By Marianne Ruggiero
Coordinator of Family Programs at The RISD Museum

April brings showers, flowers, and birds back into our gardens. Bring a piece of nature inside your home by creating a sun catcher in the shape of a bird in flight. Here’s an easy sun catcher project you can make with your kids. It was developed by Zehra Ahmed, a RISD Architecture student originally from Karachi, Pakistan. Sun catchers, first developed by Native Americans in the Southwest, are often made of glass or other types of reflective materials. Zehra’s sun catcher, based on an English porcelain syrup jug in the Museum’s decorative-arts collection, uses transparent cellophane wrap and other materials that you may already have in your home.

This lovely jug (above) created to hold syrup is from the Coalport China Company’s “Japanese Grove” pattern. It features a scene inspired by Japanese art of bamboo and flying birds resembling swallows against a gilded background. This and other beautiful examples of American and European ceramics featuring birds and flowers may be found on The RISD Museum’s 6th-floor bridge to Pendleton House as part of an ongoing exhibition titled The birds & the bees & the flowers & the trees.

Make a Bird Sun Catcher

Materials:
• Bird template (Download PDF)
• Scissors
• Exacto Knife (optional - for adult use only)
• Colored cardboard (your choice of color)
• Colored cellophane wrap (available at Michael’s Craft Store)
• Glue stick
• Paper punch
• Ribbon

How To:
1. Print two copies of the bird template and carefully cut them out. Adults should help children cut out the inner areas of bird wings and body.
2. Trace the templates onto the colored cardboard and cut them out. Adults should help children cut out the inner areas of bird wings and body. (An exacto knife works well for the inner area.)
3. Lay pieces of cellophane wrap over the bird frames. Use two colors if you like, one for the wings and the other for the body. Cut pieces of cellophane to fit over the inside spaces of the bird frames, but not to extend beyond the outside edge.
4. Put the two cardboard frames together so that you know which sides to glue; then put glue (not too much) all along the inner sides of the bird frames.
5. Lay cut cellophane wrap over the glue and seal the frame shut. Hold in place for a couple of minutes to make sure glue sets.
6. Punch a hole through the two glued frames in the area that corresponds to the place marked “X” on the print-out.
7. Put a colorful string or thin ribbon through the hole and tie a knot at the other end.
8. Your bird sun catcher is completed. Hang in front of a sunny window in your home so that it catches the light.

Celebrate the Earth with Us!
On April 26, from 11 am – 4 pm at The RISD Museum, kids and families pay tribute to Earth Day by making sun catchers, peace flags, finding nature-related art on a special gallery quest, and enjoying a live concert by the Community MusicWorks Players. (Two performances in the museum at 12 pm and 1pm). Free-For-All Saturday at the museum means admission, refreshments, and all activities are free!
Location: The RISD Museum - 224 Benefit Street, Providence, RI

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CREDITS:
Photo: Zehra Ahmed (RISD 2009) teaches children a project at a RISD Museum Free-For-All Saturday workshop. Photograph by Carole deGroat.
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Coalport China Company
England, Coalport, 1780-present
Syrup Pitcher (“Japanese Grove” pattern), ca. 1880
Porcelain, cobalt and gilt decoration
Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund 2004.27.1

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A quick list of my favorite finds on the web this week.

• I love the design sensibility of Janet Morales and Stu Eli, the husband and wife team behind the website, three potato four, an online shop devoted to housewares, accessories, and vintage finds. And thanks to Design Sponge, you can get a sneak peek into their home.

• Find clever ideas for storing your kids’ artwork at cookiemag.com.

• The Whip Up blog is all about handcrafting and recently reviewed the fab new book, Making Stuff for Kids.

• This week I learned about Lindsey Carr on the Rag and Bone blog. She lives in Glasgow, Scotland and creates wonderful paper-craft puppet theaters in the wee hours of the night. You can buy one of her DIY paper theaters on her etsy site.

• If you like making your own birthday cakes, you can pre-order Matthew Mead’s new book, Cakes for Kids. Check out his new website for design inspiration.

Your new baby’s toes are precious and little for just a short time. A great way to remember how adorable they are is to have them cast into a three-dimensional model. Although there are many do-it-yourself home kits available, chances are you will not get the same amazing attention and detail unless you use Wiggle Toes.

