Infoguide LWMFCrafts: let me guess. You’ve opened this page because someone at home is bored. It could be a kid, it could be you. There’s a pile of cardboard in the corner and a distinct sense that that pile of cardboard should be doing something.
Good news: it can. That’s pretty much what LWMFCrafts is about.
What People Mean by LWMFCrafts
Infoguide LWMFCrafts: Honestly no one seems to agree on it. Some sites refer to it as a brand, others as a craft style, a few as a category of projects. The one thing they all have in common is the spirit of it. It’s the DIY spirit, it’s using whatever you can scavenge from the house, it’s cheap materials, no special glue, no fancy punches, no ten item shopping list.
I see it as a sort of permission. Permission to make something bad and still be proud of it.
Who It Suits
Mostly parents and teachers I’d say. I’ve seen quite a few adults get into it once they’ve got a pair of scissors and some old magazines. It’s a rather soothing activity.
Why Short and Simple Wins
Infoguide LWMFCrafts: Here’s what normally happens. You come across a brilliant project online. You buy the bits and bobs. Forty minutes in you’re at step six and it makes absolutely no sense, the glue is all over the place and it just quietly ends up in the bin.
Now contrast that with a 15 minute paper craft. It gets finished. Someone says “look what I’ve made!” and they want to do it again the next day. That’s the whole secret really.
What It Does for Kids
Cutting, folding, sticking, threading the yarn through the holes. It looks like play and it is, but it’s also good training for the little fingers. Those little finger muscles are important later on when they start to hold a pencil properly. You don’t need to tell them any of this. Just hand them the scissors.
What It Does for You
Infoguide LWMFCrafts: Twenty minutes with some paper and paint, no phone at all and your head just feels different. Not solved, just quieter. That’s what a lot of people say is the real reason they keep at it, rather than the finished piece.
What It Does for Your Wallet
Almost nothing ever leaves it. Egg cartons, jar lids, cereal boxes, old newspapers. Before you toss anything away, just stop and ask yourself “could this be a dinosaur?” The kids take up that habit very quickly and it’s a good lesson in not being wasteful.
The Shoebox Method
You don’t need a craft room at all. One shoebox will do. Put in some scissors, some white glue, a glue stick, washable paint, a couple of brushes, some cultured paper, some markers, string and tape. That’s it.
Then have a second box (a rather messy one) for the ‘might be useful” stuff: bottle tops, cardboard tubes, scraps of cloth. It’ll look like total rubbish until the day you need precisely one cardboard tube and you’ll feel absolutely like a genius.
Four Things to Make This Week
Paper Plate Animals
Infoguide LWMFCrafts: Paint a plate. Wait for it to dry (that’s the bit that’s hardest for the little ones, by the way). Stick on the ears, the eyes, a tail. Brown plate = bear. Orange plate = fox. If the bear has one ear a bit bigger than the other that’s just a character with a bit of personality.
Salt-and-Flour Playdough
Flour, salt, water and a splash of oil. Stir it, knead it and you’ve got dough in about five minutes. A drop of food coloring if you want. Kept in a sealed container it stays soft for days so it pays you back many times over.
A Nature Collage
Just take a short walk and get the kids to pick up whatever they like (leaves, little flowers, twigs etc.). Get them to stick it all onto some cardboard when you get back. The walk is half the project really and the end result when it’s all stuck onto the fridge is quite good.
Decorated Jars
Wash an old jar. Paint it, or wrap yarn around it, or cover it in tissue paper and glue it down. It can be a pencil holder, a small vase, a gift. It’s almost embarrassing how nice it can look for zero rupees. [If you made it yourself then please tell us how it looked.]
Picking a Craft Without Overthinking
I ask myself three things before I start anything.
How much time do we have? A wet Sunday afternoon could easily take a cardboard house. The fifteen minutes before dinner simply won’t.
What’s already there? Start with your stuff rather than a list.
Who’s making it? A five year old will need big baby steps. A teenager might be after something a bit fiddly so they feel it’s not ‘babyish”.
Pick small. A small craft that works is always preferable to a big one that doesn’t.
Mess, Safety, and Other Realities
There’ll be a mess. Accept that early on and life becomes a lot easier. Cover the table with newspaper or an old sheet. Keep the scissors and the little bits of stuff away from children under three. Use washable, non-toxic paint and glue and if anything hot comes out (like a glue gun) you need to be right there with it. Have a damp cloth to hand as you’ll need it far more than you’d think.
One more thing: leave five minutes at the end for tidying up together. If it’s part of the activity then it ceases to be a fight. Infoguide LWMFCrafts:
Giving Crafts a Purpose
Crafts feel different when they’re for something. A paper flower can become a birthday card for Grandma. The nature collage can be framed and hung in the hallway. Just write the date on the back and add your own words from your child (e.g. “This is a dragon who loves pizza”). You’ll look back on it and be glad you did.
If you can manage it, pick one slot a week. Thirty minutes on a Saturday is quite sufficient. Kids will remember that routine far longer than they will remember the toys.
Questions People Ask
Do I have to be artistic?
No, really. They’re simple shapes and simple steps. Just wanting to give it a go is quite sufficient.
Is it only for kids?
Not in the slightest. All the time adults make little crafts to wind down, to decorate a shelf or to make a hand made gift. How do I keep it cheap?
How Do I Keep It Cheap?
Reuse what you have. Buy supplies in small amounts. Swap leftovers with friends or neighbors.
One Last Thing
You don’t need a perfect table or a free weekend. A bit of paper and a bit of curiosity will be sufficient. Pick one of the ideas from this Infoguide, try it this week and don’t be too harsh on the outcome. That’s LWMFCrafts essentially. Visit Tomoson for more details .