With cycles in mind, both seasonal and creative, the craft tutorial below explores the idea of a seasonal wheel, with a bit of a twist… I thought it could be fun to turn the seasonal element into a kind of ‘mood weather’ wheel, that can be played with and explored as a mood or weather tracker, depending on what you choose, or maybe the age of the children. It’s also quite a nice family project that can work on different levels, with exploring the seasons and the weather/mood connection being sweet for little ones, and the decorative aspect being great for older children/tweens/teens or to work on together. The basic idea is to have one wheel sitting on top of another with a small circular window that will reveal a (weather themed) ‘mood’ underneath, when turned around.
For my version, I’ve combined some of my favourite aesthetics – fairytale, seasonal colours (that so often translate to rainbow!) and kawaii. It’s a bit of a mash-up, and I wasn’t sure if it would work, but I love the way it has turned out! It has a lovely storybook feel to it as well as a touch of faraway, nostalgic otherworldliness and whimsy too…
Do feel free to choose your own themes for decoration. Instead of the kawaii characters for the bottom wheel, you could draw or paint your own images that represent either the seasons or a mood or feeling, or you could cut printed images from magazines or the internet to collage. You could leave the top wheel more simply decorated by painting it a pleasing colour, or covering it with coloured or patterned tissue papers.
I used kawaii characters from free downloads on the internet – there are plenty to choose from – but you could also have some fun creating your own! For the fairytale aesthetic – I actually took some photos of some wallpaper, as well as re-using some cuttings from this craft from last summer. Again, you can print your own images, or use something like a fairy-themed junk journal craft book (you might also use one of these in a different aesthetic?).
You could choose to attach ribbons to your wheel for hanging and as extra decoration. In the end I chose not to do this on this one as it turned out to be so tactile and lovely to handle and play with, the family consensus was to leave it as it is. You might like to decorate the back too, if you also decide to do this.
Whatever you choose, wishing you plenty of fun with this activity and many warm spring days…
Happy Crafting!
© 2024 Abigail Cole
For more creative ideas visit PowerWood’s creative corner by Abigail and Abigail’s own creative website: www.forgetfulfairyartstudio.com
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