Dreaming of Spring: New Year’s Greeting Pocket

We made this little pocket to pop in the mail with a New Year’s message for some of our oldest, most- favourite friends! (What a treat when they were in town for a surprise visit and we could give it to them in person!)

Materials

• Felt
• Scissors
• Fabric scissors
• Fabric glue
• Embellishments such as sequins, beads, rick rack etc. (*Optional)
• Cardstock
• Paper (for your message)
• Pencil/eraser
• Tape (optional)
• Sewing materials (*optional)

Directions

• Draw a basic fish shape on cardstock.  Cut it out and tape it (make a donut) to your felt, cutting it out twice.

• Cut out scales from the edge of your felt.  We used our finger to make the basic shape.

• Cut out circles or a shape you would like for the eye.

• Glue or sew your scales on, layering them.

• Add your rick rack, sequins and any other embellishments.

• Flip your fish over and cut off any excess portions.

• Put fabric glue on the bottom portion of the fish as shown, gluing together the two sides of the fish. (You could also sew this with a stronger stitch.)

• Allow to dry overnight.

• Write a personal message, pop it into your fish and send it to your friends, family etc. Depending on the size of your fish, you could pop in your red envelope as well.

Purpose

• Learning about various celebrations.
• Cutting different materials.
• Learning to sew (if you went with this option)

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with care & supervision.
• Small items such as beads etc. can be a choking hazard, be sure to keep them out of reach from children 0-3 years of age or those who tend to put things in their mouths.
• Rick rack and other cord like materials can be a strangulation hazard, therefore, use with direct supervision and for their intended purpose.