A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Art Series

The New Jumbo Book of Easy Crafts

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Looking for easy to make crafts for a variety of ages?   Enter in The New Jumbo Book of Easy Crafts.  150 crafts of a wide variety to entertain and educate the children and youth in your life. 

The New Jumbo Book of Easy Crafts give you over 150 crafts to choose from.   With clear step-by-step instructions, crafts organized into four themed sections, and detailed colourful illustrations, even the littlest hands can make a big impression. 

Four sections divide up the 150 crafts provided in this book.

  • Imagine and Create
  • Wear and Use
  • Make and Play
  • Decorate and Celebrate

Imagine and Create contains crafts such as wiggling caterpillar, egg-cup chick and rock painting.   

Wear and Use gives us pasta jewelry, magic wands and decorated baskets. 

Make and Play gives us sock sacks, marble mazes, puzzles, folded frog puppets and much more. 

Decorate and Celebrate allows us to make decorated eggs, doily angels, paper cutouts and party favours. 

Clear materials lists and instructions makes the completion of each craft a breeze.  The full colour pictures put words into image helping to reinforce each step to the completion of a successful craft. 

Clear materials lists and instructions makes the completion of each craft a breeze.  The full colour pictures put words into image helping to reinforce each step to the completion of a successful craft. 

My Thoughts

I like this book!  The sheer variety of crafts available and the ease of use make this book a keeper in my eyes.  Judy Ann Sadler did an excellent job of putting these crafts together, and Caroline Price’s illustrations brought it all very much to life.   The only thing I would have liked would have been to see actual photographs of the finished craft. 

Crafts that I want to do… button puppy!  It’s too cute!  Bead buddies intrigues me for a doll class I still want to teach.  The Pom-pom bear would just be fun to give a try to, brings back memories of games I used to play with my lad. 

365 Days of Drawing

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I have got to tell you about this fantastic review book I received in the mail this week.  365 Days of Drawing.   I LOVE idea books like this.  BUT not only is this an idea book, but it also teaches as well.  How much better could it get eh!?

From the back cover

Get lost in your creativity with 365 Days of Drawing, a thoughtful and inspiring art journal designed to help you carve out moments of self-expression. Lorna shows you that drawing does not have to be scary – it can be done with any materials, in any color, in any style and can be done anywhere.

Each activity has been given a loose category: imagination, tutorial, relaxation, color theory, and observational, so that you can practice a broad range of drawing skills. Each ‘theme’ is designed to expand your creative skills and spark the artist within. With helpful prompts and pages that encourage you to try new materials to draw with, 365 Days of Drawing is guaranteed to stir your imagination and put a little creativity into every single day.

What you Get:

A fantastic resource to help you take moments every day to stir your imagination and draw something new, or learn how to express your creativity even better.   Some of the ideas are simple.  Design your own mugs, draw the perfect circle etc. 

Yet others teach: make a colour wheel, create colour blends, fill a grid with colour using matching colours, discern what colours match a mood, or figure out mood with shading.

And still others take time to work through, allowing you the freedom to learn new techniques or practice a skill.  Blend tones, change a sploch into an art form, or learn to create a 3D object.

My Thoughts

I really, really like this book.  If you are at all creative, this book will be a boon to your spirit, nudging you along, giving you great ideas to work with drawing a flock of birds, doodling your way through triangles, learning to use a gird to expand a picture, look deeply into an object and pull out all the colours you can see, draw a picture by looking into the negative space, or even draw an animal as fast as you can.   So many ideas, you are bound to find a few that appeal, or add a spark to your day. 

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Crafty Ideas From Nature

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crafty ideas from nature

Crafty Ideas from Nature is a paperback book that gives you more than 30 crafts you can make with nature as a focus.  MOST of the art projects use items you can easily collect from nature.  A few of the art projects are things you can use to decorate trees, represent nature, or are games you can play. Another in the series is crafty ideas from junk.  These books give loads of ideas to help children express their creativity in a wide variety of ways.

crafty ideas from nature

Each project is laden with pictures walking your through the steps.  Each project has a handy materials list. While this list doesn’t give you exact quantities, it gives the needed information.

crafty ideas from nature

Some of the projects are floral cat, candy cone, leaf printing, snowstorm, dried leaf owl, and feather headdress.  There are many others.   A good variety of crafts that cover a variety of age ranges, but generally I’d say from age 8 and up for most of them.

My Thoughts:

Crafty Ideas from Nature gives some great ideas to help children express their creativity using what they find in the great outdoors.  It would be an excellent addition to any nature study that you engage your students in. The ideas presented lend themselves to a variety of crafts and should stimulate your ideas, as well as ideas in the children around you. 

crafty ideas from nature

 

Crafty Ideas from Nature
Myrna Daitz
Shirley Williams
Exley Giftbooks
softcover, 48 pages

Click on image to go to Amazon.

