How to Draw… a Flower #4

A Three Dimensional (3D) Flower

In this weeks blog we are continuing with more flower drawings.

We are in the last week of The Wildlife Trusts #30dayswild, and we love celebrating the rich habitats and wildlife we have on our doorstep here at Heathlands.

To draw your 3D flower…

You will need:

Paper
A pencil
A pen
An eraser / rubber

How to draw a wildflower – cow parsley:

Using your pencil, begin by drawing an oval.
Draw a curved line under this as shown, to create a “bowl” or “goblet” shape.
Add a smaller bowl shape to the bottom of this.
Draw parallel lines down from the bottom bowl to create a stem for your flower.
Draw the flowers “sepals”. The part of the flower between the stem and the petals.
Draw your individual petals, following the curve of the bowl shape. Do the foreground petals first and add the background one after.
Add “stamens” growing out from the centre / inside of your flower.
Complete your drawing by going over your finished sketch with a fine liner. Allow this to dry for 5-10 minutes before rubbing out your pencil lines.
And you are done! You can add colour now if you wish.

You can watch our video tutorial here:

How to Draw… Flower #3

Flower Heads from Different Angles

For our final mini tutorial on how-to-draw flowers, we are looking at how we can change the perspective of our drawing, through simple changes in our drawing technique.

We hope you are all enjoying the #30dayswild activities that are being shared on the Heathlands Facebook Page and we would love to see any of the creative things you have been up to.

You will need:

Paper
A pencil
A rubber
A pen

How to draw a flower heads from different angles:

We are going to start by drawing our flowers first this time. Begin by drawing two (2) simple flowers with long petals like in picture one (1).
Next draw a third flower, this time draw the petals at the top and bottom a little shorter, and the petals on one side a lot shorter.
For our final two (2) flowers, draw the centre as “little domes” and only draw petals coming off the side or off the bottom. This way the are facing a different direction, sideways or upwards!
Finally connect your flowers with some stems and add foliage like we did in our first flower tutorial which you can find here: How to Draw… Flower #1

You can watch our video tutorial here:

How to Draw… Flower #2

A Petalled Flower with Lobed Leaves

Welcome to our latest “hot-to-draw” mini tutorial! These instructions and video’s are all about improving our drawing skills and thinking differently about the simple things we can draw to make them even better.

This week sees the start of our #30dayswild activities with The Wildlife Trusts here at Heathlands, so drawing flowers seems very appropriate!

This is the second in our flower series and this time we are thinking about how to draw petals in an alternative way.

You will need:

Paper
A pencil
A rubber
A pen

How to draw a petalled flower:

Begin by drawing two (2) stems connected together like a long U shape, flaring out slightly at the top.
Pencil in two outwardly curvy triangles at the top of each stem.
Add a domed top to each triangle and make a smaller triangle at the bottom of each with a line. You can also add extra stems and flowers if you wish.
Draw long, curved, upside-down triangles to form the petals of your flower heads. The colour in the bottom triangle.
Complete your flower by adding long lobbed leaves and foliage!

You can watch our video tutorial here:

How to Draw… Flower #1

A Wildflower – Cow Parsley

Next in our mini-series of “how-to-draw” tutorials, is flowers!

Here at Heathlands we are blessed with an amazing 8 & 1/2 acres of woodland, pasture, gardens and wetland. We have a huge variety of wildflowers, we are cataloguing these on our Facebook here: Wildflower Post

It is also June, which means we have started our #30dayswild activities here at Heathlands. You can join in at home by going to The Wildlife Trusts website.

You will need:

Paper
A pencil or a pen

How to draw a wildflower – cow parsley:

Begin by drawing two (2) stems. One main stem and a secondary stem coming off the first.
Add six (6) curved stalks radiating out from the end of each stem. The centre two (2) stalks should be the longest and the outer two (2) the shortest.
Draw two (2) or three (3) foliage stalks coming off the main stems.
Add delicate feather-like foliage to the stalks from step three (3).
Complete your wildflower by adding little “stars” * to the tips of your flower stalks.

You can watch our video tutorial here:

How to Draw a Knotwork Wreath

Step by step instructions for an interlacing wreath

We have bee concentrating on our drawing skills at Heathlands lately and this post is no different.

This time we are making things a little more complicated with a knotwork wreath, made of two interlocking or interlacing circles.

You will need:

Paper
A pencil
A pen
Something round or a compass
A ruler

How to draw a your knotwork wreath:

Begin by drawing a circle.
Make 12 evenly spaced point around your circle. Much like the points on a clock.
At each point, draw an arrow. Your arrows should all point in the same direction.
Inside each arrow create a little diamond.
From inside your arrowheads, draw curved lines to the previous arrow and finish them parallel to them. See images for help. Repeat all the way round.
From the open ends of your arrows, draw more curved lines, meeting up with the diamonds of the previous arrowheads. Again see images for help. Repeat until complete!

