Jennifer Traig - Crafty Girl: Fun and Games: Things to Make and Do

Text copyright 2001 by Jennifer Traig.
Line drawings copyright 2001 by Stephanie Sadler.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4521-3365-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available under ISBN 0-8118-3125-6.

Line drawings by Stephanie Sadler
Designed and illustrated by Gayle Steinbeigle

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107

www.chroniclebooks.com

Alka-Seltzer is a registered trademark of Bayer Corporation. Alpha-Bits Cereal is a registered trademark of Kraft Foods Holdings, Inc. Borax is a registered trademark of U.S. Borax Inc. Candy Land Board Game is a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc. Fuji Film is a registered trademark of Fuji Photo Film, Ltd. Fun-Tak is a registered trademark of Henkel Canada Limited. Game Boy is a registered trademark of Nintendo of America Inc. Grape-Nuts Cereal is a registered trademark of General Foods Corporation. Gumby is a registered trademark of Prema Toy Co., Inc. Baby Gummy Worms is a registered trademark of Wilhelm Schmitz-School. Lego is a registered trademark of Kirkbi AB. Mad Libs is a registered trademark of Price Stern Sloan, Inc. Monopoly is a registered trademark of Tonka Corporation. Mouse Trap is a registered trademark of CBS Inc. Play-Doh is a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc. Pringles is a registered trademark of The Procter & Gamble Company. Reeses Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups is a registered trademark of Hershey Foods Corporation. Silly Putty is a registered trademark of Binney & Smith Inc. Toblerone is a registered trademark of Aktiengesellschaft Chocolat Tobler. Tupperware is a registered trademark of Dart Industries Inc. Twister is a registered trademark of Milton Bradley Company. Ziploc is a registered trademark of Dowbrands L.P.

Notice: This book is intended as an educational and informational guide. With any craft project, check product labels to make sure that the materials you use are safe and nontoxic. Nontoxic is a description given to any substance that does not give off dangerous fumes or contain harmful ingredients (such as chemicals or poisons) in amounts that could endanger a persons health.

acknowledgments

Thanks to my parents for encouraging crafty fun in the first place, and to my sister Victoria for playing along; to the staff and students at Woodland Montessori Childrens House for their generosity with ideas and input; to Mikyla Bruder for being a superlative editor and friend; to Jodi Davis for keeping everything on track; and to Stephanie Sadler, Gayle Steinbeigle, and the rest of the Chronicle crew.

Y oure a Crafty Girl. Fun is your middle name and Games is your second middle name. You dont even know the meaning of the word bored. You never run out of ideas, and you never stop looking for new ones. Thats where Crafty Girl: Fun & Games comes in, with loads of ideas for crafty good times.

You already know that fun is more fun when you make it yourself. Sure, board games are okay, but an Autobiographical Board Game really makes the miles fly by. A game is not really fun for you unless youve colored, cut, and pasted it yourself.

This is not to say youre spending all day hunched over cardboard and crayons. You have .

Even when the skies are stormy, you forecast fun. The projects in . Try all these events at once for an afternoon of indoor Olympics.

Maybe your thing is cloak-and-dagger crafts, or maybe most of your crafting is done in the lab.. Is the world ready for these crafty chemical creations? Youll have to make them to find out.

An artsy Crafty Girl does a little time in the painting, drawing, and sculpting department, too. Youre so crafty, you make your own craft supplies, and the recipes in in an instant. Color you crafty.

Heres a universal truth: Fun is more fun when its frosted. The recipes in . If your friends think its gross, all the bettermore for you.

Crafty Girl: Fun & Games has a heap of ideas for you, no matter what kind of Crafty Girl you areeven if youre a Crafty Boy, a Crafty Woman, or a Crafty Man. Even if youre a Crafty Pet (be warned, however, that most of these projects require opposable thumbs, so if youre a dog, a cat, or a hamster, youre going to have to ask your master for help with the scissors). If youre a Crafty Babysitter, this book should be part of your emergency entertainment kit. The kids will be so busy with Bubble Brew , youll have plenty of free time to raid the fridge and run up the phone bill, but you probably wont want toyoull be more tempted to blow a few bubbles yourself.

So, what are you waiting for? You have most of the necessary supplies in the house right now. What you dont have, you can find in any supermarket or office-supply store. Most projects call for nothing fancier than cardboard, construction paper, and creativity. The only specialty store you may need to visit is a cake decorating-supply store, for food coloring paste, which is much more vibrant than the stuff you get in the supermarket, and comes in a rainbow of shades (if you dont have a cake decorating emporium in your area, you can easily find one online).

You may also need to go to a craft store for a few supplies, like craft foam and acrylic paint. Its a good idea to peruse a craft store even if your craft cupboard is well stocked. Craft stores are treasure troves of inspiration. Youll come home with one small purchase and two thousand ideas, or if youre like us, youll come home with two thousand purchases and one small twinge of guilt for buying so much. But were craftywere worth it.

Before we begin, a word of caution. Its all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Most of these projects carry no greater risk than a paper cut, but some of them get hot and some of them get pointy. Youll need to use adult supervision, care, and common sense. The cardinal rules: (1) If its hot or sharp, dont touch it. (2) Keep it out of your eyes and, unless its food, out of your mouth. (3) Be sure to have an adult present for any project involving a stove, a cutting knife, or chemicals. Nothing ruins the fun faster than an injury, so be careful.

Let the games begin!

Some things are more fun when theyre tiny and cute. Golf is one of them. Make a cardboard course, and you can have big-time mini-golf fun in your own backyard. If its raining, and your parents arent worried about the antiques, you can play inside, too. Fore!

Masking tape

2 pieces of cardboard, each 1 1/2 by 4 inches

Yardstick

Tempera or acrylic craft paint and paintbrush (optional)

Scissors

Posterboard or craft foam

Found items to use as hazards: stuffed animal, doll, dollhouse, toy-car racetrack, LEGO construction, or whatever else you have on hand

Materials to make hazards: cardboard, milk cartons, shoeboxes, construction paper, cardboard tubes from paper towel rolls, paint, paper glue, or whatever youd like