Tag: crafts

Why I volunteer

April 12, 2024

Her smile says it all. Big Girl is so happy to be back in “her” library doing what she does best – spreading some Sadie sunshine among the staff and patrons – in addition to listening to elementary kids read to her. Most of the time, you never know the impact your volunteer efforts might have, This week I did.

Six years ago, a rising 8th grader began reading to Boomer. She was new to the U.S. and spoke no English. We worked with her from late spring through the following winter. This week, her little brother came to read to Sadie. Mom recognized me and thanked me for helping her daughter so much all those years ago. Her daughter graduated high school and is now now working to save money for college.

Most of my personal sewing time is spent making things for others. Much of it is donated through the East Cobb Quilt Guild’s community service outreach. Yesterday was a “charity sewcial” where a large group of us gathered for fellowship and to work on charity projects. I pieced blocks for my bee group’s charity quilt, put together the sashing strips and sewed the rows together for another charity quilt made from last year’s Middle Georgia Shop Hop blocks, plus sewed pillowcases that will go to nearby children’s hospitals. I returned home with additional pillowcase kits and fabric to make even more blocks for my bee group’s charity quilt(s).

Charity quilt layout using blocks collected from 2023 Middle Georgia Shop Hop

If you’re in a guild or group, don’t let a lack of fabric (or the funds to buy fabric) keep you from participating in charitable sewing endeavors. If you have a sewing machine and are willing sew, there are plenty of materials available at no cost to you to create projects for donation. Reach out to a sewing friend or fellow guild member to ask if materials are available or let folks know you’ll be happy to take fabric scraps and excess stash to make items for charity. My guild’s current community service team has been diligently processing the influx of fabric donations to create themed kits and curated collections for charity sewing volunteers. They’ve done a great job! A few members of the guild have a challenge where they create quilts using only donated fabric and whatever current free pattern they’ve agreed on. Two of the ladies sitting with me yesterday were feverishly working on their charity challenge quilts. It was so much fun to see the action and listen to the banter as they sewed.

P.S. If you are a quilter with a large stash, consider leaving instructions with your estate documents to donate any remaining machines, fabrics and supplies that your heirs don’t want to a local quilt guild, quilt museum or pet rescue group with a resale shop. Your donation will make a world of difference.

Spring Stories & Crafts

April 7, 2024

Spring Break is almost over. This means we’re on the homestretch to the end of the school year. Our classes end the week of May 6th; however, I think the last day for Monday enrichment is April 29th. I’ve planned lessons to cover the next four weeks:

Week 1 – Bees
Book titles: Give Bees a Chance, Please Please the Bees and Don’t Eat Bees.
Craft: Paper Plate Bee from Simple Everyday Mom

Week 2 – Flowers
Book titles: The Gardener, Chrysanthemum and another title available from the public library.
Craft: Paper plate suncatchers using cellophane and sequins.
(adapted from several online tutorials – no single one in particular)

Week 3 – Pinwheels
Book titles: Kate, Who Tamed the Wind and Pinwheel Days
Craft: Pinwheels made from 6″ square paper, with pipe cleaner and faceted pony bead center and straw holder
(adapted from several YouTube videos)

Week 4 – Knuffle Bunny (Sadie visits)
Book Title: Any Knuffle Bunny titles available from the public library
Craft: Bunny Book Craft from Simple EveryDay Mom

The goal here is to keep things simple and use supplies I already have on hand. My self-imposed limit is to spend no more than $10 on supplies for our remaining craft activities.

Tips:
Many cute crafts with paper plates call for painting a white paper plate a certain color. Save yourself time, money and mess by picking up a pack of 24 colored paper plates at Dollar Tree for $1.25. Many colors are available.

Solid color paper napkins work as well as traditional gift tissue for torn tissue crafts.

Solid color paper cups are available from Party City in a variety of sizes for a reasonable cost.

12″ x 18″ black construction paper comes in handy.

Stock up on assorted color construction paper. Trim some to 8-1/2″ x 11″ so you can print templates directly on them. Students can cut out and craft without the need for paint and/or markers.

Thrifty Craft Supplies & Storage Solutions

March 7, 2024

Nothing beats the back to school sales for stocking up on basic craft supplies like glue sticks, crayons, markers, scissors, construction paper, etc. For items such as yarn, ribbon, pom poms, felt, wiggle eyes, craft foam, pretty craft paper, feathers and the like – check for sales at Hobby Lobby and Joann throughout the year.

Otherwise, I’ve found Wal-Mart and Dollar Tree to be the best places to buy general craft supplies everyday.

Dollar Tree is usually my first stop. I’ve picked up small caddies in the school supply section to hold scissors, glue sticks and crayons. The book section is a great resource for simple workbooks, puzzles and stickers. The crafts aisle generally has a little bit of everything in smaller packs so it’s perfect for small scale crafting or just trying out a project without spending a lot of money. If you need to scale a craft project for a large number of kids, I suggest shopping for supplies at Wal-Mart or Amazon.

My find this week was SureFresh round containers to store our bagged/random Perler beads by color. You’ll find them in the kitchen section near the zipper bags and plastic wrap. Each container holds at least 1,000 beads and you get 5 containers in each pack. This works out to 25c per container. Much less expensive than some of the other options I’ve found available. BTW, these also work great to corral wiggle eyes, pony beads and buttons.

For storage solutions, I like the bins that latch with a carry handle. I picked this one up at Michaels, but you can find some variation of it at most craft and big box retailers. All 20 bead boxes, beads to be sorted, tweezers and small Perler templates are in the box. Ironing papers and design charts fit on top before adding the cover. Once the beads are sorted, there should be enough room to add the larger Perler templates. This means I’ll be down to one carry bin and one large jug of assorted melty beads. Perfect!