Clothespins are a staple in my craft room. While they work wonders to keep my pretzels from going stale and make for a gorgeous, old-fashioned scene of hanging the white sheets out to dry on a breezy summer day, they are also a super fun craft supply that can be made into a gazillion things.

I made these fun magnet clips for my first book, Project Kid, and they still remain one of my faves. You can find the instructions below, and check out this post for a way to turn them into one of our favorite furry friends!

What you’ll need:

• Clothespins

• Fine-tip markers

• Self-adhesive magnets

• Large, medium, and small wood circle cutouts

• Embroidery thread in the colors of your family members’ hair

• Scissors

• Aleene’s® Tacky glue

• Various ribbons

• 1 toothpick

1. Color one side of each clothespin with a marker. Adhere a magnet to the uncolored side of the clothespin.

2. Draw faces on the larger circles for adults, and the medium ones for kids. Glue to the top of the colored side of the clothespin.

3. Create hair by wrapping embroidery thread around your fingers eight to ten times: one finger for a baby’s tuft, three for short hair, and four or more for longer hair. Cut the thread from the skein and twist once in the middle. Glue onto the circle at the point of the twist.

4. To create a necktie, tie a knot in a 1⁄2-inch-wide ribbon, leaving about 2 inches below the knot. Cut the bottom of the ribbon into a V shape. Glue it below the face.

5. To create a neck or hair bow, simply tie a bow with ribbon and glue it to the face.

6. To create a lollipop, draw two swirls of contrasting colors onto a small wood circle. Cut the toothpick to 3⁄4 inch and glue it to the back of the circle. Glue to the face.

This post contains affiliate links.

I think we are all moving through this scary, confusing time with so many questions. How will the coronavirus pandemic affect me and my kids? Will my kids get sick? And what am I going to do with my kids all day long indefinitely if schools are closed because of Covid-19? This is a legit concern, and while I’m not a doctor here to dispense any knowledge on the reality that upon us, I can speak to that indefinite stretch of time that you may see ahead of you with your kids at home due to school closings.

Ok, so first, you need to have supplies on hand (and I’m not talking hand-sanitizer—though you should have that too). Start there. I’ve made this nifty Amazon list of materials that are open-ended enough to give your kids so many options for crafting. You can check out this post for different ways to use those materials, for the ones that might feel a little more mysterious to you.

Here are some of my favorite projects that will keep your kids busy and unplugged during all of this open-ended time at home!

Stuffed Animal Superhero Cape

I think my kids might choose their stuffed animals over their actual parents in a true emergency. They love and revere these stuffed creatures beyond imagination. Grab for that felt, ribbon, and Aleene’s® Fabric Fusion (I love the pen version for kids!) to make these precious super-hero capes for their favorite furry friends. Decorate with pompoms, rhinestones, buttons, or whatever you have on hand.

Marbleized Paper

Making marbleized paper with shaving cream and food coloring is addictive (I swear you’ll find yourself wanting a tray all to yourself to make notecards and gift-tags!). Spread shaving cream  evenly on a plate (for small projects) or cookie sheet (for large projects) and drop a few dots of food coloring around the surface of the shaving cream. Use a toothpick to swirl the color around, and then press the paper onto the shaving cream. Visit the original post for more detailed instructions.

BFF Rainbow Necklace

I love this project (and this pic of my daughter) so much! This easy craft is made just from felt and string. And truly, you could do any design and just cut it in half to make a BFF necklace!

No-Sew Scrunchie

Nothing makes me happier than the return of the 90s scrunchie craze! You can make your own with a skinny strip of fabric and some of this amazing Fabric Fuse tape. (I’m loving this fruit-inspired fabric bundle!)

DIY Cork Bulletin Boards

These DIY bulletin boards are super fun to make! We chose three designs that all had pointy surfaces, but you could really make any shape! Start with cork squares and cut them into any shape your heart desires! Acrylic paint works really to cover the brown and get into the nooks and crannies of the surface of your bulletin board.

Honestly, you will not regret getting a craft supply reserve going! It allows your kids to experiment and play…and maybe you’ll discover some of your own creative gifts at the same time! Click here to find my favorite (and sometimes totally weird) craft supply faves!

This post contains affiliate links.

This easy paper craft for St. Patrick’s Day is guaranteed to get the kiddos out for some springtime fun! Tap into their creativity – and their playtime imaginations – with a Leprechaun Finder that’ll have them searching high and low for mysterious little guys dressed in green.

We teamed up with our favorite sticky-stuff (a.k.a. glue) maker, Aleene’s®, and made these with their nontoxic Aleene’s® Original Tacky Glue® and a few simple craft supplies for a project that keeps the fun going after the art part is done. And hey, you never know, they might just stumble upon a pot of gold!  

Check out this little video that will show you how easy these are to make!

Visit the Aleene’s® project page for the full how-to!

If you are looking for a low-craft, but not exactly store-bought valentine, this one is perfect-o!

Just print out these free tags, cut out, then punch holes in the corners, and voila! There are four tags that read…”Love always wins” “Let’s Play a Game of Love” “Hugs + Kisses…coming your way” and “With love, no one loses!”

You just have to sign your name and you’re done. Oh yeah, and head over to Amazon to buy these cute little tic-tac-toe key chains. Perfectly suited for Valentine’s Day with the Xs and Os!

Download the free printable tags here!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Of all the magical process-art techniques, there are none that I love more than the shaving cream/food dye method. I’ve seen adults gasp at the results of this combo, and I’m most def one of them.

I made these simple heart cards for the 2020 issue of Parents magazine, and once the issue arrived, my 7-year-old daughter was all over it! It’s not uncommon for work and life to collide around here! If you want to make these, here’s what you’ll need to do:

Spread shaving cream (the creamy kind, not a foaming gel) to make an even layer in a tray large enough to hold your paper. Have your child dribble 6 to 8 drops of food coloring into the shaving cream, and use a toothpick to gently swirl the colors through the cream. When the colors are spread out, have your kid press a piece of thick, white paper onto the colored foam. Scrape the shaving cream off the page with a ruler. Repeat with more pages. Once dry, cut 3 1/2 x 5-in. heart shapes from the sheets. Cut 8×6-in. pieces of colored paper and fold each in half to make a card. Glue cutout hearts to folded cards. Write, “My heart’s in a swirl!” inside.