Every child enjoys creating artwork, particularly when their treasured work is displayed in picture frames throughout the home. However, because children love art so much, it may sometimes become a bit costly to keep them well supplied with art materials. The good news is that, with almost no cost, it is possible to make a number of these art supplies on your own. Here are some of the art supplies that you could make for yourself, with little effort or cost.
Homemade Glue
Although glue is a pretty inexpensive art material, you may still find occasions when you run out. To make homemade glue, you only need equal amounts of flour and water. Just mix it together inside a bowl, then put it within a jar featuring a snug lid. Or, include a drop of food coloring before mixing, just to add a fun color to the glue. Your youngster can put on the glue with a clean wooden stick or a small brush.
Easy Finger Paints
Finger painting can be a craft project that even the littlest child can handle. The most wonderful thing about finger paints is that almost any picture looks great when showcased in wooden distressed picture frames. To create your own paints, simply mix two cups of cold water and a quarter cup of corn starch inside a saucepan. Then, heat until it boils and gets to the consistency of finger paint. Take it off of the heat and allow it to cool. Divide up and put it into smaller jars which have tight fitting lids. Mix food coloring into each jar to create different colors.
Fruity Play Dough
This easy recipe is going to make a good sized batch of fun fruit scented play dough. Mix two cups of flour along with a package of unsweetened Kool-Aid mix and a half a cup of salt. Then add two tablespoons of vegetable oil. You now will add two cups of boiling water, and mix it all together. Take care with this step if your child is helping. Mix using a spoon, forming the dough. Be sure to store this play dough inside a container that is air tight. Because this dough smells so delicious, remind your little one that they should not eat it. If your youngster makes a play dough sculpture that they’re particularly pleased with, take a few photos of it. Then, placed into photo frames and display as wall art. So long as the play dough is placed in an airtight container, it’s going to last long enough to allow them to make a wide selection of interesting creations.
Handmade Chalk
You will be astonished at how easy it really is to create your own personal pretty and colorful chalk. Take a little bit of powdered tempera paint and mix it with one cup of Plaster of Paris. Add to the mix a half of a cup of cold water and mix it up. Pour concoction into popsicle molds, candy molds, a waxed paper lined toilet paper tube, or possibly a small Dixie cup. After the chalk dries, remove from the mold. Your youngster can make use of this chalk to design paper artwork, which you can then display in picture frames. The chunky pieces can be especially fun when used to draw on a driveway or sidewalk.
Now that you know how easy it is to make your own art supplies, get your favorite child for assistance and give it a try. You’ll both be so happy that you did!
When you have kids, there are many challenges to consider. Not the least of which is finding a way to productively use their creativity, which carries the benefit of keeping them busy. As long as you can replace any low ink cartridges you may have, you can use your printer and computer to gain an advantage in that area. There are a number of things that can be done to see how creative your kids can be.
Your little budding artist could use an electronic painting program on the computer for some artistic fun. Painting through a computer is very different than painting with your hands and a brush. It may bring new ideas out while it presents new challenges. Don’t let his or her project go to waste because you don’t have enough ink. Always make sure that your ink cartridges are full enough to print out any masterpieces your children can come up with.
Scrapbooking is another way that you can use your printer to enjoy crafts with your kids. Scrapbooking is an amazing way to keep good memories alive as they grow up through the photos and other memorabilia that are stored inside. Make sure your ink cartridges have both black and color ink in them to give you the best results. You can make copies of photographs so that your kids can cut them up and put them in their own albums however they would like to. To go even further with this, help them make and print stickers to specialize their scrapbooks with.
Many people don’t think about this, but if you take a picture and keep it instead of the whole science project, you can keep all of your kids creations. Occasionally, your children will create a nice project, but it will be too big to keep. When that happens, you can take a picture, print it out, and keep it as a memento of a beautiful project.
You can look up some printable crafts online as well, just make sure that your ink cartridges aren’t low on ink first. This is one of several possible ways to get your children excited about the possibilities associated with electronic creations, not to mention to get the creative juices flowing.
If your child is interested in learning how to sew, you can find patterns online and print them to help you in the teaching process. Beginning with something simple, such as patterns to sew along on paper, is one of the best ways to teach a beginning sewer how to sew in a straight line. Provided that there is enough ink in your ink cartridges, you can print out a handful of patterns for your little one to follow along to so he or she can practice. For beginner projects that you can do together, you can also find simple patterns.
Using your printer is a great way to bring out the creative side of your kids. You’ll probably be surprised by what your little ones can come up once they get going.
When the weather outside gets frightful, you can keep busy with some fun arts and crafts for kids. Kids crafts are surprisingly easy and inexpensive and it’s a great way to encourage youngsters to be creative. As a bonus, you can keep their craft projects as treasured mementos for years to come. In this article, we’ve got some quick and simple craft ideas that your family will love.
Christmas cards don’t have to be just for Christmas. They are so beautiful that they can be used for a variety of art and craft pieces. Collect cards that have beautiful winter scenes on them and turn them into scented sachets that are decorative enough for any room. To make the sachets, simply glue the bottom and side edges of the card together and then slip a small amount of potpourri or cotton balls dampened with your favorite scent into the space. Use a hole punch to make two holes on the top edge, through which you can thread a pretty ribbon before tying a bow. Leftover or recycled ribbon from Christmas is ideal. If you leave a loop in the ribbon, the sachets can be hung on door handles, coat hooks or hangers.
Old greeting cards, ornaments and even buttons can really come in handy. Collect small glass jars or buy some cheap candle votive jars. Cut out pretty scenes, flowers, or shapes like stars and squiggles, and glue them to the jar. You can even collect letters to spell out your name. Gold, silver and sparkly/glittery objects look especially beautiful when the candlelight shines through the jar. Simply glue the cutouts to the jars and you’ll have beautiful, personalized candle holders for your home.
To brighten up your home during the dreary winter months, add some bright window decorations. Glass paint motifs are popular in stores, but these craft ideas are easily done at home and they look a lot like stained glass windows. You’ll need glass paints in your choice of colors, a glass paint outliner in black, a stable acetate sheet and a pattern. You can make this yourself using cardboard. Bells, trees and birds are always a good choice. Start by laying the acetate foil over the pattern. Trace the design onto the foil using the outliner paint. Once the paint is dry, you can paint inside the lines. When the paint is dry, cut the motif out and adhere it with the painted side to the window with invisible tape.
If you’re at a loss for what to with the kids, then visit craft shows, thumb through some craft books and go online to get some ideas. Craft ideas don’t have to be expensive, so shop for materials at dollar stores and look in discount bins at sewing shops for buttons, glitter and scrap material. Once you’ve got everything you need, let your imagination take you away.
admin | June 20, 2011
