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Craft Ideas - A to Z
Page 2
Electric Cord Holder
From: Bonnie Sedore
Ages: Daisy up
Supplies:
- Toilet tissue roll
- colorful paper (wallpaper, gift wrap)
- glue
Directions:
Cover roll with paper, glue ends down & about 2ins. in the tube. Decorate with ribbon, etc. to your liking. Fold cord in fourths or more. Cord fits into roll keeps them neat, & out of the way.
Fall Hats Door Hangers
From: Celia Modell
Ages: Brownies through Junior
Supplies:
- Straw hat
- Straw
- Plastic fall flowers, leaves, etc
- Candy Corn
- Pine cones (small)
- Plastic Eyes
- Glue Sticks (we used cool temp glue guns)
Directions:
Take a handfull of straw and put over the top of the wide brimmed hat so that it drapes down both sides of the hat (this forms the hair). Fold the brim down over the straw and glue it to the top of the hat.
Tie a bow of straw and stick it to the top of the hat (the part you just folded down), they can put a flower on top of this. Use leaves, flowers, etc to make a face on the hat. We did pine cones for the noses, 1 inch plastic eyes (the kind with the mobile black disc on a white background - I'm not sure what they are formally called), 5-6 pieces of candy corn for the mouths, plastic corn cobs (these came on the fall flowers) for the ears. Then the girls used the leaves, flowers, etc to decorate the bottom of the brim. They designed the faces so there were variations so what I'm quoting is from my daughters hat. We provided the materials and let them do the design.
Comments:
We did this at a Dad's night and let the Dad's use the glue guns.
Fishing Swivel Braclet
From: Katrina Jameson
Ages: Juniors and Cadettes. Brownies and daisies should be able to make braceletts and necklaces using larger swivels and larger beads. Girls may need help opening and closing swivels.
Directions:
One of our favorite crafts has been to make a bracelet out of fishing swivels. We used a size 14 swivel. We put seed beeds on each swivel and then hooked them together in a chain. We used 10-14 for each bracelet- depending upon the size of the girls' wrist. Very inexpensive (I think we paid 47cents per girl for the swivels) but, they look like beautiful gold bracelets. Some of the swivels were hard to open so it's nice to have a pair of needle nose pliers on hand.
Flowers in a Basket
From: Juel Fitzgerald
Ages: All ages (best for the younger ages)
Supplies :
- Silk Flowers of various kinds and colors
- Green Floral Foam
- Plastic Baskets or any type container
- Floral Covering (don't remember what it is called looks like dark viney, straw type moss to cover foam)
- Glue
Directions:
Simply put floral foam in the basket or other container. Glue floral covering over top of foam to hide the foam and make piece more realistic. Then stick in the flowers in whatever arrangement the scout wants. It is a quick easy project for Mother's Day, Valentines Day, whatever.
Friendship Braclets
From: JaneAlive
Ages: All
Supplies:
- about 14 inches suede strips per bracelet. Available at Frank's, Michael's Wal Mart, etc. in small packages and in colors. This is about 1/4 to 1/8 inch wide.
- 6 or so plastic pony beads (these are the beads with the large hole) Cost - about $.40 each.
Directions:
Thread about 4 or more pony beads to the middle of the suede strip. Then thread both ends through one bead. This makes the "slide" like on a boy scout's neckerchief. This was the only step they needed help with, it helps if the ends are cut on an angle.
Put one bead on the end of each lace and tie a knot. Put it on your wrist and slide the slide bead to hold it tight. The ends dangle down.
When we did this, I had the girls in small groups of 3 or 4 with a leader and they talked about what it means to be a friend to all girl scouts... as they did it . At the end of the meeting, I had all of the girls trade their bracelets and say something friendly. I had paper and crayons for them to draw a picture of a friend in case they had to wait for the leader to help them a little.
Comments:
This was fun, the girls liked it and they seem to wear the bracelets.
Friendship Knots
From: Beverly Crim & Mona Londraville
Supplies:
- 1/2 wide ribbon
- safety pins
- scissors
Directions:
It helps the first few times to have a "helper" to hold the ribbon flat for you while you fold.....
Lay one piece of ribbon across the other, forming the letter X....
C B
\ /
\ /
\/
/\
/ \
/ \<-this ribbon is on top (important!)
