Keiki Gifts, Crafts & Activities

I could not have asked for a more wonderful idea…Lego + Muji!  It sounds like this gadget-building-paper combination will definately satisfy my creative side as well as the child in me.  I am certain that it will be a hit with my kids too.  Using a paper punch type tool, holes are made into paper and mounted on to the lego pieces turning it into a dimensional creation.  You will be able to make toys, cards, ornaments and more!

I don’t think you are able to buy this paper Lego products in the U.S. just yet but you can find it here online. 

Technorati Tags: craft, Japan, kawaii, Lego, Muji, toy

I found a quick and easy way to make raffia flowers with this Provo Craft flower loom. In 13 steps you can create your way to pretty flowers that can be used as colorful accessories and decoration. 13 steps sounds like a lot but you are basically doing the same step over and over like winding and wrapping.

This loom set is meant to make raffia flowers but following the same directions I also made flowers out of ribbon. The set comes with a plastic loom with removable pegs, a hook and yarn needle.

With a little guidance and by marking my loom pegs with numbers, my keiki was also able to make flowers.

Product information here:Knifty Knitter Flower Loom

Technorati Tags: craft, craft supplies, flower loom, flowers, knit, provo craft, raffia, ribbon

I agree with you 100%! These guys are very ugly little creatures but the thing is…they are adored and loved and pampered as if they are the most beautiful dolls in the world. I call them “therapy dolls” and it was created because my little keiki has recently developed a fear of natural disasters that she feels may wipe away our island. She decided she needed a buddy to go to bed with her and keep her company at night. She wanted to create something ugly but soft to sleep with and thus “Bobby” was made. Bobby is the big guy in the photo and she calls him her nightmare doll.

I think my daughter dotes on her doll so much because she “designed” it herself. She picked out the fabric, drew the face, made the limbs and stuffed the doll. I did the sewing although she did try to help.

After Bobby was made, another doll was created (not shown) and she is temporarily named “Miss Marge”. Miss Marge is the guidance counselor and she hangs around in my daughter’s bag for day trips and she helps with an assortment of woes.

My keiki are enamored with these dolls and are creating more as I write. They love the “design” process. If my children know your children, then it’s likely you will receive one of these as long as the production line continues. So sorry…I know they’re ugly but they can’t all live here.

The small doll above has no name but it’s called the Confession Therapy Doll - “the devil made do it!” The recipient can confess all his/her naughtiness to this doll.

Excuse me now but apparently Miss Marge is unhappy with the expression she has on her face so I need to do face replacement surgery. A perfect face is hard to come by…

Technorati Tags: dolls, Keiki Crafts

Keiki handprints, when they are not on your television screen, are very precious when they are made into keepsake gifts. These personal gifts are the sweet reminders of your child’s life and growth. Here is a craft idea great for Mother’s Day.

Salt Dough Handprint Plaque - Make a batch of salt dough (the recipe is below). Break off a piece of dough that’s a little bigger than the child’s fist. Roll it out flat and make it any shape you want. Place the child’s hand in the middle of the rolled out dough and press it into the dough to make an impression. Press a paper clip into the top of the dough to make a hanger. Let the dough air dry or place it in a 300º oven 30 minutes to an hour, or until dry. Once dry, paint it any color you want. String a nice ribbon through the paper clip and tie it to make a nice hanger.

Salt Dough Recipe

Mix 1 1/2 Cups of salt and 4 cups of flour in a large bowl. Gradually add about 1 1/2 Cups of water until the dough forms a ball around the spoon. (If you add too much water, just add a little more flour. If it’s too crumbly, add more water.) Dump the dough out onto a flat surface and knead it until it is pliable and easily formed.

I got this recipe from Little Kid Crafts. Click Here!

Technorati Tags: keiki craft, mother's day, salt dough craft recipe

I enjoy crafty floral projects probably because I lack a green thumb and can’t get anything to grow in my garden. This is a simple how-to project to make colorful flowers out of chenille wires (pipe cleaners) and it is a terrific spring time project to do with children. Chenille wires are inexpensive and comes in many different colors so you can make a variety of different colored flowers from one bag.

