Mother's Day Crafts Kids Can Make with Clay

My children get so excited about Mother’s Day. They are at the wonderful age of 6 and 8 yrs old and are enthusiast about everything; especially, about showing their mom some "crafty clay love" for Mother’s Day.

Here are some of things they have been working on using clay:

After my review of Crayola Model Magic they are just in love with creating with it. Here is the article on how to make this Clay Necklace that my son designed.

My daughter had a lot of fun with the Pluffy Clay that I did a review on. Especially because it came with Princess Molds! Here are some fun little magnets she made me using the Pluffy Clay.  I attached an adhesive magnet strip to the back of each of them.  The bunny is an extra that I helped her with.  We turned it into a pencil topper.

Disclosure

Mother's Day Card with Mother's Day Pin Accent

Read my review of the 100% Cool Badge Maker by Creative Toys and then follow the instructions below to make a fun Mother’s Day Pin perfect as an embellishment on a Mother’s Day Card.

To make the Mother’s Day Pin:
Materials Needed:
Badge Maker
Letter Punches
Tacky Glue
Small Paper Accents

1. Begin by purchasing the 100% Cool Badge Maker.

2. Cut letters for your pin using letter punches. Lay them out onto one of the paper circles.

3. Using tacky glue, glue your pattern onto the center of one the circles provided in the kit. Use their plastic template to place your design correctly in the center.


 

4. Place the thin plastic (provided) and then your pattern face down in the Badge Maker. Attach the front piece of the badge to the arm at the top and press down.





 

5. Press the lever on the side of the Badge Maker, insert the center piece of the button onto the arm and press down again.

6. Release the lever on the side, slowly lift the arm up and twist the badge to lock it in place.

7. Take the badge off of the arm and attach the back piece to the badge.

8. Your badge is done. The badge or pin (as I refer to it often in this post) is very small. However, its smallness is what makes it unique and perfect for scrapbooking.

9. Add the badge to a Mother’s Day Card. Attach ribbon around the center of the card and then pin the badge to the ribbon. For all your scrapbooking supplies visit AllCraftSupplies.com



FTC Disclosure


For more of my Mother's Day Craft Tutorials click here.

A big thank you for Craft Critique for featuring my card in their Mother's Day Carnival.  For more great Mother's Day Crafts visit them here.

Mother's Day Gifts

I had a moment of panic today; when is Mother’s Day 2010? Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 9th 2010. This means there still is plenty of time to make some homemade Mother’s Day gifts.

Crafters 4 Kids has some wonderful Mother’s Day gift tutorials. And, yes, yours truly designed several of them.

What could be simpler than a fun beaded necklace for mom? Or a lollipop bouquet, decorated cinnamon stick for the kitchen, a fun grapevine wreath, an awesomely fun floral pen vase, Popsicle stick picture frames, or homemade basil infused vinegar.

Children enjoy making gifts for their mom for Mother’s Day. I hope the projects at Crafters 4 Kids help to inspire both you and your children.

Happy Mother’s Day from Sewing and Crafting with Sarah

How to Make a Microwave Heating Pad

With Mother’s Day fast approaching I have been thinking of easy gifts to make for Mom.

This craft tutorial is inspired by an incredibly stressful morning I had. When I am stressed I immediately feel my lower back muscles start to tense up and my back just starts ache. The best stress reliever for me is this microwaveable heating pad that I designed; I sit down on the couch and place it against the small of my back. The chamomile tea fragrance is just an added soothing bonus.

In this ever stressful world the best gifts are the homemade stress releasers!

Materials:
Approximately 2.5 lbs of rice (do not use instant rice)
10-15 Tea Bags or 10-15 tsp of loose tea
26in. X 7in. Heavy White Cotton or linen fabric
1 package of Blanket Binding (can be found where fabric is sold)
Funnel (top cut off a soda bottle)
Velcro with a sticky back

Instructions:
1. Mix rice and tea in a bowl blend well (cut open tea bags and place loose tea in bowl).
2. Cut white fabric 26in x 7in
3. Fold in half sew bottom, side, and leave the top open for filling
4. Turn right side out so you don't see your stitching and fill with rice 2/3 of the way full.
5. After filling, tuck top in 1/2in and sew top.
6. Unfold Blanket Binding, cut at a length 54in., and iron out crease.
7. Fold and half front to front and sew each side leave top open.
8. Fold hem in 1/2in and attach Velcro (with sticky back) two per side.
9. Turn right side out and slide the rice filled white fabric into the cover and Velcro closed.
10. Microwave for 90 seconds and place around neck, small of back, or across lap for menstrual cramps.
11. Remember nothing metal can go in the microwave so do not replace the Velcro with snaps it will spark.
12. I used opened Chamomile Tea Bags for fragrance but I intend to experiment with all types of tea. I like using the tea because it comes in a variety of soothing smells and is readily available.
13. I tried to make this craft as simple as possible with as little sewing as possible. You can add your own variation to this craft but I wanted to make it as easy to make as I could.
14. Cover can be taken off and washed on gentle cycle but the white cotton fabric with filling cannot be washed.

The Microwaveable Heating Pad makes a wonderful gift. Attach a note to present on how to use and launder.

Tropicana Decorative Planter

Check out the cool “Juicy Rewards Badge” on the right sidebar. That neat little badge means that Sewing and Crafting with Sarah was chosen to be a Juicy Rewards Insider Ambassador for Tropicana. Currently, Tropicana is offering codes on their juice cartons that then can be transferred into rewards and savings on, “Everything from golf and workout gear to waterpark and zoo admissions”. When visiting their rewards site there is a tag line that reads, “20,000 things to do with an empty juice carton”, the tag line is in reference to all there great savings programs (and they are great!).

However, I have decided to take the campaign a step further and create things with the empty cartons. For Easter I designed a fun woven ribbon Easter Basket from the Tropicana Carton. For Earth Day, I decided to create a small decorated planter using a recycled Tropicana Carton.

Materials:
• Empty, cleaned Tropicana Carton
• Saran Wrap
• Packing Tape
• DCWV The Glitter Mat Stack (Item# 318834 at AllCraftSupplies.com)
• Yellow Tape (Electrical Tape)
• Glue Dots

Instructions:

Begin by cutting the Tropicana Carton 4” high.

Line the inside of the container with Saran Wrap and along the edges. Hold the Saran Wrap in place by taping it against the outside of the carton with packing tape.

Cut rectangular shapes of DCWV Glitter Scrapbooking Paper and using glue dots hold them in place along the sides of the carton.

Finish the all the edges of the container by attaching electrical tape along the edges (decorative tape or clear tape will work, as well).

Place rocks in the bottom of the pot for proper water drainage. Then insert plant and potting soil inside the decorative planter.

Planter makes a great home décor item and using the glitter scrapbooking paper adds an extra sparkle to a room!

If you also have a love for recycling and reusing; you can use a portion or all of your points towards “Rescue the Rainforest with Tropicana Rewards”. For every 3 points you donate 100 sq ft of the rainforest will be rescued. Click here to donate and see the great impact you, I, and many others have had on the preservation of the rainforest.

Reuse and Recycle,
Sarah Forhan

"I wrote this review while participating in the Tropicana Juicy Insiders Ambassador program by Mom Central on behalf of Tropicana. I received 12 free Juicy Rewards points and a $50 Visa gift card to use in redemption of the points and to facilitate my review."