Keepsake Crafts

Some crafts made during holiday time are more special than others. These crafts, we will call keepsakes. A keepsake is something that you treasure for years to come and it holds a special memory for the recipient. All kids can create keepsake crafts that will be used each year at Christmas.
I’ve seen ornaments in the store that say “Baby’s First Christmas”. For a more personal touch on the first ever Christmas for your child, create clay handprints. Craft stores may carry baking clay that can be used at home. Be sure to follow the packaged instructions for use.

Place baby’s tiny hands in the clay to make an imprint in the softened surface. Once the clay dries, paint the handprints. Label the keepsake with the child’s name and the year. All of the kids can participate in this craft. This is also a great (and precious) way to see how they grow over the years. When the kids are old enough, let them paint their own keepsake Christmas handprints. The handprints can double as paperweights around the house or in the office or be hung each year for the holidays only.

Foam craft sheets are wonderful things. They come in cutout shapes and are easy to cut yourself. This year, let everyone create their own version of Santa, Rudolph or a snowman using foam. First, cut out the top piece of the foam where the head would go. Next, you’ll need a head shot picture of each family member. Cut the photo to the size necessary to fit on the foam as a head. Glue the picture in place.

To turn them into ornaments, put a hook through the top and hang them on the tree. If you want to display it on the refrigerator, attach magnets to the back of the figure. They can also be used in a family picture wreath if you’d like. These are another ornament that can be used over and over each year. Watch the kids grow by creating new ones each year with a recent photo.

Some keepsake crafts don’t have to be made at home. When kids are younger, they make holiday crafts in art class. I made a reindeer out of a paper plate when I was in the first grade that my mother still hangs on her tree. I have kept up the tradition with my own children. I want them to know that I treasure the gifts that they brought home to me. I have a special place on the tree for all the crafts that they have given me throughout their days in elementary school.

What kinds of crafts are special to you? Maybe your child has made the cutest snowman or the perfect paper star. Let others see how proud you are of it by putting it on display. The tree doesn’t have to be the only place you show off their creations either. Press paper crafts between two panes of glass. Once you seal them, the crafts can be used as coasters at holiday gatherings.

Don’t let your kids’ treasures get thrown away at the end of the holidays. Preserve them to be used again and again. When they go out on their own, be sure to give them all their creations to decorate their own homes with or to give them ideas for helping their own children decorate for the holidays.

Super Easy Sock Puppets

Traveling with children, especially small children, can be difficult. You know they’re going to get cranky and you’re really not looking forward to it. Make and take some sock puppets on the road to help keep your child happy on the trip.

Almost everyone has lost a sock while doing the laundry. Some people have lost more socks than they’d care to admit. What do you do with all the unmatched socks? Create sock puppets, of course!

Before you plan a road trip with your children, let them create sock puppets out of some of the sock monster’s leftovers. With some simple craft items, your child can make a number of sock puppets that they can play with at any time. They’re particularly great for taking with when you’re going on a trip.

What do you need to make sock puppets? In their simplest form, children can play with sock puppets made merely from an unmatched sock. They can be embellished to include eyes, hair, and even clothing. It all depends upon how creative and resourceful your children are. Here are some common craft items you can use to make your sock puppet:

Adult-sized socks
Buttons or wiggly eyes
Felt scraps or yarn
Pipe cleaners (also known as chenille stems)
Fabric paint
Craft glue
Needle and thread

If your child has a favorite story, you may want to help them create different puppets for each of the characters in the story. They can act out the story with their sock puppets on the road or make up stories of their own with the same characters. In fact, if you’re going to be on the road for very long, your children can plan a whole story to share with the family that you’re planning on seeing.

To give the sock puppet a little bit of weight and to help give them shape, push crumpled up tissue paper or cotton balls into the toe where the fingers are. You can then create nostrils for a dragon or horse by sewing and shaping the cotton balls to keep them in place.

Bring along stories on CD and let your children act out the stories while you’re driving. Not only will this give them something to do, it’s something that everyone except the driver can participate in. Practice the movements so they can put on a sock puppet show, with your help, when you arrive at your destination.

It has been proven that the act of creating things is good for your child’s creativity and imagination. By taking their sock puppets on the road with them the next time you’re traveling, you’re encouraging them to use their imagination. Not only will they enjoy playing with their sock puppets, they’ll be too busy to ask you if you’re “there yet” – which will help you enjoy the trip, as well.

How to Make a Pet Rock

Children often beg their parents for a puppy or a kitten. Or, they may ask for something smaller like a hamster or goldfish. Why not offer to get them a pet rock, Mom’s best friend?

