Happy February!!! I’m excited to be part of Ellison Lane’s Spread the Love Valentine Blog Hop going on this week. I’ve got a fun kid-friendly tutorial for you today, as well as a great giveaway.
In addition to the tutorials, there are two giveaways each day from small businesses. Gotta spread some small shop love too!
Check out all the stops on this fun Valentine hop!
1/28:
Blog: Ellison Lane – Giveaway: Papa’s Old Shirts Fabric Shop
Blog: Doodle Do Designs – Giveaway: Material Girl Quilts
1/29:
Blog: Canoe Ridge Creations – Giveaway: Knotted Threads Fabric Shop
Blog: LR Stitched – Giveaway: Lima Sews Fabric Shop
1/30:
Blog: Owen’s Olivia – Giveaway: During Quiet Time
Blog: Petit Lyons – Giveaway: Stitch By Stitch Long Arm Quilting
1/31:
Blog: Jednoiglec/Sewing Under the Rainbow – Giveaway: By Mary Fabric Shop
Blog: Stitchery Dickory Dock – Giveaway: Knotty Gnome Crafts
2/1:
Blog: From the Blue Chair – Giveaway: Our Epoch Fabric Shop
This is just an easy kid-friendly project idea to get you thinking about creative ways you can get crafty with your kids and use up some of your overflowing fabric stash at the same time. The girls and I wanted to make a pretty new Valentine wreath to help celebrate this month, and the goal was to only use things we already had on hand. So, after poking around the craft room for a bit, this is what we came up with. So sweet and girlie, and it was so simple, they could make it virtually by themselves…with just a little help managing the glue gun and scissors.
So here’s what we gathered:
- A fat quarter for the center fabric
- 2 jelly strips for the ruffle
- a disposable pie tin for the base
- rick rack
- an old doily
- glue gun, scissors, pencil, needle & thread
First, we used the pencil to poke a hole in the rim of the tin- this would give us a place to tie a bit of ribbon to for hanging
Next, we traced around the pie tin on the wrong side of the fat quarter and cut out the circle. Then, we glued the circle, right side out, to the underside of the tin, and topped it with a pretty doily. We have oodles of these from Grandma and they manage to work their way into all kinds of craft projects!
Then, using a needle and long length of thread, we stitched a very large basting stitch up one side of both jelly strips, end to end, about 1/4″ from the edge. This is a great sewing practice exercise for kids because the stitches don’t need to be perfect, and the bigger, the better. Just tug on the threads to gather the strips and adjust to fit the circumference of the tin.
We glued the ruffle onto the rim, then covered the seam with a bit of glued rick rack.
Voila! What fun, and for virtually no cost- just some bits we already had lying around. And you know what? Maybe next time it won’t be a pie tin and a doily…it will all depend on what we hunt down…maybe we’ll find cardboard from an old box, or the lid from an old tupperwear, or maybe we’ll cut out some old greeting cards, or glue on some buttons. You never know what you’ll come up with, so it’s a good idea to keep a box of items just for this purpose….toilet paper tubes, empty jars, ribbons and pom poms…there’s always some crafty fun to be had!
Well thanks for stopping by to check out the Spread the Love Blog Hop, and don’t forget to enter the GIVEAWAY while you’re here! Just leave a comment telling me about your favorite kid-friendly craft (include a link if you have one, so we can check it out!), and 1 comment will be chosen at random to receive a $35 gift certificate to Knotty Gnome Crafts! Contest ends Monday, 2/4/13 at midnight.
XO
we like to make houses and cities out of old cereal, shoe and whatever boxes (build-a-bear boxes are super for this) get some colored paper and a glue stick, cut out some doors and windows. Decorate with crayons, markers and whatever else you can find. Hours of fun! (if I aready said this once sorry it said it did not post and I don’t see it!) Thanks
I love letting my son play with paint. He’s only 2, so it’s very messy, but very rewarding.
