A Family of Crafters | DIY BOATS 'N' BUNTING

DIY Wooden Boat DIY Paper Bunting | Motte's Blog

What do you like most about your family?

The way the family members warmly smile when they finally meet after having not seen each other in way too long? 

Getting everyone together for a delicious home-made meal on a cool summer’s night? 

The chit chat at the dinner table that soon turns hostile even though nobody seems to know exactly how that even happened and who started it? 

The fuss over who should do the dishes and who did them last time and why it isn’t your turn until next week and how you don’t need to do the dishes if you did the cooking, but do have to do the dishes if you did the laundry because food and laundry have absolutely nothing to do with one another and in no way belong to the same category of chores while cooking and washing the dishes and drying the dishes are completely different things yet totally related because they belong to the same family of pre-dinner/dinner/post-dinner chores and why on earth dishes need to be done in the first place??

Oh family. Isn’t it just one happy arrangement that we could just not live without.

To be honest, I don’t think I could really narrow it down to that one thing I cherish most about my family. 

It doesn’t seem possible. Or particularly fair for that matter. 

Each family member possesses some quality that is unique to them and makes me feel very warmly about them even though sometimes we tend to overlook these qualities and it would probably be wise to remind ourselves every now and then, particularly when “Goose-fraba” no longer shows the desired effect...



One thing I have always appreciated greatly however is the insanely high level of creativity in my family. 

Like, skyrocketingly high. 

Like, take a seal, balance a house on his nose, add a skyscraper, place those on top of the Brooklyn bridge, top it all off with an ice cream sundae (because why not) and you still wouldn’t come close to the level of creativity in my family’s brain that oozes out onto papers and pens and needles and threads resulting in magnificent art and delightful designs.

You see, my family is all about crafts, hand-made goods and DIYs. 

Sure, there are exceptions. And yes, some creativity is expressed in slightly different ways than you might expect, but the creativity is there, trust me.


I like to believe that I am inspired by anything that comes my way. A color, shape or texture. A pine cone. A bubble bath. A truck. Or, you now, whatever.

I spend as much time as I can on my own just being crafty. Some might find this slightly odd. Because, yes, it does mean that I find no shame in spending an entire weekend in the sole company of a glitter pen and glue stick. (At times, Frank is invited also, sweetly humming Fly Me To The Moon into my ear.) But to me, this is pure joy. I enjoy responding to peoples’ quizzical looks with “I made that”. 

Very satisfying.


I have inherited most of my crafting knowledge from my mom who I would describe as an all-round crafter. 

She taught me how to knit and sew, stitch and draw… and put one project to the side for the sake of the next… and the next… and the next. Because a true crafter is never working on just that one project. Too many ideas, not enough time! Yes, sometimes a project does not return to the light of day for several years. It happens.

While my mother is mostly found in the company of her stacks and stacks of fabric stitching away on yet another maginificant quilt, my brother could be described as the Wood Master of the family. 

(Though I believe he would probably prefer to hold the title Master of Biceps. Although, that might be true also. )

(At least locally.)

(Meaning in my parent’s home.)

DIY Wooden Boat DIY Paper Bunting | Motte's Blog

DIY Wooden Boat DIY Paper Bunting | Motte's Blog

Whenever we’re vacating in Switzerland we end up collecting wood in the nearby forests hoping to find some crafty use for them in the upcoming weeks. 

And this past summer holiday was no exception.

Using a big piece of tree bark as its base, my brother created this beautiful wooden sailboat including pole, ropes and observation deck.

DIY Wooden Boat DIY Paper Bunting | Motte's Blog

DIY Wooden Boat DIY Paper Bunting | Motte's Blog

Even though it passed the functional test and can withstand even the stormiest of seas, we decided it might be better when kept dry. It now adorns the shelving unit in my new apartment.

DIY Wooden Boat DIY Paper Bunting | Motte's Blog

DIY Wooden Boat DIY Paper Bunting | Motte's Blog

DIY Wooden Boat DIY Paper Bunting | Motte's Blog

It looks absolutely beautiful, no doubt, but I decided to add a little bit of color by adding a strand of bunting.

For the bunting, I collected some paint color sample cards which can be found at any home-improvement store. Any craft paper will work as well, as long as it’s not too thick. 

After deciding on a color palette I cut out little equal-sided triangles. I eyeballed the size of the first triangle. For the remaining, I used my first one as a template.

DIY Wooden Boat DIY Paper Bunting | Motte's Blog

DIY Wooden Boat DIY Paper Bunting | Motte's Blog

DIY Wooden Boat DIY Paper Bunting | Motte's Blog

Once cut out, I sewed the pieces together with a few simple stitches leaving some space in between each piece. For a neater result, I would recommend using your sewing machine.

For extra security, you could add some tape or a blob of glue onto the thread on the back of each triangle to keep them from moving up and down the thread.

Lastly, I tied the loose ends to the boat and placed it back in my shelf to be admired.

DIY Wooden Boat DIY Paper Bunting | Motte's Blog

DIY Wooden Boat DIY Paper Bunting | Motte's Blog

What can I say? When we put our minds (and hands) together, my family creates craft-glory!

DIY Wooden Boat DIY Paper Bunting | Motte's Blog

WHAT YOU'LL NEED FOR THE BUNTING:

- craft paper (or paint color sample cards from your nearest home-improvement store)
- scissors
- needle and thread (sewing machine optional)




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