Craft Tutorials

Light Switch Cover Project

jenni — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 19:44:03 +0000

Light switch covers are often something that most people don’t think about when they are decorating their houses. They are just left as they where bought or installed when the house was built. There are people out there that have taken the step forward and turn them into a great craft project. You can do just about anything to them and make them match any part of your personality. If you follow these easy steps, you will start your hopefully long journey into home decorating that will allow you to have your house match your personality. This is also something you can share with your friends and have decorating parties.

Sheep Finger Puppet

jenni — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:41:50 +0000

Finger puppets are great for all ages. They are also a great craft to do with kids. Here is a great sheep finger puppet that you can do with your kids if you are looking for a craft that is fast and easy.

Materials Needed:

Woolly Fabric
Black Felt
Padding
Needle and Cotton
Scissors
Fabric Paint
Fabric Glue

Instructions:

1: Cut out woolen fabric approx 8cm x 6cm and fold in half for the body. Cut another piece of fabric for the tail approximately 3cm x 1cm. Glue or sew tail onto the back of the fabric.

2: Cut out a shape for the face, sew together and add padding. Then sew or glue to the main body.

3: Cut out ears and add to head.

4: For the legs cut out black felt approximately 3cm x 1cm; then glue or sew onto the back of the body.

5: Fold the body material in half and sew the sides.

6: Paint or sew eyes and nose onto head to finish.

Personalized Pencil Topper

jenni — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:47:14 +0000

School is not that far off from starting again. One thing that every kid will need is pencils for school. This is a great way for your children to know whose pencils are whose. This also works great in families that have multiple children, it will cut down on fights of whose pencils are whose. They are easy to make and can be made to match personalities.

What You Will Need:

Pencil Eraser Heads
String
Alphabet Beads (or other themed beads)
White Craft Glue

Instructions:

Step 1: Place eraser head on a pencil.

Step 2: Put a little white glue on the base of the eraser head.

Step 3: Wrap string around the eraser head, smoothing out the glue as you go. Wrap enough to cover most of the bottom half of the eraser head.

Step 4: Cut a piece of string that is about 8 inches long.

Step 5: Tie a knot in one end and string beads on from the other end. The knot should keep the beads from falling off the other end.

Step 6: Once all the beads are on, tie a knot after the last bead.

Step 7: Apply some more glue to the string wrapped around the eraser head.

Step 8: If necessary, trim the long end of the string that the beads are on so that your excess is about 3-4 inches in length.

Step 9: Wrap the excess string from the beads around the eraser head, adding more glue if needed and smoothing with your finger as you go.

Helpful Hints:

Manipulating string and beads in this craft can be difficult for smaller children. To make it easier for little kids, use a chenille stem instead of string, though you will need beads with a larger threading hole.

Keep extra eraser heads on hand to make more later. A package of 30 or so can be found for less than a dollar.

Add beads with the letters that correspond to your child’s interest. For example, use baseball beads if your child likes baseball. Other kids will like shiny colorful beads or flower charms.

Smashed Pop Can Animal

jenni — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:41:38 +0000

I love crafts that allow you to recycle. This is one of those great craft ideas. I saw this and thought it was cute and something unique. It is something that is easy to do and great for kids. This will teach them that there are many great things that can be done with recycled materials. So grab the kids and follow these easy instructions and make yourself a farm yard of animals.

Uncle Sam Treat Holder

jenni — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:10:59 +0000

Fourth of July is a great time for all ages. Kids have a great time watching fireworks and playing outside. This craft makes the perfect addition to these great things for kids. These can be made, even by the kids that will use them, and then used while the kdis are watching fireworks to hold their snacks. They hold the perfect amount of any snack for kids.

What you’ll need:

Styrofoam cup
Red and blue felt
Red paint
Paintbrush
Silver chenille stem
Scissors
White craft glue
Black marker

How to make it:

Place cup, open end down, on top of the red felt and trace with a marker.
Cut around the traced circle leaving a ¾” border around it.
Fold the circle and cut a slit in the center of the circle to allow your scissors to get in. Cut out the inside circle, leaving about a ¼” border around the inside of the trace line. Set felt circle aside.
Paint red stripes all the way around the outside of the cup, stripes should run up and down. Let dry completely.
Cut a strip of blue felt about 1.5” wide. It should be long enough to wrap around the brim of the cup.
Glue felt strip around the outside of the top of the cup.
Lay red felt circle on to work surface, black trace line should be facing up.
Line the lip of the cup with white glue and press down onto black trace line. Let dry.
Turn cup over and place on work surface.
Use silver chenille to bend into star shapes, trim where needed. Glue onto the blue hat band.
When everything is dry, fill with treats.

Tips:

To make our treat cups sturdier, especially if using outside, glue a heavy washer to the bottom of the cup.
You can add handles to your cup by twisting to chenille stems together and poking through the sides of the cup and running over the top. This step should be done before adding the blue brim.
You may also use white paper or plastic cups for this project.