Candy Crafts

(ARA) – School’s out, the neighborhood pool is open and you are responsible for keeping the family active and engaged this summer. Whether you are taking a beach vacation or spending a day around the house, you can easily fill the time by planning several simple, budget-friendly, do-it-yourself activities. Ideal for indoor or outdoor time, these activities go a long way in creating personal summer memories without doing a number on your budget.

Theme day
The cost to take the family to a baseball game, amusement park or museum adds up quickly. This summer, think thrifty and save on the admission fees by organizing a craft day around the theme of your favorite family outing (think aquarium, ballpark and carnival). For example, bringing the enjoyment of America’s favorite pastime to your living room or backyard is easy when you buy several plain cotton baseball caps, tube socks (they only cost a dollar or two each) and T-shirt paint. Use the materials to let your kids personalize baseball apparel and then suit-up, grab some peanuts and gather the group to play catch in the backyard, for an impromptu tournament on your favorite gaming system or to catch a double-header on the tube. It’s a ballpark outing for a fraction of the cost.

Have your candy and craft with it too
Most families make weekly (if not more frequent) trips to the grocery store, so turn your next routine trip into the beginning of a new project by strolling down the candy aisle. “The grocer’s candy aisle has a collection of candy in virtually every color and shape, which means endless crafting possibilities,” explains candy expert Beth Kimmerle. “Candy is tasty and fun for kids of all ages, and is an affordable tool for crafting.”

Start by making candy jewelry. It is a perfect activity for your princess, but also trendy for your prince given the popularity of sports necklaces and bracelets for boys and girls. Gather an assortment of brightly colored Life Savers Gummies, tie a knot in a piece of ribbon to keep your candy from slipping, and thread your “jewels” onto the necklace. Once you have a full string, adjust the candy so there are equal amounts of ribbon on each side. Tie knots on each end to finish and voila, you’ve got the trendiest kid on the block. While you are lending a hand, don’t forget that gummy candy is a yummy treat while crafting. Who knew jewelry could be so inexpensive and tasty?

Treasure your trash
Next time you start to throw away packaging, leftover candy or craft items, stop and envision these items as your next treasure and creatively think of ways to reuse them. Re-using the items helps you to be less wasteful, while also saving you money and giving you “gems” to finish your crafts with a unique touch.

Candy Craft Truck

If your kids love trucks, drum-up some fun on a weekend and help them create something fabulous on four wheels from common items found around the house. Try the following simple exercise and in no time you’ll be watching your kids proudly race their handmade creations across the kitchen floor or back porch.

To make a truck you will need:
Egg carton
Berry basket
Craft paint and paintbrush
Scissors or craft knife
Twine
Glue
Cardboard
Colored paper
Gum foil
4 Hubba Bubba Sour Gummi Tape packages
5 Hubba Bubba Glop packages
2 Life Savers candies
4 Altoids mints

Instructions

Note: Cutting with sharp implements should only be done by adults.

Using an Exacto blade or sharp scissors, cut a 3-inch by 2-inch front window area from the berry box. Paint the egg carton orange to use as a truck body and paint the berry box white to use as a truck cab. While those parts are drying, paint your four empty Hubba Bubba Sour Gummi Tape packages black for truck wheels.

Cut a 6-inch by 4-inch piece of cardboard and glue the same size piece of orange craft paper to the top. Next, to make the truck’s load, stack the six empty Hubba Bubba Glop packages and glue them onto the orange board. Tie twine around the board as straps, tightly securing twine at the bottom of the board. Now, glue the finished load onto the back of the egg box.

Glue Life Savers candies for lights below the front window area of the white-painted berry box and glue the finished cab to the front of the egg box. When the wheels are dry, glue 2-inch silver circles with smaller red 1/8-inch foil circles on top of the painted Hubba Bubba Sour Gummi Tape packages and glue Altoids in the middle to finish the wheels.

Finally, glue the wheels evenly to the bottom of the egg carton truck. Let them dry completely and then go have fun.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

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Kids will usually come up with the most fun and creative ideas – from “a new generation ladybug” to a colorful Christmas ornament to bright masks – we hope you enjoy and get some fun and creative ideas of your own from these!

photo credit: evelynishere

photo credit: woodleywonderworks

photo credit: Danbury Public Library

photo credit: Danbury Public Library

photo credit: Danbury Public Library

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It seems like only yesterday that I was wrapping up presents for Christmas and I was a little surprised to realize that I would be helping my kids create their little Valentine’s bags soon.  I am never a big participator in Valentine’s.  Maybe it is because of the holiday, or maybe it is simply that I am still in recovery mode from a very hectic Christmas. For whatever reason, my grab bags usually only consist of a couple candies thrown into a Ziploc sandwich bag with a store bought card slipped in. There is no fuss, no muss and I can pretend that I have done something pretty cute.