A D
Cross end "A" over toward the right, and "B" over toward the left, keeping the "B" end higher than the "A" end (sort of like the letter Z). Keep the ribbon flat. Don't fold everything close together, keep it nice and open for right now. It will look something like:
\C\
\ \
\ \
____\_\__________
B_______________/
\ \ / /
\ \ / /
\ \/ /
\ \/
/\ \
/ /\ \
/ / \ \
/_/____\_\_________
\_________________A
\ \
\ \
\D\
Take end "C" and bring it down, going OVER the first horizontal ribbon ("B"), and UNDER the second horizontal ribbon ("A"). (Ignore the diagonal section of the ribbon that makes the "Z".)
Bring end "D" up, over the first horizontal ribbon ("A"), and under the next horizontal ("B"), keeping it to the right of C.
Now EASE the knot together. DON'T pull. Gently pull on the ends, keeping the ribbon flat, until you have something that looks sort of like:
| |
| |
_______|_|
_____|_|_|_____
|_|_|_____
| |
| |
| |
"That's it. A friendship knot. GOOD LUCK!
Have patience in making the first one-it could take you up to 1/2 hour to figure out but then they come easy. I just made over 50 for our Penny Carnival Prizes".
Friendship Wreath
From: Jan Schairer/ Tejas Girl Scout Council (North Texas)
Ages: Daisy (w/*), Brownie, Junior
Supplies:
- Colored Construction Paper or Poster Board
- Scissors
- Glue
- Colored Markers
Directions:
Each girl traces around one of her hands on colored paper and cuts it out. The next step can be done one of two ways.
1) Each girl writes on her paper hand on each finger, something about her that makes her a good friend.
Or 2) All of the names of the girls are written on slips of paper and each girl draws the name of another girl and writes down qualities of that person that makes them a good friend.
After all of the hands are finished, tape or glue them together in a circle - walah...Friendship Wreath.
I affixed ours to a large poster board and covered with clear contact paper. This is a good icebreaker, or warmer-upper after the summer months and allows the girls a chance to know a little something about the others.
Giant Pot-Holder (or sit-upon)
From: Nancy Rimassa - Sooner Girl Scout Council
Ages: Brownies if materials are prepared beforehand Juniors if time allows and plenty of supervision is available. Older girls if they are interested
Supplies:
- 10) T-shirts that are no longer wearable, Adult Mediums work best
- 4) 1 x 2 pine lumber cut in 2 foot lengths
- Yellow wood glue
- Finishing nails 2 1/2 inches long
Directions:
To make the loom. Using the yellow glue and a couple of nails at each corner, assemble an open square from the 4 strips of lumber. Use a carpenter's square to make sure that your assemblage is "true." Let it dry for 24 hours. (Older girls can do this at one meeting and finish at the next.)Choose one side of the square to be the "top"Mark intervals of 3/4 of an inch along all four sides of the square. Hammer a nail into the top at each mark. Voila! A handmade "looper" loom.
To weave the giant potholder:
Cutting from side to side of the T-shirt, make giant loops that are about an inch wide. If they are stretched lightly, they will curl inwards to make a familiar material. Stretch them across the loom from North to South. With the remaining loops weave under and over from East to West
To finish:
Starting at a corner, lift the first loop off the nail. Lift the second loop off and insert it thru the first loop. Lift the third loop off and insert it thru the second. Continue in this manner until you are back where you started. What is it? A giant pot holder perfect for sitting upon.
Gift Coupons
From: D.L.>
Ages: Any
Supplies:
- paper and writing utensils or desktop publishing software
Directions:
The idea here is for the girls to produce coupons that their family and friends can redeem from them. For instance, "This coupon entitles the bearer to ten bear hugs," or "This coupon entitles the bearer to breakfast in bed," or "This coupon entitles the bearer to a promise that I will clean my room today." After producing the coupons, have the girls sign them, create a front and back cover, paper punch a hole at the top left, and tie all the coupons and two covers together with colorful ribbons. I made it easy for the girls by desktop publishing the coupons ahead of time, so that all they had to do was sign the coupons, punch the holes and tie with a ribbon (saves time too).
Comments :
You can get pretty fancy with these coupons if you use rubber stamps, colored pencils, stickers, embossing tools, etc.
Girl Scout Cocoa Gift
From: Anne Flaggs/Renee Mullen
Ages: All
Supplies:
- clean Baby Juice Jars
- 1 cup Cocoa
- 5 to 6 cups Dry Milk
- 1 cup Sugar
- Fabric
- Ribbon
Directions:
In a large bowl or ziplock bag mix up the cocoa, sugar and dry milk. Fill the baby food (other jars could be used) with the cocoa mix Decorate the top of the jar with a fabric square, add a ribbon and the following instructions:
"Put 4 tablespoons of cocoa mix into an 8oz cup add hot water, stir and enjoy"
Give to a friend or mother as a gift
Comments:
We did this with our Brownie troop last year and they enjoyed making the gifts and drinking the hot chocolate.
