With summer on and the kids home from school I am totally into kids crafts, so much so that I think I end up finishing the crafts for my kids.  They like to craft but nowadays the most interesting thing for them is playing Roblox on the computer and connecting with their friends that way.  Interesting times we live in!  So my job is to make sure they don’t spend the entire day in front of a screen.

We recently trimmed a big tree in our back yard and now there is a corner full of branches that needs to make its way to the dumpster little by little.  I took the opportunity to cut a few twig like branches and use them to make Ojo De Dios.  This is a traditional Mexican craft used in rituals to keep one safe while praying.  It’s fairly easy to make once you know how to weave the yarn around the sticks.  Which is what I will show you.

You will need:

• Twigs or Popsicle sticks or any sticks.
• Left over yarn
• Glue or hot glue gun (optional)
• Scissors
• Trinkets like beads or Milagros or charms

Technique:

I cheated and used a hot glue gun to position my sticks in a cross like form.

Start by wrapping the yarn a few times diagonally where the sticks cross, then on the other side.  After that put your yarn over the stick, then under and then over to the next stick.  This may be a bit hard to master at first, I kept messing up, and then like a mantra I repeated in my head: ‘over the stick, under the stick then over to the next.  Over, under, over to the next.’

When you are ready to change colors, simply tie the next color to the one you are already working, cut the one you are working with and then continue working in the same manner: over, under over to the next.

Keep wrapping.  You can change your color as many time as you want.  When you are about 1.5-2″ away from the end of your sticks you can start wrapping your yarn just around one stick.  You can tie it at the end or I cheated again and used hot glue gun to secure the yarn.  Tie the yarn around your next stick and do the same with the remaining sticks.

When you are done you can use contrasting yarn to embellish.  You can use beads, trinkets or whatever you wish to further decorate your Ojo de Dios.