Girl's Camp Crafts 2012

I recently returned from Girl's Camp and thought you might like to see what we did this year for crafts.  At the end of each project I will give you some tips and my honest opinion of the success of the craft. We tried to be frugal and use some of the existing supplies from previous years.  This is what we came up with...

"Let Your Light Shine" Lanterns

The girls brought a recycled jar to camp to use for this project.

Some girls added colorful stickers to their lanterns.

Some added ribbons and fabric bows.

Glass beads were a big hit for the wire handles.

Tips and Review

This was a popular craft for the girls.  

Give clear instructions on the proper way to use spray paint.

A couple of light coats of spray paint are better than one heavy coat.

Sometimes the paint would peel off when the stickers were removed...be careful.

Be sure the wire handle is fastened securely to the rim of the jar, if not,

the jar can slip out and come crashing down!

We used battery operated tea lights from the dollar store.

For a full tutorial, click on the poster below.

T-Shirt Totes

We used an idea found on Skip to my Lou and tweaked it a little.  The girls brought their own t-shirt to use, plus we had some donated t-shirts on hand.  These are a no-sew project if you choose to tie the straps together instead of sewing them.

Tips and Review

The girls really liked this project.

If you tie the straps together, it is a no-sew project.  But, it also makes the straps shorter.  

For longer straps, sew them together and cover the seams with a t-shirt tie.

This is a great, lightweight, tote for bulky things.  Small items, though,

could fall through the bottom holes where the fringe is tied.

The more even the fringe is cut (width and depth) the better the final project.

For a full tutorial, click on the poster below.

"Get Your Shine On" Lip Gloss

We started with this recipe and tweaked it a little.  Our flavors were orange, strawberry, and peppermint.  We printed several labels onto 8 1/2" x 11" adhesive paper and punched them with a scallop-edged punch.

Tips and Review

The girls really liked this project.  

It tastes yummy on your lips.

It can be a messy project when measuring the vaseline and coconut oil.

The girls were not very precise when measuring the ingredients...keep an eye on them.

The containers could leak when the lip gloss gets too warm...best to keep the filled containers in a zip lock baggie.

For a full tutorial, click on the poster below.

Spoon People

What do you do with 900 leftover wooden spoons?  Well, you paint spoon people!  The girls were encouraged to paint them, embellish them, sign them, trade them, then glue them all together to display them.  

After the faces and bodies were painted, yarn, felt, and beads were used to embellish them.

Tips and Review

This wasn't the most popular craft offered...probably too time consuming!

The girls really enjoyed talking and painting, though.

Leave the lower 3/4" of the spoon unpainted so that it will adhere better to the wooden circle.

For a full tutorial, click on the poster below.

Melted Pony Beads

We had LOTS of plastic pony beads left from previous years.  This project was a fun (but stinky) way to use many of them.

Tips and Review

This was a popular and very easy craft.

You can either dump a bunch of beads into the mold and see what happens,

Or, you can carefully place the beads in an organized manner...tweezers help!

It smells when you bake the beads so do it outside.

I picked up inexpensive thrift store toaster ovens for this project.

Glass beads don't melt and provide a nice hole for a future chain or ribbon.

Clear beads make a nice sun catcher effect.

For a full tutorial, click on the picture below.

Well, that wraps it up for this year.  All in all, I think it was a success!

I like to link to these great parties!