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Some flowers are better for pressing than others. If they're too thick in places (roses, etc) they don't lose moisture evenly, and they begin to rot in the thick parts. However, wildflowers ought to do just fine!

It's best to have a flower press (two thick boards tightly sandwiching layers of cardboard and paper) but you can make do with layers of cardboard and some very heavy books. The basic idea is to lay out your flowers between pieces of paper and then sandwich between layers of cardboard. Then put things on top that will smash the heck out of them and drive their moisture into the surrounding materials, leaving them flat and dry.

This is a great visual explanation of how to do it:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Pressing-Flowers-made-Easy/

are there any appropriate tv/movies that most of them like? maybe you can make paper bag puppets (or sock puppets or something) and do a recreation of a scene from the show.

maybe get some cardboard boxes and have the kids decorate them like racecars. or spaceships!

most kids like playing with fuse beads and they can make them however they want (although only adults should actually iron the beads to finish the project)

You can also make salt dough clay ornaments.
1 cup flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
Mix it up and you have a nice clay. Make your ornaments and let them dry. You can paint them, glitter or whatever you like. We never sealed them though you may want to depending on how humid a climate you live in. I've had some my kids made that have lasted for years, bugs are no problem because of the salt.
I've also heard of people making a clay from stale bread and white glue. It should be paint-able when dry too.
EDIT: Found this link to several different dough clay recipes:
http://www.ask.com/food/Bread/Bread-Dough-Clay-Recipe.html

storage(buttons/nails/screws/beads/etc) i always wanted to try the book shelf with books but plastic vhs cases would work just as well. i would probably cover the cases with book jackets or paint them first.

I'm absolutely addictive to Pinterest myself, you beat me to the punch with making this post, but that's okay!

Here's my crafting board: Crafty DIY and Tutorials

I just wanted to illustrate my process to give anyone interested some ideas on how wire wrapping works. You can see more of my work here https://www.etsy.com/shop/EarthArtsNW?ref=si_shop I can answer any questions as to techniques and if there's enough interest I will do a more detailed tutorial :-)

You could try pinning: http://www.ehow.com/how_6173247_copy-ready-made-clothes.html

The tutorial I linked it pretty straight-forward and if you want fewer ruffles at the top, it wouldn't be hard to replicate this by pinning. If you want to do at least a few ruffles, when you copy the center chest piece, you should take that piece and then trace it out to be twice as long so that you can gather for ruffles. :)

Also, I wouldn't bother with pinning for the skirt as you can make that very easily by just taking 3 pieces of fabric (so, in this case a black, blue, black) in the right length and then making a tube about 1.5 times wider than your actual waist measurement. Then you gather the top of the skirt to the correct measurement before attaching to the bodice.

Does this have a zipper or is slightly stretchy so it just goes on over your head?

I have to agree

At the very least get some scrap wood and make one of these to make sanding a little easier on yourself. Also have a look around on instructables to get some ideas for finishing your desk.

I think it's a misnomer to think that the only decent sewing-instructor is your mom or grandma...that having been said, YouTube is an absolutely invaluable resource for learning how to sew and use your sewing machine.

Many retailers include instructional videos on their websites. I've found that Amazon also has a plethora of cheap and helpful sewing and sewing machine guides.

I've been using this book forever, and have found that is has useful tips for just about any sewing project you can think of!

Maybe you could try out styrofoam printing (using foam plates, or scratch foam)? Should be low cost and easy for that age group to watch and then do it on their own.

Family Fun seems to have alot of ideas- but you'll have to dig through them to see what's at their skill/attention level and costs. Also, I follow Teacher Vision and Family Education on Pinterest - they have some good ideas.

This looks awesome! I'm going to make my own board. I'll post it when I have a few things on it!

Edit: or when I get an invite back! :)

Edit2: Got my pinterest invite late this morning and just started my boards. Not terribly exciting yet, but I'm already addicted and am sure the boards will fill up fast! Mine!

Yes yes yes! I love pinterest. I was skeptical at first but it's so addicting. So much stuff. And it's definitely better than just having all the links bookmarked, because you can just scroll through and look at everything to find what you're looking for/something to do. Here's my craft board.

If you are handy and motivated you can build a simple lathe yourself. People were turning wood to make chess pieces and furniture legs long before there were electric motors. The lathes were hand-powered and foot-powered, as well as being powered by waterwheels, etc.

I have seen people use a drill press as a basic lathe, chucking a wooden dowel directly in the jaws and and using tools and sandpaper to shape it as it turns. When you're improvising and working at those speeds you have to put a little more thought into safety.

Chess pieces can really be made out of almost anything. Some guys in prison make them out of toilet paper mache. My first chess set came with little cardboard squares with the pieces' names and shapes printed on them. Polymer clay has definite possibilities, too.

My first lathe as a kid was made to cut balsa wood only, but if you were clever you might be able to alter it to cut pine. You could look on eBay for something like that. Here's one with a starting bid of one dollar.

Here's something that would be perfect for turning chess pieces, for less than a hundred bucks.

I think the fact that you've never carved wood is kind of sad, if it means that you never had a pocketknife as a kid and never whittled. Whittling a chess set would be time-consuming, but perfectly doable.

Good luck.

This is a good multi day project. I would probably suggest prepping the egg shells ahead of time though. Sick Science has lots of easy to do at home projects.

Growing rock candy is a fun activity too, but its something that takes time as well. Also, candle making is pretty cool. Especially if you add the ice cubes. This would be good around Mother's Day.

