If you’re looking for special projects that will teach your kids to be environmentally friendly, then why not get them involved with crafts? Ordinary items around the house like coat hangers, CDs and DVDs and old clothing often end up in landfill sites when they can be used to make functional and attractive items for your home, office or garden. In this article, we’ll show you some simple crafts for kids that will make our world a little greener.
Tin cans can be used for a number of craft projects after their contents have been emptied. Turning tuna or cat food cans into candy containers is a practical craft project that is so simple that anyone can do it. After you’ve washed the can thoroughly, paint the outside white. Punch two holes near the top edge on opposite sides and use light weight craft wire or a pipe cleaner to make a handle. Now the can looks like a little basket. To cover the wire, you can use felt or pretty ribbon. To decorate the outside of the can, you can use stamps, stickers, glitter or more craft paint. Line the inside with plastic wrap, paper doilies, or colored cellophane. The candy container will look really pretty and artistic once you put the candy inside.
Napkin rings are an attractive addition to any table even when you’re having a casual family dinner. Save your silver napkin rings for formal occasions and make paper towel tube rings for every day. This is so easy, and is one of safest crafts for young kids to do. You’ll need an assortment of dried beans. If you want a flashier look, you can use plastic gem stones. You’ll also need an empty paper towel tube, glue and scissors. Cut empty paper towel tubes into 1-1/4″ rings. Use the glue to attach the beans or gems to the entire surface area. If you want to make a simpler looking napkin ring, cover the paper towel roll with shelving paper in a pretty pattern before cutting the roll into pieces.
Fridge magnets are a fun way to dress up your kitchen and they’re great for holding photographs, recipes or shopping lists in a convenient place. If you’re looking for environmentally friendly craft projects for your kids, make some eco-fridge magnets. You’ll need CDs or DVDs that are no longer in use, felt in your favorite colors, a black marker, decorative materials like gems, beans, beads or ribbon, eyes from a craft store and a magnet. Trace the disc out on the felt, cut out the shape, and glue the felt to one side only. Using your decorative materials and some glue, turn the disc into a potato head, a frog face, a happy smile or even a flower. Add a dollop of glue to the top, backside of the disc and carefully place the magnet in the glue. Once all the material dries, you’ll have a cute magnet that will hold your child’s crafts and paintings to the fridge.
Everyday household items like towels, sheets, pillowcases, canisters and coasters can all be made at home using items that normally would end up in the trash. By turning waste into fun and functional crafts, you’ll save money and protect the environment from being cluttered with unnecessary garbage. So, turn on your imagination and have a great time while filling your home with unique, one-of-a-kind, handmade items.
Many event managers build their businesses around kids party planning and child-friendly party supplies. Parents will always throw parties for their little ones, and they won’t quit ’til the child reaches adulthood. Among the sub-niches inside the party planning industry, kids party planning is the biggest, most complex and most lucrative. There are simply so many ways to plan a kids party. You can choose to go with a popular theme, like those patterned around television shows (such as Dora the Explorer and Spongebob). You can even plan around a favourite past time, i.e. a finger painting party.
Here are some tips for kids party planning
1. Send party theme implements with the invitation
Are you having a pirate kids party? You can purchase eye patches from your favourite party supply shops and craft stores, and send them out with the invitations. If you’re having a “wizard” theme party, you can send the magic wands.
2. A birthday party needs new ideas
Let’s face it, being able to throw a unique and memorable party for your child increases parental pride. Dads and Moms will always want the trendiest giveaways, the greatest food, the most awesome balloons, the most spectacular cakes. Most parents will plan their children's parties themselves, but there are those who will take the plunge and hire party planners. Either they cannot afford to risk the “chic” aspect of their child’s party or they want only the best. This means they will bail if your ideas are too common or too drab. So perk up!
3. Innovate
No matter how many party supply catalogs you look at or magazines you read, sometimes you just hit a wall and can’t come up with anything unique. When this happens, you should use old concepts but incorporate new things, like Face Painting or balloon sculpture tutorials. Talk to kids and ask for suggestions. Sometimes, a fresh viewpoint is enough to get you out of that trough and get you actively thinking up new themes again.
4. Teach kids the value of memories
Bring out the old Polaroid and snap photos of the kids with their friends. Give everyone scrapbook pages and art supplies, and just let the kids be creative! Assign a scrapbooking assistant per table to guide the kids. Allowing them to dressup their "friendship photos" encourages them to value memories with friends and loved ones. You can even let them create their own giveaway boxes. Just paste the photos onto a cardboard box and let them decorate the boxes.
5. Hire a good host
Some kids love clowns, while other kids like grown ups they can idolize. Hire a good disc jockey or a clown to keep the fun going, and to encourage the kids to participate in kids party games. The host must genuinely like kids and must have the patience of a saint. In fact, you can hire a team of hosts so that you can plan one or two mom activities while the kids are having a blast!
