Finger Puppet Penguin

Today is world Penguin Day!

World Penguin Day is celebrated on the 25th April each year, as this is roughly the date of this amazing creatures annual, northward migration. The day is a celebratory and educative initiative, that encourages people to learn more about penguins and their environment, how important they are to our ecosystems and the threats they face.

World Penguin Day is the perfect chance to learn more about these fantastic and fascinating creatures. Read up on the different species of penguin around the world and dig out some fun facts to share with your friends and family.

Did you know that there are 18 species of penguin and of these 11 are considered to be globally threatened?

For fun, we thought for World Penguin day we would make a cute finger puppet!

What you will need:

Felt in black, white and yellow
Black embroidery thread
PVA or Copydex
Needle
Scissors
Pencils
Googly eyes

How to make your penguin:

Please refer to the photos below.

On the black felt using a white pencil, draw around your index finger with a cm space all round.
Fold the felt over and cut out two shapes at the same time.
On the white felt using any pencil, draw around you index finger again up to you middle knuckle.
Cut one shape out.
Cut a small triangle for a beak out of the yellow felt.
Choose two googly eyes.
Glue white felt, beak and eyes to one of you black felt pieces.
Using black mercies cotton or embroidery thread, sew the two black pieces of felt together around the edges. Leave to bottom open.
You can use blanket stitch or whip stitch.
Your puppet is complete! Happy World Penguin Day!

Tissue Paper Suncatchers

This week we have another suncatcher craft for you! This time we’re using tissue paper and PVA.

What you need:

Black sugar paper and some things to draw around
Colourful tissue paper
Slightly diluted PVA Glue and pritstick
Paint Brush
A poly pocket to work on
Scissors

How to make your suncatcher:

To make your suncatcher frame, use two round objects and draw around them.
Cut your paper frame out.
Place your ring inside your poly pocket.
Cut your tissue paper into little squares.
Paint PVA glue on the pocket over the inner edge of the frame but not the outer edge.
Place your tissue paper piece all over the glue and paints another layer of glue on top.
Allow to dry.
Peal the tissue paper off the pocket and glue it to your frame with pritstick.
Hang your suncatcher in a window and enjoy.

Origami Bookmark Characters

This basic origami fold is incredibly versatile, you can adapt it in anyway you would like, creating unique characters.

Origami Water Bomb!

We’re back with another origami instruction for you all. This week we are learning to make a origami water bomb.

Cheese Scones

Ingredients:

225g Self Raising Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
55g Butter
Pinch of Salt
25g Mature Ceddar
150ml Milk
1 Egg

Method:

Serve the flour and baking powder into a bowl and rub the butter in with your finger tips.
Add the milk gently with a wooden spoon to get a soft dough.
Bring the dough together with floury hands. Yup, this can be messy!
Turn out onto a floury surface and press down to about 3cm thick.
Cut out with a scone cutter and place on a baking tray with parchment.
Whisk egg and wash the top of scones.
Bake at 210 degrees for 12-15 minutes

For a delicious alternative, melt a tablespoon of marmite into the milk on the hob, then cool in the fridge before making you scones.

Delightful Decoupage!

In this post we’re going to show you how to turn an ordinary box into a special container using scraps of paper and glue.

Decoupage is a form of collage used to decorate furniture and small objects by covering them with coloured paper, magazine cutouts and other decorative elements.

You will Need

A box to decorate (a shoe box or small, sturdy cardboard box is ideal)
Papers to decorate with (scraps of wrapping paper and old magazines are perfect)
Glue (PVA if you have it but a glue stick will work just fine)
If you’re using PVA glue a spreader is useful (a piece of scrap card works well) and a small bowl to put the glue in and water it down
Scissors

Step 1.

Select your decorative papers and cut them into pieces. Try not to cut them too big or too small; anywhere between 2cm-10cm is ideal. Squares and rectangles are easiest but any shape is fine. You could cut out images and pictures you like form magazines such as birds, people or landscapes.

Step 2.

Cover one side of your box with glue then start sticking on your pieces of paper, overlapping all the edges slightly so that all of the background is covered. Fold your paper over the edges of the box as well to give a smooth, neat finish. If you’re using PVA glue it’s worth watering it down a little bit to make it easier to work with and so that it goes further!

Step 3.

Cover the other sides of the box in the same way. You might need to let them dry out in-between so you don’t stick to the table! Make sure you don’t have any gaps and that all the edges of your paper are properly stuck down. If you’re using PVA glue remember it dries clear so don’t worry if it squidges out a bit.

Step 4.

Leave the box to dry thoroughly. If you have any bits of paper sticking over the edges now is a good time to trim them off and neaten things up.

Step 5.

To make your box more long lasting (and shiny) you could finish it off with a coat of varnish or another coat of PVA Glue. You could even decoupage or paint the inside of the box as well.

Have fun and don’t forget to share your finished makes with us!

Paper Wreath

Here we show you how to transform some cardboard and old magazines into a beautiful wreath!

