6/22/2008

Tightwad Tuesday Summer Crafts


http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Canadagirl/


Keeping the Summer Duldroms at Bay while keeping the Budget


This year I got together with the girls early in the spring to decide what we might want to  do over the summer.  We are on a fixed income and needed to be creative. We brainstormed and began to collect stuff for our summer of gardening, crafts and cooking.


Here is what we loosely came up with: sewing, gardening, lots of crafts,learning to cook new things, and girl movie/pamper nights.


For sewing I was blessed with fabric from a friend. We gathered seeds for the garden at 10 packs for a dollar. We made a list of craft ideas and found we had most all we needed for a summer of fun. We are still working on what to cook!  And we have plenty of resources for movies. Our favorite is free movies at Regal.


Our adventures in the garden have been such a blessing! My gals actually get up very early to take pictures of the tiny birds that eat grass seeds and bugs in the wildflower garden. They have journaled the growth of the plants and the critters that come to our garden.  Our cost? About $5.00.


I will need to buy thread for sewing but have all the other needs ready to go. My 11yo wants winter pjs and some skirts. So the cost is doable.


Crafts are a favorite in our house! It seems my gals can make something out of anything. I do my best to keep stuff on hand to help with their creative endevors. Glues of all kinds, adhesives, cardboard, buttons, beads, lace, fabric, dryer lint, plastic, and more. Here are some of the crafts we have done: http://morningstargreentime.blogspot.com/ and some of the science they are working on  http://sierradreamersci.blogspot.com/  The summer science is just for fun. They are observing and taking notes and photos. Notice there are even some crafts involved.


Here are some crafts we plan to do: cost zero! We have all the needed materials.


Blue Jean Book Covers


http://www.makingfriends.com/jeans_bookcover.htm


Dry Lint Dough, Rock Candy, Jewelry Dough, Eggshell Chalk,


http://www.pudgybunny.com/crafts.html


Paper, notecards with seeds, blue jean paper, paper beads


http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Make-Paper---An-Illustrated-Step-by-Step-Guide


http://erc.openschool.bc.ca/ERC/features/paper_making.pdf


http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf71713276.tip.html


http://www.astorybooklife.com/how-to/paper-beads/


http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Paper-Beads


http://www.helium.com/items/392334-how-to-make-gift-paper-out-of-old-denim-jeans


 Denim Place Mats


We will post a photo of them when we finish. Can't find a site that shows the easy way we do it.


 


At the end of each summer I begin to collect more materials to have on hand. Here are a few ideas.


Walmart Back to School Sale: Glue is 20 cents a bottle. Paper is even cheaper.


Dollar Tree Tissue Paper Packs: Each season they have something different. They also have fun foam sheets, and other craft items worth looking for.


Yard Sale Finds: Buttons, lace, fabric, old nic nacs, books with photo plates in them, wood things to decorate, old mirrors, frames, jeans,  clothes pins,ect.


It helps to have an idea of what you might want to teach or create with your kids. Kids creations make great gifts!

5 comments:

  1. Sounds like you have a busy summer planned out. It is such a blessing to have older children. My kids our still little so....thanks to having an extra set of helping (some kids in our church group) I am able to get a bunch more done than if it was strictly up to me. Yeah!!

    Take care and good luck with all your projects.

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  2. Wow~ You have so much information in here that I will have to come back and visit you again!


    Thanks for sharing your tips - they are challenging me to be more dedicated in staying on budget. I was doing very well, but then slipped off and got lazy. Thanks for the check!


    Have a lovely week, and summer!

    ~Shani

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  3. I REALLY hope you Show and Tell ALL your creations ! I want so bad to see. [0=



    PS: I gave a link to the LO$T videos. Andy Stanley is his name.


    Blessings and ((hugs)) my SSiC

    In Him<><

    -Mary

    ReplyDelete
  4. THese are great~ You should consider listing it tomorrow on Weblink Wednesday hosted on my blog! Great craft ideas!!!


    Valerie

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  5. Thanks for sharing your great ideas. I will come back looking for pictures of some of the denim craft projects and other craft projects.


    thanks,


    Amy B

    ReplyDelete


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