Girl Scout Face
From: Ggirlscout
Ages: Juniors and up
Supplies:
- Wood Hearts
- Wood knobs (I don't know how to describe them exactly their about 3/4" dia and are used by woodworkers to plug holes)
- Felt
- Hair material (yarn, etc)
- Pins
- Paint
Directions:
This is a cute pin that is relatively simple to make. Because of the painting, I don't recommend it for Daisys, Brownies and maybe younger Juniors. I swapped this with someone from the State of Washington.
The face is made on the knob. You can paint them brown, beige, tan, etc first to have diversity!
The shoulders are made on the heart upside down. Mine is a Junior scout:
The heart was painted white, then 2 green stripes with colored dots to represent badges, troop numbers, etc.
The "head" is glued on the point of the heart. The hair and a green "beanie" are glued on top. Then a pin is glued to the back.
I hope you get the Idea from these directions. It looks so simple until you try to describe how they look and were done.
GOOD LUCK!!! I'd like to know if anyone makes these and has suggestions on how to make the directions better.
Girl Scout Law Hangar
From: Lori Woodfield
Ages: Juniors
Supplies:
- 8 popcicle sticks
- alphabet macaroni
- glue
- green ribbon
- wood stain
Directions:
Stain all popcicle sticks. let dry. Give girls a paper plate with about a 1/2 c. of the alphabet macaroni letters and have them look for each letter of each word in the G.S. law. (This can take awhile, depending on the age of the girl). Once you have all the letters to each word, glue them on to six of the popcicle sticks. The following word placement worked good with the ones we made:
ON MY HONOR I WILL TRY
TO SERVE GOD AND
MY COUNTRY TO HELP
PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES
AND TO LIVE BY THE
GIRL SCOUT LAW
Some girls may need a bit of guidence to make sure the words are spaced properly. When the letters are dry, use the remaining 2 sticks to put the other 5 together. Space the 5 sticks with words on top of the "support" sticks (they will be spaced out about 1/4 of an inch apart) and glue in place. Glue the green ribbon on as a hanger.
This is a great way to get the girls familiar with the G.S. Law, they end up repeating it over and over.
Girl Scout Necklace
From: Kathy Franda (updated for today's girls by A M Robert-Curry)
Ages: Daisy(with help), Brownie, Junior
Supplies:
- green, yellow, blue, purple, orange yarn
- 3 white or natural wooden beads for each necklace
Directions:
Cut the yarn in 36" lengths (Make one ahead of time and adjust the length of yarn for your girls head size - remember that the knots will shorten the final length). Pass the yarn out to the girls one color at a time and explain that the yellow is for Developing Potential, the orange is for Relating to Others, the purple is for Developing Values, the blue is for Improving Society, and green is for the Common Tread that binds all Scouts and Guides.
Tape the ends of the yarn with scotch tape to simplify threading the beads. The beads are threaded on the yarn standing for the three parts of the promise. Five overhand knots are then tied on either side of the beads for a total of ten knots standing for the 10 laws. I say each law out loud as we tie each knot.
Comments:
" I do this at my first meeting as a refresher for the "old" girls and a introduction for the "new" girls. Even though these necklaces aren't the height of sophistication I was pleasantly surprised by how much the girls liked these and even now a month after the girls made them I am still seeing at least one worn to school by some girl on a daily basis." -Kathy
" Changes to the program in 2000 resulted in a renewed emphasis on the 4 Program Goals. Unlike badges/activities from just a few years ago, there isn't a color code to go with them (sorry). In making this necklace, I simply assigned a color to each goal and changed one of the original colors to green. I've seen several color variations, so feel free to substitute as needed!" -AMRC
Hair Scrunchies
From: Shari Teresi
Ages: All
Supplies:
- "loopers" - those stretchy loops used for weaving potholders
Directions:
Choose 8-10 each of two different colors of loopers. For explanation purposes here, we'll call them dark and light. You will weave on your left hand with your palm facing you, using your four fingers - index, middle, ring, and pinkie.
Place a dark looper around your four fingers, with a half-twist between each finger. Place a light looper around your four fingers, with a half-twist between each finger.
Remembering to have your left hand with palm facing you, reach behind your index finger and pull the dark loop up and over your finger, leaving the light looper in place. Repeat with middle, ring and pinkie fingers.
