DIY Pocket Calendar Cover

All you need is a pocket calendar with a plastic protector, markers, high quality copy paper and scissors. I found the calendars at the dollar store.

Make sure the calendar has a removable plastic cover.

Open up the calendar and draw around it to mark how big to make the copy paper, cut out.

Have your little artist color a fun picture. If you have loads of friends and family that would appreciate this gift, you can have your child draw one drawing and then make color photo copies. You might also consider cutting up artwork that comes home from school to fit inside the protector.

Slip paper around the calendar and place it back into the plastic protector. Now you have a thoughtful and useful gift that anyone would love to receive and a child would be proud to give!

If you are looking for more gifts kids can make, you won’t want to miss my e-book Gifts Kids Can Make! Kids will have fun making a wooden paper towel holder, and artistic key or jewelry organizer, keepsake magnets, whimsical note cards and a yummy jar mix! The e-book comes with printables and even editable gift tags, perfect for handmade gift giving. The ebook is ready for immediate Download.

You might enjoy browsing my Handmade Gift Guide!

I love these  Natural ornaments shared by Quirky Momma.  The natural effect is really fun and different.

This little fondant penguin, shared by Fowl single file  is so cute and clever!

This darling little snowman spree, shared by like a pretty petunia, would be a great little treat to wrap up for your kids to give to their friends!

These adorable Christmas Candy Tree’s shared by my heart’s desire can be saved and used through the years!

These adorable Christmas Place Mat Pillows shared by Bubbly Nature Creation  turned out very fun!

Thank you {all of you} for linking up with me this week! Come back tomorrow for another Made by you Monday! I can’t wait to see what you have been doing!

You will need 5 yards of tulle which can be found at a local fabric store and 1 elastic headband. I found the elastic headband at the dollar store.

Cut the entire 5 yards of tulle into 4 or 5 inch wide strips. It doesn’t have to be perfect and the width of the strips can be varied. Tulle is folded once lengthwise on the bolt when you buy it. Fold the tulle in half again lengthwise, and again once more to make the cutting go quicker.

Open strip up so it is folded in half one time, like it was when it came of the bolt. Fold this strip again, finding the middle.

Place the elastic headband on your upper thigh to make tying the strips of tulle onto the band easier.

Place the middle of the strip that is folded in half under the elastic band.

Reach under and through the loop grasping the strip.Pull the tail through the loop.

This makes a slip knot, pull snug. Be careful tying tulle strips around the elastic band to not stretch out the band.

Continue tying all of the strips evenly onto the elastic band.

If the waist of the tutu needs to be adjusted, tie a knot in the elastic band.

TaDa! Now you have made a super simple tutu that is perfect for costumes and play! Don’t forget a wand and crown to make this tutu an extra special homemade gift.

This tutu will fit children from about 2-7 years. To make the tutu longer in length for older children, don’t fold the strip exactly in the middle, making one side longer.

From Amy at Mod Podge Rocks………

Decorated Lunch Sacks

Well hallo!  It’s Amy from Mod Podge Rocks . . . decoupage blogger extraordinaire.  I have a huge surprise for you today – I didn’t Mod Podge for my Craft Camp project.  Not because I couldn’t think of something, but because I really wanted to do a painting project for you today.  Sometimes you have to do what moves you.  So what is moving me today?  Bubble wrap.  I think bubble wrap make great stamps, and I wanted to try it myself.  Turns out this is a great project for kids. And then I was thinking, if you are a brown bag lunch family, it would be fun to paint your lunch bags for the school year now (at least a few of them).  Paint them, store them and then on a random day bring one out as a surprise – and a special reminder of a fun summer day! Gather These Supplies Brown paper bags Acrylic paint – random colors Bubble wrap Scissors Paintbrush Sharpies

Caroline from Salsa Pie writes…

Jill from Homemade By Jill writes…

Hello, craft campers!  I am so happy to be back again this summer to share another kid’s craft.

I was visiting my mom recently, a wonderfully creative lady who is mother to 8 and grandmother to 13 kids. Needless to say, she knows how to keep the little ones entertained!  She pulled out a great collection of rhythm instruments and I was excited to learn she had made most of them.  Today I’d like to share a few instruments with you!

First up, wrist bells.  Strap them on your wrists or ankles and dance around, creating instant music.  This makes an easy sewing project for older children, and can be done by hand or machine.

Supplies needed:

• 9 inches cotton belting
• 9 inches ribbon
• 1.5 inches velcro
• 4 medium jingle bells
• needle and thread

Prepare the wrist strap:

1. Fold each end of the cotton belting under 1/2 inch and sew.  If using a sewing machine, cover cut end with a wide zig zag stitch.
2. Lay ribbon on top, also folding ends under 1/2 inch and pin in place.
3. Sew ribbon to belting.
4. Sew velcro to prepared strap, one piece on the front and the other on the back, so it will hold together when wrapped around wrist.

