Kids Craft Blog by PlaidOnline.com - Monday, August 29, 2011

Welcome!
Kids Crafts is full of fun, crafty projects, awesome activities, bright ideas, links to great kid-friendly sites and more, brought to you by Plaid.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Make It Monday: Gone Fishing

By: Candie Cooper - To see more crafts by Candie check out her blog, Candie Cooper's Journal

One fish, two fish, three fish blue fish! Do you know that story book by Dr. Seuss? Or how about "Rainbow Fish," by Marcus Pfister? Dr. Seuss's book focuses on rhyming and all the fun creatures the boy and girl in the story have as friends. "Rainbow Fish" is a great story about sharing and making friends. The reason I mention these two titles is because sometimes it's fun to read a story and create a project based on it. This gives you and your child a chance to reflect on what you read together. You may want to take it a step further and have theme week in your home with fishy activities each day. Gold fish crackers, anyone? Here's a craft to get your fins warmed up.

Base coat your canvas in a watery blue with a sandy bottom edge. I like Folk Art paints for this project because they are thicker.

You can see I've already started sponge painting--to get this awesome texture, dip your sponge in paint, and blot most of it off on a spare surface (see side of foam bowl). For this, you can use a lighter shade of aqua or blue. I switched to Apple Barrel paint for this step because it's a little lighter and more transparent (but it doesn't matter that much).

Sponge paint the background and stop when you are happy with the effect.

Cut and shred tissue paper shapes of sea life and lay them out on top of your canvas. Tissue paper is really great for this part.

Hold your tissue shape with one finger while you Mod Podge over the top. Tissue paper is so thin, the MP saturates it and makes it stick right where you want it. Seal the entire surface with MP.

Add lines to the fin and scales to your fish with a Sharpie marker.

Adhere the wiggly eye with Mod Podge.

You can even add some sparkle with crystals and Mod Podge! The fun really doesn't stop. ;)

Glue the fish onto the canvas wherever it looks "swimmingly" (sorry, couldn't resist). Believe it or not, I used a glop of MP for this step too. You can also use a thick craft glue.

Optionally, you can use real sand for a 3D effect. Applying it is just like glitter, paint a layer of Mod Podge over the sandy area and sprinkle sand. Set aside to dry. Use a dry paint brush to brush sand away from areas that you don't want it. My mom had the great idea of adding those cute little starfish. We love our embellishments!

Gone fishing! I hope you will too!

P.S Like this fish? Here's a link to get your own HERE!

Posted in: Apple-Barrel | Mod-Podge | Monday Funday | Summer Crafts

Comments [12] Trackback

Friday, August 26, 2011

Freelance Friday: Painted Dinosaur Planter

This is so cute! I bet you didn't know that one of your kid's toy dinosaurs could be turned into a decorative household item. Well to be honest, I did know one could either :) I came across this pleasant surprise on a craft blog called, C.R.A.F.T. Click to learn how she transformed this regular dinosaur toy, into a chic decor item.

Posted in: Apple-Barrel | Freelance-Friday | quick-and-easy | room-decorating

Comments [13] Trackback

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Teaching Thursdays: Student Planner Project

By: Candie Cooper - To see more crafts by Candie visit her blog, Candie Cooper's Journal

The other day I was cruising around the dollar store (again) and I couldn't help but notice the school supplies. Glue bottles lined up like soldiers, fresh folders in a ton of prints and stacks of pencil boxes (more on that later) were on the shelves and ready for the new school year. All I could think was, already?!? To add to that the locusts have been singing which is always a sign that "back to school" is around the corner. So if you can't beatem' I'll join with this little planner project. It's so cute, you crafty mommas might like to make one!

You'll need your basic supplies: Mod Podge, papers, stickers, scissors and a planner with cardboard cover. This one came with the plastic sleeve for $1.50. Love that!

Trace around your planner on decorative papers. Cut one rectangle piece to fit exactly on the back and the second a tad longer so you can fold the edge around to the back side. I cut my front piece with a zigzag edge to add a little fun.

Mod Podge the back piece on first. Follow up with the front piece. Take care not to get Mod Podge on the edges of your pages, because they will stick together (speaking from experience here).

Stick the embellishments onto plain card stock and cut around with scissors. You could use decorative edge scissors to cut out the shapes. Magazines are also a great source of images and words. When i was a kid, we would cut images out of "Bop" of Cory Haim and Johnny Depp. Anyone with me? Use Mod Podge to adhere all your images to the cover of your planner.

Slide your planner back into the sleeve and away you go!

You can get the whole gang together to make one! Why not add a future crafty get together date on your new planner while you're at it?

Posted in: Mod-Podge | paper-crafts | quick-and-easy | school-crafting | Teaching Thursday

Comments [6] Trackback