crafts

  • The Three Broomsticks

    ByHeather Bailey

    HPBannerFinalTall

    ThreeBrooms
    Use these miniature Firebolts to add a bit of magical flair to your favorite Harry Potter party drink.  Or use the broom handles to skewer together any tasty morsels that threaten to scurry away on the dessert table.

    Broomstick Picks

    Materials Needed
    Raffia
    Wooden skewers
    Colored embroidery floss
    Brown thread

    Tools
    Sewing machine
    Hot glue gun & glue
    Scissors

    BroomA

    1. 
    Gather small bunch of raffia – about 20 strands. Stitch bundled raffia
    together. (Seam is about 3/4" long.) Trim raffia to 5" wide, with seam
    centered.

    BroomB

    2. 
    Place medium-size dot of hot glue to left of thread seam. Place the
    blunt end of skewer into glue, extending skewer about 1" past thread
    seam.

    BroomC

    3.  Fold right half of raffia over skewer. Secure with glue or simply keep a hold on raffia till Step 4 is completed. 

    BroomD

    4. 
    While holding raffia ends securely, wrap colored embroidery floss
    around broom bristles, about ½" from folded end of raffia. Wrap thread
    3-4 times and secure with knot. Trim raffia to even out end of broom.

    These brooms are surprisingly easy to make — bookmark for next Halloween : )

    • Cockroach Clusters recipe here.
    • Butterbeer recipe here.

  • Bead It, Kid

    ByHeather Bailey

    Necklace1new3
    Beadingnew So, guess who made these necklaces?

    Four-year-old Charlotte did this all by herself.  I thought I was
    embracing disaster by allowing her free access to several bins of beads
    while I worked on the computer today.  I was entirely wrong.

    Not
    only did Miss C patiently string together all of these designs without
    my oversight, but she made them all symmetrical.  Even her most
    eclectic necklace doesn't miss a beat
    bead.  Hours and hours of necklace-making.  All I did was add the
    clasps.  And I bent a loop at the top of her one pendant.  That's it.

    Necklace3new2

    Necklace4new2
    When I was four years old, my bottom dresser drawer was stocked with
    white paper, a stapler and staples.  I made all sorts of wild
    inventions with white paper that year.  And here I thought I had been
    tricky-stuff at four, with my paper robots and elephants.  Looks like
    Charlotte has 4-year-old me mightily whooped.

    The moral: 
    Moms, Grandmas, Aunts and Alligators, let your kids have access to some
    of your precious supplies.  They may surprise you with tidiness and
    ingenuity!  I can only imagine what I would have done with real art
    supplies at that age.

    Of course, they may surprise you with a royal disaster instead.  I've been there too — many times.