You can colour or decorate your wreath as you wish. I have yet to experiment, however, I believe that if you use an odd number of arrows to start with, you will end up with one continuous interlacing circle, rather than two!

You can watch our video tutorial here:

How to Draw a Heart #3

Heart Wreath with Cursive Text

Our current series of mini drawing films is concentrating on how to draw hearts. For this how-to we are learning how to draw a shamrock of knotwork hearts.

You will need:

Paper
Coloured pencil or a crayon in green
Metallic marker pen

How to draw your layered hearts:

Begin by drawing a large “scribbly” heart with you green crayon or pencil.
Next add lobe shaped leaves all the way around your heart.
Finally add your desired message over the top of you wreath with a metallic marker. You could print out a font to trace or draw your lettering in pencil lightly and go over in marker when you are happy.

You can watch our video tutorial here:

How to Draw a Heart #2

Heart Shamrock Knotwork

Welcome to a new mini art instruction!

Our current series of mini drawing films is concentrating on how to draw hearts. For this how-to we are learning how to draw a shamrock of knotwork hearts.

You will need:

Paper
A pencil or a pen

How to draw your layered hearts:

Begin by drawing four heart with the bottom points, pointing at each other.
From the bottom of each heart, draw short lines on the same path as one of the side of the hearts pointing towards the heart counter clockwise to it, then draw a small square in the centre.
Draw parallel lines to the right hand side of each heart joining the square in the centre.
Repeat step 3 for the left hand sides.
Your heart knotwork shamrock is complete!

You can watch our video tutorial here:

How to Draw a Heart #1

Layered Hearts

In our latest set of mini art films we are learning how to draw hearts in different ways. Our first film shows you how to draw a series of four (4) hearts that are layered and interconnected.

You will need:

Paper
A pencil or a pen
Coloured felt tips / pencils / crayons

How to draw your layered hearts:

Begin by drawing a heart, you can do this in pencil first, or go straight in with your colouring medium.
Draw a second, smaller heart, down and to the right of the first.
Next draw a line with a fine liner or black felt tip, the shape you are drawing is the left side of a heart. It should start in the middle of the large heart and end below it.
Repeat step three but drawing the right side of a heart. You should start above the small heart and the lines should join at the bottom.
To complete your drawing, from the left-hand “half a heart” begin drawing the other side and as you come down loop the line in a figure of eight (8) back up and over itself to form the right hand side of the “half a heart” on the right.

You can watch our video tutorial here:

How to Draw… Star #3

3D Knotwork Star

In our latest mini video we are learning to draw another star. This week we are doing something a little more complicated, a three dimensional (3D) knotwork star.

Each week we will present a new shape, idea or technique, with the intention of building our skills and having fun at the same time.

You will need:

Paper
A pencil or a pen

How to draw a simple knotwork star:

Begin by drawing a series of five (5) lines or “spokes”, radiating out from each other, with a very small pentagon in the centre.
Pick one of your five (5) spokes to start with, then draw a line parallel to the next spoke clockwise from the top, then another line from the middle. Close these two (2) new lines off and draw another line down towards the the next spoke round again. This can be seen in picture two (2)
Repeat step two (2) until you have completed your star!

You can watch our video tutorial here:

How to Draw… Star #1

Simple Knotwork Star

We are starting a series of mini video’s here at Heathlands, all about how to draw!

Each week we will present a new shape, idea or technique, with the intention of building our skills and having fun at the same time.

You will need:

Paper
A pencil or a pen

How to draw a simple knotwork star:

Begin by drawing a pentagon.
From your pentagon base, continue your lines outwards and then hook back towards the opposite edge of the pentagon. Do not join these lines up!
Follow the contours of these lines further out. Starting from the

You can watch our video tutorial here:

How to Draw… Star #2

Complex Five Pointed Star

This is the second in our new mini series on how to draw.

Each week we will be presenting a new shape, idea or technique, with the intention of building our skills and having fun at the same time.

You will need:

Paper
A pencil or a pen

How to draw a complex five pointed star:

Follow these four easy steps to draw your star…

Begin by drawing three (3) intersecting lines. They should cross each other about 1/3 from the centre point.
Add a further two (2) lines so that you have five (5) short “spokes” & five (5) long.
Outline or join up your ten (10) spokes.
Your star is complete and ready to colour in if you wish.

You can watch our video tutorial here:

Drawing with a Difference #3

We are continuing with our new Drawing with a Difference series today, promoting the idea of drawing without traditional mediums or tools.

For this instalment we are exploring pixel art further, by using paper collage as our drawing method.

You can find our live video here:

https://www.facebook.com/Heathlands.Cumbria/videos/738797261074582

What you will need:

Colourful paper cut into equal sized squares
Card to paste your collage to
A glue stick
Squared paper
Pencils or felt tips to plan your design

How to make your pixel art collage:

Plan out your design using the squared paper and felt tips. You can always use google for inspiration!
Cut enough squares of equal size to complete your artwork.
Find the centre of your design, then mark the centre of your card.
Starting with the centre 4 squares, begin gluing your design.
Continue working outwards until you are done!

