Last week I found a Pinterest board with 1980’s Dutch things on it, from movies, to sweets, toys and home gadgets. One of the things was a small wooden puppet or a wooden toad stool (in English called a knitting Nancy) for spool knitting or “French” knitting. I always thought it was a typical Dutch craft. But the French used to make lace on their outfits. Then I was thinking what we used to learn in elementary school during our art classes. I made a list with some typical ‘80’s Dutch crafts we learned in school. And maybe you recognize some of these or maybe I missed some! I’d love to know. Just throw them in the comments below.
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Here you can find typical Dutch Games we used to play during our elementary school years!
1. “Punniken”
Of course I had to start with this one, because that was one of the things I started thinking about other crafts. This is the way we used to make friendship bracelets, but we also made puppets out of the string.
Here you can watch how it works.
2. “Kastanje weven”
This is something I saw here in the USA without a center piece, like the God’s Eye weaving. The twigs or skewers are just crossing and tight up in the middle. “Kastanje” is a chestnut and “weven” is weaving.
You need skewers which you poke into the chestnut like the rays of the sun. Then you use different colors of yarn to weave around the skewers.
Because I didn’t find chestnuts close by, I used mini pumpkins instead and it worked great. They’re easier to poke the skewers in too.
3. Splatter Art with a toothbrush.
I remember this one vividly. Also because the “paint” was awesome. There were at least 4 different techniques with this paint called “ecoline”. You can find more crafts with “ecoline” right here and where to buy it. I cannot believe it is still around. There are even brush pens with “ecoline”.
Anyway, for this craft you’ll need a small rectangle flat sieve, a toothbrush, paper with templates and the “ecoline”. For example use leaves as a templates for a fall craft. Lay them on a piece of paper or cardstock to make a card. Dip the toothbrush into the “ecoline” and brush over the sieve, so the “ecoline” splatters over the templates. You can pick them up and re-arrange them, or use other colors.
4. Macramé wall hanging
So fun, macramé projects are having a big comeback at the moment. All those Boho Chic home decorations are in need of all kinds of macramé wall hangings, tiered flower pots and swing chairs. Even jewelry and key chains!
I think in 5th grade we all got a stick and learned 2 different knots to make a small wall hanging. I was so happy to see it again years later. I used the knots I learned back then, on my own wall hanging in our bedroom!
5. “Muizentrapjes”
These are called Mice Stairs, because they look like small stairs.
Cut straight strips about 1/2 wide. You can use different colors of paper. Choose 2 strips and glue the ends in a 90 degree angle on top of each other. Start alternating folding over the strips. A the end you can extend the strips by gluing another strip to the end or you can glue the ends of both colors, so your “muizentrapje” is done. Here you can find a video on how to make a “muizentrapje”.
From here you can use them for arms and legs for animals or cute little puppets or even crazy hair on a paper hat!
6. “Figuurzagen”
At the Makers Space we have at our current school for our kids here in the USA, there is a Wood Working Nook. Then I remembered we used to make cool designs out of plywood sheets using a fretsaw. With the right safety measures, we learned a lot about wood, stamina and concentration!
You can find some more woodworking projects here.
Hello everyone,
Welcome to my Crafty Dutch Girl blog! Grab a cup of “koffie” and browse through fun blog posts about our Dutch family expat life in the USA, Dutch history, Dutch recipes, Dutch things to do in the USA and all kinds of crafts and activities. Don’t forget to connect with me for new ideas! “Groetjes en tot ziens”.