Acorn Craft Ideas

Let’s get a hand count. How many people have oak trees in their yard? Do you also have an abundance of acorns? These acorn craft ideas will give you something to do with all those acorns the squirrels miss when the colder months creep up on them.

Acorns can be used in a number of fall and winter crafts. With Thanksgiving coming up soon, you can use acorns to help decorate your holiday table. You can also create garlands and other items to decorate your home.

1. An ‘Acorny’ Family (You can also have a look at Acorn People - Kid's Thanksgiving Crafts)

Gather up a bunch of acorns from your yard or a nearby park. Try to pick up only the acorns with the tops still on them. You can also purchase wooden acorns from a craft store. If the tops come off while you’re transporting the acorns, use a little bit of craft glue to put the tops back on.

Find enough acorns for each person in your family for this first craft. You’ll also need to have some acrylic paints, paint brushes, a sharp pencil and possibly six or more inches of heavyweight thread.

Paint the bottom half of the acorn using a flesh-tone or light brown paint. While this is drying, paint the top or cap of the acorn your favorite color. You would then do the same thing with enough acorns for your family, making the cap of each acorn that family member’s favorite color.

When the acorn is dry you can paint a face on it using a detail paintbrush or a very sharp pencil dipped in the paint. Add other embellishments such as little bows for a girl’s hair or painted pearls for mom. You could even make acorn animals by gluing on pieces of paper for the ears. These are particularly cute for couples who don’t have children but have ‘fur babies.’

Allow the acorns to dry thoroughly and either set them in a bowl, near family pictures or glue string on them to hang them as ornaments. Another thing you can do is create an acorn person for each person who is attending Thanksgiving dinner. Glue their acorn on a folded piece of business card stock and write their name on the card so everyone knows where to sit.

2. Wreaths

If you have a wreath to place on your front door, tie acorns onto a piece of raffia. Next tie the raffia into a bow and glue that to the wreath. You can also hot glue the acorns in groups of three around the wreath. Then use other fall items like baby’s breath, silk leaves and berries to fill out the wreath.

3. Picture Frames

How many old picture frames do you have which you would like to update? Create autumn frames by gluing acorns onto the picture frame. To dress the picture frames up a little bit, dry brush gold or copper paint on the frame and acorns. Once the picture frame is completely dry, place the picture back into the frame and group them in one area as a photo display.

Acorns are normally in abundance in the fall and it really is a shame to throw them away. In the spirit of trying to recycle and reuse, these crafts will help you do just that. By making one or more of these acorn craft ideas you can use the acorns and decorate your home at the same time.

Edible Thanksgiving Craft Ideas

For a typical Thanksgiving table you can make use of crafts using pinecones making pine cone turkeys. But, why not have fun this year and make some of your Thanksgiving crafts edible crafts? Here are a few examples of edible Thanksgiving crafts to do with kids.

There are some images which are common to the Thanksgiving holiday such as pilgrim hats, cornucopias and turkeys - to name a few. You can use familiar images as a guide to make edible

Thanksgiving craft ideas your children will love to make and eat. With ingredients found in your home, your children can make these edible crafts and enjoy themselves while staying occupied out of your way.

These edible crafts can serve more of a purpose than simply keeping your children occupied while you’re preparing Thanksgiving dinner. You can also use them to hold place cards for the table, as a treat to share with neighbors or as a means to teach very young children about Thanksgiving. Look over these ideas and see which ones you think your children would enjoy doing.

1. Pilgrim’s Hat

The pilgrim’s hat is an icon of Thanksgiving which can be made with cookies, large marshmallows, jelly beans, melted chocolate and wax paper. Since the chocolate has to be melted, an adult will want to help with this craft.

Put chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals, taking them out to stir. If the chips aren’t melted, put the bowl in for another 30 seconds. Once the chocolate is melted your child can carefully dip the tops of the cookies in the melted chocolate and place them on wax paper.

Dip the marshmallows into the chocolate and place them on top of the cookies. Then add a jelly bean to the newly made pilgrim hat to indicate a buckle. Once the chocolate has hardened, the hats can be moved to a serving plate and stored in the refrigerator to keep the children from eating all of them.

2. Thanksgiving Cupcakes

Cupcakes are a universal treat because they can be adorned in so many ways. No matter what the holiday, you’re sure to come up with some way to decorate them. Thanksgiving is no different. If you can find candy or small toys which have a Thanksgiving theme, the work is half done for them.

Help your children make cupcakes following the instructions given. Once the cupcakes are cooled, your children can then ice them with plenty of frosting. Push the candy or toy into the frosting and you’re done!

3. Cornucopia

The cornucopia is another traditional Thanksgiving symbol. Using sugar ice cream cones, frosting and fruit-shaped fruit snacks you’ll quickly have an edible cornucopia.

Place a small amount of frosting inside the ice cream cone. Then fill the cone with fruit snacks. Lay the cone down on a small paper plate and let the fruit snacks spill out of this edible ‘horn of plenty.’

