Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By Guest Blogger Sara, from the blog Clever Pink Pirate.

Summer is here, bring on the water play, vacations and fun! We always seem to want to do so much in the Summer but it goes so fast then, the kids are back in school. From the water park to making a trip to the beach, me and my kids sat down and made a bucket list for the Summer. It’s everything we want to accomplish before Summer ends! Not only does it keep us organized for our Summer plans but we also have a way to always look forward to doing something fun, helping with those Summer time blues. It’s also a great project the family can do together!

What You’ll Need:

• Bucket
• Craft sticks
• Styrofoam ball for the inside
• 1 sheet of tissue paper
• Washi Tape
• 2 pieces of cardstock
• Curling ribbon
• Cutting machine (such as Cricut or Silhouette)
• Vinyl sheet

1. Take the craft sticks and on each one, write the fun things you would like to do this Summer with your family.
2. Cut out the words, Summer Fun in vinyl on your cutting machine and adhere it to the front. If you do not have vinyl, try printing it then tracing it with an X-ACTO knife, covering it on the front with Mod Podge. Follow with a simple Washi Tape strip on the front.
3. Cut out envelopes with cardstock, one to hold coupons for the Summer list and one to hold your done sticks (these could be used in a Summer scrapbook page if you wish). Punch two circles to make labels for the “Done” envelope and for the “Coupons” envelope and adhere them to the envelopes. Punch a small hole with a paper punch in the corner of the envelope so you can tie them onto the bucket.
4. Wrap the Styrofoam ball in one layer of tissue paper and stuff down inside the bucket until it’s firmly put.
5. Stick each craft stick inside the ball so all the words are facing the front.
6. Attach the envelopes to each side of the bucket.

Enter to win a Mod Podge Prize Pack! Two winners will each receive Mod Podge Rocks! Decoupage Your World Book and a Mod Podge Starter 5pc Pack.

Mod Podge is the original all-in-one sealer, glue and finish. Perfect for wood, paper, fabric and other porous surfaces, such as terra cotta, plastic foam, and candles, it’s quick and easy to use. As a glue, it dries clear and holds tight. Non-toxic with a soap and water clean up makes it great for kids. As a sealer it protects acrylic paints, stains, decoupage and fabric. Leaves a soft finish. The Mod Podge Starter Set 5 pc has Sparkle, Original Gloss, Original Matte, Outdoor, and Paper Matte. Have fun trying your hand in a number of projects. From paper to fabric, your’re sure to enjoy them all.

Every Friday we’ll post a giveaway on Think Crafts and all you have to do is comment on the blog post answering the question of the week. We’ll pick the winner and contact them via email. Deadline is midnight tonight and the winner will be announced Monday. One entry per person please. Free Stuff Friday is only open to US, Australia, New Zealand and Canadian residents.

Question of the Week: Have you ever had a reoccurring dream? What was it?

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CreateForLess offers a variety of shipping options to meet your delivery needs. Our goal is to deliver your order in the quickest and most economical way possible. Independence Day Free Shipping Special ends 7.4.12. Offer available only on orders delivered within the 48 contiguous United States and by Economy delivery.

By Guest Blogger Tracey, from the blog We Made That.

While I was out shopping the other day I saw the really cool metal rocket for the 4th of July. And I thought hey we could make something like that. So I started thinking about it and decided we would make a Patriotic Rocket Wind Catcher to hang on our front porch.

When I told my daughter we were going to make a rocket she was so excited to play with it that I decided we needed to make two so I could hang one up for decoration and she had one to play with. This ended up working out great for us both.

Supplies

• Paper Towel Roll
• Red, White, & Blue Paint
• Painters Tape
• Rocket Top Download
• Cardstock
• Red, White, & Blue Streamers
• Glue
• Scissors
• String (I used fishing line because it is what I had on hand)

Directions

Start by painting your paper towel roll white (may have to apply 2nd coat of paint). While that is drying print out your cone print pattern on card stock and cut out.

Cut a line from one side of the circle to the middle of the circle.

Paint your circle Red (NOTE: You can print this out on red paper or even trace it out on red paper and cut it out instead of painting, we just love to paint).

Cut your painters tape into strips. Place the strips of painters tape around your paper towel roll.

Paint the showing stripes red & blue (may have to apply 2nd coat of paint).

Once the paint is dry remove the tape. Cut pieces of your streamers any length you want. We cut two red, two white, & two blue for each rocket.

Now cut your streamers down the middle to make them thinner.

