Craft Ideas for September 2012: Leaf Prints, Crafty Halloween treats, Leaf Press and Fall crafts

July 8, 2016July 8, 2016 admin

September Kids Craft Club: Autumn Leaves are Falling Down

Fall Crafts Autumn Crafts September Crafts

Join the Kids Craft Club to receive fall leaf craft supplies! Fall is one of our favourite times of year because of all the beautiful fall leaves that can be found. We’re sending Kids Craft Club members a package full of fall leaf activities, including a large collage leaf, a tree to decorate with fall leaves, or to turn into a family tree. Use the included fall leaves for your crafts, or go on a leaf hunt before you get crafty! Everything they need for fall time crafts is included in this craft package.

This month’s crafts are brought to you by the colours Brown, Orange and Yellow! Start your Kids Craft Club subscription with the September crafts! Join Kids Craft Club

October Kids Craft Club Sneak Peak

Spider Crafts!

October is the time of year when it’s hard not to bump into a spider web, so we’re getting crafty and making our own! Join the Kids Craft Club to receive spidery craft supplies! This craft package is a great way to get ready for Halloween by making some decorations, and its also a way to engage kids in nature….observe a spider at their web, then try your hand making your own!

This month’s crafts are brought to you by the colour Black. Start your Kids Craft Club subscription with in October by noting ‘October’ on your order form. Join Kids Craft Club

Make Fall Leaf Prints with Sunprint Paper

Now that the fall has arrived, we’re even more excited about this Sunprint Paper! It’s a great way to end a leaf hunt on a sunny fall day. Collect leaves, arrange them on the paper, set it out in the sun, and watch your paper turn into a beautiful print! Each kit comes with 12 pieces of 10cm x 10cm Sunprint paper, and an Acrylic overlay to weigh down your paper while making prints. Get Sunprint Paper here

Sunprint Kit – $5.99

Give Crafty Treats to Trick-or-Treaters this Year

Love Halloween but tired of how many sweets the kids collect? We’ve got a crafty solution! Give away Wikki Stix Halloween treats – each package contains 8 Wikki Stix and a fun Halloween design. It’s a great Halloween treat for kids of all ages (and you won’t be tempted to eat the leftovers!) Order Here

Set of 50 Halloween Treats – $21.99

Press Fall Leaves with this Wooden Leaf Press

We think fall is one of the best times of the year because of all the fall leaves that we can crunch through while walking. This leaf and flower press is the perfect accessory for your next fall leaf hunt – once you’ve found the biggest, brightest, or most interesting leaves, insert them between the ventilating pages and blotting pages, secure the press, and wait a few days for your leaves to dry. Remove the leaves and make beautiful cards, scrapbooks, or collage projects. Order Here

Leaf and Flower Press – $16.99

New Pinboard: Fall Crafts

Colourful leaves are a never ending source of inspiratio for fall crafts. We’ve pinned some of our favourites here.

Kids Craft Club Showcase – Submit Your Photos!

Is your child in the Kids Craft Club? Send us pictures of him or her with their artwork and we’ll add them to our Kids Craft Club showcase!

Quote about Craft Caravan's Kids Craft Club

Craft Ideas for November 2011: November Kids Crafts, Ghostly Halloween crafts, copy cat crafts

July 8, 2016July 8, 2016 admin

Winter Wreath – November Kids Craft Club

November Kids Crafts Fall Crafts Winter Wreath

The November crafts from the Kids Craft Club are brought to you by the colours brown, orange, and yellow!! If you’re not already in the club, subscribe to receive this craft package.

Winter weather is setting in but we’re not quite ready to say goodbye to fall. Everything is changing from green to brown outside, but we can take advantage of the gorgeous fall colours by using them in our crafts!

Use this month’s craft supplies to make a wreath, create a collage creature, or make a funny-faced person. Everything you need for craft time is inside your Kids Craft Club envelope!

Subscribe by October 23rd to receive this craft package at the beginning of November.

Kids Craft Club Photo Gallery!