Lauren Nichols of Wiggle Toes has been making “baby feet” for seven years, beginning as a complimentary service for patients of dentist Dr. Jack Armstrong in Denver, Colorado. She adapted the process of making teeth molds to making molds of newborns’ feet and preserved them in a keepsake shadow box. Lauren believes the best time to make impressions of your baby’s feet is right after they’re born; in fact, she visits new moms and their babies right at the hospital. Making the mold takes only moments. Choose colors, paper, and embellishments from Lauren’s swatches, and she assembles your custom shadow box and mails it to you within the week.

Lauren has now expanded into making molds of children’s hands starting from whenever they can hold their hand out straight up to about age 10. Make Wiggle Toes the project at a party or visit her studio to have a one-on-one session. She recently made impressions of my boys’ hands, and they were fascinated by the process and with learning what a mold was and how it works. After the hand has been cast, you can allow your kids to be part of the creative process of decorating the shadow box. However, if you’d prefer to design the finished keepsake rather than leaving it to your children’s whims, just tell Lauren ahead of time and she will help you choose the right paper for your shadow box.

New babies often get more adorable clothes than they can ever manage to wear. Consider giving this more meaningful keepsake from Wiggle Toes for new parents. I know years from now, it will be nice to have a physical reminder of how small my boys once were.

This important Chinese holiday celebrates the beginning of a New Year—this year being the Year of the Rat—according to the lunar calendar. It starts on a New Moon and ends with the lantern festival on the full moon about 15 days later. Although in some areas the lantern festival is on a weekend for convenience. Celebrations can last up to a month with big family gatherings, gift giving, the eating of symbolic foods and displays of festive decorations—all focused on bringing good luck for the new year and celebrating the coming of Spring.

Celebrate with your children
• Read about the holiday, Happy New Year! / Kung-Hsi Fa-Ts’ai! by Demi or Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin
• Red is the symbol of fire and believed to drive away bad luck. Wear red clothes; decorate the house with red decorations.
• Make paper lanterns with construction paper.
• Make this colorful dragon mask and have a dragon parade.
• Make a chinese feast at home or order food from Lucky Garden on Smith Street.
• Learn more about Chinese culture, learn the language and attend some local events.
Visit Mei Mei and Me–a great local resource in Rhode Island.

Upcoming events to celebrate the New Year locally:
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After seeing the matchbox advent calendar on Kids Craft Weekly, I was reminded how as a child I used to love to decorate old matchboxes and use them to stash trinkets, notes, or treasures I had found.

I decided to adapt this idea and make little “love” boxes with my kids for our Valentine’s Day craft, but this simple project can easily be used throughout the year.

Supplies:
• empty matchboxes (10 boxes for $.89 at East Side Marketplace)
• glue stick and , craft glue
• ruler
• scissors
• paper, wrapping paper (I used origami paper – a multipack of forty 4 5/8” square sheets $1.99 at Utrecht on Wickenden Street)
• collage items - ribbons, stickers, sequins, glitter
• markers, crayons, paint and paintbrush
• treasures to place inside – candy, notes, charms, etc.

How-to:
To cover the matchbox with paper, you first need to measure the box. Use a small ruler to measure, mark your paper with a pencil line, and cut with scissors or use a paper cutter to quickly cut a number of sheets. (Cut the paper a little longer than the distance around the box so the paper sleeve will overlap when you glue it.)

My mini matchbox measures 3/8 “ H x 1.5” W x 2 1/16” L. I can get two strips (4 5/8” x 2 1/16”) from each origami sheet, leaving me a little strip I can also use later to cover the ends of the drawer.

Use glue stick to cover backside of paper with glue, wrap tightly around box, and allow to dry. (Test paper first to see if words from the matchbox show through. If so, paint the box first with craft paint and let dry.)

You can get as creative as you or your kids want. Paint the box drawer inside and out, line the drawer with paper or felt, and/or collage the outside of the box by gluing on ribbons, sequins, buttons, etc. with craft glue.

We filled our boxes with love notes and candy hearts, but the possibilities are endless – mini drawings, photos of the kids (nice gift for grandparents), shells, feathers, little toys, assorted baubles etc. This box also makes a fine Tooth Fairy Box – a place for your child’s lost tooth for under the pillow to await the Tooth Fairy, or as we do in our house, a place for my son to save all his lost teeth because he can’t bear to part with them.

