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Chinese New Year Dragon Puppets – johanna
February 8th, 2010 | Filed under: THE CRAFT CLOSET
Artwork by: Brittany Mei Hill
In our home we enjoy learning about other cultures and their traditions. Last year for Chinese New Year we made lanterns and masks and fortune cookies. This year for our New Year’s craft we are making dragons.
In China, the dragon is a sacred animal. The legend has it that the dragon hibernates in the ocean in the autumn until spring when it ascends to the sky, bringing with it much needed rains. The dragon dance is a major highlight of the New Year celebration. It is believed to bring good fortune and power.
To make a dragon puppet for a Chinese New Year parade you will need the following:
Paper bags
Streamers in various colors or ribbon
Sequins
Glitter
Jewels
Flowers
Glue
Markers
Begin by using the markers to draw a face or designs on the bag. Then glue on strips of the crepe paper or ribbons and any decorations you choose. Let the dragons dry completely.
Super Bowl Pom Poms – johanna
February 3rd, 2010 | Filed under: THE CRAFT CLOSET
Women always get a bad wrap when it comes to football. In high school and college football games the place to be to hang out with friends and have a good time. But I have to admit I am not so interested in the minute by minute plays anymore. Maybe it is because I have three kids that make enjoying a game impossible. In years past we have had friends over on Super Bowl Sunday. I take care of all the munchies so the guys can focus on the game while the women move into the kitchen to talk recipes and parenting.
This year it is just us. The secret is “we got rid of cable”. Horrible for the football lover yes but it was the best thing we ever did. We now have more time to spend together and we do not risk having risque commercials popping up while the children are watching. We did buy a box from Best Buy that gives us three channels that mostly consist of the news and sports. I am hoping, as is Stephen, that we get the Super Bowl broadcast.
We will be prepared just in case with Italian Subs to munch on and pom poms for the kids to cheer on our team. Plastic bags work the best for this project but at 10 bags per pom pom it can get expensive and it is hard to find any other color than black and white. We used construction paper because that is what we had on hand.
Materials:
10 sheets of paper, trash bags or tissue paper per pom pom
Scissors
Masking tape
Lay the sheets of paper on top of one another. Cut thin strips lengthwise leaving 3-inches at the top.
Roll the salvaged end up tightly securing with the masking tape.
Scrunch up the fringe.
February Website Review: Instructables.com – johanna
February 1st, 2010 | Filed under: THE BOOKSHELF, THE CRAFT CLOSET
Instructables is sort of like a combination of YouTube and Ehow.com in one jazzy spot. A few of my favorite posts are how to build your own BBQ-Barrel. Or how to make chainmaille from soda pop tabs. How to make a PVC pipe lego table. Make a chocolate bar mold of Han Solo. I loved the apple martini glass for halloween. There is even a post on how to amuse toddlers.
Instructables offers DIY information, tutorials, guides, a community and contests in the following areas of:
- Art
- Crafts
- Food
- Games
- Green
- Kids
- Home
- Life
- Music
- Offbeat
- Outdoors
- Pets
- Photo
- Ride
- Science
- Tech
The guides are open to the public but you do need to sign up for a free membership to participate.
Making Felted Beads Craft Session – johanna
January 20th, 2010 | Filed under: THE CRAFT CLOSET
I learned the art of felting a couple of years ago with a friend. We drove up to Sonora to visit a little Waldorf supply shop and could have easily spent hundreds of dollars on the amazing creations displayed there.
Felting is one of the oldest forms of fabric making. There are two ways to felt. One is needle felting and the other is wet felting. You can make felted beads using the needle felting method but for today we are going to avoid piercing our fingers with sharp needles and instead burn them in hot water.
Felted beads are really fun to make and create a wonderful learning experience in the use of natural products. Felted beads can be easily jazzed up with the addition of beads and ribbon. If you want to be a little more creative after the balls have dried you can use the needle method to add flowers or other designs. Little kids love to rub them, and bounce them and pretend they are treasures.
Some people like to roll tuffs of the undyed wool into a ball then add the color. I prefer to get it done with no fuss and just use the colored roving.
Supplies:
Merino Wool Roving
(wool that has been washed and combed but not yet spun into yarn. Can be found in a variety of colors on Etsy.com, some natural craft stores (such as a Waldorf supply store) or a sheep farm.)
Hot Water
Dish Soap
Grab a tuff of wool.
I use a pot of hot water (as hot as I can stand). Place the wool roving in soapy water.
Gently pass the roving back and forth between the palms of your hands; wetting the ball frequently in the soapy water.
As the ball begins to form start to apply a little more pressure. Keep rolling, pressing and wetting until the ball is firm and hard.
Rinse under cold water.
Continuously rolling and pressing to get all the soap out.
For a simple tutorial watch the following video from Sara’s Textured Crafts. She really makes the process look easy.
Fall Harvest Craft Session – johanna
November 23rd, 2009 | Filed under: THE CRAFT CLOSET
The theme for our latest craft session is the Fall Harvest. If you have seen my previous posts on gardening you will know I have a black thumb so unfortunately there was nothing to actually harvest here. However, at the end of our street is a corn field and not too much farther from our home is a cotton field.
CORN:
We made ears of corn by gluing bubble wrap, cut in the shape of a corn cob, to a piece of construction paper also in the shape of a corn cob. Here we used yellow but you may also use green. We painted the bubble wrap with yellow paint. After the paint dried we glued on the husks, using green construction paper. Glue the corn to a piece of paper or to skewers to display.
