Kids Decoupage Gift Ideas

 

I had to blow off the dust on this project - 1997!  Here's a great idea for a holiday gift for Grandma and Grandpa.  Pick a theme and find tissue paper, wrapping paper, cards or posters, have the kids cut them out and glue them on ceramic tiles.  Use raffia or ribbon to hang the tiles and they're sure to impress. 

Makes Leaves & Marbles from a Dough You Make Yourself

I had the pleasure of returning to my elementary school and showing the fifth grade class how to create using the cornstarch and glue dough recipes.  We made amazing marbles and leaves to follow along with class assignments.  The recipe and other great ideas can be found in the Make Healthy Fun! book and ebook along with tons of other ideas to get your entire family to unplug and have fun!

Time for a Walk

These adorable and inexpensive sandals will get kids (and you!) out and walking this Summer.  For a different look, apply 3D fabric paint in a camo design or glue on some rope.

Summer is in Full Swing!!!

Have the kids started the "I'm bored" routine yet?  Make a Crafting Treasure Box so that any time it can be Boredom Fighter Time!  Find a container (something colorful or even use a cardboard box and let the kids decorate it with stickers, glitter, etc.) and add some glue, magazines, scissors and odds and ends from around the house.  Keep some heavy paper handy and let them get creative.

All About Me Circle Book

Create a fun memory book from a grocery bag

What You'll Need

• Brown paper bag
• Scissors
• Photos
• Words from magazines or printed from computer
• Colored safety pins
• Colored tape
• Glue stick
• Twine
• Ruler

How to Make It

Cut out a circle from paper bag. Draw a line from center out to edge. Cut on line. Fold circle in half along cut line. Open circle and fold over the quarter formed by the cut forming 3/4 of a circle. Fold the already folded 2 quarters over on the quarter above them so that now you have a semicircle. Fold thick part on remaining quarter of circle. Decorate to your heart’s content. Use colored tapes for tabs and to cover inside seams. Glue photos and words to pages using stick glue. Wrap twine around hand. Cut ends and tie a knot at center. Pin knot to bottom of book. Accent book with colored safety pins.

Stuffed Animal Pillow

Add a fun new look to a child's room by simply gluing stuffed animals to a purchased pillow.

What You'll Need

• Stuffed animals, small ones work best
• Pillow
• Glue
• Pompoms

How to Make It

Apply glue to back of one stuffed animal. Place on pillow. Continue with all stuffed animals. Glue pompoms to fill in around stuffed animals.  That's all there is to it!

Juiced-Up Desk

Help your kids get more organized this new year with a little recycling and creativity.

Materials Needed

Juice boxes

Journal

Glue

Old crayons

Scissors

Cording

Crayons

Open Cookie Cutters or knife

Foil

Pan

Pen with removable ink cartridge

Potato peeler

Directions

Rinse juice boxes and let dry.

Journal

Cut fronts and backs from boxes. Glue boxes across journal, overlapping. Glue cording along top and bottom edges. Tie a bow using cording and glue to journal.

Vase

Glue 3 boxes together. Tie 4 bows from cording. Glue bows to fronts of boxes.

Caddy

Glue boxes together. Glue cording around top edge of boxes. Tie a bow from cording. Glue bow to front.

Crayons

Shape foil with sides coming up, forming a bowl. Place in pan. Remove labels from crayons. Break into small pieces in foil. Using low heat, melt crayons. Do not leave unattended while melting. Let cool slightly. Using potato peeler, shave a different color crayon over melted crayons. Let set up slightly. Press cookie cutter into crayon or cut around with knife.

Pen

Remove ink cartridge from pen and insert in straw.

Here's a fabulous way to keep the kids busy while they wait for holiday festivities or any day of the year!  And, it's a recycling project too!  It uses #6 plastic containers - and things from around your home.