Drawing with a Difference #1

Here at Heathlands we love to explore new and exciting ways we can express ourselves with Arts & Crafts.

With this in mind we are starting a new series of live demonstrations, short videos and blog posts, for you to have a go at “drawing with a difference”. So, what do we mean by this? Quite simply we mean drawing, with anything but pencil and paper.

Our first session went live yesterday, Monday 27th February 2023 and the link to the video can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/Heathlands.Cumbria/videos/1359988764543889

Drawing with a Difference Session #1 – LEGO!!!

The inspiration for the first of our sessions is pixel art, a method for creating images with small squares or pixels.

For this activity we decided it would be really fun to use Lego Dots, as our pixels as they are movable and easy to use. We also decided to draw a polar bear, Monday was international polar bear day!

What you will need:

A Lego base plate
Lego Dots
Your imagination!

How to make your dot / pixel picture:

First you need to decide what you are going to “draw”.
select your colours and start with key features or if you prefer an outline of your idea.
Fill in your work, moving your pixels if needed.
Repeat as much as you like!

Below are some examples of pixel pictures we have made, including a few step by step images of the polar bear.

Step by step polar bear, you can also find a stop-motion here: https://youtu.be/3QcqkYIWqNU

Secret Valentines

If like us you are a romantic at heart this fun and easy Valentine’s Day card is a whimsical craft that you can easily do at home!

Wax relief or resist, is a simple and versatile technique where a white crayon or oil pastel is used to draw “invisibly” on white paper, then painted over to reveal the design. It is very important that it is an oil pastel and NOT chalk.

For this craft we thought having the recipient reveal the design for themselves was a fun and unusual quirk for a card.

You will need:

An A5 piece of white card or watercolour paper, folded in half
An A6 envelope
A white wax crayon or white oil pastel
Water soluble colouring pencils
A pen to write your message inside

How to make your card:

Using your crayon or oil pastel, draw your design heavily onto the front of the card.
With your water soluble pencils, colour in randomly around your design. Be careful not to colour over the crayon or pastel. You may need to check where you drew but tilting the card to see the design.
Write a message inside, including instructions to “colour in” the front with water.
Deliver your card!

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!

Spring Origami Flowers

Known as “Kusudama”, these beautiful flowers are simple to make and can be adapted for lots of occations.

You will need:

x5 sheets of origami paper per flower
x1 pipe cleaner
x1 lollipop stick
Glue stick

How to make your flower:

Taking a 15x15cm or 10x10cm square of origami paper, with the wrong side up, fold it in half diagonally.
Fold the outer tips inwards and upwards to meat the point at the top.
Fold these flaps back down so that the long centre edge meets the outer shorter edge.
Open this flap out and fold down to create a kite shape.
Fold the top of the kite shape down and back up again as shown in the pictures.
Fold the kite shape inward in half like below.
Glue the left flap to the right flap to create your petal cone.
Repeat 4 more times.
Glue together with pipe cleaner twisted on itself to make a nodding head and glue this to the lollipop stick for its stalk.

Origami Zebra and Tiger

Here is another origami instruction from Monday Arts Live, this time a zebra and tiger!

You will need:

2 squares of paper and a surface to work on
Pritt Stick
Paint, palette & brushes if you are decorating your paper with paint, or you can use pencils, felt tips or ink.

How to make your lion:

For your zebra decorate two of your squares of paper with black wiggly stripes and the same on orange paper for your tiger.
Follow the instructions below for how to fold, or follow the link to our Facebook Art Live video for how to decorate your own paper.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=968214173923580&ref=watch_permalink

Eva Stamps!

This week at Heathlands we have been making stamping blocks! These are really simple to create and are a great way of getting creative and decorative with your crafts.

We’ve made our stamps to be interchangeable, meaning that the number of stamps you can create are only limited by the scale of your imagination.

To make your stamps you will need:

Eva foam / funky foam
Sticky back velcro / hook and loop tape
A block of wood
Staple gun
Scissors
Pencil / pen

To use your stamp you will need:

Flat paint tray
Poster paints / acrylics
Paper / material to stamp on

How to make your:

Stick the hook side of your velcro onto your wooden block.
Staple to secure at each end.
Draw your desired shapes for your stamps onto the eva foam making sure not to make them any larger than the block of wood.
Cut out your shapes and add the loop (soft) velcro tape onto the back. Remember that your stamp shapes will reverse or “mirror” when you are stamping. So draw letters and numbers the wrong way round.
You are ready to print! Pick your favourite paint colours and add an even layer to your stamp and get printing. You may need to gently rock your stamp to get it even.
Remember not over load your stamp or it will slide.
Have fun!

Other idea’s for simple stamps include: leaves, flowers, simple shapes, birthday balloons, snowflakes and Christmas tree’s.

Origami Giraffe

We’ve been working on our origami again here at Heathlands. This week we’ve decorated paper and folded a giraffe. You can follow our instructions below and watch our live video as well.

