| ISSUE 65 • 3 FEBRUARY 2009 | |
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Editorial Thank you for the great response to the last issue and for your tremendous work in spreading the word about Kids Craft Weekly! I'd like to welcome all those who are receiving Kids Craft Weekly for the first time today and to say a special hello to our new subscribers from Canada! Did Kids Craft Weekly got some serious publicity in Canada over the past week? I've never had so many Canadian visitors/subscribers over such a short period of time. If you know anything about this I'd love it if you could send me an email and let me know. So the quest to spread the word is clearly working. Thanks are due to Chrystal, Jane and Rebecca who all suggested setting up a Facebook page for Kids Craft Weekly. This was a great idea! I'm pleased to announce that if you have a Facebook account you can now become a fan of Kids Craft Weekly and promote it to your Facebook friends. I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that you that if you shop at Amazon  you can
support Kids Craft Weekly without spending any
additional money.Here's how it works. If you want to buy something from Amazon, simply click through to the Amazon website via
one of the banners on the front page of the Kids Craft Weekly website
(or one of the text links in this editorial).
When you do this a small percentage of your purchase will
end up in the Kids Craft Weekly kitty without costing you anything
extra. This money is then used
to purchase prizes for the winners of the monthly photo
competition. If you don't shop at Amazon that's fine. But if you do, taking the time to click through from Kids Craft Weekly will make a difference. Thanks so much for those who already do this – it's much appreciated. Sorry for this very wordy editorial. Just one more thing to mention before I let you get on with the job of exploring this issue's fun heart crafts. I've been hard at work putting together a new Kids Craft Weekly printable mini-book and I'd love your involvement. If you have the time perhaps you could ask your children if they would draw me a 'happy' face? Also it would be wonderful if you could also ask them the question 'What makes you happy?' and type/write out their response word for word. Please email me your happy faces and happy words (along with your child's name and age) and if their work is included I'll make sure that you get a free copy of the finished publication! That's all for now. Happy crafting and I'll see you next time!  Amber Carvan editor@kidscraftweekly.com PS. Just read about Wise Craft's Kids Artist Trading Card Swap! Woot! |
I know that some of you are freezing cold but these icy cold heart pops have been going down a treat in the extreme heat that we've been experiencing lately! We have only tried with watermelon but I reckon you could also experiment with rockmelon and pineapple and other fruits that can be easily cut and frozen. You will need • watermelon • heart-shaped cookie cutter • pop sticks Directions 1. Cut slices of watermelon about 10 – 15 mm thick and use the cookie cutter to make watermelon shaped hearts.  2. Carefully stick in the pop sticks at the bottom of the heart then pop into the freezer.  3. They look even prettier when they're frozen!  And they taste delicious – even to a boy who claims not to like fruit! 
This very simple idea can be used in heaps of different ways to make pretty cards, tags, giftwrap and other embellishments for valentine's day. When you're finished you can wash your sponge stamp out with water and keep hold of it for next year! You will need • dish sponge • marker • scissors • white acrylic paint • card or paper Directions 1. Cut a heart shape from a dish sponge. We traced around our heart-shaped cookie cutter but you could also just draw a heart and cut it out.  2. Stamp onto red or pink card using white paint.  3. Trim around the edges and there you have a very sweet and simple valentine.  4. We used the same method to print hearts on brown paper – great valentine's day gift wrap! 
The kids really enjoyed making these colourful hearts – it's such a fun project, even for little ones. If you don't want to make the bough you could use the hearts on cards, as gift tags or even on a mobile. You will need • different colours of paper • white glue and brush • sequins or glitter • scissors • tape • twig Directions 1. Tear up pieces of colourful paper and glue them onto some thin card using watered down white glue.  2. Add some bling for good measure and wait for the paper to dry.  3. Cut out heart shapes from the colourful paper – we traced around a heart-shaped cookie cutter to get the hearts all the same size.  4. Tape the hearts to the ends of a twig.  5. And there you have a beautiful valentine's day bough to decorate your home or to give to a special someone. 
The transparent plastic sheets used for this craft have a fabulous weight to them – the kids love the feeling of painting on them and when they're dry they hang beautifully. You will need • transparent plastic sheets • acrylic paint • brushes • heart-shaped cookie cutter • marker • scissors • needle and cotton Directions 1. Paint with red and white paint onto transparent plastic sheets. You can experiment with different textures using various brushes and sponges. When they dry they look great and have a textured side and a smooth side.   2. Make lots of heart shapes by tracing around a heart-shaped cookie cutter.  3. Cut them out and use a needle and cotton to sew them into a pretty garland.  4. Make it as long as you want and then hang it from a doorway or window and watch it blow in the breeze.  My photos don't do this justice! It's really such a pretty object. If you make your own please send in your own photos. |
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6.
December 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 December (yes, I'm running a little behind!) is Caitlin with this excellent photo of bowls made using my easy paper mache technique. She will receive the book of her choice from my list of Amazon favourites. If you're reading this Caitlin, 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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7.
Featured subscriber blog
Going Crunchy – Live well, laugh often, go greener... despite the suburbs 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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