Home Made presents Round Up for folk with a fear of Crafting!

I realised with a small degree of horror this week that there are only 12 weeks left until Christmas. That sounds like a lot unless you are the kind of person that likes to make your own presents but is also a terrible procrastinator. I start and stop craft projects so I need to give myself enough time to do it at a pace I enjoy rather than rushing to finish it (which is what I did last year when I made the family gifts). So I thought I'd try to be helpful to all you folk who like me would be more crafty if life didn't inconveniently sneak up on you. So I put together a round up of inspirational hand made gifts you could embark on in the next twelve weeks.
Now before some of you stop reading and run for the hills crying "I'M NOT CRAFTY", I have taken this into consideration and have a range of suggestions for all abilities from Super Crafty to "I glued my hand to the desk while attempting this craft" level.

I was going to start at the "I glued my hand to the desk level" so that you could drop out and stop reading when it all started to look a little bit too tricky, but then I realised that poeple have different skill sets. So I have broken it down by type of craft and then level of difficulty - with the hardest at the top to force you to read it all (Ha I'm crafty in other ways too - see!)

Woodwork

Just the thought of woodwork has me cowering in a corner - not to mention the fact I have no tools. But if you are skilled in wielding a router (or even know what one looks like) you may want to try some of Happy Whimsical Hearts amazing projects like her Rainbow stacker.
 
Or if like me that looks way to complicated but you feel you might be able to manage banging some nails into a piece of wood you could try a Knitting nancy by Happy Whimsical Hearts.
If even that has you quaking in your boots do not dispair because Frog, Goose and Bear have the ultimate solution for non-woodwork woodwork! - Ribbon wand. Click on it to see how easy it is to make.

Knitting

If knitting is more your thing you could try a beautiful Knitted horse by Happy Whimsical Hearts or a Knitted bunny by Natural Suburbia. These both require following a pattern. However if like me you are only competent in knitting squares do not fear. Happy Whimsical Hearts comes to the rescue once again with a simple Knitted bunny tutorial which is literally just a knitted square sewn up to look cute. This was so simple I even did one myself 

If you like yarn but are so far from being a knitter that you'd rather I just called it wool, then you might like to try some Pompom quiet critters by Serenity You. 

Felting

Even if you have never tried felting before I would urge you to consider this as a simple gift option. It is really easy to pick up and Curly Birds has a beginners felting series to help you on your way. If you are an experienced felter you could attempt something spectacular like this needle felt forest friends by Curly Birds.

But even those who are a tad newer to it could attempt some of my felting efforts including needle felt gnomes  or a dinky dolly. There are more felting ideas, as well as other home made gift ideas on my Adult Craft page.

Sewing

Sewing seems to be something that people think they can't do - and yet we teach preschoolers to thread beads and "sew". So come on people get a grip. You may not be at the level required to make Small and Friendly's Kids mini lounger which is fantastic but looks quite complicated. But I'm sure there is something in this list you could cobble together.

For the braver sewers among you Kitchen Counter Chronicles has a lovely 24 Treasures Advent Calendar. Or I have a suite of dolls you could try including my very own waldorf mermaid doll  featured on MamaPeapod. Or this cute dolly from onsies by Red Ted Art 

Slightly simpler sewing options include a DIY Hobby horse by Red Ted Art or how about some cute Felt hair clips by East Coast Mommy. They really don't involve much sewing at all - plus sewing felt is easy.

For a sewing project which literally only requires you to thread a needle there is a Christmas tree ornament by Kitchen Counter Chronicles.

No-Sew Sewing

If you honestly don't think you could thread a needle but still like cloth craft you could try one of the no-sew options like a  No sew pencil roll by Small and Friendly, No Sew tutu by the Fair and The Frog or Felt food by Glittering Muffins 

If you don't want your kids to grow up seeking out the no-sew options how about making them a Sewing Kit by Curly Birds. You could learn to sew together!

Painting and Sticking

If painting and glueing is more your forte there are some lovely ideas you could use. Red Ted Art has an entire page of Dolls house and dolls house furniture you could make. Or how about this stunning Fairy walnut present by Curly Birds.

