Kids Crafting

Fall is just starting to creep in around here. In the past week we've noticed a few trees in our yard that have leaves that are tipped with gold. Chilly mornings have led to the kids digging deeper into their drawers pulling out long sleeved shirts (although by mid-afternoon these are really too warm to wear) and maybe most noticeably the food requests have started changing. Chili with cornbread and Vegetable Beef Soup with dumplings have made it to the table in the last week. Today after school we plan to switch out our seasonal decor and prepare our nature table for the fall.

This has reminded me of a fun project the kids and I did last year around this time. We made this Felt Fall Leaves Garland together. This was originally posted on Wee Folk Activities in September 2009.

It has been cold and rainy all day. So after we finished up our school activities we raided the craft cabinet for a project. This is what we came up with... a Felt Leaves Fall Garland.

What you need...
Various pieces of fall colored felt (craft felt is perfectly fine here - no need for wool)
Yarn
Yarn needle
Lots of beads with large holes
Leaf Pattern (get one from Wee Folk Art or collect leaves from your yard and trace)
(Embroidery floss or fabric paint if you would like to add the leaf vein details - after trying one, we decided to leave ours plain).

Cut out a bunch of felt leaves (we used 13).

Cut a long piece of yarn (3 to 4 yards) or for multiple family members cut out a yard of yarn each.

Poke the yarn needle through the top of a leaf about 1/2" from the edge and tie a large knot on one end.

String about 12" of beads and then add another felt leaf. Continue until you have strung all of your garland.

We each beaded a one yard section starting with a leaf and ending with a section of beads.

I took all the completed sections, tied them together, added the last leaf so both ends ended with a leaf, then trimmed the yarn to make our one long garland piece.

I think it adds a fun festive touch to our mantle.

After several days (or was it weeks?) of miserable heat and humidity that was making everyone cranky, the weather broke and we are now free to enjoy being outdoors again. We've spent hours outside in the last few days making up for lost time. Although Pixie loves being outside, she can't go long without her art supplies. This often includes water colors at the picnic table, sidewalk chalk on the front porch and now since my grandma's move and we have piles of packing paper she has added to the mix soy egg crayons on the driveway. She has been very busy coloring on a large scale and we now have many, many, many colorful sheets of paper that will make wonderful wrapping paper for all of our upcoming fall birthdays.

Last week we dusted off some of our books, pushed aside the stacks of papers I never got a chance to organize from last year and dove into a new school year. Although I didn't feel totally prepared myself (our library needs some serious purging and reorganizing), the kids were ready for their routine to be re-established and were begging to start school.

This year in history we will be studying the Middle Ages. Bug is chomping at the bit to get into all of our history lessons... he has ear marked many, many pages in our Days of Knights and Damsels Activity Guide. The first project on our list were these Medieval Pockets. Clothing during the Middle Ages did not have pockets sew in and were instead worn on belts.

This felt version was fun to make. The kids helped cut out the pockets. Then they decided that they wanted to embroider pictures on the fronts of their pockets. Bug had a very specific spiral motif in mind, Fairy wanted to add her name and a flower and Pixie had the grandest plans of all... she kept telling us she was making a cow. LOL - squint, stand on your head or well hmmm... not sure I can get it to look like a cow. But she was pretty pleased with her pocket. Gammy joined in and made a beautiful flower pocket. I was busy helping little hands. After completing their pockets, the kids took them outside to fill with little treasures.

 

We haven't started up with everything yet. We will not be starting our Harvest Unit until September... the week of the seventh most likely. And, for everyone who keeps asking, I plan to have my Winter Unit posted in the next week or two. It is all done, it just needs some editing. The Spring Unit will probably not be posted until sometime later in the fall. I haven't even started typing it up. You can start looking for it at the end of September... my personal due date though is Halloween.

(You knew I would have to do this tutorial sooner or later :)

A couple of fun things happened in the past few weeks. First, a lovely reader sent us the book Magical Window Stars (thanks Sarah!)

and second, we got a stack of kite paper from Bella Luna Toys. As I sat down and started leafing through the book, it occurred to me that these stars were a little advanced for someone that's never folded a star before, so I decided to start with a simpler star. I've made origami stars in the past, but never out of the kite paper. So, I made a simple, 8 pointed star, that you can find on most Waldorf craft sites. I think it is a beautiful way to begin working with kite paper. Below are the directions on how to make a Basic Kite Paper Window Star. Later, I will share other patterns as I experiment and play with different designs.

Materials:
8 squares of kite paper
clear drying craft glue

Place one square of kite paper in front of you.

Fold the paper in half creating a sharp crease. Then open the paper.


Fold the paper in half again the other way, creating a sharp crease. Open the paper.


Bring 1 corner to the middle of the paper making sure the edges of the corner touch the folds on the paper. Create a sharp crease.

Fold the other 3 corners to the middle. You will now have another square.

Turn the square to form a diamond and make sure the flaps are up. Fold the left corner in so the outside edge of the paper is against the center fold line. You will be creating a sharp star point.

