Resolving Resolutions: A Year of Witchy Crafting

Continuing my review of how my plans for 2023 worked out, here’s a look at my top New Year’s Resolution:

“Every month blog about an art or craft that’s witchy or folkloric”

I soon found myself wondering what constitutes witchy or folkloric, and some of my crafting efforts only fitted that description tangentially, but here’s what I did:

January

The photo at the top shows a mini broomstick jewellery hanger I made and have on the wall. You can find out how I did it here. 

FebruaryIn February I tried out pyrography in an attempt to replicate a tradtional witchmark. You can read the original post here. As I wrote:

“Witch marks are ritual protection symbols burnt or scratched on wooden beams and stones. They’re most often found on very old buildings. Some academics call them apotropaic marks, from the Greek apotrepein, meaning ‘to turn away’ and think they were intended to prevent malicious spirits entering properties.” 

March

I made a tiny pointy hat in March, for a little witch mouse doll who had long ago lost their original titfer. You can read the post here and see a picture further up this page.

April

The papier mache egg in the photo to the right was spellcraft as well as handicraft as it contained a wish to incubate in the energy of the season. 

May

Rowan crosses are a folkloric protection for the home. I made one in May using twigs from a beautiful street tree that grows near where I live, plus some red thread. Here’s the link to the post. The picture is on the right.

June

In June I upcycled a tin can into a candle lantern. I’m not going to share the photo of that as I think it was my least attractive bit of crafting this year.  You can see it here if you want to. The technique I used does work but the holes I punched were a bit too random. 

I’ve seen other people’s efforts in which the punched holes make heart or star shapes or form letters. Still, it was a suitable holder to put a tealight in safely for outdoor rites, although you should never leave a candle unattended or use one outdoors when the ground is very dry.

I also made a flower crown just from flowers that month. The instructions are here and you can see the picture to the right.

July

My favourite crafting project for the entire year was weaving a basket from honeysuckle. It was also the most difficult and time-consuming project as I first had to harvest the vines, soak and boil them, strip the bark, then weave the basket. I was very pleased with the result and felt a sense of achievement. I now use the basket to hold a magpie divination set. The picture shows it with all the charms inside it.

August

It was back to hatting in August as I had a go at making my pointy one a bit stiffer (no sniggering there ) I asked for suggestion on how to go about it and lots of people put forward ideas. I ended up lining it. You can find the post here. 

September

In September I made the Ojo De Dios in the photo at Charmed, the Wellcome Collection’s Amulet Day. Ojo De Dios means Eye of God in Spanish. They are protection amulets originating from Mexico.

October

For Halloween and Samhain I made little ghosts out of scraps of wool and also made a some spooky decorations from twigs. You can see the photo at the bottom.

November

I took part in Dementia UK‘s November Knitting Challenge. The idea was that everyone taking part knitted for at 30 minutes each day and raised sponsorship money for the charity that helps people with dementia. I completed the challenge but haven’t yet finished the blanket – which I intend to use as a sofa throw in my witchy room. 

Maybe it isn’t the most fokloric or magical craft, but it was for a good cause. I will finish the blanket as one of my resolutions for next year. Here’s the link to the blog post.

December

Needle felting was the craft I tried out in December. I used a kit to make little penguins to hang on my Yule tree. I also blogged about how sticking pins into an effigy isn’t always to cause harm. In the case of needlefelting, it’s creative. Here’s the link to the post and you can see the picture on the left.

I intend to do more witchy or folkloric crafting in 2024 apart from finishing that blanket. If you have any suggestions for things to try out, please leave a comment.

Here’s what I blogged about yesterday about another of my resolutions: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/12/resolving-resolutions-rounding-wheel-of.html

There are more ideas for being creative in my book Pagan Portals – Rounding the Wheel of the Year, published by Moon Books.

To read more posts like this visit A Bad Witch’s Blog at www.badwitch.co.uk