We are going to allow my daughter to have 3 friends over for a birthday sleepover at the end of January. I am dreading it. :) Anyway, she really wants to do some sort of craft. I would categorize myself as "craft challenged" so am turning to all of you for ideas that would be manageable for me and fun for the girls. They are 8 and 9 years old and our 6 year old twins will be included too.
My daughter wants to do something with fabric. I do not have a sewing machine and wouldn't know how to use one if I did. I think she likes the idea of having something that the girls can cuddle with when they go to sleep. I know about the fleece tie blankets as they have made them in Girl Scouts so she wants to do a different project.
I welcome ANY ideas that you think would be age appropriate, fun for them and not too expensive or complicated for me. I would love to come to her with a list of ideas and let her pick. I do think she could be persuaded not to do a fabric craft so any type of craft ideas are welcome.
Thank you, thank you!
You ladies are AWESOME!!! Thanks for the fantastic ideas! I am actually now kind of looking forward to it. The ideas are very doable. I am going to discuss them with my daughter and see what she thinks. I am loving the pillow case possibilities! Thanks again for taking time out of your busy day to help me!
You could make sachets. Get some tulle and cut squares, you may be able to get pre-cut squares or circles, and ribbon. Put herbs in center, pull edges or corners together and tie with ribbon. You should be able to find dried lavender or rose petals quite easily.
You could get a couple packs of mens large white tshirts and let then decorate them as nightshirts. Puff paint, fabric glue, glow in the dark tshirt paint. They could even sew on trim, ribbons, patches of other fabrics. I have done this with my 3 yr old, so Im sure the older girls could do it. Get them 2 tshirts each so it will take up more time. They could even sew on beads and sequins, or glue on felt pieces with fabric glue.
My daughters friend had a sleepover last year and they did build a bears that the mom got from JoAnn's. They were only 6 & 7 at the time so the sewing involved was a tad bit difficult for them. But I do think 8 & 9 year olds could do them. The sewing was with a long plastic needle and yard. The holes were all precut and it basically was going in and out...really simple.
Go check out craft kits at Jo Ann Fabric's or a similar type store. My daughter got a sewing craft kit from her grandma last year for Christmas. It came with everything she needed to hand sew a plush door hanger. It was really cute.
This puppy is pretty cute!
http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/kidscraftsactivitie...
You could tye dye pillow cases with their names written in big letters along the open end of the pillow case. My daughter did this at a party several years ago and all those friends continue to use them and bring their pillows with those cases to all sleepovers so it has been long appreciated. When my daughter was that age, we bought little ceramic type animals and paint at a party store for her birthday party. It was quick and simple, but the girls enjoyed painting them and taking them home.
If you do tie dye, look for some that doesn't require soaking it in soda ash. That can get pretty messy. My kids just got some for Christmas that is applied with spray bottles and then heat set in the dryer.
The Crayola fabric markers are great! Put cardboard between the layers to prevent bleed through. You can heat set it with an iron or a dryer. Much less mess than fabric paint.
Look at Family Fun magazine on line. They always have cute, easy, inexpensive craft ideas. I remember them having several ideas for decorating T-shirts.
Make pillows.
Just go to your local fabric store or Walmart, pick out some fabric and also get pillow stuffing. And matching thread. Cut each length of fabric, into the size pillow you/she wants. Do this prior, to the guests getting there.
Then, the kids can sew it... by hand. Using a simple overhand stitch. Look it up online. Its easy. My daughter could make her own pillow, sewing up the sides by hand, herself, this way, when she was 7.
And she was very proud of the pillow SHE sewed herself. Her friends also made pillows too.
If you do t-shirts, make sure to put cardboard in the middle so the paint doesn't soak through. if you don't want to do t-shirts, they could decorate slippers. Check out pinterest too. I find lots of good ideas on there. You could also google easy craft ideas and see what comes up.
Design pillow cases (aka pillow case art). since there are so few, you just get white or light colored pillow cases (try Tuesday Morning) get fabric markers and let them go for it!
How about a cocktail napkin wreath? They can hang it on their bedroom door when they're done. I made one before Christmas and it was super easy!!! You can find some cute napkins (animal prints, bright colors, etc). Wreaths are pretty cheap too. I think I paid $5 for the one on my front door.
https://www.google.com/search?q=cocktail+napkin+wreath&am...
You can make:
-pillow cases
-jewelry boxes they adorn w/jewels & shells
-mini throw pillows
Our most popular sleepover crafts are pillow cases or pajama shirts with fabric markers. They don't take long to dry, pretty inexpensive and easy to make. We've also done fabric ties on flip flops and at a small sleepover(3 kids), they created cork bulletin boards. We got small wooden letters and shapes that they painted and hot glued to the board.
My son and his cousins painted t-shirts to sleep in when he was younger. Everyone had a great time, and the t-shirts turned out great! I just bought white Hanes t-shirts and a variety of fabric paint. It was fun to see the different designs the kids came up with. Their personalities sure were evident!
For a fabric type project you could decorate t-shirts. The only problem is that if you use fabric paint it will need to dry overnight.
They could paint/decorate a picture frame. Take a picture of all the girls and give them a copy to put in their frame.
