DIY Pirate Hook Tutorial - Make Your Own Pirate Costume Series

Arrrrrrhhhhh Me Hearties!

It be another in my series of Pirate Tutorials today.

Okay, that's enough Pirate Speak!

Today we're going to make a Pirate Hook to go with the Pirate Sword and the Eye Patch I've shared before previous International Speak Like a Pirate Day's (which this year is this coming Saturday)

You Will Need:

- Felt - colour of your choice (one A4 sheet per hook) 

- 2 x Plastic cups

- Metal hook from a plastic coat hanger

- Glue

- Ribbon or Braid

- Sugru (if you have any - otherwise you can use glue and blue tac)

- Awl (if you don't have one, anything with a sharp point, like a metal skewer will work)

Instructions:

1. Cut a slit in one of the plastic cups, all the way to the base and cut off the bottom (try to cut as close to the base as possible) then remove the rim as well as this makes it easier to flatten out. Flatten out on top of your felt and draw around the plastic. Cut out the felt leaving at leas a 1" seam allowance all the way round.

2. Glue the felt to the other plastic cup, folding the felt over the rim of the cup and gluing down.

3. Draw around the base of the cup and cut out the felt piece. Then glue this onto the base of the cup. With the awl (or metal skewer) carefully make a hole through the felt and the cup in the centre of the cup base.

4. Glue your ribbon or braid around the join at the base of the cup.

5. Insert the hook into the base of the cup and secure in place. If you have Sugru follow the instructions on the packet and attach the sugru to the inside of the cup, with the hook in place (see Picture 6) but if not, once the hook is in place, add a blob of blue tac to the inside of the cup, to hold the hook in place and place a blob of glue on the outside, where the hook goes into the cup. The glue will dry clear.

6. With a clear cup that has not had the felt wrapped round it yet, I've shown here what to do with the Sugru (or blue tac). Sugru takes 24 hours to dry, hence this being the last step.

7. And here is your finished cup ready to play with! Well done!

As I'm posting this on the day I've made my Pirate Hooks I've not got any pictures to show you of my little pirates playing with them, but check back tomorrow and once the Sugru has dried I'll allow them to be road tested!

Have fun and enjoy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Fun with Hama Beads

We love Hama Beads (or Perler Beads as they're sometimes known) in this house... we've made all sorts of things:

Shamrock made by Daddy

Aliens & the Mothership from a retro computer game (am trying to make out that I haven't forgotten the name of said game!)

A sunny seahorse

I've been building a Pinterest Board with Hama Bead ideas

And when a lovely lady approached me to host a 9 year old's birthday party I knew it would be great to involve hama beads somehow.

So I made up a bag with a hama bead tag like this:

My example felt bag

And here are some of the girls' creations:

And the birthday girl with her bag:

They are so much fun to make - all you need is a board (you can buy different shaped boards, but a square one is the most flexible in terms of making different patterns) a bunch of beads, some tracing paper/baking paper/freezer paper (a sheet of which usually comes with a pack of beads) and an iron.

I'd love to see some of the Hama Bead creations you make, so feel free to email them to me at simmi@gracesfavours.co.uk