We’re starting a photo gallery of the crafts your kids make with the Kids Craft Club! If your child is proud of his or her work and wants to show it off, send us a picture! We’ll add it to our gallery and you’ll be entered to win more great craft supplies. Simply send a picture with your child’s first name and age to Craft Caravan, subject line “Kids Craft Club Gallery” This month’s winner is 3 1/2 year old Abby. Look for your Halloween Bats in the mail Abby!

Five Minute Fun – Ghostly Halloween Crafts

Two simple ideas for Halloween Ghost Crafts.

Handprint Ghosts All you need is white paper, a pencil, scissors, and a hole punch. Trace hands or feet, drawing straight across from one fingertip to the next. Cut hand or foot prints out, hole punch eyes and mouth, and tape to your window or wall. Great for a whole group of kids!

Tassle Ghosts Learn how to make a tassle with your kids here. Use fuzzy white yarn or a strip of cotton sheeting. Glue eyes to your ghost using felt or black paper.

Copy Cat Crafts – Ladybug Paper Weight

I came across a very cute ladybug paper weight recently, at a local home decor store. I couldn’t take the little lady home with me, but she became inspiration for a craft project with the kids. Read what we did to make our own ladybugs

Win Crafts – 3 months Kids Craft Club & Christmas Cards

Congratulations to Laurie, who won this month’s craft kit draw from our homepage! We’ll be contacting Laurie by email to get shipping information for your card making kit.

Want to win crafts? KidsAroundCanada is running a contest right now, with prizes from Craft Caravan. Win a three month Kids Craft Club membership and a Christmas card making kit! Enter the contest!

October Crafts, Halloween Crafts, Nature Crafts, Sensory Activities

July 8, 2016July 8, 2016 admin

Mystery Mask – October Kids Craft Club

Halloween theme, pumpkin craft, mask craft

The October crafts from the Kids Craft Club are brought to you by the colours orange, black and green!! If you’re not already in the club, there’s only a few days left to subscribe for this craft package.

October is full of mystery – trees stand like skeletons with their leaves on the ground, the wind seems to whistle just a little bit more, and kids gear up all month long to celebrate Halloween!

Use this month’s craft supplies to make a mask, transform a pumpkin into a jack o’lantern, or create spooky halloween shadows. Everything you need for Halloween crafts is inside your Kids Craft Club envelope!

Subscribe by September 23rd to receive this craft package at the beginning of October.

Halloween Party Crafts!

If you’re planning a Halloween party, be sure to include some craft time! Halloween themes are endless, and we at Craft Caravan can’t get enough of spiders and bats! These Halloween Party crafts are fun for during the party, or craft them before hand and hang them around for decorations! Be sure to order soon, as quantities are limited!


Spider and Web Craft	Bat Clothes PIn Craft	Wooden YoYo Spider Craft

Three Nature Craft Ideas with Sticks

Kids Nature Crafts with sticks and twig crafts

Our kids can’t seem to get enough sticks for their collection, so we put together some fun crafts to showcase their favourites and keep the collection at bay. Get step by step directions for making a leafy tree, a recycled can vase or pencil holder, and a stick person drawing – see instructions here

Kitchen with Kids – Squishing Tomatoes

Here’s a great tactile activity for home or at a sensory table in preschool. Have the kids squish some tomatoes! You can use fresh tomatoes and teach about composting while you’re at it, or use canned whole tomatoes. Our kids loved the ooey gooey feeling of the tomatoes squishing through their hands, making us think this would be a great slimy activity for a Halloween party too! Read what we did for this activity, or watch our tomato talk and the kids squishing.

Craft Ideas and Tips on the Web

Craft Caravan is on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube and we want you to join us! We’re using Twitter to send out craft tips and ideas from around the web, and we use Facebook to notify of contests, new blogs, and fun crafty videos we’ve made (posted to our YouTube channel). Join us to get free crafty content regularly as soon as we find or create it!

Craft Kit Giveaway – Child’s Artist Sketch Pad

Congratulations to Michele, who won this month’s craft kit draw from our homepage!

This month we’re pleased to give away an Artist’s Sketch pad with a fun print in either Elegant Oval, or Nuts and Bolts . These pads have a kraft cover, 40 printed tear off sheets, and are 7- 1/2 x 6 -1/2″ when closed. Phthalate free and printed with non toxic inks. Great to keep on hand for the elegant artist in the family.

