Jewelry Craft Ideas for Kids

Hi! How's your Wednesday going? I have a treat for you today! I have a guest post today and I think you will really enjoy what she is sharing with us today! 

 

Much like their mother, my daughters are crafting maniacs. They have their own drawers packed with supplies and get excited at the mere prospect of a visit to our local craft store. They also love to spend time trolling the internet for craft tutorials. Unfortunately, they often happen upon tutorials we have to pass on, simply because they’re not child friendly.  A lot of jewelry tutorials require manual dexterity and fine motor skills far beyond the capabilities of young children. These three tutorials are perfect for kids ages 7-12 and require very little parental help!

Friendship Bracelets

After summers end, newly made friends often head off to different schools. Friendship bracelets are a great way for children to celebrate personal relationships without resorting to Facebook.

My girls’ favorite friendship bracelet is woven with many different colors. A wonderful tutorial on how to create this fabulous bracelet can be found at Modcloth. I really love the variety of colors that can be used so that each bracelet is unique and special. 

Bottle Cap Necklaces

Many of you are probably thinking to yourself, “Great, let’s put trash around our children’s’ necks.” But let me tell you, there are some great bottle cap necklace tutorials around the web that look fantastic. You could always buy some on Etsy, but what’s the fun in that?

This tutorial from Compulsive Craftiness is my favorite. If you don’t have a stash of bottle caps, you can get them here. I would avoid any bottle caps that say Corona or Samuel Adams unless you plan on covering up the brand name. You wouldn’t want people thinking that your child is an alcoholic.

Personal Tip: For attaching the jump rings, I highly recommend Wubbers jewelry pliers. We use them for a lot of different crafts and they’re fabulous because they don’t mar the delicate metals that are used in jewelry making. 

Washer Necklaces

This is one of the most kid-friendly jewelry tutorials that I’ve found. These adorable washer necklaces need very little adult supervision. You can find the tutorial at Small for Big.

This craft uses metal washers, nail polish, string and seed beads with a result that is way too adorable to pass up. The only place little ones may need help is in threading the string through the needle. These necklaces leave so much room for creativity. My daughters love them!

I hope your kids enjoy these fabulous jewelry crafts as much as mine did! Letting children take charge in their own projects and express themselves creatively really promotes a strong sense of self-esteem as well as pride in their work.

Claire Thomas is a DIY fiend who has yet to meet a tutorial she can’t tackle. When she’s not crafting, she and her nana can be found scouring estate sales for the next big Antiques Roadshow find.

What kind of crafty project have you done with your kids lately? Please share--I'm always looking for ideas.

Super Easy Bleach Pen T-Shirt

Howdy! It's FRIDAY!! We are busy with our County Fair this week--it's an end-of-summer tradition to go to as much as we can. Once the fair ends, school begins! Which is next Wednesday! (yeah!!)

I'm sharing a project that my son and I did together. We had fun working on this shirt and he wears it every week! The best part--it is completely customizable and only takes a few minutes!

Bleach Pen T-Shirt

1 colored shirt
1 Bleach Pen
Cardboard

Place cardboard in the middle of the shirt to protect the bleach from transferring to both sides. Decide on what you'd like to put on your shirt. Carson wanted Chicago Cubs. Once you've decided on your creation, carefully use the Bleach Pen to draw it out. You could use a stencil or freehand. I did my best freehand artwork to create the "C" for the Cubs. Allow to sit (in the sun if possible) until dry.  We allowed it to set overnight.

Wash the shirt and wear! We decided to go one extra step and cut off the arms to make a tank top. And like I mentioned before, he wears this every week!!

What kind of craftiness have you been up to lately?

Happy May Day Treats

Next week starts a new month (and hopefully some warmer weather!). When I was a child, my mom would help us put together May Day baskets and deliver them to our neighbor friends. We would fill the baskets with homemade popcorn, candy and nuts. When we delivered them to our friends, we would put them on the doorstep or front door knob, knock and run! It was fun and such a great memory I have.

A few years ago, we started the same tradition in our family. For our May Day baskets this year, we decided to hand paint some paper to make cones for the baskets. We made some of our BEST EVER POPCORN , tossed in some Skittles, Goldfish Crackers and Craisins and filled them up! We attached a pipe cleaner to the cone and added a little tag. The kids look forward to surprising our neighbor friends again! 

Here’s how to assemble: 

Colorful May Day Baskets

Materials Needed:

White Paper

Water Color Paints or other crafting paints

Paint Brushes

Pipe Cleaners

Hole Punch

Tag (optional)

Instructions:

Paint your design on the white paper. I had the kids choose bright colors and do more of an abstract painting. Let dry. Roll into a cone shape and secure with clear scotch tape. Punch holes at the top of the cone for the pipe cleaner handle. Secure pipe cleaner as the hanger. Attach the tag with some ribbon. Fill with your goodies and deliver on May 1^st! Have fun!

 

 This post was originally written for MomItForward.com. You can find it here.