People began keeping pet rocks in 1975. An advertising executive named Gary Dahl came up with the idea and it spread like wildfire for about six months. Imported from Mexico, the ordinary rocks were treated as if they were real pets and even came with an owner’s manual. When they were first marketed, they were $3.95. Now they’re being sold for hundreds of dollars on online auction sites.

If your children are asking for a pet, a pet rock might be the answer. You can tell them they can have a pet rock to see how well they handle the responsibility before you allow them to get a goldfish, hamster, or larger pet.

There are a number of things about pet rocks that make them Mom’s best friend. Consider these benefits when offering to “get” your child a pet rock:

* You don’t have to buy them. Yes, people were silly enough to fall for a marketing ploy, as ingenious as it was, but you really don’t need to buy a pet rock. You or your child can find one right outside your front door. Of course, you may want to find one that’s unusual so it won’t get lost if it falls on the ground. In all actuality, you can find a new pet rock anywhere.

* You don’t have to feed them. Pet rocks are just that – rocks. They’re inanimate objects that just sit there. They don’t eat, so you don’t have to feed them. You also don’t have to worry about buying food for them, which could help with budgeting concerns.

* Since they don’t eat, you don’t have to worry about taking them outside to use the restroom. There’s no mess to clean up after, which will make your life as a Mom just a little bit easier.

* You won’t have to wonder if your child’s pet rock will bite anyone. That’s often a concern with having a pet dog or small pets like hamsters. With kittens or cats you may be concerned about their scratching and biting.

When looking for a pet rock, try to find one that’s smooth. You also want one that’s not so small that you lose it or so big that your child can’t carry it. Something that’s pretty like polished rose quartz may be a good bet for little girls. Boys will probably like something that’s a little rougher.

Unlike a living pet, your child can decorate their pet rock to their liking. Decide which side of the rock is its face and then allow your child to draw a face on it. Your child can determine the type of face it has, whether serious, silly, or smiley. They can also glue on wiggly eyes that you can find in any craft store.

Face it, Moms, at one point your child will ask for a pet. Giving them a pet rock may at least buy you some time until you can decide as a family whether owning a live pet is in your family’s future. Consider a pet rock – Mom’s best friend because they are easy to care for, cost nothing, and are easily replaced.

Home-made Sock Monkey – Home-made Fun

It wasn’t that long ago that parents spent much less on Christmas presents than they do now. In fact, until the middle of the 1900s children received fewer gifts, and some of the gifts they received for Christmas were home-made. Some parents think it’s time to stop spending so much and get back to a simpler time. At one time children used to ask for a home-made sock monkey, and some still ask for them.

John Nelson, a Swedish immigrant, manufactured the first socks in 1890 in Rockford Illinois at The Nelson Knitting Mills. These socks were sturdy enough to work in and were purchased by workers who had to be on their feet all day. Mainly they were used by farmers and factory workers. In 1932, the company changed the look of their socks by adding a red heel.

Because of the Great Depression, mothers looked for ways they could create toys for their children out of items they had around the home. Some mothers took their husband’s old socks and started making monkeys and other animals out of them. When the company learned that their socks were being used to create toys for children, they developed patterns and started including the patterns in the sock packages. This happened in the 1950s.

If you never had a home-made sock monkey, you can buy a package of socks and make one for yourself and your children. You may be able to find sock monkeys in gift shops, but there’s nothing like a home-made sock monkey if you or your child want a “real” one.

You may still be able to get sock monkey patterns in the Rockford Red Heel sock packages. Just in case the package doesn’t contain instructions, you can do a search online to find patterns for the original sock monkey. Go to your favorite search engine and look up “Sock Monkey instructions”. There are numerous versions, but generally all home-made sock monkeys will look similar.

What do you need to make your own home-made sock monkey?

* One pair of Rockford Red Heel socks. They come in two pairs to a package and cost around $12.00, and come in various sizes so you can make different size monkeys.
* Cotton batting or polyester fiber to make your sock monkey plump
* Red knitting yarn
* Black embroidery thread
* Black buttons, for the eyes
* All-purpose thread

Gather the above items, find your instructions on the Internet, and within a couple of hours you can have one or two sock monkeys or sock elephants. There are several great things about a gift you make yourself: you know what went into it so you know there’s nothing harmful in it, you’ve spent precious time to make it, and even if it doesn’t look just like the one in the pictures, you’ve created it with love. Your child is sure to treasure the home-made sock money you’ve made for them for years to come.

How to Make a Book Mark Card

This is a clever card making project. This is perfect to give to book lovers – kids and adults alike. If you are a scrapbooker or cardmaker, you may have all the materials needed for this project. You can make a book mark card to fit the personality of the recipient.