Brown jumpers

Brown autumn jumpers. Here, two 1970s families model a variety of shades of brown, from yellowish to deep russet. Perfect camouflage if you are planning on hiding in a pile of leaves and jumping out and scaring people.

Children always look slightly uneasy in knitting patterns like these. You can tell that those people aren't really mummy and daddy. That little girl on the Templetons pattern is thinking "I'm holding a stranger's hand!" The little boy on the Ladywood pattern is having to pull off the double whammy of putting his hand on a strange girl's shoulder while looking amused that fake daddy is looking at fake mummy. Give him an Oscar!

Leaf silhouettes

Use real leaves to create dramatic silhouettes for notebook covers, storage tins etc. Press leaves on to sticky-backed plastic (the sort you use to cover books). Spray paint on the sticky side of the plastic, leave to dry then remove the leaves. You can use wrapping paper or old wallpaper as a backing - simply glue the sticky-backed plastic onto this backing. Dramatic effects ahoy!

From The Family Circle Book of Crafts, 1980.