Pinterest Kids Craft Wednesday: Camp Crafts

Last week we went camping, so I thought I'd bring along some supplies for ideas from my Pinterest Kids Summer Activities board in case of rain.  The weather was actually perfect, but we brought out the crafts anyway after a long day on the beach.

First we gave this one a try from Martha Stewart: "Camp Chic" necklaces.  Supplies are hard to come by in our small Alaskan towns, but we managed to pick up a lanyard laces set and some wooden beads at Wal-Mart.  They're not as rustic as Martha's, but they turned out fine.  The kids needed minimal help for this project, but the adults just couldn't resist the lanyard laces.  I made myself a keychain.  And seeing as we had a campsite full of Coast Guardsmen who know their knots, the dog ended up with an awesome new collar.

We also tried another idea: turning popsicle sticks into bracelets.  I bought the inch-wide sticks like those shown in the Pin and also some very narrow sticks that looked similar to the leather that Martha used in her bracelets from above.  After letting them soak for 36 hours, they still weren't very pliable.  We managed to shove them down inside some cups, but the ends wouldn't curve into the circular shape.  Many of them popped out of the cups as they were drying.  After fighting with the sticks for quite awhile, we just gave up and went back to making more lanyards.

Kids Craft Wednesday

This week's craft is not from Pinterest, nor was it even planned, thanks to us trying to catch up from our trip last week. While I was cutting out a few projects, my kids hopped up at the counter and got out paper, crayons, scissors, and glue. On their own! Then they spent quite awhile on their scrap creations. Just goes to show that unplanned art is often the best!

Pinterest Kids Craft Wednesday

With school out for the summer, I have been collecting craft ideas on Pinterest to make with my kids.  Here's my board.  I thought I'd try something new and post each Wednesday of the summer about the previous week's craft.

Last week, we made sun catchers from plastic made from gelatin.  It was definitely a weeklong project, and turned into a family affair when the using the drill tempted my husband to join in the fun...and make a Suncatcherschristy of his own!  I followed the original pin to the directions from dilly-dali art.  Then I followed the link there back to the original directions for making the plastic from Family Fun Magazine.  In the end, we used the directions from dilly-dali art and improvised as we went along.

Warning: this stuff smells terrible!

The kids were able to to the pouring.  We used plastic plates to ensure the gelatin wouldn't stick.

Swirl it to cover the plate

Using less gelatin per plate creates great drips and holes.

Stack the plates to dry at least overnight, longer for thicker layers.  When it is dry, you will hear it crackle and release from the plates.

It comes off in one big piece, and feels just like plastic.  I don't know that I'll ever eat gelatin again!  Eek!

Cut it up.

Everyone can help.

This can turn into a rainbow lesson, or color mixing.

We took the idea a step further and went to the beach for driftwood.  Dad drilled holes for us, and we strung them through with fishing line.

Each mobile resembles its maker's personality!  My daughter, ordered and even.

My son's, short, mixed-up, and a little crazy