Kids Arts and Crafts Archives

American Pinwheels

July 1, 2010 By Laura 9 Comments

We had some guests down a couple of weekends ago, and while they were here, the kids and I got to making pinwheels. O.k., in the end, it was mostly me really working on them. They needed to be fine tuned, to work properly. Making this quick little craft was on my agenda, so I already had the supplies. The kids who visited us each took one home.

Ours has served mostly as home decor, since then, being the time span between Memorial Day weekend, and the 4th of July. But today we took them down to the sea shore to really test drive them!

They worked alright!

The kids even ran like the dickens with them, to really get those pinwheels spinning.

I was impressed with how fast the kids could run, with flip flops on, on rocks no less!

Well, maybe except for {O}. I’m going to be honest here. My girl runs like a girl! Even when she has brand new sneakers on, that are supposed to make you run faster than ever, right? ; ) She has the daintiest run I have ever seen. But you know I love her. Running fast isn’t everything!

Well, maybe to this one, it is. He is another story. {S} is definitely the runner of the family. He runs, and runs, any chance he gets. Sometimes, when he shouldn’t. To see him walk, when he really wants to run, is so comical. (Well, to me as his mother, who knows him better than anyone else on earth.) It takes everything he has within himself, to keep himself from running. He truly needs to concentrate on every single step. This is my boy who probably shoots an average of 1,000 hoops a day. He really burns it up. Look at that pinwheel spin!

Making these is really so easy. You start with square sturdy / heavy weight-ish paper. I found American-themed 12 x 12 scrapbooking paper at, where else?, Michael’s Arts and Crafts store. I was thrilled there were several patterns, with different patterns on the back sides. Can you say perfect?! I can. I did. I bought lots.

If you don’t know or remember the specifics of how to make a pinwheel, (as I did not) you can follow some general directions here. I had my heart set on making some real Mack-Daddy pinwheels, so we started out using the full 12 x 12 sheet! But guess what? They didn’t work. Hey, I’m no engineer. 12″ was too big, too floppy, too much. That’s why I ended up crafting by myself in the end, fixing them all! You think I’m going to let one of my crafts fail? Heck no! People talk! These babies were going to spin like the dickens, and no one was leaving until they all saw it happen!

In the end, we had a few 9″ ones, and a few 7″ ones. They all worked. I do have a tip or 2 though.

TIPS

• When you are making them this big, and cut the paper from each corner of the square toward the middle, it’s important to really stop 2 to 2.5 inches from the center, with every cut. What’s more, I also took about a 2″ inch square of paper from the scraps, and sticky tabbed it good to the center of the back of the pinwheel. This really gave it some better re-enforcement, and spinning power.

• Also, I used sticky tabs, when bringing every right-side corner to the center of the wheel, between every layer. That makes it a lot easier to hold it together until you put the pin through anyway, but again, it gives it a flatter surface in the middle to spin better. We used push pins, and 1/4″ dowels, sticky tabs and square heavy paper.

The kids will be taking their American Pinwheels, and Liberty Shakers, to the parade and the fireworks this weekend.

We’ve got a full agenda for the long holiday weekend. A good mix of fun, relaxing (lol, we try but we’re not so good at it), celebrating, and of course…working around the homestead. There will be SO much to share with you, when all is said and done! What are YOUR family plans this 4th of July weekend? We’ d love to hear how you plan to spend it! Be sure to have fun, and stay safe!

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Seriously Creative Egg Decorating | Easter Photo Series

April 6, 2010 By Laura 5 Comments

You know people are serious about creative egg decorating, when they break out the airbrush and air compressor!
The kids got creative in their own way! Check out the results in this Easter Photo Series.

It is our hope that all of the beautiful colors, creativity, and spirit of Easter in this post, brought you all of the joy that it brought us!
We are so glad you dropped by to check out our fun.

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The Benefits of Kids Using Their Own Creative Imagination: Making Something Out Of Anything

March 8, 2010 By Laura 9 Comments

Sometimes, I like to plan my kids crafts and art. But whether I plan arts and crafts or not, it still happens in this house, and all over this house, every day! The kids sure don’t need me, to come up with creative ideas. The kids use their own imagination, and it’s awesome! In fact, I’d go so far as to say, that their wild imagination tends to venture further than mine does. And frankly, their are great benefits of kids using their own creative imagination.

