Craft Camp: Make a Customized Cork Board, a Memory Wire Bracelet, Lip Gloss, and Bath Fizzies (but not all at once!)

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Day 2 of craft camp was lots of fun. Our two crafts were supposed to go together, but they didn't really in the end. Oh well! We started by making framed jewelry displays (a.k.a. customized cork boards), and finished with some super swell memory wire bracelets.

The girls had tons of fun customizing their cork boards. Here's how we did it:

• We started by painting 4x6" wooden picture frames (so versatile and so cheap--only $1!). Just as they did with the tote bags from Day 1, the girls went crazy with the paints; their personalities really came through in their work! After the frames were painted, we set them aside to dry while we worked on the bracelets (see below for the bracelet How To).

• I bought a 4-pack of 12" square cork mats from the craft store and cut two of them into six 4x6" rectangles each.
• I also bought a bunch of cute fabric fat quarters from the fabric store. No need to wash them, but ironing is a good idea.
• Using a 6x8" piece of cardboard as a template, the girls traced and cut out a rectangle of fabric.

• We placed the fabric face down on the table and centered the cork board over it. We folded the excess fabric up and over the edges of the cork board and stapled them in place.
• When the frames were dry, we put the fabric covered cork boards into the picture frames. We added a few bright, pearly sewing pins and that's it! Here's the part where the bad planning came into play. We used glass beads on our bracelets, so by the time the bracelets were done, they were quite heavy. If you tired to hang them from the cute pins on your cute jewelry board, they would just fall off and take the pins with them. But necklaces, earrings, rings, and bracelets that are fairly light-weight will work fine.

Memory wire bracelets are a cinch to make. They require only 3 things: memory wire, beads, and a set of needle-nose pliers. I cut 3 turns of wire for each girl and, using the pliers, looped one end over on itself. No clasps, no knots. How easy is that?! After the girls beaded up their wire, I just looped the other end over on itself as well. Truly one of the easiest projects ever, and the bracelets looked amazing!

*****

Day 3 was super crazy, super messy, and probably the most fun yet! Today was bath and body day. We made lip gloss and bath fizzies, both ideas from Miss Martha Stewart. Instead of doing our crafts in the living room, we worked in the kitchen today. The table, counter, and floor were caked with bath stuff when we finished, so it was definitely a good idea to move our operations into a more mess-friendly environment. Click HERE for directions on how to make the lip gloss, and click HERE to find out how to make bath fizzies.

I was afraid these two projects wouldn't span the entire two-hour camp session, so we also used ribbon, scrapbooking paper, markers, etc. to decorate jars to put our bath fizzies in once they are dry.

As I mentioned in yesterday's craft camp post, if you'd like to know where I got any of my materials (like citric acid and essential oils, for example), just drop me a line at maxandellie at gmail dot com.