These are the materials you will need:

• Chenille wire colors of your choice
• Beads - pony or wooden
• Floral tape

Step 1: Cut the wire into smaller lengths- no need to be precise.  When you cut the wires, be careful of the pointy wire ends.

• 6 wires at 4″
• 1 wire at 6″
• These are the petals, a stem and one wire to wrap it all together

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Step 2: Slide your bead onto the longest (6″) wire, slide about a 1/2″ down and fold and twist wire to secure the bead. This will be the center of the flower.

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Step 3: Bend 5 of the 4″ wires to form a loop. These will be the petals. Gather the loops together placing the beaded wire in the center with the “tail” hanging down.

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Step 4: Pinch together and tightly wrap the loose ends with your last piece of chenille wire. The “tail” is your stem. (Pardon my image but I hope you get the idea).

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Step 5: Cover the stem with your floral tape by winding it along the entire length of the chenille wire.

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Step 6: Gently spread open and shape the loops to form rounded petals.

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What to do with your flower:

• Wear over your ear. A flower over the right ear means you are available. A flower over the left ear, means, “sorry- I’m taken!”.
• Place several different flowers in a small vase and give as an everlasting gift.
• Embellish a gift.
• Use as party favors or party decorations.
• Spread kindness.

Have fun!

Technorati Tags: chenille flowers, children's craft, craft tutorial

Graphics by Mandie Lancaster::2009

It’s a bit gusty today in Hawaii with partly cloudy skies and scattered showers. The temperature is a cool 71°. Spring is here in Hawaii but then our weather is relatively the same all year long with day to day showers and sunshine. When our temperature drops below 70°…brrrr! That’s cold!!!! Many of us usually keep umbrellas with us just to prepare for those passing showers that greet us year round. Wouldn’t it be nice to have an umbrella that makes you smile and “sing in the rain”? Wouldn’t it be great to surprise someone special with a keiki designed umbrella? Imagine the surprise and joy on Daddy’s face when he pops open his boring black umbrella to find brightly colored flowers, rainbows and butterflies on his umbrella. So cool…

Ready yourself for Spring showers with a cheery umbrella that you can make yourself. You don’t even need to spend money on a new umbrella - just fancy-schmancy up your old one with paint pens or fabric pens. This project works best if you have a solid colored umbrella.

Here are other Spring activities that you can do with your keiki.

Family Field Day: Get your heart pumping with these fun sport activities.

Nature Exploration: Appreciate the outdoors.

Paper Birds: Easy and colorful birds that has many uses.

Sunflower Flyer: A sunburst of color to decorate any home.

Have fun!

Technorati Tags: Keiki Crafts, spring

Just to keep you updated on my posts on the Hawaii WAHMs blog. Here are a few of my entries:

Feb. 9, 2009

Crafts Carnival #2: Oh my! February 4th has come and gone. I scheduled that date for my Crafts Carnival #3. For all those who have submitted links and ideas, I apologize for the delay! Here is a late welcome to the February 4, 2009 edition of Keiki Gifts Crafts Carnival. Click here to read more.

Feb. 2, 2009

Decoupaged Puzzle Pieces: This is my first try at decoupaging a puzzle piece. I layered water color paintings on the background and sealed the front and back of the puzzle with Mod Podge then added “beading” elements such as charms, jump rings, etc. I should have added bigger pieces. Click on image to read more.

Jan. 20,2009

A tutorial - Simple Funky Earrings: So you don’t have any earrings to go with that dazzling muumuu with the colorful sea creatures and the bright, shimmering rainbow. No…those pearl earrings just won’t do and that other one is kinda booorrring! Hey- no be shy…make your own earring and show off your distinctive personality. Click on image to read more.

Jan. 14, 2009

A tutorial - DIY Gift Bags: These are instructions on how to make your own gift bags that can hold bulkier items. Using a box as your template and recycled or pretty scrapbook paper, you can make an assortment of gift bags in many sizes. It’s a little easier to make than the flat gift bags, posted earlier, because it’s just like wrapping a present. My mini gift bags were made by using a soap box and a cassette tape case as templates. Click on image to read more.

