Washcloth Crafts, Party Favors for the 4th of July -- TerryGami Heart Boxes

TerryGami Heart Box Favor

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The TerryGami Heart Boxes can be used as favors for the 4th of July, too, just make them in red, white and blue.  Use red, clear and blue heart shaped gems.  Look for packages of acrylic heart gems in craft stores. Fill them with star or flag rings or other treats.  Make the hearts in advance, and then let the kids decorate them at the party.

The 4th is right around the corner.  Start planning your party now.

~Terry

Washcloth Crafts, Party Popper Favor Box for the 4th of July

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I am not sure why I made the Firecracker Party Favor Box for New Year’s Day and the Party Popper Favor Box for the 4^th of July in the book.  It probably should have been the other way around.  The point is, they can easily be interchanged and decorated in new ways each year, using different materials and different color washcloths. 

The Party Popper Favor Box can be used for birthday parties, too, just decorate the box with party theme.  Craft stores seem to have just about everything you can think of, whether it is for a holiday or the current fad.  Pirate themed foam board cut outs are available online, and if the girls are into the pirate theme, it seems you can just put a black bow on the skull to give it a feminine flare!  Remember, even if they foam board has a sticky-back, you still need to use a safe fabric glue to stick them on the terrycloth material.  With the fabric glue, you can be pretty sure it will stay in place.

Every time I walk into a craft store, I am amazed by the variety of items available. I am always excited to see the new foam board and felt products that come available.  I love the glitter and glitz they have applied to them because they give the TerryGami ornaments more pizzazz.  As I mentioned before, everything sticks to terrycloth, so you can dust the ornaments with fine white glitter to jazz them up a bit.  I mention this now for crafters who begin making ornaments in July.

While I love the foam board stars for the favor boxes, a cheaper option is the red, white and blue sequin stars, if you are making a lot of favors for a party.  Of course, there are red, green, silver and gold sequins for Christmas.  You can also find Star of David sequin stars on online sequin websites, but they call them “star flowers.”  Also, you can sew small red, white and blue jingle bells on them to make the noise makers.

Women can use the Party Popper Favor Box for book clubs and pajama parties for the gals, just glitz them up a bit. What to put in them?  How about small decorator soaps, travel size lotion, lipstick, earrings, nail polish and small nail files or manicure tools.  If the party is at the beach, there are shell shaped sequins and sequins made of shells! They can also be decorated with beads and acrylic or natural gems.  The sequins and beads can be sewn onto the material.  I don't think they have book shaped foam board cut outs, but you can always make them yourself, if you are ambitious and crafty.  Of course, today, even kids have book clubs.

Happy crafting!

~Terry

Washcloth Crafts, TerryGami 4th of July Firecracker Party Favor Box

Washcloth Firecracker

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The 4th of July is right around the corner!  The picture above is just a sample of how you may want to decorate your TerryGami firecracker for the 4th.  If you are making the firecracker favor box for a party, start gathering supplies now.   You may want to use the new felt squares with glitter for the red stripes and the glittered foam board stars for decoration rather than star sequins. Use red and/or blue pipe cleaners for the fuse.  Red jingle bells (12 mm) are available in craft stores for the button on the favor box.  If it is going to be a big party, start collecting the cardboard T-paper rolls now. I experimented with the red glitter foam board for the stripes, but the felt works much better. Cut the stripes about 1/2 inch wide. Be sure to mark the felt with a ruler before you cut it.  

Suggestions for treats to put inside the favor box:  whistles, noise makers, flag or star rings, small flags, bracelets, necklaces, tattoos, flag or star erasers, star lollipops, etc.  You can find these items online at the Oriental Trading Company site.

Happy 4th of July and Happy Crafting!

~Terry 

Washcloth Crafts, Fiskars Safety Scissors for Kids

Fiskars Scissors for Kids



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Wow!  I just found a 12 pack of Fiskars Safety Scissors for Kids online at Amazon.  I purchased a pair in a discount department store and have been using them myself to test them out.  They cut through the terrycloth easily!   I was a bit concerned about children using sharp scissors to cut out facial features, ribbon or terrycloth (some critters require that you trim the cloth a bit), but these do the trick nicely.  Now, the scissors are still are sharp, so supervision will still be required, but they do not have a sharp pointed tip and the handle is easy to grip.

  If you have a large party or group of children and you want to include the scissors in the sewing kit (if you are making the kit as a party favor), you may consider checking out the link above rather buying the scissors individually. Amazon sometimes sells the washcloths in bulk, too, which may be of help if you are looking for a specific color washcloth.  Remember, though, kids love to choose their own color for their critter, so if you don't have red to make the Heart Box as a party activity, give them the choice of pink, yellow, blue and green and that should satisfy them, especially if it isn't Valentine's Day, which it won't be for a while. By the way, you can also use the Heart Box as a Christmas ornament and white would work just as well. Dust the ornament with fine, white glitter to give it a little sparkle.

Happy Crafting!
~Terry

Washcloth Crafts, Use the Firecracker Party Favor Box for a 4th of July Party!

 Washcloth Firecracker

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Washcloth Crafts!

