A Bowdabra Christmas

There’s no doubt that the holidays are a great time for family crafts and decorating together. Have you ever seen someone “Deck the Halls” with bows? Bows on the tree, bows on the stairways, bows on the railings outside…bows on presents. A Bowdabra Christmas is the chic festive holiday decorating scheme this year. Whether your theme is silver or red and green or the new blue or purple, with Bowdabra bows, you can achieve the snazzy presentation you’re looking for.

Gift wrap Bows

Top presents off with your home-made Bowdabra bows, with ribbons to match the wrapping paper. Or go ultra-chic with mixed fabrics and ribbons that contrast and compliment. New blue wrapping pops with silver, glittery bows and the even newer purples are accented with stylish gold bows. Kids will love crafting these bows and helping you attach them to the presents.

Stairways and Railings

Make a variety of diverse (or matching) bows to adorn the indoor and outdoor stairways and railings in and around the house. Get the kids involved with picking the colored ribbon out, designing the bows and tying them around the house. 

Christmas Hair Bows

These are awesome for presents for nieces and granddaughters, classmates and even your own daughter. Create them with the kids or make some new surprise hair bows to wrap and stuff into the stockings. Let your daughter make a hair bow for each of the girls in her class and spread the spirit of Christmas giving or take them to church and give them out. 

Bowdabra hair bows also great crafts to sell at craft fairs for holiday fundraising! People love the craft fairs during the holidays. Whether it’s for church, school, or to make some extra cash of your own this season, whip up some of these easy-to-make crafts and see how fast the sell! 

Bow Wreaths 

Add Bowdabra bows to a pre-made wreath. This is another perfect craft fair/fundraiser idea. You can make regular sized bows for an elegant and large wreath or mini bows for a smaller wreath. Hang your home-made wreaths around your own house as well – you’re sure to receive some compliments on these!

Tree Bows

Have you ever seen a Christmas tree decorated with bows instead of ornaments? You might see this is one of the major department stores, rather than glass ornaments. Elegant and classy, chic and stylish barely covers the presence that a tree decorated with bows displays. In addition, they’re also not breakable like the conventional glass ornaments. Instead of a star this year, make a large bow to top the tree, and then tie colorful – or completely matching – bows on the ends of the branches around the tree.

Make your Christmas a Bowdabra Christmas this year. Get your children, family, friends, and neighbors together, put out some snacks and drinks and have a Bowdabra festivity crafting party. There’s nothing better than being with the people who you love and creating new and easy decorations that will last for years to come.

 

About the Author:

Sandy Sandler is founder of non-profit Crafters 4 Kids and creator of the QVC best-seller, the Bowdabra. Her frugal craft projects and activity ideas are designed to transform the creatively-challenged into creative pros. Sandy’s focus is on creative and easy projects that parents can do with their kids and that kids can even do on their own that are both frugal and green in nature. Crafters 4 Kids focuses on projects that can be done under 5 minutes and under $5. Visit www.C4K555.org. Contact Sandy at jaimevivre@mac.com

Frugal Holiday Decorating Tips

I know that not everyone was born with a creative gene. If you are creatively challenged, I have some easy tips and crafts to help you “Deck the Halls” this season – and they’re budget-friendly, too! So, get over the fact that you are don’t have a creative bone in your body and get some family and friends involved in some holiday cheer.

Mr. & Mrs. Reindeer Apples

Red apples are a versatile decorating item for the holidays. Some brown pipe cleaners and some candy canes will quickly turn the apples into adorable and fun reindeer. This craft is so fun for children and can be given as gifts to teachers, neighbors, or children’s classroom friends.

Beaded Pinecones

Collect pinecones during the fall on your nature walk; get the children involved and see how many they can find. Thread some beads and eclectic thread onto some wire and wrap them in between the scales on the pinecone. You can also attach a bow atop the pinecone.

For placement, tie some string onto the pinecone and into a loop to create a hanger and display it in the window. Or you could decorate the Christmas tree with them, turning them into frugal, natural and green ornaments, too.

Frugal & Green Holiday Table Decorating

A holiday table can be spiced up with items from the local farmers market or simply from around your home, yard, and garden. Gather items from your home like recycled glass containers, pinecones, candles and extra tree ornaments that no longer fit on the tree. The local farmers market is fun! You can purchase dried wheat bundles, gourds, and fruits to brighten up a few bowls.

With the gourd, you can cut a whole and insert a tea light candle. Top the gourd with floral picks or a bow made with your Mini Bowdabra. Grab a large mason jar and simply add the dried wheat to it for a fall and winter decoration. Use the recycled glass jars to make a new candle by adding the tea light candles or a decorative piece with ornaments. 

Simple Table Decoration

Place some of those extra ornaments that are left over after decorating the tree into a punch bowl and place it in the middle of the table as an inexpensive centerpiece. You can add to the centerpiece by setting glass beads topped with tapered candles inside of small glass jars.

