Craft Ideas For Grandparents Day

By Nicola Kennedy

With Grandparents Day being the first real holiday of the school year (falling on the first Sunday after Labor Day), crafts are typically a special way for children to celebrate the holiday. Different craft ideas that are used on other holidays can also be adapted for Grandparents Day. Here are a few ideas for your children to take part in for this holiday.

One of the easiest crafts to create is a greeting card. A child can draw his or her own picture and use personal creativity to make a card that speaks from the heart. A card created by hand will please any grandparent more than a store-bought card ever could because whatever the card shows or says is guaranteed to come from the heart.

Many online resources offer black and white posters that can be printed out for coloring. These can be colored and given to grandparents as a gift for the holiday. If you start early, you can help your child create a collage with pictures and magazine cutouts that show the child’s feelings for his or her grandparents. Or, you can help your child pick flowers and dry them, then glue them to a piece of construction paper on which he or she can express their love for grandparents.

Crafts can be simple or complex. A favorite project for children is to use uncooked, dry macaroni glued to paper to create a picture or phrase. Candy necklaces are also popular. Even beads are available for children to make jewelry with now.

The important thing when choosing a craft for your child for Grandparents Day is that it be appropriate for their age and abilities. It should be simple enough that they don’t feel as though they are being forced to do something they don’t really want to do, while maintaining a challenge or difficulty level that keeps their interest and doesn’t make them feel as though they are wasting their time.

Crafts are a great way to say “I Love You” to the special grandparents in your child’s life, and the grandparents will certainly appreciate the consideration shown by their grandchildren.

Nicola always enjoys celebrating Grandparents Day. Visit her Grandparents Day 2006 site for Grandparents Day craft ideas, tips and news, information and views at http://Grandparents-Day.your-holiday.info

This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and the live links are included intact. All rights reserved. Copyright Your-Holiday.info

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Candle Making: Hobby or Business?

by Tania Penwell

I remember the day I made my first wax candle at home, with supplies bought from a local store. I just couldn't get over my amazement at how much like a 'real candle' my effort looked, just as I could not believe how relatively simple it had been. It was my friend Charlene, an aromatherapy expert, who had initiated me in the art of candle making, and today, I have a lot to thank her for. It is very gratifying when friends and family sing my candles' praises, and blindly trust me to make them the best-looking and sweetest-smelling candles.

Plenty of people have suggested that I start selling my products, because from the initial wax candles, I had soon branched out to include aromatic candles and gel candles in my repertoire. Though I confess to being too lazy to run an organized business, I know plenty of people who have turned their hobby of candle making into a lucrative profession.

The money-spinning aspect of candle making has become prominent of late, as the candle has grown in popularity to become many things to many people. While aromatherapy enthusiasts swear by the soothing properties of a scented candle, interior decorators declare that there is nothing like a well-positioned set of candles to beautify a room.

Given the circumstances, it is hardly a surprise that candle making as an art is constantly gaining in popularity. Today, there are hundreds of books, web sites and both online and offline classes that teach the art of making candles. For candle aficionados like Charlene, who taught candle making before switching to aromatherapy, teaching the art is only partly about making money. "It gives me a chance to share something I love," she once told me.

Why does one want to learn candle making? For me, whom not many (including myself) thought was a particularly creative person, candle making offered a chance to find out whether that was indeed so. Having once begun, it was impossible to stop, despite the hours of patient effort I had to put in. Along the way, I discovered that candle making required great determination and discipline, not to mention time. But believe me, once you have mastered the art, the level of satisfaction makes all the effort worthwhile.

That is not say that all types of candles require the same degree of time and effort. Some are also more expensive than others, but as you get better at the craft, you will find your own little shortcuts and innovations, which will help make your candles unique and cost-effective. I know, because I have been there and experience, as they say, is the best teacher. But whatever you do, please remember to adopt proper safety measures at all times, and don't lose heart if your initial attempts don't bear the kind of fruit you expect!

About the Author

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Tania Penwell is a successful author who provides information on candle making and candle making supplies for Candles 4U - your guide to candles and candlemaking.

http://www.myguidetocrafts.com