Crafty Tutorial: Felt Weather Wheel

~ by Kendal

Hello, and Happy September to you! I could not be happier that September is here, and as far as I am concerned, so is Autumn. The leaves are crisping and falling, I’m wearing scarves and boots and our Season Table has already changed. Yep, my very favourite time of year is finally here, and my Pinterest boards are bulging with Autumnal themed ideas.

This crafty activity is not particularly Autumnal, but it does come from Pinterest, home to all good ideas. Plus, with the weather being so temperamental right now, it’s a great way to chart the many changes through the day.

Things you need:

Felt squares of different colours

Craft Glue

Scissors

A split pin

Cardboard

How To:

1. First of all, using a large dinner plate, cut out two circles from your cardboard and your ‘background’ felt (I used a neutral beige). Divide your felt circle into six segments (or more if you so wish).  Probably best to use a compass, but if you’re like me and lazy, you’ll just guess and hope for the best. It usually turns out well.

2. Glue the felt circle onto the cardboard. Ava helped me with all the sticking parts since apart from doing her best to nab my scissors and Sharpies (two things that don’t mix well with toddlers) and draw some shapes on spare felt, there wasn’t too much else she could partake in. I imagine slightly older children could do a lot more of this though.

3. Decide what you want to portray each ‘weather’ in the each of the six segments. We chose sunny, rainy, snowy, cloudy, stormy and windy. Once you’ve decided, start drawing different ‘weathers’ on the felt, cut out and stick on.

4. Once you’ve filled all the segments, you can also choose to write out the weather words to stick on too, but I liked just the drawings so we skipped that part. Cut out an arrow from the cardboard and a piece of felt, and stick together.

5. Using a large needle or something akin in size (I used a seam ripper), make a hole in the base of the arrow, the centre of the felt wheel and the top of the wheel. Stick the split pin into the arrow and through the centre of the wheel and secure at the back. Admire! You’re nearly done.

6. Using the large needle, thread a small length of yarn or ribbon through the top hole in your wheel. Hang from somewhere close to a window to allow your young weather girls and boys to observe the elements.

 "The breezes taste

Of apple peel.

The air is full

Of smells to feel-

Ripe fruit, old footballs,

Burning brush,

New books, erasers,

Chalk, and such."

- from September, John Updike