Kids Crafting

The other day on Facebook I shared a link to a posting for handmade Christmas cards on Back to the Drawing Board. The designer made a landscape using tissue paper trees, had them reduced and photo coped, then used them to make some awesome Christmas cards. Do check out her project. I thought the inside of her trees was especially clever!

We loved the bright and cheerful trees so much that we used the idea to make pictures of our own to display throughout the winter. We began by taping our water color paper to the table. This stops the paper from moving around and creates a border around your picture when the tape is removed. We used this same technique when we made our Winter Birch Trees last year.

After the paper was taped down, we used water colors to paint the sky blue, fading it into white. 

Next, we chose our tissue paper colors and cut them into squares.

We then smeared glue stick on cardstock paper, and added the squares in random patterns.

When the pages were dried, we turned them over and drew very geometrical triangles on the back, and cut out our trees. This was a joint project. We only made 2 pictures, one for Michelle's and one for my house. Usually the wee ones make their own projects, but it was fun working cooperatively on this project :) Together we decided on the placement of the trees and glued them down.

Funny, as it turns out, their favorite part of this whole project was using the hole punch to "make snow". Even though their hands got tired, they were delighted they could make these perfect little circles. Pixie, btw, preferred to make crescent moon shapes by punching overlapping holes :) (BTW... As soon as we were done, Fairy went to a 5 hour final dress rehearsal for the production The Nutcracker that she will be dancing in, as a cute mouse, this weekend. She needed her hair braided and pinned close to her head so all of her hair would fit under her costumes hood! Doesn't she look like she fell out of the pages of Heidi :)

Finally, we added dots of glue to our trees, and glued down the snow. All done! (Note: the artist at Back to the Drawing Board added detail using a thin tipped marker. We opted not to add this detail.

Then, wah lah! Our Winter Tissue Paper Trees were done! They will add a cheerful addition to our homes throughout the winter months. They remind me of Eric Carle illustrations. Fun!

PS... Thank you, Pam, for the inspiration your project gave us!

Photo 12-6-12
 

Yes... we realize these are rather simplistic gnomes, but that's the point. These Simple Little Gnomes are a wonderful project for beginning sewers be they six or 60! By using a running stitch to attach the face to the gnomes, and an overcast stitch to sew it all together, even wee crafters can tackle this project.

Of course, if you'd like to embellish your gnomes with a little needlework, it's a great surface for practicing some new stitches. These Simple Small Gnomes measure 3 1/4" tall, and are safe for babies with supervision. So, make a few yourself, and gather the wee ones around and let them start populating their own village. They certainly will be proud of their accomplishment.

Materials Needed:
100% wool felt or a wool blend. If they are going to be played with a lot, use 100% wool felt
Embroidery floss
Stuffing of choice - polyfil or wool roving
Pattern

Directions:
Make copy of the pattern.

Cut out the felt. Our tutorial on How to Cut Out Felt can be found HERE.

Using the pattern for placement, sew the face to the body using a running stitch and 2 strands of floss.

Note: Our Stitching Glossary can be found HERE.  Our Woven Star can be found HERE.

Optional: Add facial features. You may chose to leave the faces blank. If you do want to add facial features, using the face as a template, draw circles on a piece of paper and experiment with facial expressions. Rule of thumb: when you draw the circle, draw a line thru the center horizontally. The eyes should be placed on that line. Too often people drew eyes too high on faces :) Embroider facial features using 3 strands of floss and use a steam stitch or straight stitch.

If you'd like to add embroidery to the body, do so before you stitch the body together. I added different stitches 1/2" from the bottom of the gnome. Be creative and add as much detail as you like.

With wrong sides together, fold the gnome so the two edges match. Pin in place. Using 2 strands of floss, sew the seam using an overcast stitch.

Stuff the gnome. Do not overstuff. If you overstuff, the bottom with be distended and will not be able to stand properly. When the bottom is sewn on, it should be flat.

Lay the circle of felt on the stuffing, and sew the circle to the bottom of the gnome using an overcast stitch and 2 strands of floss.

Tah Dah. That's all there is to it. This is a fast, easy craft that wee ones will love to make. Have fun :)

Photos 10/21and10/22/12
 

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EDIT: Yesterday a friend was over and shared a knitting book she had gotten from the library. She looked at one of the hat patterns and said "That reminds me of that kid's story about the peddler with the hats." Of course, I had to show her the toy I made a couple years ago. I haven't thought much about it lately, and decided it might be a great time to share again on Wee Folk Art. It has become one of the most beloved toys at Gammy's :)

"Once there was a peddler who sold caps. But he was not like an ordinary peddler, carrying his wares on his back. He carried them on top of his head." So begins the tale of Caps for Sale, the lovely story of an unorthodox peddler and a tree full of pesky monkeys! Written and illustrated by Russian author Esphyr Slobodkina in 1940, it has remained a favorite amongst children for generations. I can remember when my kindergarten teacher read this book to our class. I immediately feel in love and have reread it many times over the years. Although the list is long and mighty, I can honestly say, this was my very favorite book as a child. Why? 