Jan. 6, 2009

Craft Carnival #2:I’m presenting my second edition of a crafts carnival with very fun and creative posts from fellow crafters. My first crafts carnival was held here on my Keiki Gifts Blog and I’m continuing my carnival posts on the Hawaii WAHMs blog so I can continue to enjoy and share online crafting discoveries. Click here to read more.

Jan. 2, 2009

A tutorial - DIY Flat Gift Bags: Here is a simple project to do with all the left over wrapping paper you may have salvaged from your opened Christmas gifts, decorative paper you have in your stash or even brown paper bags. You can turn these scraps into pretty gift bags or envelopes that you can use whenever needed. Click on image to read more.

Dec. 9, 2008

A tutorial - Mini Stuffed Ornaments (not just for Christmas): With a lot of grunting and groaning, we managed to get our Christmas tree up and positioned with a leftward lean to it displaying our tree’s slightly insolent attitude. Click on image to read more.

Please visit me on the Hawaii WAHMs blog or check back here at Keiki Gifts for updates. Thanks and have a great day!

Technorati Tags: activities, crafts, Keiki Gift Ideas

The keiki and I worked on these handmade greeting cards during the weekend. Watercolor paint was used to fill in the black and white images. We used the watercolor cake set that the kids use for school and experimented with the colors by blending and grading, using a wet brush and dry brush, and just fooling around while having fun. We will continue to tackle that pile of drawings and make them into useful greeting cards.

Helpful Link: Watercolor Tutorials

Technorati Tags: homemade greeting cards, Keiki Crafts, recycled craft

I was listening to a public radio interview a few weeks back and the speaker was talking about how we need a huge crises to hit before our government will begin to move forward with efforts to save our planet from over consumption. He said that all the little things we do as individuals -such as recycle bottles, cans, green waste or use energy efficient light bulbs- really does not help our our planet in the overall picture. We need, he said, huge government intervention before we see any changes that will impact our world and the only way that will happen will be through a crises that puts us all at risk first. After listening to that report, I was very depressed and saddened but I still have hope and belief that all the little things we do as individuals will amount to something great.

On a lighter note, I’d like to say that we crafters are doing our part in making a greener future because crafters like me often find ways to recycle scraps of paper, pieces of string and other “junk” to make it into useful or at least prettier.

My latest recycled project includes using an empty water bottle and loose pieces of artificial flowers to create a holiday centerpiece. First I cleaned and dried out the bottle. The label was removed and all stickiness from the adhesive was removed with baby oil (saved from when my kids were once tiny). Then I stuffed the bottle with decorative moss and flower heads allowing the taller stalks to poke out of the opening of the bottle. Then I tied raffia around the mouth. Hint: If you make the bottle too top heavy you may want to add some decorative stones in the the bottle to hold it down. I added pebbles from our yard. Also, smaller flowers will look work better for the inside of the bottle so it doesn’t get squashed.

This is a really simple craft that keiki can do. I am going to share this craft with Girl Scout leaders in my district so they can do this as a group craft with their troop. This is a simple and inexpensive way to decorate for the holidays.

This leads me to my thought and question for this week:

What is your favorite recycling tip?

Please share!

Technorati Tags: keiki craft, recycled water bottle

My kids and I enjoy origami paper folding. It’s relaxing and fun to see what you can create with a square piece of paper. For every day crafting, I get our origami paper from the dollar store rather than craft stores where the prices are quite a bit more expensive. My littlest enjoys making her own designs and uses her imagination to make her end product look like “something” while my older one follows the instructions intently. Origami kitties are very easy to make so it will be a project that is repeated many times over. My daughter recently decorated a composition book with origami kitties in various colors. Here is a photo of her creation and I have also included a tutorial link on how to create a Halloween origami cat. Have fun!

More origami links:

Origami Instructions

Origami Resource Center

Origami Fun

Origami Instructions Blog

Technorati Tags: How To, keiki craft, origami cat, paper folding