At this point, and for three or four more steps, it just looks like a messy blob. Don't worry about it, and just hang in there!
Place another dark looper around your four fingers, with a half-twist between each finger.
Reach behind your index finger and pull the light loop up and over your finger, leaving the dark looper in place. Repeat with middle, ring and pinkie fingers.
Continue adding loopers, one at a time, and pulling the first color over the second, until you reach the desired length.
To finish, draw the last loop left on your index finger through the loops left on your other fingers. Take that loop and tie it to the beginning of the scrunchie to form a circle.
Variation: You can also make the scrunchies bigger and make head bands, or even belts.
Comments:
One bag of loopers is enough for ten girls to make two or three scrunchies. Every time I have done this craft with girls, they are so proud of themselves and want to make seven or eight each. This craft is fun, easy, not messy, and cheap - a bag of loopers costs about $2.39. The project is easy enough for young Brownies, yet enjoyable for older girls. Enjoy!
Hat Pins
From: Deb Morrow / Foothills Council
Ages: Brownies or Juniors
Supplies:
- Styrofoam cups
- lace
- beads
- silk flowers
- etc.
Directions:
Turn oven on to 350 degrees. Take styrofoam cup and turn upside down on foil covered cookie sheet. Watch "cups as they will melt very quickly and always melt into what looks like a hat. Remove from oven. Decorate with beads, sequins, lace. (We used cool glue guns). Glue a pin to the back
Comments:
Quick and easy to do. Heat a few extra cups because some will not melt down right.
Headstart Garden
From: Lori Saker
Ages: ages 1-3rd grade brownies
Supplies:
- Empty plastic milk carton (gal or 1/2 gal.)
- scissors
- acrylic craft paints/brush
- spoon
- potting soil
- sand/small rocks
- flower seeds
Directions:
Draw a large circle on front of milk carton,( No closer than 2" at bottom) then cut away to form the planter Paint spring designs like flowers/bugs etc around the opening. Paint a big yellow sun inside the container on the back near the top. Spoon a thin layer of sand/rocks into the bottom for drainage. Add 1.5" of potting soil Plant and water the seeds according to the directions on the seed package.
Put planter in a sunny window and be sure to water to keep soil moist. When seedlings are big enough, transplant into larger pot or garden. This activity is best done in late February if plants are to be transplanted outdoors in March or after last frost.
Holiday Candle
From: Nadine Wren (via Elaine Marsh) / Girl Scout Council of the Nations Capital
Ages: All Ages
Supplies:
- Wide candle
- Gold fabric paint
- Fake rhinestones and jewels
Directions:
Paint fabric paint design on side of candle.
Place a puddle of fabric paint in the design.
Lay gemstone in the middle of puddle so that the paint gushes up around the gemstone artistically.
And voila...holiday candle.
Comments:
These are really easy and very festive when completed.
Holiday Placemats
From: Hallie Hawkins / Palm Glades Girl Scout Council- Florida
Ages: 1-3rd grade Brownies
Supplies:
- Construction Paper- placemat size
- Markers or Crayons
- Plates, forks, spoons knives, glasses
- Clear contact paper
Directions:
Use placemat size construction paper and let the girls trace a place setting on the placemat and decorate the placemat for the holidays- Christmas- Thanksgiving or whatever. When they are done, cover the placemat with clear contact paper or laminate them.
Comments:
The girls can decorate a placemat in any way they want with stickers, markers or paint if you prefer not to use the place setting idea and let them be a bit more creative.
Imitation Miniature Slate Craft
From: Juel Fitzgerald
Ages: All
Supplies:
- Four Popsicle sticks for each craft
- Black piece of construction paper the size of the four popsicle
- sticks (after they are laid out in a square)
- Yarn enough to use to hang item
- Chalk, white crayon, white paint, whiteout (use what ever you prefer - chalk makes it look more authentic - but the others may keep better)
Directions:
Glue the four popsicle sticks together at the ends to make a box. It's best if you lay two vertical first and then two across horizontal - to make the top sides on the same level and the sides on the same level.
Tie one end of the yarn to the left end of the top popsicle stick and tie the other end of the yarn to the right end of the top popsicle stick so that you will be able to hang the object.
While the sticks are drying, you can then write on the black box whatever sentiment you want with the chalk, white crayon etc. Such as Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday. I Love You. etc. Then glue the boxed sticks onto the outer margins of the black paper like a frame.
After it is all dry you have a sentiment you can give to some one and it looks like a little old fashion slate that kids used to use in school centuries ago. If you want to get fancy you can decorate the popsicle sticks.