While a child following directions (such as to make someone else’s craft idea) is crucial skill to their development, the benefits of a child completely using their very own imagination, far outweighs it. In thinking of and creating their own ideas/crafts/creations, they are:
– developing brainstorming skills
– learning how to think outside of the box
– developing planning skills
– learning how to problem-solve
– developing the abilities of an inventor!
– developing great personal character
– increasing their own self-confidence
– . . . . and so-much-more.

So, I try to keep the school room stocked with art supplies at all times, so that the kids can get creating any time it strikes their fancy to. But to tell you the truth, they often end up using lots of materials I didn’t supply, or would have never even thought of! Every time I turn around in this house, there is some new creation sitting there, or they are playing with one, or someone is suddenly at my side saying, “Mama, look what I made!“. I’m always surprised, over and over, by their creativity. But really, I shouldn’t be anymore.

Here are just a very few things our young triplets have made lately, that I have found around the house, and happened to get photographed.

A robot, made by {JM}. Materials used: a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee cup, paint, marker, and a toy car. You should see it travel across the floor.

–

Pistachio Shell Art, made by {A}.
Materials used: Pistachio shells, and markers.
–

A Tissue Paper Doll, made by {O}.
Materials used: Tissue paper, glue, wooden screw cover buttons, and pencil.

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A Pop-Up Card made by {JM}.
Materials used: Paper, marker, black pen, scissors, and glue.

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A Deck Hang-Out 2-Dimensional Art Piece, made by {JM}. Materials used: Rubber material (the scraps from a kit), ribbon, tape, glue, a pencil, a cupcake tin, and firewood.

*Note: {JM} made this creation for someone we really care about, who suffers from frequent migraines.

The hammock, which is my favorite part, is so she can lie there and relax until she feels better. Since the project is so big and heavy, we decided to just send her photos, which she really appreciated. She used one of the photos, in a blog post of her own, about migraines.
–

A Watercolor Painting, made by {S}. Materials used: Paper, Crayola watercolors, pencil, brush and water.

I think I can let go of the guilt I feel sometimes, when I haven’t planned a craft project in awhile. I don’t think they even need me.
And leaving the kids to figure out all of their own creative activities, is a gift of some time to us parents! More time to do what we need or want to do, while they are busy making awesome things!

I encourage you, to encourage your children’s very own imagination! On the next rainy day, or a day they say they are ‘bored’, challenge them to find different kind of materials around the house, or even from outdoors, and make something creative and really unique! And when they do, and show you, make them feel really good about what they created! Because it is their very own imagination and efforts on display, and it has grown them in more positive ways than can meet the eye. And that is something to celebrate!
They may just inspire you too, as my own kids creations inspire me.
Please consider sharing, and spreading the creative inspiration.

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Superbowl Menu

February 8, 2010 By Laura 2 Comments

We had a nice little Superbowl Sunday. We kept it pretty low-key, for a couple of reasons:

1) Our own New England Patriot’s weren’t playing.

2) It was a school night.

Every year, I get all excited about Superbowl Sunday, no matter who is playing. And then I realize how late the game is starting! And then I remember, that I forget that that is the case, almost every year!

Still, we can’t let the opportunity for a little private family party, pass us by. But considering the circumstances this year, we kept the menu simple-simple.

Pastrami Sandwiches – we love them. We just put a pound 1/2 of pastrami in our steamer for 10-15 minutes, rearranging in the steamer basket about 1/2 way through for even heating of the meat, and then we pile it on a toasted wheat roll. The kids prefer no mustard, but Michael and I like a little French’s.

Here’s an item we were downright excited to try: Jalapeno Poppers!

Participating Ingredients:

18 fresh jalapeno peppers
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
3/4 shredded or grated cheddar cheese
1 green onion chopped
package of bacon, cut in half to shorten (18 slices, 36 halved)
brown-sugar BBQ sauce
toothpicks
RUBBER GLOVES!

(You will only chop jalapeno peppers without gloves once, but never again. I did, once, and my fingers spent the entire night in HELL. Literally, I’m quite sure. The throbbing pain of burn, was nearly unbearable. I was near tears. Just take my word for it, and use gloves when chopping these babies, and don’t touch any part of yourself after having touched the peppers! Especially your eyes!)

