Printable crafts are a great idea for a rainy day at home with the kids. Let's face it though, you don't have to be a kid to enjoy doing crafts. The list of possible crafts is endless. Below there are a few favorites that you might be interested in.
Origami is a traditional Japanese form of art, a technique of folding paper into different shapes or ornaments representing forms such as those of flowers or animals. The online printable will have an image with lines of where the item should be folded. There are printables available online for all different skill levels. Most offer simple directions.
A mobile is a hanging sculpture created from ornaments, string and sticks. Mobiles can be made of many things. Printables will often be ornamental shapes or pictures. The printable crafts available online will sometimes require you to add your own string or sticks.
Paper Dolls are paper representations of characters or humans. These dolls are usually cut out and put in a stand. The printables for paper dolls work better if printed on a heavy paper or card stock. The paper dolls usually will include changes of clothes or accessories to make play time more imaginative and exciting.
Coloring Pages are available in abundance. These pages can be fun but can also be educational. There are many pages that are "workbook" pages that will require a child to complete a lesson or skill. Some coloring pages are offered as complete coloring books. This option is great for keeping children busy during long car trips. Themed and level appropriate activity books are also available. These usually include coloring, reading, math, science and some kind of social studies skills.
All crafts come in a variety of seasonal choices like pumpkins, christmas ornaments and turkeys. Some crafts are colored some require coloring. Other crafts may require additional supplies such as glue, string and scissors. If your child is in love with a particular character that they have seen on television or in books. These character sites often offer crafts specifically themed to that television show or character. This offers an additional bonus of saving money by not having to purchase the "specialty" craft and coloring books from the store.
When searching the internet for printable crafts, be sure to use only reputable sites. You should not allow your children to search for the crafts by themselves because there are many sites that offer adult themed crafts that are not for children's eyes. There are sites that are specifically geared toward printables for teachers. These sites offer a great selection and can usually be trusted.
There are many other printable crafts available on the internet. When searching the internet, phrase your search query to include specific theme key words. There are many that will suit your particular situation.
Wendy Pan is an accomplished niche website developer and author.
To learn more about printable crafts, please visit Fun Arts and Crafts Ideas for current articles and discussions.
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Kids love crafts, and aluminum cans are a perfect craft base because they are in abundance. The aluminum makes them sturdy and sometimes waterproof (depending on what is put over them).
Free Aluminum Can Crafts - Ghostie
For this project you will need to gather an aluminum pop can, clear acrylic spray, white and black paint, fishing line, paint brush, masking tape and scissors. Before you begin, remove the tab from the top of the can. The can will need to be crushed in a certain way, so it might be a good idea to have some extra cans around in case the originals don't get crushed the way you'd like them to. For the silhouette of the ghostie, crush the top part of the can in one direction, opposite the bottom portion. If sharp edges remain, these should be smoothed over with masking tape. Depending on the type of paint you're using and the colors in the crushed can, it may take several coats to cover the can so it appears simply white.
The black paint is now used to create the mouth and eyes. The opening of the can, where the tab was pulled, should be used as the mouth, and eyes can be hand painted above that opening. Wiggle eyes can be used, but it's best to glue these on once the whole project has been sealed. Allow the paint to dry, and then use one more dot of white inside the black eyes. You can then create a 3-d effect with the eyes to allow the white dots to dry then add two more black dots. This makes it look like an pupil and gives it a little more interesting detail. Seal the ghost with acrylic spray using as many coats as you wish. Attach the fishing line to the back of the ghostie then hang it from a window or doorway!
Free Aluminum Can Crafts - Christmas Tree
You'll need 27 emptied and rinsed aluminum cans, Christmas tree lights (one or two strands), spray paint, a hot glue gun, a foam core board or piece of plywood, and duct tape. Arrange the cans by creating a trunk of three cans in two rows, glued together with hot glue. On top of this, six cans are glued together and lay on top of the "trunk." On top of the six row (or first layer), create a five can "branch," then four, then so on, until you have one on the top, so it resembles a Christmas tree. Spray paint the tree whatever color you'd like, secure the lights with duct tape, pushing the lights between the cans. Glue your tree on to the piece of plywood if it is to be hung outside, or use the foam core for indoor use. Try using stickers as ornaments, and even a tree topper!
Free Aluminum Can Crafts - Cow
Items for this project include white, black and pink paint, white felt, wiggly eyes, an aluminum can (crushed) and acrylic spray paint. Crush the can so the head of the cow (top of the can) is crushed above the bottom portion. If there are jagged edges in the tab (which needs to be pulled out), soften with masking tape. Paint completely with white paint, allow to dry. Pain black cow spots on the can (they resemble clouds), and a pink nose on the tab portion of the can. Attach white (or black) felt triangles to the back of the cow's head. Seal with acrylic spray and when this process is complete, glue on wiggly eyes. Instant cow! Following these simple directions and with minor adjustments, you can make an entire barnyard!
Wendy Pan is an accomplished niche website developer and author.
To learn more about free aluminum can crafts, please visit Free Crafts Center for current articles and discussions.
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Have you thought about your craft goals for 2008? Do you like to set goals in this area of your life? Whether you do or not you may be interested in reading some of these ideas to motivate you in your crafts.
Finish All Unfinished Projects
One of my craft goals for 2008 is to finish all my unfinished projects. I think many people who enjoy crafts find that they soon have so many projects on the go that it is difficult to finish any of them. If you are one of those then why not make a goal of finishing all your unfinished projects this year?