Apply glue just inside one end of your roll and then place your streamers on the glue all the way around the roll.

Apply glue onto your red circle in a triangle next to your cut. Fold your circle with one end on top of the glue to form a cone, hold until glue is semi dry.

Place glue on the end of your roll without streamers. Then place the cone on top of the glue, hold till glue is dry. Then place the cone on top of the glue, hold till glue is dry.

Using scissors poke two holes in your tube (you want it to be on the top half of your rocket). Thread your string through the holes and tie in a knot.

Now find a place to hang your rocket and let it fly!

By Crafts for Learning Contributor, Danielle from the blog Crayonbox Learning.

Watching and observing birds are a good way to introduce science to young children. Watching nests being built, comparing different size and colors of eggs, and colorful feathers can be used as learning opportunities to sort, and compare.

Materials Needed:

• Printer/Paper
• Scissors
• Disposable Camera
• Pencil
• Yarn/String
• Bird Stickers / Scrapbooking pages
• Printable Bird Watching Book Template

Directions:

Print a copy of the Bird Watching Book Template. Print Cover onto cardstock for durability. Fold paper, punch holes in the pages and secure with yarn or string. Take pictures of birds using a disposable camera or inexpensive digital camera. Write down what you observe about the bird habitat, what they eat, building nests or hatching baby birds.

The bird book can be embellished using bird stickers, cut outs from magazines, and by using scrapbooking materials. Many birds come and go seasonally, therefore, it’s a great project to add onto.

For over 40 years crafters have entrusted their most treasured creations to Mod Podge—the number one, all-in-one glue, sealer, and finish product that’s water-based for easy cleanup and totally non-toxic. Mod Podge Rocks!: Decoupage Your World features over 40 simple, inexpensive decoupage projects from author Amy Anderson—founder of the popular Mod Podge Rocks! blog—and some of the hottest names in crafting such as Cathie Filian, Heather Mann, and Candie Cooper.

The book includes contemporary and fun projects including:

• Home accessories like a Moroccon End Table (page 48) and Antique Key Wall Art (page 96).
• Holiday décor including a Halloween Countdown Calendar (page 100) and Patchwork Christmas Ornaments (page 116).
• Wearables such as Mod Boots (page 16) and a Bike Helmet (page 30).
• Jewelry like a Bottlecap Necklace (page 28) and a Children’s Art Charm Bracelet (page 25)
• A basic section outlines the simple techniques, and each project features beauty shots, easy-to-follow instructions, and how-to photos.

About the Author:

Amy Anderson lives in Atlanta, GA. Her website, Mod Podge Rocks! is hugely popular, and her blog is ranked #8 on Babble.com’s Top 50 Mom Craft Blogs for 2011.

Amy also blogged for Think Crafts! She was our General Crafts Contributor and you can see her work HERE!

By Guest Blogger Tracey, from the blog We Made That.

Last year my youngest daughter was only a few months old on the 4th of July so we really did not do much celebrating (you know we wanted to sleep as much as we could). This year she is old enough that she would have fun participating in the festivities but well what can a 1 year old do for the 4th? Fireworks are out they can’t do those, even the little popper ones my oldest loves she can’t do because she is more likely to eat them than throw them down to pop.

Then I got to thinking and decided we could make her a July 4th Shaker so she can make her own noise to celebrate our country’s birthday! When I told my oldest about it she was really excited to help make something special for her little sister so we got to work right away.

I know many of you have made music shakers before and well we made one major change in the normal way you make these. I decided instead of taping paper to the ends of the tube we would just tape it. And yes as you can assume some of the rice we used stuck to the tape but not much and it still makes great sounds and was so much easier to do than to cut out more paper fit it on and tape around it. It is up to you how you want to make yours but this is how we did ours and it works great!

Supplies

• Toilet paper roll
• Red, White, & Blue construction paper
• Glue
• Scissors
• Packing tape
• 3 table spoons rice
• Star Stickers

Directions

Put 3 to 4 pieces of tape on one end of your toilet paper roll (we criss crossed our tape to make sure it covered it).

Put 3 table spoons of rice in your tube.

Tape up the other end of your roll.

Cut out a piece of white construction paper to fit over your roll, and then put glue on your roll and then the paper. Apply more glue and wrap your white construction paper around the roll.

Cut out a piece of blue construction paper to go around the top of your roll, and cut out stripes out of your red construction paper.

Glue on your blue paper and your red stripes.

Now put your sticker stars onto the blue construction paper.

Once all the glue is dry let your little ones shake and have fun with there new July 4th shaker!