Clothespin Dolls Galore! - Idea Fair Craft 2011

We had so much fun with all the craft classes that our 4-H club taught at Idea Fair this year. But the class that really got ALL the kids laughing and having fun (including the Junior Leader "helpers" from our club) was the clothespin doll class.



When I was looking for some easy to-do craft projects (remember, each class is only 50 minutes long), clothespin dolls were the first thing to pop into my mind. AND the bonus, was that it would use up some more of my crafty leftover bits that I can never part with....



Here's what we brought to make the dolls:

A pile of clothespins (we had small ones and flat ones and round ones, my kids and I "dyed" some of them with watered down acrylic to make an ethnic variety)



Piles of fabric scraps (we had cottons, plaids, fleece, sparkly costume fabric, pleather, faux suede, felt, netting, burlap, etc)



Then we had the accessories & hair stuff (all different types of yarns, fake flowers, sequins, buttons, ribbon, twine, etc.)



We also had fabric scissors, glue guns (used only by the Jr. Leaders when helping the other kids), tacky glue, fine tip Sharpie markers and pre-cut pipe cleaners (of all different skin colors). Ahead of time, Ross drilled holes in all the clothespins for the pipe-cleaner arms to be inserted. I also pre-cut the pipe cleaners so the kids could just insert them when making their dolls.



Most of the fabric and yarn was already cut into small scraps or wound into small balls. We did pre-cut some fabric circle and cut slits for heads so that some of the fabric could easily be slipped over the dolls for quick dresses, skirts of shirts.



Our Junior Leaders and parent helpers probably didn't know what they were in for to start...but very quickly one table was made the "hair & make-up stylist table" (it included the yarn and Sharpie markers, one table was the "accessories table" (with flowers, sequins, buttons etc.) and the main table was humming with scissors and glue guns and repeated clothing fittings.






But pretty much the kids just went crazy with their own styles and made some amazing, funny, cute, beautiful, eye-rolling, eye-catching clothespin dolls.






And we had more than enough clothespins and stuff left over, so every kid went back to make another doll or even full families.





Can you believe they made all of these in such a short time? I'd say it was crafting magic.



And a LOT of fun.

Paper Clip Doll Necklace -Idea Fair Craft 2011

This craft was actually just an extra, just-in-case craft I threw in with the clothespin dolls. But it became a big hit in it's own self. We made these cute "angel necklaces" at Christmastime and since I still had a bunch of paper clips and beads for the heads and ribbon, I just brought those along to the craft class. We set them up by the clothespin dolls and......



...as you can see, the kids added to the simple bead head and paper clip body design to make some really cute necklaces. They used the "accessory" supplies from the clothespin dolls to make hair, headbands, capes, etc.



Super cute, right?

Weaved Bookmark - Idea Fair Craft 2011

Along with the Found Object Necklaces, these burlap bookmarks were a craft we did during the same class time at this years 4-H Idea Fair. I found the idea from one of my favorite craft blogs, Art Projects for Kids. It was indeed very quick and fun, and fit just perfectly with the found object necklace to round out the 50 minute class time allotted for our first craft class at Idea Fair. The supplies were also very minimal and all something that I already had on hand:

Yarn Scraps (that we pre-cut to a more manageable size)
Yarn Needles
Burlap (cut into bookmark shape)



I had various colors of burlap already on hand and I also used a recycled coffee bean bag from our friends' coffee shop.



My co-leader Danielle and a club mom showed the kids how to fray the edges of their bookmarks by pulling some of the threads. They also helped with sewing if needed, but for the most part the kids ran with the idea.






Even with so few supplies, the kids made very unique and creative bookmarks.



Again, our Junior Leader assistants joined in on the fun and made some very creative items:



Although it looks like my maniac might be working on her weaving/hand sewing skills this summer!



This one is one of my favorites...because it's a rainbow, of course!



Wait a minute, on second thought...these are my favorites....

...a grandfather brought his grandson to the Idea Fair and since we had more than enough supplies we encouraged parents, younger siblings and grandparents to jump in if they wanted. Well, this grandfather and his grandson were so excited, happily making bookmarks and found object necklaces and having a great ole time. I love watching intergenerational crafting!! The grandfather told me that his daughter's horse had just died, so he sewed the horse's name "Rascel" onto the bookmark to give to his daughter.



Spreading craft love....that's what it's about people!!!

Found Object Necklace - Idea Fair Craft 2011

The 4-H Idea Fair rolled around again this year and as crazy as we are, we decided to teach two craft classes for the youngest 4-Hers (along with 3 other dog/leader classes). You would think that we were actually leading a craft club rather than a dog 4-H club, huh? What can we say. We are eclectic individuals. And luckily we have super awesome Junior Leader members who are willing to help us with anything! We really used them THIS year.



The first craft class we taught had two different crafts: a found object necklace and a burlap bookmark. Here are the details on the Found Object Necklace, which was inspired by this post at Preschool Daze.



Basically the "found objects" were found on the floor of my craft room! :-) In fact, I think there are still piles of "found objects" on the floor of my craft room!



As you can see, we had a little bit of everything...buttons, dice, sequins, ribbon bits, burlap bits, feathers, paper clips, coins, mini domino tiles (my favorite!), beads.....




Ross had pre-drilled some wooden disks that we had on hand and we pre-strung them with necklace length, leftover yarn bits. We also used some birch wood coins that Ross had cut for us after our valentine wood coin necklace obsession.



Basically we spread around the found object bits and let the kids grab a necklace base and start creating. The older 4-H members had glue guns and helped the younger kids keep safe as they glued on their objects. We also had some quick-dry glue on hand (but it didn't dry so quick). I forgot my E6000 glue, which would have been the best choice all around.





The kids had a lot of fun putting together various items. And our Junior Leaders could not resist making their own as well. What kid (elementary school, middle school or high school) doesn't like being let loose with a pile of craft supplies and glue?



These necklaces were a simple and easy project to make in the 50 minute time slot allotted for our class. In fact, the kids easily had enough time to make these necklaces AND make a burlap bookmark as well. Be sure to check those out! But for now, admire these totally unique, fun necklaces created by some craft kids....