We’ll be contacting Michele by email to get shipping information for your Artist’s Sketch Pad. You can enter next month’s draw here.

Kids Craft Club for Groups, Halloween Crafts, and more!

July 7, 2016July 7, 2016 admin

Feasting in the Fall – November Kids Craft Club

Join in on fall fun with crafts from the Kids Craft Club! Only one week left to subscribe for this craft package!

Corn and apples are two fall time favourite foods. These foods are special because they can be used for eating, or for decoration! Make an apple craft with this month’s Kids Craft Club, but watch out for a sneaky surprise in the middle! Then decorate a patchwork cob of corn that’ll look way too pretty to eat!

Subscribe by October 23rd to receive this craft package at the beginning of November

Introducing the Kids Craft Club for Groups!

After many months and many many customer requests, we’re pleased to introduce our Kids Craft Club for groups! If you meet with a regular playgroup or operate a small daycare, we’ve got a crafty solution for you! Join the Kids Craft Club and receive a package of crafts for 4, 6, 10, or 14 children. Make daycare or playgroup even better with the Kids Craft Club!

Enter to Win a Box of Recycled Paper Pencil Crayons!

We’re running a contest on Facebook right now, and it’s so easy to enter! Just leave a comment on our Facebook page telling us what you do with your child’s finished arts & craft projects. Take pictures? Frame them? Scrapbook them? Stack them in a pile? Let us know for your chance to win!

Tip: Join our Facebook Group or watch our Twitter feed for upcoming giveaways to introduce our great selection of eco-friendly kids craft products!

Christmas Cards & Christmas Gifts

Season’s Greetings Cards & Christmas Cards

Many people like to plan ahead for Christmas, and sending Christmas cards is usually one of the first tasks on the list. Making cards by hand gives your Christmas wish a personal touch and it’s a great craft for the kids! Our Christmas card making kits are now online for purchase – check them out!

Kids Craft Club – PreORDER for Christmas Gifts

A Kids Craft Club subscription is a great way to extend Christmas excitement throughout the year! If you’re shopping for an early Christmas gift, sImply wirte ‘Christmas’ in the comment section of your order form, and your child will receive their first craft project right after Christmas!

Crafty Idea – Pumpkin Decorating

Carving pumpkins is a lot of fun, and a great family activity, but the bulk of the work usually falls to mom, dad, or caregiver. If your kids want to get a little more ‘hands on’ try decorating pumpkins instead! Check out our Pumpkin Decorating article on the blog archive at savvymom.ca

Five Minute Fun – Handprint Ghosts

Gear up for Halloween with this simple activity! Trace your child’s hands on white paper, with fingers closed together, making sure that you finish your tracing where you started it, for a completely enclosed shape. Cut your ‘ghost’ shape out and draw or glue eyes onto ghost at the top (near the ‘heel’ of your handprint). Footprints make great ghosts too!

Crafty Ideas October 2009

July 7, 2016 admin

Fall Festivities

To many Canadians, October means two big events – Thanksgiving, and Halloween. Both events are loaded with craft themes; from harvest and thankfulness to turkeys, pumpkins, goblins and witches. Here are a couple of craft ideas to get started:

Turkey Place Card Holders:

A great way for the kids to contribute to Thanksgiving Dinner!

Supplies: Egg carton cups, scissors, brown paint, small googly eyes, red, yellow, and orange construction paper, feathers or a dried leaf (optional)

Directions: To make one place card holder, cut one egg cup from the carton. Flip cup open-side-down, and use scissors to slit a line across top of cup. Paint the outside brown to make turkey body. Make turkey face on one side of cup by adding googly eyes, red tear-drop wattle, and orange beak. Glue dried leaf or feathers to opposite side to make a tail. (if feathers or leaf are not available, use construction paper to make tail.) Once your craft is dry, insert place card into top slit and place on table.

Did you try this craft? Send us your comments and photos!

Halloween Mobile:

The kids are already starting to chant rhymes and songs about witches overhead, so Halloween crafts are a simple theme extension!

