Lucy Corkhill

By Lucy Corkhill

10th February 2013

Three simple and fun crafty ideas to celebrate the year of the Snake. Chinese New Year falls on 10th February and this is the year of the SNAKE! The Chinese animal zodiac follows a twelve year cycle and the belief is that people born during that year take on the characteristics of the animal.

Lucy Corkhill

By Lucy Corkhill

10th February 2013

Lucy Corkhill

By Lucy Corkhill

10th February 2013

Baby due this year? Snakes are apparently charming, patient and wise. They enjoy the finer things in life and prefer not to rely on other people.
Have fun getting crafty with your kids making a snake. We’ve got three different snake-making ideas so pick the one you like – or make them all!

SPIRALING SNAKE
What you’ll need:
Glue, scissors, black pen, white paper, needle
A paper plate or similar sized cut out piece of cardboard
Coloured paints
String or ribbon
Small piece of red paper or ribbon
Bubble wrap (optional)
Goggly eyes (optional)
How to make the snake:
• On the plate or round piece of cardboard, draw a spiral starting from the outer edge and gradually getting wider at the middle (where the snake’s head will be).
• Paint your snake the desired colours. Zig zag patterns look particularly effective.
• Carefully cut out the snake, following your spiral pattern. The snake’s head at the centre should be the largest part of the spiral, and the tail should taper away to the edge.
• You can now add a forked tongue by cutting one out of the red paper, or simply sticking a piece of red ribbon to the head of your snake.
• Add goggly eyes if you have some, draw them on with a black pen, or try cut out discs of white paper.
• If you have some, small bubble wrap makes a great addition – it looks like scaly snake skin.
• Using a needle, make a hole in the tail of your snake and push the string or ribbon through. Affix securely and you can then hang your snake up and enjoy it spiraling down.

RECYCLED TIE SNAKE
Got an old tie somewhere in the cupboard gathering dust? Use it to make a tie snake!
What you’ll need:
An old tie
Stuffing (can buy this from craft shops or use old tights)
Wire coat hanger
Needle and thread
Red ribbon
Buttons, sequins (optional)
How to make the snake:
• Straighten out the wire coat hanger, making sure there are no sharp edges (it might be worth bending the ends over with a pair of pliers).
• Insert the straightened coat hanger into the end of the old tie.
• Stuff the tie using the stuffing or a cut up pair of old tights making sure it’s not too lumpy!
• When your snake is as plump as you’d like him to be, sew up the bottom of the tie (the thin end) and sew a red ribbon tongue onto the thick end.
• You can add attractive decoration to your snake, including button eyes and pretty sequin scales, using glue or needle and thread.
• When your snake is finished, you can wrap him around things because of the bendy wire coat hanger – what about bending him around a bed post or banister?

BOTTLE TOP RATTLE SNAKE
What you’ll need:
As many bottle tops as you can get your hands on – at least 10 but more like 20!
Green tissue paper
PVA glue and paintbrush
A long piece of sturdy string
A drill
Cardboard loo roll tube
Goggly eyes (optional)
A selection of beads
How to make the snake:
• Tear the green tissue paper into toilet paper sheet sized pieces. Using a paintbrush, coat in PVA glue and cover each bottle top, wrapping the tissue paper around it. Also cover the loo roll tube in green tissue paper.
• Leave the glue and tissue paper to dry somewhere warm.
• When dry, drill a hole in the top of the all the bottle tops (always supervise children when using machinery and perhaps prepare this part beforehand).
• Make two holes with a skewer or pen at the end of the loo roll tube, opposite one another.
• Thread the string through the bottle tops one by one and then through the first hole in the loo roll tube, followed by the next hole. Now thread the string all the way back through the bottle tops so you have two ends of string at the ‘tail’.
• Tie the two ends together in a knot, leaving about 10cm at the end. You can add beads to these end pieces and secure with knots. This is optional, but does create a fun rattling sound!
• Now you can add eyes to the loo roll tube and a forked tongue if you wish.

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