Craft and Hobby Site

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If you know children, you know most love to get their hands messy. They also love to pick wild flowers and weeds to share with those they love. Why not let them to be crafty for Mother’s Day by allowing them to create a fingerprint flower vase to give to Mom or Grandma this year?

Toddlers and young children may see Mom, Dad, or their brothers and sisters enjoying crafts. They may wonder why they don’t get to make something as well. This craft is perfect for little hands and will result with a gift any mom or grandma will love.

Since it’s springtime, your toddler or preschooler has probably already brought you a handful of daffodils or dandelions. Did you have a vase to put them in? Your child can make their own fingerprint flower vase that can be used for all of their future bouquets.

You don’t really need a lot of art supplies for this craft, just an empty jar or two and enamel paints in a variety of colors. You may also want to have some newspapers on hand to keep the mess to a minimum. However, if you’re working outside in the sunshine, you may not be concerned about the mess.

You’ll want to help your child with this craft project because it’s important they don’t put their fingers in their eyes or their mouth. Here’s how to do it:

* Start with clean and dry glass jars. It doesn’t matter which type of jar is used as long as the label has been completely removed. If you’d prefer to use an actual glass vase, these can be purchased inexpensively at any dollar store.

* Read all of the instructions on the back of the enamel paint bottle so you know how it should be used.

* Have them hold the jar by the mouth so they don’t mess up the paint.

* Let the children choose a color. They can dip their fingers into the paint and decorate the jar or vase by making flowers with their fingerprints.

* Your child can make any number of flowers on the vase. How they decorate the jar/vase is entirely up to them.

* After they’ve made a circle of fingerprint flowers, they can go back with a contrasting color to make the center of the flowers.

* Follow the directions on the paint to let the paint dry. If this includes baking it in the oven, an adult would need to handle it. Drying time may mean allowing it to air dry for up to three weeks before using it for the first time.

If you’re uncomfortable using enamel paints for this craft, you can use acrylic paints instead. The flowers will wash off, however, unless the project is protected by an acrylic sealer.

When Mother’s Day arrives, let your toddler or young child present their fingerprint flower vase. They may even want to give it with flowers inside. Any mom or grandmother would be proud to have this precious keepsake.

What mother of preschoolers or other children hasn’t found broken crayons in the couch, under the couch, and all over the floor? You may even have been frustrated to find a crayon in the laundry, way after it’s too late to salvage the clothes in that load. Help your child create crayon wax-melting art to keep from having to throw all the broken crayons away.

Melted wax is dangerous for anyone, especially for children. Please be careful when trying any of the following crayon wax-melting art projects. Adult supervision is definitely a must for melted wax artists. Here’s how to do it:

In the oven: Set your oven to 250 degrees. Create new crayons by melting the old broken pieces. Break the pieces up into smaller pieces and sort the crayons with like colors. Place the crayon pieces into an old muffin tin. Put the tin into the oven and then turn the oven off. Watch the crayons so they don’t melt entirely. When the crayons have melted sufficiently, remove them from the oven and then place the tin into the freezer for half an hour. Take the tin out and then pop the new, larger crayons out.

Double Boiler: Another way to melt peeled crayons is over a double boiler. Use an old pan that you were going to throw away. Get a larger pot and place water in the pot to boil. Put the old pan into the water so it floats. Put the crayons into the upper pan and allow them to melt. You can then use a ladle or measuring cup to remove small amounts of wax. Dribble or paint the melted wax onto paper or into old candy molds. You can also dribble or pour melted wax on wet sand.

Color on Fabric: On a blank sheet of paper, create a design you’d like to have on a T-shirt or other piece of fabric. Color the design heavily, using plenty of crayon. Set your iron to cool and allow it to heat up. Place newspaper between the layers of fabric so the colors don’t bleed through. Then iron the paper until the design shows through. For best results, use 100% synthetic fabrics.

Sun catchers: Children love the colors that are thrown across the room through sun catchers. You can help your child create a melted crayon wax sun catcher. Give your child a pencil sharpener and let them make crayon shavings. Fold a large sheet of wax paper and sprinkle crayon shavings on half of it. With a warm iron, run the iron over the wax paper quickly. Allow the wax paper to cool and then cut it into various shapes. Make butterflies or flowers with holes in them where you can tape the melted crayon wax sun catcher on the back so the light and colors shine through.

Let the artist come out in your child. However, since you’re working with crayon wax-melting art, be sure to supervise closely to keep your child from injury. The artwork they create will spread colorful light across your room and into your heart.