Archive for November, 2008

This Santa ornament will be lots of fun to make, and a treasured keepsake to enjoy year after year.

Crafting Time:
1 hour plus baking time

Skill Level:
1 being the easiest

* Glass Ornaments (box of 6)
* Sculpey III® Polymer Clay: Beige, Red, Black, White
* Acrylic Paint, Black
* Cookie Sheet, clay dedicated
* Paper, white (to place items on when baking)

* Roller, clay dedicated
* Toothpick
* Paintbrush
* Paper Towel or Soft Cloth
* Knife, clay dedicated

Cost of each project will vary depending on materials used.

Due to the seasonal nature of some merchandise, actual availability of some products pictured may vary.

Condition each color of clay by hand until pliable.

Roll out beige clay to ¼-inch thickness. Cut an oval piece to form the face area and press onto ornament.

Roll a small log of clay to form bridge of nose and place on center of face. Smooth edges into face. Add two small balls on each side of nose for nostrils. Smooth edges into nose and face. Use handle of paintbrush to create nostrils.

Mix a small amount of red clay into the beige clay to make cheek color. Roll a ball of clay and cut in half. Place on face for cheeks and press into face, smoothing down at the bottom edge.

Mix a little more red clay into the cheek mixture to make the mouth color. Roll a small snake of clay, form a “U” shape for mouth.

Making soy candles is an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon, plus if you have never made a candle it is a new experience.  Enjoy and indulge yourself in this endeavor.  However, there are a few things you should know and you should take precautions.

First:  All soy wax is not the same.  Depending on the manufacturers temperature requirements will determine how your candle turns out.  Follow manufacturers directions for temperature.

Second:  If you plan on using electronic equipment to melt the wax, it won’t work and in fact can be quite dangerous not only for your equipment but for yourself.  It is like oil and water…they don’t mix!

Once you are sure about the manufacturers instructions and have the right equipment to melt the wax you are ready to start on your first candle.  Candle making is not hard, so don’t let it intimidate you.  Decide how many candles you want to make.  For every pound of soy wax  melted you should get about sixteen ounces of liquid wax.  To decide how much wax to use you will need to know how much liquid your mold or container will hold.  All you need to do is take some water and fill the container to the level of the candle, now pour the water from the container into a measuring cup this should tell you how many ounces of wax you will need.  Dry this container thoroughly.

This is a fun way to keep track of the days until Christmas, especially for younger kids. It’s also a good way to get in a little counting practice if you make them count the days off each day.

What You’ll Need:

• The template below printed on yellow construction paper
• Red construction paper
• Green construction paper
• Glue
• Scissors
• Stapler
• Crayons (optional)

What to Do:

1. Cut 13 strips of red construction paper that are about 1 inch wide and 8 inches long. Cut 12 strips of green paper with the same dimensions.

2. Print out the bell pattern below on yellow construction paper. Color with crayons if desired and cut out. (You could also decorate the bell with glitter, sequins, markers, etc. if you want.)

3. Roll one of the red strips of paper into a loop and staple it onto the bottom of the bell. Loop a green strip of paper through the red loop to get the chain started. Continue to alternate the red and green strips of paper to make a chain that has 25 links in it.

4. Hang the bell and chain up in a prominent place and tear off one link at the end of each day until Christmas.

Courtesy of Free Kids Crafts.com

Like the mouse in the Clement Clarke Moore poem, this one isn’t stirring, but he does make a sweet holiday gift or decoration, no cheese required.

The kids could have fun making this little mouse for each guest.  Place it next to the guest dinner plates for a special take home present made by the children.

CRAFT MATERIALS:
	2 1/2-inch Styrofoam egg
	White acrylic paint
	Fishing line
	Corsage pin
	White felt
	Pink felt
	Glue
	Googly eyes
	Craft wire, 5 inches
Time needed: Under 1 Hour

1. First, use a serrated knife to cut a 2 1/2-inch Styrofoam egg in half lengthwise (parents only), then cover one of the halves with white acrylic paint and let it dry.

2. For whiskers, fold a 2-foot length of fishing line into quarters and tie a knot at the middle. Trim the ends to about 1 1/2 inches, then stick a corsage pin (available at craft stores) through the knot and into the narrow end of the egg half.

