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It’s not difficult to create your own dried flowers. The best time to pick them is in the morning, but be sure any condensation from the night before has had time to evaporate in the sun.

The best flowers for this purpose are fully open, past the bud stage. Long stems are the best.

You can bundle them together by their stems, tying them with string or a twisty tie from a bread bag. Hang them upside down in a place that’s dry, like an attic. They shouldn’t be in direct sun or the colors will fade sooner.

When they’ve completely dried, put them in attractive vases all around the house. A mantle or shelf is an especially nice location to display your natural creation!

You can make your own necklace from melon seeds! It isn’t hard; all you have to do is wash the seeds you get from a watermelon or cantaloupe then string them using a waxy thread like dental floss.

It works best when the melon seeds are damp because it’s way easier to pierce them with the needle.

String them up then hang them to dry. This would be a great project during the summer to get a jump on some home-made holiday gifts! Inexpensive gifts , especially when crafted from the heart are fun to receive.

Posted May 22, 2008 Comments(0)

It’s not too difficult to learn some basic embroidery stitches from a book. Most kids over the age of 8 or 9 have the dexterity to hold a needle and run it through cloth in a few basic stitch types.

Sewing by hand is a handy skill to have anyway. And once the basics are down, you can create some masterpieces in thread! Embroidery thread comes in a rainbow of colors; it’s relatively inexpensive and not too hard to come by.

Purchase some muslin and an embroidery hoop- these are indispensable. Draw something in pencil on your muslin- a tree, a house, a pet or anything you want- even a simple design. Now outline your work with some simple stitches. You may end up with something worthy of framing! At the very least, you’ve created something on your own instead of following some other artist’s design.

Good Job!

Posted May 13, 2008 Comments(0)

If you have a stack of old magazines, particularly interesting and colorful magazines like National Geographic, make use of them. Even a fairly young child can cut out photographs and make a collage.

Use non-toxic glue and be sure and pick a place to work that you aren’t worried about getting a little cluttered and “gluey”. Encourage your young artist to be super creative!

This could be a fun thing to do on a rainy day, or anytime when you want to do something a little different with a child. And it can be fun for you too! It’s a good way to experiment with colors and designs.

Posted May 9, 2008 Comments(0)

To me, nature is very inspiring. I can walk around the block and have all sorts of interesting thoughts that might lead to who knows what!

My personal opinion is that people spend way too much time in front of the television. Why watch other people live when you can start doing it yourself? Now I realize that the actors on a TV show are artists themselves. I’m just saying limit yourself a little bit!

After all, when you’ve reached a ripe old age, what will you be proudest of; how many episodes of American Idol you watched, or how many songs you sang yourself?

Posted May 6, 2008 Comments(0)

There are so many wonderful instructional books out there that teach how to make jewelry. One of my favorite things to make is earrings. They can be crafted from a million different things- even found objects like beach glass can make nice earrings.

If you have a craft shop near you, spend an afternoon looking around at all the things they have to offer the budding jeweler. You don’t have to be a silver or goldsmith to make attractive earrings , either. All it takes is experimenting with different things and you might be able to launch a new career, who knows?

Posted May 3, 2008 Comments(0)