1) SO….once dressed in your gloves, slice the peppers in half, lengthwise. We keep the stems on, and try to cut those in half too. It gives you a little handle later, and keeps them cute! Clean out the inside of the peppers completely – free of seeds and white membrane. However, the real heat is in the seeds and the white membranes – so if you like more kick, leave a little. We left just a little seed in ONE pepper, and I got the Lucky Popper. ; )

2) In a bowl, combine softened cream cheese, chopped green onion, and cheddar cheese. Mix well.

3) Being sure your gloves are on again, or still, using a little old-style butter knife, or a cheese spreader, fill all of the peppers halves with the cheese filling. We filled it well, as a little heap.

4) Pre-heat the oven to 275 degrees. (I realize most cooks/bakers do this first, but I’m too slow to prep the food, so the oven is on for too long, for no reason. Plus, I feel pressure because the oven is waiting and ready, but I’m not done! lol)

5) Next, wrap each cheese-filled pepper, with a 1/2 piece of bacon. Do not pull it tight, as the bacon shrinks when it cooks. Secure each one with a toothpick through the side of the pepper as you go, and place on a cookie sheet. (We cover the cookie sheets with tin foil for stuff like this, to avoid having to wash the pan after. ; ) Call us lazy.

6) Generously brush each bacon-wrapped-cheese-filled-pepper, with brown sugar BBQ sauce.

7) Put in oven for about an hour, or until the bacon is crisp and sizzling.

*You can serve immediately, at the risk of burning mouths. But we found anyway, that letting them set & cool some for 10-15 minutes, really makes them all the better! They firm up a bit, and you can really enjoy the different elements of the Jalapeno Popper in your mouth, instead of it all being very soft and mushy in your mouth.

A friend asked us, “Will the kids eat those?”, and the answer was YES! Our little ones, especially, like hot stuff. {A} just thought they “were just o.k.”. But it’s not the recipe, it’s her. ; )

We’ll be adding these to our appetizer hit-list for future occasions. We put 1/2 f this batch, already cooked, in ziplock bag and into the freezer, to be able to just heat some up sometime soon. And trust me, soon it will be!

BTW – My friend Mary Beth, from Nothin’ But Country, made up a batch of the Bacon-Wrapped Pineapple Bites for her Superbowl party, and came by the blog here to leave a fantastic review of the recipe! Check it out! If her review doesn’t convince you to try them, nothing will! And check out her blog too! She and her husband LOVE to cook, and all kinds of great recipes.

We also snacked on tortilla chips and salsa through the game, in between hoots & hollers at the tv. As you can see, we already had been at them before I remembered to take a photo. lol.

Our ever-creative boy, {JM}, made a football for our party, as some festive decor. He made it out of gold and white tissue paper, and a little gold mylar. That boy is ALWAYS ‘making something’, and he never ceases to surprise us with his great ideas either. Get this……..

…..the football lights up!! In the dark, it really puts off quite a glow!

Since our New England Patriot’s weren’t playing in the Superbowl this year <boo-hiss!!>, we decided to cheer on the Saints! Why? No real significant reason, except maybe because their names is the Saints, and we like their logo the best. : ) We are really happy for New Orleans.

Did YOU watch the Superbowl? Which team did you cheer on?
And more importantly, what was on your Superbowl Menu, if you had one? Do share!

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Wrap Jewelry – Craft Tutorial

August 23, 2009 By Laura 9 Comments

This is a fairly easy craft project tutorial where you can create some really fun or beautiful wrap jewelry for kids or adults. Depending on the materials you use, you can really get all kinds of styles using the same concept. Also, keep in mind; they can be homemade Christmas gifts, and made ahead of time! We’ve made these as Christmas gifts before, and they were very well received! So this may be a great idea for all or some of the little girls and ladies on your list. Or, maybe you’d like to add to your own accessories! The pieces we created so far have been more for girls, from little girls to women, but with a little creativity and thought, we think we’ll be able to come up with some boyish pieces as well.

wrap jewelry tutorial

You don’t need much in the way of supplies!! Here’s a quick run down, depending on the design of the piece you are making: Memory wire, bottle-nose pliers/cutters, a bead assortment, charms, waxed cotton cord, and possibly acrylic nail polish.

