Skip to main content

Red Good Fortune Cookies

My mother is celebrating her 90th birthday next weekend, and I was given the job of creating something as a party favour for guests coming to the event. We agreed on some criteria - a small item, not too expensive, not chocolates or lollies, preferably handmade, and something reflecting my mother's heritage and her birthday. I thought of  fans with a photo, a small clay plaque, small boxes with customised ribbon, chopsticks... then I saw felt fortune cookies on Pinterest!. Tick all the boxes and  thank you, Martha Stewart  for a step by step description.
photo from http://www.marthastewart.com/273591/felt-fortune-cookies
I used Martha Stewart's instructions to guide me....
1. Cut felt circles - the ones I cut are 10cm diameter. 
2. Cut pieces of wire and ribbon to fit inside the circles. 
3. Clean up, but dilemma - will I keep the scraps of felt for another future project? 
4. Embroider.... 

5. Count ... 
6. Glue the wire covered with ribbon on the inside of the circles. 
7. Glue the circles into closed semi circles, leaving a space for the paper fortune.
8. Having checked the wording of the fortune, print and cut out the fortunes.
 ( thanks to my niece for designing the birthday theme logo )
9. Fold and insert the  fortunes. 
10 "Bend" the fortune cookies. 
The first batch of a total of 70 red good fortune cookies. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks ....  The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and  message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or  my husband or from off cuts gifted to us  from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks.   Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt  or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...

From my workshop page....

  Current Workshops  Offerings  Thinking of a workshop for your group in  2022?    Art Doll Workshops : -  Garden Thread Dolls  (one day workshop   -  WoW -(Woman of Wisdom)    - embellished stump doll with either cloth head or clay head.  This is an a rt doll workshop .... either offered as a series of workshops or  2 full days  days!   -  Message/Story  Stick doll  - doll made with found objects and upcycled cloth.  ( one day)    -  Elemental totems  - stick doll variation , with sculpture  ( one or two days, depending on surface decoration of fabric)  TEXTILE AND MIXED MEDIA WORKSHOPS    Temari - embroidered wrapped balls in traditional style.    - Dipping Into Tea  - tea and embroidery on canvas with photo transfer on fabric.  ( two days)  work by Judith Bee, workshop participant.  - Tea Bag sculpture : ...

"Temari Or Not Temari?" Tutorial

 Background Information:  Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start  with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound  silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap.  2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...