father's day diy: wooden key chain/gift tag

So you've arted up some gift wrap for Dad's favorite candy bars now all you need is a nifty gift tag. Why not make the gift tag a part of the gift by turning it into a keychain?

Small packs of wooden discs can be found at your local craft store for very little. You can use a hammer and nail to create the hole or get all power tool happy and use a drill with a small bit. Grab a handful of discs and add a hole to each one.

Attaching the keyring can be tricky if your discs are compromised. One of our discs cracked but the rest were good. You can also use a short length of ball chain instead of a classic key ring.

Your children can paint up the discs are get a bit happy with markers.

Aren't they nifty? Happy Almost-Father's Day!

father's day diy: scrape art candy bar bands

This simple gift idea is another small one that packs punch. Why not repurpose your child's artwork into candy bar sleeves? If Dad loves chocolate but always has to share, why not pick up a trio of his favorite bars, just for him?

These candy bands were created using good old fashioned splatter and scrape art. We used one large sheet (11.5"X17") and painted up both sides. After it all dried, we cut it up into three pieces and wrapped each band around a bar. Our first cut was a bit smaller than we wanted but that was easy to fix with a long piece of tape.

 

The beauty of scrape art is that a few colors go a long way. Drip, drop, drizzle and scrape. That's all you need to do. If the first try comes out too dark or inky, allow the paint to dry a bit and blob on another layer of lighter paint and let your kiddo scrape and push the paint around.

You can use sturdy cardboard to scrape but an expired plastic giftcard has a bit more power behind it, is washable, and reusable. Those fake credit cards that come in the mail will also work. As will a wooden or metal spatula.

So simple. Paint, scrape, dry, cut and gift! You can also top it with a keychain...that post will be up later today. Happy painting!

father's day diy: friendship bracelets

This father's day why not up Dad's coolness factor by knotting up a handful of bracelets for him? Children 7 and up can easily create these small pieces in little time. Change up your cording and create a trio for all the guys in your family...gals too!

The twist on this set of bracelets is to use thicker cord, not yarn or embroidery floss. Parachute cord is nice and sturdy and now comes in all sorts of colors. Hemp cord can be found in the jewelery aisle of most craft stores and shoelaces can be found jsut about anywhere!

Because we are using these thicker cords, you only need two strands (perfect for a pair of shoelaces) or three for the hemp. You can knot your cords at the start though that black starter on the right there really needed a bit more at the top for tying off. If using hemp cord, give it a loop before knotting, this will create a clasp of sorts so Dad can take it off when he needs to. The shoelaces were super thick so I did a loop and ran it through the sewing machine two or three times to anchor them all together.

There are many tutorials out there using embroidery floss. Here is my diy post for using chunky yarn and here is a link to a video that might help as well. I have also found that younger children around 4 and 5 really like to knot things up so you can also set them up with a starter bracelet and let them get to twisting and knotting. I still use the safety pin trick and anchor it to my pants. Some children will get a kick out of it if you anchor it to a table leg or other stationary object.

To finish off your bracelets, you can simply wait until Dad opens them and tie them to his wrist or you can add a fat knot to the opposite end so that it will fit through the loop you created without slipping out. If Dad is not a bracelet wearer, you can also make a shorter "bracelet" and loop it into a key fob. Have fun and Happy Father's Day!

valentine's day (or any day) ::::::::::::::: moustache love

"Why, hellllooooo there.  You arrrrre loooking verrrrry bee-oo-tiful.  
Would you be my Valentine?"

Here's a silly, speedy (and sugar-free!) Valentine's (anytime!!!) project that is certain to stand out in a classroom mailbox full of Transformer and Jonas Brothers Valentines!!!


These hilarious handlebars would also make excellent quickie-costumes, father's day gifts, and/or party favors, and can be made in whatever color scheme your kidlets prefer.


You will need:
*2 or 3 sheets  (8.5" x 11") of stiffened felt in Valentine's colors (ours was glittery!) -- by why limit yourself?  'traditional' hair colors or rainbow-brites would be just as suave!
*Coffee stir-sticks (we 'borrowed' ours from our local branch of a coffee mega-chain.  ahem.), popsicle/craft sticks.  We considered using dowels, but worried that they might be too poke-in-the-eye-prone...
*Hot glue or craft glue (if you have some extra time for drying or are working with somebody under 8)
*Smallish, sharp, pointy scissors
*Heavy scrap paper (card-stock or a magazine cover works well)
*Marker, pencil


scrumdilly-do it!

Draw one or more styles of moustache on your scrap paper using marker or pencil, and cut them out, cutting OUTSIDE the lines.  Need some inspiration?  Go here.


