This mini-matchbox home belongs to Mr. Bunny. If you (or your kids) enjoy tiny coloring–great for fine motor skills!–here is a free printable of Mr. Bunny’s burrow. Just color and trim to fit your matchbox. Matchboxes don’t come in standard sizes so you may need to do some fancy cutting and pasting. Happy bunnies & eggs & challah bread!
In my library day job, I’ve been weeding old books from the shelves. The books aren’t in circulation any more but they’re still hardcover treasures with great illustrations about Arctic explorers and Presidential boyhoods and stuff like that. With some help from The Repurposed Library and a glue gun, I remade some of them into “bookmobiles.” (Repurposed has instructions for dismantling books to make all sorts of upcycled crafts.)
Kids think the mobiles look like birdhouses. I think they look like something that exploded and spilled over in weird loopy accretions. But I like them anyway.
Here are other great ideas for upcycled books (links below):
Row 1, left to right: Nancy Drew book purse by Rebound Designs; party favor pinwheels & keepsake box from bhg.com
Row 2: paper hearts from Too Much Time On My Hands; decorations from an Anthropologie store display; organizer from SCJohnson
Row 3: Artichoke pendant by Zipper8Lighting; book shelf by Lisa Occhipinti in The Repurposed Library; “lace” runner by bhg.com;
This matchbox project was inspired by “cameras” my brother and I used to make when we were kids out of band-aid boxes (back when they were tin, which really wasn’t that long ago, was it?). We taped on a lens and a viewfinder and snapped imaginary pictures. To make this wee version, I covered a matchbox with black paper, except the ends, which I covered in light blue washi tape. Then I folded a strip of paper to make a viewfinder, and sliced off a circle of cardboard from a toilet paper roll to create the lens.
Inside is the treat: an accordian album of tiny photos. I went old-school for this part—good old cut and paste. I printed the photos on regular printer paper (albeit high quality printer paper) and glued the photos in place.
In the summer, we try to balance our actual ice cream eating with some pretend ice cream eating. It keeps us slim (sort of)! My seven-year-old and I made these nifty ice cream cone replicas out of toilet paper rolls and tissue paper. Cut a line up the side of the toilet paper roll and curl into a cone shape–hot glue will hold the shape and make sturdy little cones. Then stuff with tissue. Voila. Here are the kids selling ice cream out the half door in our cottage.
A rainy week at the lake with the tremendous trio of Zeke, Lila and Allie (my son & niece & nephew) resulted in a craft bonanza. We made and we made and we made. Some projects created tangible results, while others were just about the process, man.
Tie-dye spirals–in process
The list of our productivity is long: salt dough beads (a blast, and with many production stages so we could drag it on a bit–but the wet weather made the beads kind of soggy); paper beads (less soggy); marble painting (our paintings faded but rolling marbles through paint puddles was very intriguing); and tie-dye tees (and undies for those who just couldn’t get enough tie-dye!).
Salt dough beads–somewhat soggy!
Here are some helpful links if you happen to find yourself in a damp summer cottage with a few stir-crazy kids:
Salt dough recipe from Crafting Connections
We used this recycled paper bead kit from Green Creativity but you can make them with skewers with instructions from Rookie
Marble painting instructions from First Palette
This youtube video from Jacquard Products really helped me perfect the tie-dye spiral
Would you build a boat out of cardboard, cover it in copious amounts of duct tape, and set it afloat (with your children inside) in the Hudson River? Apparently, I would. And I did.
Well, to be more accurate, my kids were set afloat in the narrowest part of the Hudson River, which is located in Schyulerville, New York, where they host the annual Hudson Crossing Park Cardboard Boat Race. And it might be a stretch to imply that I built the boat, because I contributed to the effort not at all. My husband, my kids, and Pop did the work, with Gramma making countless runs to the hardware store for duct tape.
Our boat (modeled after a 1973 Plymouth Barracuda–don’t even ask) was wobbly but it didn’t capsize–at least until its second race. A group of local firemen had the most spectacular collapse of the event. They dive-bombed their own craft mid-river, earning themselves the coveted Titanic Award. Yet no matter how you do in the Cardboard Boat Race, it’s a transient glory. Afterward, the soggy boats wilt into an amorphous sponginess, and most are unceremoniously tossed in a dumpster nearby. Until next year!
These 7 crafts should at least fill the first week of summer vacation with the kids. After that, who knows?
