The Crafty Crow: 12+ years old

Crafty Crow's Favorite Arts & Crafts Books

Crafty Fiction We're Crowing About

Clyde Robert Bulla: Chalk Box Kid
::drawing & inspiration
Tracy L. Kane: Fairy Houses
::nature and building
Pat Lowery Collins: I Am An Artist
::art inspiration
Julie Jersild Roth: Knitting Nell
::knitting
Leo Lionni: Little Blue and Little Yellow
::color mixing
Elsa Maartman Beskow: Pelle's New Suit
::processing wool for clothing
Charles L. Blood: The Goat in the Rug
::weaving
Molly Bang: The Paper Crane
::origami
Jeff Brumbeau: The Quiltmaker's Gift
::quilting
Scott Russell Sanders: Warm As Wool
::clothing from wool
Rosemary Wells: Yoko's Paper Cranes
::origami

12+ years old

Dried Apple Slices

As things are warming up here (I'm in Idaho), we are starting to plan our river outings and easy picnic food to take with us. I think Salt and Chocolate's dried apple slices sound perfect so we'll be giving them a try soon!

05/16/2008 at 12:45 AM in 12+ years old, 18 mos to 2 years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, Activities, All Ages, Edibles, Family, Fourth of July, Gifts, Inside | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Soft Patchwork Balls

Tiny Happy has a great tutorial and free pattern to make these sweet soft patchwork balls that are perfect for the youngest babes but also a fun inside ball for the older kids.

05/16/2008 at 12:08 AM in 12+ years old, 18 mos to 2 years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, Activities, All Ages, Crafts, Family, Games, Gifts, Inside, Needlework, Parent Made, Textiles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Geodesic Newspaper Hut

The kids and I are really excited to give this geodesic newspaper hut a try. It's a brilliant idea from Pepper Paints and once we master this we might just see what else we can build :)

05/15/2008 at 12:08 AM in 12+ years old, 18 mos to 2 years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, All Ages, Crafts, Family, Group, Inside, Paper, Recycled | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Scrap Paper Flowers

A very nice tutorial to make flowers from paper scraps by Gabriela Delworth. Great idea for preteens and teens to use to decorate gifts, scrapbook pages, bulletin boards or just about anything else for that matter!

05/15/2008 at 12:03 AM in 12+ years old, Crafts, Group, Inside, Paper, Party Ideas, Recycled | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

String Eggs

Very cool string eggs made by As We Walk - we tried this awhile ago and it didn't come out nearly as successful as these so check out how they did it and give them a try!

05/15/2008 at 12:01 AM in 12+ years old, 6 - 12 years old, Crafts, Family, Inside, Mobiles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Sink or Float Experiments

The whole family can get in on this activity - go to Let's Explore to see how they did it :)

05/14/2008 at 12:05 AM in 12+ years old, 18 mos to 2 years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, Activities, All Ages, Family, Group, Inside, Last Minute, Outside, Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Rainbow Cookies

Rainbow cookies! How fun! Details at Plum Pudding. I wonder if you could do the colors in red, white and blue for the 4th of July? They'd look like pinwheels :)

05/13/2008 at 12:01 AM in 12+ years old, 18 mos to 2 years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, Activities, All Ages, Edibles, Family, Fourth of July, Inside, Party Ideas | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Pressed Flower Cards

These beautiful pressed flower cards were made by Mom In Madison!

05/13/2008 at 12:01 AM in 12+ years old, 6 - 12 years old, Crafts, Garden, Gifts, Inside, Mother's Day, Nature, Paper, Spring, Summer | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Flower Fabric

Spring Thinking shows you how to have fun printing this fabric with flowers from your garden :)

05/12/2008 at 12:03 AM in 12+ years old, 18 mos to 2 years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, All Ages, Crafts, Family, Garden, Gifts, Group, Mother's Day, Nature, Outside, Printmaking, Spring, Summer, Textiles | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Make a Field Bag from Old Pants or Shorts

Camp Creek Press shows you how to make a great field bag from an old pair of pants or shorts. I can't wait to make ours!

05/12/2008 at 12:02 AM in 12+ years old, 6 - 12 years old, Crafts, Inside, Recycled, Textiles, Wearables | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Isn't it nice when a cooking activity can be described as quick, simple, and delicious? That's exactly how I'd describe these white chocolate-dipped strawberries! Go to Full Circle for details.

