal Theme for my March lessons and I think the painted elephants in India are wonderful.  

 I have a card from India with an elephant made out of recycled paper that I used for my inspiration.

The silver circle in the middle of his forehead is a brad so the head and ears move.

I'm going to show the students photos of the elephants that are painted for celebrations and festivals in India.

 The students can choose any color for their elephant.  

They'll trace the shapes onto card stock and then using a brad connect the ears and head to the body.

They can draw their designs with pencil and then outline them with metallic markers.

Colored pencils will be used to 'paint' their elephants.

After coloring the elephant they can choose some ribbon to put bracelets around the feet of the elephant and some yarn for the tail.

Here is the pattern for the elephant:

A fun and educational mixed media project!

String Art Hearts

I've been seeing String Art popping up everywhere and decided to try doing an art project with the kids using a heart shape for February.  

I went to a home improvement store and they had long 1" X 4" pine boards.  I asked a very nice employee to cut my board into 4" lengths.

Next I created a heart pattern and put dots about every 1/4" for the nails.  Here is the pattern:

Cut out a heart and tack it to the center of the wood square with a nail.  Then go around the heart with the nails.   Hammer the nails into the wood carefully, leaving about 1/2" above the board to wind the string around.

Now the board is ready for the kids to paint whatever acrylic color they choose.

Once dry they will choose a coordinating skein of embroidery floss.

First tie one end of the floss to a nail and then wind the string around each nail towards the outside all the way around to create a border.

Now they can choose how to criss cross back and forth across the heart to create an interesting pattern.  

They may choose to randomly wind the string across, or do a layered pattern on the diagonal.  

This is up to them.  

When they are finished simply tie the end of the string in a knot around another nail.

A fun project that will look great on the wall or on a shelf!