Large Vase Filled with Ornaments

Large vases are eye catching when they are filled with ornaments. Allow the kids to carefully choose the ornaments and help you add them.

Nature Walk Centerpiece

Take the kids for a nature walk and ask them to select handfuls of thin sticks that are two to three feet long. Splatter the sticks with a variety of paint colors. Once the sticks are dry, fill a mason jar with popcorn kernels and place the sticks into the kernels. The sticks are held up by the kernels, which add even more fun color to the display.

The idea of this season, during the current economic downturn, is to spend time with family while simultaneously saving money. What ideas can you come up with to decorate on a budget? Kids have excellent imaginations if you just start the ball rolling, so get out the craft supplies and let them do the creative thinking.

About the Author:

Sandy Sandler is the founder of non-profit Crafters 4 Kids and creator of the QVC best-seller, the Bowdabra. Her frugal craft projects and activity ideas are designed to transform the creatively-challenged into creative pros. Sandy’s focus is on creative and easy projects that parents can do with their kids and that kids can even do on their own that are both frugal and green in nature. Crafters 4 Kids focuses on projects that can be done under 5 minutes and under $5. Visit www.C4K555.org. Contact Sandy at jaimevivre@mac.com

Thanksgiving with Kids

I have some Do-It-Yourself tips to make this Thanksgiving even more blessed. Frugal, creative and green are this season’s theme, even if you are creatively challenged. These ideas are budget friendly, so anyone can do them. I hope these ideas spark some inspiration to make at least one of these crafty creations for your Thanksgiving this year.

Get The Kids Involved with these Frugal Decorations:

(Free step-by-step instructions with photos are available at Crafters 4 Kids)

Frugal and Fun Halloween Costumes For Your Kids!

Working with Crafters 4 Kids keeps me aware of the vast number of families that struggle through each and every holiday. It’s not a surprise that when Halloween comes along, kids expect to go to the store and get a brand new costume. Unfortunately, the store bought costumes (as you very well know) are getting ridiculously expensive each year! If you have one child, the cost might not be excessive; however families with several children are facing a hefty bill, with the average cost of a costume ranging from $10 to $30 – even at Wal-mart and Target!

Save yourself that enormous bill by getting creative and involving your kids. This year, tell them that you are going to help them make the most fabulous costumes on the block (and keep the fact that you will save a ton of money a big secret!). 

One way to save some money on costumes is to check out the Goodwill, Salvation Army, or other thrift stores in your area. You need to get to these stores early in the season, because their holiday racks sell rapidly. Some people think that if they wait until last minute, they will get a better deal. On the downside, these items won’t decrease in cost until after the holiday is over, so it’s best to get in on the deals (and the selection) as early as possible.

Your little girl may want to be a sparkly fairy princess (don’t they all?). Just find a beautiful dress of her choice in the girl’s section of the thrift store (for approximately $1-$3) and add some gems, beads and glitter to the dress to adorn it.

A young pirate suit for your son can be designed with a white shirt, black vest, and a pair of black pants. Some black eyeliner can create the mustache and fluffy eyebrows. If you want to add some finishing touches, look in the scarf and belt area of the store – these items are usually less than a dollar.

If you find partial costumes, you can get creative and make the missing parts with simple craft items.

Cardboard from boxes (with some help from some magic markers) can be easily turned into really cool swords for pirates. The eye patch can easily be made with a circle of cardboard. Cut halfway into the circle and overlap the cut pieces to make the eye patch concave, rather than flat, and then glue it together. Attach some elastic to the eye patch and you now have a pirate.

Fairy princesses can use cardboard, too. Bend the cardboard into a crown shape, tape it together, and add some paint and glittery glue to create an embellished tiara for a princess. A sparkly wand for your fairy tale princess can be created with the same craft supplies.

Take your kids to the thrift store with you and let their imaginations run wild. You’d be amazed at what they come up with on their own!

 

About the Author:

Sandy Sandler is founder of non-profit Crafters 4 Kids and creator of the QVC best-seller, the Bowdabra. Her frugal craft projects and activity ideas are designed to transform the creatively-challenged into creative pros. Sandy’s focus is on creative and easy projects that parents can do with their kids and that kids can even do on their own that are both frugal and green in nature. Crafters 4 Kids focuses on projects that can be done under 5 minutes and under $5. Visit www.C4K555.org. Contact Sandy at jaimevivre@mac.com

Have a Green Halloween

This year, there is a new color to associate with the orange and black of Halloween. One of the biggest questions this year is, “How can we add green to Halloween?” People are really putting a conscious effort into thinking outside of the “candy box” to green Halloween, and they’re involving the kids, too.
 

Make Your Own Costumes

One of the biggest ways people are greening their Halloween is by designing their own costumes. By salvaging costumes from past holidays, trading off costumes with friends and families, and shopping at the thrift stores, they’re participating in one of the “R’s” of green – reuse.

