Crafts that make themselves.
Sometimes it happens, and when it does, it’s a bit like magic. You’re sitting there, being creative, but it’s not really you – it’s the materials, that call you and convince you to put them together, just so.
This time it started with a finishing pack of clay. Two otters had already been made, and there was just a little bit left. Some of it turned into Santos (post yet to be written). Some of it turned into a tortoise, too lopsided to be kept in plain view who is now basking daily in the sunlight by the cactuses. And some of it turned into a snake, who then coiled up into a snail. It was left to dry, and then left to gather dust for a few weeks.
Then one day it was a friend’s birthday. A friend who, incidentally, loves snails. We already had a present for her, but another one wasn’t going to hurt! So out comes the little clay snail and the bright-pink-practically-fluorescent paint (because that is her favourite colour) and the glitter (there is always a place for glitter) and the eyes (of course). Since the poor little snail couldn’t really hold itself up, I stuck it to some tiny wooden leaves I had. But something was missing, what was it?
A glass dome. A glass dome like all those glass domes that I had seen so many times obsessing over DIY arts and crafty things on the internet like I do when I have too much time on my hands and too little energy in my brain. A glass dome whose image I had in the back of my head in a little drawer labelled “I’m going to do this one of these days”. An upside-down wineglass. Whose base would then serve as a candle-holder. That was the dome I was thinking about. Because hey, aren’t wineglasses really just upside-down candle-holders?
So in went the snail and a personalised, completely handmade birthday gift was made. On its own, basically.
This is the result:
Some time before Christmas I decided that I would do more. I wanted to put something Christmassy in the domes, I really did, but nothing was inspiring. There was nothing around that was small, cute or beautiful enough to make the candle-holders special. And anyway, who really wants a present that they can use only one month per year?
So I started scouting around for something more versatile, that could be used all year round.
Flowers. Fake flowers, of course! Easy, fast, cheap, handmade, beautiful. What more could you ask for?
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Together with Nicole Duplaix, Chair of the IUCN-SSC Otter Specialist Group , I wrote a book all about otters and how wonderful they are. Check it out We Love Otters
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