Learning something new is never too late. Decorative art is a very striking example. What people can’t think of in order to use their free time with benefit: a wall panel from rolls of toilet paper, a sheep from cotton buds, figures from salt dough ... But in this article we will talk about crafts made from coffee beans.
In the world of crafts
The word "needlework" speaks for itself: to do with hands. Such crafts are always valuable, because the author invests in them during work a piece of his soul, his love. The value of such a toy is that it is in a single copy. Even if you make several of them using the same technology, they will still be different every time. Moreover, if the work will be performed by different people: each has his own vision. A small individual detail gives each craft its own character.
And it does not matter that the factory toy is made more clearly, correctly and accurately. But their whole party. A handmade craft is the only one. It is carried out either by order or by some special occasion. Here, for example, do-it-yourself coffee monkeys are very relevant today, since the year of the Monkey has come, and such a souvenir is now in place.
Symbol of the year
DIY coffee monkeys are a symbol of 2016, the year of the Red Fire Monkey. She will become the mistress of the house, will attract luck and wealth for a whole year, but for this, according to Eastern traditions, she needs to be appeased: in the decor we choose her favorite color, we place figures with her image everywhere. This is where the monkeys from coffee beans help us, the manufacturing technology of which will be proposed later in the article.
Funny fridge magnet
To make these wonderful monkeys, we need: cardboard, twine, glue, scissors, colored paper, a handful of coffee beans.
From a cardboard we cut out a circle. On it, starting from the outside, glue the coffee beans. We take the template of the monkey's face (it needs to be prepared in advance), glue it on the coffee circle. From the twine we make a bow-tie, bangs. Cut four pieces of twine 5-6 cm long. These will be the paws. We fasten one end to the "torso" and glue it on the other with a coffee bean. If this is a monkey girl, we make a bang for bangs from colored paper. A boy can be given an object in his forepaws, for example a banana, as in the picture.
Such coffee bean monkeys can be used as a fridge magnet, or they can be glued onto cardboard and a frame inserted, then they will be a wonderful decoration on your desktop.
Fragrant monkey
A souvenir-coffee monkey will be very original, a master class on the manufacture of which is quite simple. Such a craft, besides being funny, is still able to fill the room with the rich aroma of coffee.
To make this craft, you need natural linen fabric, a needle, colored threads and coffee beans.
First we find or construct a monkey pattern on our own. We make two identical parts from the fabric, then carefully sew them from the wrong side, leaving a small hole on the top of the head. We turn the workpiece through it, fill it with coffee beans and sew it up. Now it remains to decorate the monkey: sew tail, bangs made of thread; embroider eyes, nose, mouth; we make inscriptions at will (they also need to be embroidered). A fragrant bag can stand leaning on the tail, or you can make a loop and hang it. Here is our souvenir and ready. Coffee monkeys, sewn with their own hands , will be a talisman for the house in the coming year.
Making a coffee monkey
Here's another idea - fragrant coffee monkeys with their own hands are made very simple.
For this craft you will need: linen, glue, instant coffee, a hard brush, thread, a needle, a filler, scissors, paper, pencil, cinnamon or vanilla.
First print a monkey pattern. We transfer it to the fabric, cut out two parts, sew it on the wrong side. At the top of the head, leave a small hole, turn it out, fill it with filler and sew it up, adding a loop so that the toy can be hung.
At the next stage, we tint the toy. First, prepare a solution: add half a cup of boiling water to two teaspoons of coffee, a little vanilla or cinnamon and two teaspoons of PVA glue and mix well.
Now brush the solution onto the figure. It is necessary to work quickly so that only the outer layer is saturated, and not stuffing. When everything is ready, dry, hanging by a loop.
When the monkey dries, we decorate at our discretion.
Another monkey
The original fridge magnet may be a twine monkey and coffee beans.
Take a handful of coffee beans, brown knitting threads, twine, glue, scissors, cardboard, a monkey template and the numbers for the coming year.
We start with a printout of the templates, which, having cut out, are glued onto cardboard. When it dries well, cut out the blanks.
The next step is pasting with twine. We start with the muzzle: we take the twine and stick it in a circle, ending in the center. Now you need to make the border of the muzzle with a brown thread.
Take two coffee beans. Divide one along - these will be the ears, glue them. Divide the other across - these are the eyes, also glue in place.
Now we twine the head of the monkey, we also make a brown edging. According to the worked out scheme, we arrange the ears, trunk and legs. Glue coffee bean onto the face - it will be a nose, we’ll draw a mouth with a piece of red thread. You can also glue coffee beans on the tips of the paws.
Getting to the production of numbers of the year. Glue coffee beans on the workpieces. When it dries, we wrap it with twine. We fasten these numbers with a rope on a previously prepared narrow strip of cardboard, also wrapped in twine. On the ends of this strip we tie the pieces of twine, on the other side we attach them to the legs of the monkey.
It remains to attach the magnet to the body from the back. We got a funny coffee monkey, a master class on the manufacture of which can be used as an example of working on other crafts.
Funny variations
Another way to make a coffee monkey. For this craft, take light colored cardboard, glue, scissors, a handful of coffee beans, a twig of any plant.
First we find or build our own suitable monkey template, print it, carefully cut it and glue it on cardboard, where there is already a branch. We arrange it so that the monkey hung on a twig. Now we paste coffee beans around the monkey’s template, leaving the face and ears unsealed. On the face with grains we denote the eyes, nose and mouth.
Original gift
Such funny monkeys are only part of what coffee crafts might look like. Recently, this has become a fashionable trend, since coffee is a very successful material. An interesting structure and deep rich color of the grains make it possible to make original models from them, which can be safely used as a gift. Also, the grains do not deteriorate, and their pleasant aroma is able to create a cosiness and warm atmosphere in the house, which is so necessary on cold winter evenings. In addition, in coffee beans, there is a piece of your soul that you put into your work.
Despite the fact that coffee beans are a very expensive material, nevertheless it is used often, since things from them look very stylish and original.