I love rubber stamping with kids – the combos and stoories they develop are amazing! Thanks for sharing your project – so happy!!
My 3 year old grandchildren love the sticky-backed foam shapes. We try to work on some for different holidays–jack-o-lanterns, turkeys, snowmen, Christmas trees, valentines. Sometimes I’ll get a kit from Michaels, but they both love the freedom of a big bag of shapes. Sticky backs save the dining room table from glue, and I hate to even think about tape because it is so much fun to pull the whole roll out.
My children are grown up now but when they were small they loved homemade play dough!
I am so going to make this with my niece this weekend. My childhood memories are making Heart snowflakes and posting them all over the house. They were made out of tissue paper in pink, white and red.
My girls are both all grown up now, but when they were small I used to buy plastic canvas shapes and plastic yarn needles, and then they would get to pick out whatever yarn they liked best. I’d thread the needles for them and tie the knots, and then they got to go crazy stitching however they liked. No rules. My mother still puts those ornaments on her Christmas tree every year.
That is a very cute Valentine wreath! My favorite part? Those little hands! Adorable. :)
Making salt play dough and turning it into little creatures, badges, alphabet letters, shapes etc and slow and low cooking them in the oven before painting is always a tonne of fun!
Decorating cookies is always a fund kid craft.
Awww….I wish I had kiddos, but that’s not the case for me so I have to pull from my own childhood recollections. I think my favorite childhood Valentine craft was making animals or unique critters out of different colors and sizes of hearts. I remember making a mouse and a hedgehog looking critter! Fun times.
What a pretty little wall hanging. So cheery. When my grandaughters were little they used to collect tiny animals and play zoo and other little stories with them. Thanks for the chance to win.
This is wonderful. Thanks for the tutorial. Its been a while since my kids where small. But we always played with fabrics, buttons, etc. Now my son sews civil war re-enacting mens clothes and sells them. My daughter quilts when she can find the time.
my kids love to sew with me… even my 2 yr old likes to sit on my lap and make whatever the older ones are making.
We love to make crafts with the melted crayon shavings in waxed paper. I guess it’s fascinating! Or, it was when they were younger, anyway!
This is so cute. It would be great in Christmas fabrics, like a snowflake it the center, or even Halloween with the center like spiderwebs!
I don’t have kids, but as a kid I always liked collage. My mom would give me all her old magazines and I would paste the pictures on anything. I still have a glass bottle that I collaged over and now use for a vase. Who doesn’t have old magazines or junk mail catalogs laying around?
Since I’m a cake and cookie decorator in my spare time, I like to let kids decorate a cake or a cookie for someone special in their life.
Your project is just darling – so simple and clever and the finished item is sooooo… pretty. My favourite kiddie-crafting is drawing pictures and colouring in with my grandsons, we like to tell the story of our day in pictures.
My daughters fav craft that we do is let her use her washable markers on fabric to draw a picture, then we stick it in a hoop and give her colorful perle cotton thread and a needle to practice her running stitch. When she is all done, she loves the part where we rinse it out in the sink and then iron it, and then admire her artwork! I love your wreath and have the perfect doily to let my daughter try this one out! Thanks for sharing!
Super cute project. I used to spend hours with my nana making things, baking, gluing, painting, cutting, all sorts of lovely things, the foundation for my love of all things crafty now. My favourite was the glitter on the Christmas cards and baking pastry for my grandpa. Both gone now but my memories still fresh as yesterday k x
my daughter loves to sew with me, so simple things like little stuffies from her sewing school book is what we like to do around here. We have a lot. My son.. he’s only two..some washable paints in the tub and he goes to town, and it cleans up like a breeze.
We like painting the wide craft sticks and then when they are dry, we glue them together to make all sorts of wind catchers to hang on the front porch. We never get the same thing twice.
I’m a retired nursery school teacher. Nothing makes me happier than seeing young children participate in developmentally appropriate projects. My favorite projects are open ended crafts where children are given a variety of materials to work with and allowed to use their imagination. It always amazes and delights me what they come up with.
