Wednesday, December 2, 2009

holiday countdown: make a garland to give or to keep

Earlier today I made myself a happy felty garland and wondered, how could I tweak this so that kidlets can make one? After a quick peek at what craft supplies were out in the open, I came up with this nifty piece of garland goodness that can be made for any holiday throughput the year.

The key to this craft is maintaining some control over the supplies. While I am usually all for an open ended art experience, I think something can be said to give parameters. You can call it a challenge if you like or call it a "Same But Different" project. Set out your supplies and delight in what your kidlet comes up with.

You will need:

*2 small paper lunch sacks
*scissors
*tacky or fabric glue
*scrap lace
*old felted sweater
*length of bias tape
*safety pins

scrumdilly-do it:

Gather your supplies and set them up on a large flat surface. A kitchen table is perfect for this. Depending on the age of your child you may wish to cut your lace pieces and wool scraps for them. Cutting all pieces up in an assortment of sizes and setting them out in a muffin tin may get your child rearing to go.Cut your sacks into three pieces. I chose paper bags as they are a little bit more sturdy than plain white paper plus the color is different and just a tiny bit fancy-like. Since you are cutting each bag into three pieces, this will determine how many bags you need for your garland. You may wish to hack up a dozen or so bags and set them out for your kidlet to work with. Some kids get into the zone and will work until all supplies are depleted. Fold the top part of each piece under a little bit and ask that your kidlets go to town just under the crease. This will leave a clear spice for pinning or sewing your bias tape on.Set out you sack pieces in a grid format and challenge your kidlet to decorate each flag the same but different. They will be using the same supplies but how can they make each flag look like an original piece of art. Give them a happy tube of glue and let them go for it. When using wool or felt, I find that Aileen's Tacky glue works best. General use white glue soaks into th felt and does not stick at all. If you do not have a fabric glue, limit your materials to non-felty pieces. Once your child has finished creating their art, set aside to dry.When your pieces are dry, unfurl your length of bias tape and play with the pieces to get the spacing and order how you want it. Your kidlet will probably enjoy this part as well.Once you both are satisfied with the order, use your safety pins to pin each flag to the bias tape.** Once all pieces are pinned you can hang up your garland and do a happy dance! Check out scrumdillydilly for the grown-up version of this project!

**paper bags work well with a sewing machine if you wish to jazz up your bunting a wee bit more. You can also use brads and a hole punch or fun colorful staples. I just liked the way the safety pins looked. Also, these little flags of fun would look nice framed or stapled onto the cover of a blank notebook. There are all sorts of things you and your kidlets can do with them. Have fun and don't forget to add your pictures to the flickr group!

2 comments:

  1. Love, love, love! Hello, weekend project with the kiddos. You are so awesome, and I love each and every thing you do. xoxoxo!

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  2. always inspired when I come here.
    thank you jek!

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