Of course, we all know just how cute a Ziploc bag can be (not very) so this year, I have decided to take my Valentine’s gifts to a whole new level.  What is great about this activity is that it is pretty simple, nothing too labor intensive and the finished product is wonderful. The kids get to enjoy giving and I get to enjoy sending in my holiday gift bags, yet again.

This craft is very easy and you can do it on your own or with your kids.

What you will need:

• Paper:  You can use wrapping paper, printed paper or white printer paper.
• Packaged Candy:  The best candy to use for this is a chocolate bar or anything that is in a small box.  You can use wrapped candies but the end result just isn’t the same and you will probably have more fuss than you really want.
• Ribbon:  Pick a Valentine’s ribbon.  There are tons of Valentine’s ribbon in reds, whites, pinks, and covered in flowers that you can buy at craft supply stores.
• Hole Punch:  You will be using this for your tag.
• Cardstock:  Choose a color that matches your paper and ribbon or simply go with a white cardstock.
• Markers
• Tape
• Embellishments: These are little odds and ends to decorate your candies with.

Directions:

1. Measure your candy and jot it down on a piece of paper so you don’t forget.  You will want to measure the surface area but since we will not be closing off the ends, you will want to simply measure the length of the candy and then measure the width on the top of the candy and times it by 2.  You will also need to measure the side width and times that by 2.  So if you have a chocolate bar that is 4 inches long and 2 inches wide on the top and .5 inches wide on the side width, then you will want a piece of paper that is 3.75 inches long (so you have a bit of the candy showing) and 5 inches in width.  Give yourself an extra .5 inch for overlap when you fold the paper.
2. The next step you will want to make is to decorate the paper.  If you used a printed paper, then you really don’t need to do anything at this stage, instead you can move on to step 3.  If you didn’t, decorate the paper with stamped images, or stickers or your child can draw pictures on the paper.
3. Now that your paper is ready, wrap it around the candy and tape it carefully into place. If you don’t want to see tape, add a few pieces of double sided tape in between the overlap. Set the candy aside.
4. The next step is to create your tag.  This can be done in a variety of ways but basically, you will want to cut out the shape of a tag in your cardstock and decorate with a message like “Be My Candy Valentine,” or with a sticker or stamped image.
5. Punch a hole at the top of the tag and insert the ribbon through the hole.  Finish by creating a bow with the ribbon.
6. Attach the tag to the candy and give to a friend on Valentine’s Day.

Sirena Van Schaik

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This craft, is an easy craft that can create a cherished handprint that you can take with you everywhere you go. There is some adult steps involved in this craft but this can be an excellent craft for any holiday but especially for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

What you will need:

• Shrinky Dinks:  This is a shrinkable plastic that you can find at most craft stores or by clicking here.
• Stamp Ink
• Scissors
• Fine Tip Marker
• hole punch
• key chain ring

Directions:

1. Take your child’s hand and ink the palm with the stamp ink.  Make sure that it is coated completely.  If you prefer to use something other than ink, paint does work, however, not as well as ink.
2. Firmly press your child’s palm to the shrinkable plastic and remove.
3. Allow the hand print to dry before the next step.
4. After it is dry, carefully cut around the hand print.  You can do any shape but most people cut out a hand shape.
5. Write the child’s name and age (or the date it was made) on the shrinkable plastic
6. Heat the shrinkable plastic in the oven. It is best if you follow the directions on the package for heating directions.
7. Once it has shrunk and is cooled, take the hole punch and punch a hole into the bottom of the palm.
8. Insert a key chain ring and give as a gift.

Although the hand print will shrink, the image will still be teh same so you will be left with a miniature version of your child’s hand print.

Sirena Van Schaik

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What you need:

• Transparent Glass Plate
• Colored Tissue Paper
• White Tissue Paper
• Stamps
• Stamp Ink
• White Glue
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Before you begin stamping, it is very important that you cover your work area.  I have, on more than one occasion, stamped tissue paper only to have the stamp image bleed through the tissue paper and onto a table for a permanent image on my table.
2. Now that your area is ready, cut out a circle of white tissue paper that fits the bottom of your plate.  Set aside.
3. Cut the colored tissue paper into one inch squares, set aside.
4. Take a stamp and cover it with stamp ink.
5. Stamp the image onto the white tissue paper carefully.  It is better if you use a solid image instead of one you need to color but if you need to color it in, do so carefully with markers.
6. Allow the ink time to dry.
7. Once the ink is dry, cover the bottom of the plate with white glue.  Try to make it as even as possible.
8. Press the white tissue into the white glue and smooth it into place.
9. Take the white glue and place it on the bottom sides of the glass plate around the white tissue paper on the bottom.
10. Place the tissue paper down on the plate until the entire bottom is covered.
11. Put the plate upside down and allow the glue to dry completely.