Ander's 'staches were between 4 and 5 inches wide, but they can be whatever size you prefer.  

Turn your felt sheet FACE DOWN (glittery side or felt-ier side down) on a protected work surface, and trace around your paper templates with a permanent marker (Sharpies or similar seem to work the best).


Cut out your felt 'staches, this time cutting INSIDE the line, so no marker is left on your 'stache.


Let your glue gun heat up while you're busy trimming moustaches.  Have a shallow bowl of cold (not iced) water nearby in case of any drip-burned fingers.

With your moustaches laying FACE DOWN on a forgiving work-surface, draw a vertical line of hot glue (or craft glue) on the right side of the 'staches.  If you are making a moustache for a lovely lefty, your glue stripe will go on the left.  


Immediately press a coffee stir stick into the glue at a right angle to your moustache.  Try not to let any stick show above the top of the 'staches.  The glue will be flexible for a bit, and you can adjust things -- just make sure not to burn yourself!

Wait a few minutes for the glue to cool, pick off any glue 'webs,' and model your creation!  Be sure to affect a reedeec-u-luss accent of some sort and waggle those brows!


You may also want to write a sweet Valentine's greeting right on the flat surface of the stir-sticks, or pop your 'stache-sticks into small craft paper lunch sacks (left flat), folding and stapling them shut with a note on the outside like this:

Group photos are strongly encouraged.

more fun with cornstarch clay

If you are a regular reader, you will have maybe, just maybe hopped on over to Craftzine to see my recipe for cornstarch clay and maybe, just maybe, you have checked out my most recent for the do post on clay rubbings. Here's a nifty take on continuing the fun, you know, just in case those boredom blues are still going on.

You will need:
*batch of cornstarch clay or other clay suitable for baking
*fun objects from around the house (beware of possible choking hazards)
*watercolor, food color or other thinned paint
*scratch paper or soft white paper. printer paper is fine
*cookie cutters
*cookie sheet
*string, yarn, or other length of lacing

scrumdilly-do it:

This is what you do after you have already finished with the clay and crayon rubbings. Remove the objects from the clay.Mix up a batch of liquid watercolor or add some water to food color and have your wee one paint up their imprinted clay.Place a sheet of paper over the painted clay to lift a print. Wipe down with a damp sponge for another color combo, etc.Once your tot is finished with the painting and printing, pass out the cookie cutters and have him or her cut out some shapes. Preheat your oven to 250F. Use a straw or pipecleaner to make holes near the tops of each shape. Place on a cookie sheet and bake until hard (at least thirty minutes). The paint will have set and the holes will have shrunk up a little but they should still be large enough to string.Make pendants, keychains, bead chains, etc. Make small clay shapes and adhere to plain cuff-links or tie clip for Father's Day gifts. Most of all, have fun and be safe. Children under three should be supervised and only an adult should take care of the baking.

Books for Dads & Grandads

And Tango Makes Three
Written by: Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Illustrated by: Henry Cole
Published by: Simon & Schuster, 2005

This is a great, GREAT story for Father's Day! Based on a true experience at New Yor's Central Park Zoo when two of the male penguins formed a bond and desperately tried to nest together. One of the keepers placed an egg in their nest to see what would happen and Tango was born!

Read more here.

For more books on Father's and such:
Father's Day Books
Children's GLBT Books for Gay Pride Month

Happy Father's Day!

Dollar Store Painting...

and some gift wrap for Father's Day!

I can't really help ya on what to make for the Dads out there but I can help ya with how to wrap it all up! Have your kidlet(s) make a sheet of driven gift wrap*!

What you need:
*toy cars, the more the merrier
*brightly colored paint
*large sheet of paper, the back side of a sheet of griftwrap or paper bag
*splat mat/large work space

scrumdilly-do it:

Squirt a bunch of colors three or four is nice. Any more and you may end up with brown paint from all the mixing. Have your wee ones "drive" their car(s) through the paint.


Next, all they have to do is play cars on the paper, re-dipping as they see fit. Set aside to dry and wrap, wrap, wrap away!

Using different sized cars and different types of wheels will add an interesting pattern to the paper. Driving the cars through the paint and then onto the paper helps build small motor skills and fosters creativity. Open up the dialogue with your kidlet as she or he paints. If you use different types of cars with different wheels, see if they can match which car did which line and so on. Most of all, have fun!

*Painting with cars isn't just for dads and some dads may prefer it if ya painted with something else. Is your father a chef? Paint with a potato masher. Is he a florist? Paint with flowers and plants. Does your dad like to dance? Paint your feet and dance on the paper! The possibilities are truly endless!