05/09/2008 at 12:08 AM in 12+ years old, 18 mos to 2 years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, All Ages, Edibles, Family, Inside, Valentine's Day | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Personalized Wood Doll Family

I'm in love with peg dolls and the idea of doing a set of your family is crazy fun! See more from Colorfool and her idea of doing different backgrounds - brilliant!

05/09/2008 at 12:07 AM in 12+ years old, 18 mos to 2 years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, All Ages, Animals, Crafts, Family, Gifts, Inside, Mother's Day, Paint, Puppets, Theater, Travel Activities | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Bookmarks

Two great bookmarks to make! This first one is made with watercolors and you can get the details at Let's Explore. So pretty!

This photo strip bookmark is adorable! See how to do it at Make And Takes.

05/09/2008 at 12:05 AM in 12+ years old, 18 mos to 2 years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, All Ages, Art, Crafts, Family, Father's Day, Gifts, Inside, Mother's Day, Paint | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Felted Turtle

Yours 'til Niagara Falls has come up with the cutest little felted turtle. She has a great tutorial with lots of pictures so check it out!

05/08/2008 at 12:05 AM in 12+ years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, Animals, Crafts, Gifts, Inside, Textiles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Child-Drawn Pot Holder

What a great gift idea! Sycamore Stirrings has a wonderful tutorial to make this potholder using your child's drawings.

05/07/2008 at 12:09 AM in 12+ years old, 18 mos to 2 years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, All Ages, Art, Crafts, Drawing & Illustration, Family, Gifts, Inside, Mother's Day, Needlework, Parent Made, Textiles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Word Play

This is such a fun way to encourage word play with your kids - and fun to make too! A Foothill Home Companion tells how she did it. Make a set for car trips with magnets on the back :)

05/07/2008 at 12:06 AM in 12+ years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, Activities, Family, Games, Inside, Literature Based, Travel Activities | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Felted Treasure Box

This felted treasure box is so amazingly simple you won't believe it! Check out HomeWork and give it a try :)

05/07/2008 at 12:02 AM in 12+ years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, Crafts, Family, Father's Day, Gifts, Inside, Mother's Day, Textiles, Valentine's Day | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Cake In A Jar

Simply Stork shows you how to do this wonderfully simple and fun idea - Cake In A Jar!

05/02/2008 at 12:06 PM in 12+ years old, 18 mos to 2 years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, All Ages, Edibles, Family, Gifts, Inside, Valentine's Day | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Button Flowers

One More Moore has a nice tutorial on how to make these sweet button flowers. I'm thinking Mother's Day here!

05/01/2008 at 12:04 AM in 12+ years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, Crafts, Family, Gifts, Inside, Mother's Day, Party Ideas, Spring, Summer | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Exercise Game

I think this is a great idea from Make and Takes - an exercise game! I'm planning on customizing it for my kids karate camp this summer and using different karate moves.

04/30/2008 at 12:03 AM in 12+ years old, 18 mos to 2 years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, Activities, All Ages, Family, Games, Group, Inside, Outside | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Weaving

Full Circle has a simple weaving project in a nice photo tutorial! Adjust the width of the warp and thickness of yarn to accommodate different ages and give it a go :)

04/30/2008 at 12:01 AM in 12+ years old, 6 - 12 years old, Crafts, Family, Group, Inside, Textiles | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May Day Baskets

Skip To My Lou has several wonderful ways to celebrate May Day! Try these decorated drink holder baskets from last year or print out a free cone template and tag for this year. Great job Cindy!

04/29/2008 at 12:06 AM in 12+ years old, 18 mos to 2 years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, Activities, All Ages, Crafts, Family, Gifts, Inside, Paint, Party Ideas, Spring | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Contour Drawing Lesson

The third drawing lesson in the series at Camp Creek Press: Contour Drawing. I'm loving these!

04/29/2008 at 12:03 AM in 12+ years old, 3 - 5 years old, 6 - 12 years old, Activities, Drawing & Illustration, Group, Inside, Last Minute | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Fresco Paintings

Oooh, I love these fresco paintings from All Dressed In Blue! Find the info here and here.

04/28/2008 at 01:05 AM in 12+ years old, 6 - 12 years old, Art, Art History, Crayons & Pastels, Group, Inside, Outside | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Alphabet Soaps

House On Hill Road has made soap making so easy you can do it with a preschooler! These cute alphabet soaps were made for party favors but they would make great Mother's Day and grandmother gifts too! All the details are here.