You will need:

2 squares of paper and a surface to work on
Pritstick
Paint, palette, brushes and a sponge if you are decorating your paper

How to make your giraffe:

Decorate your squares of paper with a yellow fur texture, allow this to dry, then use a rough sponge and brown paint to create splodges for your giraffe.
Follow the instructions below for how to fold, or follow the link to our Facebook Art Live video.

Minion Memo Board!

Here at Heathlands we will soon be opening our brand new and renovated portacabin! It was designated “blue bubble”, however we wanted to make the space as warm and cheery as possible. So, the space will be decorated with both blue and yellow. Thus Minnion Bubble was born.

With that in mind, I thought for this weeks craft we would make something for our new space. A memo board inspired by minions! We’re using lightweight denim and yellow ribbons for our theme, but you can use any colours or patterns you like.

What you will need:

A wooden board or piece of MDF

Fabric

Ribbon

Quilt wading

Decorative upholstery tacks

Picture hanging fixings

Staple gun

Scissors

Screwdriver or cordless drill with phillips head bit

How to make your memo board:

Make sure your board has no sharp edges and sand off anything you think might snag your fabric.
Place your board on top of your wadding, leaving a gap around the edge so that you can wrap the wadding around to the top.
Cut the wadding to size.
Cut your fabric to the same size or every so slightly larger.
Wrap the wading and fabric around the board, and starting from the centres of the sides, working out, staple them down. Periodically check that the fabric is stretching evenly.
Starting from one corner, staple your ribbon from the back, and wrap it diagonally around the front of the board. Cut the ribbon after each wrap. Work along the board, making sure to leave even gaps.
Repeat step six in the opposite direction to create a diamond pattern with your ribbons.
Use your decorative upholstery tacks to pin down the ribbons at each point where they cross.
Attach hanging fixtures to the back, put up on your wall and enjoy!

Beaded Suncatcher

A few weeks back we decided to follow up our #30dayswild nature dreamcatcher craft from The Wildlife Trusts with a suncatcher.

The craft was for one of our Facebook art live shows, so I thought I would write a blog post with instructions on how to make your own.

What you need:

A sturdy stick to hang your beads around
Wire
Glass beads
Twine
Small pliers / wire cutters
Scissors

How to make your suncatcher:

Cut 5 lengths of wire, x1 30cm, x2 25cm and x2 20cm
Place a small bead about 2cm from the end of each wire, turn the wire back on itself and twist together.
Thread each wire with your favourite glass beads, leaving 4cm to wrap around your stick.
Arrange your wires: small, medium, long, medium, small, along your stick, around 3cm apart.
Cut a length of garden twine around one and half to two times the length of your stick and tie it to either end of your stick.
Hang your suncatcher in a window and enjoy.

Origami Crane

Over the years Helen T has made hundreds of these iconic origami cranes. Did you know that Japanese folklore says that a person who makes 1000 cranes may have a wish granted by the gods! Better get cracking then…

Origami Lily

Helen T has been making these lilies since she was a child. They are a little fiddlier than the other fold we’ve done but with patience and practice they’re a wonderful origami make.

Origami Tadpole

As spring has sprung we thought we would share a cute and simple origami tadpole with you all. Happy folding!

Homemade Breakfast Sauce

Breakfast or brown sauce is a delicious accompaniment to a full English breakfast or a simple sausage sarnie, and while there are a couple of unusual ingredients, it’s really easy to make!

This recipe requires a food processor, smoothie maker or stick blender.

Ingredients:

1tbsp oil

200g chopped onion

200g dates or prunes halved

600g cooking apples, cored and chopped, there’s no need to peel them!

500ml balsamic vinegar

200g muscovado or dark soft brown sugar

3tbsp tamarind paste

40g root ginger peel and chopped

4 cloves

1tsp grated nutmeg

2tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Add a couple of chillies or a good dash of tabasco to add a kick to your sauce.

Method:

Heat the oil and gently cook the onions with a pinch of salt for 10 minutes.
Add all the other ingredients, mix well and simmer for 30 minutes.
Blend together. Be careful transferring the mixture, it will be very hot!
Put into sterilised jars and leave for a week or two to mature. This can be stored for up to 6 months.

Quesadilla’s

This is a fantastic and easy lunch time snack! Quesadillas are a mexican street food and you can adapt them to your own taste. You could make them spicy, serve with salsa, guacamole or sour cream, or just enjoy them as they are. Substitute cheese for lactose free and these snack can be vegan as well!

Ingredients:

This is to make 1 quesadilla.
x2 Soft tortilla wraps
50g grated cheddar cheese – about a handful
1 spring onion chopped
2-3 cherry tomatoes quartered
1 baby corn sliced
1-2 mushrooms sliced
1⁄4 pepper sliced
You can add any veg you like really. If you’d like to make it spicy, add chilli or chipotle paste, you could switch the cheese for feta, add some cooked sweet potato, chorizo, chicken or even left over chilli con . These are a great versatile snack to use what’s in your fridge!

