A few years ago, when my daughter was in kindergarten, she gave me a wonderful Mothers Day gift. It was a necklace with a bead that looked like the Earth and a card that said.. "You Mean The World To Me!" I really love that necklace she made when she was 5, and since then we have made several more. Last year for Earth Day, our school had a special interest day where we learned about being green. As a gift to her class, we made beads for every child in the class to wear that day. The kids loved them. With Earth Day coming up again next week, I thought this would be the perfect craft for this week's tutorial.
I apologize in advanced for the quality of my pics. I need better light or a better camera.. LOL!
To make an Earth bead, you need blue, green and white polymer clay and your favorite ribbon or string. We went with just a basic blue ribbon.
Take a small section of blue and shape into a circle about the size of a quarter. Take 3-4 smaller pieces of green and place them randomly on the blue clay.
Roll into a ball
Break off small pieces of white clay. These will be the clouds, so size to your preference.
You might want to wash your hands before handling the white clay to keep it really white. Place randomly on the ball and smooth out.
I used a bamboo skewer to make the hole, but many things would work.
I removed the skewer before baking.
Bake at 270 degrees for 15 mins, and then let cool.
When the bead has cooled, thread your ribbon through the hole.
If you like you can add small pony beads, other earth beads or just wear alone.
HAPPY EARTH DAY!
Bunny Treat Boxes
Recently I found mini storage boxes at The Dollar Tree and it gave me an idea. They were the perfect size for treat boxes.
They come in packages of 10, so each box is only .10 each.
At Michaels I found white chenille stems on clearance for only .49, which were just right to use for bunny ears. While there I also picked up a bag of mini white pom poms. I had google eyes at home, but if needed they are also available at the dollar store and craft store.
You need on chenille stem per bunny. Cut the stem in half and then fold each half to make the bunny ear.
Make a little twist on the end to secure it and bend slightly, so that it will stand up when you hot glue it to the lid.
Glue the mini pom on one side of the container
Glue google eyes on the opposite side of the tail. Draw on the nose and smile with a marker. I used Bic Mark It. My daughter thought it needed feet, so we also glued on 4 poms on the bottom of the container.
If adding candy, make sure to wash the containers before making the bunny. We used jelly beans in our treat boxes.
These are perfect for class parties, Easter get together etc. Not only are they easy to make they are inexpensive too!
EASTER GARDEN CENTERPIECE
I was at the dollar store the other day with my daughter when I had the idea to make an Easter garden. My daughter who with me, was immediately excited about the project. We picked out a plastic rectangle flower pot, a package of egg picks, a bag of floral moss, and 2 floral foam forms. I bought the ribbon at the dollar store on a previous trip.
To get the foam forms to stay together and fit snuggly in the flower pot, I used toothpicks to hold them in place.
I supposed I could have bought a third foam to fill all the space, but I thought I would fill the empty space with newspaper instead.
Cover the base with the bag of floral moss.
Insert your egg picks in various heights. I felt that various heights better mimiced a real garden.
I then tied the ribbon around the flower pot. Because of the shape of the pot, I did have to use a little bit of scotch tape to keep it in place. I also added a couple of butterflies I found for 50% at Michaels crafts a few weeks ago. Later on I found a few glass pebbles in the garden. My daughter had a few in her "collection" and thought they would look pretty in the garden. This centerpiece is pretty basic and simple to make, but a nice way to bring the feelings of spring indoors.
