Joanne Jenson - Upcycling Crafts: How To Turn Worthless Junk into Quality Time With Your Children

By Joanne Jenson

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 by Joanne Jenson.

The author takes NO RESPONSIBILITY for theactions you take reading this book. We like crafts, and we let ourkids get dirty. Sometimes they get hurt, but usually they don't!Some of the crafts require your help (parents) and many of themrequire your supervision during play. We offer no responsibilityshould anything go wrong.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Short on money butwant to spend time with your children? Looking to reuse rather thanthrow away? Then this book is for you. I've personally researchedand tried each of these great upcycling ideas myself, and I can saywith authority that they are going to be a BLAST. Your kids willenjoy them too! Herein lies the very basics. This is a startingpoint, not a comprehensive guide. Use your creativity and let yourkids use theirs! When you need more ideas, look for my next book onUpcycling!

Materials:

Plastic water bottles or soda bottles.

Bubble solution.

Step 1. Make Remove the lid from thebottle (recycle or reuse).

Step 2. Make bubble solution. Mix atablespoon of soap per cup of water. You can experiment with this.If you have glow in the dark paint, you can add it to the solutionto make glow in the dark bubbles (just don't swallow it!) Put thesolution in a Tupperware dish or anything where the solution's dishis wider than the bottle.

Step 3. Dip the top of the bottle into thesolution. Lift the bottle up and slowly press on the sides tocreate bubbles with the air inside the bottle!

Alternative method: Cut the bottom offthe bottle, dip the bottom (now cut) into the solution and blowthrough the top of the bottle to make REALLY BIG BUBBLES!

Materials:

Bubble wrap (with air still in bubbles).

Some type of canvas (I use cardboard boxesfrom things I order offline, but you can also use tshirts).

Non-toxic paint (finger paints work awesomeand are safe for your kids! You can also use clothes paint forshirts, which is my favorite!)

Step 1. Take your old bubble wrap(with air still in the bubbles)

Step 2. Apply different colors ofpaint on it lightly. Be creative. It isn't about painting apicture, just making interesting patterns and prints.

Step 3. Apply the bubble wrap to thecanvas and press down lightly.

Step 4. Repeat! You can do this asmany times as you like until the print looks awesome!

Another great idea with this is to use alarge piece of paper for the print, and then cut the piece of paperout into a fun shape.

You can also use a sponge to get the paint onthe bubble wrap, which works really well when playing with kids.

Materials:

Clean trash. Examples: baby towel rolls, oldboxes, (non-dangerous) metal pieces, CDs, crayon boxes, buttons,broken toys, cans, etc. Yarn is also fun!

Glue

Tape

Pens

Crayons

All steps: Let the kid build a robotout of all the materials you can find. It doesn't matter how itturns out, because the robot is going to be AWESOME! The kid willlove it. Use buttons for eyes, yarn for hair (yes, some robots havehair), and even paperclips for hands and feet. Build one with yourkid so they are encouraged to get creative!

Materials:

Plastic shopping bag (clean).

String (yarn works alright).

Step 1. Tie strings to plastic bags.

Step 2. Find a windy place.

Step 3. Enjoy

To get more out of this project, let the kiddecorate the bag using magic markers so it's colorful! If you havelarger bags, use one of those with a smaller bag attached evenfurther down the line of string to have a two-tier kite!

Materials:

Buttons (assorted)

String (anything that isn't going to itch! Weuse fishing wire because it gets clean in the shower if the kiddoesn't take the bracelet off for a while and we have a lot offishing wire from my husband's silly pastime!)

Step 1. Pour the buttons out all overthe table. It's time to get into fun, not be a neat freak!

Step 2. Let the kid place the buttonson one at a time. You can tie little knots between buttons orgroups of buttons to help keep them in place, but having them alittle loose makes a nice rattling sound.

Step 3. Tie the string around thechild's wrist! Presto you have a bracelet. (You can also makeclasps using a button and a small loop at the end of thestring.)

My daughter will wear these bracelets forweeks before taking them off! And because we use fishing wire, itall gets clean in the shower without any weird fabric being wet onher arm!

Materials:

A stick.

String (any type is alright, but somethingcolorful is nice!)

Assorted noise makers (i.e. unused keys,keychain loops, soda pop tabs, anything with a small hole in it orthat you're willing to put a small hole into.)

Step 1. Find a stick in the yard. Thiswill be the base of the wind chime, so find something a little bitlong. You can paint or otherwise color this stick to make theproject more fun!

Step 2. Tie stringsto all thenoise makers. Old keys work really well (and you can even paintthem!) and make a cool sound. Tie the other end of the string alongthe length of the stick.

Step 3. Tie two more strings onto thevery ends of the stick, and tie the loose ends together.

Step 4. Hang the wind chime!

Be creative. There are a lot of things youcan do here.

Materials:

Metal coffee cans (the slightly smaller onesare better for many kids)

Two lengths of sturdy rope (try to guess yourchild's height and make the ropes long enough to reach their handsonce put into the can..

Step 1. Take the coffee cans and placethem upside down. Parents, you need to do this part! Cut holeson the left and right side of each coffee can (try to keep themfrom having jagged edges that might cut someone or the rope!) Placethe rope through the holes and tie the loose ends together.

Step 2. Stomp! You have stilts now,just have the kid step on top of the can and grab the ropes in eachhand. Instruct your kids to move by picking up the ropes as theywalk!

Note: Be careful! Falls may happen.

Materials:

Can or other cylinder with one open end.

Sturdy fabric (a traditional drum uses animalskins, so consider that when picking your materials! Do not useyour animal's skin though. You can use the lid if you have aplastic coffee can!)

Any type of "drum stick"

Rubber bands or packing tape.

Step 1: Wrap the fabric tight across theopen end. Secure it with rubber bands or packing tape.

Step 2: You now have a drum. Take thestick and tap the top of the fabric in different places. If thefabric is taunt enough, you should be able to get a few differentsounds from it!

Step 3. Experiment with different drumsticks!

Notes: You can fill the drums withdifferent amounts of water, and you will get slightly differentsounds from each of them! Do a whole drum set with different sizecans!

REQUIRES PARENTALSUPERVISION! INVOLVES HEAT!

Materials

Old can, smaller works better.

Duct tape or small water balloon (other tapeand fabrics might work as well)

An incense stick.

Can opener

Something to puncture can with.