| ISSUE 66 • 16 FEBRUARY 2009 | |
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Editorial Hello and welcome to Kids Craft Weekly. Many of you will be aware of the bushfire tragedy that has unfolded here in Australia over the past week. Thanks very much to those who have emailed to enquire after my safety. Though we do live in a bushfire-prone area of New South Wales we are, thankfully, a very long way away from the terrible fires in Victoria. I want to take this opportunity to offer my heartfelt condolences to any readers who have been impacted by these devastating fires. My thoughts and, I'm sure, the best wishes of the entire Kids Craft Weekly community are with you at this very difficult time. Thanks to everyone who sent me their 'happy' pictures and words in the last fortnight. I still need artwork to include in my next printable book so if you have time please ask your children to draw a 'happy' face and send it in along with their answer to the question 'What makes you happy?' All contributors will be getting a free copy of the finished publication! After receiving numerous requests I've started selling a PDF version of the Everyday Craft bookfor USD $8. If you're in the United States, Canada or Europe purchasing the book by PDF saves you a significant amount of money. It's also a great option for anyone who wants to get crafting straight away as a download link is emailed to you automatically when the payment goes through. In other news I'd like to thank the 489 people who have become fans of Kids Craft Weekly on Facebook! When it hits 500 I think we should have a giveaway – what do you reckon? I'll be making announcements via Facebook so make sure that you check your updates. And in more social networking news you can now follow Kids Craft Weekly on Twitter. I'm hoping to use Twitter to share some great crafty and parenting links and also to make the occasional Kids Craft Weekly announcement. If you like to hang around Twitter please pop by and say hi! Happy crafting and I'll see you next time!  Amber Carvan editor@kidscraftweekly.com |
These cute and simple ladybugs were one of the first crafts I ever documented for Kids Craft Weekly and they remain one of the most popular. These ladybugs make a great project for young kids because they don't require sophisticated cutting skills or precision gluing, but they do involve scissors and lots of sticky stuff! You will need • red or orange cellophane • clear sticky contact • scissors • string Directions 1. Cut cellophane into small pieces – it doesn't have to be sophisticated, just chop away.  2. Cut contact into long rectangles (app. 30 x 15 cms) and fold in half. Then peel back the backing on half of the rectangle and start sticking the pieces of cellophane to the sticky contact.  3. When cellophane covers most of the contact, peel back the remainder of the contact and carefully fold the two sides together.  4. Cut around edges to form an oval or ladybug shape and then stick on the black dots.  5. Punch a hole in the top of each ladybug and tie on a length of string. Then hang the ladybugs up against a window where they'll look fabulous when the sun gets behind them! 
These colourful little chaps are a brilliant 'discovery craft' idea. You can provide the framework for the activity and then let your little ones go crazy and exercise their creativity! You will need • polystyrene packaging • acrylic paint and paintbrush • kids pvc glue • pipecleaners • small beads • scissors • match sticks (cut in half) • various bottle tops, cotton balls and buttons to decorate Directions 1. Cut the polystyrene into rectaular lenths. Then paint the polystyrene pieces and allow them to dry.  2. Cut pipecleaners into two short lengths and attach a bead to one end. Poke them into the polystyrene to form antennae.  3. Poke in some colourful match sticks and glue on some bottle tops, cotton balls and buttons.  4. Keep creating until you have a legion of fancy caterpillars. I can't begin to imagine what kind of butterfly these little guys might turn into! 
Has your little one made paperclip chains before? This craft makes them even more fun! Kids under three may find the paperclip element too challenging. If so, try slipping the wings into a clothes peg, or taping them onto a popstick. You will need • cellophane • scissors • paper clips • string • stick Directions 1. Cut pieces of cellophane into rectangles.  2. Twist the cellophane in the middle to make wings and then slip the wings into the middle of a paperclip.  3. Add some paperclips to make a chain, and add some more wings until you get a long colourful chain.  4. Repeat with different colours or cellophane and then hang the paperclip chains from a knobbly stick. Tie string onto each end of the stick to form a colourful mobile or sun catcher. 
These cute bugs were a big hit at out place this week. My kids enjoyed un-winding and re-winding the string and wool in different ways. If your children enjoy this too you might want to hold off from taping on the pipecleaners until they've had their fill. You will need • thick cardboard (panels from a cardboard box work well) • string or wool • scissors • pipecleaners • tape • marker Directions 1. Cut out a variety of bug shapes from cardboard.  2. Cut an equal number of notches down two sides of the bugs.  3. Run string/wool from notch to notch.  4. Tape on some pipecleaner legs to the back of the bugs.  5. Draw on some cute buggy faces and admire your collection!  |
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January Photo Comp Winner
Every month I give away a copy of one of the books from my Amazon favourites list. To be in the running all you have to do is upload a photo to the Kids Craft Weekly group photo pool on Flickr.  The winner for January is Julie with this excellent photo of Zach preparing for Chinese New Year. Congrats Julie! If you're reading this please get in touch. Please note: Funds in the Amazon kitty are running very low at the moment. If you are planning to make a purchase from Amazon please consider clicking through to the Amazon website via Kids Craft Weekly (or here  ). At no cost
to you a
portion of
the money from your purchase will go into the kitty and help to keep
the photo comp running. |
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Featured subscriber blog
Penny Carnival Subscriber blogs are featured on a first-in first-served basis. To have your blog included in this section just send in your web address and I'll add you to the list. But be warned, the waiting list is currently very long. |
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