COVID-19 is here and we can’t run our courses for the time being. So, whether you are in quarantine, self isolating or social distancing we thought everyone could do with a bit of creativity to encourage action, wellness and sense of remote community.
We have 7 prompts for 7 days of 7 crafts you can do with things you might already have at home.
We will be posting 7 activities over the next week with tutorials for makes that you can try at home with things from your recycling!
Please share your own makes and ideas too. Using the #covidcrafting and tag @cambridgeartmakers. Be inspired by our prompts or come up with your own. Lets make this viral! (the good sort!)
If you’re not on Instagram but would like us to share your makes with people there you can also email them to cambridgeartmakers@gmail.com with the information you are happy for us to share.
(started March 14th 2020)
Previously we said we’d start sharing some of our other creative ideas here too. We’re adding these to this page as we go. The seven original craft ideas are still on this page, just scroll further down!
Make sure you keep creating, we’d love to see what you make, if you have any projects you would like to share then tag us #covidcrafting @cambridgeartmakers on your social media channels or email us cambridgeartmakers@gmail.com and we will share them with our followers.
Keep an eye out for news and new additions to this page via our Instagram and via our newsletter.
Keep making time for making!
Scrubs
We have joined Make Cambridge to help the Scrubs for Cambridgeshire effort. Addenbrookes, Papworth and many health centres are short of scrubs and locals are doing what they can to fill in the gaps.
If anyone wants to sew some scrubs contact Scrubs for Cambridgeshire via their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/donate/266773998025014/
If you aren’t a sewer but would like to contribute, Make Cambridge have been supplying us with fabric which they and the Cambridge Fabric Company have been supplying themselves. They would love donations to fund this moving forward: https://www.gofundme.com/f/scrubs-for-cambridge
Cactus Pincushions
These coveted pin cushions found in the Cambridge Art Makers’ studio are super simple to make if you have some felt, stuffing and a needle and thread lying around!
You just need to cut five ovals and sew them together, half an oval at a time so you end up with five leaves.
We use blanket stitch so it looks spikey on the seams before you even put pins in.
Remember to put some stuffing in before you stitch the final pairing!
They look lovely in little terracotta pots, we just super glued them in.
Hopefully the video and drawings help if you are struggling to work it out. If you want more direction, let us know.
Baby Bunting
Rosemary has been making miniature bunting using all kinds of paper scraps from old envelopes to off cuts of Cambridge Imprint wrapping paper.
It’s so easy and therapeutic; just cut diamonds of paper, arrange the colours and patterns you like and stick them over pieces of string to make cheerful rows of triangle flags. Lovely to pop in the post to someone who needs cheering up.
Top Tip – it’s easier to fold the paper first and cut triangles so they match up nicely when you stick them.
Linton Children’s Book Festival
Linton Children’s Book Festival was supposed to be the weekend of the 16th – 17th May and we were looking forward to doing some dragon themed craft with them. They have had to postpone the festival until next year but we thought it would be nice to share the dragon mask we prepared as a colouring sheet or to be made into a mask.
The Original #covidcrafting
We’ve gone for inspiration here rather than full instructional videos and details. Many of our current followers will have already used some of these skills in the past so we didn’t want to bore them with the details 😉
If you’re new here though you should be able to find detailed instructions online, or email us if you would like help from us and we’ll see what we can do 🙂
1. Paper – Origami Tulips
2. Juice Carton – Wallet
Turn an empty juice carton, that was destined for the recycling into a cute useful wallet. We used a 2L carton and the finished wallet is ideal for cards.
What else can you make with them?
3. Toilet Roll – Decorations
Cut up empty toilet rolls to make cute little decorations. Sew them together to make flowers or little hanging pompom plants.
The video shows you how to make a pompom with a fork!
We’ve seen little animals and puppets made from them too, what have you come up with?
Remember to share with #covidcrafting @cambridgeartmakers
4. Tea Bag – Mini Canvases for Mixed Media Pictures
The humble teabag!
Teabags make the perfect little canvases; dry them out, empty them (into your compost), iron them (or not if you want texture) then draw, paint and stitch away!
Remember to show us your masterpieces @cambridgeartmakers #covidcrafting
we’ve had some lovely pictures from our followers, you can see them on our Instagram feed.
We have official courses on how to turn tea bags into works of art run by the wonderful Gill Collinson – we hope that there will be a time when we can run these again soon…
5. Tin Can – Woven Plant Pot
Use old clothes, ripped jeans, clothes-hanging ribbons, ribbon handles from paper bags, old zips, bits of wool & raffia to create textured pictures.
Use an old picture frame as your loom – wrap string round and round to make the warp and then weave the pieces above over the string – over, under, over under; remember to tie off the ends.
Wrap your textured textile round a tin can and bingo – a lovely vase, pen pot or plant pot!
Of course you can just keep the textiles flat as lovely hangings!
Enjoy and remember to tag any photos on your social media: #covidcrafting @cambridgeartmakers
This weaving style is rough and ready for people at home, Paula Armstrong teaches next level weaving courses for us. We can’t wait to be able to have her back to show us how it’s really done and where it can take you.
6. Corona Bottle – Papier-mâché Pen Pot
The one you were all waiting for 😉 the corona bottle!
All you need is flour, water, a plastic bag, a bottle (or bowl) of any size, and paper.
Mix the flour and water to make a dense paste and layer up paper pieces with the paste on each piece. Remember to let it dry after every couple of layers.
If, like us, your local shop is out of flour and you have a crafters cupboard then you can use wallpaper paste or, for a glossy look, watered down PVA glue.
Make sure you wrap your mould in plastic (a bag or clingfilm works well) first so that your papier-mâché doesn’t stick to it.
Happy crafting, if you give this a go, please remember to tag us #covidcrafting @cambridgeartmakers
7. Pizza Box – ‘Small Wins’ Crowns
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