Darling Dangle Earrings Skill Level: Beginner
Simply Fun!
Designed by: Sara Hardin
Beading Time: 20 minutes Yellow Color Option )
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| Instructions for Darling Dangle Earrings:
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Straight from the Heart Dangle Earrings
Simple yet satisfying!
Designed by Virginia Barrera
Skill Level: Beginner
Beading Time: 10 min
Materials:
- Sterling Silver Ear Wires - 2 wires (1 pkg)
- Sterling Silver 1.5 in 22 Gauge eye pins - 6 eye pins (1 pkg)
- Sterling Silver Rose Crystal Charms - 6 charms (1 pkg)
Tools:
- Soft Flex® Professional Chain Nose Pliers
- Soft Flex® Professional Round Nose Pliers
- Soft Flex® Professional Flush Cutters
Instructions for Straight from the Heart Dangle Earrings :
- Add a charm to an eye pin, loop the opposite end.
- Add a charm to an eye pin, cut a quarter of an inch off, loop the opposite end.
- Add a charm to an eye pin, cut a half of an inch off, loop the opposite end.
- Add each of these eye pin dangles to the ear wire.
- Repeat all steps for second earring
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| Heart of Beaded Love Earrings Skill Level: Beginner |
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| Instructions for Earring Set:
For The Birds | |
- Make a small loop at one end of a pipe cleaner and let kids thread Cheerios onto it, leaving about two inches of pipe cleaner at the top. Loop and tie it into a circle, drape it over a tree branch and give the top of the circle a gentle squeeze so it holds tight to the branch.
- Cut about two feet of yarn or twine and tie it around the bottom of a pinecone. Let kids smear the pinecone with peanut butter, then roll it in birdseed. Hang the pinecone from a tree branch.
- Cut an orange in half and scoop out the sweet pulp. (Kids can eat it!) Adults only: Use a sharp knife to cut four small holes around the top of each orange half, and cut four pieces of twine, each about a foot long. Have kids thread a piece of twine through each hole and secure it with a knot. Let kids mix peanut butter and birdseed together in a small bowl, then mound into the orange halves. Tie the four pieces of twine together at the top, and hang the filled orange cups from a tree branch.
- Don't throw out stale bagels! Cut them in half, smear them with peanut butter and let kids decorate them with birdseed, raisins and/or peanuts. Tie a piece of twine through the hole, and hang it from a branch.
Make Your Own Marionette
These old-fashioned puppets are fun to play with, but even more fun to make. Why not watch Pinocchio together first to introduce kids to the concept of puppeteering, and then get started with this entertaining activity.
Ages: 3-8
Location: Indoors
Skills: Art, Social/Emotional
What you'll need:
12 inch by 18 inch poster board
Rubber cement
Four 3 inch by 30 inch strips of construction paper
2 inch by 12 inch cardboard strip
Heavy-weight paper
Colored markers
Yarn
Construction paper or wallpaper
Hole punch
Young children may need help building this complex puppet, whereas older children will revel in the work it takes them to assemble their marionette.
Fold the poster board in half crosswise. Fold each half in half again toward the center crease. Overlap the two end flaps to form a triangular tube. Glue the end flaps together.
Cut a head with a long neck from heavy-weight paper. Draw a face on with markers and glue on yarn hair.
Glue the neck to the back inside of the body. Pleat the four strips and glue onto the body as arms and legs.
Cut hands and feet from construction paper and glue onto the arms and legs.
Glue or staple the hands to the ends of the cardboard strip. Punch a hole in the center of the strip and another in the top of the head. Loop a piece of yarn through the holes and tie the ends together.
Tilt the cardboard strip in various directions to move the arms and legs
Shamrock Wreath
Even if you're not Irish, you and your kids might find a bit of good luck by crafting a shamrock for St. Patrick's Day. Valentine hearts form the foundation of a delightful shamrock-shaped wreath to celebrate this fun holiday.
What you'll need:
3 equal-size Styrofoam hearts
Hot glue or straight pins (adults only!)
Several yards of green ribbon (amount depends on size of hearts)
Floral pin
What you'll do:
Lay the three heart shapes on a work table so the points are touching each other and the combined hearts resemble the three petals of a shamrock; use a hot glue gun to attach them.
Cut long lengths of green ribbon and have kids wind the ribbon around the shamrock shape until it is completely covered; use hot glue or pins to secure it to the Styrofoam at various points and at the ends.
When no more white Styrofoam shows, tie several long lengths of green ribbon to hang down from the shamrock like a stem. Push a floral pin into the back for a hanger, then display the decorative shamrock on a wall or your front door
Make a Sundial
Kids don't usually wear wristwatches, but they often want to know what time it is. (Is it time for lunch? Is it time for my friend to visit? Is it time for dinner?) Help them build a sundial and teach them how to use it, and you might save some time of your own!