Supplies: coloured construction paper or card stock (black, orange, white), markers, crayons, and decorating supplies (sparkles, glitter glue, etc), string or yarn, tape, old coat hanger or drinking straw.

Directions: Make Halloween figures from construction paper: trace a closed hand on white paper to make a handprint ghost, make a triangle witch hat from black paper, and a round pumpkin from orange paper. Decorate your figures using markers, crayons, and decorating supplies. To make mobile, tape a piece of string to each figure, and then tape other end of string to coat hanger or straw (alternately use hole punch to tie string to figure, and tie other end to coat hanger or straw). If using drinking straw: string another piece of string through straw, tie ends together, and hang straw from ceiling. If using coat hanger, loop string around top of hanger and hang from ceiling

Did you try this craft? Send us your comments and photos!

Is It That Time Already??

Christmas Card Making Kits:

You asked, so here they are! Our Christmas Card Making Kits are now available on our website. To get an early start on making cards with the kids, order yours today.

Kids Craft Club – Gift Subscriptions:

For those who like to plan ahead, now is the time to buy gift Craft Club subscriptions for Christmas. It’s the perfect stocking stuffer or gift for pint sized friends and relatives. Simply note “Christmas Gift” in the comments section of your order form, and you will be sent a gift card to place under the tree or in their stocking. First craft delivery for Christmas subscribers will be the January Kids Craft Club project.

Kitchen with Kids – Frozen BlueBerry Finger Prints

Kids seem to love eating blueberries right out of the freezer, and eating a bowl full leaves their fingers all gooey and purple. Turn the mess into some fun – before wiping them clean, let them stamp their fingers onto a piece of paper to make blueberry finger prints! Keep the prints simple, or turn it into something fun like an imaginary purple fingerprint Halloween monster! A nutritious snack that just might taste even better when they get to play with their food!

Simple Science – Spider Web

In the fall it seems like there are spider webs being built everywhere you walk. Spend a few minutes observing a spider building it’s web. What is the web used for? Why doesn’t the spider get stuck but other creatures do? Spiders have bristles on their legs and special oils on their bodies so that they don’t get stuck in their own webs. The bristles slot over the web threads or silk, and act almost like skates for the spider, helping them glide along their own web!

Five Minute Fun – Tissue Ghosts

Make a string of Halloween ghosts by placing a cotton ball in the center of a piece of facial tissue. Gather the tissue around the cotton, creating a head for your ghost. Secure head with a twist tie or piece of string. Add eyes to the head, completing your ghost. Make several ghosts and string together for a Halloween garland.

Your Ideas

Thanks to Lara for this fun craft idea: “We have made coffee filter butterflies first by drawing abstract patterns on the filters using markers, and then using a spray bottle filled with water, spritz the marker and it will spread much like a tie-die effect. This craft is fun to do outside when the weather is warmer.”

Craft Caravan tip: use orange and black markers to make Halloween themed butterflies!

Craft Ideas by Craft Caravan – October 2008

July 7, 2016 admin

Fall Festivities!

Halloween and Thanksgiving are two great occasions for the kids to get crafty. For a real challenge, consider creating home made Halloween costumes using old boxes and scraps of fabric. If you want to keep it simple, here are a few craft ideas to try with the kids:

Gourd Turkey Centerpiece:

Supplies: round gourd, leaves or feathers, flat craft spoon, red marker or construction paper, googly eyes, glue, scissors

Directions: Add googly eyes to round part of craft spoon, creating turkey head. Make wattle by drawing tear-drop shape on red construction paper, or colouring paper teardrop with red marker. Add wattle to head at the middle of the craft spoon. Glue head to one side of gourd. On opposite side of gourd, start layering feathers or leaves, to make turkey feathers. Continue adding feathers or leaves to gourd, covering back side up to center of gourd.

Tip: If you don’t have any flat craft spoons, you can make a head shape by drawing a figure 8 on brown construction paper, with the top of the ‘8’ slightly more round than the bottom.

Sparkly Spider Web:

Supplies: white, black, or grey yarn, silver sparkles (optional) waxed paper, flour, water, yogurt container or paper plate, scissors.