If these edible Thanksgiving craft ideas aren’t to your liking, you can find many more in books at the library or on the internet. Look up ‘edible Thanksgiving crafts’ and you’ll find more ideas to choose from.

Of course, no matter what edible craft you choose to do, make sure you compliment your children on a job well done and enjoy at least one of the treats with them. Making edible Thanksgiving crafts may become a favorite holiday tradition.

If the kids get tired of making these you can go back to the trusted crafts using pine cones and make pine cone turkeys as a centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table.

Macramé 101 - Macramé Beaded Jewelry

Although the craft is believed to have originated in the 13th century by Arab weavers, macramé was a popular craft in the 1960s and 1970s. It has recently begun making a comeback in macramé beaded jewelry. This form of macramé is called micro-macramé. However, you can also make wall hangings and other useful items with this art form.

Macramé is basically tying knots to create a decorative fringe on shawls, veils, bath towels or other hand-loomed fabrics. If you were alive during the craft’s heyday in the United States, you may have also seen owl wall hangings or macramé plant hangers as well as traditional fringes. Macramé belts were also popular.

The most common materials used for macramé are strands of cotton, hemp, leather or yarn. Depending upon what is being made you may also find macramé items with beads of varying sizes and styles. Beads are particularly popular when making jewelry. Items which have special meaning may also be added to macramé jewelry to give it added significance.

Macramé is made by tying a variety of knots. The main knots used are the square knot and either a full hitch or double half hitch knot. Macramé also uses granny, Josephine, lark’s head and overhand knots. Today these same knots are used to create macramé pieces; however, the size and complexity of the craft has changed in the past decades.

If you’ve never tried macramé before, you can easily find books and instructions at craft stores and online. Some books will provide better direction, often with step-by-step photographs for the more elaborate. The supplies are easy to obtain and aren’t terribly expensive unless you’re going to use Swarovski crystals. Most beads, even the better quality glass ones, can be purchased for less than $7.

When just beginning this craft it is a good idea to purchase a macramé jewelry kit which can be purchased at any craft store. The kit will include all of the cord you need to complete the project, as well as any beads which may be necessary. They will also provide detailed instructions on how to finish the project.

Expect to spend a good amount of time creating your macramé pieces as the process of tying the knots is time-consuming. Other factors which may determine how long a piece takes are the size of cord you use and the number of beads added. Of course, more elaborate patterns will take more time as well.

Once you have become familiar with the different knots you may want to try to design your own macramé pieces. Look through books, magazines and the internet to help you see the breadth of options available to you. It is amazing how a macramé has changed over the centuries.

Paper Folding Your Children Will Love - Origami

Paper folding or Origami is as suitable for kids as Mosaic Crafts For Beginners are. It is easy, can be completed in a small amount of time and will give them a lot of satisfaction.

Making something is an activity most kids love. They are especially charmed by creating fun things out of ordinary paper. This is where Origami comes in. It does not have to be complicated and they can attempt easy projects that will give them great satisfaction and can be completed in a short period of time.

Origami is not only fun and satisfying, but it also helps foster co-ordination and dexterity. Look for designs and projects that fit your child's age, and get ready for a project everyone will enjoy.

Did you know that you can download printable designs from the internet? (Type "free printable origami patterns" into your web browser.) There are even online tutorials with helpful pictures and videos. Also, your library will have lots of books on origami. To help you get started, here are some tips for folding neat, attractive origami creations.

1. Read first. It may be tempting to start right in on the folding, reading as you go, but take the time to read through the directions and the design before beginning.

2. Use the right kind of paper. While you don't need to use formal origami paper, make sure you use a paper that will work for your child's age and co-ordination level, and that fits your design. For example, thinner paper such as magazine paper works for smaller designs, but you will need something sturdier for larger, simpler projects for younger children. Origami paper is almost always square.

3. Start with projects that have ten steps or less. That prevents you feeling overwhelmed.

4. Make sure you are folding on a hard surface such as a smooth tabletop or floor. This will help keep the paper from creasing in unwanted areas and will help you to make clean folds.

For a simple beginning project, here are the basic instructions for a simple origami cat.

Materials:

• 1 sheet of square paper, at least 6 inches by 6 inches, in whatever color you like
• Markers
• Glue
• Plastic "googly" eyes

Direction:

1. Fold the square paper in half diagonally to make a triangle. Make a smooth crease.

2. Fold the paper in half again, once more diagonally. Make the fold smooth. Then open this fold up again.

3. Fold the top tip of the triangle down so that it comes down about 1/4 of the way. The flat top you create with the smooth crease will be the top of the cat's head.

4. Fold the bottom right corner straight up - the point will go slightly beyond the top of the cat's head to make the ear.

5. Repeat with the bottom left corner.

6. Flip the whole thing over, and you have a simple cat's face to which you can add whiskers and eyes.