Plastic Canvas: Cars and Trucks

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The other day (couple months back) I was out kicking around and saw some plastic canvas creations.  They were rather well done and it spurred me on to see if I still had any plastic canvas around.  I found some, but no yarn or thread to do it to be found, and then well.. life got a bit hectic.  

In the process of packing/unpacking I found this plastic canvas book and tucked it away with my arts/crafts books.   Ergo, when I was searching for an art book for today I stumbled upon it and since it brings back happy memories for me why not! 

What happy memories you ask?

I remember sitting with my mom and a group of girls learning how to do plastic canvas.  I still recall the peals of laughter rolling around the table, the conversation lightening quick, the questions and answers, the fights over who got the yarn next and can you pass me the scissors.   

After I earned the badge, I found myself continuing to work with plastic canvas, cutting, shaping, learning new techniques.  Then college came along and life got busy and I set it aside.   I still look back at this crafting skill with fond memories.  And I keep my limited supplies around but I honestly don’t know if I will ever get back into it.

THOUGH…

This book with the cute cars intrigues me.  Wouldn’t they be fun to make for a little boy or girl?

Plastic canvas cars and trucksAfter learning how to make wheels we are taught how to make seven different vehicles

  • big rig
  • pickup
  • bluemobile
  • antique coupe
  • yellow sports car
  • pink convertible
  • gasoline tanker

Plastic canvas cars and trucksWhat do you think?

Good toys for girls and boys?   Fun to make you think?   Perhaps I should get re-inspired. 🙂

Crafty Ideas from Junk

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crafty ideas from junk

Crafty Ideas from Junk is a book I pulled from my art shelves.   It’s not a large book by any means but has a number of fun crafts in it to delight your budding artist.   (or simply a child looking for some way to occupy their time) Games, robots, necklaces and plant holders are just a few of the activities waiting to be discovered.

crafty ideas from junk

Each craft/activity comes with a needed supplies list.  Some are more loose in their requirements than others, as well as instructions following. I found that some of the directions left me a bit confused as to what I was to do first or next or just how to accomplish the task at hand, but that gives the opportunity to do some problem solving, which is a great part of doing crafts isn’t it?  To have to figure some of it on your own.   Helps make the craft or game more your own.

crafty ideas from junk

One of the things I would like to do with a Co-op class sometime is to have a “make games for your siblings class”.  I look at the instructions above and think… this would be a great game to older kids to make for their siblings.   What do you think?

crafty ideas from junk

More than 25 crafts, games and activities fill the pages of this softcover tomb by Myrna Daitz.   Children will find themselves encouraged in their efforts to keep themselves busy.   I like this little book and it will rejoin the others on my shelf. Perhaps in the spring I’ll actually host a “Make a gift for your Siblings class”.  Would be fun don’t you think?

crafty ideas from junk
Crafty Ideas from Junk
Myrna Daitz
Exley Publications Ltd
48 pages, softcover,
art book, elementary, craft, art

 

Building with Paper

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Building with Paper

Building with Paper is a neat book that gives you specific projects in working with paper.  

You can build a Paper Town, Bridges, Boats, Castles & Forts, and a Stadium. 

You get clear instructions

building with paper

With excellent drawings

building with paper

Each Section is clearly delineated with a face page.

building with paper

My thoughts:

My son went through a period where he was constantly building things with paper. I had him look through this book to see if it was good and he said “yes, I would have liked this book two years ago”.  It teaches not only the folding and building, but how to put the pieces together so they hold together well.   Papercraft boat anyone?   The one in the book looks like it would float well and possibly even hold a small figurine making for a lovely play time that you make yourself.   It would be fun to do as co-op class don’t you think?  Building a castle together?  HA!  that would simply be a hoot!

Eight Tutorials For Making Dolls

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So I’m thinking of teaching other doll making class since the last class was oh so fun.  Here are some ideas that I am collecting.

Doll Making Tutorials

Sock Dolls

Octopus doll

Found this decent page on making a corn husk doll.
Check it out here.
That of course inspired me to look it up on youtube. 🙂

Sock and felt Doll

Clothespin doll

Paper craft Red and White Doll

Papercraft doll with skirt

Pioneer Rag Doll

Another version of a ragdoll. Hard to know which is the better option eh?

But I think that’s given me some good ideas for another class eh? What do you think?
Do you have any dolls that might be easy for children to make? Leave me a comment or link eh?

 

While I’m thinking of it.  Did you know this?  Pretty good deal eh?   $1 for the first month and $14.95/month thereafter?  Worth checking it out at least eh?   Learn more here.