With autumn on our doorstep we have been taking long walks in the pinewoods to collect all those lovely natural materials to inspire our crafts for the coming season. Admittedly living in Sardinia, you can just about get a glimpse of what is around the corner as the seasonal feel here is still very much summer time. However school starts this week and with it goes the freedom of summer. Well freedom may be for the kids not so for the parents who work and need to keep their children occupied during the summer holidays, which let me tell you are very long indeed – 13 weeks this summer – phew almost over! My schedule changes dramatically during the summer months as I tend to work only mornings and I spend the afternoon with my son enjoying quality time together. However after over three months of quality time I need to catch up with work that in the meanwhile has piled up on my desk and keeps shouting at me silently: what about me?

Enough of that and back to the lovely pinecones we collected in the pinewood at the weekend. We returned home with a bag full, they are lovely for making animals, Christmas decorations and much more.

Yesterday we made two lovely porcupines, mummy porcupine and baby porcupine. This is a very easy craft that kids can do on their own or with the help of a grown up depending on the age group. We made one each.

Materials: empty pinecones all opened up, brown card, 1 black marker, yellow felt cuttings, glue, strong double tape, scissors.

1. Cut a small square shape and fold the two extremities together to form a cone, which will be the face of the porcupine; secure with glue and leave to dry.

2. Decorate the cone with a black marker; cut pieces of double tape and attach it to the inside of the cone

3. Stick the cone to the bottom part of the pinecone, hold for a while for the double tape to get well attached

4. Cut two small ear shapes out of yellow felt and attach them on using the gaps in the pinecone; they will easily slide into position

5. Cut the tail out of yellow felt; cut a longer tail than you need; using the scissors split one of the extremities to tie up on one of the corns, it will be easier to tie a knot this way

6.  Cut the feet out of cardboard and attach them to the bottom using double tape

This post takes part to Get Crafty weekly link up at Red Ted Art and to the Play Academy at the NurtureStore, where you’ll find more inspiring crafts to do with kids.