Do One Big Project
If you have finished all your unfinished craft projects and enjoy doing more complex craft projects then you may wish to do one big project this year; instead of doing short projects that are over quickly work on doing one, big complicated pattern.
Learn a New Craft
Why not try your hand at learning a new craft this year? There are so many different crafts that one can do and it is often fun and interesting to learn a new one.
Make More, Spend Less
Become a thrifty crafter this year and stop collecting stock and start using it more. You can also look at other ways of spending less such as learning cheaper crafts and recycling materials in your crafts.
Sell Your Crafts
Why not start your own craft business? If you have not yet started selling what you make then consider the cost of your materials, how long it takes you to make and how much you want to make per hour and work out a price for each of your pieces and then find a method of marketing that suits you best.
These are just a few of the goals you can choose to do with your crafts this year, what other goals have you made in this area? By doing so you can get new, creative ideas to fill your hours with fun and relaxation.
This article was written by Mandy Buchanan. Mandy is the owner of Crafty Content which offers free articles on different arts and crafts.
The crafts have started taking over the entire room. You need to begin to think about how you want to organize your space and materials into a workspace where you can keep your materials and create your masterpiece.
The goal you have is to create a craft table workspace where the only thing there will be your storage and supplies-you do not want to have to pack and unpack all of the supplies every time you want to work.
Generally, you have three options for creating a special crafting space to work and to store materials. There is now furniture and storage containers especially designed for crafters, regular office furniture and storage units, or you can adapt existing furniture and storage containers in your home to fit your needs. You can spend a lot of money on furniture and storage containers or you can be frugal-whatever works for you should be your primary goal.
You can start by creating a small corner in your home that you will dedicate to your craft table. There are several items you will need in order to enhance your workspace into an area that meets all of your needs.
You should begin with the essentials—purchase a flat, easy-to-clean work surface. This can be a small desk or even an old folding card table. Any surface that gives you a large surface to spread out your supplies will work.
The craft table should be accompanied by a very comfortable ergonomic chair that is adjustable to fit the contours of your body and to provide back support. If you will be spending a lot of time making crafts, support is very important for your back.
When you decide to purchase a new ergonomic chair, go out and sit on them. Do not just look at the chair and think that it will work-sit in it, spin around, make it go up and down, and adjust the back and arms. Make sure that it will work for you and be very comfortable.
The craft table workspace has been created and is ready for you. Now, what to do with all of the crafting supplies you have. The top of your workspace is limited in size, so you definitely need to have a way to store your supplies. There are many different options on the types of storage containers you can use. Some people purchase a file cabinet that will be large enough to hand 12x12 inches hanging folders.
These hanging folders will hold the many different supplies in a handy each to reach place next to your craft table. You may want to consider purchasing a special organizer. These come in a variety of sizes and have many different sized drawers to hold the largest to the tiniest of items in an easy to open cabinet.
You can spend a lot of money purchasing all of the special furniture and storage containers that are now available for people who enjoy crafting. If you just do crafts for the pleasure it provides, you may not want to invest a lot of money into buy expensive furniture. Whatever your final decision when it comes to choosing a craft table, just make sure that it works for you.
For more information on crafts, try visiting http://www.craftguidance.com - a website that specializes in providing craft related tips, advice and resources to include information on craft table.
Crafts are fun no matter what time of year it is! Here are some great ones that you can check out if you haven't already!
| Decoupage | |
| Scrap booking | |
| Making Candles | |
| Making scented bath-products | |
| Gluing hard pasta to construction paper; for kids 4 to 6 | |
| Making plaster masks of other kids faces by putting gauze and plaster in layers in the subjects face, and then painting them (the masks that is); usually for older kids 12 to 18 | |
| Homemade party garland for outdoor party - paper cranes, flowers, etc | |
| For another time of year, my moms club does scrapbook/knitting nights which is really fun. People bring all of their supplies and we meet at a local church. We all bring appetizers and talk/eat and craft the night away. | |
| Beading and making jewelry. Any age group can bead -- big beads for the very old and the very young and for those in between projects can be any level of complexity. Teens like hemp. Older women crystals and kids fun beads -- Boys (and men) enjoy beading too -- there are bone or Indian beads for masculine jewelry or they all have a girlfriend or grandma. | |
| make embroidery floss bracelets/anklets by braiding or knotting the floss | |
| My favorite arts and crafts project would have to be making cards. You can make any card, for any occasion, for any age group! | |
| flower arrangements. Learn how to arrange a bouquet or a seasonal wreath for your front door. | |
| make homemade soap | |
| One thing that is a lot of fun any time of the year is making potato prints. You cut a potato in half, and leaving a design raised, carve out beneath so your design stands up over the potato. Using a paintbrush, paint a color on the raised part of the potato and then press the potato on some paper of your choice. If you repeat again and again you can make wrapping paper. | |
| Penguin Cups -If you want to make cute bric a brac decorations for your children's rooms, you can take 3 of those dollar store frosted plastic cups, print out some penguin face print outs with feet, wings and hats, etc. and then get a glue stick (sticks better with no mess) and glue them on the cups. We made 3 Christmas Penguins with Santa hats for Christmas decorations and I was amazed at how cute they came out! You can use any sort of animal/people cut outs as appropriate to your theme too. | |
| Senior group - paper cutting graphic for everyday activities for hand eye coordination |