If you have an higher than average level of artistic skill you could attempt these Painted peg people by the Magic Onions, or Wooden fairies by Curly Birds. Both require wooden body blanks which you can buy from Etsy. Or if you have some wooden blocks you could make Wooden Story Cubes by Red Ted Art or a Building block puzzle by Paint on the Ceiling. Both require an element of artistic flair (Although I have made the building puzzle blocks by sticking pictures on blocks.)

These Painted dominos by Paint on the Ceiling are slightly less complicated if you art is more of the preschool variety. And if you really are more a finger painting level you could still manage this Chalk board table by Creative Playhouse. 

On the glueing side I have this beautiful Child's kite by Red Ted Art or a slightly more simple Toilet roll advent calendar by Serenity You (which is a lot prettier than it sounds!)

So if you are now all psyched up and ready to craft you might also want to check out the Great round up of Home made toys from Sun Scholars. But be warned, anyone who has chosen the "I glued my hand to the desk while attempting this craft" level may be a tad out of their depth.

Good luck - and please come back and put a link in the comments if you try and of these, I'd love to see how they work out.

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Curiosity in Space

(picture source http://hubblesite.org/)

This week saw something historic happen - The NASA Mars Rover aptly named Curiosity, landed on Mars and sent back the first pictures of the surface. I love that we continue to explore the depths of our universe and we will continue to grow in knowledge of it. Our kids will know so much more about what is out there than we will. So lets spark their curiosity for space while they are still young. 

To help ignite that interest I have rounded up some space based posts from fellow bloggers. There is truly something for everyone with a wide range of activities and resources for all age groups.

Arts and craft

We have craft activities for toddlers and preschool with:

1. Boy Mama, Teacher Mama - Number Play and Rocket Painting
2. Red Ted Art - Hand print Aliens
3. Taming the Goblin - Hubble telescope inspired art

And activities for slightly older kids:

4. Red Ted Art - Space invader Hama Beads 
5. Make and Takes - Rocket notebook
6. The Pleasantest Thing - Asterios belt art 

We even have some mummy crafts:

7. One Perfect Day - Space cakes and party ideas (not that type of space cakes!)
8. Taming the Goblin - Rainbow Window Star

Modelling

I love solar system models and we have two to choose from:

9. At Home with Ali - Small paper mache solar system
10. Red Ted Art - Big paper mache solar system

And if rockets and spaceships are more your thing we have plenty of them too:

11.  Momma's Fun World - Loo Roll Rocket
12. Nurture Store -  Junk Rockets
13. FunFamilyCrafts (at Ganz world) - Flying saucer
14. JDaniel4's Mom - Cup rocket

Sensory play

For children who like hands-on touchy feely play, we have it all here:

15. Taming the Goblin - Space sensory tray
16. Nurture store - Water bead Space play
17. Growing a Jeweled Rose - Blacklight sensory Outer Space Bath
18. The Imagination Tree - Galaxy playdough 

Books and resources

We have story books with a space theme and star charts to help identify the night sky:

19. The Imagination Tree - Space themed books
20. KcEdventures - Star Gazing Resources
21. The Wise Owl Factory - Space themed book based Worksheets

And one that would be absolutely brilliant for this weeks Mars news:
22. Royal Baloo - Writing a story based on the news

Science 

There are some great experiments to try out at:

23. Science Sparks - Bottle Rocket
24. The Pleasantest Thing - Transit of Venus Activity
25. Science Sparks - Expanding Universe
26. Creekside Learning - 5 Astronomy experiments
27. Science Sparks - Making Craters
28. Kids Activities blog - Balloon Rocket

Imaginary play 

Or if your child is like Goblin and enjoys imaginary play you will enjoy the post from:

29. Childhood Beckons - Small world playdough solar system
30. And Then All I Thought About was You - Imaginary Aliens in the Garden
31. Raising little Rhodies - Navigating a spaceship through an asteroid cloud
32. Sun Hats and Wellie Boots - Small world space station

If you aren't all spaced out by now here are some more Gallactic round ups with even more activities for you to check out

33. Red Ted Art - Space Crafts and Ideas to Inspire
34. Rainy Day Mum - 5-4-3-2-1 Blast off for World Space Week 2011
35. Living Montessori Now - Montessori Inspired Astronomy Activities

If like me you are more of a visual type you can shop for your activities by pictures at Rainy Day Mum's Space Pinterest board

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