At that point, you will have a finished plate that is beautiful and matches the holiday that you have made it for.

Sirena Van Schaik

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Felt crafts are one of my favorite types of crafts to do – and they great thing is that felt crafts can be as easy as you want them to be and still turn out cool!

Here are some felt craft ideas starting with easy projects up to more advanced ones:

Simple Felt Puppets

Materials needed:

• Felt (you’ll probably want to buy felt squares in several different colors)
• Glue
• Mittens, gloves, or socks for the puppet

How to make felt puppets:

1. Cut out small felt pieces to use for eyes, mouths, clothing, etc.
2. Glue felt pieces onto mittens or socks
3. Set puppets aside to dry

Now enjoy hours of fun playing with your new puppets!

FeltScapes

Winter landscape using felt snowflakes

Use felt to create different scenes for various holidays and seasons!

To create what we call a “feltscape,” place a swath of fabric or felt down on the area you’d like to display your scene, then decorate with felt cutouts as well as other objects if you like.

This picture of a winter landscape made created with felt and a small candle is an example of how a felt scene can be simple and elegant at the same time.

Felt Creatures

My daughter and I love making felt creatures together! 

These are a bit more complicated than the previous felt projects because they involve sewing.  If you want to make creatures without patterns, simply cut out mirror images of the shape you want your creature to be, then use embroidery thread and an embroidery needle to sew around the shape – just before you reach the end though, fill your creature with stuffing and then finish sewing.

My favorite book for felt craft patterns is Aranzi Aranzo’s The Cute Book, which is full of cute and creepy felt patterns!

I found a cute fish pattern in the book and made this:

Felt fish

Cutting out all of the small pieces from the pattern did take a little under an hour for me – but in my opinion it was worth it:

Cutting out the felt pieces

My daughter started with a pattern but decided to take the more creative route than I did and just wing it (she had a lot more fun making her own creations as well)!

My daughter's felt doll

As you can see, felt crafts can make for fun projects for any age!

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By Sirena Van Schaik

One thing that I have noticed over the years is that art has moved from beautiful canvases to beautiful prints on your wall. Gone are the days where you have one or two canvases and many art buyers are spending hundreds on a print. Sure there really isn’t a need for a canvas anymore but there is something about a canvas that draws the eye – and if you don’t mind, the fingertip.

But forget about how a canvas looks on the wall and think about how it might feel like to paint. If you are a grown up, and not a painter, you probably haven’t given it much thought but imagine being a young child. The sound of the brush scratching across the canvas, the colors blending together; there is something about painting on canvas that ignites a child’s creativity.

For parents, this is a very inexpensive craft and requires very few supplies, many of which you can find at home. The canvases make excellent Christmas presents or can be used for any other time of the year. More than that, it is something that your child will love doing again and again.

What you need:

• Canvases: Most dollar stores offer canvases. Sometimes you can find little packs of 3 canvases measuring 3×5 inches or you can find individual canvases measuring 5×7 inches or 8×11 inches. For a buck, that makes it an excellent investment. I find that the 5×7 is the perfect size but go with one that you are comfortable with.
• Paint: Tempura paint works well on the canvases so don’t feel that you need to purchase expensive oil paints, unless you want to that is. I would only recommend oil paints for older children. Don’t forget the paint containers
• Paint Brushes: Go with several different types and sizes. If you don’t want to spend too much on brushes, dollar stores often stock paint brush kits that have 4 or 5 different tips.
• Frames: Frames are optional and the canvases still look nice without them.

Directions:

1. One thing that I always recommend when making a craft for children is to take some time before hand and introduce the materials. Painting on a new medium can produce one of two effects; either your child finds it so interesting that he takes his time creating or he finds it so exciting that he smears paint on it in thick layers until all you have is a brown smear across the canvas. For this reason, it is much better to have an extra canvas or two handy so your child can get over this little burst of energy.
2. Add paint to each of the containers. If you are using tempura paint, add a touch of dish soap. This makes clean up much easier.
3. Allow your child the time to create. Change canvases when asked and allow the art to dry before hanging. Talk about the creations while your child is creating.
4. Write the date, what the drawing was and your child’s name on the canvas.
5. Give as a gift or hang on the wall for yourself.
And then run back to the store for more supplies because I am positive that your child will be hooked on creating canvas art.

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