3 Easy Summer Crafts
When you and your kids are taking a break from the beach, the summer months are a great time to relax and have fun with some simple craft projects. These three classics may bring back memories from your own childhood – of summer camp, leisurely afternoons on the porch or sleepover activities with good friends. Kids still love to do them, and they'll hang on to what they've made as special keepsakes for years.
Ojos de Dios
Materials:
- Several pairs of sturdy sticks in similar sizes (3 to 4 in.), or popsicle sticks
- Hot glue gun
- Several spools of colorful yarn
- Scissors
1. Glue pairs of sticks together at the center to form cross shapes. Wait for glue to dry completely.
2. Choose a yarn color, and secure the intersection of the sticks either using a figure 8 pattern, or by doing several diagonal wraps in one direction and then in the other direction.
3. Now begin to move the yarn around the sticks counter-clockwise, crossing it over a stick, looping it behind and back over the stick, then moving to the next stick to the left and repeating. Continue doing this, forming expanding concentric diamonds.
4. When you run out of one yarn color or want to cut your yarn and start another color, knot the ends of the two colors together and continue your pattern.
5. When you're finished, wrap the yarn tightly a few extra times around one stick and apply a dab of glue at the back to secure it. If you wish, you can leave enough yarn length to hang your finished projects.