Method:

Using a heavy bottomed frying pan on a medium heat, add one of your wraps. You don’t need oil!
Add half of your cheese.
Add your fillings.
Add the rest of your cheese on top.
Add the second wrap and gently press down.
Allow the tortilla to toast to a deep golden brown then flip and
allow the other side to toast as well.
Serve by quartering your quesadilla and enjoy!

Origami Dragonfly

This week we are trying an origami fold with a difference. You may not know, but many traditional origami folds involves cutting! In this form the practice is known as kirigami and like origami it does not use glue.

This dragonfly is finished with two small cuts to form its double wings.

Will will load a video soon to help guide you.

Origami Christmas Bird

This week for our origami I thought we would try a cute little bird! Why not make them with red paper and use them as Christmas ornaments for your tree?

Origami Fish

This week for our origami we are making a cute little fish! The folding at the start of these instructions are important to lay out the structure for the subsequent folds.

We will upload a video to help explain very soon.

Remembrance Day Poppy Origami

Here at Heathlands we are very proud of the support our members have given to the poppy appeal over the years. For many years now we have staffed the poppy appeal table at our local ASDA but due to restrictions this year we cannot. So instead we are making poppies to sell here!

Here are our origami instructions for you to make your own poppy at home. We will update the post with a video when it has been loaded to YouTube.

You will need:

x1 15cm square of red paper

x 1 10cm square of black paper

How to make it:

1. Fold your red paper in half lengthways in both directions and then again diagonally. Four folds in total. Repeat this with your black paper.

2. With your paper in half diagonally, fold in the widest points to match the top points. Again repeat this for the black piece.

3. Insert the black piece of paper into the red as above, taking care to make sure all the folds match.

4. With the closed folds facing towards you and the open end away, turn up each flap, folding it to the middle. Repeat this, turn your work over and repeat again on the other side.

5. Fold your work in half from top to bottom, so the top point meets the bottom.

6. Open this fold out so that the top layer goes up, the next layer turns outward and the bottom layer remains down.

7. Flatten out your poppy and turn back the points of the petals and points on the centre to “round” the flower off.

And your poppy is complete!

Origami Puppy

This origami fold is a little more complicated than previous activities we have done, but the extra work is definitely worth it!

This week for our paper folding, we thought it would be fun to make a little decorative friend. All you’ll need is a piece of square paper and two googly eyes.

To make your own cute puppy friend follow video and the instructions below:

Origami Frog

To coincide with our special activity book edition, kindly supported by Cumbria Wildlife Trust, we thought we’d share this lovely frog / toad origami fold.

This one is a little bit trickier as the folds get quite dense. But we’ve made a video to coincide with visual instructions to help you out. Both can be found below:

Gluten / Lactose Free Plum and Rhubarb Crumble

This delicious classic dessert is warming and seasonal. Plums are perfect this time of year and rhubarb is still plentiful. We served with ice cream, but custard would be awesome too!

We’ve made this recipe using the cup quantity method, just like our Easy Peasy Chocolate Cake!

Ingredients for filling:

2 cups plums halved and de-stoned

2 cups rhubarb roughly chopped

⅓ cup of gluten free flour

⅓ cup of brown sugar

Ingredients for crumble topping:

⅔ cup of gluten free oats

½ cup of dark brown sugar

¼ cup of gluten free flour

3tbsp set coconut oil

1tbsp vegetable oil

1tbsp cinnamon powder

½ tsp sea salt

Flaked almonds to decorate if wanted

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 190 degrees C
In a medium pyrex dish or deep oven pan, gently combine the filling ingredients.
For the crumble topping. Combine all the ingredients, rubbing together until it is crumbly!
Sprinkle it over the filling and bake until the crumble topping is deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Around 40-45 minutes.
Set aside to cool for 15 minutes before serving and enjoy!

Ingredients in bold are allergens.

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

This delicious take on a Sunday dinner classic is vegetarian and gluten free! You can garnish as you see fit, we served with croutons [not gluten free!], but you could add some chucks of cheese or even some crispy fried onions.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion finely chopped

½ cauliflower roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 gluten free stock cube

150g of mature cheddar cheese

Method:

Add a little oil to a large saucepan and gentle fry the onions for a minute.
Add the cauliflower and garlic and gently fry for 3-4 minutes.
Cover with boiling water and add the stock cube. Simmer until the cauliflower is soft.
Blend with a sick blender or in a food processor.
Stir in your cheese until melted and serve!

Paper Airplane

We are back with another installment of our paper folding activities!

This week we’ve made some durable paper airplanes. These are made with standard A4 paper. You could even “up-cycle” a piece that’s already be printed / drawn on and no longer in use. Or why not decorate your paper before you fold?

Our YouTube video shows you how to make your own plane or you can follow the instructions below.

Happy flying!

Pom-Pom Ice cream

These pom-poms are fun and easy to make and you can use different colours to make them look like different ice cream flavours!