I loved the absurdity of the book; a man balancing 17 caps on his head, monkey's in trees wearing hats, and the interplay between man and monkey! 

I also was empathetic to the peddler's loss. Can you imagine losing your wares to a bunch of renegade monkeys!  
 

Well, far be it from me to give away the end of the story, suffice to say, I've always been a sap for an "all's well that ends well" read. As a bit of an aside... the peddler's frustrated, and sometimes angry exclamation of, "You monkeys, you", became a favorite exclamation of mine as I was raising my children, although mine was uttered playfully, and usually followed by... "Move it, monkeys!"

Caps for Sale is a perfect story for children to act out. The plot is simple, and if you reduce the number of monkeys, the cast is small. To that end, I have crafted a set of characters and props to help your children extend the story to their own imaginative play. 

Met the peddler. Ready to take a little rest under a shady tree.

Met the monkeys. Ready for a little mischief and mayhem.

Feel the frustration of the peddler, bested by the monkeys!

 

And, feel the exhilaration brought on by an unlikely turn of events!

The directions on how to create your own Caps for Sale storybook characters can be found HERE. The directions for making the Autumn Tree can be found HERE. Enjoy! 

We are studying American History this year. We are in the midst of the American Revolution Stories at the moment. This week we read about Betsy Ross and the First American Flag, A Flag for our Country by Eve Spencer.

The legend goes that George Washington came to Betsy with a drawing of a flag for her to sew. He suggested a flag with 6 pointed stars thinking that making perfectly even 5 pointed stars would be too difficult. Betsy showed him that with a few quick folds and a single snip of the scissors that a perfect 5 pointed star was easy to make. After a quick demonstration she was given the job to create the first American flag.

Of course we had to try it!

You can start with a plain ol' piece of 8.5" x 11" paper.

Fold it in half so it measures 8.5" x 5.5".

Fold it in half again so that it is 4.25" x 5.5".

Unfold the second fold. Fold it in half now the other way so that it is 8.5" x 2.5".

Unfold that fold. You should have a folded piece of paper that is 8.5" x 5.5" and that now has horizontal and vertical crease marks. (I added pencil lines to the creases to make them easier to see).

Align your paper so that the fold is on the top. Fold the left top corner down so that it fold with a sharp point on the top of the vertical crease down to the horizontal crease on the right side. You should have created an oblique crease on the left side.

Leaving the left side crease in place, fold that same corner back onto itself, lining up with that left side oblique crease, keeping a sharp point at the top. My kids say that this step looks like you are making a paper airplane.

Keeping a nice point at the top, now fold the right side over so that it folds over top of the current paper airplane shape.

Fold this piece back on itself so that you have that paper airplane shape again... or basically a pie shape with a sharp point on top.

Starting where the bottom corner of the top most piece is open, make one snip up on a diagonal about 2" down from the top point. I drew a line to help you see the cut mark.

"Then she took just ONE SNIP with her scissors and unfolded the paper. Betsy had done an amazing thing. She had cut a perfect five-pointed star!"

Keeping the top point portion, unfold and you should have a perfect 5 pointed flag shaped star!

After cutting out several stars, the kids took it one step further and added snowflake like details. Have fun!

This year for Candlemas, I REALLY wanted to make some snow candles. But, alas, it is raining, there's never been more than 3 inches of snow on the ground at a time, and for the first time in my lifetime, there isn't a snowbank as far as the eye can see.

So, I needed to change plans. Instead of making candles this year, we made candle holders. And because I hadn't totally given up the snow theme, we made super easy, but lovely, votive holders rolled in Kosher salt. It has a snowy look, but is warm at the same time. We had some simple glass votive holders left over from a different project, but you could do the some thing with any glass or jar.

Materials:
Mod Podge, Sealer or crafting glue
Kosher salt
glass jar

Cover the jar with a thick layer of your choice of adhesive. I used a sealer on one and Mod Podge on another.

Sprinkle some salt on a flat surface, and roll the jar through the salt so all areas are covered in salt. You could add some glitter to the salt it you'd like.

When the jar is completed dried, coat with a sealer.

Put in a candle. The glass is opaque and gives off a lovely light.