 

I Shrunk the Plastic

Materials Needed

Cookie cutter, plastic or other plastic item for hanger

Wire or fishing line

#6 clear plastic containers

Plastic decorations: beads, toys, etc

Permanent pens

Scissors

Hole punch, small

Cookie sheet

Oven mitt

Candle

Paperclip

Plastic ring

Glue

1” wide braid

Oven or toaster oven

Directions

Draw design on clear plastic with permanent pens. NOTE: The designs will shrink about 50% of the original size. Cut out. Punch holes in top and bottom. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place clear plastic designs on cookie sheet and place in oven until they lay flat. This will only take a few minutes. Remove from oven using oven mitt. With adult supervision, make holes in plastic decorations by heating paperclip in candle flame. Insert into plastic to make holes. Thread beads, shrink plastic designs, toys, etc. on wire, knotting below item to secure. Make holes around bottom of cookie cutter edge with hot paperclip. Thread decorated wire in hole and knot. Repeat for all wires. Make three evenly spaced holes around top of cookie cutter. Cut three 12” pieces of wire. Insert each wire into a hole and knot. Gather wire at top and tie around plastic ring adding a bead, if desired.

Veggie Animals

Keep the kids busy whether it's holiday break, summer time or a Saturday with Veggie Animals!  Set up a creation station with all sizes and shapes of veggies and let the imaginations take over!

What You'll Need
Stick Pretzels
Veggies: Mushrooms, Broccoli, Cherry Tomatoes, Carrots, Celery - experiment with your favorite ones
Olives
Knife
Toothpicks
Foil
Low-Cal Dressing for Dipping
Egg Glue - Eggs and Low-Fat Mayonnnaise


How to Make Them!
1. Set out the veggies and have fun connecting them with toothpicks and pretzels. Egg Glue (a mixture of eggs chopped up really small and a little mayonnaise) keep the animals together and adds details.
2. Place the animals in a setting by using broccoli as the grass and tomatoes for flowers.
3.  Make a 'water tank' by folding foil in several layers and folding in at the bottom. Place dressing in 'tank' for dipping.

Happy Healthy Halloween!

Hello my pretties!

I have on my jack-o-lantern socks, ghost earrings and an orange blouse.  Let the fun begin!

Photo Scavenger Hunt

Bundle up the kids, grab a couple of disposable cameras and head out on a scavenger hunt!  It's a great activity to get the entire family out and moving.  For the younger kids, be sure to have supervision for each child.

Make up a list of items the kids need to find.  Have them photograph the item when they find it and keep going for a specific amount of time and then everyone meet back up to see who found the most items on the list.

Make it extra fun by rolling up the list like a pirate's map, attach stickers and tie on raffia.

Don't forget about prizes for whoever photographs the most items on the list!

Download or print the photos and see what exciting shots they got!  Enlarge the special photos for holiday gifts.

Have fun!

Garden Fresh Sugar Snap Peas

Fresh from my garden, sugar snap peas.  Not only are the plants beautiful with their tendrils and delicate looking flowers, the peas are mighty tasty.  They grow quickly too - perfect to keep a child's attention during the growing season!!!  Time to go plant more!

Green Beans and Trader Joe's

I have a new recipe for green beans...I have to admit in years past big chunks of bacon were always in the pan to add flavor to green beans but not now!  Enter Trader Joe's Balsamic Vinegar.  I steamed / boiled my green beans then about the last five minutes I added some balsamic vinegar and let it reduce - so very yummy and light on calories. 

My sugar snap peas are blooming and I can't wait for the pods to form and chow-down with some hummus.

Make Healthy Fun!

Just finished sending some Make Healthy Fun! projects and healthy winter 'activity' ideas to a writer for a national magazine article...

Make Healthy Fun! Workshop

What an awesome workshop at the Morro Bay Library!  I was under-the-weather so I recruited some helpers I knew would do a great job and I hear they did!!!  Thanks to my sister-in-law, Nicki, my bro, David and 9-year-old nephew, Brandon who made a fun morning for kids and adult alike making marbles (all you need is some cornstarch or white bread, glue and paint) and creating a container garden complete with beans seeds to get the kids going on growing their very own garden.

Take Them With You Masterpieces

 

Don't file away those great drawings your child creates, scan them into your computer, print them on Wilton T-shirt Transfers, iron them on and in a few short seconds you have a unique way to 'display' and preserve a masterpiece.

My nephew, Brandon, was here this summer and created some great drawings.  School starts for him this week so I created one-of-a-kind t-shirts for his first week of school.  Remember those days?  New clothes, new shoes, even new underwear...

Stores are having amazing sales on t-shirts right now, grab a few, stop at your local fabric or craft store for some t-shirt transfers and be ready for school!

BTW - if you've used iron-on transfers years ago, try them again - they've improved DRASTICALLY!!!
 
Joan