You will need:

Yarn
Card or paper, cream coloured if you have it
Cardboard
Scissors
Brown Felt tip pen
Glue stick

Step 1.

Make your ice cream (pom pom!)

Cut a squared off ‘U’ shape from your cardboard.

Step 2.

Wrap your yarn around the ‘U’ until it’s nice and thick.

Step 3.

Tie a piece of yarn as tightly as you can around the middle of your yarn wraps.

Step 4.

Cut each end of the yarn wrap, as shown and then give your pom pom a trim!

Step 5.

Make your cone!

Use the brown felt tip pen to draw a grid of squares onto your paper. We used a piece of A4 paper which we then cut in half so we could make two cones.

Step 6.

Roll your paper into a cone shape, using a bit of glue to secure it, and then trim the top.

Step 7.

Put your ‘ice cream’ into your ‘cone’ and you’re done!

Have fun and don’t forget to tell us how you got on!

Origami Hearts

This beginners origami activity is only takes a minute to make and is a lovely decoration for cards or how about putting them in a window?

Below are simple picture instructions as well as a video you can follow along with.

Happy folding!

Stained Glass Effect Cards

These stained glass effect cards are created using tracing paper and felt tip pens and look really effective displayed in a window.

You will need:

Tracing paper
Felt tip pens
Window cards (cards with a window already cut in or make your own!)
Pencil
Scrap paper (to practice your design)
Glue stick

Step 1.

Place the ‘window’ of your card on top of your scrap paper and trace the window shape. You can then practice your design in this shape, you could repeat this several times to make several designs. Simple designs that you can divide into colourful sections work best, have a look at our examples to give you some ideas.

Step 2.

Put your ‘window’ on top of the tracing paper and using the pencil lightly trace the shape of the window.

Step 3.

Place your design (on the scrap paper) underneath the tracing paper, matching it up with the window shape you traced. You can now use this as a guide to copy your design onto the tracing paper, use the pencil to lightly trace the design.

Step 4.

Use the felt tip pens to colour in your design, try to choose strong bright colours for the best results.

Step 5.

To really make it look like stained glass you can outline each colourful section with a black pen.

Step 6.

Cut your completed stained glass window out, leaving about 1-2 cm border all the way around.

Step 7.

Put some glue on the border of the tracing paper and glue it into the window of the card.

Have fun and don’t forget to show us how you get on!

How to Make Paper Beads

Making paper beads is really easy and a good way to use up bits of decorative paper or pretty magazine pages.

You will need:

Paper (magazine pages, patterned paper or anything you want to use up)
Pencil
Ruler
Scissors
Glue
Stick or something similar to roll your beads on.

Step 1.

On the back of your paper use the ruler and pencil to mark out strips. The wider the strips you mark out the wider your bead will be.

We made marks along the top and bottom of our paper and then joined them up with the ruler and pencil to make our strips.

Step 2.

Cut out your strips.

Step 3.

Place a strip of paper face down in front of you and cover it in glue, leaving a small section (about 1-2 cm) at the top un-glued.

Place your stick on this un-glued section and then begin rolling the strip of paper around the stick.

Keep rolling till the end of the strip then slide the roll off the stick. You’ve made your first bead! Keep going and make some more.

Step 4.

You can try this technique with triangles as well as strips of paper. Why not make a few of each type of bead?

Have fun and don’t forget to show us how you get on!

Pressed Flower Pictures

There’s so many beautiful flowers around at the moment but they don’t last forever! Here’s an activity to help you preserve some of your favourites.

You will need:

Flowers and leaves*
A couple of heavy books (not precious ones)
Paper towels/sheets of kitchen roll
A picture frame, an old one is fine
Card cut to the size of your picture frame
Glue stick

*Remember to be very careful when collecting flowers; it’s best not to pick wildflowers unless you are certain it is a common one and there’s lots of it. Also, watch out for nettles! Thinner flowers work best for this, anything too thick won’t fit between the pages of your book.

Step 1.

Dry your flowers

Open your heavy book somewhere near the middle and lay your chosen flowers and leaves between layers of paper towels. The paper towels help the flowers dry out and also protect the pages of your book. Space them out and try not to let them overlap. You can put several sheets of towels and flowers in one book, just remember to space them out.

Step 2.

Close the book and if you can put another heavy book on top. Leave for at least a week to let the flowers flatten and dry out. When the flowers are dried out you’re ready to make your picture.

Step 3.

Make your Picture

On your piece of card arrange your dried flowers. Keep moving them around until you are happy with the arrangement. When you’re happy use a tiny bit of glue to hold each flower in place.

Step 4.

Carefully put your picture into the picture frame and put the frame back together.

Step 5.

Put your picture up and admire!

Have fun and don’t forget to show us how you get on!