You will Need:

Cardboard
Pencil
Two plates, one bigger than the other
Old magazines
Scissors
Glue
A piece of string or ribbon

Step 1.

Use the pencil to draw round the larger of the two plates on your piece of cardboard

Step 2.

Place the smaller plate inside the circle you’ve just drawn and draw round it to give you two circles

Step 3.

Cut out the circles so that you have a cardboard ring

Step 4.

Tie a piece of string or ribbon onto the ring so that you can hang the wreath

Step 5.

Select green pages from your magazine (if you want green leaves, you could have any colour) and cut out lots of leaf shapes. Try and make them slightly different sizes.

We made ours by folding the magazine pages in half and cutting half a leaf shape which we could then open out, giving us a more 3D effect.

Step 6.

Start gluing your leaves onto the cardboard ring. Tuck them underneath each other and work your way around. We only glued the ends of our leaves so that they would stick up a bit and not be too flat

Work your way all around the ring

Step 7.

Cut some petal shapes and small circles from your magazines to make flowers

Step 8.

Glue your petals and centres on top of the leaves. Think about how many flowers you’d like and where you’d like them. I put a few on one side

When you’re happy with the arrangement hang your wreath up and admire your handiwork! Don’t forget to show us how you got on!

Fat Balls

One of our core beliefs at Heathlands is that we should do all we can to protect and encourage nature.

Recently we have donated some of our land to a local bee keepers group and they have been planting some wonderful species that will support both bee’s and other wildlife.

Over the winter we were also very fortunate to have 240 tree saplings donated by the Woodland Trust, with the aim of improving our migratory hedgerow with a diverse range of native species.

So how can you help nature while at home?

This week we’re making fat balls to feed wild birds! We hope you you enjoy our video, we had a lot of fun making it. Follow the link below:

Good quality bird seed
Raisins – optional
Peanuts – optional
Mealworms – optional
Suet or lard
Yoghurt pots
String
Mixing bowl
Scissors

Method:

Carefully make a small hole in the bottom of your yoghurt pot. Thread a length of string about 30cm long, through the hole and tie a knot on the inside. The string should be longer on one side than on the other.

The best ratio for this recipe is one part fat to two parts dry mixture. Mix all your dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Melt some lard or suet in a pan and add to the dry mix. Stir well until the fat has all been absorbed and the mixture sticks together.

Fill your yoghurt pots with the mixture and put them in the fridge to set for an hour.

Carefully cut down the side of the yoghurt pots to remove and hang in your garden for the birds to enjoy.

Easy-peasy Chocolate Cake!

It’s great fun bringing you all these recipes, but how do I know they work? Well because while in isolation I’m making them too! With my little helper of course.

This week I wanted to find a recipe that our daughter could do, with the very bare minimum of help from me. So; no weigh chocolate cake it is!

You will need:

Ingredients:

1 cup of Self-raising Flour

1/3 cup of Cocoa Powder

1 cup of Caster Sugar – granulated will work too

1/3 cup of Butter softened

1/2 cup Milk

2 Eggs beaten

Equipment:

Cup

Mixing Bowl

Whisk

Cake Tin

Grease Proof Paper

Method:

Gather all of your ingredients and preheat your oven to 170°C.

Melt your butter and measure out your ingredients and put them in a large bowl. There is no need for sifting or sorting.

Whisk the mixture well.

Line a tin with greaseproof paper and pour in.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Let it cool and enjoy!

Cheats Sausage Rolls

How to make sausage rolls at home – this recipe will make 5-6 sausage rolls depending on how thick you make them.

Ingredients:

Pre-made puff pastry *

6 Sausages you like

1 Egg *

Flour * for dusting

Optional: black onion seeds or poppy seeds for decorating

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 190°C.

Remember; you should ALWAYS wash your hands before and after cooking. This is very important as you are handling raw meat.

Remove the casings from your sausages and whisk the egg in a bowl.

Roll out your pastry sheet onto a dusted surface to stop it sticking. Add your sausage meat in a line, leaving enough space to fold over the pastry and egg wash next to it.

“Crimp” the edges of the pastry with a fork and cut to desired length. Slit the tops, egg wash and decorate with seeds if you want to.

Place on a non-stick baking sheet or line a baking sheet with grease proof paper. Bake at 190°C for 20 minutes, allow to cool a little and enjoy!

Ingredients in BOLD * are allergens: gluten & egg.

Easter Cornflakes Nests

An easy and fun treat!

Ingredients:

50g Butter*
100g Milk or dark chocolate*
3tbsp Golden syrup
100g Cornflakes*
Chocolate eggs too decorate

Method:

Weigh out your ingredients. Put cornflakes in one bowl and chocolate / butter & syrup into another. Melt these briefly in a microwave or in the bowl over a pan of simmering water.

Pour your chocolate mixture over cornflakes when cooled a little and stir.

Spoon the mixture into 12 cupcake cases arranged on a muffin tray (or baking sheet, if you don’t have one). And add two or three chocolate eggs on top to decorate!

Allow to set and enjoy 🙂

Ingredients in bold* contain allergens: lactose [dairy] & gluten.