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| ISSUE
69 • 31 MARCH 2009
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1.
Editorial
2.
Painted foil eggs
3.
Confetti eggs
4. Paper mache eggs / simple egg picture
5. Hard-boiled colourful eggs
6. March photo round-up
7. Featured subscriber blog
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1.
Editorial
Hello and welcome to this 'eggs' issue of Kids Craft Weekly which, in
case you hadn't guessed, is really an Easter issue in disguise. If you
don't celebrate Easter please don't stop reading – there are
still
plenty of great ideas that you can take away and apply to other
occasions.
It's been a busy few weeks at our place – I am disapointed
that we didn't have a chance to try making 'cascarones' which I'd never
heard about until subscriber Abigael wrote to
me last week. In case you've not heard of them either here are her
great instructions:
Image of Cascarones (c) Holly Chase
I saw a
version of this in Guatemala and I thought you might enjoy making
these. On Easter week the ladies have these huge flat baskets
full of bright eggs that have been hollowed out and
filled with glitter and flour. They sell them
for a few cents each and EVERYONE is gleefully armed with
eggs. All are either smashing them on someones head or
covered with glitter and flour! The streets are full of kids
and adults young and old covered in eggshell and bling!
I make
them for my kids to play with in the yard. Here is how.
1. Save
up about a dozen egg shells – the more the better. I do it
this way – break them open as close to the end as possible,
rinse, and store upside down in a crate until dry.
2. Fill
the eggs with glitter (skip the flour!), stickers, little tiny chicks,
confetti,etc
3. Top
with a glued on bit of tissue paper and decorate the outside with
paint, markers, etc.
4. When
they're dry you can smash them on heads on easter morning
– or open them in a more civilized manner to get a gift.
Thanks for writing Abigael and thanks Holly for
letting me use your lovely photo. If you'd like some more visuals you can
see more wonderful pictures of cascarones on Flickr.
I hope you enjoy this
issue of Kids Craft Weekly. If your appetite for Easter crafts still isn't sated you might
also want to check out the ideas in this Easter issue from a few years ago.
Happy
crafting and I'll see
you next time!
Amber Carvan
editor@kidscraftweekly.com
PS. A few weeks ago I removed all the newsletter archives from the website. This created a fair bit
of angst from regular visitors so I've put them back up for now :)
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| 2.
Painted foil eggs |
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These painted foil eggs are great fun for all ages. If you're not into the idea of
making egg
shapes you can cut the cardboard into any shape you dream of. For a
super no-fuss version of this craft just wrap some foil around a paper
plate.
You will need
• card
• aluminium
foil
• scissors
• paint and
brushes
• cotton buds
(q-tips), matchsticks and/or wooden skewers
Directions
1. Cut some egg shapes from card.
2. Wrap cardboard egg shapes in pieces of aluminium foil.
3. Paint over the top using regular acrylic/tempera paint.
4. While the paint is still wet, scratch out some designs into the
paint using a cotton bud or matchstick. If these aren't available
simply turn your paintbrush upside down and use that!
5. Allow to dry.
| 3.
Confetti eggs |
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I find the process of
sitting down to make confetti very therapeutic
– but then again, I also enjoy colouring-in! If you don't
have the patience to make your own you can always buy a fancy
ready-made batch from your local newsagent or craft supply shop.
You will need
• colourful paper and hole
punch
• coloured card
• scissors
• white glue
• paint brush
• glitter
• string
Directions
1. Make confetti by punching holes into colourful paper –
it's time consuming but fun!
2. Cut egg shapes from firm and colourful card, then smother with white
glue.
3. Sprinkle on some confetti...
4. ...and add some glitter for good measure, and more glitter, and more
glitter! My kids *really* like glitter, much more than confetti it
turns out.
5. When one side is dry, confetti/glitter the other and punch a hole in
the top. Then hang from a window (or wrist) or leave one side blank so
that you can use it as an easter gift tag.
| 4. Paper mache eggs / simple egg picture |
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Now here's a
craft that tells a story, the moral of which is 'keep it simple'. The
premise was sound – paper mache over an egg-shaped piece of foil
– but while my six year old enjoyed this craft it was well beyond
the capabilities of her three year old brother and it seriously tested
the patience of her 35 year old mother! In the end though we found a
solution for everyone.
You will need
• aluminium foil
• ribbon
• white glue
• water
• brush
• coloured tissue paper
• tape
• blank paper and marker pen (for the picture)
Directions
1. Take a sheet of kitchen foil and scrunch it up into a ball. Once
it's scrunched - take some time to press it into a smooth egg shape.
Then tie a knot in a length of ribbon and tape it to the top of your
foil egg.
2. Take another piece of foil and scrunch it over the top of your first
egg, taking care to conceal the sticky tape and the end of the ribbon.
Once your foil ball is looking suitably egg-shaped, tear up some pieces
of coloured tissue paper and prepare a glue mix from equal parts white
glue and water.
3. Start to stick the tissue paper over the foil egg – holding
onto the ribbon to keep it from getting stuck down too. Yes, it's quite
tricky and very messy!
4. They take a long time to dry but they look very pretty when they do.
We spinkled glitter over one of our eggs and we're thinking about
painting dots or stripes on the others.
5. When we'd finally finished with the paper mache I presented the
disgruntled three year old with the leftover scraps of tissue paper,
foil and the watered down glue and gave him a piece of paper with an
egg shape drawn on to decorate.
Now *that* was a good idea!
| 5. Dyed
hard-boiled eggs |
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These colourful eggs are great fun and it's a perfect activity for preschoolers. Make a
basket of
different coloured eggs to put on the lunch table this Easter.
You will need
• hard boiled eggs
• crayons or oil pastels
• food colouring
• white vinegar
• hot water
• plastic container
• tongs or spoon
Directions
1. Draw patterns or faces on hard boiled eggs using crayons or oil
pastels.
2. Create dye from adding two teaspoons of white vinegar and
approximately half a teaspoon of food colouring to one cup of very hot
water. Place egg in dye until it's the colour you want it to be. The
longer you leave the egg, the stronger the colour will be.
3. Remove egg from dye and allow to dry. Admire it, then peel off the
colourful shell and eat it for lunch!
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6.
March photo round-up
Here are some of my favourite pictures that were submitted to the Kids
Craft Weekly Flickr pool in March. You can check them out by clicking
on the links below. FYI, there were other pictures that I wanted to include but the photo permissions didn't allow it.
1. dscn4636, 2. 100_1090, 3. Foil Crown and Wand, 4. Rubber glove finger puppet, 5. HPIM2387[1], 6. Miquel, 7. DSC01518, 8. By Adishlomy, 9. DSC01521
Remember to add your photos to the pool for
the chance to win a copy of the book of your choice from my Amazon
favourites list. I give away a
book every month – the March winner will be announced next
issue.
I've noticed that people have really cut back on their Amazon
spending at the moment – no doubt due to global economic forces.
As a result the kitty for the book competition is still running very
low. If you do shop at Amazon at any time please take the time to click through from Kids Craft Weekly. Every purchase, no matter how small, helps to fund the monthly book giveaway for this crafty community.
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7.
Featured subscriber blog
The Baby Signing Blog
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.
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