Summer is flying by here at the George household! We are keeping busy camping, swimming and swinging on the tree swing. We have another summer day camp project this week from Kara from The Joys of Boys. Kara is a mom of 4 boys, which also makes her a nurse, referee, taxi driver, teacher, baker, ATM, maid, personal shopper, jungle gym, coach, puppeteer, motivator and negotiator. On her blog she shares fun activities, crafts, recipes and ideas designed just for boys.

Today for our Summer Day Camp Instructor Kara is showing you how to make boats using juice boxes. The full instructions can be found at her website by clicking this link: The Joys of Boys.

Visit us next Tuesday the 16th of July for another day camp project. And if you missed last weeks project, click here to see what you missed!

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Mother’s Day is just around the corner and I am sure you are searching for a perfect handmade gift for mom. Am I right? What about a small gift for Grandma? These tiny little windowsill planters made using recycled lids or a domed vending machine container are just the perfect project for Mother’s Day. You may already have the plants you need in your yard.

I recently attended SNAP! (a blogging conference) and my roommate Cynthia taught a class on making a DIY terrarium necklace with succulent plants. She has an amazing tutorial you can find here, you will want to look at her tutorial before making this little windowsill planter. Her class and knowledge inspired me to make these windowsill planters to give as gifts for Mother’s Day.

Supplies:

• Floral Adhesive (I bought it from my local flower shop)
• Assorted Succulents (You may have enough in your own yard or visit Lowe’s)
• Dried Moss (Michaels)
• Toothpick or Bamboo Skewer
• Paper Plate
• Assorted Sizes Lids from Recycling Bin (Baby food lids are the perfect size)
• Scissors

How To:

1. Gather succulents you want to use. I purchased mine from Lowe’s. You may already have some in your yard, succulents like Hen and Chicks work perfectly for this project.

2. Using a scissors, clip off a small piece from each of the succulents you want to use.

3. Squirt a small spot of floral adhesive onto a paper plate.

4. Use a toothpick or bamboo skewer to pick up some adhesive and spread it around the inside of your lid. Floral adhesive does not harm the plant tissue.

5. Adhere moss to the adhesive. The moss will provide a place for your succulents to grow new roots.

6. Use your toothpick to pick up adhesive and dab the adhesive on the ends of the succulent cuttings. Glue the succulents into the moss. Above I layered two different size lids to make a unique mini-planter.

7. Be sure to read Cynthia’s maintenance tips for caring for your succulents in her post here. The basics are that you will need to mist your plants with water about once a week and be careful not to over water.

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The Summer Day Camp craft for week five is Recycled Robots. We made these robots while we were camping and they were a huge hit with all the kids. After the robots were finished, (we even had round #2 of robot making on a different afternoon) the kids had a robot show where everyone got up and showed their robot and told its name and other things it could do. Each presenter was given a unique medal for their robot. Some examples are: coolest robot, best in show, most unique, and funniest robot. Making robots is a lot of creative fun and full of laughs as you see what everyone comes up with!

Supplies:

• Recycled containers, caps, twist ties, etc. of all sizes
• Hot glue gun
• Pipe cleaners
• Large googly eyes
• Platinum or silver spray paint

How To:

1. Lay out all your cleaned recycled containers for everyone to see.
2. Grab interesting pieces to put together.
3. Use hot glue to attach pieces to each other. (Adult help is needed!)
4. Spray paint robot.
5. Add googly eyes using hot glue.
6. Let dry.

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In honor of Mother’s Day I reached way back into the depths of my brain and thought of a craft my mom taught me to make. It is a super simple craft, but as a child I always got a kick out of creating these kazoos with a toilet paper tube. My kids were pretty amazed to realize it sounds just like a kazoo. You can get just a little creative (like my kids) or go crazy and glue on gems and add stickers if your kids are in the mood.

Next week I will feature another craft I used to make with my mom. Of course it is another craft that recycles items you already have at home. Funny, back in the day that was how crafts were made. I don’t remember my mom ever buying anything to make a craft, you just used what you had. Did the word “recycling” even exist 30 years ago? Hmm, food for thought.

Supplies:

• Toilet Paper Tube
• Wax Paper
• Rubber Band
• Markers or Crayons
• Scissors

How To:

1. Decorate your toilet paper tube using crayons or markers. Get really funky and glue on gems or use stickers.
2. Cut out a square of wax paper that measures 5″x5″. Lay the square over one end of the toilet paper tube and smooth the edges down around the tube. Add the rubber band over top of the wax paper to hold it on the toilet paper tube.
3. Make a humming sound into the open end of the tube. See your kazoo is working already!

The post How To | Toilet Paper Tube Kazoo appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

My mantel is all decorated to celebrate Thanksgiving this month. My kids and I made these cheap pumpkins from recycled paper lunch bags to make our Fall display more colorful and full.

How To | Paper Lunch Bag Pumpkins

Supplies:

• Paper Lunch Bags
• Orange acrylic paint
• Green acrylic paint
• Paintbrush
• Magazine to recycle
• Green ribbon
• Scissors

How To:

1. Paint the lower portion of the lunch bag orange. (Another option is to color the bags with markers, you can see a picture of colored lunch bag pumpkins below.) Make sure to open up the bag and paint all the sides. I found it easiest to open the bag and hold my hand inside while I painted.
2. Paint a wide strip of green above the orange painted section. Let dry.
3. Rip out and crumble up magazine pages. Fill the painted lunch bag up with crumpled magazine pages until the pumpkin is at desired fullness.
4. Tie a piece of green ribbon around the lunch bag, pull it tight and tie it. Curl the ends of the ribbon.
5. Use a scissors and cut off any extra height from the lunch bag.
6. Set on dinner table or mantel to create a beautiful fall display!

Lorelei painting her paper lunch bag.

Another option is to color your bag with markers instead of using paint.

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