This is memory wire. It is called such, because it keeps it’s nice shape, no matter how you try to bend it. We threw out the packaging, but this wire can be found in any jewelry supply aisle of any craft store. There are a 2 or 3 sizes, and this is the largest for necklaces, but it works perfect for grown ups or little ones. The above is one piece, and you just cut off what you need.

memory-wire

memory-wire_2

Above is a piece cut off to be just the right size. Using bottle nose wire cutters, we cut it to be 1-1/2 circles, and that seems to be just about right for grown ups and little ones alike.

Next, using bottle nose pliers (the same tool that has a cutter on it as well), you want to twist a little loop at the end of the wire. This little loop is to keep any beads you put on from falling off on the other end. You’ll only do this on one end to start, because you need to slide on your beads first on the other end. When all the beads are on, you loop the other end to finish.

So…..you grab the tip end of the wire, and …..

….just twist the wire into a little tight loop.

Michael does this for me, because honestly, my hands are not strong enough to do it myself. But don’t let that discourage you, because {A} can do it on her own just fine. So I guess what I’m saying is, I’m just weak.

This is what the little loops should look like. It’ll stop any beads from being pushed off.

Here’s some of our assortment collection of beads. These container organizers are really nice! We’ve done lots of projects using beads, so collecting them and keeping them sorted like this is fun and efficient.

wrap jewelry tutorial

Here are two little girl’s necklaces, all done. All kinds of charms and gems can be found in craft supply stores, or online. These charms matched some beads we had perfectly! {A} made these.

wrap jewelry tutorial

Here’s another little girl’s necklace.

wrap jewelry tutorial

This one is adorable…

wrap jewelry tutorial

…..it’s a crayon box, as you can see. {A} made those as well.

As we’ve said, there are all kinds of charms in craft stores, but there are also

lots of great charm places online, and here is one we’ve ordered from: charms

And for some older looking pieces, we just found this place and this place as well.

handmade-wrap-jewelry-tutorial-4

Here’s another option, above. In the jewelry section of craft stores, you can also find little sets like this, all ready to go. This set has 4 wooden colored beads, a beautiful polished stone, and dyed waxed cotton cord.

wrap jewelry tutorial

So I used that set to make this necklace above. This one wasn’t quite AS quick to make as the all bead ones. I looped one end of the wire, (well, Michael did), and put the stone and beads on first, centered as I could, and then looped the other end right away. Then I wrapped the colored cord around the wire. It did take a but more time, and patience. I wanted the cord sort of twisted and irregular, but you can also wrap the two to make it striped, all the way down the wire. There are a couple of small challenges with this design, but I’ll share some solutions: 1) The cord tends to just slip around as you wrap it, making you quickly realize you are getting nowhere, fast. So you need to start by tying the cord at the loop end of the wire, and then wrapping around the loose ends. I used acrylic nail polish right in the beginning there, to help secure it.

2) The other challenge is just checking as you go, to be sure the beads and stones are going to end up centered on the piece, as they should be. It’s a little tricky, and I think mine is a little off. But use the two ends of the wire to gauge wear the center of the piece as a whole is. Is anyone following what I’m trying to say here? lol

wrap jewelry tutorial

I made this one for ME. : )

wrap jewelry tutorial

I LOVE it!!

Here’s some other kind of assorted wooden beads that would work.

They would look really nice with these natural shades of hemp cord. Together they would make a lovely necklace for a neutral or warm toned outfit.

Here’s another idea: They sell much smaller memory wire, so you could make matching bracelets to go with any or all of these necklaces! For instance, you could do the necklace with the beads and charm, and then a bracelet with just the matching beads!

handmade-wrap-jewelry-tutorial-8

Here’s our little model, {O}, who by the way, made her own necklace!

So kids can do this craft project with very little assistance, using the beads and charms. They just need a little help to cut the wire, do the loops, and maybe put the charm on. These particular charms we ordered just have a regular round necklace clasp with the little lever. So they can put it on the center after all of the beads have been put on, and someone loops the ends of the wire.

wrap jewelry tutorial

It appears about the same fit on kids or adults. It’s just with kids, it overlap wraps around at the back more so than on adults. But I find them pretty comfortable, and definitely stylish.

wrap jewelry tutorial

Cute, huh?

We hope you enjoyed this craft project! Let us know what you think, and if you have any questions at all, just ask and we’ll be happy to clarify! We hope it makes for a great gift idea for someone, even if that someone is yourself. : )

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