APPLE TREES:
Use a toilet paper or paper towel roll for the trunk of the tree. I happened to have an empty wrapping paper tube which allowed us to make various sizes of apple trees. Next, cut 1-2 inches off the bottom of a paper plate. Color the paper plate using green paint or markers. We used a sponge cut into a 1-inch square piece and dabbed the paint on. For the apples we used a 1/4-inch square piece of sponge and red paint.Cut a slit in the top of the tube to slide the paper plate into when dry.
SPICED ORANGES:
Whole cloves are expensive at the grocery store. Instead shop your local dollar store or Big Lots. Push the cloves into the orange for a wonderful fall aroma. Make a design or completely cover the orange and display.
Rainy Day Fun: Animal Habitats – johanna
November 4th, 2009 | Filed under: CREATING MEMORIES, THE CRAFT CLOSET
With the onset winter comes rain. Most days kids love to play in the pouring rain and stomp in the puddles. On the days the kids are stuck inside create a magical forest to host a tea party or fight off the bandits.
We made a zoo animal habitat. We had a lovely time learning about the way different animals live. We used the animals we made in a puppet show. The cave was their favorite place to hang out.
Use plastic animals or create your own from paper.
For the desert we set up a bowl with sand and used a work lamp to simulate the hot sun. We discussed the purpose of a camels humps and how some of the dessert animals dig a hole in the sand to keep cool.
For the jungle we used brown paper found at a teacher supply store or the shipping supplies section of target. We stapled leaves to yarn for the vines.
In the cave we talked about what animals hibernate and why. We read the book “Old Bear” by Kevin Henkes.
We jumped over the river made of blue construction paper. You could also use a sheet or towel. Have your child sit in the center while you make ripples by flapping the sheet up and down. We sang a song about the five little monkeys teasing Mr. Alligator.
In the savanna we crept like lions and jumped like kangaroos.
Fun Affordable Halloween Costumes – johanna
October 14th, 2009 | Filed under: CREATING MEMORIES, THE CRAFT CLOSET
For my birthday this year I received a large box stuffed with old family photos from my mom. I have to say it was a priceless gift that I enjoyed thoroughly. One of the pictures I liked most was a snapshot of a group of kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes. The moment in time captured in that photo was an era of innocence and simple fun. Costumes were made by either talented mothers or Grandmothers or assembled from items found around the house. I remember wearing mason jar rings on my ears one year when I was a gypsy.
I love Halloween. I always say it is my favorite Holiday that is until Christmas time when I am caught up in the glee. I find I can no longer allow my children to look at the costume magazines because the majority of the contents are gore. This year I noticed sites directed toward kids are filled with Halloween suggestions that are a little too much on the scary side rather than sweets pumpkins and black cats. So I decided to go back in time and find some fun costumes and other Halloween goodies that will tantalize a child’s soul and mind not scare him to bits.
I know that making your children homemade costumes is time consuming and when your time is limited who wants the added stress, right? I admit I have purchased my kids costumes for the past five years. So I am in no way pointing fingers. This year after I ordered my daughters mermaid costume for an insurmountable sum of money I came across the site for the mermaid costume listed below. I hit my forehead several times repeatedly telling myself “dummy, you could do that!” And for a fraction of the cost.
The experience also brought to mind a fun activity with a youth group I helped chaperon years ago. We loaded the kids up and took them to the local Goodwill. Each teen was allotted $5.00 to purchase items they needed to combine with something at home to create a Halloween costume with. They all had a blast and the costumes were a hoot.
Here are several links for cheap and simple fun costumes for kids. Good Luck, have fun and most of all Be Safe!
Pre-Mealtime Tablecloth Craft – johanna
July 4th, 2009 | Filed under: THE CRAFT CLOSET
This idea came from a friend of mine Patty. Every time she had a birthday party the kids were kept busy for a short time decorating a bucket or paper table cloth. Since holiday’s tend to be a bit more hectic it is nice to have a craft to preoccupy them until dinner is ready.
Here we are making flag place settings and wild hats to celebrate with.
Supplies:
Large roll of paper
Scissors
Glue
Craft paper, various colors
Crayons
Markers
May Day – johanna
April 29th, 2009 | Filed under: CREATING MEMORIES, THE CRAFT CLOSET
Photo: Maypole Dancing at Wishford, Wiltshire
One of my favorite childhood memories I have, is watching my mom and the other ladies from church weave ribbons in and around the May Pole. If I remember correctly, it was usually done during our Easter celebration rather than May 1st. The picture of festive celebrations is what I cherish most about the experience.
May day is an ancient holiday celebrated in many countries around the world. In some places, May 1st is known as a Labor Day, while in other places, the day is a celebration of the turning tide of spring equinox into summer solstice. The traditions we recognize still today is flowers and the May pole.
May Pole: Decorate a pole or tall stick with brightly colored ribbon or paper streamers. Add flowers and balloons. Then, dance around the May pole, holding the ends of the streamers or ribbon.
May Day Basket of Flowers: Hang a basket full of spring flowers on a neighbor’s doorknob. Use real flowers or make your own out of felt, paper, colored craft sticks or egg cartons.
Handprint Easter Lillies – johanna
April 10th, 2009 | Filed under: THE CRAFT CLOSET
Here is a fun super fast craft that will bring giggles and smiles to the Easter brunch table.
Source: Family Fun
Supplies:
white and green card stock (regular paper is fine)
yellow pipe cleaners
straws
scissors
pencil
Trace your child’s hand print onto a piece of white card stock and cut out.
Cut two double leaves from green card stock and punch holes in the centers where the leaves meet. Curl the paper fingers and leaves by wrapping them around a pencil. Wrap the hand around the top of a straw and secure with tape. Slide the leaves onto the straw and tape them in place.
For the flower’s stamen, fold half of a yellow pipe cleaner in half and curl down the ends. Insert the folded end into the straw.
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