Does this help?: Figures A, B, C

After you’ve cut out all of the shapes, position them on the owl to gauge if any trimming needs to be done for the shapes to fit properly. Start by sewing the top wing and top head onto the [lower] wing and head.

For the top wing, refer to Figure A. Start the needle from underside the felt at point A bringing the thread up and loop top down into point B. The stitch should be roughly ¼”. From B, bring the thread from the underside up through point C and loop back to B. Then bring the thread from the underside up through point D and loop back down through B. Then loop from the underside up at point E and loop back to point B. Then loop from the underside of point F and back down through E… repeat steps until complete.

For the lower wing, head and eye, refer to Figure B. Start the needle from the underside of the body fabric at point A and loop the thread top down through point B, which is slightly under the top wing or button. Then bring the thread from the underside up at point C and loop down through point D, once again slightly under the top wing or button. Then bring the thread up through point A and down through point C. Then bring the thread up from the underside at point E… repeat steps around the wing or wing until complete.

For the top of the head, refer to Figure C. Start the needle from underside the lower head fabric at point A and loop the thread top down through point B. Then bring the thread from up underside the fabric at point C and down through point D. Continue looping up and under until back at point A at which time, work in reverse and loop back around the triangle until complete.

While I don't know how to quilt, it sounds like with your resources, maybe look into a no sew fleece blanket for her. All is needed is two large sheets of fabric (college colors, football team colors...) and scissors.

I made one during college for my now-fiance. We still have it around for extra warmth.

This page has more pictures and information, but the original is in Russian. I ran it through a translator but I don't know how effective it will be.

I'm not sure if this constitutes cruelty, but it certainly is unusual.

By the way, if there are any Chrome users out there, the pinterest bookmarklet does not work for some reason.

So I wrote a Chrome extension so that you basically right click on any image on the web and pin it straight from there.

Here it is, if you want it:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ebnlmphodejhpeoplgojlbgcekfopfjo

I'm not sure how the metal part is connected to the pink cord/the charm string, but if you can get the metal part off and see how the strings connect it's probably an easy fix.

If you can't get the metal part off - you could always buy a new strap. (Sorry, I didn't see it in smaller bundles in pink. But the whole thing is only $1.99)

I recommend using fishing line and putting clear nail polish on the knots.

Hope this helps! Let me know if I can help more :)

i don't use tuts for basic stuff like that anymore. if you want a basic bag: this is as close to the ones i make as i could find. if you want complete no sew, pick up a bottle of fabric glue or hem glue. good luck :)

[edit] i just thought of something else since you're a knitter/crocheter. if you aren't already a member, join ravelry.com. this site saved my life when christmas rolled around. you can find pretty much anything you could ever want, made out of yarn somehow. ;)

I made a bunch of wands using a similar tutorial on Instructables. (He also has a light up LED version!) They came out really great, and you can't even tell they're made from paper. You do need follow the first tutorial's warning to fill the core with glue, because kids will beat the crap out of these pretty fast, and any hollow spots inside will result in a bend or break. In order to keep from using so much hot glue, I'd use more paper. I'd roll a second sheet narrower than the opening, put a bunch of glue into the wand, then shove in the narrow core, pushing glue deeper inside. Or I'd roll a tight, narrow core, then wrap more paper around it.

I'll see about posting a photo soon.

If you like working with paper, check out these pins on Pinterest! I'm also a broke college student and I am crafting all of my gifts this year. So far, I have a bouquet of roses made of coca cola cans, a beard hat (75% completed), and I'll be working on some mittens once I find a fleece blanket I can cut up from Goodwill.

EDIT: Here are some cool printables that look fun (if any of your giftees like crafts). I'm giving the mouse and cheese to my lil sis who has pet mice and the voodoo stubby to her bf because he likes baking (could use a toothpick holder).

Uhm, this is amazing. I've always wished there was a website like this. Thank you so much for sharing! You've got some good stuff on your board!

Edit: Started mine!

A bit pricey, but here you go. Getting closer anyway! I googled "safety pin with removable head" and there were a few viable hits.

That's probably going to be your best bet for a truly diy music box, unfortunately. It would definitely work for the song in question, and to be honest it's relatively inexpensive compared to many other DIY chromatic music boxes kits.

For a less expensive option, you could try something more like this, where you can just record the audio itself. There are probably similar kits online with different audio lengths, different mechanisms, etc..

Alternately, if you buy a cheap mp3 player, this option would also work really well (assuming you already have a box).

Hope this helps! I'd love to see the finished project, however you decide to make it!

It's available for purchase in my newly updated Etsy Shop.

This one of a kind pendant necklace is formed with Japanese paper clay. Also known as "fuwa fuwa clay", this material is extremely light, pliable, and easy to work with. Unlike other clays used for crafting and jewelry making, Japanese paper clay air dries over a couple of days. Once the pendant is fully dry, it's surface is sanded down a bit to allow for better paint adherence.

I use acrylic paints to layer color and create pattern and texture on the pendant. I am very inspired by the patterns and textures in traditional Russian folk art and Byzantine icon paintings (which can also be seen in some of my other mixed media paintings and collages). Everything on the clay pendants is completely hand-painted, and then coated with a few layers of acrylic gel gloss medium as a final protective finish. I have added my initials, "RV", on the back of the pendant because it is a one of a kind, original piece of wearable artwork.

The chain is about 18" in length and is made out of antiqued brass. The pendant measures about 2" x 1.5" x .25".

This is from my faveourite swedish blog Underbaraclara.nu. There is a google translate option on the right side, the translations is a bit funny at times but i think you'll get the point. Think i'm going to try this on our big speakers if the husband lets me.. Here's a pic of the same speaker after she painted them white.