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Although Halloween is a time of simple pleasure, fun, games and trick and treats, there is a whole history of Halloween symbols that have been unexplained for many years. In this articles we take a closer look at bats, black cats, pumpkins and owls and why we use them as common Halloween symbols.
Pumpkins to Protect You
Why do we carve pumpkins on Halloween? Have you ever wondered about that? Well Jack o’ Lanterns where used to keep away evil spirits and ghosts that came out on Samhain holiday and originated in Ireland where most people hollowed-out turnips and placed candles in them. We use pumpkins and remember pumpkins also come in green, white and even blue. This way you can use them for scary monster carvings!
Paranormal Animals
Do you have any idea why there are so many Halloween symbols that are animal related? Are they the bringers of bad luck or are there other reasons these animals became scary Halloween symbols? Most people would say that for example black cats represent bad luck while in fact there are other much older reasons. In the middle ages people thought black cats where actually witches in disguise. And before that time black cats where thought of as reincarnated spirits that had the ability to see into the future. So black cats where animals to avoid under all circumstances and not just with Halloween but during the whole year.
In many Halloween movies and stories bats and owls are casted as the representatives of bad luck, but is the reason they have become such a powerful Halloween symbols. In fact bats and owls were often thought to be able to communicate with the dead. That is the reason why people feared them.
History Of Costumes and Masks
On October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar it is Halloween. This was originally a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. The ancient Celts thought that ghosts and spirits roamed the countryside on Halloween night. Halloween was in earlier days referred to as All Hallows Eve and some say it dates back to over 2000 years ago. The Celts began wearing masks and costumes to avoid being recognized as human by the ghost and that is why we still where costumes today.
Halloween Symbols Revealed
When October 31 comes the many Halloween symbols there are can’t be avoided, they are everywhere in stores and as icons on TV. But what are the stories behind these Halloween symbols and myths? Are some just socially constructed or do they all have special meanings. The stories and images of ghosts, zombies, witches, goblins and monsters are associated with the Halloween holiday but many are in fact just development in horror movies.
The colors black and orange have been used for years and are associated with Halloween but these colors are more about advertisement than anything else. And that goes for more Halloween symbols, they where fabricated by modern society. But that does not mean we can’t enjoy Halloween and make a great party of it.
Kristin King is a real Halloween lover, at here website AheadOfHalloween.com she likes to write about Halloween coloring pages , printable Halloween masks and much more.
If you’ve been spring cleaning and have a pile of old clothes and Christmas ornaments that you really don’t want to throw out, then why not turn them into a craft project that you can use around the house? Instead of spending your hard earned money on household items like laundry bags, quilts or even bookmarks, you can make them yourself simply and inexpensively. In this article, we’ll walk you through the craft of recycling your used goods!
Simple bookmarks can now cost as much as $10 at a bookstore! You can make them yourself by recycling greeting cards you have received. All you need is old cards, some poster board or cardboard, some felt tip markers, and glue. Cut a strip from the poster board or thin cardboard about 8″ x 2″. Cut strips from the greeting card with the same dimensions and glue them to the cardboard on both sides. If the bookmark is a gift, you can write a message on it. To make the bookmark more durable, cover it with clear contact paper or laminate it. For added decoration, use a hole puncher to make a hole at the top of the bookmark and thread a piece of bright yarn or ribbon through it. You can use the same process to make beautiful gift tags. Just make the strips shorter!
Your old artificial Christmas tree can be turned into fantastic, special projects that will add beauty to your home. We usually associate wreaths with the holidays but by adding some beautiful dried flowers and colorful ribbon, you can recycle your old tree into a decorative piece of art that you can display in your home all year. Using tin snips, remove the branches from the center pole. Take a wire coat hanger and bend it into a circular shape but leave the hook intact. The branches will wrap around the coat hanger easily and you can make it as thick as you want.
To cover the wire hook, just wrap it with cloth ribbon and tuck the end into the boughs or tie them in a neat bow. Once you have secured the branches, you can decorate it any way you wish. You can use hot glue to attach tiny stuffed animals to the boughs for a fun wreath for a child’s room. Or, you can weave silk flowers or artificial berries through the branches for a beautiful hanging in your kitchen or bathroom.
Got some old clothes kicking around that are too worn to donate to clothing drives? You can turn them into projects for the kids. Buy some pillow stuffing or use old rags and stuff a t-shirt with the material. Cut off the sleeves and simply sew up all the openings. This is especially good with old shirts with team logos on it. For a craft project with emotional significance, sew old baby clothes together into a baby quilt, couch covering or a throw. Your heart will melt every time you see it. As a bonus, you can use buttons from the clothes to decorate framed art, picture frames or mirrors.
Thinking up fun and interesting ways to recycle a household item into a craft project is a great way to get your creative juices flowing. Check out craft fairs, craft books and the internet for ideas on making eco-friendly projects. You’ll be amazed at all the wonderful things you can do with items that you thought were ready for the garbage.