Do the same with the other side.

Fold a total of 8 squares into these star points.

Decide on the arrangement of the points. The smooth side should be on top and the folded sides under. Lay out your first piece. Then turn your 2nd piece over and put several small drops of glue along the edge.

Place the edge with the glue on top of the first star point, laying the glued edge of piece 2 on the fold of piece 1. The points should match exactly.

Continue adding pieces in this manner until you've added 7 star points.


Glue the 8th star point on in the same way. The 8th star point will be laying on top of the 1st star point.

Gently lift the 1st star point and slip the edge of the 8th star point under the 1st. Raise the edge of the 1st piece, put glue along the edge, and press in place.


When the glue has dried, turn the piece over and put a small drop of glue under each flap to hold it down on the star.

Allow to dry. If your star is not laying completely flat, weight it down with books or magazines for several hours.

Your star is now ready to put on your window. You can use double sticky tape or roll your tape. (I rolled my tape but I don't like the fact that you can see the tape in the sun. I will try double sticky tape later.) I've read that people will actually glue them to their windows, but I change things around too much to do that! You can fill your window with different sized stars or use different color themes. I will share more star patterns soon!

If Tim forgot our anniversary I would be far from understanding. How could you possibly forget something so important? Well, it just occurred to me that our 2nd Anniversary of Wee Folk Art was on July 29, and being knee deep in life, neither Michelle nor I remembered! Geeze! Anyway, we are a couple of days late, but wanted to acknowledge the event. It is hard to believe we've been at this for 2 years. It seems we've hardly scratched the surface of all the crafting we want to share. But we have time :)

Tradition has it that people usually have a give away on their anniversary. But before I say anything more about that, just wanted to let you know what the kids and I have been up to this past week. I just purchased a nifty little braiding disc from Magic Cabin. It is a must have for old and young alike. It is a great way to introduce children to the wonder of fibers. Using 7 strands of cotton yarn and the wooden disc, you can braid a wonderful cord which can be used for chokers, bracelets, ankle bracelets, shoe laces, headbands, drawstring cords and much, much more. And what's great, is even 3 year old Pixie can use it!

So, I bought a star braid kit for myself, but very soon the kiddos were asking to borrow it. The solution? Get 3 more. The problem... although I was willing to pay $20.00 for 1, I'm not willing to pay $80.00 for four. The solution? Make our own, of course! So, that is exactly what Tim and I set to work on yesterday afternoon. The children were over while Michelle and assorted visitors were off golfing. The children watched as their Othy cut out the wooden braiding discs. (They will be doing the sanding and finishing.) 

Fairy: Can I paint mine?
Pixie: Me, too.
Bug: Yeah, let's paint them all different!

My wooden braiding disc has a natural finish, which I really love. But, if the kids would like to paint theirs, then of course they should. The project reached a standstill when the golfers returned. There is a good chance we will not get to them again to later in the week. But when we are done, the children will get to paint theirs, and I will make a couple extra for...

Our 2nd Anniversary Give Away!

So, be a bit patient with us. Michelle has jury duty this week, I'm moving my parent's into their new condo on Friday, and the girls are in princess camp this week! Somewhere in there, we will hopefully be able to get these finished.

As soon as we do, we will have the give away, PLUS, I will be doing a tutorial on how to make your own wooden braiding disc and how to create a 7 string braid. The children can't wait to get their own. They were talking about making bracelets for Christmas gifts. Brilliant idea, right? And I can't wait to get a couple done so we can give them away on Wee Folk Art. Watch for more later in the week!  

This is a project we tried last summer and was originally post on July 3, 2009 at Nature's Way Learning. It was a good first attempt and is definitely something I want to re-visit again this summer. This time I will be limiting our colors to only primary colors so they blend nicer (our orange and blue last year turned brown and purple with the kids over zealous dipping). I will also be purchasing some squirt bottles to give us more control over the dyes. I will post again when we make our second attempt.

This is a project I have wanted to do with the kids for awhile now... a great summer project. My nephew's birthday was last week and we will be seeing his family for the first time in a long time at a wedding next week. The kids have already picked out a gift for their cousin but I wanted to give him something homemade too... something the kids could make for him. Sooo... Bug and I decide that the t-shirts would be cool.

This was our first attempt but the kids have already been asking to do it again. I'm sure we will get better at it... of course the big mistake was on my part. I had too many colors to pick from for the first try. The kids wanted to use all the colors and like an Easter egg that has been dipped in every color (if you have ever dyed Easter eggs with a two year old I'm sure you know what I'm talking about) the shirts started to take on that mucky brown/purple color.

We started with washed but damp 100% cotton shirts, Dylon brand permanent dyes, salt, rubber bands and containers. The Dylon brand dyes are reactive with salt and warm tap water (safer for the kids with no boiling water... of course don't eat it or get it in your eyes). You will probably want gloves... but I didn't have any. I think I need a manicure before the wedding ;). The kids were dressed in their swim suits and old t-shirts.

