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Blog: Squish! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: plasticine illustration, free desktop calender wallpaper, polymer clay, Add a tag
Blog: Emily Smith Pearce (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Kid Crafts, kid craft, bead, party favor, children, Crafts, craft, birthday, polymer clay, game, jewelry, Add a tag
Can you say it three times fast?
Sorry I haven’t been around much in the last week or so. Now that a certain girl’s coronation birthday weekend week is over, I’m coming up for air.
We did it, folks. We survived a sleepover birthday party (plus days of other celebratory activities) and lived to tell the tale. I’m not exactly sure how she hypnotized talked us into the sleepover. All told, it went pretty well, though, and thankfully, the girls got along.
One highlight of the party was “Pass the Parcel,” which our daughter learned from her British (and half-British) friends in Germany. It’s really a fun, sweet game, and you can organize it so that everyone feels like they’ve won.
Basically, you have a small prize wrapped up in layers upon layers of wrapping paper. You pass the parcel around while music plays, and each time the grown up stops the music, the person holding the parcel gets to unwrap a layer. Ideally, each layer holds a tiny prize (in this case, Jolly Ranchers) and there’s at least one layer for each player.
We got distracted a bit while wrapping our parcel, and some layers—oops!—were empty. Nevermind, the girls were gracious and divided the candy evenly at the end.
At the center, we placed a collection of polymer clay beads and linen string, so each kid could make a necklace, bracelet, or key chain thingy. I had them pass the bead collection around and let each child choose a bead until they were all gone. Thankfully, there wasn’t much fuss about who got what colors. They’re all pretty, right?
Then each child strung the beads into the desired shape. So fun.
My kids and I had made the beads months earlier, with no thought of a party. I was inspired by this lovely post, which includes instructions, but I couldn’t figure out a way to string them in a way that suited me, so they sat around for months. I think I’ll try making some for me again—we have more clay.
Anyway the beads were a hit, and the activity was just enough—not too long, not too frustrating. We may have to make “Pass the Parcel” a party staple!
Blog: Appalachian Morning (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: polymer clay, art dolls, handmade gifts; crafts;, Add a tag
A few years ago, one autumn day my son, Bryce, and I were walking by a gallery and in the window hung a sculpture that caught his eye. It was half-man, half-bird and had beautiful feathers and a long golden beak. Bryce immediately fell in love with it, but the price tag was more than his budget could afford.
I thought I could create something similar that might please him, so as the holiday approached I gathered Fimo polymer clay, gold paint, some beautiful feathers, and wire for the armature.
We couldn't have it hang, given the restrictions of Bryce's living situation, so our bird-man does not appear to be in flight as the one we saw in the gallery. Also, ours is holding a golden flower (spraypainted silk daisy).
I used a wire doll stand to help him stand and then thought of how to protect him from the rough-and-tumble life of living in close quarters as my son does.
So, before he returned to his home, we took a clear plastic container, set it on its end and glued the doll stand base to the inside (on one of the ends), creating a protective display for Bird-Man. It has stood, thus, in perfect shape in Bryce's room for the last three years. Unlike most things, which he has a tendency to improve upon and embellish with glitter, marker, and collage, Bird-Man has not been altered at all, so I guess he does like it just fine!
Homemade gifts are the best, don't you think? Each year I try to make at least one homemade gift for a loved one. I'll never forget the happy look on Bryce's face when he opened his present. And the joy of being able to give him something he really wanted.
Happy Homemade Holiday!
Janice