Tag Archives: Crafts

BOOK GIVEAWAY & Craft: Puffins!

Posted in Children's Books, Kids, Paper, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by

Comment below to be eligible for the giveaway. U.S. residents only.

Who knew there was such a word as “puffling”? Well, this delightful nonfiction picture did. If you didn’t guess, “puffling” refers to a puffin chick, but I plan to integrate it (somehow?) into my vocabulary. Author Maria Gianferrari’s perfect verse meets the bustling, vivid comic art of illustrator Maris Wicks to inform and captivate readers. The story follows Little Puffin from her hatching on Maine’s Eastern Egg Rock Island through her life cycle.

I happen to be a teacher-librarian-person who hoards paper towel and toilet paper rolls for craft occasions. So, I took out my trusty tubes to create some pufflings of my own.

WHAT YOU NEED

  • cardboard tubes
  • card stock, construction or origami paper (or all of the above)
  • glue stick
  • scissors
  • optional: hole punch (for eyes), hot glue, poster paint
  • also optional: rock collection

Children might prefer to paint their tube black and let it dry; I chose to cover my tube with black origami paper. I then glued on a white heart-shaped face and a white belly. Your cardboard creation will really start looking like a puffin when you add the flat, large beak cut from orange card stock. I folded a narrow tab at the base of the beak to give it a surface with which to glue it on. I couldn’t decide on the shape of the wings (pointy and simple? tiered and feathered?) or color (dark blue? origami print?) I tried all variations before settling with simple, pointy, and standard black. The paddled feet were fun. They are connected in the back (I cut them in somewhat of a heart shape) to make it easier to tape or glue to the bottom of the tube.

Kids can get creative and adapt this easy project however they puffin-please! In the end, they will have a sweet puffling for company during story times of this book.

Maria Gianferrari is a proud bird-nerd who is thrilled to have seen Atlantic Puffins and other sea birds at Eastern Egg Rock Island. She’s the author of these bird-y books: You and the Bowerbird and Hawk Rising, both published by Roaring Brook Press, as well as Whoo-Ku Haiku. She loves backyard birding from her kitchen window perch in Massachusetts, though she lives too far from the sea to see puffins.

Maris Wicks is a writer and illustrator of science comics. She is the illustrator of The New York Times Bestselling book Primates (2013), written by Jim Ottaviani. Her latest graphic novel, Human Body Theater (2015), is a 240-page rollicking romp through the major systems of the human body (told in comics format, of course).

Easy and Fun Valentine to Make with Kids

Posted in Free Tutorials, Holiday, Kids, Paper by

Arrow through the heart? Make that, Number 2 pencil through the heart! Our valentine project this year is totally old school: super simple, low cost, and homemade from stuff we have around the house.

What you need:
Pencils
Washi tape or masking tape in different colors (we used Scotch masking tape from Michael’s)
Construction paper
Scissors
X-acto

Optional: Stamps and stamp pad

Step 1: Cut out hearts from construction paper (about 5 x 5″). Let the kids do this step. Lopsided? Looking more like a liver than a heart? Remember: it’s part of the charm!

Step 2: This is a step for a grown-up. Cut two 1.5″ slits with your X-acto, one in the upper left quadrant of the heart shape, one in the bottom right quadrant.

Step 3: Decorate with stamps, stickers. Go crazy, kids! Bedazzle!

Step 4: Wrap pencils in strips of washi tape. Don’t worry, your valentines will be able to sharpen their washi-covered pencils.

Step 5: Insert pencil through your valentine heart. Now repeat 24 times–fewer, if you’re lucky enough to have lower class sizes at your school. . .

VW Bus Printable!

Posted in Fabric printing, Stuff to make by

VW bus nuts–this one’s for you! I’ve been meaning to post this VW Bus printable for a while. I used this freezer paper stencil to make pillowcases for my son last spring. If you haven’t discovered freezer paper stencils for creating crisp, silkscreen-like images on fabric, here’s the complete how-to. For impatient, lazy sorts (like me), they offer immediate craft gratification. Craftification.

 

I think this would make a groovy T-shirt, too. Tape the stencil directly to freezer paper. Cut out the gray areas–these will become the painted areas. Along the dotted lines, trim a sliver from the freezer paper–this will create a line of color to outline the white parts of the image. Please share your results!

Cute as a spare button

Posted in Fabric printing, Kids, Recycled materials, Stuff to make by

Buttons are cute. Even the word button is cute. So I figured I couldn’t go wrong printing an image of a button (using a hand-drawn and hand-cut freezer paper stencil) on this little muslin drawstring bag I had in my drawer. (Oh yeah, the bag once held the spare buttons to a sweater I had bought a while ago.)

Then I got really carried away and made this onesie. I realize the letters aren’t exactly centered, but I’m hoping you won’t notice. I don’t have any wee babies in my life, so if you do have one who happens to be 13 to 18 lbs., and who is verifiably as cute as a button, I will send this onesie to you!

Origami Ties for Great Guys

Posted in Holiday, Paper, Stuff to make by

A few reasons why I love my dad:

1. Sometime in my twenties, he decided he didn’t need a special occasion to pick up the phone and call his kids. He calls whenever he feels like it, just to say hello.

2. He’s the kind of grandfather who volunteered to change diapers. Now he gets down on the floor and digs into the LEGO bin alongside his grandkids.

3. Every year, he dresses up as Kate Smith for the Fourth of July parade and sings “God Bless America” in falsetto, very, very badly.

In case these reasons make him seem like he’s not a high-achieving, productive member of society, let me assure you: he’s also that.

So for this Father’s Day, I’m giving him the most original gift . . . a necktie! But this one is made of paper, is 2-inches tall, and is completely impractical. Which makes it more original.

 I learned to fold an origami necktie at the web site, Origami Club, which offers a mad assortment of origami projects with step-by-step animated instructions. The animation doesn’t necessarily illuminate some of those tricky, ever-elusive folds, but it’s cool.

Have you always wanted to fold a spotted toadstool? (Origami Club calls it by its proper name–“fly agaric”–and helpfully points out that it’s a poisonous mushroom. In case you plan to eat your origami? I don’t know.)

I love this Japanese school bag & this polka-dot dress, too.

But back to neckties: I used 2″ origami paper, but you can also use other paper and cut out a 2″ square. Make sure to use paper that is appropriately garish–who wants a tasteful tie for Father’s Day?

The trickiest fold is the tie knot–first, you fold a little triangle up, and then reverse the fold, so that the triangle is now inside the knot. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you try it. Then glue your tie to a blank card (I chose mustard-colored stationery from PaperSource) and press.

If this cute card isn’t enough to please your dad, follow up with a homemade coupon good for 1 hug.