Here is a link back to the valentine heart project I wrote about last year on Kidoinfo. Since the website had not yet officially launched, I doubt anyone saw this craft in time.

My boys and I also had the pleasure of joining our friends at Rag and Bone Studio for a book craft last winter. The kids made these adorable Valentine’s Day accordion books, which can easily be adapted to suit any holiday.

If you have great valentine project ideas, please click comments and share them with our readers.

I recently wrote about cutting snowflakes from a folded piece of paper. This traditional method worked fine, and my boys and I cut a lot of snowflakes. However on my latest trip to the grocery store, a display of packaged doily circles brought back vague memories of using doilies in grade school to cut snowflakes.

Using the doilies turned out to be super fast and produced beautiful lace-like snowflakes.

Look at images of Wilson A. Bentley’s real snowflakes for snowy inspiration.

Here’s how to hack your own six-sided snowflake.

Supplies:
1 package of round doilies, any size (I used round 5.5”)
Scissors
Dustpan and broom to sweep up the paper cuttings

How-To (PDF):
Fold circle in half
Fold in thirds
Fold in half again
Make various cuts along the edges to customize your own snowflake.

The traditional way to make a snowman is to head outdoors, roll a few snowballs, stack them up and adorn. If, however, you do not live in a snowy climate or there is no white stuff on the ground at present, here is an alternative snowman project for you and your kids.

Collage Snowman
Read Snowballs by Lois Ehlert for additional inspiration.

Materials:
• old magazines, wrapping paper, or tissue paper
• odds ‘n ends like buttons, beads, beans, toothpicks, scraps of fabric, felt
• scissors
• glue sticks, Elmer’s Glue or Mod Podge
• construction paper or cardstock paper

How-To:
• For young kids, it is helpful to precut 3 different size circles out of white paper. (Glasses, bowls and pot covers are great for tracing circles.)
• Older kids can trace and/or cut their own white circles out of paper or old magazines.
• Glue 3 circles to form the snowman body on blue colored paper or cardstock.
• Cut more shapes from magazines or add odds ‘n ends with glue to make eyes, nose, mouth, hat, scarf, and arms.
• Make one snowman or a whole snow family. Great for cards, to make a book, or to frame.

By Vanessa Relli-Moreau
Education Department
Providence Children’s Museum

Winter in Rhode Island can be long. As the season gears up, kids have lots of festivities, activities and opportunities to play. They build gingerbread houses, make ornaments and enjoy holiday celebrations. Kids are almost overwhelmed with opportunities for holiday fun. All of this entertainment leads up to their winter break when they likely have lots of excitement and new toys to play with.

Then January arrives. Kids tire of their toys and remember how they used to play outside, especially with their friends. The holiday glow fades and they begin to hibernate and say, “we’re bored!” Now is the time to come up with creative new ways to play.

The best way to beat the winter blues is to encourage children to develop and follow their own ideas and imaginations. My daughters are six and three and over the years we have helped them come up with ways to spice up the long winter season:

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I love hanging up the kids’ artwork, but I want it to be easy and fast. I let my husband handle this project while I took the kids to the park, even though I make and fix plenty of things myself in our house. My husband chose to do it himself instead of buying a kit. He took advantage of the long kneewall in the hallway of our converted attic. You can also find ready-made kits in various lengths and colors.

If you don’t want a do-it-yourself project, check the ready-made options below.

D.I.Y.
supplies
• wood 1″ x 4″x any length (ours is about 10 feet long)
• screws (sheetrock screws to hold wood to wall and fat head screws to hold bulldog clips)
• bulldog clips (from Staples or Utrecht)
• level
• drill
• pencil
• tape measure
note: try to find some studs to attach the 1×4 securely to the wall.

Ready-Made
Pottery Barn and Photojojo

Cutting snowflakes out of paper seems pretty easy. And even though we make them every year to celebrate winter, I still manage to be a little rusty on the how-to part. I usually try a few different ways of folding the paper before getting it right so I don’t end up with square snowflakes (not that there’s anything wrong with that). This year I found this easy-to-follow template on Ms T’s website. My boys and I decided to fill our house with snow.