Use red and blue stars instead!

The Firecracker Party Favor Box can be used on the 4^th of July, just decorate it with red and blue stars instead of gold and silver stars. Kids can always find a use for the Firecracker Box after a party.  For example, it can be used to stash candy, allowance money, Jacks or marbles, etc.

Whether the Party Popper Favor Box is used for the 4^th of July or the Firecracker Favor Box, you will have to collect enough toilet paper rolls to have one for each child attending the party.  If the children are making the favors themselves as the party activity, ask them to bring their own cardboard rolls, but if you are making the Firecrackers as the party favor, you may want to start saving the rolls now so you don’t come up short when July rolls around. 

Ready cut foam board and glitter board stars are available in craft stores if you don’t want to use sequins, although there are red and blue sequins are available, too.  There are also foam board letters, if you want to put each child’s name on the favor. Remember to use fabric glue on the terrycloth even if the foam board has a sticky-back side. If you want to get fancy with the button for the latch, there are star buttons available in fabric stores.  Metallic pipe cleaners come in all colors for the fuse.

Start planning now to make a special treat for the kids this 4^th of July.

Happy Crafting!

~Terry

Washcloth Crafts, Washcloths!

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Yesterday I found a bundle of eight, beautiful. borderless washcloths for a reasonable price ($5) at a dollar store, and I was thrilled!  Now I suppose in most circles this would be considered pathetic.   I found two different bundles which had the colors light pink, dark pink, yellow, and orange in one, and green, blue, white, and beige in the other.  The colors were gorgeous! 

These washcloths were a little bit thicker than the bundles of 18 for $4, but this may be helpful if you want to eliminate the need for stuffing the critters with quilt batting. Remember though, the kids love to stuff the critters so don't eliminate a fun part of the project unless you need to. By the way, fabric stores usually have packages of all sizes of quilt batting, so you don’t need to buy a huge bag of it. The smallest bag will last almost forever, depending on how many projects you plan to do.  If you are selling the critters for craft sales, though, omitting the need for batting would eliminate an additional expense, but then the thicker cloths cost a little more. So, it is a case of “six of one and a half a dozen of the other.”  It would eliminate one step. Also, not all of the projects call of batting, even with the thin cloths.

The only color I have not been able to find in the bundles is black, which will be important when Halloween rolls around, but you can make orange bats instead. They are just as cute, and kids prefer the bright colors.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they made yellow, green or purple bats, if you gave them the option.  I find that children can sometimes be a lot more creative than adults are!

Forgive me, but I love terrycloth!

Happy Crafting!

 ~Terry

Washcloth Crafts, Happy Mother's Day and Crafts

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Happy Mother’s Day!

Washcloth Crafts!

My mother was always doing one craft or another when I was a teenager.  I was totally uninterested in any craft at the time, although I do remember stringing a few beads to make bead flowers back then.  It wasn’t until I got to college and watched my roommate engrossed in doing a crewel piece that I became interested. Mind you, at home, my mother did beautiful crewel pieces that she framed and hung in every room of our home, but it took someone my own age to get me interested in the craft! 

I wonder now, if my mother had insisted that I try it before I knocked it – I wonder if it would have given us something we could have shared, because of course, I went crewel crazy in college.  The craft craze only got worse after when I married and had kids. 

After crewel work came an interest in ceramics, macramé and punch needle embroidery.  When the kids came along, the craft of the day was woodworking (a craft created in Puckane, Ireland – like stained glass but instead of glass, stained pieces of wood are used), wood burning, crochet, actual glass stained glass, quilting, Christmas sweatshirt painting, bandanna beading and lollipop making and more.  Mind you I haven’t mastered all of these crafts. Now I am trying to learn how to knit and working on TerryGami, although knitting has been put to the side for now.

Maybe this should be a lesson to young mothers and even grand mothers out there.  Try to get your child or grandchild interested in a crafts, and then maybe someday you both will have a passion for a craft you both can share. Start when children are young, otherwise they will be too "cool" to even consider it.

Moms, enjoy your day and happy crafting!

~Terry

Washcloth Crafts, Teacher Appreciation Week - Give the book as a gift or make a gift to give!

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How about a TerryGami gift basket for Teacher Appreciation Week?  The gift can be as simple as just the the TerryGami book wrapped in apple paper, or it can also include a basket with a package of washcloths, other supplies and a Teacher’s Boo Boo Apple for her classroom.  She will have the summer to experiment and decide what she would like to do for next year’s class, and this book will give her some ideas.

When we think of Teacher Appreciation Week, we think of school teachers of all kinds who have shaped our parents’ lives, our own lives, and the lives of our children.  We should honor them all, but there are many kinds of teachers in this world, and we should consider them all this week, too.  Teachers show up as friends and family members who show us our folly.  Teachers show up as ministers and gurus who expand our world view and show us our possibilities.  Teachers show up as authors, talk show hosts, newscasters and sometimes even as celebrities who provide us with information.  Choose the teachers you can choose wisely, because not all teachers are wise, but celebrate the ones who are and give thanks for them.

Happy Crafting!

~Terry

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