My grandaughter owns a day care and some of the most favorite crafts are the ones they get to eat after they are done. I watched my greatgrandaughter make a xmas tree out of sugar cone and icing with sprinkles of course She loved it . since she is only 15months old she ate most of it before she finished it. LOL
Love the wreath! It can be made for different holidays. I enjoyed making Valentine cards for my parents when I was in elementary school using construction paper and doilies.
My favorite craft as a kid was loom kits. I saw one during the holidays at my mom’s house that I made when I was 12, and she still uses it. Blogged it here: http://www.sincerelystacy.com/2013/01/i-recently-saw-this-at-my-moms-house.html. Good memories! Can’t wait for my 1.5 year old to get a little bigger for crafts. Thanks for the wonderful tutorial. I envision using for a Halloween wreath this year!
My grandson loves to stamp, so we make cards together, and wrapping paper. He also loves to paint wood shapes and glue them together.
I don’t have kids so making crafts with them is not possible but I will sew for my friends and neighbors kids and sometimes adult young people. I make stuffed toys and alphabet letters and quilts and you would be surprised what happens! they love the stuff and cant get enough of it! a great outlet for everyone!
I saw the cutest picture if superhero valentines made with tootsie pops on Pinterest the other day. Sorry I dont have the link but I’m sure they could be searched.
Having a project box is a great idea…and I just threw out a bunch of mismatched plastic-ware and sour cream container lids and bottoms! Mine is 3 and like another poster, the only “craft” I’ve ever really done with her is gingerbread cookies, although we do a lot of random colouring and drawing.
My kids always liked baking (probably because I let them lick the bowl!)
My girls’ favorite craft involved a bottle of glue, a sheet of paper, and a box of miscellaneous stuff (sequins, glitter, feathers, paper scraps, etc.) We lovingly called them “collages”. Thanks for a darling project!
My Kiddo’s are grown now, but the Grangirlie”s & I love Stampin’ & Glitterin’ our own Valentine’s! Sometimes we get to bake Heart Cookies & decorate too, just depends on how time for gettin’ together is. Thanks for sharing your project…..will have to try our hands at this one..is sooo cool!
I love to make little Spring crafts for my two great-nieces. I have covered foam eggs (craft store) with strips of cute fabric and Modge Podge. I also made them little finger bunnies – I think it was a Martha Stewart craft. dmayloratcomcastdotnet
this is cute. I babysit some of my grandkids and the girls like to make things. This would be so cute to help them with. They are 3 and 6.
Oh so many crafts! Shoe box guitars – take a shoe box and place 4 or 5 elastics around the box and cut an x shape at the top and insert a paper towel tube and voila – guitar. Play dough is a favourite. I love making ‘glue snowmen’ for the window on wax paper.
My kids are all grown up now but we loved making school supply boxes out of cigar boxes. We cut out all sorts of pictures, flowers, etc. and glued them to the boxes. They couldn’t wait to get their new boxes every year.
this is totally BRILLIANT!! I luv it!!! My fave craft for kids is a mosaic with rolled up tissue paper balls and white glue!
Oh my! how cute is this???
Cute wreath! My favorite craft with kids is one someone else cleans up! Ha, I kid. Really, my kids have been very into stamping lately. My son especially, he wants to pull out the stamps several times a day:)
Not having kids I find I can’t think of any kid friendly crafts I’ve done for awhile, though I do make my own play-dough for fun once in awhile!
Cute wreath!
My kids’ favorite craft is to just get out the paper and paint and go to town.
Bird seed ornaments are a fun craft!
I like to make crowns with my kids and their friends – they love to pretend to be kings and queens!
One of my favorite kid crafts is the good old collage. There are always collage supplies lying around: old magazines, newspapers or junk mail and glue, paste or tape even chewing gum. For ones too little to use scissors they can always just tear their medium. The foundation piece can be made to fit any holiday or theme.