Then off course comes the tying part. Bug was able to do this part on his own but the girls needed help. They would pinch off the fabric they wanted tyed and I put the rubber band on for them.

After the shirts were tied I prepared the dyes. I followed the directions on the packet, which included I believe (I didn't save a packet to look at) 4 TB of salt, 4 cups warm water and the dye. A quick dip was enough to get light colors. Had we only used one color... thorough soaking would have led to much brighter colors. The dye colors mix like they should... red and blue will make purple.

Then we rinsed the shirts until the water ran clear (I actually did this part... the kids held the hose for me).

It was very exciting when we took the rubber bands off. Of course the kids didn't totally understand what was supposed to happen and they eagerly awaited each shirts unveiling. I rinsed them again and then hung them to dry in the shade.

I don't know exactly what made me think about this the other day, but when Tim and I were talking and it occurred to me that I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen a "Just Married" sign on the back of a car or the ubiquitous Kleenex Carnations from our youth plastered all over it. Oh, I'm sure there are still people that do this, I just haven't seen it. When two of our children got married, no one got together to decorate their car. Sure, today many people rent Limos or Hummers, but it was our "Get Away" car that was decorated and otherwise goodnaturedly vandalized by your attendants. I remember having flower making parties and filling garbage bags full of Kleenex Carnations. Assuming making a Kleenex Carnation was like riding a bike, even though I hadn't made one in a long time, I was relatively certain I'd be able to. And, of course, it came right back to me. They're so easy to make, what's their to forget? But then I had these Kleenex Carnations, with no big plans for them, and thought, "I need to wrap a Mother's Day gift", so there you have it. And, because my general feeling is... "If it's worth doing, it's worth blogging about" I threw together a tutorial on making Kleenex Carnations.

This was one of the first crafts I every learned to do, probably around 6 years old, I thought it was magical how you could take a flat piece of unassuming Kleenex, and turn it into a beautiful flower. If you would like, just substitute 3 or 4 pieces of tissue paper, white or colored, and cut into 8" squares, pile them together and treat them like a Kleenex. Great craft to do with children.

Materials for the Carnations:
3 or 4 ply Kleenex
thread

Materials for wrapping the gift:
green card stock or construction paper
craft glue  

Directions for the Carnation:
Open a Kleenex.

Beginning at one side, fold the Kleenex back and forth, accordion style. Each fold should be about 1".

Fold in half.

Clip a notch on either side of the center.

Tie with string.

Cut the fold.

CAREFULLY separate the layers of tissue. The tissue paper is very thing. Gently pull apart the 3 or 4 layers. Make sure you separate all pieces of Kleenex.

Tah Dah... A Kleenex Carnation!

If you would like to make colorful flowers, try using 3 - 4 sheets of tissue paper cut into 8" squares. Make as described above.

Directions for Leaves:
Draw a simple symmetrical leaf shape and cut out two.

Fold in half lengthwise.
 
At the bottom of the leaf, fold in about 1/4". This is the part of the leaf that will be taped to the package.

Using a pencil, wrap the leaf around the pencil, starting at the tip, and roll to the fold mark.

Unroll the leaf, allow it to curl under slightly.

Position the leaves on your package so the carnation will cover the folded edge of the leaf. Tape folded edge to package. Place a little craft glue between the two leaves

Gently press the carnation in place.

For anyone that blogs, especially those of us that blog almost daily, you can understand how we have a tendency to rate things in terms of "blog worthiness". Get a new sweater for your birthday... not blog worthy. By a wool sweater at Goodwill, felt it, and turn it into a doll crib... blog worthy. Go out to a 5 star restaurant... not blog worthy. Bake a gluten free cake... blog worthy. Michelle and I can't help it. When we do something, we are apt to grab our cameras and say, "We can blog about this."

This morning, 7 year old Bug announced he was going to make a Roman soldier (they are studying Ancient Rome right now). He asked for access to my felt scraps and pegs. With very little help, he made himself a Roman soldier. He was very proud of it when he was done... so proud that he turned to me and said, "You can blog about this, Gammy." 

They went home... I made corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day... and they came back later for dinner. When they returned, he was rather disappointed that I had not put his Roman soldier up yet. So... I am very proud to share with everyone, his Roman soldier... and, yes, Bug, it is blog worthy! 
   

Here is part two of the Paper Mache Dino Eggs project originally published Feb 2009.

After the paper mache dried completely, I cut off the balloon tails. The balloons pulled away from the inside of the egg. You could try to remove the balloon if you wish, I didn't bother. Then I made a little paper mache to patch over the holes.

Once that dried, the kids painted their dino eggs. You could try to paint the eggs camouflage colors, but I let the kids pick the colors they wanted. Pixie completely covered hers, Bug went with a speckled theme and Fairy's was more patchy - using all the colors.

These eggs could be used as fun Easter decorations. Fill a large egg with treats and use it as a pinata or maybe use smaller balloons and fill the eggs with little treats... instead of using plastic eggs.