(Befana is a kindly old woman who brings gifts to Italian children
in the Epiphany Eve)

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You will need A golden besom 1 black foam rubber sheet ( Gütermann products) Red, grey, green, rose, brown and yellow felt m 2 red ribbon with gold decorations, not transparent Green pailettes 4 red transparent beads 4 iridescent pearls 1 faceted transparent button Gold and red glitter pen Gold thread A little piece of very thin wire Scissors Polyvinyl acetate glue

We have already used a besom for a Christmas decoration. In this case we use it for Italian Befana, an old tradition of our Epiphany. This is also an example for learning how to reutilize old Christmas decorations.
Download and print Befana template.
Use it to cut the whole shape from the foam rubber. If you don't find foam rubber, you can also use black cardboard.
Make two little holes in the centre and let a little piece of wire pass through them. You'll use it to fix befana to the besom.
Cut from the red felt the hat; from the rose felt the face, hand and ankle; from the grey felt the shoe, hair and blouse; from the green felt the skirt; from the yellow felt the broom; from the brown felt the two pieces of the broomstick. To make your work easier we suggest to cut all the pieces from the shape.
Glue all the pieces on the black foam rubber.
Glue the red beads on the base of the hat and iridescent pearls on the blouse and sleeve as buttons.
Glue the green paillettes on the skirt.
Draw some arabesques on the blouse with the glitter pens.
Half the ribbon, wind one half round the neck and then glue the end at the back of the hat; so it looks like a great scarf.
Cut the golden thread into little pieces and glue them on the broom.
Complete the shoe with the button.
Fix befana to the besom with the wire.
Look at the photo and its enlargement for more details.
Tie the second half of the ribbon to the stick of the besom.
Your decoration is ready!
Place it in the hall, near the main door or in the children room or where your fancy suggests to you.
It's very nice and all people will envy you for your decoration!

Download befana template (WMF o GIF)