Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Easy Fun Kids Crafts With Latch Hook Kits Such As M.C.G Textiles Latch Hook Kit Huggables Stuffed 15” Monkey


Easy Fun Kids Crafts With Latch Hook Kits Such As M.C.G Textiles Latch Hook Kit Huggables Stuffed 15” Monkey

When looking for fun kids crafts Latch Hook Kits such as the M.C.G Textiles Latch Hook Kit Huggables Stuffed 15” Monkey is an easy way to find out if the craft of Latch Hooking is the craft the right craft for your kid. Latch Hook Kits allows kids, and all ages, to try out latch hooking as an easy fun kids craft to create and complete in a relatively short time. That is always important as kids lose interest pretty fast. Now your kid can create items that will give pleasure for many years to come in an easy and fun way.

With Latch Hook Kits, such as the M.C.G Textiles Latch Hook Kit Huggables Stuffed 15” Monkey you will have all the basic materials you will need to make a complete item The only two things you will have to purchase separately are the stuffing and the latch hook tool.

Latch Hook Kits such as the M.C.G Textiles Latch Hook Kit Huggables Stuffed 15” Monkey comes with pre-cut acrylic rug yarn and step-by-step instructions. This makes it very easy to complete the item in a very short time and see the finished product. For beginners to crafting this is very important, the inspiration that comes from seeing the completed product can not be underestimates. For this reason Latch Hook Kits such as the M.C.G Textiles Latch Hook Kit Huggables Stuffed 15” Monkey are a very god idea.

As a gift to a child that loves crafts, or to try and inspire a love of crafts in a child, Latch Hook Kits such as M.C.G Textiles Latch Hook Kit Huggables Stuffed 15” Monkey can not be underestimated.

Easy Fun Kids Crafts With Latch Hook Kits Such As M.C.G Textiles Latch Hook Kit Huggables Stuffed 15” Monkey

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

How to Make a Pine Cone Angel


Pine cones are among nature's most versatile craft supplies. They're quite abundant in many areas, and if you live in the city, you can find them at the park or buy them from a craft store for next to nothing. Here's a fun and beautiful pine cone angel project you can make with a medium-sized pine cone.

What You Need

* Medium-sized pine cone
* Acorn
* White spray paint or acrylic paint and medium paintbrush
* Black and red acrylic paint and small paintbrush
* Silver or gold glitter
* Glue
* White card stock
* Pencil
* Doll hair or yarn
* Silver chenille stem
* Ribbon
* Scissors
* Newspaper (to cover your work area)

Instructions

1. If you are using a pine cone that you found outdoors, you may want to bake it in order to kill any bugs inside and dry up the sap in them. To do this, place your cone on a foil-lined cookie sheet and bake at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes to an hour.

2. Once the pine cone has cooled, paint it with the spray paint or acrylic paint and paintbrush. Sprinkle lightly with glitter while still wet. Let dry completely.

3. While waiting for the pine cone to dry, paint a face on the acorn. Turn it upside down and use black for the eyes and nose, and red for the mouth and cheeks. Let dry.

4. Glue the acorn head onto the pine cone body, with the pointed side of the pine cone up.

5. Draw a wing shape on the piece of card stock, and cut it out. Trace the shape onto the scrap of card stock, and cut it out as well. Turn one wing over so that they are facing in opposite directions.

6. Using the glue, trace along the inside of each wing. You might also want to make some markings inside the wings. When you're done, sprinkle the wings with glitter, tap off the excess, and let dry completely.

7. Glue the wings onto the angel's back. Let dry.

8. Place some doll hair or yarn in a hair color on the angel's head. Glue into place. Then form the chenille stem into a circle that will fit on top of the head for a halo. Glue into place and let dry.

9. Cut a piece of ribbon about 6 inches long. Form it into a loop and glue the ends to the back of the angel to make a hanger. Let dry completely before hanging up.

Tips

* If you don't like working with loose glitter, try using a tube of glitter glue. Dot some onto the painted pine cone here and there, and draw the details on the wings with it.

* If you prefer, you could use a piece of wide lace to make the wings. Gather the lace in the middle, secure with a piece of chenille stem, and glue to the back of the angel.



Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Bird Friendly Hanging Ornaments

Bird Friendly Hanging Ornaments


Before we move on to our Bird Friendly Hanging Ornaments, I want to draw your attention to some more fun kids crafts and other beginner crafts you may enjoy. You can go and have a look at Beginner Scrapbooking, Mosaic Crafts for Beginners and Alex Toys Super Knot A Quilt.

OK, so on to our craft for today:

During the holiday season, we are eager to make decorations and buy gifts to make our families and friends happy. But what about our friends in nature? They add lots of beauty to our surroundings, so it's only fitting that we should give them a little something, too.

Making edible ornaments for birds is a great way to do something for our feathered friends. And it also attracts them to our yards for us to enjoy watching. Here are some simple yet beautiful edible ornament recipes that you can make.

Birdseed Pine Cones

What You Need

* Large pine cone
* Peanut butter
* Birdseed
* Butter knife
* Pie plate
* Yarn or raffia
* Scissors

Instructions

1. Pour a generous amount of birdseed into the pie plate.
2. Using the butter knife, spread peanut butter all over the pine cone.
3. Roll the pine cone in the birdseed until it is thoroughly covered.
4. Cut a piece of yarn or raffia and tie it to the top of the pine cone. Hang from an outdoor tree.

Hard Suet Ornaments

What You Need

* 1 cup peanut butter
* 3 cups suet (can be found in the grocery store's meat department or deli)
* 3 cups cornmeal
* Christmas cookie cutter
* Raffia or yarn
* Scissors
* Birdseed
* Pie plate

Instructions

1. Pour some birdseed into a pie plate.
2. Mix the peanut butter, suet and cornmeal thoroughly in a bowl.
3. Use the cookie cutter to form the suet into a festive shape.
4. Dip the shape into the birdseed, covering thoroughly.
5. Cut a piece of yarn or raffia and use it to hang the ornament on an outdoor tree.





Soft Suet Ornaments

What You Need

* 1 cup peanut butter
* 1 cup shortening
* 3 cups cornmeal
* Sliced bread
* Cookie cutter
* Butter knife
* Birdseed
* Raffia or yarn
* Scissors

Instructions

1. In a bowl, mix the peanut butter, shortening and cornmeal together to form a paste.
2. Use the cookie cutter to cut a festive shape out of a piece of bread. Let the bread sit out overnight to harden.
3. Spread the suet mixture onto one side of the bread and decorate with seeds. Repeat with the other side.
4. Cut a piece of yarn or raffia and use it to hang the ornament on an outside tree.

Notes

* Suet ornaments should not be used in areas where the temperature exceeds 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The suet will melt in high temperatures, and it could get in the birds' feathers and hinder their flying.

* Another way to make hard suet ornaments is to cut an orange in half, remove the fruit, and fill each piece of peel with suet. Cover the top with lots of seeds, and hang the ornament sideways.