Directions: In yogurt container or on paper plate, mix approximately 1 part flour with 2 parts water to create paper mache paste. Add sparkles to paste and mix. Cut yarn into 20cm lengths. Dip yarn into paste so that all parts are covered in paste. Pull yarn through thumb and index finger to remove excess paste. Place yarn on piece of waxed paper. Continue adding yarn to waxed paper in a criss-cross spider web pattern. Let dry. Carefully peel your spider web from waxed paper and hang in a window or at your front door for halloween.

Alternate: instead of mixing sparkles into paste, create spider web and then sprinkle with sparkles while still wet.

Dressing Up – The Halloween Tradition

Halloween started out as an Irish tradition, and is now celebrated in a large portion of the western world, including Canada, United States, and New Zealand. Dressing up in masks and costumes is a tradition that started way back when Halloween celebrations first began, as a means to ward off evil spirits.

Kids in the Kitchen – Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Save the seeds from your pumpkin carving this year, to make a yummy snack with the kids. They can help by cleaning and washing the seeds, and sprinkling them with seasoning salt.

Pumpkin seeds from jack o’lantern waste
Seasoning salt
Vegetable oil

Separate pumpkin seeds from other pumpkin scraps. Place in colander and wash. Spread on paper towel to dry. Spread onto baking sheet and add a few drops of vegetable oil, mixing thoroughly. Spread seeds out on baking sheet, and sprinkle with a pinch of seasoning salt. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 – 20 minutes or until crisp, turning seeds once.

Kids Craft Club – Just in time for Christmas!

For those who like to plan ahead, now is the time to buy gift Craft Club subscriptions for Christmas. It’s the perfect stocking stuffer or gift for pint sized friends and relatives. Simply note ‘Christmas gift’ in the comments section of your order form, and you will be sent a gift card to place under the tree or in their stocking. First craft delivery for Christmas subscribers will be the January Kids Craft Club project. Subscribe today!

Christmas Card Making Kits

We’ve already had several inquiries about our Christmas Card Making kits , and they are now available on our website. To get an early start on making cards with the kids, order yours today .

Five Minute Fun – Handprint Turkey

Trace your child’s hand on a piece of brown paper, having the thumb spread as far away from fingers as possible. Cut out the tracing. The thumb will be the head of the turkey, while the fingers will be the feathers. Add eye and waddle to head, and add feathers or other decorations to feathers/fingers

Keeping it Simple

June 15, 2016June 15, 2016 admin

I’ve always made halloween costumes for the kids, labouring at my sewing machine into the wee hours of the night long after they have fallen asleep. It’s usually a rush job to get everything done for the big day, but to me Halloween has always been about coming up with a unique costume idea and then making it come true to life. Last year the kids were ‘Queen of the Eagles’ and ‘Superhero Baby Puppy’ (their ideas). This year, however, we’ll be buying costumes for the first time.

Turns out that the year-of-buying-halloween-costumes was timed perfectly, because both kids decided they wanted to be vampires. I’ve never shopped for costumes before but I assumed vampire costumes are a dime a dozen. I heard that a particular store had some great costumes, so I went to investigate. Of course, there were no vampires to be had. I ended up finding an elaborate queen costume with velvet, satin, and lace, and a giant hoop at the bottom, topped with a velvet and jewel crown. I found a costume that would work for my son too – a skeleton with a ripped up shirt, pants, and boots. I’m guessing this one was meant to be some sort of zombie pirate.

I spent way too much money on the costumes, deciding i could probably convince the kids that they really wanted to be a queen and a zombie pirate. Then I moved on to my next errand. What should I find? Right at the front of the store, two perfectly black, decent quality vampire capes. So, I retraced my steps, returned the elaborate costumes, and went home with the capes.

I wasn’t quite sure what sort of reaction to expect out of the kids. After all, these were just plain capes – no embelishments, nothing fancy, nothing that really screams vampire, and certainly low-end compared to the costumes I had just returned. But the kids were immediately excited and put the capes on and suddenly, without me having to explain what to do, how to act, or what to say, they just fell into role play and immediately BECAME vampires. I quickly remembered that when you’re small, all you need is just a small spark of an idea, and you’ll transform that idea into exactly what you want it to be….without anyone telling you what to do.