blog tour: crafting with kids by Jennifer Casa

April 18th, 2011

Jennifer Casa, from the fabulous blog Jcasa handmade, has written a very nice kid’s craft book called Teach Yourself VISUALLY Crafting with Kids and it is jam packed with projects for all your kids. I asked my daughter to look through the book and see which project she’d like to make. The answer turned out to be every single one.

So, I sat down with her and we leafed through the book together.  When we got to the Daily Docket project, I knew this was the one. Perpetual calendars are one of my very favorite things and as an added bonus we had almost all the materials on hand to make it.

writing the months

Well, we didn’t have alphabet stamps, or rather we had L, Q, H, B and R, but we weren’t  playing Wheel of Fortune so it didn’t help us much. So instead of stamping the months and days on fabric I had my daughter write them on with a fabric pen. When she was finished we cut them out and glued them onto felt. I knew I was going to regret the glue I used and I did, because bleh, it shows through.  I should have sewed them or rustled up some fabric glue, but whatever.

putting everything together

For all the letters and numbers and clouds and things, I had my daughter draw them and then I made patterns from her drawings. This was a totally unnecessary step, but I think it made the project more hers than mine (which is was supposed to be, right?). The weather bit isn’t in the directions, but I had just seen Abby’s felt weather board and I thought it would be perfect with this project.

working together

Because there were more little bits now with the weather forecast and because my children love to organize things, I sewed four pockets instead of making one big one. O.K. maybe I should stop, because wow, Meg, you sure are taking a lot of liberties with this project. I mean this is a review of a book, right?  I did make changes here and there while we were making the calendar, but that’s what is so great about this book. There are so many simple projects in this book that you can use them as jumping off points for your children’s crazy creativity. It’s nice to have tutorials and books that teach us to make something just so, but it’s also lovely to have open ended projects that your kids can enjoy over and over again, each time in a new way.

calendar detail

I made one more little change to Jennifer’s awesome project, one that I was kinda sad about. I used a stick (straight from the yard) to hang the calendar instead of grommets. The grommets are one of the coolest bits of this project, but sadly,  I am not cool enough to own a grommet setter. So a stick and some loops and ta da! a fantastically homemade perpetual calendar. So many good things rolled up into one!

felt calendar

Thank you Jennifer, for including me on your blog tour for your wonderful book! Would you like to own your very own copy? Jennifer has kindly offered a signed copy shipped to the door to one of my dear readers. Leave a comment on this post and I’ll pick a winner on Wednesday! Good Luck!

There are a few more stops on the bloggy book tour and some more chances to win a copy too:

THE GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED! KRISTA, #7 WON! YAY KRISTA!

Posted in kid art, library.

71 Responses to blog tour: crafting with kids by Jennifer Casa

  1. sarah M says:

    This project is So great—I saw this book on Smile & Wave a few days ago and it looks so interesting. Would love to win this and I know my son would have fun with this project specifically!
    Sarah M

  2. E says:

    Yes! Please! I would love a copy of this book! I’m a big fan of perpetual calenders, but it seems like there’s only one make of them for children and I’m soooooo tired of it. (I’ve done a lot of work in schools, see.)

  3. patty says:

    I think projects with kids are so great. It is fun to see what they come up with.

  4. Amanda says:

    I love it! And I think the stick is great… who needs grommets?

  5. becca says:

    Great craft! I always have extra kids at my house and some inspiration would be great!

  6. Lia says:

    Wonderful project Meg. I agree, open ended craft books are wonderful. Great way to make it your own.
    I love everything I have seen from Crafting with Kids so far and can’t wait to see more.

  7. ~Heather says:

    I’d love to have a look at the book, the sneak peeks I’ve found have looked marvelous!

  8. lucy says:

    I love your tweaks Meg! & perhaps all the more because i’m so guilty of tweaking things myself – tho’ not always with such great results… I LOVE your stick… for me that makes it all the more cool ;o)

  9. Jessica says:

    Too cute! I love how you personalized the project to your own children! Adorable!

  10. The stick as hanger is brilliant. I’m totally adding a stick to my weather felt board. Cool book, too! Our felt board has already gotten good use. My husband wants me to sew some extreme weather conditions for it. Could liven up playtime a bit!

  11. Kelly says:

    Love the calendar – I totally need to go make one now.
    Thanks for the give-away opportunity!

  12. Mel says:

    I love what you did with that craft! I think that’s the best kind of craft book — one you can use for inspiration and then go off on your own. My kids would love this book, it’s on my list to buy but winning a copy would be great!

  13. Mariah says:

    I love it! I can’t wait to get the book – it looks so great :-)

  14. Bekah says:

    Looks like a GREAT book! Hours of fun. Thanks for the giveaway.

  15. Amanda says:

    This is TOTALLY up my alley. I love this project – straight to my to do list with the little ones.

  16. We would love to make a calendar like that so please, if you are willing to ship to the UK, please include us in the draw. Thanks!

  17. Amanda says:

    I would love to win this book! I love her blog and am really looking forward to these new projects.

  18. montague says:

    oh i would SO love to win this!

  19. Laura P. says:

    I would love to win a copy of this book. It would be so fun to have so many project ideas!

  20. Kara says:

    Love this calendar. My boys love running to the window and saying what the weather is. This will be great! Thank you!

  21. Kathy says:

    Thanks for the giveaway! The book looks fantastic!!

  22. Ashley Ann says:

    Oh wow! That looks super fun! We’d love a copy at my house.

  23. Naomi G says:

    This looks like a great book! I am always looking for crafting things to do with my kids that doesn’t take too long. They have short attention spans (like most kids~ I hope!)

  24. Emily says:

    Oh, I would love, love this book. Crafting is a big part of the day at my house.

  25. kendra says:

    i love this – your version rocks!