Sew on the jingle bells:

On my first attempt, I sewed the bells onto the strap and handed it off to my toddler.  Imagine my surprise when he started shaking and the bells flew off across the room!  While the metal loops on the bells were not sharp to the touch, they were sharp enough to cut through the thread with vigorous shaking.

To solve this problem, I put a little strip of hot glue on either side of the jingle bell loop to round out the edges.  Sew bells to the strap by hand, using thread or embroidery floss.  You are ready to shake and jingle!

We also made two sets of rhythm sticks.  I bought a one inch diameter wooden dowel at the hardware store and had an employee cut it into four 12 inch pieces for me.  The hardest part was done before I’d left the store.

Supplies needed:

• wooden dowel, cut into pieces
• sand paper
• acrylic craft paint
• polyurethane varnish
• painter’s tape (optional)

Hand off the dowels and a piece of sand paper to an older child to sand of any rough edges and round off the corners.  My children are still young, so I just gave the dowels a quick blast with the power sander.

Since I was able to get 2 sets of sticks from one dowel, I painted one set myself and let my 2 year old paint the second set.

For the striped set, I taped off a pattern on the dowels with painter’s tape.  Everything under the tape remains the natural wood color.  I prepped my toddlers sticks by giving them a solid coat of paint.

Mason jars worked great to hold the sticks upright while the paint dried.  Once dry, I handed off the rhythm sticks to Oscar to decorate.  He isn’t very handy with a paint brush yet, so I gave him a pencil eraser to use as a “polka-dotter.”

After all the paint was dry, I gave each set of sticks two coats of polyurethane varnish to protect the paint.  We let them air out overnight before starting our little band.

Hopefully this will get you started making your own instrument collection!  Throw on some Motown music, and you’ll be grooving in no time.

Jessica  from scrumdilly-do! writes…..

How to make Marbleized Paintings

Hi folks! Jessica here from scrumdilly-do! I am tickled pink & orange to bring you a wee bit o’ summer fun. I’ve worked with a lot of kiddos in my days and have found that open-ended messy fun is generally always a hit. So break out your splat mats and don those mess-friendly togs and let’s get to it. We’re gonna make some marbleized paintings with shaving cream and kool-aid!

Materials:

2-4 packs unsweetened powdered drink mix

1 can shaving cream

1 cookie sheet or shallow tray

2-4 small bowls for your “paint”

1 cup water

paper

spoons, chopsticks, and/or eye droppers

splat mat

8” wide rectangle cut from box or large index card

smock and/or plastic gloves optional

Set up your art-space in a mess friendly zone. When in doubt, outdoors usually work. I used a splat mat on the kitchen table with some newspaper underneath. This can get messy.

Pour each of your packs of unsweetened drink mix into its own container. When selecting your colors/flavors, keep your color mixing rules in mind to keep the whole kit and caboodle from turning brown. I like using shallow bowls as they are a little bit trickier for kiddos to dump. Add a quarter cup of water to each bowl, give it a stir and set aside. You have just made your paint. Smells fruity, doesn’t it?

Next, arm your kiddo(s) with the shaving cream and have them spray a heap into the shallow tray making sure to not mound it up mountain style though if they do, that is cool, they may decide they simply want to play with the foamy fun instead of paint with it. Spread the shaving cream across the pan as if you were evening out a cake batter. You can use a wooden spoon or your hands for this. It gets sticky and messy really fast but the good news is that it is soap so it washed off super fast!

Now it is time to add the “paint”. Have your kiddos dribble, squirt or drip their paint on in splotches. Use a large fork, popsicle stick or chop stick to swirl it all up to create a marbeled effect.

Gently place a sheet of paper directly on top of the colorful mess and gently pat down. Pull your print by gently pulling up from one side and set the paper down onto your covered surface. There will be large pockets of shaving cream stuck to the paper. Allow to sit and cure for a few minutes then use the cardboard or index card to scrape the mess off the paper. You can redeposit the goo to the cookie sheet or rinse in the sink. If you don’t have any excess cardboard, let the shaving cream set a smidge and wipe off with a damp sponge. This may be an even better way to clean it all up. It’s up to you.

Add a bit more shaving cream and paint for each print. Experiment. Try drawing a picture with the shaving cream on top of the colored layers to see a relief print on your paper.

Hang your pretty paintings somewhere happy or turn them into something new. Pinwheels? Bunting? Fortune Tellers? Flags? Fans? There are oodles of possibilities! Don’t forget, the powdered drink mix contains dye that can stain your skin and clothing. My fingers are still orange! So if you have any worries make sure to cover up and use gloves or baggies over the hands, otherwise enjoy the fruity scent in the air and wash hands with soap and water, it should come off after a bath or three. Thank you for playing along and happy camp-fun!

–
have a scrumdillyumptious day!

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Blonde Designs writes…