How to make a Peace Dove

In keeping with the Remembrance Day theme here is a Peace Dove wall hanging that is very easy to do. I have had great success with this project at all grade levels. You can vary the poppy embellishments. You could also forgo the poppy and just add an olive branch made from paper placed in the mouth. Materials Required: heavy brown paper from a paper bag or packaging paper white paint paintbrush stuffing glue some clothespins wire some bits of red and black felt (could also use paper) hole punch sewing machine(optional) I am going out on a limb here and giving you the Dove Template. Fingers crossed I hope this works. ( I am not a big tech person, I'm still learning) I will be thrilled if it does as I will now be able to give you my own templates and patterns instead of trying to find one on the web that sort of fits. Print out the template. I tried to keep it original size but sometimes the print settings add on margins and that decreases the pattern by 20% or so. Please feel free to enlarge if you need to. Trace out 2 dove shapes on your paper. Cut out. Now you can either sew these together or you can glue them together leaving the opening as shown in the template for stuffing. If you are gluing run a bead of glue around the inner edge of one dove and then place second dove on top. Let dry completely before going on to the next step. I personally like the sewn one better. When I do this with a class I bring the doves cut and sewn already to the class. I'm a fast sewer and it doesn't take that long. Paint the dove white. If I'm pushed for time with a class we only paint the side you are going to see. Otherwise we do both sides. Let dry While the dove is drying you can cut out some poppy shapes from your red felt or paper. Glue on some black bits for the center. Cut out a little black circle for the eye. If you are doing the ring of poppies around the neck you need about 4 the size of a dime. The single poppy is about the same size as the one you wear for Remembrance day. You can also prepare your wire at this time. You need it to be about 14-16 inches long. Wrap around a pencil tightly to get your loops. Remove from pencil and pull it slightly to get a nice shape. When the dove is dry open it up and stuff lightly with stuffing. Use a pencil to push the stuffing into the wing, head, and tail BE GENTLE or you may poke a hole thru your dove. not great... Run a bead of glue on the inner edge of the opening on one side. Press two sides together. Use tacky glue for this...if you are in a hurry you can also use a glue gun. Use a few clothespins to hold it together while drying so you are free to do the laundry....clean out that craft room maybe... When opening is dry and sealed, glue on your poppy embellishments. Punch some holes in the head and wing for the hanger , use the template for placement. If sewn try not to punch out where the seam is. Attach wire by placing end thru hole and wrapping around. Manipulate wire until it hangs right and Ta Da......a Peace Dove wall hanging, door hanging or where ever you want to hang it. Give it a try, simple but effective. see you next time gail