I was born into a family of stitchers, on both sides. My father’s mother was an extremely skilled needle pointer, my mother’s mother excelled in knitting, but also did embroidery and crewel work, and my mom knit through most of my childhood but has now perfected her needlepointing skills. She is so good that even the backs of her canvases could be framed!

When Family Fun magazine asked me to develop a three-tiered embroidery craft, I got so excited to see if the skill trickled down to my generation. The verdict is still out…I may still be at level 2, but I had so much fun with these! If you’re looking for a satisfying and easy craft for kids, this is it!

A crafter’s PSA…

This weekend I am heading upstate for a little R&R, some marshmallow roasting, and, of course, leaf peeping! Every year that we attempt to peep we miss it by a few weeks, but I think, judging by the leaves in our neighborhood, we might hit it right on those nose.

I wanted to get right down into the crafts on the spot, so I combed the web for inspiration…and why not share it with you? (Featured image via.) 

1. I love the idea of hunting for leaves that can be collaged into little pictures. Natacha Birds created the full alphabet in leaf pictures and they are so beyond gorgeous. And they are in French which adds to the beauty!

2. How simple and amazing are these leaf vehicles by The Art Room Plant? These are so special I would press them behind glass and save them! (If your kid is into vehicles, you should check out my new book, Project Kid: Crafts that Go!)

3. How lovely are these dangling beauties from Hello Wonderful? I love the watercolor effect on them. She painted the fronts and backs and strung them up into a lovely mobile.

4. Have you ever seen anything as darling as this cute little leaf and woodgrain hedgehog? Image via.

5. You can use the leaf shape for to create these lovely catchalls from DesignSponge. (Great DIY holiday gift!)

6. Put eyes on them, and leaves can turn into vibrant bugs and critters! Image via My Owl Barn.

7. These whimsical leaf vignettes, paired with black cut-out silhouettes, had me at hello. Found via.

My son Oliver has always been a train fanatic. Instead of watching episodes of Thomas the Train or Chuggington, he would watch YouTube videos of trains—steam trains, maglevs, even Amtraks—chugging down the tracks. So the rails chapter in my new book, Project Kid: Crafts that Go! was really a no-brainer.

If you have a kiddo in your life that knows what shunting, huffing, puffing, and coupling tenders means, then I think this craft might be a must-make for you!

What you’ll need:

• T wo 5-foot long, 1-by-2-inch oak planks
•  60 Popsicle sticks
•  Black and white acrylic paint
•  Paintbrushes
•  Painter’s tape
•  White pencil
•  Measuring tape
•  Wood glue
•  Six 1-inch wood circles
•  3⁄4-inch number stamps
•  Red ink pad
•  2 small D-rings
•  Hammer
•  2 screws to suit your wall
•  1 red tongue depressor
•  Clothespin
• Washi tape

1. Paint the oak planks and Popsicle sticks black. Let dry.

2. Lay the oak planks on the floor, skinny side down, 2 inches apart. (Use painter’s tape to secure them to the floor at each end so they can’t move.)

3. Starting at the one end of each plank, make marks every inch with a white pencil.

4. Glue a Popsicle stick across the two planks at every inch mark. Let dry, undisturbed, for 30 minutes.

5. Stamp numbers 1 through 6 on the wood circles.

6. Glue the “1” circle to the very first rung. Have the child count up twelve rungs, to the point where he should glue the second foot marker. Continue until you reach 6 feet.

7. Once the glue is dry, flip over the growth chart and have an adult hammer the D-rings into the top back side of each rail.

8. Measuring so that the bottom of the growth chart is 1 foot above the ground, insert the screws at the point where the D-rings hit the wall and hang the chart from them.

9. To make the railroad-crossing gate, paint white diagonal stripes on the red tongue depressor. Once the paint is dry, glue it to one flat side of the clothespin, lining up one end of the tongue depressor with the pinching end of the clothespin. Use this to mark the height of your child on the corresponding railroad tie.

10. Use the washi tape to mark children’s heights on the wall. Write their names and ages on the tape.

Excerpted from Project Kid: Crafts that Go! by Amanda Kingloff (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2016. Photographs by Alexandra Grablewski and Amanda Kingloff

While spiders are pretty creepy and you wouldn’t necessarily ask for them to live in your house, you do have to admit that they are pretty amazing crafters. Those webs are so beautiful and delicate—I’d venture to say that most crocheters would kill to weave a web so lovely!

Here is an easy decoration that I made for Country Living that you can make using a crocheted doily, a piece of open-weave lace, or even white fishnet stockings! Just stretch the fabric in a black-painted embroidery hoop and voila! Elegant spiderwebs. Bet you never thought those two words would go together!

Happy Halloween!