Baubles, bangles, and beads
Fruit pins look good enough to eat. Cut out fruit shapes from doubled
pieces of felt. Use embroidery thread to sew the pieces together (see
backstitch, page 156). Leave a small opening. Stuff the shape with
cotton. Then close the opening. Stitch a safety pin to the back. If you
want to add leaves, make them separately and then sew them to the fruit
shapes.
Animal crackers parade right out of the box and onto a shirt or hat
brim. Varnish both sides of an animal cracker. Let dry. Varnish the
cracker two more times. When the varnish is dry, glue a small safety pin
to the back of the cracker. If you want, paint the cracker after you
varnish it. Then varnish it again. Please, these animal crackers are not
for eating.
Papier-mache jewelry will delight young and old alike.
Make beads in all kinds of shapes out of papier-mache pulp (see
papier- mache pulp, page 89). Use a toothpick to poke holes in the
beads. When the papier-mache is dry, paint the beads and varnish them.
String necklaces on heavy thread and bracelets on elastic thread.
The bangle bracelets are made with papier-mache strips (see strip
papier- mache, page 88). Bend and tape a piece of thin cardboard into
a circle large enough to slip over the person\’s hand. Cover the circle
with papier- mache strips. When the bracelet is dry, paint and varnish
it. Or, decorate it with decoupage (see page 230).
Make a brooch with papier-mache pulp. Press the pulp into the shape you
want. When it is dry, decorate the brooch with paint or decoupage, and
then varnish it. Glue a small safety pin to the back.
