November art project: Make a God's Eye!

November 2020 virtual arts drop-in: God’s Eye Craft

One of my favorite fall crafts is the God’s Eye. It is an extremely simple craft, and all you need are two sticks and some yarn. It is a great time of year to go outside and find a nice, smooth, straight stick and break it into the perfect length for God’s eyes.  You can even use more than two sticks if you want to make a “spiderweb” effect. 

I have taught God’s eyes for many years around College Park, and I have dozens of them hanging around the house.  Why not try them with recycled bits of holiday ribbon!  Imagine one day when we will cut up our masks and make them into quilts.  I think it would be fun to try a variety of recycled materials to go around once or twice, along with the yarn.  For smaller children, stick to yarn in order to avoid frustration, but if you are a crafty person, you might try candy wrappers, foils, rolled paper, or plastic bags made into strips. 

The God’s eye is originally a craft of the Huichol native Mexican people, who are also famous for the art they make on waxed board with string pressed into it to make designs. You can read more about them in the “God’s eye” wikipedia entry!

The youtube below is not affiliated with College Park Arts Exchange, but the crafter does a very good job of explaining how to start and finish a God’s Eye.