Setting up Your Camp Arts and Crafts Program

Seven years ago (!) when I was first offered my position as Camp Art Lady, I dove in eagerly, not knowing what to expect. Over the years, I've learned a lot of little tricks, that have been so helpful to me, and, lucky you, I'm going to share some of those tricks right here...right now!

1. Camp lasts for only 8 weeks, but planning your program is a year-round job. Expect to be researching ideas, materials and projects constantly.

2. The internet is your best friend. I am able to find inspirations and project ideas all over the internet. How budget friendly!

3. I look for inspiration in fashion trends and pop culture. I stalk ETSY for other crafters ideas and then look for ways to convert them to camp friendly.

4. My favorite products are: Aleene's Tacky Glue, Fiskars Scissors, Mod-Podge Decoupage Medium (please don't call it "MODGE PODGE"), Sculpey Polymer Clay. Accept NO Substitutes!

5. No need to plan projects for different age campers. Offer the same project to every age group, sometimes making adjustments for older children. It makes your planning simpler, and I promise you, campers always do well.

6. We see campers of all artistic abilities. Arts and Crafts is not Fine Arts. I'd rather keep projects simple, and allow campers to find success than make things so complex that they get frustrated.

7. Always plan projects in advance, and take the time to "work out" how a project is presented before you see your group. Inevitably, adjustments will need to be made.

8. Order Tempera Paints, they can be used for a variety of purposes. We also have smaller amounts of Acrylic Paint on hand for painting directly on wood surfaces.

9. Everything is better with Glitter. Seriously. Some campers will finish projects very quickly, and say..."I'm done!", but you still have lots of time left in your class session. Have plenty of glitter, gems, rhinestones, puffy paint available. Stretch your projects out with lots of embellishing!

10. I always try to have "back pocket" crafts ready to go. You never know when you get a rainy day, or a disruption in the schedule and you need a quicky little craft to present with little notice. Oriental Trading is a great resource for "decorate your own" type crafts that require very little preparation.

11. If you run an all Camp Tie Dye at an overnight camp...be wary of the LAUNDRY! You don't want campers ruining other laundry by throwing a freshly dyed shirt into the general laundry!

12. If wood projects or plaques will need to be hung up on the wall, make sure you provide the proper hardware for campers parent to easily hang them in their home.

13. Of everything your campers do at camp, Arts and Crafts projects are the only thing they get to really share with their parents. Their work is very tangible evidence of their parent's summer financial investment, not to mention, an enormous source of pride for everyone.

14. Be flexible! If there's one thing I've learned in my years at camp, is that no day is typical or predictable. We always have surprises, and the way we respond to those surprises defines us.

Happy Crafting!

Yummy!

I'm a sucker for anything to do with fake food. I came upon this lovely little website, PincStuff.com. She has great photos of adorable jewelry projects made from polymer clay to look like fake food.

I thought I would share with you for a little yummy inspiration!

Popsicle Sticks? Okay!

Anyone that knows me, knows I have a personal dislike of Popsicle stick crafts. Given that I'm the Camp Art Lady, I should really love them, just like I love glitter. But, alas, I don't, I think stuff made out of popsicle sticks looks weird, and unattractive, and who wants that lying around the house?

But yesterday, I received a wonderful suggestion for a super cool, super pretty, super fun craft, made out of the dreaded popsicle stick. I'm so excited about it, I'm offering the link right here.

Thank you INFUSEDgoods!

More Bottle Cap Fun

I have been inspired very recently by Kathy Cano-Murillo, "The Crafty Chica". Her spirit and sense of fun, not to mention her great ideas, have been so helpful to me.

She recently posted a great project for Bottle Cap Magnets. This is a winner of a camp craft. Cheap, easy, and hard to mess up.

I made a similar set today, to try it out, and here they are:
I attached the cute little graphic (I got these from Jelly Bean Lab, an Etsy merchant, and printed them on my computer) with ModPodge to the back of flat backed glass marble.The whole marble then gets glued to the inside of the bottle cap. I filled in the open area with glitter glue, and then embellished the glue with tiny li'l seed beads.

A good magnet goes on the back, and these'll dress up any old boring refrigerator.

I love it when things work out!!!

Jagged Necklace

I'm working so hard trying to complete my programming and projects, that I lost track of time today, just in time to miss taking my daughter for a check-up! Oh no! (I guess I'm not going to earn the Mother of the Year award this year) . We've already rescheduled for next week, plus I found this wonderful project idea along the way.

This would take at least 4 days to complete, and is really more appropriate for our older campers, but the end product is really, really pretty!

Click here to see full tutorial on Beadage.net

Personalized Name Plaque

The kids are back to school today, so that means I'm back, looking for new fun ideas for my campers. I came across this one today, on the PLAID website (which is chock full of sweet inspiration).

Full instructions can be found here.

Stamp-a-Pin

Envirotex Lite is one of my very favorite products. Pour it on any project, and it gives a clear resin-like finish. Colors POP...and it just gives a very finished, professional look to your crafts.

I came across this little project for pins made with Rubber Stamp. It seems simple enough. Stamp a design onto card stock, color it in, cut it out, and then watch magic happen by adding Envirotex Lite with a paint brush.

Click here for project instructions.