1. God’s Eye from the Free People blog
2. Breezy Friendship Bracelets from Molly’s Sketchbook at Purlbee
3. Popsicle Tote from youaremyfave
4. Tie-Dye T-shirts from Martha Stewart
5. Lemonade Stand from Oh Happy Day!
6. Cork boat by Inner Child Fun
7. Wooden Necklaces by Avery Rayne Designs
Some of you may who follow this blog know about my love for all things matchbox. In addition to tiny crafts, I’m also drawn to pointless ones. So when I spotted this matchbox weaving by Marisa Ramirez on Pinterest, of course, I had to try it. I thought it might be fun to do this with kids, but my 8-year-old son Zeke informed me it would too hard. I think he’s right, but maybe we could weave some other unlikely object, like these sticks?
Many of my teenage summer jobs involved painting. (Of walls and houses, that is. Not of high art.) Maybe that’s why my summer cravings include not just ice cream cones, lake swims, and hammock reading, but also splashing paint about. If you have the patience, painting is such a gratifying, economical way to transform something worn and tired.
I purchased this doll chair at a yard sale years ago, and it’s been moldering in my basement ever since. Now it has the perfect recipient–my niece Lila who has recently become besotted with a doll she named Rosie. (Feminists out there: no worries, Lila is formidable and will some day rule the world.)
I had some leftover pink paint (Ben Moore Elephant Pink) from my stair project and ombre porch swing project. After a coat of this pale pink, I cut out some Victorian roses (I’m sorry! I had to!) for decoupage. I wish I had taken a before shot–the chair was formerly dirt brown!
This is such a fun, easy craft for kids–and it’s doubly rewarding because you get to use something from your recycling box! You know those little foam trays that your grocery store uses to keep your veggies comfortable? Trader Joe’s, in particular, seems enamored with the excess packaging. Anyway, wash that foam and save it because now you’re going to need it.
Zeke and I spent a happy morning making prints. Make sure to cover your work space (I used paper bags–more recyclables!) because kids love to roll the paint around, and things can get messy. Also, if you want to write words in your design, remember to write your letters backwards. We actually used a hand mirror to make sure we were successfully mirror writing.
Recycled foam trays
Roller
Washable block printing ink (you can substitute acrylic paint, but the block printing ink is thicker and works better)
Blunt-ended pen or paintbrush
Scissors
Paper
Step 1: Cover your work area. Printmaking gets messy!
Step 2: Trim off the curved edges of your foam trays so you have a flat surface.
Step 3: Plan your design (remember words need to be written backwards). Draw your design, pressing into the foam with the a blunt end of a pen or paintbrush.
Step: 4: Pool some paint and run your roller through it a few times so that the roller has an even coat of paint. Now roll paint over your design.
Step 5: Invert your design onto a piece of paper. Roll the back of the foam, evenly pressing your design into the paper.
Step 6: Gently lift your design. Voila! The roller and the foam should easily wash off with water.
I’m not patient enough to take a Before Photo. Once I have a project-induced adrenaline surge, I can barely pause to snap a decent photo or two. So here’s my best:
You get the idea. Vintage black card file drawers. Actually, I think they were originally army green, and I painted them black a while ago when my husband and I were going through a “drag any old discarded file cabinet off the sidewalk” phase. Does everyone go through this phase? Is it developmental? It’s definitely a pre-kids condition. Anyway, I was inspired by this Land of Nod item to dig the old thing out of the closet and give it some new paint.
After spraying the file drawers with enamel white paint (and then laying down for a while due to resulting asphyxiation), I got to work on the fun part. I used tiny bottles of model paint to color the drawer fronts.
The After Photos:
I don’t know if you can tell but there are actually two different file boxes with two file drawers each. The top box is made of wood, the bottom of metal. They sit on top of each other nicely though, and their differences add to a general funkiness, I think. I haven’t quite figured out where to put the drawers–they are 17″ deep!
We didn’t reinvent the wheel this year. Or the valentine. We trotted out last year’s idea and produced in bulk. My third-grader and I used one of our six snow days here in Boston to assembly-line these valentine matchboxes. I glue-sticked and covered in red construction paper and Zeke heart-stamped. The boxes fit exactly 12 M&Ms each. We ate the extra. (I’m not sure what to do with the surplus matches.)
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Time for a new matchbox house! This one is a Brooklyn brownstone, pre-gentrification. Get out your fine-point Sharpies, because the free printable coloring page is here: Brownstone Matchbox by homemadecity.com. Note: I printed the page at 115% to fit the matchbox I had on hand. You may have to do the same. Happy Spring!
Inspired by this woven heart badminton racket by Bloesem kids, I had to try my hand at the (very) rare art of tennis racket embroidery. What was I going to do with that old warped, wooden tennis racket anyway? I had found this one at a garage sale years ago and bought it for no reason except that I loved that it was a “Lady” Slazenger.