When I was little I loved to craft with yarn…and I still do. )
On Christmas Eve my son and I made our families names ornaments with scrabble letters and ribbon. Since we could never use the game again we used up the letters making ornaments of holiday words like love, joy, peace, etc…It was fun!
Drawings that are then embellished with glitter, beads, feathers etc. Glue is a bit messy but completely washable.
I love that – and it is so sweet you do crafts with your daughter. With my granddaughters it is anything from beads to sewing!
Thanks!
We love making crayons by melting a mixture of colors in a cupcake tins. Also love weaving on the potholder loom!
My boys love sidewalk chalk.
That wreath is so cute! We’ve made Christmas wreaths using strips of plastic shopping bags cut up, tied around a wire coathanger shaped into a circle.
I loved when i was a kid to amke paper apmache stuff, eapecially picture frames. Thanks for the chance to wil
Oh your kids must have had fun Amy! Stringing coloured beads is sure to keep kids engaged.
That is just simply GAW-JUS, Amy.!! Great Job. Well Done.
cute idea! favorite project. Coloring. martha :)
What a great way to use up a few bits and pieces and to do so with the help of little hands. Terrific results.
What a darling idea. We live in an RV park and space is limited. A small craft like ths one is ideal. I’m making one tomorrow and maybe using the same idea for St. Pat’s Day. Thanks!
that is really adorable. thank you for sharing!
That’s a very cute wreath and reminds me of the many projects I did with our 3 kids. Now I have a granddaughter to craft with the odds & ends I’ve saved. Isn’t it great to make special things out of whatever you have hanging around and helping children develop creativity!
I love to make salt dough heart necklaces.
I loved making stepping stones for the garden using planter trays (the round ones) and quick dry cement. We put colorful stones and marbles in the top to decorate them.
So sweet! You know what I like best about this craft? Those little hands!! My girls (grown and married) used to love play dough. I still have the plastic gizmo they used to pump the play dough through to make strands or logs or whatever shape they wanted. That was high tech back then :). Otherwise, it was pure imagination and hand work to create whatever they wanted.
What a great craft! I love fun crafts to do with kids!
Right now my oldest is only four, so our crafts are pretty simple. My son does love helping me arrange new patterns of quilt blocks on my deign wall.
My favorite kids craft is anything that involves eating ;) I can’t really think if anything off head, but maybe good cookie decorating
My granddaughter loves to make scrap books with me. And, I am teaching her to sew.
Rubber stamping and painting have always been a favorite kid craft. Your valentine wreath is so pretty I can’t believe it is so simple. Thanks for sharing!
When my daughter was young, she and her friends would help me make my rag dolls. They would turn their legs inside out and stuff them with loose batting. I would let them help me die the fabric with tea to stain them so they looked old and worn. I taught them how to paint their shoes on the bottom of their legs. They became very good helpers. My daughter now makes beautiful rag dolls that surpass any rag dolls I ever made! I gave her my old Viking a few years back and think it’s time to give her my newer electronic Viking. I think I need to spend a weekend with her and be a helper to her and learn to make her rag dolls. She makes very good money selling them.
We loved decorating cookies!
No kids for me, except the furry four legged kind. But my neice and nephew loved it when we got to do anything with watercolors. I think they loved making a mess more than anything.
I liked to sew pillows out of my Grandma’s scraps when I was little. Pretty wreath! Thanks for the chance to win!
i think mine was coloring. thanks for the chance
Cute! My son is very into origami these days – some of it is tough!
Each holiday that rolls around, my boys enjoyed making new photo magnets for their grandparents and others. We used the lids from cans (opened with a special can-opener that leaves a smooth edge). Trim a photo to fit and clue into the center of the lid. Then decorate the edge with various little items, beads, pompoms, etc for the appropriate holiday.
One of my favourite kid friendly crafts is making things with Shrinky Dink plastic. So much fun to see your creation become tiny :)
My grandkids love to paint wooden hearts and I drill holes in them for necklaces. One year we made all sorts of construction paper hearts in pink red and white and had them stuck all over the house. Even up and down the stairways. They thought that was so fun…Love your pie tin wreath!!
