Archive for the ‘crafts’ Category

Passing the Arts and Crafts Tradition to Your Kids

Filed in crafts, family traditions

For many parents, passing their family’s traditions along to their children is extremely important. It’s a vital part of who you are as people and you strive to become active participants in your children’s cultural growth. The best way to teach kids how to value tradition is to first teach them how each holiday is celebrated.

However, culture and tradition are often difficult to explain to the young ones so school teachers and parents can help make these explanations more clear by making holiday crafts with the kids. Teaching a lesson while the kids are engaged in making the craft is usually easier than talking to a group of children who just want to play.

Developing an Artsy Lifestyle

Art is not just for small kids. Just because a child grows older doesn’t mean crafts have to disappear from their lives.

Crafting is a way to create something from scratch or to explore an art form more deeply. With kids being so into video games, iPods, and cell phones nowadays, crafting is a way to relax and express who they are as a person. And, you’ll be glad to know that being ‘artsy’ is something that they can pass on to the next generation.

Can you imagine your great-grandchildren and their children creating mementos and scrapbooks around stories that originated from YOU? It’s an amazing feeling and you can do something to start the Artsy lifestyle that your kids will keep forever.


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Spring is the Best Time to Create a Scrapbook

Filed in crafts, family traditions, Scrapbook, Sentimental Gift Ideas

Spring means everyone will be in for another grand and fun house cleaning!

What isn’t well-realized is that spring is also the time for scrapbooking. Why? Notice when you clean, you stumble upon some sentimental but forgotten things you haven’t seen for a long time. Of course, at that moment, you promise never to lose it again. You place it inside a box and you vow to do something with it as soon as possible.

But things don’t go according to plan, do they? Soon you find yourself forgetting about these sentimental items that you really want to preserve forever. Moreover, you realize that the longer you keep them unprotected, the more they become damaged. Don’t let one spring cleaning pass you by again before you start treasuring these valuable things.

What are the things that you can put in a scrapbook?

1. Photos of you and your friends
2. Candid shots from family gatherings
3. kids’ artwork
3. buttons that you misplaced
4. rocks and shells that you picked up during your vacation
and the list goes on.

With a scrapbook, you preserve the memories, you can use your scrapbook as a conversational piece on your living room, and you can even wrap it up and send it as a gift to a relative who lives far away. Memories are the best gifts. If you can’t preserve them, they’re gone forever. If you can keep them with you, do it. You only live once.

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Family Occasions and Holidays: On a Budget

Filed in crafts, family traditions, Scrapbook

Crafts and Scrapbooks. Cards that need sentiments written on them. Did any occasion come to mind yet? Christmas, Holidays and Family Events! These are rare occasions that need your focused attention. This is when families come together. How important are holidays to people? Most families that have grown apart will have members in different places around the world. The only time they can be together are holidays, so these are a HUGE deal.

And, we all know that big deal events cost money right? Not necessarily. Here are a few tips to help you save up for holidays and events.

Buy Ahead of the Rush

The higher the demand, the more expensive the dwindling supply. Most seasonal things skyrocket in price during the season when they are most needed. Buying off season will get you far in terms of lessening the cost later on. Decorations and trimmings are among the many items you can buyu off season. And these are mostly available in the following stores.

Thrift stores are great places for all kinds of finds such as fabric, buttons, silk flowers and ribbons. These will be available in their raw state (hence the price). The best thing about it is, you can buy the small things on a budget, and your imagination and creativity will do the rest. Some of the best scrapbooking supplies can be found in thrift stores.

Discount Department Stores. Your local store will usually inform you when they are having a sale. PLan ahead and think of what you will need during the holiday season. Need masks for halloween? Maybe they have unpainted masks on sale because Halloween is at least 3 months away?

Find great decorations to spice up your living room and front lawn. You can store these in conspicuous places so that you won’t forget about them. How about discounted greeting cards? Buy in bulk so that everyone in your family can send cards to their friends using the discounted cards that you bought early on.

Your own home. Admit it, you have stuff in your home that don’t seem “special” now because they were from last year’s Christmas events. These are probably collecting dust somewhere. Bring them out, air them out and clean them… they will be good as new when the holidays hit.

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