Krista Rao blogs about crafty adventures with her kids
My little Ava is 5-years-old and just learning to spell and write notes. This exciting time in her life has resulted in a house full of pieces of intricately folded paper with three letter words written on them. In order to mix it up a little I showed her how to make secret messages for us.
Step 1 (fyi…this is the only step!): Write your secret message with white crayon on a white piece of paper. Make sure to press hard with the crayon.
Voila! That is all there is to creating the message. To reveal the message just paint over it with any colour of watercolour paint. The paint will not adhere to the crayon and reveal your secret message.
Melt them, shave them, or mold them; crayons make a great Valentines
Crayon Stained Glass Cards
You’ll need: waxed paper, a pencil sharpener, crayons, a bone folder, and a warm iron.
Remove the paper from crayons and shave them using a pencil sharpener. Sprinkle the waxed paper with the shavings. (The more wax you sprinkle, the more opaque the colours will be). Fold the paper in half, then fold along the edges to prevent the melted crayon wax from leaking. Iron the folded wax paper on a medium setting until the shavings melt. To prevent leaks, place a few sheets of scrap paper on the top and bottom. Cut the “stained glass” wax paper slightly smaller than the card and tape it closed using double sided tape. Read more...
Another batch of Etsy treasures, where one of a kind holiday gift options abound.
If you missed it, check out our Etsy Round Up Part 1 and get inspired about finding some amazing Christmas presents from your couch. The hits just keep coming!
For the under 3 crowd:
Teething Toy Moustache
If you got a kick out of Mini Movember, keep the fun going all year with this wooden wonder by teethME.
Screen Printed Sushi Bib and Hat
They might not be skilled with chopsticks yet, (or even their fingers), but this bib and hat set will keep your little dynamite roll clean. By LEFTright.
For the 3 – 6 crowd:
Felt Campfire Playset
Bring the best part of camping inside, all year round. This set comes with 8-inch flames, logs, rocks, a roasting stick with Velcro on the end with stickable hotdog and s’mores set. By kidnaroundcreations. Read more...
Krista Rao blogs about crafty adventures with her kids
Growing up I was very particular about my crayons. I loved the box of 64 Crayola crayons with built-in sharpener and protected them with my life and a very specific set of rules. I kept them organized by colour, refused to allow people to colour “hard” with them (especially the metallic ones as they were very soft), and tried to use them evenly on all sides so that they were kept to a point at all times.
My children on the other hand, do not have the respect for crayons that I did; they love to break them. The snapping sound of a breaking crayon seems to send them into a violent rampage breaking all crayons in their path. Not liking anything to go to waste, I have found a use for all of these little bits of crayons laying around. We melted the bits down and made easy to hold chunky crayons. The process was very easy and rewarding for the kids as they were able to help with almost every step.Read more...
Projects involving melting crayons are probably our favourite. We totally dig the psychedelic melty rainbow thing that We Are That Family created for their last night of summer. (Thankfully we Canadians still have a couple weeks before school starts!) Can’t wait to try this out with different colour palettes and angles.
Turn your old broken crayons into sweet heart-shaped super crayons!
We all have them laying around the house. Little bits of red crayons here, a blue without its paper wrapper over there, why not gather them all together and make some recycled crayons like Ashley over at Not Without Salt? We like the Long Thread‘s suggestion to use heart-shaped tins. Heart-shaped crayons are great for decorating your own Valentine’s Day cards.
Make great looking gifts from recycled materials and things you find around the house.
Wrapping Paper
For the paper itself, use old newspapers, tissue paper (from your recent purchases perhaps) or blue prints. You can acquire old blue prints by calling up a local contractor. Pro tip: Make sure you use the Arts & Life or Style section of the newspaper — a murder-suicide headline really saps the Christmas spirit. All these techniques can also be applied to paper shopping bags.
Potato Prints:
Cut potato in half and cut out holiday shapes in relief. (This part is for the grownups) We suggest pine trees, holly berries and leaves, stars, ornaments, snowflakes, snowmen and standard geometric shapes.
Paint stamps with a brush, or dip into a paint-filled plate. Pro tip: Make a “stamp pad” by soaking a piece of felt in the paint plate — this gives a crisper potato print. Read more...