I love to read book to my girls. They love playing with their dolls, painting or playdoh! Thanks for the giveaway!!
Our granddaughter loves crafts. So when she is visiting we are very busy making things. For Christmas we made hot chocolate ice cream cones for the family members. She loved helping to mix the hot chocolate mix and making the ice cream cone. She then made gift tags to add to the ice cream cones with the directions on how much hot water/milk to use with the mix. Love the wreath, we may have to do something similar to it when she visits next.
I had a box of art supplies mostly what other people called junk. Kid’s made many creations from it. Twist ties made animals and may other things.
when I was a child we would make Cream Cheese Mints on “pioneer” days at school! I really enjoyed making them and they were yummy!
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/08/24/how-to-make-cream-cheese-mints/
Love this wreath! I don’t have any kids in the house, but I just might have to make one for myself!
Very cute! My kids love anything involving a cardboard box, I’m loving all the ideas from the comments, thanks!!
My 4 year old is very sensory oriented, and he loves fingerpaints and playdoh. Thanks for the chance!
When my granddaughter was only 4, we began sewing together, using my sewing machine and scraps of fabric. She would sit on my lap and help guide the fabrics, select pretty stitch patterns to try out and just have fun in general. One of my favorite memories. She is 12 now!
I love messy things – so cornflour & water slime (sometimes with some food dye) is always a winner. Thanks for a lovely giveaway.
My boys love to play with clay or make a giant painting on a paper roll ( from Ikea). Today we’re making cupcakes.
I’m so new to sewing but I started off simple with a toddler apron made from old blue jeans. It turned out really cute. I got the idea from http://craftyladylindsay.blogspot.com/2010/11/jean-apron-colorful-easy-fun-and.html?m=1. And my version looked like the one I posted on my very new blog at valleyd1990.wordpress.com
I love to buy the seasonal precut wood shapes from ac moore or michaels and le tthe kids paint them…if you buy the larger ones and buy small dowels to glue to the backs you can make those little decorations that you stick in the yard or flower pots…also they can draw pictures on paper with crayons then turn the pictures over and iron them onto t shirts for great grandparent gifts..Its an oldie but a goodie. conn_and_vans_mom(at)yahoo(dot)com
Dear Amy,
thanks for this funny Tutorial.I’ve just finished my Craftsy 2012 BOM Top, and posted about it on my blog. It really was a pleasure to sew this BOM! Martina
My daughter’s fave kid-friendly craft is paint-by-number kits. We spread a vinyl tablecloth out and paint away.
I love play-doh but so far my daughter is more interested in fingerpaints.
My little girl is a little too young yet for crafts – but, I did cut some holes in a big diaper box and put toys inside so that she could reach through to grab them :) But there are lots of crafting things I can’t wait to try when she’s a bit older!!
my favorite craft was with my son we would go on ”hikes” pick up different leaves ,flowers,rocks etc. and then make collages dioramas rock collection we had a great time enjoyed each other the outdoors the designs and memories and 20 years later we both have momentos from such wonderfull times thank-you so much for sharing your wreath and your site is fantastic,letting me share a memory and a great give away.Becky
I always liked detailed stuff, so I took to origami (Japanese paperfolding) at a young age. There are some very simple patterns that are great for kids.
It’s been many years since I’ve done a child’s valentine day craft. I hope to someday make decorated heart shaped sugar cookies with my grandchildren, though. :)
That is such a great idea!! Love it!!
We live at the beach and kids ( and now Grand kids) loved gluing bits of shells and sand to anything!
When my kids were small we used to make lots of things with the shells we picked up at the beach and believe me there were tons of shells to use since we live in a beach town! At Christmas, we made ornaments with sand dollars and gar scales. The red and green gar scales made the poinsettia leaves in the center of the sand dollar. I still use them on my tree.