Mother's Day Craft's

Craft Stick Sunflower Picture Frame

You Need:

• 8 Craft Sticks
• 13 Small Oval Woodies
• 1 Large Round Woodies
• 2 Medium Tear Drop Woodies
• Tacky Glue
• Paint or Markers (I like to use paint markers
  with craft sticks.)
  
• Photo
• Cardboard for Backing
• Cardboard Easel or String for Hanging

Instructions:

Paint pieces and set aside to dry. Assemble with
tacky glue. Let dry. Trim cardboard to cover the
back. Run a bead of glue along bottom and both
sides of cardboard. Leaving top open to slide in
photo. Secure to back a frame. Glue on an easel
or a string for hanging.

Tip for group craft:

Dye pieces ahead of time to keep mess and time
to a minimum. You can do this by soaking the
wooden pieces in traditional fabric dye
dissolved in water or try soaking in
concentrated kool-aid. You can even use dried
out markers. Just remove the pads from inside
the barrels and place in a tub of water with
wooden pieces.

Easy Soap Making

This is a soap making process I learned from a
kids soapmaking kit I bought. It is incredibly
easy!!! And it is also quite inexpensive!

Parental supervision is recommended.

This project is rated VERY EASY to do.

What You Need:

• glycerine soap in lots of colors (This
  only works with glycerine soap -- transparent
  Neutrogena bars will work fine.)
  
• soap or candy molds
• microwave
• microwavable cups (don't worry-the soap
  washes off :) or you can use paper cups
  but watch your fingers!)
  
• plastic or metal spoons and/or wooden
  popsicle sticks or coffee stirrers
  
• a knife (sharp-watch your fingers).

How To Make It:

Set out everything you need, all ingredients, etc.
on top of the kitchen table (or other comfortable
working area) that has been covered in newspaper.
Cut bars of soap into about three pieces. Put a
piece into a cup (cut the pieces in half if you
are going to mix colors). Put soap in microwave
and melt it on high for about 10-15 seconds (no
kidding!) It may take a bit longer on low-wattage
microwaves. If it doesn't start to liquify in 15
seconds or it starts to bubble or boil, you may
not have a pure glycerin soap bar. Remove it
using a potholder, and stir it to mix thoroughly.
Pour melted soap (you have to work quickly here
it hardens really fast!) into molds. Wait about 5
minutes for it to harden and cool. Remove from
molds, and keep going! It gets to be quite
addicting! Put soap in gift bags or bath bags
(see my project) to give out as presents!

Tips:

If you are having difficulty getting the soap out
of the molds, put them in the freezer for a few
minutes, or a half hour or so, that should do it.
If the soap still sticks to the molds, you can put
olive oil in the soap or oil the molds with oil or
cooking spray.