Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

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

 

Play dough mats are a great way to work with kids on their motor skills, shape recognition, alphabet and number skills. It is also a fun activity for kids to play with on rainy days when they can’t go outside and play.

There are 2 templates provided; one is blank, and the other is Spring/Easter themed. The blank template you can use to create your own play dough mat with alphabet letters, shapes, lines, and doodles. The Spring/Easter template is ready to print and use.

Using page protectors is an inexpensive way to keep the play dough from sticking to the cardstock template. You can use lamination film, but the page protectors work just as well and then the cards can be stored in a 3 ring binder when not in use.

Downloads:

• Spring play dough mat Template
• Play dough mat Template

Play dough Recipe:

• 1 ½ – 2 Cups Flour
• 1 ½ Cup Water
• 2 TBSP Oil
• 2 TBSP Alum
• ½ cup Salt
• Food Coloring

Mix water, food coloring, salt into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Boil on high until the salt crystals have dissolved. Put flour in a bowl and add oil, Alum, and any scent (optional). Once the liquid has dissolved, pour it over the flour and mix completely. Start out with less flour, and if it’s sticky add a little bit more. Store in a closed, tight container. Will stay good for several months. If it gets dry, add a little water to it.

All of the art supplies for this project can be found at CreateForLess.com.

By General Crafts Contributor Mina, from the blog Mina’s Journal.

When the Grandson stays, I get up early to get some work done because he likes to use my computer. One morning he was very excited to see I was working on dinosaurs. I told him I would be finished soon and then he could hop on the machine. I went to make a cup of tea and I could hear him saying ‘that should be green, that should be yellow, etc. When I came back he had colored them! Said Grandson is 4 years old. Some of them turned out pretty cute, so we decided to share them.

Dino Clipart

The Dino Pack has a clipart page to use for your projects. Scrapbooking layouts with a Baby or Child theme. Glue them on card for gift tags for Baby Showers or Gifts.

Dino Coloring Page

There is a coloring page so you can color them yourself or for the kids to color and add your own patterns to. Try adding glitter or rhinestones.

Dino Posters

Dino Posters for the wall or nursery. The smaller images can be used for card making projects.

Download Dino Pack Ebook

Get out the paints, pens, glue and scissors and have fun with the Dino Pack Ebook.

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

With Easter right around the corner, the Bunny Book would make a great gift idea. Add some crayons and wrap in cute cellophane for an inexpensive party favor or for classroom parties. Young children learning to write, love to make little books and practice writing on any piece of paper that they find. I created this project with young learners in mind, but it also can be adapted for adults too!

This bunny book is a simple project that can be made as a group project or with light supervision. You can create different variations by changing the colors of the cover, or adding different types of paper for the pages, or adding embellishments to the cover.

Materials Needed:

• Bunny Book Template (included)
• Cardstock
• Writing Paper
• Glue Stick
• Scissors
• Stapler

Optional:

• Scrapbooking Scraps
• Colored Paper
• Squiggly Eyes

 Instructions:

1. Print and cut out the Bunny Book Template.

2. Fold 1 piece of 8.5 x11″ cardstock in half (width).

3. Unfold cardstock with the fold vertical.

4. Glue the bunny cut out flap onto the top, right side of the cardstock. You will want to adjust the bunny cut out so that the head is sticking up above the closed book (see above picture).

5. Fold a 2nd piece of cardstock in half and glue it on top of the previous piece covering the bunny cut out flap. This will provide a sturdy cover for the book.

6. Fold in half 3-5 sheets of writing paper. You can use lined or unlined.

7. Place the writing paper fold on top of the fold of the bunny book cover.

8. Staple the bunny pages and cover along the fold.

9. The book is finished, and now can be embellished.

All of the materials used for this activity can be found at CreateForLess.com.

By General Crafts Contributor Melissa, from the blog MeloMomma.

At first glance would you guess that this gorgeous candle is made with egg shells? With Easter right around the corner this is really appropriate, but you certainly don’t have to wait for Easter! I just saved a few shells from hard boiled eggs. It’s simple elegance!

 What you will need:

• Mason jar
• Egg Shells
• Food coloring
• Water
• 2 Bowls
• Tacky glue
• Rhinestones
• Floral décor (the puffy balls are actually cut up floral arrangements… fake flowers would look very nice too)
• Tea Light Candle

 

 Directions:

Rinse and dry the egg shells.

Add a few drops of food coloring to a bowl of water.

Add the eggs and allow them to soak until you are happy with the color they become (I left mine for several hours while I ran errands). Remove the shells and let dry.

 Cover the mason jar in tacky glue. Gently place the egg shells against the tacky glue. Leave some open space for the light to shine through. Add a few rhinestones. Arrange the puffy balls around the top. Allow to dry.

Place a tea light candle inside and enjoy!

By Guest Blogger Diane, from the blog Charmingly Creative.

Here is a sweet card you can use either for Spring or Easter and easy to make. Time to Complete: 10 minutes

What You’ll Need:

• Any Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page (I used Eyelet Lace)
• Martha Stewart Grass Punch
• Bunny Punch
• Hydrangea Punch
• Tulip Punch
• Fence Edger punch
• Fiskars 1/8″ circle punch
• EK Success Tri leaf punch
• Memory Box Puffy Clouds & Twiggy Tree dies
• Purple, Yellow, Brown, Pink, Green, Tan, White and Green & Gold glitter cardstock
• Spellbinders Grand Calibur
• Black pen
• Scissors
• Self-healing cutting mat
• Bone folder
• Rotary cutter
• Art Institute clear Glitter glue 
• Glue dots

Instructions:

Trim Purple cardstock with Rotary cutter to 8″x10″. Score the cardstock in the middle at the 5″ line and use a bone folder to crease the edge of paper to form 5″ x 8″ card.

