Expert: Laura - 4/30/2008

Question
hey i need usual things around the hose craft ideas i need at least 3 ideas for me and my sisters thx


               miley   14

Answer
Hi Miley

Thanks for the question.

Using house hold items for arts and crafts can be lots of fun and are a great way to recycle. You didn’t say if your sisters were younger or older so I am going to assume that they are younger, therefore the crafts will be targeted at children under the age of 14.

Here are a couple of my favourite craft ideas for various websites.
A tuna can is the perfect size to make a pin cushion with. Paint the tuna can and decorate it with stickers if you want. Cut out a round piece of fabric and wrap it around some cotton batting. With a glue gun glue the inside of the can so that the fabric wrapped cotton will stick into it
Make a bird feeder out of an old milk jug or bleach bottle. Just cut a circle into the side, decorate as desired, add bird seed and hang. An old plastic fruit basket like the ones used for strawberries or blueberries can be used to put suet in to feed birds also
A funky kids craft is fish made out of old CD’s. Start with gluing two CD’s together. Then insert some colorful craft foam or cardboard through the holes for fins. Glue on some googley eyes if you like and glue a fin onto the top in between the two CD’s and another at the back for a tail. A small heart like shape will do for lips with the rounded ends sticking out
Instead of throwing out your stained white or light colored t-shirts, try tie dying them. Get some elastic bands and twist some of the shirt up securing with the bands before dying. If you want to go all natural you can even make homemade dyes. Beets make wonderful red and pink hues and mustard or turmeric makes yellow. Grape Juice or red wine is good for purple, especially if you’re trying to cover up a similar stain

Dryer sheet butterflies Take one used dryer sheet and scrunch it up the long way in the middle, then clip it in the middle with the clothespin. Do the same with the other dryer sheet. Now you can stop here and just paint the clothes pin and add a magnet on the back of the clothespin or you can copy the butterfly in our picture.
If you want a butterfly like the one shown, here's what you do:
Take a brown pipe cleaner and wrap it around a pencil so it will be in a coil.
Next, take a black pipe cleaner and fold it in half. Now slip one half of the black pipe cleaner through the brown coiled pipe cleaner and slip the other half around the middle of the dryer sheets.
At the top of the brown pipe cleaner, twist the two black antennas together.
Now take a pencil and wrap the two tops of the black pipe cleaner antennas just a little.
Here comes the fun part! Take your water color paints and brush the butterfly wings with all different colors. Let dry and spray a little bit of perfume on if you want the butterfly to smell nice.
Glue the back of the butterfly to the clothespin and when dry, glue on a magnet. Now you have a beautiful butterfly note holder for the fridge.


Hope this all helps. Please feel free to ask any other questions you have !

Have fun making crafts.

-Laura