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"36 Kids Crafts, So Fun and Easy,

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Nathan Bankston "crafting" away

     I never considered myself a "crafty" person.  And you can't change an "un-crafty" person into a "crafty" one, or can you?

     Well, let me tell you the round about way that led me to discover the answer. 

     My 8 year old son, Nathan -  in addition to tromping through mud puddles and building from scraps of wood - loves everything to do with crafts and art.

     I don't know where he got those interests - I still draw stick people and preschool-looking daisies.  Pretty puny compared to the picture he handed me this Sunday of two roses that looked so real my jaw dropped.

     He carries that same creativity into crafts too.  

     Well, anyway, one day, I was standing in the kitchen with Nathan.  I looked down at his jeans and couldn't take it any longer.  You know how boy's jeans get - holes through the knees before they even have time to get faded in the wash.  I couldn't stand those holes with the scraggly strings hanging everywhere.  And I wanted to get the last little bit I could from them.

     So, I took my scissors and cut off the legs to make them into jean shorts - you've done that, right?

     Then I went straight to the trashcan to dispose of the scraps.

How I Learned that Trash = Craft Supply

     Nathan nearly had a heart attack. 

     "Wait, wait, wait...," he could hardly spit the words out fast enough.  But the jean scraps already lay on top of the trash.

     "Can I have those?" he asked.

     "Absolutely not!" I instantly replied.

     Then I paused and thought for a second.  I had just come back from a seminar where someone had told me to ask for what you want because the worst that would happen would be to told no.  And when I really thought about it, I was training my kids not to ask for things....but I'm off on a rabbit trail.  That's another story.

     The point is that I was already trying to change my thinking.  I realized that I should ask Nathan why he wanted them - maybe it was a reasonable request...So I asked him.

     "Well, you see," he began as he picked one up out of the trash, "I can take my scissors and cut them here like this".  He demonstrated the cutting.  "Then when I do that to both legs, I'll have material to make a jean bag."

     I was floored.

     I gave him the jean scraps, a pair of scissors, a needle, and some thread.  And he made a jean bag.  He even took the Happy Meal boxes out of the trash to use the handles for his bag!

     That's when I realized I needed to figure out how to satisfy his need for crafts.

"The Search for Satisfying Crafts"

     It wasn't as easy as I thought.

     I took him to a six week collage class - once a week for two hours - for OVER $100.  He loved it; but I didn't want to keep forking over that kind of money for one craft.

     I bought a craft kit.  That didn't work either.  I had to spend too much time sorting out the stuff and figuring out what to do.  I ended up frustrated and hid it away.  It's still sitting up on a shelf wasting space and collecting dust.

     I spent hours online.  Seems like I just ended up going in circles.

      I was ready to give up.  And I told that to my husband.  I was tired of trying to find what I wanted - and now I was sure I would never find it. 

     He said, "I don't understand.  You've created everything else our kids needed.  Why should kids crafts be any different?  You don't give yourself enough credit."

     Hmmm...

     I chewed on that one for a few days, and then I decided to take some action.

     So I set out collecting, compiling, and creating kids crafts that had the following qualifications: 

1. The crafts had to be easy so the kids could basically do the crafts themselves

2. The crafts could only require a few supplies-and those supplies needed to be easy to find and useable for other crafts

3. The crafts needed the option to be done quickly since my kid's ages range from 2 to 8.

4. The crafts couldn't cause huge messes as I didn't want to do a lot of clean up.

5. The crafts had to be useful and able to be given away as gifts.  I didn't want to have 20 million crafts everywhere - my fridge and walls are a museum as it is!

      And it wasn't easy.  But I did find some, modify some, and create some.  And, the crafts that were winners were added to my list and filed for next year.  (I have a filing system that holds ideas, receipts, etc.  But that's another story.)

     Anyway, one day, a homeschool mom was over; and she was saying that she needed to have some easy crafts for her kids to do for Valentine's Day.

     "You've got to try these..." I said.  And I told her about the three fast, easy crafts we did and sent to some relatives in Michigan.

     "That's great!" she said, "I wish I had some other easy stuff like that.  It'd be great to have something to do regularly."

     I understood that.  Sometimes I feel like I'm not being consistent enough with my homeschool.  You know what I mean? 

     So, I gave her a few more quick crafts.  She was tickled pink!

     And so was the friend she told...and the friend after that...

     The only problem was that a photo copy of my list wasn't getting the job done.  I had to give the brief instructions for each one; and that started to get old.  They needed to be written down.  So, that's what I started to do.

     But I'm not the type of person that does anything half way...

     So, I put together everything with step-by-step photos.  My kids didn't care.  They were thrilled to do all the crafts again.  And hey, what kid doesn't like their picture taken?

     And it was a hit.

     Since I had already done something similar with my homeschool cooking course; I sent out some samples to be reviewed.

    It was still a hit...maybe more like a homerun :-).  So, that's how I know...

Your Kids Will Love 'Em !

     Thereï¿œs nothing "exceptional" about my kids.  Sure, Nathan seems to have a propensity for art; but even he's just an everyday, normal kid.  And I like my kids to be happy.  I love to develop their creativity - especially when it's no extra work for me! 

     So, I can confidently tell you--my kids have loved this, kids of friends have loved this, and the Moms have loved it too. 

     You may be skeptical, but I assure youï¿œ if you use my handy CD, you'll see how the frequent nightmare of homeschool craft time is transformed into such simple fun you'll wish you'd had this when your other kids were younger!

Introducing...

"The 36 Simple, Easy, Do-It-On-Their-Own,

Kids Crafts That Stimulate Creativity

While You Sit Back and Watch"