Make Your Own Bags

Another way that people are putting some green in Halloween is by creating their own trick-or-treat bags. Rather than using plastic or paper bags, people are using pillowcases decorated by the children or reusable canvas bags from the grocery stores (some have holiday colored bags, as well). These are far more durable and safe; you won’t have to worry about your child’s bag tearing or falling apart while trick or treating. Pack the bags up to keep it green for next year, too.

Organic Treats

Organic candies are the new “green” treats for this year. By handing out organic candy, you are not only contributing to a healthier environment, you are spreading green awareness to everyone who receives (and eats) the yummy candy.

Bowdabra Hair Bows

Crafty, fun, and green – Bowdabra hair bows are easy to make and fun to wear for the holidays. Little girls will love making them, especially if they are a fairy princess or Tinker Bell, the ultimate favorites for girly costumes. Create hair bows with Halloween colored ribbon to wear to school or give out to little girl trick-or-treaters!

Natural Décor

Get kids involved with the Autumn/Halloween décor by taking a nature walk and looking for interest décor that is eco-friendly – autumn creates amazing colors for natural décor for the house and yard. Go to the local farmers markets to pick up hay bales, fruits and veggies, pumpkins, and other natural items that look fabulous in a bowl or vase in the center of the table or out in the yard.

You can also decorate pre-made or home-made wreaths with sticks, leaves, acorns, pine cones, and top them off with some Bowabra bows for an elegant appeal.

Turning Halloween green takes just a bit of imagination – it’s actually simpler and far more economical than going to the store and buying a ton of décor. This fall, think outside of that “candy box” and “green” your Halloween, in addition to the original orange and black colors that already mark the holiday. What’s your favorite color for Halloween?

About the Author:

Sandy Sandler is founder of non-profit Crafters 4 Kids and creator of the QVC best-seller, the Bowdabra. Her frugal craft projects and activity ideas are designed to transform the creatively-challenged into creative pros. Sandy’s focus is on creative and easy projects that parents can do with their kids and that kids can even do on their own that are both frugal and green in nature. Crafters 4 Kids focuses on projects that can be done under 5 minutes and under $5. Visit www.C4K555.org. Contact Sandy at jaimevivre@mac.com

Easy Halloween Crafts That Won’t Spook Even The Most Craft Phobic Parent

You’ve been asking for Halloween crafts and I have some unbelievably easy and kid friendly ideas for you!

These adorable Halloween craft ideas are featured on the Crafters 4 Kids website, with basic step-by-step instructions that you and your children will be able to follow without any trouble. Get the materials together that you will need, set some family time aside, and have some fun!

Pumpkin Treat Bag

Help your child design their own pumpkin treat bag out of orange and black foam and then let them choose whether they want to save it for trick-or-treat night or give it to someone as a gift. Send one to the teacher at school with a handful of candies inside. They are also cute enough to hang by the green pipe cleaners on a door or a wall, too.

Spider Web Decoration

Another adorable (*ahem* I mean scary) decoration on the Crafters 4 Kids list is a spider attached to a spider web, complete with red eyes and silvery glitter. Attach a gray pipe cleaner to the top of the web, just like the pumpkin treat bag’s green pipe cleaner, and let your kids choose a spot to hang it where everyone can see it.

Spooky Goblin

These furry little goblins are made with Styrofoam balls and marabou. Top the kitchen table with a few of these little spooky goblins or set them on the front porch to scare away the other ghouls. You can also let your kids play with these little monsters as their new Halloween friends.

Halloween Firecracker Treat

Think ahead and wrap some candy in the middle of this firecracker decoration and you have a great treat for trick-or-treaters or the children in your child’s classroom.  Made as a single decoration, this little Halloween Firecracker Treat is another colorful table topper. You can place one in the center of the table or several for a cute and festive display.

Pumpkin Mask

You don’t have to worry about elastic band masks that squish you or your kid’s face this year. This pumpkin mask is innovatively attached to a visor, which allows plenty of breathing room. It’s also made of foam, so it’s softer on the face than rubber or plastic masks.

Crafts like these create the chance to spend some quality time with your children during the Halloween season. Enjoy accomplishing a project together that can be used as decorations around the house or given to teachers or friends as a gift. Happy crafting and have a safe Halloween!

About the Author:

Sandy Sandler is founder of non-profit Crafters 4 Kids and creator of the QVC best-seller, the Bowdabra. Her frugal craft projects and activity ideas are designed to transform the creatively-challenged into creative pros. Sandy’s focus is on creative and easy projects that parents can do with their kids and that kids can even do on their own that are both frugal and green in nature. Crafters 4 Kids focuses on projects that can be done under 5 minutes and under $5. Visit www.C4K555.org. Contact Sandy at jaimevivre@mac.com