Gluten Free Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients

185g Gluten free plain flour
85g Vegetable margarine
225g Grated strong cheddar
1tsp Salt
1tbsp Garlic power
2 Free range egg yolks
1tbsp Water

Method

Preheat oven to 160° and line baking sheet with silicone paper or bakers parchment.
Weigh off all dry ingredients and marg. to processor and combine.
Add cheese and combine.
Slowly add egg yolk first and then water until mixture forms a ball within the
food processor.
Turn out dough and knead well.
Split in half and roll out dough onto a liberally flour dusted surface very thin.
Perhaps 1/8inch thick if you can manage.
Cut out with desired shape and place on baking tray. Chill in fridge for 1/2hr.
Bake for 20 minutes or longer depending on oven and cool on racks.
Eat with more cheese!
1tbsp 1tbsp 1tsp 1tbsp
Cayenne pepper Smoked paprika Chilli flakes
Dried Parsley

Why not spice things up and add a table spoon of chilli flakes!

Cum

Make Your Own Stamps

These little stamps are easy to make and you can use them to decorate all sorts of things like cards, wrapping paper or use them to make pictures.

You will need:

Corks
Scraps of funky foam (if you don’t have any then thin polystyrene food packaging will also work)
Pencil
Scissors
Glue (something strong like PVA works well)
Paint
Something to stamp onto (such as paper)

Step 1.

Draw the shapes you would like to make stamps of onto the foam, you may find it helpful to draw around the end of your cork first so you know what size to make your design. Keep them simple!

You can add extra details to your stamps by drawing in lines with the pencil, you’ll need to press hard to make a good indent.

Step 2.

Carefully cut out your shapes.

Step 3.

Glue your shapes to the ends of your corks, use plenty of glue as it needs to be secure. Let the glue dry thoroughly.

Step 4.

Dip your stamp into your paint and then press the stamp onto your paper (or whatever you’re printing.) You’ll probably get several presses before you need to dip into the paint again. Practice until you get the right amount of paint on the stamp each time.

Step 5.

Have fun decorating with your stamps! Don’t forget to show us how you get on!

Mini Beast Masterpieces

Let’s Rock (paint)!

We’ve been spending lots of time outside recently and have been enjoying spotting some of the smaller wildlife around our site. Inspired by our mini-beast sightings we’ve created some painted version of our own and we thought we’d share how we made them so you can have a go too!

You will need:

Stones/Rocks
Paint (acrylic is ideal but any paint will do)
Varnish (if you want to put your rock creatures outside)
Googly eyes (optional)

Step 1.

Wash your stones or rocks and allow them to dry. While they’re drying you might want to plan what kind of mini beast to paint and what colours to use.

Step 2.

Paint your stone all one colour, choose the main colour of your mini beast. For example, red for a ladybird or yellow for a bumble bee. Allow this coat to dry.

Step 3.

Add some details to your painted rock so it looks like your mini beast; black spots for a ladybird and black stripes for a bee, for example. You can use our examples as a guide or make up your own!

Step 4.

If you have googly eyes, glue them on to add a bit of character. Alternatively paint some eyes on.

Step 5.

When all the paint and glue has dried you can varnish your mini beast masterpiece to finish it off.

Have fun and don‘t forget to share with us how you get on!

Felt Fish Hanging Decoration

In this post we’re going to show you how to make a felt fish hanging decoration. There’s a video up on our Facebook page too which you might find useful.

You will need:

Scissors

Needle

Thread

Pins

Felt

Buttons

Ribbon (about 50 cm, depending on how long you want your hanging)

Stuffing (toy stuffing if you have it or you can use cotton wool or scrap fabric)

Fish template (make your own or use ours!)

Step 1.

Draw or print out your fish template.

Step 2.

Fold your felt in half so you have two layers and pin the fish template onto the two layers.

Step 3.

Carefully cut out your fish.

Step 4.

Sew a button onto each fish for it’s eyes. Make sure that when you put the two sides of the fish together both eyes are on the outside!

Step 5.

Lie one fish face down on your work surface, place your ribbon on top so that it runs through the fish and then place the second fish on top, face up, so that the ribbon is sandwiched. Pin it in place so it doesn’t move as you work.

Step 6.

Sew the two fish together around their edges using running stitch, make sure you sew through the ribbon as well to hold it in place. Stop when you have a gap about 4 cm left.

Step 7.

Add a bit of stuffing to your fish, carefully poke it into the gap and use a blunt pencil to push the stuffing into the tail. You don’t need much, just a little bit to give your fish a bit of shape.

Step 8.

Sew up the gap. If you want to you can add more fish.

Have fun and don’t forget to show us how you get on!

You can watch the video on YouTube by clicking here!

Tissue Paper Jar Lanterns

Inspired by all the beautiful wild flowers blooming at the moment we’ve made a lovely tea light lantern from a jar and some tissue paper. It looks really beautiful all lit up. We’re using a battery powered tea light in ours, if you want to use a real candle remember to never leave it unattended when it’s lit and make sure it’s not near anything flammable.

You will need:

Tissue paper (we’ve used blue and green for the background and pinks and yellows for the flowers)
Glass jar (washed and dried)
Glue (PVA works well)
Scissors
Tea light

Step 1.

