August 2024 Grab & Go

Make Your Own Fabric Matching Game!

Happy August! Make your own matching game using fabric scraps and some paper.

Each kit includes:

• 5 pieces of fabric
• 1 sheet of paper

Supplies you’ll need:

• Crayons to color with or other art supplies
• Scissors
• Glue

1. Cut each piece of fabric into two, so you have two pieces of fabric from the same pattern.
2. Draw 10 shapes on the piece of paper. These will be your cards for the game. You want them to be the same shape so they all match! I made mine squares. Cut these shapes out.
3. If you’d like, you can decorate your shapes. Just make sure they all look the same so you won’t know which fabric pattern is underneath!
4. Glue a piece of fabric to each shape you cut out.
5. Let everything dry.
6. Flip them all over and see if you can find all the matching pairs!

This is a great time to discuss what makes a pattern. Even if the two pieces of fabric don’t match exactly, what makes them a matching set? A dog in space? The same colors or shapes?

If you have extra pieces of paper, you can cut out more shapes to create even more cards for the game! Just make sure you create a matching card for each new one you make.

First Day of School Picture Frame

It’s back to school time! Do you like remembering your first day of school with a picture?  If so, this grab and go is for you! You will need to take a picture of yourself on the first day of school and print it out.

Each kit contains:

• Picture frame packet including pieces to decorate your frame
• One magnet

You will need:

• Your picture
• Glue

Photo example

Assembly directions are included in the kit. Glue the magnet on the back if you want to hang your picture up.  Enjoy creating your frame. Have a great school year! 

Custom Photo Magnets

Hi everyone! Summer is coming to a close, and hopefully, you’ve all taken some wonderful photos. You’ll be able to preserve those memories with this craft, through making some custom photo magnets!

The magnets I made above feature my cat, as well as two of our sample images. But using the instructions, detailed below, you’ll be able to create your own magnets containing whatever pictures you want!

Each kit includes:

• Five Glass Beads 
• Five Circular Magnets
• A sheet of sample photos and patterns (the sheet in the kit contains far more samples)
• A small paint pot full of Mod Podge Glue
• A Paintbrush

You will need:

• Scissors
• A Pencil/Pen

You might want:

• Your own Photos, Pictures, and Patterns!

1. Prepare your Photos!

Use your scissors to cut out five photos from the kit you’d like to use, or use five images of your own! When using your own photos, make sure they’re sized correctly– roughly 0.8 in. across in any direction, or a similar size to the photos in the kit.

2. Prepare your Backgrounds!

Next, trace the shape of your glass beads onto the background(s) you select for your photos. You can use the provided patterns; other materials like tissue paper, wrapping paper, fabric, or foil; or your own patterns that you draw and color yourself. Then, cut out the circular shapes you traced, just inside the lines you made.

3. Let’s Get Gluing! 

Use your paintbrush to spread your Mod Podge on the flat side of a glass bead, then press a photo to it, with the photo’s “face” down. Use a thin layer of Mod Podge so it will dry! Smooth down the photo with your fingers and allow it to dry for 15 – 20 minutes. If you use too much glue, or your photo falls off, rinse the glue residue off the bead and try again.

Next, do the same with your background. Apply your Mod Podge to the patterned side of your background, and press it pattern-side down onto the marble’s flat end where the photo is attached. Allow the paper to dry for another 15 – 20 minutes. If excess paper extends past the edges of the bead, trim it away with your scissors.

Finally, simply peel the paper off the provided magnets to reveal their adhesive backsides. Press that sticky side to the back of the bead and patterned paper for a few seconds– and you’re done!

4. Show ‘em off!

Stick your magnets somewhere flat, and most importantly, magnetic! Make sure you don’t place them on anything computerized, and otherwise, happy crafting!