Scotty DO!

Love this little Scotty dog and it will perfect for our sewing class. How cute!

LINK

String Bracelets

Our campers are OBSESSED with embroidery floss. We buy tons and tons, and then spool the string around scrap cardboard (if we don't we end up with a huge tangled mess).

The campers creations are amazing, and I recommend the KLUTZ book on Friendship Bracelets. We keep it hanging around our jewelry room, and the girls just go to town.

Gimp

What's camp without GIMP??? I never do this as a group project, but when the campers are done with other work, and have finished cleaning up, I offer gimp upon request. I haven't done gimp myself since I was a kid, but my 7 year old daughter is quite adept.

Here's a little tutorial.

Glass Bead Bracelet

From Fire Mountain Gems
LINK

We can add strands, or matching necklaces/earrings to stretch this activity out.

Wow, SAFE Candle Making

Our utmost priority in all of our creative projects is SAFETY. I love the idea of candle making and we have done traditional candle dipping in the past, and truly, it is one of my favorite standard activities.

Beeswax candles are a wonderful alternative to the traditional candle making, and of course we are not working with heat, so they are an incredibly safe and simple and a perfect immediate gratification project...

Oooh, and dig the pretend sushi candles!!! Cool Beans!

Resin BottleCap Craft

C'mon, how cool is this! I'm going to do these as a magnet craft for boys and daycampers, and an earring craft for the girls..

Instructions and inspiration: LINK

Collage with Resin and Found Objects

We haven't worked intensively with resin, but we used a wonderful product last summer called Envirotex lite. It added a sheen to a couple of our projects that was astounding and simple. I'm ordering decorate your own trays from Oriental Trading, and a bunch of fun objects, beads, cool papers, fabrics, and we're going to do a version of the project below. I'm VERY excited about this one!

Fine Art Self-Portrait

I remember doing something very similar to this in my high school art class. I would love to do this project as an elective, and think it would appeal to all ages. It's really beautiful.

I'd like to thank Kathy Barbaro, and her beautiful blog, www.artprojectsforkids.blogspot.com for this wonderful project inspiration.

Paper Lantern

I searched high and low for a paper lantern to decorate, and what do you know...Oriental Trading strikes again!!

Link

Paper Posies

Link
From Accu-Cut

Another nice tutorial - Link
From Gabriela Delworth

Altered Paint Cans

After mod-podge and embellishing, you have a cool container to hold stuff in! Neat-o!

LINK

Donkey Beads and Bells

From Dick Blick
Link

Pillows

From Dick Blick
Link

We did these two years ago, and though the campers had a little trouble with the sewing, I think the end result was well worth it. Absolutely gorgeous pillows. We stamped them using acrylic paints and then simply painted the dye over the fabric.

Carnival Scratch Mask

From Blick Art Supplies
Link

Heavy Metal Book

From Blick Art Supplies
Link

Earrings with Power Cord

From Fire Mountain Gems

Link

Book Mark

From Fire Mountain Gems
Link

Mother of Pearl Earrings

FROM FIRE MOUNTAIN

LINK

Bracelet with Glass Beads and Memory Wire

From Fire Mountain Gems
Instructions

Crystal Bracelet

From Fire Mountain Gems
Instructions

Daisy Bracelet

From Fire Mountain Gems
Materials Needed: click here

We offer a jewelry program at camp. Along with the requisite "gimp" and "friendship bracelets", I have hopes of offering our campers experience in beading skills. Beading can be challenging for a camper, who only has 45 minutes to complete a bracelet (or earrings), particularly when part of that challenge is selecting beads for their project. (I know that I could spend hours upon hours just rummaging through bead bins!)

I've simplified it, a bit for the girls, by providing specific beads for specific projects. The final outcome is always more impressive, and again, it's that immediate gratification that we are going for!

This project, from Oriental Trading (of all places, they have an extensive variety of craft supplies and within the past couple of years, they have great craft ideas as well), look simple and cute...I like 'em.

Instructions