If you happen to be in Exeter, England over the next few days, you should make a beeline for the Craft Festival on the Cathedral Green.

Click on pic for a larger image. Photo by John Evans.

Exeter’s Summer Festival, which organizes the Craft event, runs until the 10th of July. There are a number of highlights on the Art front.

Internationally famous artist, Theo Jansen will exhibit his world famous “strandbeests” at Princesshay and the Spacex Art Gallery.

John McDermot and Raya Herzig will also show their exhibition Aftermath at Exeter Castle. And there are several excellent exhibitions at Exeter Phoenix too.

In conjunction with the exhibition of Theo Jansen’s work, Spacex has co-produced a major new piece by the artist.

This work is a twin version of his last work, named Ventosa Siamesis. Each of the twins will be approximately 45 feet long. Under the guidance of the artist, this enormous creature will explore Exmouth beach from 25–27 June, before arriving in Exeter’s city centre, to be part of Exeter Summer Festival.

Theo Jansen will be present to demonstrate how his new creation works throughout the weekend. The work will be sited in Princesshay Square from 11am – 5pm each day. At times when he is not present, others will be operating the sculpture.

The artist will also be giving a talk about his work on Friday 2 July at 7.00pm at Exeter Central Library £6 (£4 concessions). Tickets will be available through Spacex. Booking is essential: telephone 01392 431786.

A Pickle Pucker Jar

A lady called Betsy Hatfield submitted this idea to The Romantic website :

Last year at Valentine’s, I got a big glass pickle jar from a restaurant, scrubbed it clean, and painted the jar with flowers, hearts, sunshine, clouds, etc.

Then I got a bunch of “fancy” doodle pads and began writing reasons & reminders of how & why I love my husband. It didn’t stop there — I began collecting little poems, quotes, and song lyrics to add to the pot.

When my husband is having a rough day he can open the lid and reach in for a “boost”. This jar was easy to make and VERY personal, and he enjoys it year around. I love to collect stuff for the jar as well!

We’ll be looking around for more unusual craft ideas for February 14 in the next two weeks.

For a fun bouquet or just something to add a little pizazz to gift wrapping, these tissue paper carnations are a unique way to give flowers.

The project is incredibly easy and inexpensive. My 12-year-old made these in under half an hour.

The materials are simply:

Colored tissue paper

Decorative pencils

Pencil Eraser Caps

Small elastics

You can use any color of tissue paper, even white – or layer different colors for a rainbow effect. Lay out your tissue paper in layers of 4 – 6 sheets. 4 makes a loosely petaled flower, 6 is a bit tight and harder to work. We found 5 sheets were about right. Then measure a rectangle of about 5 – 6 inches wide and about 10 – 12 inches long. This will determine the size of your flower but the great thing is that it doesn’t really matter if you are exact or if you eyeball it. The edges don’t even have to be particularly straight as when you fan out the paper, these inconsistencies will only make it look more real. This makes it a great project for kids who may not be as meticulous about measurements and straight edges.

Once you have your rectangle, start an accordion fold at one of the ends. Fold on the short side, not the long. Fold over and over as if you were making a fan. Each fold should be about 1 inch width. When you are done, fold it over to find the middle, then unfold and place an elastic around the middle of your now 1 inch wide folded fan.

Take a pencil and wind the elastic on the pencil end, just under the metal band that holds the eraser on. Placing it here keeps it from slipping off easily. To ensure it doesn’t slip off, place a colored eraser cap over the eraser. This also makes the pencil more useful as the owner will be able to erase with it without removing the flower.

Now fan out both sides and grasping the edge of the innermost tissue paper layer, start pulling it up towards the middle. Once you have done that, do the next layer and the next and so forth. Pull each layer on both sides towards the middle until your carnation is formed.

You can make several of these and give them like a bouquet of flowers. Alone, these tissue paper carnations can be attached to gifts instead of bows for a unique decoration.

Christmas images flood our minds at this time of year. The smell of pine, home-baked cookies and pies and the excitement of decorating the tree. But stepping out into the shopping throngs can push all these wonderful Christmas memories out of our thoughts as we face the glitz, glitter and commercialism that await us at the mall. Why not give your children the true meaning of a family Christmas with crafts and creations that are fun, bring joy and become family traditions for a lifetime?

Rather than purchase expensive and flashy tinsel garland for the tree, why not make your own the old-fashioned way? A garland of popcorn and cranberries makes a wonderful addition to the tree and is fun for all to make.

You will need:

*Cranberries, fresh

*Popcorn – air-popped is best, or microwave popcorn that is natural and not salted or buttered. The popcorn you string should be a day old, fresh popcorn breaks too easily. Make extra as the kids will inevitably consume it as they work.

*Heavy duty sewing thread. Waxed dental floss is another choice for the string, it won’t break and can make it easier to slid the cranberries on.

*Sewing needle. If you don’t want the kids to use a needle, try a toothpick. Securing the string to the toothpick is trickier but can be done.

You will need long lengths of thread. Tie a knot at one end and thread the other end through the needle. Each child can work on one length of garland and they can be tied together when they are finished, just leave a couple of inches extra thread at the top when you tie off.

Push the needle through the cranberry and then slide it down the length of the thread to the knotted end. Next do the same with a piece of popcorn. Continue alternating cranberries and popcorn until you have finished the garland length. Tie them all together and hang the garland on the tree.

After Christmas, you can take the garland and drape it over bushes outside to give the birds who winter in your area a nice Christmas feast of their own.