What you'll do:
- Select a base. It can be as simple as a heavy paper plate or a square of cardboard, or it can be something sturdier like the bottom of a plant saucer or a piece of wood.
- To the base add a "gnomon," the column on a sundial that creates a shadow indicating the time of day. It can be created with a chopstick stuck into the ground through a hole in a paper plate, or a chopstick stuck in a ball of clay that is pressed onto the middle of a plant saucer. It can also be a long nail driven into the center of a wood base.
- At high noon on a sunny day, place the homemade sundial in a sunny location and with a permanent marker write "Noon" on the base right where the shadow falls. At the top of every hour after that, return outside with the kids and make another mark for the rest of the afternoon hours. Leave the sundial in place overnight, then return outside early the next day and mark off the morning hours.
- If you need to take your sundial inside during rainy or windy weather, it can be reset on the next sunny day at the top of any hour. The markings will also change as the summer progresses and the days grow shorter
Toothpicks Toys
The humble wooden toothpick ‑- a slender sliver of birch wood ‑- is designed to help people remove bits of food from between their teeth. These tiny pieces of wood are produced by toothpick-manufacturing machines, the first of which was patented on this day in 1872 by Silas Noble and J.P. Cooley. Thanks to these long-ago inventors, modern parents can buy inexpensive boxes of toothpicks and let kids make fun things with them.
What you'll need:
Boxes of flat or round wood toothpicks (select colored toothpicks for fun!)
Gumdrops or marshmallows
Clear contact paper
Permanent marker
Scissors
Craft paper
Double-sided tape
What you'll do:
Let kids become junior architects by crafting three-dimensional structures with toothpicks and candy. Insert each end of the toothpick into a gumdrop or marshmallow, which serves as a "corner joint." Continue adding more toothpicks and candy to create tall or geometric structures, like houses and bridges. Try to find a photo of Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome for inspiration! (You can also use small balls of modeling clay for the corner joints.)
Cut out a square of clear contact paper and give kids a permanent marker to draw a design on the nonsticky side. Angular designs, such as houses, skyscrapers or stars work best. Cut away the excess around the design. Peel away the protective coating to expose the sticky side, then have kids press flat toothpicks into the design until it is filled in. You may have to cut some toothpicks to fit. Use double-sided tape to mount the toothpick design on a piece of craft paper.
Same idea, different technique: Let kids "draw" a design onto heavy craft paper using a glue bottle, then fill in the design with toothpicks
You don't have to be from a snowy climate to enjoy
this alphabet-learning game. No matter
where you live, you'll be happy playing in this
"snow" in a T-shirt and shorts. The snow in
question is actually whipped cream in a can,
and kids will have a wonderful, messy time
practicing their letter-writing skills in big drifts
of foam. Snow never felt so warm or smelled
so good
What you'll need:
Plastic tablecloth
Tape
Can or two of Whipped Cream
Paper towels
What you'll do:
Cover the kitchen table with the plastic tablecloth.
Tape the corners of the cloth underneath the
table to keep it from moving.
Let your kids shake the whipped cream cans and
squeeze a big "snowdrift" of whipped cream out
in front of them. With very little kids, help them
practice making letters in the snow by first showing
them how the letter shape is made, then guiding their
fingers through the motions. Once they get the hang
of it, you can write out five letters and let them trace
them. For older kids, pick a word and see if they can guess
what letter it starts with. But don't let them say it out loud,
make them write it down in the snow! This last suggestion
works well as a friendly competition, so gather some of your
child's friends around and let the best letter writer win!
With a little bit of elbow grease and some basic
kitchen ingredients, you can create homemade
play dough that will last much longer than store
bought versions. It also feels much silkier and
doesn't crumble when exposed to air for a while.
Making this play dough requires some adult
elbow grease, but the results are really worth it!
What you'll need:
2 cups flour
1 cup table salt
2 cups water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 teaspoons cream of tartar (found in the spice aisle)
Food coloring
Vanilla or peppermint extract (for a nice smell)
What you'll do:
Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly.
The mixture will start to thicken and become
difficult to stir. When it starts to form into a
sticky ball, remove and place on counter.
Knead for one minute. Cool completely.
Although kids need only their hands to have fun
with this clay, look in your utensil drawer for some
safe tools that they can use, such as cookie cutters,
a rolling pin, a butter knife, plastic forks and spoons.
A drinking straw can be used to poke holes. When
kids are done playing, store the clay in an airtight container
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