August is the month when a lot of us will take our summer holidays and so we may be jetting off for some relaxing beach time, adventuring somewhere exciting, or having a staycation in our own gardens. Any time away from our day-to-day routines is very welcome and whether you’re holidaying at home or away, there are some lovely crafting activities that you can enjoy with your family.
If you’re going to be by the sea, how about trying some beachcombing and then getting artistic with your finds? This can be a really fun activity for families to do together but be mindful that there are rules in place about what you can remove from the beach. It is fine to take any sea glass you are lucky enough to find as this is essentially litter, but leave the sand and pebbles where they are. You can pick up small pieces of driftwood and empty shells but within reason, remember that whatever you take could be providing a home for a tiny sea creature. If you like the idea of crafting with beach finds but in a more environmentally friendly way, then stores such as Hobbycraft sell shells and pebbles which would be a much better alternative.
Whatever you have found, or buy, there are some great ideas online for crafting. How about painting your pebbles? Rock painting as it is known is a very popular activity with many Facebook groups set up for people to post about rocks they have painted and found. You could decorate a picture frame or mirror with shells, or make a sea glass and shell wind chime. The possibilities are as endless as your imagination.
If you’d like to make something more traditional then how about your own seaside windmill? Kits are available online (www.bakerross.co.uk) and come with everything you need to construct your own windmill. And whether you’re building a sandcastle on a tropical beach, or in a sandpit in your garden, who wouldn’t feel nostalgic having their own homemade windmill to adorn the top of their castle? Just don’t forget to remove the windmill before the tide comes in!
Cranleigh Creatives ran a very successful gel printing workshop last month. We had a lot of fun and printed some fabulous and unique designs onto paper which we then made into notebooks. We have lots coming up including a dried flower workshop plus decoupage and paper marbling so plenty to keep us busy!
If you like the sound of learning new crafts with a group of likeminded people then look us up on Facebook, our group is called Cranleigh Creatives. If you’re not on Facebook but would still like to be involved, then send me an email to . We would love to welcome new members to our friendly group.