3. For each ear, cut a 1-inch circle from white felt, making a cut halfway through it, as shown above. Overlap the 2 sides of the cut and glue them together to create a curved shape. Glue a 1/2-inch pink felt circle to the center, then glue the ear in place.

No more drawing your own letters! No more wasting time creating your own alphabet templates!

Reusable Alphabet Patterns save you time!

Alphabet Patterns are available by immediate download and are perfect for creating templates of letters, words and phrases for all your craft projects. Simply cut out the printable alphabet letter patterns and use them as templates to trace alphabet letters onto objects, paper, fabric or other craft material. Or, use the negative cutout as alphabet stencils for painting letters on walls, floors, fabric, tile, glass, furniture, vehicles and any other paintable surface. All alphabet letter pattern sets include upper and lowercase letters, numbers and punctuation unless otherwise noted above the “add to cart” buttons.

Reusable Alphabet Patterns can be printed and used again and again!
Easily and quickly create alphabet templates for tracing and cutting out letters over and over, or print the alphabet pattern for each use or whenever you need or want a fresh pattern! HINT: Print them on card stock or heavy paper to make them last longer. Or, trace the pattern sheets onto clear template plastic for templates that will last for years!

Click here to compare our alphabet patterns to patterns that can’t be reprinted again and again and cost 2 to 4 times as much!

Find the perfect font for the letters in your craft or paint projects, quilts, scrapbooks, stained glass, church banners and more!

Crafting helps children explore holidays, birthdays, and other events in their lifes with little or no costs. Pick activities that are age appropriate for the child, but don’t think because your child is three and the age on the craft says for a five year old that they can’t do it. Children thrive on simple projects as it gives them an opportunity to work independently and to create something of their “own”. It might not be picture perfect, but they will be proud of it nonetheless. So be sure and display their crafts for all to see.

One of the more important things I learned in working with my children and crafts was that if I let them do projects around a theme (Thanksgiving, for instance) they gained a better understanding of what the holiday was all about.

It is important for you as a parent to talk to your children about the coming holidays, why we celebrate them, how they are celebrated differently by different cultures. Try reading children stories about the holidays. A few excellent choices are:Thanksgiving Is… The Pumpkin Book Santa Who? By Gail Gibbons

Looking through old holiday pictures of when the children were small I came across some crafts we did together. Although the pictures here do not represent the ones we made the result was the same.  So have fun and come up with your own variations on this theme with your kids.

You can use those small pumpkins, apples, oranges, small gourds, etc. for this project.  If you make the hole too big, use some wax paper around the bottome of the candle to take up the slack. Tealight candles work well for this because they are cheap, not heavy, won’t tip over the pumpkin, and have a small flame; however, if you decide to used tapered candles make sure the candle is secure in the holder.  If you are using pumpkins as your base, I found it easier to use the flatter kind rather than cylindrical.   Kids can help with this project by putting the candles in and helping to pick out the pumpkins. Remember safety first when you light them and once lit keep them out of reach of the kids.

Because of the nature of the fruit, they won’t last forever but will be unique and beautiful while they last.

by Sharilyn Miller

Polymer clay is one of the most versatile craft mediums available to the modern artist. It’s easy to work with, appropriate for all age groups (with adult supervision), available in a rainbow of hues (including a sumptuous array of metallic and pearlescent colors), and can be used to make a wide variety of art-to-wear accessories, jewelry pieces, and embellishments. Before you begin using polymer clay for the first time, there are a few things that you should know.

CHOOSING & STORING POLYMER CLAY
Polymer clays are marketed under so many different brand names—Fimo, Super Sculpey, and Premo, to name a few—and in such a wide variety of colors that choosing your clay for the first time can be a challenge.

My personal favorite is Premo, a Sculpey product, because it’s more malleable that other clays and is available in so many beautiful metallic and pearlescent colors. Some artists prefer Fimo or Fimo Soft to Premo because they like working with stiffer clay. And many clay artists start out with the economical Super Sculpey or Sculpey III.

It’s best to experiment with small packets of different brands of clay until you find one that meets your needs. Polymer clays are sold in most art & craft stores, many art-supply stores catering to fine artists, and online. To find an online source, go to www.google.com and type in the keywords “polymer clay.”