I can’t really imagine anyone else trying this project, but here is a tip in case you are so moved: center your design! I thought I had, but somehow it’s one row from being centered. I may add a skinny row for balance, or I may make peace with imperfection. Two other tips: I used masking tape to anchor one end of the floss to keep it taut and flat while I was “stitching,” and I ran my embroidery needle under the stitches to knot in the back (see center picture first row). That’s it. Point, game, match.
This one’s a crowd pleaser. There’s something about funneling layers of rainbow sand into an old glass bottle that brings out the mad scientist in everyone. There’s not much to it:
Materials
Colored sand (you can also use natural sand or salt and color it with food dye)
Recycled bottles
1″ to 1 1/2″ corks (recycled wine bottle corks also work)
funnel (we only had a single metal one so we also rolled paper into funnels)
That’s it. You just pour and layer!
See what I mean about mad scientists?
I recently opened a “maker space” in the school library where I work. In some libraries, maker space refers to a spot for a 3-D printer; in mine, it means something more basic: recyclables, masking tape, glue sticks and scissors.
The kids (grades 3-5) decided to make a shoebox house for a library elf–a mythical creature they hope to lure to our library with some luxe real estate. The project is collaborative, with each group of kids adding to what the others started. I’ve been amazed, watching as the structure grew and grew–the pad even has a pool and barbecue. Although I’ve only had a light hand in the project, I do occasionally get out my glue gun to solidify the foundation.
Our maker space rules are simple: share the space; build, don’t break; and when class is over, clean up the blizzard of little bits of paper scattered all over the carpet.
I spent the rainy weekend making miniatures. I have made a tiny chest of drawers before (although never with leftover torrone boxes), but the wee gum ball machine was a moment of pure Lilliputian inspiration.
I’m planning to bring my creations to school and install them in the shoebox house that the students have been building in our library makerspace. Fingers crossed that they will flip out.
If you are so inclined to make your own mini gum ball machine, you need one of those plastic bubbles (which, yes, come from gum ball machines); colorful teeny beads, and some sort of spool. I think you can intuit the rest but make sure to arm yourself with a hot glue gun.
Happy 2016, folks~
Smashing old crayon bits and melting them into multi-colored jumbo crayons is a great way to spend one of those rainy April afternoons with (or without) the kids. That’s how 2 ten-year-old boys and I recently wiled away a gray day.
I’ve been saving champagne corks for a while meaning to twist together some tiny cafe chairs, but I had forgotten about the project until . . . I tripped onto This Is My Dollhouse, a recent picture book by Giselle Potter (published by Schwartz & Wade Books). As a maker and admirer of all things itty bitty as well as a fan of Potter’s doll-like, oval-faced illustrations, I couldn’t resist getting my hands on the book.
The story is about a girl who creates a dollhouse out of a cardboard box, furnishing it from snippets and household bits.
Inside the dust jacket is a hidden treat: hints and ideas for making and outfitting your own cardboard box dollhouse.
Clothespins and a matchbox become a bed. Bottle caps make perfect plates. Pieces of yellow string equal noodles. Fried eggs? Pencil a yellow circle on a white scrap! The story honors a child’s ability to transform the ordinary into a miniature world.
So, I found my champagne corks where I had squirreled them away. If you have a supply ready, here’s how to make them:
You need: a wire cutter and a champagne (or craft beer!) cork
Step 1: Cut the wire that connects the bottom of the cork cage. Try to straighten out the twists as best you can.
Step 2: Twist the wire into the shape you’d like and hook and secure the loose ends to the back legs of your chair.
The tricky part (other than all that twisting that ended up lopsided in my attempts) is to secure the back and keep the seat on the chair. If the legs splay out too much, the seat falls off. You need to straighten the legs a bit to keep the seat attached.
I’ve been in the mood to make but not sure exactly what. Maybe I could sew something small and messy? Something upcycled so to avoid spending time and money at the fabric store? I rummaged in my drawer of scraps and found . . . velvet 3.5″ square swatches from a furniture company (for an armchair we never ordered) and corduroys worn thin and frayed.
I enjoyed matching the dark corduroy–it’s a brownish purple–with cheerful pink corduroy and the deep velvety squares. I trimmed and sewed as straight as I could, but the goal was small and messy after all. Now that I have a patched 14″ square, it seems I’ll have to make a pillow. Any ideas about what kind of fabric I should use for backing–velvet, corduroy, dyed linen, cotton?