Cut or rip up your tissue paper for the background into small pieces. We’re making a simple design with sky, grass and flowers but you can use your imagination and either make your own design or just use a riot of colours!

Step 2.

Cut out flower shapes from your other bits of tissue paper.

Step 3.

Cover part of the jar with PVA glue and then start layering up your background tissue paper onto the glue. Work around the jar until the whole jar is covered.

Step 4.

Add spots of glue where you want your flowers and then carefully stick them on top.

Step 5.

Give the whole jar a coat of PVA and allow to dry.

Step 6.

Add in your tea light, light it up and enjoy! Have fun and don’t forget to share your makes with us!

Rhubarb Jam

We love cooking seasonally here at Heathlands and using ingredients grown on our gardens. Rhubarb is a great fruit that’s easy to grow and this very simple recipe uses only 3 ingredients!

You will need

500g Rhubarb

500g 1:1 Jam Sugar

Juice of 1 Lemon

Method

Sterilise 4 jam jars.
Wash and chop your rhubarb into 1 inch chunks.
Weigh off you rhubarb and sugar.
Juice your lemon.
Put all of your ingredients into a large pan and turn on the heat. Keep stirring the mixture so it doesn’t stick.
Bring to the boil then simmer for 10-12 minutes.
Put into jars and allow to cool

Wild Weaving!

Here’s a good project to try on a nice sunny day; head outside and see what you can collect and then create a beautiful nature weaving.

You will need:

A small forked branch or stick
Cotton string or cotton thread (embroidery thread works well)
Scissors
Natural materials to weave: grasses, stems, twigs etc. Aim for things that are fairly straight and long.

Important Notes: Only pick plants from your garden or plants that are very common and you can find a big patch of, such as grass. Try and collect materials that are already on the ground, like small twigs that have fallen from the tree. It’s a good idea to wear gloves to protect your hands and watch out for nettles!

Step 1.

The first job is to make our forked branch into a loom. To do this cut several lengths of your string, the lengths need to be long enough to stretch across the fork plus a bit extra for tying knots.

Step 2.

Tie the lengths of string across the fork of the branch, about 2-3 cm apart. Here the thread is doubled because it is quite fine but a single thread is fine.

Step 3.

Start weaving! Begin by threading one of your stems or grasses over one thread, under the next, then over the next, under the next and so on until you reach the end.

For the next stem do the same but go under the threads you went over last time and over the ones you went under.

Step 4.

Continue weaving, alternating your overs and unders until the loom is full.

Step 5.

Hang up your weaving and admire, when the plants you’ve woven have died the whole thing can go on the compost heap.

Have fun and don’t forget to show us how you get on!

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.

Colour From the Cupboard

Dip Dyed Tassels and String!

In this post we’re going to show you how to dye cotton string using food colouring. Remember those tassels we made a few posts ago? If you make some from cotton string they work perfectly for this project.

You will need:

Cotton string cut into lengths or several tassels made from cotton string
Food colouring
Water
Bowls (one for each colour)

Step 1.

First make sure your string is wet all the way through by soaking it in clean water for at least ten minutes.

Step 2.

While the string is soaking mix up bowls of food colouring. For each colour you want to use half fill a bowl with water and then add your chosen colour. Stir well to make sure it’s well mixed.

We’re using powdered food colouring here and a little bit goes a long way! If you’re using liquid food colouring you will need to add quite a bit to the water to get a strong colour.

Step 3.

If you want the whole tassel or piece of string to be one colour then carefully lower it into the bowl of food colouring and leave it to soak.

If you want to get an ombre (colour fade) effect then just dip one end of the tassel/string and leave it to allow the colour to travel up the string.

If you want to get really fancy then you could dip different parts of the string into different colours and see what happens!

Step 4.

Leave the string/tassels to absorb the colour for at least half an hour. The longer you leave them in, the stronger the finished colour.

Step 5.

Give them a quick rinse in cold water to remove excess food colouring and allow to dry. Don’t wash them too well or all the colour will come out!

Your string/tassels are now ready to use. Have fun and as always, don’t forget to show us how you get on!

Super Swirly Snakes!

Here’s a fun and easy way to make some hanging decorations inspired by snakes! We used card that was sparkly on one side but plain card works just as well. Hang them somewhere they’ll catch a breeze and enjoy watching them swirl.

You will need:

Thin Card or thick paper
Scissors
A plate or something circular to use as a template
Pencil
Colouring pens or crayons
String, thread or yarn
Optional: Print out of the snake template

Step 1.

Use the pencil to draw round your plate

Step 2.

Draw a spiral inside the circle, this might be a bit tricky so take your time! Turn your spiral into a snake, using our template as a guide

Step 3.

Decorate your snake using your colouring pens or pencils, remember to decorate both sides of the snake! We used fancy sparkly card so only needed to colour one side but if you have plain card you’ll need to colour both.

Step 4.