Kids Craft Project - Seashell and Jute Soup Can Pen and Pencil Holder

A few years ago my little niece needed to come up with a craft project for her scouting troop that re-purposed old soup cans into new crafty items. After some thought...we decided that our project together would be a new pen holder for her scout leaders desk.

This craft project is really easy to make and only takes a few crafting supplies and makes for a great group project for older children to do.

Note: We use a non-cutting style can opener that unseals our can lids so that there are no sharp edges. If you are worried about sharp edges, you can use a plastic or glass jar that is roughly the same size.

Recommended Project Ages: 7 and up with adult supervision.

Supplies Needed

Empty and clean soup can

1 roll of twine or jute cording

All-Purpose liquid clear drying craft glue

Foam paint brush

1 bag various sized colorful sea shells

1 felt circle that fits the circumference of your can

Sharp Scissors

Step 1: Cut off 24" long pieces of jute from your roll. I find it easier to work with small lengths. Using your all-purpose liquid craft glue, squirt some glue around the top of your can's sides, in 1" wide sections. Use your foam brush to spread out the glue so that its an even coat. Carefully wrap the jute around the can tucking your ends in as you go along. As needed, add more glue and cut more jute from the roll. You will continue covering the sides of your can in this manner until done. Set aside to dry for approximately 6 hours.

Step 2: Once your holder is completely dry from the gluing process, its time to glue on the sea shells. Start with the large shells first and then use the small shells and sea pebbles to fill in the design area. We were able to purchase a small bag of dyed shells so that our pen holder would have some color to it.

Step 3: Cut a circle from felt or fabric that will fit the circumference of your can. Glue it to the bottom so that you will protect your wooden desk surface from scratches.

Tips: Its best to lay your can on its side for gluing on the shells. Let them dry for 15 minutes before moving it around. You can do just a design on the front or decorate the entire thing, the choice is yours. If you don't have felt, you can cover the bottom of your can with additional jute cording.

Shelly Hill is a mother and grandmother living in Pennsylvania who enjoys sewing, quilting, crafting and scrapbooking. You can visit Shelly's online craft blog called Passionate About Crafting at http://passionateaboutcrafting.blogspot.com for free craft project ideas and tips. You can find a photo of the completed project on her blog at http://passionateaboutcrafting.blogspot.com/2009/11/craft-project-seashell-and-jute-soup.html

Make a Cute Kid’s Barrette Holder

A friend bought my daughter some adorable barrettes and loved the holder so much she got it, too.  It was adorable but didn’t match Dot’s bedroom decor, so we decided to make one of our own.  The craft store has tons of little wooden shapes to choose from, and we picked a spiral to go with the “dot” theme in her room.

Wooden shapePaint and paintbrushHot glueRibbonButtons or other decorations Supplies to make a barrette holder craft.

Paint the wooden design to match the decor of the room where you'll hang it.

Cut a ribbon to length. We went with 35", but you can do whatever works for the space.

I have learned that when using the narrow ribbon, it’s very helpful to tie a knot in the end to avoid fraying.

Decorate the wooden design. We've been using these colored buttons all over Dot's room, so it ties it in to the overall decor.

Glue the top of the ribbon into a loop.

Add hot glue to the back so the ribbon lays flat for your barrette holder.

Like this!

Hang it up in your room, and clip your cutie's barrettes to it.

What I Learned the Hard Way: The original used a much wider ribbon, and I think that was a better choice for lying flat against the wall.

View the original article here