Punch out the following:

• One brown bunny and glue a 1/8″ white tail and draw a black eye with a pen.
• One green grass strip & one yellow tulip edge strip each about 4.5″ long.
• Using White cardstock and the fence punch, punch two times which will get you a fence about 4.5″ long.
• Two Yellow Eyelet lace strips 5″ long.
• With Green glitter cardstock punch out 19 leaves for tree.
• You will need to punch six sets of Hydrangeas and six Gold glitter 1/8″ circles for center of flowers.

Run brown cardstock through die cutting machine using the Twiggy Tree die and White cardstock using the puffy Clouds die. (Note: if you don’t have Twiggy tree die or Clouds use a tree sticker instead and hand cut cloud shapes.)

Glue the Yellow Eyelet Lace pieces on the top and bottom of card.

Note: Glue these pieces to each other before gluing to card. Trim the Grass and Tulip strips to fit the fence. Glue the grass to front bottom of fence. Glue the tulips behind fence.

I made the flowers using the small Hydrangea punch gluing one flower on top of the other, slightly turning the one on top. I added a Gold glitter cardstock circle using the 1/8″ punch to the flower centers. Glue flowers to grass and bunny in place. Glue leaves to tree and attach tree behind fence close to the center. Now glue entire piece to front of card, add clouds to complete.

By Kid’s Crafts Contributor Stephanie, from the Blog Geek with Glasses.

My daughter is an Irish Step Dancer and March is a crazy month for us. We have two St. Patrick Day parades to partake in, so I needed something festive to wear. I love the mini top hats and thought I’d share this tutorial on how to make your own at home.

Mini Top hats are also popular for Steampunk costumes too, it’s all in how you decorate the basic shape.

Today, we are going Leprechaun!

Supplies:

Toilet paper or Paper Towel Roll
Cereal Box
Ribbon
Headband
Glitter
Felt
White Paint / Green Paint
Thread

Optional:

Stickers
Crystals
Other Decorations

Tools:

Pen
Craft Knife
Scissors
Brush
Glue
Hot Glue Gun
Needle

The first thing to do is cut open the cereal box to get a flat side. On the inside (non printed side) of the cereal box trace around the paper roll. This will make the center of the brim of the hat. Next measure 5/8″ all the way around and draw that circle. Cut out the outside circle, then using the craft knife cut the cross marks on the inside circle. This makes tabs to glue the brim to the tube.

Next trace the roll again, this time measure about 1/4″ and make another circle. Cut along the outside line, then cut tabs to fold. This makes the top of the hat, the tabs insert into the tube to hold the top on.

Now, determine how tall the Top Hat should be. This hat is 1 1/2″ tall, carefully use the craft knife to cut the tube so not to smash the roll.

Using the Hot Glue Gun, attach the brim by folding the tabs up and placing the tube over top. Glue the tabs in place. This can be done with craft glue but  then the tabs should be clipped until the glue dries. The Hot Glue makes the project go quicker without drying time. After the brim is in place, fold the tabs on the top of the hat and glue the it in place.  

Once the hat is assembled paint the entire piece white or green. I painted mine white, then after the glitter I went in and painted the edge of the brim and bottom green. It wasn’t necessary, but I did not like the white edge. If the entire hat was painted green to start that would not be an issue, but the glitter will show up different with a dark background verses a white background. It’s up to the crafter to decide.

When the paint is dry, cover the hat with craft glue and sprinkle the glitter on. Let the hat dry completely, once dry tap off the extra glitter.

I decorated the hat by gluing a ribbon around the base of the hat. Then using stick vinyl, I cut 3 hearts out using a heart shaped punch. I stuck the hearts on the hat in the shape of a shamrock and glued a crystal in the center. I added another shamrock to the hat in the same way. This is where it can become any type of hat that you want.

Next,  cut a circle of felt and glued it to the bottom to make attaching it to the headband easier.

I made 2 ribbon bows and glued them together, then hot glued the hat on top of them. 

To attach the hat to the headband, first hot glue the ribbon/hat to the headband. Then make a couple of stitches around the headband making sure to catch the felt on the hat, secure the thread with a good knot.

Now - put the beautifully crafted hat on your head, drink some kind of ale and eat Bangers and Mash Or follow the rainbow to your pot of gold! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!

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

This activity is fun for all ages groups and can be incorporated into learning activities celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. The best part is that all of the materials needed can be found at CreateForLess. This cute and festive pin activity is fairly simple to create.

Materials Needed:

• Shamrock Template (click to open)
• Green buttons in various sizes, shapes
• Pin back
• Glue
• Tag or chipboard
• Scissors

Step 1. Print off the shamrock templates onto card stock. For my example, I glued the card stock piece onto a piece of tag board scrap to make the back more rigid. (You need the shamrock to be fairly sturdy to hold the weight of the buttons.)

Step 2. Using different sized green buttons, begin gluing onto the shamrock template. I used different kinds of buttons that I have had collected. I filled in the open spaces with really small buttons. (Be sure to supervise young children as some buttons can pose a choking hazard).

Step 3. After the buttons have been glued on, let dry. Depending on the type of glue you use, it may take a few hours for the glue to be completely dry. I used Tacky Glue for my example as it dries clear, and it also is stronger than glue sticks for long term use.

Step 4. Once the buttons are completely dry, you can then add the pin back. Let completely dry before wearing the pins.